MAY 1982 COLD SPRING Tempus fugit. That bit of Latin never made much sense. Until recently. Oh, I certainly knew what it means. Afterall, I had a year or two of high school Latin. Also, I was of the generation that read “Ivanhoe" in junior high. So pax voblscum was another of the foreign phrases that was committed to memory early on in life. While I knew that time files, and was fully cognizant of how the good times speed by — the real meaning of tempus \jglt didn’t hit home until middle age. It's a realization that struck me this spring; this very month. Tilings are beginning to really rush by now..I am beginning to find myself thinking of bygone reader's forum

days more often; images drift in of pleasant, if inconsequential, times of early youth. LIKE SITTING on the baggage cart, its big iron wheels elevating the wagon, next to the trainCountry man at the old railroad station in Cape May...Thumbing our way along Seashore Road to get to Dxtcanal for a swim; and afterward changing out of wet trunks in a nearby cornfield ..Watching the danceni. dressed in gossamer prints and summer whites, sliding across the shiny floor (the man kept it carefully sprinkled with sawdust) in old Convention Hall...Playing Tom Sawyer in the! drainage ditches (then called swamps) out behirid our

summer home in "Frog Hollow.” The memories come swiftly and with greater frequency these days. While outside, the season is rushing by. Spring going headlong into sumrrter. The Note daffodils seemed to stay, longer this year. But the cherry blossoms came and went. The lillads’ interlude was as brief this time around as their fragrant staying power, cut in the vase on the dinningraom table. That was especially _sad, for lillacs and old farmhouses and countryside are inseparable (or should be). The old lillac bushes surrounding our property were especially illustrative cf this year’s spring: eternal yet ephemeral;

IS MY VIEW of the shortness of spring this year prejudiced (even as the orange blossoms brush the wlndowpano on a cold and dismal northeast rainy day)? Is it a personal pessimism (despite the longlasting rhododendron's, replacing the dead lillacs on the table)? Am I. for the first spring of my lifeUme, seeing this glorious season in ,a perspective wrought

by advancing age?

I have learned long ago that the older one gets, the faster time goes — birthdays come quicker, whole years from whatever the anniversary slip by with increasing frequency, things seem to be put off longer as procrastination melds into time frames measured in months ( or years!) no longer days or

weeks.

Electric Rate Request Unjustifiable

by Arthur R. Hall Enclosed is a copy of a letter which I received from William J. Hughes, regarding Atlantic City Electric’s rate increase request. His initial comments are emotional; subsequently, however, he addresses the nuts and bolts of the issue and states why he docs not feel the rate increase as requested to be justifiable. Arthur Hall of Wildwood Crest has for some time been seeking answers about the reason for Atlantic Electric's record $172 million rate hike request. The following is a summary of Cong. Hughes' testimony before the N.J. Board of Public Utilities at Millville High School earlier this month: Consumers and businesses in South Jersey can no longer cope with rising electric costs, and the N.J. Board of Public Utilities should substantially scale back Atlantic Electric’s request for a $172 million rate increase. For those fortunate enough to own their own homefe, many find that their electric bills are larger than their mortgage payments. For senior citizens living on fixed incomes, rising electric rates mean that they must cut back on what little else they are able to afford, including even food. « For the businessman, rising electric costs may make the difference between a profit and a loss, and the ability to compete effectively with similar industries around the country who are served by electric companies with

substantially lower rates. % An example of unjustified aspects of the rate increase is the utility’s request to make consumers pay for the cost of the cancelled Hope Creek 2 nuclear power station. Such lossds should be borne by shareholders who had hoped to profit from the project, and who traditionally risked the loss if the project is not a success. Customers should be billed for electricity, not for powerplants that were never built. Consumers are already paying for Atlantic Electric’s share of four offshore floating nuclear plants that were cancelled m 1978. The company is requesting to boost its rate of return on equity from the current 13.75 percent up to 19 percent. The state’s largest utility, Public Service Electric & Gas, is allowed just 16 percent. Such a high rate of return is not needed by Atlantic Electric. Atlantic Electric should do more to curb the cost of its building program. While the company deserves credit for its ‘‘New Directions" program, the $1.6 million sought by Atlantic Electric for home conservation and alternative energy forms is not enough to substantially reduce the heed for additional electric power generating facilities. Similar successful programs are operating in California and Florida to give consumers low- or no-cost loans and even rebates, to install conservation or alternative energy equipment. Rising energy costs could quicken the exodus of business and industry, along with employment opportunities, from South Jersey to other regions of the country where energy costs are lower.

The Corrections System

J

Work Release, Conservatively Speaking

by Sheriff Beech N. Fox

Of all the ideas, suggestions and experiments offered in the name of rehabilitation, work release can be the most sensible, practical and productive system — if carefully administrated. The reasons? It allows the prisoner to generate money and pay taxes, keeps his family off the welfare rolls, requiresHiim to pay for his keep at the jail and gives him continuity of employment upon release — which is a critical time for prisoners.

Work Release is a program which permits a catagory of carefully screened offenders, upon order of the court, to engage in restricted and supervised employment outside of the jail system. Our Cape May County work release pro-

gram was initiated in 1972.*

Before bristling at the idea that someone is sent to jail for punishment and then gets out anyway, let’s talk about the ultimate benefits going to the taxpaying community. First, remember that only a few prisoners are eligible to participate. Those who may be considered include the non-violent and those who do not have lengthy records, and indicate good potential for holding a job and staying

out of further trouble.

WORK RELEASE STATISTICS from around the state show a high degree of success. The types of offenders found involved in these programs inc!ude disorderly conduct, first offenders, motor vehicle offenders, child support violators and similar offenders who have been sentenced to county jail time. Work release obviously requires that a job be available — and this presents one of our biggest problems. In some cases an employer will allow an inmate to return to his old job. Other applicants have to be lucky enough to secure a new job while already serving time in jail — a difficult achievement even with help from the program. Due to time consuming screening procedures or the unavailability of a job, an eligible candidate may spend from one to threFTttonths getting into the program, but once in, he spends ffll non-work hours back in the jail. When an inmate actually starts working he must agree to have all earnings deposited into a special bank account. Except for a small amount of money kept for out-of-pocket expenses, he must pay for his family’s support, court fines, legal expenses, or other debts — and he has an

amount deducted from his income which goes to the county coffers as payment for his jail keep. In some cases a working inmate has been able to remove his family from the welfare roles, which is also a help to the taxpayer. IF A PRISONER IS NOT considered a good risk for work release because of his criminal background or security risk reasons, he won't be a good candidate to place in the community. Only sentenced prisoners can be used in such projects. While some inmates can be involved in work projects in and around the jail complex under trustee supervision, the "road gangj’ type of programs are not longer used due to expensive security and logistical considerations. Over 80% of our operating budget goes for manpower costs. Under present!laws "road gang" prisoners would also have to be paid for their day’s work. It has been shown that such programs return little, if anything of consequence to the tommunity or to the reformation of the prisoner. I would much rather see these inmates in our prison farm work programs. Unfortunately there are some drawbacks to the work release — one being the small number of prisoners who are able to qualify, and the fact they so often have difficulty in getting jobs, especially during our off-season months in Cape May County. It should be rioted that there are differences between the state prison’s programs and those at the county level. Many guidelines are similar, but the state system is much broader and more liberal in its administration. THEY WILL RELEASE prisoners charged with any type of crime it they feel, after a period of time, that he has been "rehabilitated." Our system does not The state even allows inriiates to attend college at the taxpayer’s expense or to take a high-paying government job I am totally opposed to this liberal appraoch. All in all, we have found our county programs beneficial to both the taxpayer and the prisoner. It is not perfect - there are time^ when inmates who hav^e violated the written agreements or specific regulations have had to be removed fromj the project. However the benefits far outweigh! the broblems, and I will continue to support a no-nonsense rehabilitation program that stresses the work ethic, family unity, and reward for productivity. This series t|>> Cape May Courity Sheri// Beech Fox has been condensed for reasons of space.

1

I suppose, then, that it would come as no surprise to me that an entire season can Rit by. I don’t like ft; not one bit. What can I do; how can I slow time down to savor the progression of events, naturaNand of my

own doing 0

LIKE TOO many parents before me, I have 1 already neglected to appreciate the early growing years of my children. And I hear time and again in my own mind those who admonished me to spend more time with the kids. It's too late now for apologies. How can a father tell a young man and young woman he is sorry he didn’t enjoy their childhood with them because of the pressures of the job and concern with

others to the neglect of his own family? One for whom time is flying cannot possibly relaV such thoughts to others for whom time .seems sometimes to be standing still. Those looking anxiously forward to sumpier's freedom won't want to listen to someone beginning to think about the exact number of spr ingtimes in a lifetime. Time Hies in the face of understanding and appreciating what is at hand Perhaps that is why retrospection bathes in a patina, memories of events whi£h at the time seemed so inconsequential or were carried out in anxious) youthfuj haste

Britiih Seagull 387

Cape Politick i

by Ima Byrd

We've got a‘couple of strange creatures running for committeebirds in Cape May County. It's a new thing we've started and I guess it came about from watching humans. But I must admit we birds are mighty confused when It comes to the political scene. We read somewhere that there are two parties in the country, two major o#tiesihat is: one called Democrat and one called Republican. It seems the democrats ride a donkey and the republicans ride an elephant Well, we birds looked all over Cape May County and we; couldn’t find a donkey or elephant anywhere So we just i decided to go over to the county zoo and get our picture taken with the lion. The pictures turned out nice but now we really have a problem. ONE OF OUR MOST POLITICALLY activated birds i told us in order to be effective we must study the democrats and republicans in Cape May County Well, we looked all over the county for the democrats and we couldn’t find them anywhere We found the republicans all right. In fact we found the republicans where the democrats should have been. Now, not one of them was riding an elephant, but it was obvious they were republicans by their friends and associates. One of our birds in Stone Harbor at the sanctuary said he’d been looking for years'for a democrat there, but couldn't find one. "Oh there are some there but they're so afraid to come out in the open that they don't give any opposition to the republicans. In fact, it seems everything hinges on the republican party in Stone Harbor and i there's not much chance for a democrat to'even get on the ballot "You might say it’s a dictatorship — I think that’s ! what humans call it.” JUST WHEN WE WERE ABOUT TO GIVE UP ever fin ding a democrat, we noticed there was a big one in Sea Isle City But when some birds flew in to discuss the merits of a strong two-party system, the fellow took off his coat, turned it inside out and became a republican. Just | like that! We were amazed and when he asked if he could ■ help us we were foo shook to do anything more than mumble and make a hasty retreat Just when we we're about to give up, our friend Scout flew in and said he'd spotted a few democrats in Middle •Township, at least from all appearances they were democrats. Naturally we were skeptical as we zoomed over to that township and listened outside the township building for some sign of democrat involvement We real ly weren't too certain but we did pick up some data on democrats and their role in government in the county Hut it wasn't much i FROM ALL WE C OULD DISCOVER it*docs seem that there are two parties in Cape May County, but both par riesseem to be in the republican party Now I'll admit ibat doesn't make any sense, but what do birds know about such things? I will tell you this, after so much trouble, we decided Ho go right to the Constitution and Declaration of In dependence for our information. It seems those documents don’t wear two coats, but spell things out so everyone can understand them. From what we've seen in Cape Mqy County birds would be much better off patterning our politics on these documents than on anything we've seen in the couhty We think a strong two-party system js necessary to goo^ government and a guarantee of freedom But as I said before, what do we know? A wise bird-parable just might apply to politics in this country: "Someone better pin a tail on the donkey before the elephants stampede" ..or something.