• • 62 opinion Herald & Lantern 6 June '84

Our Readers Write Cape May or Manhattan?

To The .Editor: On Sunday evening, May 27, 1 went to a church function with several friends at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church in Cape May. I have gone to church there before and have had my parking ticket validated. I have learned mat the church only has permission to validate tickets for mass and not for social functions such as Bingo. That would seem fair to me if the parking rate was reasonable, but my friends and I were charged $12 for four hours parking at the Victorian Plaza parking lot. That is an outrageous parking fee. I could go to the casino for all day and park for $5. It would be cheaper to park illegally in Cape May and pay the parking ticket than to park legally in the Victorian Plaza lot. The City of Cape May and the merchants of shops on the Mall should look into this exorbitant fee for parking. IF SOMETHING is not done to rectify this situation, the church will lose patrons for bingo, the stores on the Mall

will lose importan. summer business, and people will be tempted to park illegally rather than pay such highway robbery to park their cars. I and several others who are year-round residents will never go back to Cape May for any reason as long as we have to depend on the Victorian Plaza parking lot for a place to park our cars. I'm sure that summer visitors would be just as disgusted as I am to find themselves in a situation where parkign costs more than it would in downtown Manhattan. The tourists will carry a very negative view of Cape May's hospitality back to their home towns. Thank you for your interest in this serious problem that affects all of us who wish to go to Cape May for an evening. . AGNES TORPEY Erma (ED. NOTE : The Victorian Plaza parking lot is privately owned and operated .) ) I ine ijnosi vji cicihuio ' r

Telethon Success To The Editor: The Cape May County Unit of the American Cancer Society wishes to thank everyone involved in making their recent Telethon a success. The fight against cancer in .Cape May County will continue thanks to the efforts of the many volunteers who worked tirelessly during the months before and the day of the show. Many thanks also to the talented acts who gave of their time and talent to make the Telethon an entertaining one, and the dozens of area merchants for donating prizes, goods and services to encourage donations and help defray the cost of production. We especially thank the Wildwood Board of Education and WMGM-TV for their cooperation and the use. of their facilities to present the Telethon. And we gladly tip our hats to all of our local radio, TV, and newspaper friends who contributed to the cause by helping publicize the event. BUT MOST OF ALL, we thank everyone who contributed to the final tote board total of over $27,000. Producing a Telethon is a tough job — but fighting cancer is even tougher. The Cape May County Unit of the American Cancer Society stands firm in its commitment to the community's health and welfare, and is grateful for your donations. Is you haven't yet taken the time to fulfill your commitment by honoring your Telethon Pledge, please do so today to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box^fMS, Rio Grande, N.J. 08242. I - MIKEWALCZAK, Publicity Chairman American Cancer Society Telethon

Why No Sidewalk? To The Editor: Is there any valid reason there is no sidewalk on both sides of Route 9 in Courthouse for about a block going south from Stone Harbor Boulevard? You take your life in your hands when walking in the street for that one very busy block. ( Please check into it. F.P. WHITTLE Delsea Wood Mobile Park Cape May Caourt House

Hnralii Published Every Wednesday By P.O. Box at The Seawave Corporation Cape May Court House. N.J M21* Joseph R. Zelnik Editor Bonnie Reina General Manager Gary L. Rudy Advertising Director John Dunwoody Special Promotions Director Dan-ell Kopp Publisher 1»away« Corp. 1W4. All Hphts rtssrvsd. AM propfty rights for Hm onHro content! of this publication shall bo tbo property of tho Soowovo Corp. No port hereof may be reproduced without prior written consent. » DEADLINES News & Photos Thursday Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. Classified Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. 1 465-5655 For News or Advertising Information | Neither particWhUnK advertisers nor the publishers of the HMtALD AND LANTERN bill be responsible or liable for misinformation, misprints, typographical errors, etc.. la aay issue. The editor reserves the right to edit aay letter or articles submitted lor publication. » fewer Township LANTERN If '' i Published Every Wednesday By P.O. Boa tit Cape^tay^Court House. N.J, lailj

Diapers At Full Mast?

To The Editor: The American people have lost their basic intelligence a long time ago due to so many asinine and ridiculous laws Cronyism in Middle? To The Editor: Last night one of my neighbors was robbed, and now I have had enough! On Solar Way, Cape May Court House, I have seen hot rodders, broken glass, drunken parties and two burglaries. Time and time again I and my neighbors have gone through proper channels, and requested a street light, but for six years now we have heard one excuse after another why we can't. During this same period, I have seen others in Middle Township who have had no problem at all getting lights on their blocks (or for that matter building permits, sewerage connections, occupancy permits, etc.). In Middle Township, I believe, the tax rate is a constant. Everybody who owns property pays $3.03 per $100 assessed value. There are no deviations. Why, then, do some individuals receive more and/or better services for their tax dollar than others? Of course, the answer is obvious — cronyism, which, by the way, is spelled D-I-S-C-R-I-M-I-N-A-T-I-O-N! ED ROSENBERG Cape May Court House

and pr9posals pushed down their throats by our greedy politicians and professional do-gooders, that it is hard to say wnich of all the various movements is the worst. However, until something crazier comes along, I nominate those sterling characters who are promoting Womens Rights, because of the following news item. It seems to me the apex, the eiptome and the height of insanity came when it was written that the new Commandant, of the Cape May Coast Guard Statioh is a woman, plus 5/9th. In other words, she has been promoted and installed to this important post while she is five months pregnant with the baby due in September. I have no real quarrel with the sex matter, but I can see some problems which could arise from her condition later. WILL SHE GO THRU labor on the Cutter Alert? Will the Search and Rescue Teams be required to fly obstetricians and gynecologists to the ship at her command? Will the personnel on the ship have to salute the baby as well as their commandant? Will the navigator also have to double as baby sitter, and will this mean extra pay? Will diapers be flown at full or half mast9 There is so much involved in this matter that I think a full-scale investigation should be made by our boondoggling congressmen, and then they can forget the awesomely important matter of who stole Jimmy Carter's notes^ FOWLER H. STRATTON JR. Avalon

.-Overpass Threatens Press — — Promise to Stay Up Late?

By JOE ZELNIK f I usually read my daily newspaper while waiting for the Stone Harbor Boulevard/Garden State Parkway traffic light. I've noticed that many people read the daily paper while waiting for that two-minute light. If the state ever pbt an overpass there, studies have shown that newspaper readership would declined) percent. And this county real- . ly canfafford that. I get through the paper pretty fast because I just read the headlines and that serial they've got going, "The Earl Ostrander Story. " Who could put that down : will he resign or won't he, does he live in Wildwood or Middle Township, is his mother still angry with him? Love, hate, sex ; it's all there. I'll bet if they put this on TV, Earl would outdraw JR. Actually, I don't place much stock in what I read in a daily newspaper. A reporter for a daily newspaper, as the name implies, has a daily deadline and has to write his story the same day the event occurs. Haste makes waste, I always say. Contrast that with the situation at this weekly. We have all week to think about our stories, to refine and hone them to absolute perfection. WHERE WAS I? Oh, yes, reading a newspaper at the traffic light. I noted a truly startling article: "After Divorce, Women More Likely to Be Poor," the headline said. This will come as a sjrock to Cape May County's Social Services and Welfare departments. I suppose it will be followed by a second piece explaining that it costs more for two people to live alone than together. And after that, who knows, maybe a revealing article pointing out that second wives are younger and more expensive than first wives. That could be headlined, "After Divorce and Remarriage, Men More Likely to Be Poor." SOMETIMES THE ADS in newspapers are more interesting than -the news.1 .

In last Sunday's paper, for example, a full-page ad promised, "Eat ALL You Want and Still Lose Weight." If that's true, Ruth Wanberg's new column in this paper, MDiet Do's," won't be around long. A three-week supply of "Metabolite 2050" cost? only $29.95 (plus $2 for shipping and handling) and "literally / pulls excess fat from hard-to-reach storage sites — waist, hips, thighs and buttocks." Nothing said about between the ears. \ I ONLY SAID that snide thing about daily newspapers because competition is so fierce in Cape May County. People ke«?ps*sking me how long before we start charging for this newspaper. I don't know, but when you consider that some gas stations are getting a quarter for air, you should be able to see the typing on the wall. The competition gets even tougher in the summer when anybody with a typewriter and a rate card tries to get a piece of the action. Progressive outfits like ours have to come up with new ideas to stay ahead of the game. The heavy hitters at this newspaper, for example, recently noted that late-night television (after midnight) was selling ads by lowering rates. Since less people stay up and watch the tube, it makes sense to reduce the cost of advertising. SO, PLANS ARE underway to publish a special section of this newspaper that can be read only between midnight and 6 a.m. It should have plenty of readers because this county has a high proportion of older persons and they sleep less at night than the young and middle-aged. Advertising costs for our midnight to six section will be approximately half our usual rates. Biggest problem, now that the Sheriffs and Prosecutor's offices have refused to provide reader surveillance, is how to keep people from cheating and reading it during the day. One proposal is to have banner airplanes fly over with the message: "I Promise." Everyone would nod his head in a silent pledge, the way Catholics used to agree not to go to dirty movies. Then I remembered how often I made that pledge, but went to the movies anyway. I think we're going to have to come up with a better answer.