Published every Saturday at Kodiak, Alaska
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Sig J. Digree, Editor and Publisher
Betha Digree, Executive Secretary
MEMBER OF ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use or republica
tion of all news drs patches credited to it or not otherwise credited in
this paper and also the local news published herein.
The 1960 New March of Dimes
umlng tine momh of January,
the I960 New March otf Dimes is
soaking to support (the expanded
program of the National Founda
tion which now seeks answers to
birth defects and arthritis as well
as polio.
The March of Dimes campaign
has always beerf wortift&fto. M
has great# aided fecttfcrkg human
My in ste fight against polio. Now;
in its expanded fanoghun, it be
comes doubly worthwhile. Ar
thritis is a crippling disease. Any
one who has bad a personal exper
ience i w :‘.'h it, -whether as a sufferer,
or m contact with an arthritic vic
tim, knows the terrible suffering,
(he constant pain and agony as a
result of it.
In the United States more than
a quarter of a million children
are (bom each year suffering from
serious birth defects and ar
thritis alone cripples more per
sons than any other disease. Alas
teat’suffered over 10 times as many
paralytic polio cases as in 1959 as
in 1958. Polio remains a serious
health poblern largely because
millions of Americans are not yet
protected (by the Salk vaccine.
A week remains in the campaign.
Talk it up. Give. Those March
of Dimes spell out health and hap
piness for the many who suffer
from crippling diseases.
Federal Health Plan For aged
In a sharply-worded editorial,
the Journal of the American Med
ical Association 'lashed out against
legislation proposing a federal
compulsory health insurance
program. * .!
It referred specifically to legisla
tion .introduced Iby Rep. Aime For
&nd(D.—>R.I.) which would amend
the Social Security Act by provid
ing hospital, nursing home, and
surgical services far persons eli
gible for old age and survivorrs
benefits.Eligibility age limits now
arc 65 for men and! 62 for women.
“The Forand bill is a costly, ir
revisi'blc program tailored to avoid
the real problem," the editorial
6aid, adding: “It is a fundamental
deviation from the basic concept
of the social security system which
provides cash benefits, net ser
vices. It injects the federal gov
ernment into the physician-patient
hospital relationship. Its enact
ment would be followed by control
of the health care of the aged by
Bbe Social S<xmrity Administration.
Therein lies ouf obj-eertion to
any legislation of this sort, (Jov
emmenl control sKotrld be kept to
a minim urn in any case, but in the
case of the health of the mctividual,
it is n necessary. We have advanc
ed considerably in meeting this
problem. Voluntary prepayment
plans and health insurance have
ihade pfbenomenal advances during
recent years. Social Security cash
benefits, private pension plans, in
creased savings, and liquid assets
are all combining to improve
steadily the economic resources
and purchasing power of the group
over 65.
The article further stated that
the Fonand bill fails to meet the
need of the indigent aged since the
vast majority of such aged are
not eligible to receive social se
curity benefits.
The editorial concludes with
these words: “Itwill always be poss
ible to do a better job, but the one
dervelopement which would apply
a brake to all these progressively
developing movements would be a
Foranddype legislation. To bu
reaucratize medical care funnelling
its services through the social se
curity system would supply a
“cure* that would be worse than
the disease in its ultimate effects
on individual freedom and a free
society.”
A sentiment to which we add
our loud “Amen.”
Here, There and Everywhere
By SIG DIGREE *
Senators Omening and Bartlett
astd Rep. Ralph Rivers deplore the
tarn of events Alaska-wise in the
Vast week. It wasn’t good.
Among developments were 1)
Refusal of the Federal Maritime
Board to mspend a requested tee
per cent maritime freight rate in
crease pending a hearing; 2) The
Alaska Railroad plans a rate rn
coiase which wil cost residents of
the RailbeW $100,000 a year; 3)
Roconuncmkvtion by the Commerce
Deportment that Alaska be exclu
ded from the national system of
uwerst.. ? and defense highways.
’n the r.irttcr cf She interstate
highway funds. Sen. Gruening
he wrl-1 carry the fight to
the floor of the Semite. He is
irtooti by the font that all the other
40 states wiM receive bites from
this fund but not Alaska. More
power to him.
, Labelling ithe Federal Maritime
Commission's decision to allow the
10 pen* cent freight increase, be
fore hhe forthcoming hearing, as
,‘Searway Rdbbery", Sen. Gruening
noted that “the increased cost to
ffl>e shippers occasioned by the
higher rates will simply be pass
ed on <to the merchants who will in
turn pass them on t o the consumer,
with inevitable snowballing along
Idle way." Significant to us, is
the Senator’s statement that “The
tragedy of this is bat the individ
ual Alaska consumer, on whom the
full b.mi3n falls has had no oppor
tunity whatever to protest or to
avoid effectively the consequences
of the action of the Federal Mar
itime Board."
The Senator quoted from the
9
President's speech, when fie said:
“We must fight inflation as we
would a fire that imperils our
home.” Gruenimg points up the
fact that two government agencies,
the Maritime Commission and the
Interior Department, Which con
trols the Alaska Railroad, each are
aiding and abetting the cause of
inflation.
The people of Barrow, Alaska
are a little perturbed toy a situa
tion whereby they find themselves
living next door to a line that
supplies natural gas to government
offices, agencies and homes of
personnel of those organizations,
and yet they themselves are un
able to tap the lines for their own
use.
The gas is from Naval Petroleum
Reserve No. 4, of course, but no
way has 'been found to furnish it
for resident’s use. There’s a bill
before the Senate and also Con
gress to rectify this. In the mean
time the people of Barrow go on
with burning coal at $42 a ton!
That little “greeting card” you
may have just received from the
U. S. Internal Revenue Depart
ment Service—the one with the
tiny holes punched in irt—safe
guard it. Use it as your federal
income tax return,
So says the director of Internal
Revenue—you will save the gov
ernment —and hence all taxpayers
—'money, and you will 'be speed
ing up the (handling of the annual
avalanche of returns.
Chas Christoffersen writes from
Yuma, Ariz. that he and his bride
are in a hospital for treatment for
for injuries received in an auto
accident .“Can’t, wait to get home,’
he started.
Alf Madsen writes from Salt
Lake City, where he and Maxine
are visiting the Oscar Hansons. In
cidently, the latter can hardily wait
until they get back to Kodiak, he
says. The Madsens will spend, a
few days with Vince and Marion
Daly, former residents here, who
Ancient Greeks
Measured Time ..
By Olympic Games
The Olympic Games, part of
which will re held in Squaw Val
iev. Oalvf.. in February, were so
important to the ancient Greeks
that they were used to measure
time.
World Book Encyclopedia ex
plains that the original games were
foot races in honor of Zeus, king
of the Greek gods.
In the 300’s B.C. it became cus
tomary to mark time in “Olym
piads,” the periods between cele
brations of the Olympic Games.
All events were dated from 776
B.C., the date of the first recorded
race.
The custom disappeared about
A.D. 440, after the 304th Olympiad.
The Olympic festivals were o
rigiimafted by the people of Elis, a
Greek city-state on the plains of
Olympia. Gradually, aiH the
Greek city-states joined in the O
lympics. Other contests, such
as jumping, discus throwing and
chariot-racing, were added.
As 'the city-states declined, ath
let os from other lands began to
participate in the games.
In about A.D. 60, the Roman
emperor Nero entered the con
tests. One of the puruoses of
the games was to glorify the indiv
dtial, his skill and sportsmanship.
But Nero was a poor athlete and
by competing he lowered the stan
dards.
The games deteriorated and by
A.D. 394 they had become so cor
rupt that Emperor Theodosius
abolished them.
Centuries passed, while earth
quakes and floods buried the plain
under 20 feet of gravel and soil.
When excavators found the ru
ins of the ancient stadium in 1878,
interest in the games was revived.
In 1896 eight nations took part in
the first Olympics of the modern
age.
HOYT ON THE HILL
(Continued from Page 1)
The body of judges—those on
the bench, seemed to be quite in
formal. They popped a question
whenever the spirit moved them
and laughed at each others jokes.
Added to this was the general nui
sance they made of themselves as
far as the arguing lawyers were
concerned. In this respect they
were worse than a (boss when one
is trying to pry a l-oiise or a
loan.
Then while my friend was in
the middle of a sentence, between
the subject and predicate in fact,
the clock sftnek two o’clock and
that was all. Recess time. Down
came the gcwel, up stood the jud
ges and there was my friend with
his mouth hanging open.
Decorum they got—and with re
ularity yet.
4Dimes Opens First Birth D-efects Center
A birth defects study
center, the first of its kind
designed to combine clini
cal treatment with research
and teaching, has just been
officially opened at Colum
bus, Ohio. It is supported
by funds from the New
March of Dimes, which is
now engaged in its January
campaign for contributions
to fight three mdjor crip
pling diseases including,
besides birth defects, ar
thritis and polio.
' Medical experts say that
birth defects are the biggest
unmet ahildhood medical prob
lem in the United States today.
There are more than 600 differ
ent kinds of birth defects, or
“congenital malformations, as
they are called by doctors. They
range all the way from harelip
and clubfoot to mental retarda
tion.
Some 250,000 American
babies are born each year with
one or more significant birth
defects; and about half of this
number are doomed to a life
time of serious illness or crip
pling. About 34,000 infants each
year are stillborn because of
these afflictions, or die within
the first month of life. Medical
science as yet has few clues
to the causes of these disorders
that occur before birth; and
there are few known methods
of prevention.
Shrouded in Superstition
The study center in Colum
bus’ famed Children’s Hospital
thus represents the beginning
of the New March of Dimes
attempt to solve a medical
problem that has heretofore
been largely neglected by re
search. It is a problem that has
for centuries been shrouded
in fear, superstition and shame.
By tackling this issue with a
three-pronged program of re
search, patient aid and training
of skilled medical professionals,
the March of Dimes organiza
tion seeks to bring hope to the
hundreds of thousands of par
ents whose lives have been
blighted by bewildering grief
and heartbreak foliowing the
birth of a malformed child.
This hope is bolstered by the
past record of the March of
Dimes organization in fighting
"hafiling diseases. It was March
of Dimes funds that encour
aged Dr. Jonas E. Salk to be
come a virologist and that
IliBWI III i I MM— —I l | II llllII 111 III—III! 1 **""*‘*£
Parents are taught to give home care to children with birth defects
at the Columbus Children's Hospital Birth Defects Study Center,
supported by New March of Dimes funds. Here doctors examine
Jackie Vess, 3, bom with hydrocephalus, commonly known as
"water on the brain," while parents get instruction.
Bom with an open spine, two-month-old Madonna Galich U ex*
amined by a physician at the Birth Defects Study Center, just offi
cially opened in the Columbus, Ohio, Children's Hospital. New
March of Dimes funds will be used to help this baby toward a
normal and useful life.
produced his world-celebrated
vaccine against crippling polio.
Some Can Be Helped
Certain major birth defects,
such as ‘‘water on the brain”
(hydrocephalus) and “open
spine” (spina bifida), can now
sometimes be corrected by new
techniques of surgery, medical
experts at the March of Dimes
organization report.
Through the combination of
treatment, teaching and study
at the Columbus Birth Defects
Study Center and others the
March of Dimes hopes to es
tablish and support, it is be
lieved that new knowledge will
be obtained and spread so that
the devastating effects of these
disorders may eventually, for
the most part, be prevented or
controlled.