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Metric system creeping into use in Griffin
The gradual shift to the metric
system is slowly but definitely making
its way into the American mainstream,
even to Griffin and surrounding areas.
The latest evidence is the
temperatures being flashed on local
bank sign in both Fahrenheit (English)
and (Celsius) degrees.
The National Bureau of Standards
has recommended to the Congress a
program for the gradual and voluntary
conversion to metric measurements in
the United States.
No timetable has been set as a
completion date, according to the
GHS students push
nurse home reform
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Susan Kent (1) and Carol Ellison discuss plans for presenting their bill to the
• Youth Assembly.
.Tank cut him in half;
.Army offers sympathy
WASHINGTON (AP) — Allen Aaron
Jackson enlisted in the Army to be
* trained as an automobile mechanic.
Instead, at 21, his body was cut in half
by a tank.
* A federal court on Wednesday said it
“deeply sympathizes” with Jackson,
but it can’t order the government to
t pay damages to him.
Jackson had sued for breach of
contract, claiming he was promised
two things by a recruiter: he would get
’ mechanic’s training; he would not be
assigned to dangerous duty.
The Army says there was no such
«promise, at least not in writing. And
even if there had been, the recruiter
had no authority to make it and
therefore it’s not binding.
* In May 1974, four months after he
enlisted, Jackson took part in
maneuvers at Ft. Riley, Kan. A tank
•ran over him. The lower half of his
body, navel on down, had to be am
putated.
, Jackson’s lawyers could not sue for
negligence; the Supreme Court has
said it knows of no law that permits a
soldier to recover damages on that
* ground. The lawyers chose the unusual
Haim that there was breach of the
enlistment contract and asked $5
* million damages.
The U.S. Court of Claims on Wed
nesday issued its decision in case No.
,259-76, Allen Aaron Jackson v. The
United States.
The court said it made a thorough,
rareful and comprehensive review “in
•view erf the shocking severity of the
Griffin ends spring drills with game tonight at 7:30
GRIFFIN
Daily Since 1872
Department of Commerce Metric
Division.
International soda pop companies
have, however, taken the lead in the
changeover by selling by the liter
rather than the pint or quart.
Most canned goods now also show the
weight in grams as well as in pounds.
Youngsters even are being
introduced to and taught the metric
system at the primary educational
levels.
The exposure to the metric system in
the elementary grades has done more
toward the acceptance of the system
plaintiff’s injuries,” but said it could
find nothing in the enlistment papers
that prevented the Army from using
Jackson in training exercises.
“The court deeply sympathizes with
the plaintiff for the severe injury he
received while serving our country in
the United States Army,” said the
judges. “However, the court is without
jurisdiction, authority or power to
grant him any relief. It may be that he
could get help from Congress....”
Since that awful day in Kansas,
Jackson has undergone 28 operations.
He is now in the Hines (Hl.) Veterans
Administration hospital being fitted for
a prosthesis.
“He can sit up in a bucket which
holds him rigid,” says his father,
Raymond, a Chicago bus driver.
“When he dresses up in the prosthetic it
will look like he’s whole, but actually
he’s half. When he sits up he’ll look like
a whole man, that’s about it.”
The Army discharged Jackson and
the Veterans Administration sends him
$1,700 a month disability pay. It is
small compensation.
“He had a. girlfriend. She dis
appeared out of the picture,” says his
father. “He has only a couple of the
friends he had, only a couple who have
been true blue to him. All the pals he
used to pal around with... all he’s got is
family.”
Lawyer Ronald Pinski, a member of
the legal team that brought the suit,
said the Court of Claims decision
probably will be appealed.
Griffin, Ga., 30223, Thursday Afternoon, March 24, 1977
than any one thing, according to Griffin
High School science department head,
Mrs. Pat Phillips.
Mrs. Phillips says she sees a more
receptive attitude among high school
students in the last few years because
those students who have been exposed
to the metric system in the elementary
schools are finally reaching the high
school.
Mrs. Phillips feels the key to
acceptance is understanding and
because of that the process will most
definitely have to be gradual. Older
persons, she said, feel the metric
Two Griffin High School Senior Y-
Club members will sponsor a bill in the
Georgia Youth Assembly.
Susan Kent and Carol Ellison’s bill
was among 60 accepted for the
Assembly to be held April 7-9 at the
State Capitol.
The mock assembly is sponsored for
high schoolers in the state by the
Georgia YMCA.
The bill, House Bill Number 10, will
set up minimum standards for all
private nursing homes in Georgia and
provide a board to check on the homes
three times a year.
The bill provides for setting up a
board of five persons, in particular a
responsible lay person over 62 years of
age, and four other medically related
professionals.
This board will check homes on
general appearance and operations.
Homes visited that do not score at least
75 percent will be required to make a
considerable increase and score higher
the next time checked. Should the home
fail to score higher than 75 percent, it
will be fined SSOO and still be required to
meet the standards.
Following the payment of the fine and
a third check, the owner will be put on
probation if he fails to make an
improvement. Should he not make the
improvements after the fourth visit, his
license will be permanently revoked.
Once the owner’s license has been
revoked, it will be his responsibility to
either find a new home for the patients
or he must find a new owner.
The bill calls for an effective date of
January 1, 1978.
Bill Powers is the faculty advisor to
the Senior Y-Club at Griffin High.
Peop le
...and things
Varicolored flowers blooming
prettily in a circle around base of mail
box.
Griffin executive waiting and waiting
at Country Club for luncheon
announcing expansion of industry here,
finally realizing it was at Holiday Inn
and arriving there a little late.
Man politely and quickly transacting
his business at self-service gas station,
“Dollar’s worth,” he says and hands
cashier a buck.
HR
“I wish we’d quit thinking all
public officials are dishonest —
or having reason to.”
system is silly and its going to be very
difficult to get them to accept it because
they don’t understand it.
She explained that the metric system
is used in scientific work throughout the
world. It is also in general use in
practically all countries except the
United States, Great Britian and other
English speaking countries.
Great Britian, like the United States,
has started a long-range program to
conversion to metric measurements.
The metric system is used in science
because there must be a precise system
of measurement. The English system
’ HU 1
Mtaw - ?| ImH fl
WASHINGTON—President Carter meets with members
of the Georgia Congressional delegation Thursday in
Washington. From left are Rep. Billy Lee Evans, D-Ga.;
Joan Mondale
‘Our children’s table manners have improved ’
WASHINGTON (AP) - One benefit
of living in the stately quarters of the
vice president, says Joan Mondale, “is
that our children’s table manners have
vastly improved.”
Another, she said, is that the house,
situated high on Observatory Hill,
“reminds me of every house we lived in
in Minnesota. The wind has that same,
high-pitched whine. Last night it blew
out a window.”
Mrs. Mondale’s comments were
made Wednesday afternoon at a buffet
lunch for members of the press. They
had been invited to view the American
art collection she has assembled from
numerous museums around the
country, primarily from the Midwest.
The art is on loan to her for a year.
But art was a minor topic. The
question was about life in the Admiral’s
House, the vice presidential mansion,
and about being a part of the vice presi
dent’s family.
She said the Mondale family, which
includes Teddy, 19, Eleanor, 17, and
William, 15, usually gathers at home for
dinner. “But if I don’t have breakfast
Some do's and don’t’s if you go to Plains
PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — About one million tourists are ex
pected to swarm over the home town of President Carter
this summer, and to some, it may be a disappointing
experience.
So, here are a few observations that could make your
visit more enjoyable:
Watch where you drive . .. others may not.
Expect to wait in line at Billy Carter’s service station...
but don’t expect to pull up a milk crate and sip a beer with
the President’s brother while you’re waiting. Besides,
police frown on public beer-guzzling.
Don’t plan to blend in with the local citizens... there are
683 residents of Plains and there’s a better than even
chance that you’ll be spotted right off as a tourist, who,
sometimes, outnumber townspeople two-to-one.
Vol. 105 No. 70
presents many disadvantages: The
chief one is that there are no simple
numerical relationships between the
different units.
Mrs. Phillips said the metric system
has simple numerical relationships
between units. A meter is divided
simply into hundreds, tens and so forth.
The only disadvantage, Mrs.
Phillips pointed out, is with every day
usage. The basic units in the metric
system do not have the practical size of
English-system units. It does not lend
itself to the convenient custom of
dividing into halves and quarters.
Fellow Georgians
with my husband, he goes off with the
front page of the paper, and I can’t
stand it.”
Teddy has a job selling motorcycles
in suburban Maryland “but he wants to
go to college,” she said. Eleanor is a
junior at the private Georgetown Day
School, and William attends the ex
clusive St. Albans School for Boys.
‘....reminds me of every
house we lived in in Min
nesota. The wind has that
same high pitched whine.
Last night it blew out a
window.’
Mrs. Mondale takes weekly art
classes in pottery. “You know you’ve
made it as a potter when your pots are
good enough to give away. I gave one to
Rosalynn (Carter) in Plains on July 8,
and I miss it. Rosalynn has it on her
mantlepiece there.”
At 46, Joan Mondale strikes strangers
as a warm, friendly woman, quick to
Weather
FORECAST: Fair and cool tonight.
Partly cloudy and mild Friday.
EXTENDED FORECAST: Mostly
fair Saturday through Monday.
Rep. Jack Brinkley, D-Ga.; President Carter; Rep. John
J. Flynt, Jr., D-Ga.; Rep. Elliott H. Levitas, D-Ga.; and
Senator Sam Nunn, D-Ga. (AP)
Notice the number of parcels of land and of picturesque
homes for sale... but don’t ask how much they cost unless
you’re ready for a jolt.
Plan to pay tourists’ prices... after all, that’s what you
are.
Take a breather when you walk around town. A couple
of years ago, Plains was a small southwest Georgia
hamlet where life moved a bit slower than other parts of
the state and nation. When you take a break, some of the
town’s Southern charm manages to seep through souvenir *
stands with their smiling peanut replicas.
Consider yourself a film star, of sorts... you’ll probably
wind up in a slide show or movie presentation put together
by other tourists when they get home.
And, of course, don’t make jokes about peanuts.
How’s how
Here’s how Fahrenheit temperatures
may be converted to Celsius degrees.
Substract 32 from the Fahrenheit
temperature and multiply that amount
by 5 and divide the total by 9.
Example: 70-32 equals 38. 38 times 5
equals 190. 190 divided by 9 equals 21
degrees Celsius.
laugh and eager to put guests at ease.
Standing on the stairway landing, just
above an armful-size arrangement of
fresh forsythia, magnolia and cherry
blossoms, she gave a stiff little talk
about the history of the 86-year-old
house.
But later, over spinach souffle, she
relaxed as she related personal
anecdotes, punctuating many sen
tences with exclamations of “fan
tastic” and “isn’t that neat!”
Mrs. Mondale has collected 52 pieces
of art by 20th century American artists
to decorate the house, a Victorian
mansion overlooking Embassy Row.
They include contemporary pieces, like
Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup can, a
lithograph by Roy Lichtenstein and a
collage by Robert Motherwell.
Her husband can’t decide which art
work he likes best, Mrs. Mondale said,
but “he’ll soon learn to relax and enjoy
the shapes and colors and forms and not
worry about story-telling. That’s okay.
I think a lot of people start that way.”
Her official commitment, she said, is
to promote all the arts and artists.