The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 22

22 The Boston Globe Tuesday, February -J, k. 'ff 5 i it- I 1 1 i Senate stands pat on drinking at 19 by 19-to-10 vote ft REP. WILLIAM BENSON 4 money for smaller cities, towns SEN. JOHN KING switched to Senate seat They're freshmen in the Legislature One of them asked the governor if he believed the public would favor a 21-year-old drinking age if the issue were put on a statewide referendum ballot "Absolutely," the governor replied, adding that he would have no objection to such a referendum. During the drinking age debate on Beacon Hill, several proposals have been made for such a referendum.

For the past two weeks, hundreds of students from area colleges and high schools have been converging on the State House to express their opposition to the drinking age increase. The orderly manner in which they have attempted to persuade individual legislators has won praise from the lawmakers but, according to one of them, "I really don't think too many minds were changed." The legal drinking age in Massachusetts has been 18 since 1973, when it was dropped from age 21. Proponents of drinking at 18 argued that if young men were old enough to serve in the Vietnam conflict they were also old enough to drink alcoholic DRINKING AGE Continued from Page 1 The next step would probably be a conference committee to resolve the differences. The original House version, which was passed last week by a vote of 109 to 44, calls for an immediate increase in the state's legal drinking age to 19 and then a phased-in increase over two years to 2L The legislative stalemate is likely to end up in a conference committee, consisting of three lawmakers from each chamber, to thrash out the differences between the two bills. Gov.

Edward J. King, a strong supporter of raising the drinking age, has said he would sign the House version of the legislation, but he has been noncommittal on the milder Senate version. On Saturday, King said he might accept a compromise of a drinking age of 20. Discussing the issue with a group of high school students on Friday, the governor said. There is no doubt it will be raised.

How soon and to what limit, we don't know, but the trend is up." The students the governor spoke to were attending a leadership seminar at the Sheraton Boston Hotel All high school sophomores, they represented 111 high schools across the state. Gov. King gets a hug instead of a handshake from Linda Beth McSherry, 5, during Washington's Birthday reception at State House. (Globe photo by Paul Connell). King brings back a holiday tradition N.H.

push underway to raise drinking age to the State House dent" as a springboard and soapbox. He is 30 years old, single, and an attorney who worked as a legislative assistant to former liberal US Rep. Michael Harrington (D-Salem). He ran Rep. Barney Frank's campaign for the House when the Back Bay Boston liberal Democrat first ran in 1972.

He ran a $6500-campaign that depended heavily upon his nine brothers and sisters. According to Barrett, his campaign workers visited every family twice in the three major towns in his district. He easily defeated incumbent Rep. Nils Nordberg (R-Reading). Barrett said he got The Message from the voters.

"I'm going to be terribly disappointed if the Legislature doesn't make substantial progress on cutting taxes and spending," he said. However, he said he was surprised during his campaign at how "unselfish" his constituents-to-be were about wanting to see cuts without making people suffer. There is a rare consensus out there (among the voters), and I think everyone can now afford to go against certain conventional interests in his district, so I hope we can do it," said Barrett Rep. William Benson (D-Leverett), is another single, 30-year-old newcomer, a former health planner in Western Massachusetts. He wants to begin channeling development resources that have been going mostly to the big cities to smaller cities and towns in the western part of the state.

Rep. Barbara Cochran (D-Dedham), who is 39, and the vice president of the House freshmen, was a child abuse investigator for the district attorney of Norfolk County. She has committed herself to vote "the way the town votes," on major issues. Of all the new House members, none can boast a more unusual former job than Rep. Theodore C.

Speliotis (D-Danvers). He was working at the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, telling the story of United States immigration to elementary schools in the New York metropolitan area. FRESHMEN Continued from Page 21 John G. King (D-Danvers), the move was less traumatic. None of them had held extra-pay House leadership positions.

The other new senators are Sen. John P. Burke (D-Holyoke), Sen. Paul D. Harold (D-Quincy and Sen.

Robert M. Hunt (D-New Bedford). In the September Democratic primaries, Harold upset former Sen. Arthur H. Tobin (D-Quin-cy), the mayor of Quincy, by promising to be a full-time legislator, and Hunt squeaked by former Sen.

George Rogers (D-New Bedford), who had been convicted and sent to jail for accepting bribes, by 346 votes. Neither had a difficult time in the November general elections. As a group, the new senators range all over the ideological terrain, as do their 22 new House colleagues. Their impact on the Seriate has yet to be tested. The 22 House freshmen have had a test of sorts.

Fifteen favored the House rules changes which, if they had been successful, would have significantly reduced the power of the Speaker of the House and made the selection of committee chairmen more democratic. State Rep. Michael J. Barrett (D-Read-ing), who was elected president of the House Class of '79, says he thinks the new legislators are more progressive than previous incoming classes. "We make up only one-eighth of the smaller 160-member House, but we provided 25 percent of the votes for rules reform," he said.

"I think that is an omen for the future. "I think as a group, the House freshmen are a sort of good-government coalition," cutting right across ideological lines. Presidents of the House freshman classes have no official function and no special clout. So why did Barrett want the title? "Why do people want to be president of their classes in college?" he asked rhetorically. However, some of his colleagues see him as a comer on Beacon Hill, fully able to use the slender vanity of "class presi school after classroom hours, but at least one principal privately acknowledges he has problem drinkers in his high school who may even drink at school.

"We can throw those kids out but that doesn't do much fot their problem," the Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. Armed with grim statistics on highway deaths and teenage alcoholism, educators and highway officials plan to push hard to get the Legislature to raise New Hampshire's drinking age- Gov. Hugh Gallen has called for a uniform drinking age in New England to prevent alcohol runs across state borders, but most supporters of changing the age acknowledge they only expect to raise the age from 18 to 19 because of intense pressure from bar owners, private colleges and young people. Maine changed its drinking age to 20 two years ago, and Massachusetts lawmakers have yet to determine whether principal says, "and we can't control what the kids do when they are not here." Neal Andrews, deputy commissioner of education, says drinking problems have even hit New Hampshire grade schools. Law enforcement officials, while concerned with drinking in the schools, say they want the age changed to reverse what they see as a trend in highway deaths among young people.

John Meserve, a state highway traffic accident analyst, says in the last five years, 121 deaths have been caused by drunken drivers under 21 accounting for more than 30 percent of the alcohol-related deaths in that time particularly grisley when you consider that those under 21 represent only 10 percent of the drivers. event is likely to continue. "This is one of the wisest decisions I've made," he told the crowd, then smiled and added in apparent references to troubles he has been having with some of his appointments: "Of course, I did have one decision that was not so good." Before the singing, an estimated 400 members of the National Guard and 264 members of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, the oldest military unit in the Western Hemisphere, greeted the governor. The 215th Army National Guard Band of Fall River provided music, including a closing rendition of "For Boston" that pleased King, a graduate of Boston College where that is the school song. Those who attended the reception received copies of King's proclamation declaring yesterday to be "George Washington's Day." James Lynch, the captain-commanding of the Ancients, recalled that it was once easier to lure a crowd for the occasion when governors stood for election every two years instead of every four.

The 1966 election marked the end of the two-year term. "Bringing back something that has been discontinued is a difficult thing," he said. For instance, one of the things that disappeared during the event's hiatus was a list of participating organizations that could be called upon to turn out members. Making Washington's Birthday a Monday-only holiday also has hurt the occasion, Lynch noted, ensuring that more people will be away when it is held. Lynch for one welcomed the return of the pomp that his company thrives on.

King, Lynch said, "is probably trying desperately to restore some of the traditional elements of our society that have been lost. This is one of them. And more people care for these kinds of things than we know." Added Ronald C. Brinn, King's chief spokesman: "We've revived it, now we're going to make it succeed." By Walter V. Robinson Globe Staff To the strains of martial music and the -sparkle of highly polished brass on dress uniforms, some of the ceremony missing state government for several years returned yesterday to the State House.

The occasion was the resurrection by Gov. Edward J. King of the traditional Washington's Birthday reception in the Hall of Flags, an event once so popular with the public that gubernatorial right hands needed medical attention after the large crowds had departed. King had no such problem yesterday. In addition to the 700 uniformed visitors who mustered for the occasion, only about 1000 others, some of them representing veterans organizations, went through the receiving line to greet King and his wife, Jody.

But numbers alone do not measure success. "It was the nicest one I've ever been to, nice and warm and homey," remarked State Treasurer Robert Q. Crane. What moved Crane and many others present for the Hall of Flags ceremony was the performance by a singing group from the Wrentham State School. With Mental Health Comr.

Robert Okin standing beside King, the singing group, accompanied by a group of their deaf colleagues using sing language, entertained for 20 minutes, singing several songs including, "You Light Up My Life," "Getting to Know You" and "God Bless America." King was impressed. "You've made this day what we all wanted it to be," King told the beaming singers. "I can see what you can do for yourselves if you're given the chance. I intend to see that that chance continues." The annual reception was discontinued after 1971 by Gov. Francis W.

Sargent, Crane and others recalled, because few people showed up. Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, who had little use for pageantry, tried it in 1975, his first year in office, but then did away with the event. King, for his part, indicated that the Interim insurance head soon the new age will be 19 or 21, with Gov.

Edward King strongly supporting 21. Vermont's Legislature is pondering a bill to raise the age to 20, with Gov. Richard Snelling saying he is against any change. But in New Hampshire, where the second largest source of state revenue is the sale of alcohol, educators and lawmakers agree raising the age to 19 to keep alcohol out of high schools is the best they can hope for. "We will take age 19, 20 or 21, but we are behind age 19 because it has the best chance of passage," said Elinor Friedman, of the New Hampshire Association of High School Principals.

Friedman says by passing age 19, lawmakers would prevent 13, 14 and 15-year-old high school students from getting alcohol from their 18-year-old peers. Joseph Diament, head of the state Office of Substance Abuse, says that alcohol consumption has increased considerably in the five years since the drinking age was lowered from 21. "About 75 percent of high school students are exposed to alcohol, 50 percent partake of it, and 20 percent develop problem drinking behavior by the time they are 18. They aren't yet addicted to alcohol, but the problems are there," Diament says. School officials say the majority of high school drinking goes on outside the Globe State House Bureau Gov.

Edward J. King is expected to name an interim state insurance commissioner either today or tomorrow to replace Stephen F. Clifford, who resigned last Friday after a month of controversy over his selection and background. King's choice yesterday was unknown, but one administration official said he would not be surprised to see the governor pick someone from within the Insurance Division. There also was no resolution yesterday of King's appointment of Thomas DiSilva, 63, of Lexington, as an associate commissioner of the Metropolitan District Commission.

Last Friday, Ronald C. Brinn, King's chief spokesman, said an inquiry into DiSilva's background by State Police did not have the same urgency as the Clifford check. A week ago, The Globe reported that DiSilva is president of a company that was convicted of failure to pay state taxes and a partner in another firm that owes the city of Somerville $24,000 in back real estate taxes. Clifford's resignation, described by Brinn as a mutual decision between Clifford and King, followed disclosures that Clifford failed to list a real estate purchase on a state ethics form filed recently and that he was involved in real estate dealings with George Davis, a Boston lawyer who was convicted last year in the Boston Symphony road arson-for-hire conspiracy case. In one of the transactions, according to records at the Boston Rent Control Administration, Clifford was used as a straw by Davis and his family to help evict a tenant, in apparent violation of rent-control regulations.

His successor, The Globe reported on Saturday, may come from among three career employees of the Insurance Division or be an insurance agent or state legislator. The three employees are Victor A. Fanikos, an attorney involved in producing the so-called "easy to read" insurance policies; Michael J. Sabbagh, another division attorney who handled the day-to-day operation of the division while Clifford was preoccupied with resolving questions about his appointment; and James H. Hunt, the director of the Division's State Rating Bureau.

Also mentioned as possible interim commissioners are Rep. Raymond M. LaFontaine (D-Gardner), the House chairman of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Insurance, and Normand Dion, who is president of a Lynn insurance agency. No holiday in automobile showrooms By Richard J. O'Donnell and William R.

Cash Globe Staff They still sell cars on Washington's Birthday. Lots of them. Thousands of potential customers, and quite a few browsers, too, flocked to Greater Boston car dealers yesterday for the annual Washington's Birthday Open House. "We sold 27 cars," said Ricky Smith, owner of a Pontiac-Subaru dealership in Weymouth. "Washington's Birthday is our big day.

Take last year, for example. We sold 20 cars on Washington's Birthday even though everybody was still shoveling out from under the big blizzard." Smith said that on an average day he sells three cars, and on an average weekend, about nine. Loren White vice president of Clark and White, 1083 Commonwealth reported "an awful lot of traffic." "Lots of families," he said, "mostly looking. We were jammed between 2 and 5 p.m. That's when we always have the big rush on Washington's Birthday." Rich Presti, general manager of Smyly Buick, Broadway, Maiden, said his place was packed all day.

"We're selling as many big cars as smaller models," he said. At Columbia Pontiac, Morrissey boulevard, Dorchester, a spokesman reported he was "very busy; lots of families." He identified himself as the general manager, but was in such a rush to get back on the floor he neglected to give his name. Henry Seanzio, general manager of the Fuller Oldsmobile Agency in Watertown, reported "excellent" business. He said 15 new and seven used cars were sold by 2 p.m., and the day's total would top the 35-car mark. "This is my second visit," she said.

"I wanted Stephen to see it. It's willow green, and it's beautiful." In bygone days, when most of the major car dealers had showrooms there, Commonwealth avenue was jammed on Washington's Birthday. Quite a few of the dealers have moved elsewhere in recent years, but the avenue is still a busy spot on the holiday. "The crowds have been larger than previous years," reported James Sullivan, general sales manager at Atamian Ford, 930 Commonwealth av. "By 1:30, we had sold 10 cars mostly smaller sizes like Fairmonts and Granadas." Robert Mariano, general manager of Back Bay Motors, an American Motors agency at 750 Commonwealth said the showroom traffic had been excellent.

"We'll outdo last year," he said, "and last year was a very good year. Most of the customers were married couples with their youngsters. By noon, 12 cars were sold." William and June Matthews of South Weymouth were interested in a Subaru. "We've got a 1973 Plymouth wagon," said the husband. "My wife's gone back to work as a nurse.

She wants a smaller car. We're both off today. Washington's Birthday was the perfect day for us to go car-shopping." The holiday shoppers were mostly married couples looking for new cars to replace their old ones. John Noone of Whitman said this was the first time he had been "lured by George Washington to the car dealers." He was shopping with his wife, Patricia, and their 18-month-old son, Patrick. "We can't make up our minds," said Patricia.

"It will be either a Pontiac or a Nova. We've got the prices. Now we're going to compare them and see which car is the best bargain." Kathy Albert of Holbrook took her young son Stephen to her car dealer to get a peek at the new Grand Prix she had just bought. Vt IT 7 erf Ilium tT1 lirliiinitrriliTrt'MTiifr'r hin mm mri "Washington's Birthday is a magic day Laurel Lawson of Pembroke peeks inside Pontiac Firebird Trans Am on display at Ricky Smith automobile agency in Weymouth. Globe photo by Jack O'Connell) for car dealers hereabouts, he "Sales always jump." i.