The Oshkosh Northwestern from Oshkosh, Wisconsin • 1

-n Qshkosh Saturday, May 12, 2007 www.thenorthwestern.com 0 500 TODAY MS? AT WDM FOR THEIR ERRORS UWO baseball team bounces back from loss to UW-Stout with 7-4 victory over WhitewaterB1 Wmsm 1 -in Tulips add a touch of Dutch Oshkosh resident Juliette Sterkens fills her garden with flowers that remind her of her native Holland. PAGE A8 Long overlooked would-be female astronauts honored BY PATRICIA WOLFF of The Northwestern SHU-IING fflOU Of THE NOHTHWtSIERH Chat with llintz EIGHT MEMBERS OF THE MERCURY 13, from left to right, Sarah Lee Gorelick Ratley, Geraldine "Jerri" Sloan Truhill, Bernice Steadman, Rhea Allison Hurrle Woltman, Irene Leverton, Geraldyn first attempt to put women in space fizzled before it really got off the ground. It was a time when women in the group known as the Mercury 13 were undergoing rigorous physical tests to see if they had the right stuff to become astronauts. Doctors shot freezing water into their ears to see how quickly they recovered and suspended them in huge tanks of water to see how they handled sensory deprivation. The women had to swal- In the 1960s, long before Sally Ride and Christa McAuliffe, aspiring female astronauts were asked their measurements, favorite colors, and why they didn't just get married and have children.

Very few people took their love of flight and the offer to risk their lives for their country seriously. So, it was probably not a big shock when the Jerrie Cobb, Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen and Myrtle Thompson Cagle talk about their experience as pioneers who trained in secret to become the first female astronauts in the 1960s during a panel at Reeve Memorial Union at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Friday. Got a question for State Rep. Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh? Your chance to talk with low rubber tubes so their stomach acids could be tested. Geraldyn "Jerrie" Cobb and seven other members of the group known as the Mercury 13, who quietly trained in the 1960s to become astronauts, only to have their hopes dashed when the program was scrapped, are being honored at MERCURY 13, PAGE A3 the freshman legislator is at 3 p.m.

on Thursday. FORUMS.THENORTH WESTERN.COM ASYLUM POINT LIGHTHOUSE RESTORED -1 Animal abuse Oshkosh police have arrested a 61 -year-old man on suspicion of shooting and killing a cat with a .22 caliber firearm. PAGE A3 Utilities hike Water bills in Oshkosh will rise 16 percent in the wake of the Wisconsin Public Service Commission's approval of a rate increase. PAGE A3 Family files Cabulance complaint City service vows to resolve issues BY KRISTA B. LEDBETTER of The Northwestern The family of a woman on kidney dialysis filed a police report against Oshkosh Cabulance when the transportation service failed to return a 90-year-old woman from medical treatment City officials say the switch to a new, computer-generated dispatch system has led to complaints about service they hope to have resolved soon.

Cabulance is a private company that contracts with the city to provide paratran-sit services. Company officials were not immediately available for comment Friday. Mary Desbrow said she's unlikely to put her 90-year-old mother on another Cabulance. Desbrow said her mother started kidney dialysis in the fall, and after repeated failed attempts to pick her up on time from the dialysis center, she's gotten fed up. "My mom needs to get picked up every day at 11 and is done at 3:30, Monday, Wednesday and CABULANCE, PAGE A7 AT A GLANCE City-provided transportation services for seniors and the disabled: The Oshkosh Transit System offers a half-fare program to all citizens 60 years and older.

Subsidized taxi service, Oshkosh Dial-A-Ride. Seniors must get an identification card, at no charge, from the Oshkosh Seniors Center. The Oshkosh Transit System provides ramp service on all regular routes in the city. Disabled passengers are also eligible for the half-fare program. Source: City of Oshkosh 3 SHU LING ZHOUOF THE NORTHWESTERN SCOTT LUDTKE trims the window panel for the restoration of the old lighthouse at Asylum Point Thursday in Oshkosh.

Pmally time to WLtie Grads grieve Commencement activities take place at Virginia Tech less than a month after gunman Seung-Hui Cho's deadly rampage. PAGE A4 Low ratings An Associated Press-lpsos poll finds only 35 percent of Americans approve of the Democratic-led Congress' performance since taking office.PAGE A4 Stamp prices First-class postage climbs to 41 cents Monday. PAGEA4 County restores, investigates history of lakeside landmark High 67 Low 39 Five-day forecastB5 BY BETHANY K. WARNER of The Northwestern A restoration of the Asylum Point lighthouse has become a beacon for research efforts to learn more about the site, which county officials are hoping could be community attraction. What began as a project to restore tuck pointing on the 30-foot lighthouse turned into a greater restoration effort, said Rob Way, director of the Winnebago County Parks.

"We reached a point where we feel confident that it's been restored to the point where it will hold up for many more years," Way said. "The lighthouse for a long time has been in need of restoration. We didn't realize that it was going to be this extensive until we got inside." The project has been under way for about two weeks and should wrap up early next week. Mostly sunny ON THE WEB aa Exclusive video on the renovation and history of the Asylum Point lighthouse WWW.THE N0RTHWESTERN.COM hope is to put up placards or display cases at the site to let visitors learn the history as well. Display cases and any efforts to relight the lighthouse would have to come from donations, he said.

The work on the lighthouse doesn't end the work that could happen at the site. Way said that the area around the lighthouse needs shoreline restoration and the brick and mortar on the lighthouse must be sealed. "With the restoration, it becomes much more of an attraction for the community," Way said. Bethany K. Warner: (920) 426-6668 or bwarnerthenorthwestern.com.

apart was not an option, he said, because it is. a landmark that people in the area identify with, and a location that does have local history. Research is still going on into the history of the lighthouse, but Way said that foundation of the building dates to a 1937 Works Progress Administration project Sometime around 1938 or 1939, Way said, the lighthouse was rejected by the Department of Transportation as a navigational light for the lake. Instead, the light was used during the 1940s as part of carp harvesting that occurred in that area. Exactly when that ended, or when the lighthouse was boarded up, isn't clear and is part of the ongoing research Way said.

Way said that once more of the history is known, the Way said that once work began on the lighthouse -with the work done by inmates from Winnebago Correctional Institute more things were discovered that needed to be done. In addition to the tuck pointing, Way said, part of the wooden upper part of the structure and the roof had to be replaced, the inside gutted, windows refitted and the metal cap roof re-manufactured and put back on. Way said it was unknown that the inside framing was rotting away until work began. The project is estimated to cost about $4,000, Way said. "We had no choice but to restore it at this point otherwise we would have seen it, in all likelihood, falling apart within the next five to ten years," Way said.

Letting the lighthouse fall Lottery A2 NationWorld A4 Obituaries OmroWinn Sports B1 TV Listings Advice B6 Business A7 Classified B10 Comics B4 Editorial A6 LifeStyle A8 www.tlioiiQrtliwestem.Goin COMING SUNDAY cat With prices at or near record highs in the area and across the nation, The Northwestern will take a look at the impact high gas prices are having on Oshkosh residents from all walks of life. 0" "40901 "51 81 7 ELfcfl Mil BiACEl TIE 24 to choose from! 1-800420-2277 Financing on 2007 Ford Focus No money down. Payments starting at 3Bl 3355 Jackson St. Certified Includes II OSHKOSH Your Hometown Padwrland Ford Dealer (920) 231-1610 Hours: 1 pm Sat 9 am-5 pm Service; 7 am-9 pm Sal. 8 am-1 pm (Conveniently located off Hwy.

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