An Editorial

Readers' Forum

Shared Holiday Credit to All Cafx* May Countians showed their stuff and shared their stuffing Christmas Day with M3 recruits from the U S. Coast Guard Training ('enter in Cape May. Thanks to coordinated efforts by the Coast Guard, local ministers and the county Red Cross chapter, the base was swamped with offers from local famiJies anxious to host young recruits forced to spend their holidays away from home The Coast Guard had to decline offers from dozens ot families because it had already allocated the contingent of fifth and sixth Week classes it .permitted to leave the base In fact, eajjrtfy another KM) recruits could have enjoyed a home atmosphere and home cooking but for the Coast Guard s decision not to release recruits who were in their first four weeks of training We hope the Coast Guard will change the rules next year, when an even greater out pouring of community generosity can be expected The center had one good reason for canceling holiday leaves in the first place efficiency Rut its reasons for not permitting more recruits into the community morale and proper uniforms — are less defensible The Coast Guard w as concerned that an emphasis on Christmas festivities could be depressing to young persons away from home for the first time Rut chaplains at the center report that those who made it out into the com munity had a great time No reflection on Coast Guard cooks, but Christmas dinner with a caring family had to lx? more rewarding than in the base galley The uniform question appears to be at the heart of the problem Quite properly, the arm ed services never want their members to appear in public looking anything less than perfect. The solution is to issue dress uniforms to recruits earlier in their eight-week training program. That may be difficult, but surely not impossible. The result — a shared holiday uplifting to both local hosts and visiting recruits — w r ill make the extra effort worthwhile

Tobacco Use No Trivial Problem

By Dr. Douglas Chester Imagine two airplanes crash in mid-air today, killing l .000 people Imagine this disaster follows a similar crash yesterday Further imagine this has happened every day for years Pretend more crashes will occur tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that One thousand people will die terrible deaths every day There is a real life parallel to this imagined horror It 's the premature deaQi of more than 350,000 Americans every year from the use of tobacco Tobacco use is not a trivial problem I hope my imaginary scenario illustrates this The far-reaching devastation of tobacco use touches many areas of our lives Compare some actual news hap^ pemngs with the effects of tobacco FOB INSTANCE, the New Jersey State Assembly is currently dealing with the State's fiscal problems It's estimated a smoking employee eosLs his or her employer $5,000 more per year than a nonsmoking employee What impact can this have for New Jersey, which employs B<),ooo people'* We re working to decrease the highway deaths due to alcohol use Smoking drivers have up to 250 percent more auto accidents than nonsmokers and 'a of all adults smoke Capital Comments

We agonize over eight unexpected deaths due to poison ed Tylenol But what about the anticipated 1.000 deaths daily from tobacco, a known poison Concern is growing about the fires imKcd to portable space heaters But smoking and matches are the main cause of residential fires that result in loss of life A SPECIAL commission studies ways to protect the wellbeing of firefighters The Alexandria, Virginia Fire Department found that every firefighter who retired on heart-lung disability was a smoker. Mrs Reagan heads a well-publicized campaign against drug use. but in her return to elegance puts out cigarettes in crystal dispensers in the White House We work for energy conservation, but areas where there is smoking requires 600 percent more clean air exchange, with resultant energy costs MY POINT? I want our society to direct appropriate attention to tobacco and the' death and destruction it produces I'm happy the New Jersey Assembly will soon consider smoking restrictions in government buildings, restaurants, public places and the workplace Logic demands we act to d'seourage tobacco u$c and to protect the nonsmoking majority I encourage my fellow citizens to support the Assembly’s modest response to an enormous problem Dr Douglas Cheter fs president of New Jersey GASP. Inc (Group Against Smoking Pollution)

Hike Sales Tax By Sen. James K. Hurley The national recession has caused New Jersey's revenues to fall to record lows We are not alone Numerous other states face the same problem and. although New Jersey is in better fiscal shape than many of our neighboring states, we still face a budget deficit that could reach over $100 million by the end of the fiscal year Since the New Jersey Constitution wisely requires a balanced state government, we have two choices cut spending or find a new source of revenue A ONE PER CENT hike in the sales tax. combined with $50 million in budget reductions, would provide sufficient funds not only to close the budget gap hut to restore $45 3 million in aid to hard pressed school districts Yet as the minority party in troth houses of the Legislature, we alone cannot solve any of the state's problems without Democratic support OUlt PROPOSAL would have avoided painful cuts while still reducing the size of state government by $50 million Although raising taxes is never a popular decision, we believe it is a responsible position to take to avoid undue hardship We will continue to fight to prevent disastrous cuts in education aid and other vital stale services Sen Hurley represents Cape May Countv and much of Cumberland County

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