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editorial , State of Education Now that the classroom is occupied again, this may be the time, earlv in the semester, to ponder the" state of academia in Cape May County TOere are.some who believe that education in this southernmost New. Jersey county does not conform with the quality of. some school districts elsewhere in this state. Perhaps. Perhaps not. In education it is difficult to arrive at an objective appraisal, especially tVhen the judgcr has a vested interest in what he or she is judging. In any event, if education is to be improved — and.it always can be — some of the responsibility must be placed on the parents ana the citizenry at large Absenteeism, for instance, has been a problem in recent years at some of the local high schools. A student obviously cannot learn unless he is in the classroom. Is it not the parent's responsibility to make sure that student is in the classroom? t.HE OPINION has been expressed by some educators here that the reason many students do not go on to college is that they don't want to leave the amenities and casual living of Cape May County. If that is so, then there is a dual responsibility between the school AND the parents to generate enough interest for that . student to want to pursue higher education Tax dollars, of course, are always a thorn in the side of education. Many parents of school age children, but not all, support tax dollars for schools Unfortunately, other parents whose children have long passed the era of blackboards, and text books, vote against school budgets because they feel they are excessively taxing their, pocketbooks. In some cases they are justified, in others not. If education is to be improved in Cape May ("ounty, the onus must not be placed completely on the shoulders of our educators and the people Who administer them A good deal of Ihfxresponsihility rests with the criticizer. To quote Matthew; "Judge not, that,you be not judged." \ * Meet the Osteopath As Cape May County grows and with it the need for Increased medical services, it is encouraging to know that the osteopathic physician is playing an Important role in providing nefcessary care in a county with a large senior citizen population. Currently there are 32 osteopathic physicians in Cape May County and the number is growing. A principal reason for the influx is the New " Jersey School of .Osteopathic Medicine, South Jersey’s first and only medical school which graduated its second class of new physicians last May and now is building a new $9.5 million campus in Camden. In physician-starved South Jersey, it is significant that 75 per cent of the first graduating class chose to remain here in this region to begin •eir medical practices. Doctors of osteopathy (D.O.s) take their first two years of medical school side by side

'■r f* CAPE MAY 11 1 X. trUralfc PabltakMl Kvery M>4ite*4a« Rv P.O. Boi • TV 8r« wve ( ■ryraU— Av>l—, NJ Jacob Bcfeud Jr. Manager Editor Bonnie Reina General Manager Sc Advertising Coordinator Darrell Kopp Publisher Corp 1WJ All All prop*'«v rights (Of It* •nfir* v (onion* of th.t pwblKOtion iholl ho lh* proporif d tho Sno-nva Co»p No port horod moy bo rop/odvrod •r.lhovt prior wntton (onsont DEADLINES New* A Photos Thursday Advertising Friday • 3 p.m. Classified Advertising Friday • 3 p.m. I Wl'&IZ fror News Or Advertising Information 1 * Neither portklRallA* ptfvprtlam ttoe IV publisher, of the HK.KAI.II AND I.ANTKHN will he responsible or liable for mtaWUormiOon. misprint! I.pographtral errors efr . In any Nine TV editor rrsrr.rt the rlghi to edit any letter ar art teles submitted for pahilra-

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September, A Time For Reflection

by R. Leslie Chrismer Soon the dutuitfn equinox will be upon us, when the hours of daylight and darkness are equal. Before that it was summer; after that it will be fall. But all of September seems the same since it combines the best of all seasons and contains none of the worst: the warmth of spring without the heat of summer; the coolness of autumn without the cold of winter. A sort of summing-up month, September, and one for reflection. Most but not all of the ripening is over. Most but not all of the harvest is in. If there is a touch of sadness in September it is in the * first faint hint of autumn chill. It reminds us that time — (our only wealth, said Carl Sandburg) — is running out. If there is to be another chance, or another start it has to be taken, or made, now. Maxwell Anderson’s and Kurt Weill’s ‘‘September Song" is well named since its bittersweet words, and tune, express this urgency:

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“But it's a long, long time From May to December— And the days grow short When you reach September— O. the Autumn weather Turns the leaves to flame, One hasn't got time For that waiting gdme."

Some work of noble note may yet be done Not unbecoming, men that strove with gods. The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks; The old day wanes; the slow moon cllmbf; the deep Moans round with many vplces. Come, my friends, 'TIs not toe late to seek a newer world." It is not too late for even the most elderly among us to seek a newer world, rigtyt here on eat^h, and aid its coming with whatever effort we can summon. Up to the very end, "The great use of life is to spend it on something that will outlast it" — which was the judgment of that great psychologist and noble human being, Williams James.

"SEPTEMBER SONG” is from “Knickerbocker Holiday." a musical play about the very earlt days of New York City when one of its celebrated characters, an elderly but still eager, pegged-legged, Dutch gentleman seeks a reprise on romance with a pretty young maiden — an admirable ambition! But there are other worthy ambitions, and.perhaps more realistic ones, for the old to entertain. One is simply to help on keeping on, and keeping uSefuj as long as possible. As Martin Buber, the greatest Jewish philosopher of this century has said, "To be old is a glorious thing when one has not unlearned what it means ‘to begin ."

To begin, or, rather, begin again is the mohil Tennyson conveys in his famous poem, "Ulysses." Would that everyone eiflertng old age have the strength and spirit the poet attributes to his legendary hero, Ulysses, who speaks these brave and eloquent words to his old companions as they set forth on their final voyage of adventure and discovery: “Old age hath yet his honour and his toil. Death closes.all; but something ere the end,

The Beauty of Swamp Hyacinths

Mrs. Herbert Francis Campbell Don't be surprised if you never heard of the exquisite swamp hyacinths. They’re very scarce these days. Progress (?) has moved in and drained our beautiful swamps, slashed down the trees and choked off our rambling little brooks which these (and other priceless plants) need to flourish.

with their M.D. colleagues in Piscataway, then come to South Jersey to complete their last two years of clinical training. Osteopathic physicians cover the full range of medical specialties, but more than 85 per cent are involved in primary care-medicine. While D.O.s comprise only five per cent of the physician population, they treat more than 10 per cent of the American public, some 20 million people. OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE stresses an added dimension in that special attention is focused on the musculoskeletal system which, research has shown, invariably^ produces disorders when illness occurs. , i This is National Osteopathic’ Medicine Week, a time to salute the oste<fcthic physician whose public acceptance haPgrown considerably. in recent years. At expanding Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital, the osteopathic physician and the medical doctor work together, respecting each other as professionals. Nationally, about half of the nation’s osteopathic physicians practice in small towns and rural areas, reflecting the profession’s tradition of bringing health care to areas of the greatest need. Enrollment at South Jersey’s osteopathic school is expected to reach 224 by the mid 1980’s. Those of us who have waited what seems like interminable periods in doctors’ waiting rooms in Cape May County are hopeful that more osteopaths, as well as M.D.s, will establish practices in this county. The need is certainly here.

Sorry, I can't tell you where there are a few still. Uncaring hands would snap their stems thus depleting them even more. This entire plant is a “thing of beauty" and should be a "joy forever." *• Have you ever noticed how a flower — any flower spreads its distinctive leaves that are just right to cofnpliment its bloom? Think about that! And the stems: some have emerald accessories dancing along; others display bare, fascinating stefns of elegance, made of particular tints or unique “touches” (as the dress designers love to say.) The first time I saw a swamp hyacinth it took my breath! I had never dreamed up such a glorious sight. (Who could — except God?) There, nodding to me in a marshy, woodsy nook, its 30 (or was it 40?) florets all in a tuff topping a 14-inch stem of remarkable beauty itself, was a revelation one can never forget. You know those pretty, little decorative pixies hovering on a stalk of asparagus? Well, the swamp hyacinth has them, too,-and they’re a tint of green not to be found anywhere else. Old rose florets — not particularly poetic and certainly not half as descriptive as this bloom deserves. Better I should say not quite as deep a shade as the Purple Finch’s breast, or that certain pink-blue we sometimes see in a sunset IF we really look at it. It’s futile to "compare this color with our more widely-known Foster hyacinthsneither is it the same incomparable glory as our Chinese beauty bush. There just ISN’T any other flower with its subtle aura! Its stems rise bare and handsome, and are graceful, miniature pillars. Then where are the leaves? Ah-ba! Look downward! There in the lush, last-year’s leaves and sphagnum — there are the leaves: a perfect circle of Its own distinctive emerald sheen, glowing and smiling. You may say "HEY!! ‘perfect circle’ is redundant!" Well, I’ll chance it, for as the great poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, wrote: "Weeds in wheels." The swamp hyacinth's foliage really does make a wheel to help roll in Spring once more. There they spread — lovely and lush, (Hopkins again.) Swamp hyacinths are not hyacinths at all! You want their botanical name? O.K. Here it is: helonias bullata, but one seldom hears it. They are called other things, though: swamp blocks — (NOT LILACS!) and I've even heard them called water cress, a travesty, though I'm not taking anything away from the cress; it sports a beauty of its own. If someday you walk in the woods, you may spy a swamp hyacinth. I hope you bring a camera with you. Take home a picture, of course, but leave our Makerle miracle undisturbed in its secluded sanctuary.