The Hays Daily News from Hays, Kansas • Page 5

Generation A page by and about the generations i Contributions to this page are welcome. The deadline for submitting materials is 5 p.m. Monday. Send them to Generatipns, The Hays.Daily News, P.O. Box 8B7, Hays, ks Q7601, or e-mail fhem to To advertise on this page, call the advertising department at (785) 628-1081 or e-mail WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 25,2004 THE HAYS DAILY NEWS A5 ASSOCIATED PRESS A flock of birds flies near the image of a leaping ballet dancer on a billboard Feb.

19 near downtown Kansas City, Mo. The billboard is an advertisment for the Kansas City Ballet. Get ready to jump: Here's why we have a Feb. 29 Who put the leap in leap year? We all know that a leap day is added every fourth year at the end of February in most presidential election years. But why? The problem is that the calendar year of 365 days does not correspond exactly to the tropical year of 365.242190 days, the actual time it takes for the Earth to rotate around the sun.

Part of a day is left over each year. Julius Caesar introduced the leap year in the Julian calendar in 46 B.C. Around 10 B.C., it was ob- vipus that the priests hi charge of computing the calendar-shad added leap years every three years four decreed.by ect this error, no were addeduntilr 8 A.D. that, every fourth year until the Grego-" rian calendar was introduced. The Julian calendar, averaged over four years, produced 365.25 days a year, making it too long by .0078 day a year, or roughly three- fourths of a day over a century.

From Julius Caesar's time to the 16th century, the first day of spring shifted from March 23 to March 11. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII shifted the calendar to make the first day of spring March 21 and introduced a new system of leap days. Rather than inserting a leap day every fourth year, 97 leap days were introduced every 400 years. The change, averaging 365.2425 days a year, came close to the tropical year. The Gregorian calendar, which is used almost universally around the world, was fine-tuned.

Now, leap are added every four years except in turn-of-the-century years divisible by 100 but not 400. Using this rule, 1900 was not a leap year, but 2000 was. The switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1582 required a loss or leap over of 10 days between the actual time of year and the traditional time. The pope decreed that the day after Oct. 4,1582, would be Oct.

15,1582. Much of the populace opposed the change. They feared landlords would cheat them out of a week and a half's rent. The leap over only affected the Catholic countries of France, Spam, Portugal, Italy and the Catholic country- Delbert Marshall GENERATIONS states of Germany. Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland followed in a year or two, while Hungary adopted the leap year in 1587.

The rest of Europe did not follow suit for more than a century. In 1700, the Protestant German countries adopted the Gregorian reform when the calendar trailed the seasons by 11 days. England and the American colonies finally I if in 1752, adjusting the by skipping from VH Wednesday, Sept. 2,1752, to Thursday; Sept. 14,1752.

The change resulted in widespread riots with the people demanding to be given back the 11 days. Sweden followed in 1753. Russia did not accept the Gregorian calendar until 1918, when Jan. 18 was followed by Feb. 14.

In fact, the Russians and Iranians follow a more accurate version that will remain in synchronization with the Gregorian calendar for thousands of years. Because leap years are seen as unusual events that disturb the orderly time line, certain folklore and superstitions have been attached to them. Leap years, according to folk tradition, were the only times women could propose marriage to men. This belief was termed "The Ladies' Privilege." It's unclear whether the privilege applies to Feb. 29 only or the whole year.

A variant on the tradition held that a man so entreated either had to accept the proposal or pay the refused woman a substantial forfeit for turning her down, such as a silk gown or 100 pounds. In another twist, if the girl failed to wear a flannel petticoat, which was partly visible under her dress, the man would be spared both the fine and bad luck that normally followed. The origms of The.Ladies' Privilege definitely ohe (Version hap St cbrnpjainihg to Patrick about'women not being able to ask the men they fancied to marry them. According to folklore, St. Patrick initially offered a seven-year interval, but St.

Bridget negotiated it down to four years coinciding with leap year. Superstition decrees that Feb. 29 is an excellent date to begin important undertakings or business ventures. Dame Fortune also will smile on children born during that 24-hour period. This information was gleaned from Wolfram Research; the U.S.

Naval Observatory and www. snopes.com. Delbert Marshall, Hays, is a member of the Generations Advisory Group. CENTENNIAL NATIONWIDE MORTCiACH-CORPORATION Serving Your Loan Needs 205 E. 13th Suite Hays, KS Tracy Summers, www.lstcentennial.com We would like to take this opportunity to explain what loan we can do for you.

For a free confidential, no obligation consultation, please call our loan officers Tracy Summers, Peggy J. Hen-man, Stan Schremmer, Mickey Owen, Dave Brin and Landy Keller 785-623-4462 Toll Free 866-623-4462 Today is Ash Wednesday, Feb. 25, the 56th day of 2004. There are 310 days left in the year. Figure skating while Nancy Kerrigan won the silver and Chen Lu of China the bronze; Tonya Harding came in 8th.

Five years ago: A jury in Jasper, Texas, sentenced white supremacist John William King to death for chaining James Byrd a black man, to a pickup truck and dragging him to pieces. Israel's Supreme Court blocked the extradition of American teenager Samuel Sheinbein to the United States to face charges stemming from a grisly slaying in Maryland. One year ago: Chief U.N. Weapons inspector Hans Blix said Iraq was showing new signs of real cooperation, but President Bush was dismissive, predicting Saddam Hussein would try to "fool the world one more time." Roh Moo-hyun became South Korea's new president. Today's Birthdays: Talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael is 61.

Actress Veronica Webb is 39. Actor Alexis Denisof is 38. Rashida Jones is 28. Actor Justin Berfield in the is 18. Actors Oliver and James Phelps Potter" movies) are 18.

Thought for Today: Today in History By The Associated Press Today's Highlight in History: On Feb. 25, 1793, the department heads of the U.S. government met with President Washington at his home for the first Cabinet meeting oh record. On this date: In 1570, Pope Pius excommunicated England's Queen Elizabeth I. In 1836, inventor Samuel Colt patented his revolver.

In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution, giving Congress the power to levy and collect income taxes, was decjared in In 1964, Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) became world heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Sonny Liston in Miami Beach. In' 1986, President Ferdinand E. Marcos fled the Philippines after 20 years of rule in the wake of a tainted election; Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency. In 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, 28 Americans were killed when an Iraqi Scud missile hit a U.S. is strongest there is least regard barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Ten years ago: At the Winter Olympics in Norway, Oksana Paiul of Ukraine won the. gold medal in ladies' for human freedom." Herbert Spencer, British philosopher (1820-1903). Newspapers in Education Sponsored By: Newspaper Activity Students love to create their own one-sheet newspapers in lieu of an approaching social studies or science report. Once they get over the'main hurdle, LAYOUT, the becomes pure creative iov. tCf Hardware 3300 Vine 650-0125 A Calendar Monday-Friday Meal Site reservations for senior citizens age 6) or older must be made the day before eating at the Hays Meal Site, 204 E.

Eighth. For reservations or cancellations, call Alice Munsch, director, at (785) 628-6644 between 9 a.m. and noon. Hays Senior Center cards and billiards, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., 204 E.

Eighth. For more information, call (785) 628-6644. Thursday, Feb. 26 Senior Center, bingo, 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 2 "Deep Simple Breathing and Relaxation Techniques for Stress Reduction," noon to 1 p.m.

and 7 to 8 p.m., sponsored by Holistic Solutions at the Center for Health Improvement, 2500 Canterbury. Back when 25 years ago this week A U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare report shows that people 65 and older account for 29 percent of all public and private health spending in 1977 but represent only 11 percent of the population. Attorney General Griffin Bell says he favors amending the Constitution to limit a president to a single six-year term. President Carter asks Congress for the power to order gasoline rationing, weekend gas station closings and other mandatory conservation measures.

50 years ago this week Innoculations of school childen with an anti-polio serum developed by Dr. Jonas Salk begin in Pittsburgh under the auspices of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. President Eisenhower prepares a program of pay raises, insurance and other benefits for federal workers expected to cost the government $350 million a year. Harvard botanists declare that corn originated in the Western hemisphere and not in Asia, as previously believed. This conclusion was reached after a year's study of fossilized corn pollen found in an excavation in Mexico City.

submitted by Arris Johnson, Hays, a member of the Generations Advisory Group. Kanws Trivia Q. bmrf was tni "railroad station in Newton modeled? -3ug ui esnou 'V submitted by Arris Johnson, Hays, a member of the Generations Advisory Group. AARP Kansas members spend the day in Topeka The chartered bus was here at 6 a.m. Feb.

18. AARP members 21 from Hays and Ellis and four from St. Francis boarded the bus headed for Topeka. We were going to be part of the AARP Advocacy Day at the Capitol sponsored by AARP Kansas. It still was dark outside as we traveled east on Interstate 70.

When the sun rose, it looked like a soft orange ball, softened by the cloud cover very beautiful. When we reached Salina, the bus pulled off at the truck stop. Seven AARP members from Minneapolis and Concordia joined us. Back on the road, bus captain Dee Bodine gave everyone a bright, red T-shirt to wear. The white letters on the shirt announced "AARP the Power to Make it Better." Dee handed out the agenda sheet that helped us "bone up" on the issues AARP is promoting.

We also received a neat' pedometer that records the number of steps taken. There were at least six Greyhound buses gathering seniors from all corners of Kansas. A bouquet of sunflowers in our bus window helped us tell ours at a glance. Large groups of seniors dressed in red advanced on the Capitol. Visits were made with representatives, some looked in on the legislative session in action and a lot of time was spent waiting in line.

The longest lines were found at the elevators and restrooms. Lunch was served in the Ramada Inn Regency Ballroom. It was very elegant. We were served a fancy sandwich lunch. The ballroom was full with everyone seat- ed at round tables.

The speaker asked everyone to stretch out their arms, pat the shoulders of those seated next to them, creat- Jim and Opal Flinn GENERATIONS ing a big circle hug so neat! Gov. Kathleen Sebelius addressed us. She was impressed. The sea of red made an impact. The governor understands the needs of Kansas seniors and will continue to support us.

All the speakers focused on the issues of affordable prescription drugs and support of home and community-based services. On the trip home, bus chattel- was relaxing, and everyone was tired but happy. Then a surprise! We stopped at the Russell Stover candy store at Abilene. Squeals of delight, like a bunch of kids. The tasting and shopping was fun.

At Salina, when we dropped off the Minneapolis and Concordia members, we took a group picture and wished Dee and Larry Bodine a happy 26th anniversary. It was a 12-hour trip packed full of opportunity to express our feelings on issues important to seniors and to develop lasting friendships and exchange ideas. Thanks, AARP Kansas, for making this day possible. Perhaps next year more seniors can take advantage of this great chance to visit our Capitol. Jim and Opal Flinn, Ellis, are members of the Generations Advisory Group.

A moment of remembrance Last Sunday afternoon, I went to the movie "Miracle" to relive that amazing, emotional Olympic hockey match. Our young USA team beat the veteran Soviet team 4-3 and eventually won the gold medal. I shed a tear or two at the end, just as I did in 1980, although my 1980s jumping frenzy is discouraged in today's theaters. In the late 1980s, Val and I took an October new England foliage tour, and we experienced rain, hail, sleet, snow and sunshine. GENERATIONS utleageriyawaitedoitf visito N.Y., to viSitShe hbckey arena where the momentous Olympic match had been played.

We walked into this famous arena, and although there was no ice, I was able to step down onto the rink floor. Suddenly, the coaches, players and frenzied crowd were all there in my mind's eye, and the whole event came rushing back. There I was, reliving one of the greatest moments in sports history, and I was a part of it, though only in strong, wishful spirit. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and even noted that an actor named Rogfr us'your of re- Harry Watts is chairman of the Generations Advisory Group. "TWO THUMBS WAY UP! A GREAT EPIC FILM." ijjySv I I (, I -N Apartments for seniors 62 or better Rent based on income On-site laundry Meals available Community room Centennial Towers 2502 Sherman Ave.

Hays, KS 785-625-6242 SIGN NEWMARKETILMS STARTS TODAY Dickinson Theatres MALL HAYS 628-1211 Show your SUPPORT for Smoke-Free ii. Restaurants in Hays at the February 26th City Commission meeting 7:00 p.m. at City Hall. Sponsored by Tobaeco Free Kansas Coalition.