Democrat and Chronicle du lieu suivant : Rochester, New York • Page 29

SUNDAY DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE. ROCHESTER, DECEMBER 11. 1983 29A Lit I .1 Democrat nnii (fhronidc Look for hawks to take control in U.S.S.R. Trouble in Cabbage Patch Rocky Fratto should retire VIEWPOINT OPEN FORUM home. With a shortage of consumer goods and a seriously ailing economy, Andropov appears to, have understood what a renewal of the arms race portended for the Soviet Union: The further weakening of the economy in the comsumer sector in favor of the military.

The signals he initially sent to Washington were misread by the Reagan Administration, which has maintained a no-compromise attitude on the Euromissiles as well as the reversal of the parity granted the Soviets at SALT I. At the very moment when intelligence reports indicate that a major power struggle is being played out inside the Kremlin, Reagan continues to refer to the U.S.S.R. as an "evil empire" and demeans their system. In turn, the Soviet hawks magnify traditional Russian fears and insecurities, pointing to the United States as a nation bent on the Soviet Union's demise. Even if Andropov survives the present crisis he will never bring Ustinov and Gromyko under his sway.

The upshot will be a Moscow far more intransigent than before, a renewal of the arms race, and the deployment of missiles in Eastern Europe and perhaps on our doorstep, in short, a complete return to the height of the Cold War a generation ago. The most seasoned Soviet specialists, George Kennan for one, have called for a saner policy on our part, only to go unheard in Washington. Should Moscow's hawks gain control we will ruefully look back on the short-lived Andropov Era as a missed opportunity to further the cause of detente. How ironic it will be if the head of the dreaded KGB turned out to be one of the few men who saw the possibility of moderation in his nations' dealings with the West. Sander A.

Diamond is chairman of the HumanitiesFine Arts Division at Keuka College and has visited the Soviet Union By Sander A. Diamond i i One year ago, I arrived in Moscow. President Brezhnev had just been entombed in the shadow of the Kremlin Wall The sprays of flowers over his grave were still fresh, their color sustained by the unusual springlike weather, The Andropov Era had just begun. Soviet citizens did not know what to expect. The former head of the secret police, the dreaded KGB, had come to the fore.

Under 17 years of Brezhnev's rule, life was predictable for the average Soviet citizen. A Russian friend told me that life would be very different in the coming years, perhaps a return to Stdinism with the KGB chief at the helm. A year has passed. Al indications point to one conclusion: The Andropov Era is about to end. In fact, a case can be made that it began in name only.

Andropov's health had been poor for several years. He had a heart attack in the mid-1960s and later reportedly had a pacemaker implanted. Today, his wherebouts are known to only a handful of people at die top. He was last seen in public on Auguit 18. Clearly, he is very ill.

It is rumored in Moscow that he is suffering from kidney failure. Evidence suggests that a transition in the Soviet leadership is under way. From the outset, Ancropov's political powers were constrained by the realities of Soviet politics. Within Jie ruling Politburo there are factions hawks and doves, economic reformers and proponents of the status quo. A delicate baknee exists between the party, the governmjnt, and the powerful Red Army.

Yuri Andropov has had to contend with each of thew powerful blocks and has apparently lost to the hawks and opponents of economic refoim. Astrology persists despite bad track record I would like to comment on these Cabbage Patch dolls. I think that parents are setting a terrible example for their children and I think that we should boycott these dolls because of what they are doing to the public. I understand that there have been pregnant women knocked down and people beating each other up over these dolls. Sad commentary When the American people put a Cabbage Patch doll ahead of the Christ Child to celebrate Christmas it is a very sick and sad commentary on our values.

Beware of special interests The New York Farm Bureau in conjunction with a group of militant growers is attempting to use an unjust state law for processors to set apple prices based on what growers want. This will result in higher consumer prices and in the long run hurt a thriving apple industry as consumers will buy fewer higher priced apple products. The processors can only set prices according to the supply and consumer's demand for apples. It is a perfect example of how people wrongfully try to use government to benefit themselves at the expense of everyone. That includes farmers whose freedom to act as individuals is restricted.

Just like all other special interest groups, the Farm Bureau and these few farmers provide a nice excuse to cover the real reason for their actions. The reason is growers want to rely on constant good prices for security, instead of working to increase their production. The excuse for the law is that growers can't make enough to live on and don't have any say in pricing. Hogwash! They do have a say with what they grow and their actions say that things have been good, because in the last few years many thousands of acres of new apple orchards have been planted. Wouldn't we find a new job if ours didn't pay well enough? Never trust what special interest groups tell you! Let workers pay With the Blue Cross rates going up about 20 percent, it means very little to the working person if the employer will pay 90 percent of the increased cost.

However, it does affect employment, as the employee's benefits are getting out of hand, whereas the employer is careful in hiring new help. Why not let the people pay for their own benefits, then they won't have the attitude of "what do we and maybe it could slow down the increases Fratto should retire I am very tired of reading in the newspaper about Rocky Fratto 's attempt to come back in boxing. Rocky Fratto has canceled more fights and he has had more arm injury excuses than he has actually had fights. I have been around the Rochester boxing scene for many years now. I love this great sport, and I truly believe that Rocky does not have the heart for this sport.

Certainly his many excuses do not help him with the public and his career, and perhaps now would be the time for him to hang up the gloves and to retire. City needs more help I want to thank the Ways and Means Committee on upping the money to the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. At least that is good that the arts won't suffer in Rochester. And I am happy to see that they are planning on giving $2.5 million to the city in help. But I wonder if they can help the city a little bit more because they need it and because our education is important to the Rochester area students.

Man has rights, too I have just listend to Toby Gold's interview with James McCuller and there was no mention of the rights of the young man who could have been killed if Officer Whitmore had not acted. Why not? Doesn't he too have rights? Not justified I don't think that James McCuller is justified in saying that the police executed his daughter, because if the police officer had not taken action as he did that young man could have been dead. Let allies contribute I see where the military budget is going to go up by $56 billion to $305 billion which tells me we are in an arms race. Now, whether we like it or not, somebody has to pay for that and the American people will have to pay that in taxes of some kind or some sort. Now the other nations of the world who I believe should contribute more to this than they are contributing to their defense-after all, the western European countries' lifeline depends on this too-they have to contribute too.

Now many of them are reluctant to do so-their economy is so bad and they don't want to increase their military spending. We have over 300,000 men in Europe which While Andropov has been viewed by the Reagan Administration as a hardliner on East-West relations, his colleagues on the Politburo held a different view. Andropov attempted to reform and modernize the ailing economy. These efforts were blocked by powerful opponents, including Baibakov, chairman of the State Economic Planning Commission, Foreign Minister Gromyko, and Defense Chief Ustinov. They represent a hardcore group who oppose domestic modernization and moderation in Moscow's dealings with the West Thus, from the beginning, Andropov's options were limited.

He sent signals to the Reagan Administration concerning the possibility of a return to detente and accommodation on the Euromissile issue but was blocked by Gromyko and Ustinov. The handling of the Korean jetliner incident suggests that the Red Army and the party hardliners have come to the fore. Full support was given to the head of the Soviet Far Eastern Defense Region, Gen. Govorov, and the world was warned that it could happen again. The struggle between the hawks and the doves also was clear in the days prior to the Soviet walkout of the medium-range missile talks.

While the Soviet negotiator Kvitsinski indicated a slight tilt in the Soviet position in favor of compromise, a recent letter to West German Chancellor Kohl indicated otherwise. While such confusion may suggest an effort by the Kremlin to confuse the West, a more plausible conclusion is that a powerful struggle is under way as Moscow prepares for a transition at the top. While hardly a dove by our standards, Andropov favored moderation in dealings with the West and economic reform at the clarity of thought that only astrologers possess that major earthquakes would crush sinning mankind. Once again the dismal news and consequent panic spread. Shelters were dug, days of repentance and atonement were proclaimed, palaces closed their doors, the people fasted and prayed.

All this proved to be very effective, for the planetary conjunction did occur and the predicted catastrophies were averted. In 1524, again, according to astrological insights, the world was going to be submerged in a massive deluge. There is reason to believe that this did not come to pass. Modern astrologers have been no less influential and successful, and their logic has been just as sharp. They have claimed for example, that the atomic bomb was developed because of the discovery of Pluto in the 1930's.

Reason: the bomb used Plutonium! It is not possible for ordinary science to fathom such profoundities. Other astrologers, provoked more by current events than by stellar secrets, converted the U.S. horoscope into an horror-scope and declared that because of the motion of Uranus the pre-eminence of the U.S. in the needed to help better care in the communities of New York City, even the successful transfer of patients upstate and elsewhere will suffer. That is because the scale of the problem is so big in New York City that it is bound to color everyone's perceptions." The logic of these statements is inescapable.

One cannot argue the need nor the magnitude of the problems of New York City, nor can one deny the fact that funds are required to address these problems. At the same time, one cannot deny the needs of the rest of the state, nor the fact that there is not enough money to go around to support needed community services as currently allocated. The irony is that there appears to be enough money in the total mental health system for needed community services; however, due to the current organization of the New York State Office of Mental Health, the allocation of funds does not necessarily support the most needed or effective programs. With this in mind, the solution of these problems will not be found in reviving the "upstate-downstate issue" or attacking New York City's programs through the rose-Colored glasses of parochialism. The solution to this dilemma is in a major effort to change the current and basic system of the New York State Office of Mental Health; organizationally, operationally and its funding patterns.

262-2080 Open Forum is part of the Speaking Out page in your Sunday Democrat and Chronicle. Readers are invited to tell us their ideas, observations, pet peeves, fresh discoveries, suggestions and opinions. It's as easy as dialing 262-2080, the Democrat and Chronicle's Open Forum number. To encourage a free, full range of discussion, names and addresses will be withheld from publication but must be provided for our records. Callers should speak slowly, clearly and briefly, confining their remarks to a maximum of two minutes.

Contributions will be chosen according to merit, space, timeliness and originality. Unfair personal attacks or complicated consumer complaints will not be accepted. I would say costs us pretty close to between 50 and 75 billion dollars a year. This comes out of American taxpayers. And I am just trying to figure out where this money is going to come from.

Now, the Republican philosophy is rugged individualism and that was a philosophy for the 1930s where there was no welfare, no food stamps-just nothing at all. If you didn't save enough money for your retirement, you just worked 'til you died. Maybe we will have to go back to that. Maybe we will have to scrap all these social programs in order to have military and defense security. Explanation wanted I don't understand why the American Civil Liberties Union is not disturbed about the large menorah outside the Rochester Public Library on South Avenue but will attack eagerly a nativity scene that is on public property.

UnAmerican, bigoted Since the totally unAmerican and bigoted decision was made by our great Chamber of Commerce not to allow members of our gay community to use their facilities, we have heard various reasons for and against this. The first and probably hardest reason to get away from is the Constitution. It all too often seems that when group such as the Rochester Chamber of Commerce needs to part with certain parts of the Constitution for their own purpose they use religion, the majority of the population and their own morals as a way of escaping the very right to protect all members of our society, be they black, Oriental, Hispanic and yes, gay. Looking back, it seems that we as a society have had difficulty in carrying out the very words that make up the Constitution: All men are created equal; equal rights for all. Sexual preference was not an issue then and it should not be now.

We should all-even those good Christians who seem to use God and the Bible as a tool to condemn their fellow men-realize the problem that narrow-mindedness and bigoted thinking have caused in the past. Are we going to put the members of our gay community through this same hell we put our black communty through for 200 years? If Jesus Christ was alive today I am sure He would welcome the gays with open arms with the same love as He would any one of His children. Fight hunger, communism While we are paying farmers who do not produce and while our surplus foods warehouses are overflowing, millions will die of starvation before our next Thanksgiving Day. What better way to defeat communism than to divert a few billions of dollars for unneeded and never to be used arms than to use that money to feed the starving in communist dominated countries? This type of capitalist propaganda could start internal revolutions which could save millions of lives, not destroy them. That type of Christian warfare could also destroy the need for nuclear weapons.

But I am a dreamer, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Another raise? I would like to make a comment on the 3.5 percent raise that congressmen are getting in January. They've already had two raises and they held up the Social Security raise for six months. They are hashing over ways to cut the Medicare and other social programs that hurt the needy.

I think our government in Washington makes organized crime look like a bunch of pikers. many times. David Cowltt world would soon fade out, adding that the Soviet Union would become the world's most powerful nation. This may not be an altogether unlikely occurrence, but to blame it on Uranus does seem somewhat unfair. On the other hand this is in the best tradition of astrological reasoning.

Some have wondered how in this age of space exploration and high energy physics, computers and genetic engineering, the myths and absurdities of by-gone ages continue to hold sway on the public's mind. There are at least two explanations for this: Science has expanded human knowledge and accomplished many wonders, but the spirit of scientific inquiry, its methods and its criteria for truth, have hardly touched the masses in our society. Also, there is the charm in child-like beliefs, comfort in incomprehensible mysteries, and perverse pleasure in imagining fairy tales to be true. When all this is encouraged by newspaper headlines all the logic and weight of scientific data are rendered impotent, and darkness triumphs. V.V.

Raman is professor of physics at Rochester Institute of Technology. the mentally ill In Monroe County, we have been successful in developing a creative and dynamic approach to mental health programming and funding which has allowed us to maximize a "fair share" of mental health dollars statewide (albeit never enough). Furthermore, with the continued support of the county administration and Legislature and the United Way, we have succeeded where other counties in the state have not. No one wants to see these efforts diminished or threatened; therefore, creative solutions are necessary at the local level to maximize the possibility of future success. The Single Service System Demonstration Project is one example of a proposal which attempts to address basic systems change administratively, programmatically and economically.

Furthermore, a climate has been established between the state OMH regional representatives, the director of the Rochester Psychiatric Center, local governments and providers of service which has allowed the formulation of a reconfiguration of the mental health system for Monroe and Livingston counties. Unless new and creative proposals are implemented which attempt to address the "real" issues of the current system, it will be "more of the same, but with less." Andreas Pcderson is director of Monroe County Mental Health Services. By V. V. Raman Since astrological predictions were given front page prominence in your paper (Dec.

3), it should be of somj interest to your readers to be remindet of astrology and some of its major insights. Originating from the days of Chaldean speculations, and persiiting in spite of all efforts to eradicate, astrological beliefs include the following: i 1. Life on earth is influenced in subtle ways by matter and motion in the skies. 2. Unusual phenomeia in the heavens, such as the visibility of a comet or the conjunction of planets portend and results in unusual events in human history.

3. The lives of individuals are affected by constellations and plaretary configurations. 4. Specific colors, stones, and metals are to be associated with specific planets. Wearing a ring or a medallion of the appropriate color and material will propitiate the planet In ancient and medwval times, astrologers commanded great respect and fear.

Yet, some of them were also tortured or killed when their predictions did not come true. Usually such unpleasant ends came only when the predictions involved royalty. Or else, the entire professbn would have been wiped out long ago. Generally, there has been a happy relationship between astrologers and the public: the former explain away unrealized propheiies which the latter forget anyway. One periodically occurring astrological theme relates to the end of the world.

In the year 992, when Good Friday and the Day of our Lady coincided, astrologers were inspired to see in this unimaginable disasters (a word that is of astrological origin, meaning, 'bad star'). What is more, Vesuvius erupted soon thereafter and the Huns and the Normans began ravaging Europe. The events yet to happen often have a great impact on the masses. Panic struck whole townships, crowds thronged to places of worship, communal prayers became more than a habit, and a terrified population genuflexed with more horror then hope. But no one was surprised when the fateful year came and went without any noticeable effect on the large scale features of terrestial life.

In 1179, John of Toledo calculated on the basis of astronomical data that in seven years the planets would all align themselves with Libra. From this he concluded with Creative solutions By Andreas Pederaon I am pleased and gratified with the editorial support of the Democrat and Chronicle of our mental health, mental retardationde-velopmental disabilities, alcoholism and substance abuse service programs in Monroe County. These have served an extremely valuable service to our community in terms of public education about specific programs, as well as our past and current efforts to enhance the effectiveness of programs and the system of services for Monroe County residents. A recent example of this has been with the editorials concerning the MonroeLivingston counties Single Service System Demonstration Project in the mental health area, which is currently being reviewed in Albany. Another important function of this awareness and sensitivity of mental health concerns by the is that they have served to point out to the public some of the major issues and difficulties inherent in the extremely complex systems which confront county administrators and programs, a recent example of this is the editorial (Nov.

28) entitled "Mentally ill need better care in New York City." I hope the readers examined the content of this editorial carefully, especially the first paragraph in which it is stated "If the mentally ill cannot be given.