The Allen American (Allen, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 16, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 21, 1994 Page: 1 of 106

                                
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Wednesday
September 21,1994
Vol. 25 No. 16
Alien American
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Allen, Texas
After-school storytime
Steven Line/Staff photo
Extended-day school teacher Marguerite Litke reads to a Elementary School. The extended-day school program, in its
group of students during Monday’s session at Story first year at Story, is a structured after-school care program.
Veteran receives ‘dolphins’
Nearly 50 years later, Allen man given recognition
By BRENDA WELCHLIN
News editor
and he was told he might be allowed to apply
for such service after two years of work on the
Although Allen’s John Cahill Jr. owns a surface fleet.
World War II victory medal for his service in That was 1942, and he spent two years with
the U.S. Navy, the timing of that victory cost the 7th amphibious fleet in the Pacific, earning
• him almost 50 years toward a different recog- two battle stars and a chance to serve on a
■ nition.                                             submarine.
When the USS Mapiro, the submarine on “When I went to sub school, because I was
which he was the fifth officer, pulled back from not an engineer, ... they made me go live on
Japanese waters to Saipan in late 1945, he had the boat in the yard after school all night and be
not taken the exam to earn his dolphins. “Dol- schooled in every compartment of that boat,”
phins” are submariner’s pins much like the Cahill said. “For four months, I crawled
wings earned by pilots.                       through that boat, every pipe and valve on it.”
“Because I didn’t have the dolphins, I never He learned it well enough to be assigned to a
really felt that I was a submariner,” Cahill said, new boat, the USS Mapiro, upon completion
“I felt a disappointment.”                     of the course. The boat began its journey in
That disappointment turned to joy last Manitowoc, Wis., and was toted on a barge
♦ month when his wife of 52 years, Yvonne, down the Mississippi River to New Orleans,
pinned his dolphins on him during a ceremony where it headed toward the Pacific.
in Dallas.                                      He spent about eight months aboard the
Although most submariners were en- submarine, traveling through the Panama
gineers, Cahill earned his place on the USS Canal and stopping in Pearl Harbor and Mid-
Mapiro after earning a degree in accounting way before heading to Japanese waters,
and business.                                “The rule was you needed one year on a
“When I was in college, a neighbor of mine submarine or had made a war patrol success-
was a retired submariner. He inculcated me in fully against the enemy,” Cahill said. “That
submarines,” Cahill said.                      would make you eligible to take the test.”
After officer-training school, Cahill told the Although Cahill had made a successful pat-
• Navy he preferred to work on a submarine, rol, the submarine was ordered to pull back
Former Allen
standout back
in area
in Kansas
0050526
HOAG 6SoN:940831 05
SPRKNSINDERY
INGPORT MI 49284
Boys’ soccer
on probation
Problems with AHS program
reason for board taking action
By BRENDA WELCHLIN
News editor
nistrators will investigate violations
that include:
Trustees placed Allen High ■ Aggressive, disruptive, violent
School’s boys’ soccer program on a or hazing-type behavior toward
one-year probation Tuesday night, teammates or other students or
citing continued problems with disci- adults.
pline throughout the program. ■ Unsportsmanlike activities con-
“We feel like things have been re- nected with any type of participation
■ Related story.............................1B  in the boys’ soccer program.
—7—-----:----------5—" "      ■ Anything classified as a violation
peating themselves over and over, of student conduct in the student
and we finally feelI like we have to say handbook.
enough is enough Athletic Direc- Purcell planned t0 meet with the
tor Ken Purcell told school board players, along with their coaches and
members during their regular Superintend Barbara Erwin, to
meeting.                 ,         stress that they were simply being
I Purcell said Allen boys soccer asked to follow normal rules.
players had been involvedin at least    “All we’ve got to do is what every
one fight last year, as well as other other sport in Allen's been doing for
incidents of irresponsible- behavior, years,” Purcell said.
. Under the board-imposed proba- Trustees also heard a report from
tion, which will last through the AHS Principal Patti Barrett, detail-
1994-95school year, the district has ing steps the high school has taken to
the right to dismiss individual play- increase average attendance from
ersfrom the program and to disband 94 percent to 96 percent this year-
the junior varsity, the varsity or both a jump that could mean an additional
teams if players are found in viola-
tion.
According to the probation, admi-
Turn to SOCCER, Page 10A
)rop in sales-tax
ebate blamed on
inaccurate records
By BRENDA WELCHLIN
News editor
research on the topic.
Alien’s sales-tax rebate for
Although Allen’s economic- September dropped more than 36
development director now under- percent from last year’s figures,
stands why the city’s sales-tax re- down to about $85,800 from about
bate took a dive this month, the $135,000.
reason has left him a little confused At the same time, Fairview’s col-
about how the state tracks lections jumped from about $1,500
Submitted photo businesses.                          last year to about $74,400 for the
Neighboring Fairview collected same month this year — a whopping
Rear Admiral Al Konetzni, right, shakes hands four years’ worth of back sales-tax 4,737 percent increase.
with Allen’s John Cahill Jr. as Cahill wears his rebates on businesses that had listed Because the state reallocates four
submarine dolphins. Because the end of World Allen or McKinney as their addres- years of back taxes in one payment,
War II cut short his service, Cahill did not receive ses despite being under Fairview’s September comparisons for both
the recognition for almost 50 years.              jurisdiction.                        cities are extremely skewed.
“We received a big check from the    “If we had been a smaller city, you
,       ,.state last week, and some of those can imagine the impact,” said David
and return home before he had a chance to take the test, businesses ... had been reporting Pitstick, economic-development
Instead, he focused on anomer honor given him by his Allen as their place of business,” said director for Allen. “$74,000 in one
submarine’s commanding officer.                      Sherlen Prince, a Fairview em-
Turn to VETERAN, Page 11A ployee who helped with the city’s
Turn to REBATE, Page 11A
Conference aims to provide women with information about health
By CATHY SPAULDING             cheon, participants go to one of three
Staff writer                                  breakout sessions, which run until around 5
Armed with the right information, p.m. The conference also will feature mam-
women can go from being patients to being mography screening and more than 40
partners in their health care, women’s booths.
health practitioners say.                       Jane Adams, author of “I’m Still Your
Sunday’s Women’s Health Conference at Mother” and “Sex and the Single Girl,” will
the Westin Galleria is geared toward arming be keynote speaker. State Sen. Florence
women with such information.             Shapiro, R-Plano, and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey
The conference begins at 11:30 a.m. Sun- Hutchison, R-Texas, also will speak.
day with registration. After a gourmet lun- Conference chairman Judi Ashenfelter
said she hopes the conference will help
women “be partners, not passive receiv-
ers, in their health care, to take charge in
their health decisions.”
“People need to be involved in the direc-
tion of their own health,” she said. “If peo-
ple were more educated, it would help them
make better health decisions.”
Ashenfelter, a former nurse and medical
administrator, said she has found “that peo-
ple in the medical community have so much
information at their fingertips that is not
available to everyone.” She said patients
are entitled to this information, which
“allows them to ask some of their own ques-
tions.”
Doctors are becoming more aware of pa-
tients’ rights to this information, Ashenfel-
ter said. She cited one doctor who does her
case dictation over the telephone with her
patient still in the room. The doctor then
discusses what she just dictated with the
patient and explains what it means, she
said.
A lack of information could lead to wide
misconceptions about women’s health,
Ashenfelter said.
For example, while 46,000 women die
from breast cancer each year, more than
250,000 women die from heart disease,
Ashenfelter said.
Turn to HEALTH, Page 10A
Poll: Violent children
. don’t belong in class
By STEVE RAY
Harte-Hanks Austin Bureau
©Harte-Hanks Communications
AUSTIN — A huge majority of
Texans want violent kids kicked out
of the classroom, according to the
Texas Poll.
In a survey conducted for the the University of Texas, surveyed
Texas Federation of Teachers, 93 1,005 Texas residents by telephone,
percent of those questioned said The survey findings, Cole said,
@ they consider school safety a serious should add momentum to the drive
problem, and 91 percent said they for enactment of the statewide zero-
wanted disruptive students re- tolerance law, the Texas Safe
moved from regular classrooms and Schools Act, for which TFT has
placed in alternative learning set- been seeking pledges of support
tings.                             from candidates in the November
“The top two concerns cited by election.
Texans in poll after poll are crime Under proposed law, a student
and education,” John Cole, president who assaults a fellow student,
of the teachers group, said Friday in teacher or other school employee on
Austin. “And the issue of safety in campus would be removed from that
a the schools is right where those two campus permanently and placed in
• concerns interest most strongly.” an alternative learning setting.
The Texas Poll, conducted by
Harte-Hanks Communications and
Turn to POLL, Page 10A
Getting their kicks
Steven Line/Staff photo
Aerobic dance instructor Glenda Montgomery has the whole class kicking
during one of her routines at the Jazzercise of Allen fitness center Monday
afternoon. The Allen Independent School District offers fitness courses through
its Community Education Department.
Nearly $22,000
is raised at gala
By NANCY DONISI
Staff writer
With a guest list full of celebrity impersonators, the
Rape Crisis Center of Collin County was able to collect
more than $20,000 at its annual “Night of the Stars”
fund-raiser.
Held recently at Holiday Inn-Plano, the event brought
almost 300 people to mingle with such celebrity look-
alikes as Elizabeth Taylor, Sylvester Stallone and Presi-
dent Clinton.
Penney Williams, executive director of the Rape Cri-
Turn to GALA, Page 10A
Inside Today
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Calendar............
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Film Listings.....
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News at a Glance
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4-12B
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