Kokomo Tribune Sunday (Newspaper) - August 18, 1996, Kokomo, Indiana KOKOMO TRIBUNE Todays Weather Clouds and sun High 85 i Uw 64 Sports Spot Colts win on kick Page Bl Kokomo Indiana August 18 1996 ON Sister M Martin McEntee dons a white cap as required by health regulations as she stops by the kitchen at the cafeteria of Saint Joseph Hospital Health Center The president and chief execu tive officer always leaves smiles and laughter in her wake when she walks through the hospital as employee Carol Carter will attest McEntee is retiring after leading the hospital for 28 years For more on Martin turn to page C1 KT photo by Brian Reynolds Reform Party Perot VALLEY FORGE Pa AP Reform Party members chose Ross Perot to be their presidential candidate opting for the third partys founder over challenger Richard Lamm it was announced Saturday The results released by party chairman Russ Verney showed that Perot received votes or 65 percent and Lamm received votes or 35 percent He said the Texas billion aire who was to arrive here today to accept the nomination was very pleased to hear the Perot has spent millions building the fledgling third party which is on ballots in some form in 40 states Lamm a former Colorado governor knew he would have difficulty winning The Reform Party named its candidate three days after the Republicans nominated Bob Dole at a traditional political convention in San Diego and nine days before the Democrats convene in Chicago to nominate President Clinton for a second term Although some LI million ballots were mailed to eligible voters within the party only mately votes were tallied in the final bal loting overseen by the accounting firm of Ernst Young Verney said Verney told CNN Perot was very pleased to hear the Of the low participation among eligible party members he said This is a whole new process how people are going to be able to select the nominee of their own very proud of everyone who did take part in this process and selected who their nominees going to be this year and into the general election Said party spokeswoman Sharon Holman I think that is certainly a respectable number Were delighted with the The nominating contest was touted as a new electronic convention yet most people didnt bother to avail two of the three by the Internet Instead they their ballots 88 per cent of them said Eight percent of the votes were cast by phone and 4 percent by computer message V Verney also told reporters at an evening news conference that there were more invalid tele phone votes than total valid votes Only valid votes were by telephone Verney said he does not expect a vice announcement from Perot for a while Lamm had given himself a chance of beating Perot and complained that he was put at a disadvantage throughout the pri mary He said that in the voting process some voters did not receive ballots while others received multiple ballots raising questions about the validity of the results IUK awakens the desire to learn Handson approach gets children dirty By KELLY B Tribune staff writer Dont call the people who work in Indiana Universi ty Kokomos Child Care Center teachers With a change in early childhood education philosophy the teers and center employees con sider themselves awakeners Vicki Douglas director of the Child Care Center said she has worked with children for the past 20 years and the new education method that the center will begin using this year is the best she has come across Douglas and her staff are intro ducing parents and their children to the Child Care Center and the new methods through three evening sessions at IUK the first of which was held at 7 Thurs day night in Kelley Center Douglas said she is not trying to tell parents they are raising their children wrong She said she is trying to introduce area parents to some new ideas about their chil dren And that includes parents who do not have their children enrolled in lUKs program Ill talk to who ever church groups she said There really isnt a name for the methods volunteers and employ ees are learning before the start or lUKs school year but it involves letting children learn about the world around them through hands on experience Huntor Ailor 3 left and 4 squirt food coloring into a clear gelatin mold at Indiana Uni versity Kokomos day care program which is instituting a handson learning approach KT photo by Douglas said the learning process infants and children up to age 5 is a messy experience The center now uses several dif ferent methods of getting messy including shaving cream and corn starch and food coloring in squirt bottles hard hats with paint brush es attached to the front of the hat for painting with tiie head crayons and markers and the best of all clear gelatin molds that children can squirt paint into If your child comes home clean thats something to worry Douglas told parents Besides just getting dirty Dou glas said her staff will work with students to show them the rela between written and spo ken words The staff will write down stories the children dictate to them and then those stories will be read aloud in class There are many aspects to this new method of learning for lUKs littlest students but Douglas said the most important thing is for the children to have fun Douglas and her staff will host two more sessions 2 Aug 25 and Sept 10 in Kelley Student Center For information call 4559306 Officials introduce antigang education Police offer community chance to help with crime prevention By MIKE FLETCHER Tribune staff writer To help Kokomo keep from being overrun by gang violence that often plaques other cities the Kokomo Police Department has set up antigang classes to better edu cate the community We are aggressive when it comes to gang activity and thats one of the reasons why we dont have the problem bigger cities said Lt Tom DiNardo who is in charge of crime prevention at the department But gangs do exist in Kokomo and the community needs to be aware DiNardo said Gang activity is one of the prob lems not looked at seriously by the community but it does closely affect the community The losses can range from property damage to assault and has a pro found effect on the behavior of our he said The half hour to an hour class is designed to further educate par ents and children on several issues Some of the questions examined in the class include the following What is a gang Where do they come from How do you identify and recognize gangs One problem people have is knowing What is a gang DiNardo said Criminal gangs are groups of people who form an alle to a common purpose and to engage in criminal or antisocial activities And some are referred to as hate groups because of the antisemitic or racists Identifying gangs is another important part of the class DiNar do said They gang members can range from adults to teenagers and even younger Often gangs here try to mimic gangs in bigger cities but here we dont have the problem of socalled turf DiNardo continued Locally gang members are of all racial and eth nic backgrounds and conduct activities throughout the city in a variety of locations A new trend that has gained some momentum here in the teenage culture is the white supremacy gangs which are becoming an overall problem throughout DiNardo said Issues such as gang graffiti dress codes symbols and hand gestures are also a tool to identify gang activity DiNardo said Another critical part of the anti gang program is understanding why someone becomes part of a gang They seek to satisfy a need to belong or to be accepted Many kids are void of the recognition at their home and have a low self he said Lately we have seen more activity in which people allege they are part of a gang there are a lot of gang wannabees out Parents need to play a major role in reporting any alleged gang activity especially if it involves their children the lieutenant point Local gangs Following is a list of reputed gangs in the Kokomo area according to Lt DiNardo Police pointed out that the names of gangs may frequently change as do other organizations because of leadership change and breakups Vice Lords Insane Vice Lords Moville Cholos Latin Kings Trouble Misfits Skin Heads Confederate Hammers People wishing to report any alleged gang activity can do so by calling Lt DiNardo at 456 7195 or at the police department Hotline at 8645444 Callers can remain anonymous edout We cant fix the problem if we dont know it he said The classes recently began and requests have come in from com groups and church es The department is hoping to begin classroom presentations soon as well Also Kokomo police conduct several other programs to help combat gang violence including a graffiti eradication program school liaison officers to talk to and educate students and other school programs designed to edu cate children and to help and iden children DiNardo said Even though criminal gang activ ity arrest numbers are few gang members are not Criminal gang activity law passed in 1994 was designed to cut down on gang vio lence The reason is proving gang involvement in a court of law DiNardo said We initiate many criminal investigations that result in arrests and ultimately involve DiNardo said We realize there is criminal gang influence but the trouble is proving that the crime was specifically motivated through criminal gang activity which is not as easy to prove as the original According to the Indiana Crimi nal Code book criminal gang activ ity is defined as a person who knowingly or intentionally actively participates in a criminal gang commits criminal gang activity a Class D A conviction for the offense can be a maximum of three years in prison or the minimum of a half year in prison and a possible fine A September shooting resulted in the first arrests for the offense Five alleged members of the Vice Lords gang were charged but only three were convicted on the gang activity charge Inside TODAY Local 145 Nq 346 819
