Quad-City Times from Davenport, Iowa • 2

Continued from Page Charity- OA QUAD-CITY TIMES Sunday, May 15, 1977 Davenport-Bettendorf, Iowa 1 j33ff 4, I.TU i 42a. i i iL I 1 fir If 'T. school buses. To some pleasing. (Times photo by Continued from Page 1A students also would be out later because they had to ride buses back to the school.

"It makes me mad to drive all the way up to school and then we have to drive back into town. We're more likely to have an accident. There's no telling where we're going to go after the dance." Miss Corwin added that most of the students at the prom drive their own cars and so would be able to go out after the dance anyway. All things considered, the younger Smith looked forward to prom. But he wished this year's activity would have included something more than a dance because the students had to remain at the motel until the buses left at about 1 a.m.

today. "A four-hour dance -a little boring?" he asked. isn't that rmr' 1 Whatever happened to borrowing Dad's car for prom night? These Rockridge High School students rolled up to the Sheraton-Rock Island Motor Inn Saturday night for their prom in six very Prom been in the past," Paul Vroman, board president, said. I Some former students who opposed the policy years ago have now Come to understand the board's point. i "Now that I'm a mother, I can see both sides to it.

It does take the fun out of it, but then there is a safety factor said a 1970 graduate who wished not to be identified. 1 SOME students attending the prom shrugged off custom as a valid reason. They tried to sway the board's attitude at a recent board meeting, but failed. "We fought it, but they weren't going to budge at all," said Peggy Bolt, a junior in charge of the prom activities. Peggy and her sister, Kelly, a Jv expensive, chauffer-driven vehicles students, the bus policy is less than Larry Fisher) lous.

There's all those people on a bus," Lisa Corwin, a sophomore who attended her -first prom Saturday night, said. BRIAN Bestian, a senior, agreed wholeheartedly. "The kids would rather drive. It's a special night and they should be allowed," he said. Linda Behrer, a junior, also spoke woefully of graduates who returned to take a date to prom.

no fun for a 20-year-old to have to ride a bus to prom," she said. The junior class scrubbed the buses Friday, attempting to alleviate some worries about dirty formal attire. The younger Smith said the floors were covered to protect the girls' gowns. "But how clean can you get a bus?" retorted Kelly Bolt. PATTY Shannon contended the John Grotzinger pace with a nationwide trend that started in 1969 after Elizabeth Kub-ler-Ross published her classic work, "On Death and Dying." The Karen Quinlan case, the debate over euthanasia and "pulling the plug," and a new willingness to openly discuss terminal Illness and death have prompted educators to offer the classes.

often is little he can do to help but listen. "In a metropolitan area, most people have a lot of contacts, but they are pretty superficial. You have the combined resources of the group to help you cope with the situation. Michael Shinkle, a lawyer, said the group is especially helpful in aiding him in dealing with the grief a couple going through a divorce will feel. "I think the thing that did most to pull me into the group was that I ToO-C Classrooms Death Comes bezzling your gift or enriching self with private aeais.

For example, a cannister cam. Daign was successtui in California Last March, the California attornev general sued the Animal Protect Institute of Sacramento, accusing fa officers of misappropriating niott than $100,000 in charitable assets The civil suit said the animal char ity spent 90 per cent of donations for salaries, administration and fund- raising. The suit said that, despite advertising to the contrary, the institute provides no services for animal protection. The New York state charitv board has banned drives by the Childrens' Relief Fund of the Korean Cultural and Freedom Foundation on grounds that most of the donated money went to professional fund- raisers instead of hungry children. MONDALE remained a charitv watchdog, apparently because of his discoveries about the Sister Kenny Institute.

In the Senate in 1974, Mon- dale led hearings into the children's charity "industry." His findings, barely noticed in the heat of the Watergate scandal, included these: The Asthmatic Children's Foundation of Miami Beach col lected $10 million through mail appeals in 11 years but only $1.4 million of it 'reached the foundation's two small treatment centers, which had no more than 50 young patients at any time. About $7 million went to V. J. Giesler a direct-mail firm in Chicago that conducted the postal fund-raising. The rest went for administrative salaries, bank fees, and the like.

The Epilepsy Foundation of America paid its executive vice president $44,000 a year, on the record, but had secret devices to boost his salary. He was given a $12,000 bonus every other year for renewing his two-year contract. He was also provided a free car. Further, the foundation paid $55,000 to an employment agency to recruit other officials for the administrative staff. A 29-year-old promoter, Morris Friedman of Illinois, became wealthy through National Youth Clubs of America, an operation designed to appear like the door-to-door cookie selling of the Girl Scouts.

He recruited teams of children to knock on doors and "raise funds" by selling 40-cent boxes of candy for $1.75. Buyers thought they were helping a children's charity but it was just a commercial candy-selling business. FRIEDMAN franchised his plan in several states and grossed $3 million a year. National Youth Clubs was abolished by court order, then Friedman was convicted In a different franchise scheme and was sentenced Feb. 25 to 6 to 20 years in prison.

The DAV which has been denounced repeatedly for wasting up to three-fourths of its public donations on fund-raising costs suffered another embarrassment after the Kool-Isrr mess. A second DAV promoter, "Col. Harold S. McClintock," turned out to be an embezzler named Harold Sager who pocketed more than $1 million of contributions. He, too, was convicted and imprisoned.

(Actually, the DAV isn't a charity and gives no direct financial help to veterans. It's only a fraternal lodge similar to the American Legion.) (MONDAY: The big salaries of 1 luriu-raisiTS.) ERA Gets Push CHICAGO (UPI) More than 300 advocates of the Equal Rights Amendment rallied Saturday under signs proclaiming "human rights" and "people's lib" in a spirited push for ERA ratification. General Office 383-2200 vol. no. 111 The Ouod-Cllv Times Is published daily at 124 E.

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Business office and classified advertising are closed Saturdays. tees and keep themselves Impeccable They function through low-paid staffs or dedicated volunteers who have a sincere desire to help persons in need. But a few fund-raisers are downright crooks. In December, the Kidney Foundation of Genesee Valley, New York, collapsed in bankruptcy after its director, William Posner, was indicted. The charity had raised In the past two years, but left $115,000 debts including $20,000 owed to a TV station for a telethon.

IN JANUARY, a prosecutor at Annandale, disclosed that a nightly charity bingo game was raising $250,000 a year in behalf of the Annandale Boys Club but only one-fourth of the money was reaching the youth organization. Two promoters who leased the hall for the bingo games were taking about half the gross receipts as rent, he indicated. In October, Illinois Atty. Gen. William Scott won' a fraud suit against Patrick J.

Gorman, a Washington fund-raiser who specializes in right-wing causes. Allegedly helping widows and orphans of slain policemen, Gorman raised $300,000, but kept 99.8 per cent of it as his fund-raising overhead. (Gorman previously created the "New Spirit of '76 Foundation" and raised $1.3 million for it, but kept $1.1 million as his collection cost, the attorney general said. Before that, Gorman launched "Friends of the FBI," raised $500,000 for it and divided the entire proceeds among himself and associates, according to a book about fund-raisers. Actor Efrem Zimbalist who plays an FBI agent on television, renounced his endorsement of the organization.

Gorman also raised $110,000 for the "United Police Fund" and kept of it, the book says, and he followed the same pattern with the "Underground Bible MANY forms of charity are highly suspect. When you stuff change into a "give" cannister, you never know whether some handler is pocketing half the cash before it reaches the charity. Higher up the ladder, you do not know whether some philanthropy executive is em- Charles Ulrich of Western Illinois THEY hope death will be discussed as openly in the 1970s as sex was in the 1960s. Mrs. Wylder's course will help students "come to terms with their death." The reading will Include "Personal Death Awareness" by Harvard professor James Worden, and an account of a dying leukemia victim entitled "How Could I Not Be Among You?" Most teachers are fascinated with death and willing to spend free time preparing their course.

For example, John Grotzinger, who teaches "Death and Dying" at Black Hawk College, will spend the sum-, mer helping two funeral directors write a textbook, "Death and Burial." Grotzinger's interest began during World War II, when he was a grave registration officer in Asia. In India he saw adult corpses laid out for vultures to pick clean and saw childrens' bodies thrown in streams to giant turtles. Students share his fascination. Enrollment is the class has increased from 17 students to 40, and he expects it to go higher next semester. IT IS popular because "death is something that is going to happen to everybody, and almost everybody is going to have to plan a funeral," he said.

The class changes some attitudes. "A lot of students come In with the idea that a funeral is a rip-off. Two percent of the funeral directors will rip you off, but the other 98 per cent won't," he said. He also punctures a few myths. "People don't utter-.

profound thoughts at death. There's no impassioned speech. Also there's no chance of being buried If you're not dead, the embalming will kill you," he said. The subject should be taught at all high schools because most stu-, dents don't go on to college, Grotzinger said. ABOUT 75 students from three grades take a thanatology course at Assumption.

Thanatology is the Greek term for study of death. The course is three years old. "I think it's absolutely great. The people who come out of class are more mature on their outlook on death," Loehrer said. He's considering teaching an adult night class.

"I'd do It for nothing." Bettendorf's mini-course will be taught for the third year next fall. "The class is different. It's a chance for students to act In a mature 'grown-up way without anyone making fun of them," said Uacher Mike Blackwell. The topic Is "a little bit faddish. I hope it doi-sn't die.

But I'm fairly confident all schools eventually will adopt It," Blackwell said. senior live in Milan. They contend it would be more logical for them to drive to the prom because they live closer to Rock Island than Edging-ton. Milan is 15 miles from the high school and about three miles from Rock Island. "IT'S a little bit ridiculous.

It's more of a nuisance than it is being helpful," Kelly, a senior, said. Peggy added thaf the tradition "is kind of a drag, but most realize they've got to ride the bus so why pout about it." Some students also claim that holding hands on a crowded bus, chaperoned by six adults, is less romantic than driving to prom in their own cars. "It would be more meaningful to ride in our own cars. Just the idea of boarding a bus for prom is ridicu Jean Wylder death and dying courses from the University of Iowa and from Western Illinois University. Bettendorf High School offers, a five-week mini-course entitled "Death as a Life Process." The subject has been taught at Black Hawk College for three semesters.

LOCAL educators are keeping with more than the mechanics of death. The insights he draws from the group help him determine the right way to assist individuals with very different needs In dealing with the reality of death. "We're all from different walks of life," he said of the group. "The insights they have help me to understand the clients I have." The Rev. James Clark, minister at St.

Andrew Presbyterian Church, Davenport, said the group helps him deal with his frustration that there Teachers rely heavily on guest speakers, Including clergymen, funeral directors, coroners, estate planners and life insurance sales-, men. Field trips to funeral homes and cemeteries are common. One class went-to Chicago to view the King Tut exhibit. IN ALL local courses, Dr. Ku-bler-Ross' five stages of death are discussed.

They are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Until recently, "the discussion of death was taboo. i "People never have come to terms with death. It's been avoided in the 20th century. Death is a bad word," said Jean Wylder, who will teach a one-credit "Death and Grieving" course this summer for the University of Iowa.

"Death is un-American. We don't even like to get old," added Continued from Page 1A could tell that it would have everyday impact on what I do. It helps me to understand their legal problems if. I can understand their grief problems. "What it boils down to is it helped me be a better listener.

Rev. Whitmer said the diverse membership of the group demonstrates that persons who want to help grieving Individuals exist in all fields. "All of us are coming at the group from different places, but we accept that." ''He not Jboxv being born is busy dying. Bob Dylan By Jim Ritter of the Times A fascination with death and studying it in schools and colleges has spread to the Quad-Cities. At least three colleges and two high schools offer courses on death and dying.

"This is the fastest growing subject in America," said Mike Loeh'rer, who teaches a class at Assumption High School, Davenport. OTHERS say the courses are an educational fad that will fade. But for the moment at least, death is one of the most popular subjects on campus. This summer, the Quad-Cities Graduate Studies Center will offer Grief may aggravate her feeling of loss. "Working in estates and trusts, we are involved in bereavement.

It's very important that it's not just a monetary relationship. (The group), makes me continually aware of the personal problems of other people and helps me avoid getting caught up in the monetary approach of relating to dollars." Jim Weerts said that unfavora-' ble books and newspaper articles have undermined belief in the funeral home as a place concerned Life The Birds' Takes Bizarre Twists Life Imitates Art an article in the MIT alternative student weekly 'Thursday Miss Ritchie said she since has been "threatened with physical violence and gang rape," was doused with beer at a party, and has been receiving obscene telephone calls. MIT President Jerome B. Wiesner said MIT was considering revoking 'Thursday's' use of its name and facilities. Thursday apologized, but said It would refuse to be censored.

In the meantime, at least one author is suffering a twinge of guilt. "I tried to contact all the people on the list to apologize for it being in print and to say that's not what was important to me when I was with you," Miss Ritchie said. Shotgun Blast Greets Friendship TERRELL, Tex. (UPI) Floyd Stephens was "Just one real nice kid" who wanted to Invite an elderly recluse to a church play. Leonard Burson was a retired mechanic who was known to sit for hours on his porch with a loaded shotgun across his legs.

According to police, the 14-year-old Stephens Friday asked his friends to wait for him while he talked Burson into coming to a church play. As Stephens approached the door, a shotgun was thrust through a window and fired, killing the boy. Less than an hour later, Burson, 64, lay dead Inside the barricaded house 'beside his shotgun. Two police officers also were wounded In the short siege. Stephens was graduated from the eighth grade last week.

He had a part In the church play. Police said apparently Burson shot without provocation. ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (UPI) Flocks of birds, apparently confused by unseasonably cool weather, have swarmed into six homes in northern and central California, and the attacks seem to be moving to the south. The birds have dived down the chimneys of homes, beginning in northern California's Shasta County last week.

Similar Incidents were reported in Los Gatos, near San Francisco, and in Visalia before birds swarmed into a home here. Orinthologists say the birds may have been upset by cool weather, which has killed the insects they feed on. Connie Spain of Visalia told sheriff's deputies hundreds of birds with "black skinny tail feathers and beady little eyes" flew down her chimney, piling 10 to 12 feet deep at the bottom. Santos Saldivar of Arroyo Grande said they "sound like thunder, like a small earthquake. I thought this kind of thing only happened in movies like 'The Birds'." The reference was to the Alfred Hitchcock movie in which thousands of birds attacked people, The movie was filmed along the central California coast.

Sex And The Single Student CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (UPI) Roxanne Ritchie and Susan Gilbert kissed and told. And now the heat Is on. The two Juniors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology wrote a "Consumer Guide to MIT Men," which rated the sexual performance of 36 male students they claimed they slept with, In II i.