ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 1, 1996 TAG: 9609040132
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: 5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Cox News Service
Q: An article about Margaux Hemingway said she was the fifth member of her family to commit suicide. I know about her grandfather Ernest, his physician father and his brother. But who was the other one?
A: Ursula, one of Ernest Hemingway's sisters, killed herself in 1966.
Q: Marilyn vos Savant, the Parade magazine columnist, is listed in the Guinness Book of Records Hall of Fame for having the highest IQ. What is it? What is the IQ range for a genius?
A: Her IQ is 228, according to Parade Publications. Anyone with an IQ higher than 140 is classified as a genius.
Q: What's the status of a bill to replace overtime pay with comp time off? What exactly does the bill say?
A: It's making its way through Congress. The House approved HR 2391 on July 30 by a vote of 225-195. On Aug. 1, the measure was placed on the calendar in the Senate. The bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to permit employees who are due monetary overtime compensation ``time off at a rate not less than 11/2 hours for each hour of employment for which overtime compensation is required.'' You can read the text of the bill on the Internet at: http://thomas.loc.gov/.
Q: What is a tax with the initials VAT, and how does it work? I see references to it in articles, but it's never explained.
A: Value added tax (VAT) is common in Europe and Canada. It's a tax on business income, based on the ``value added'' at each stage in the production of a good or service. The tax is paid by every company that handles a product during its transformation from raw materials to finished goods. The amount of the tax is determined by the amount of the value that a company adds to the materials and services it buys from other firms. In time, most of the tax falls to the consumer, so in a sense its effect is equal to a retail sales tax. Often it's equivalent to a luxury tax, too; the less necessary a product is (cigarettes, liquor, for example), the higher the tax. Travelers who pay a VAT on some purchases abroad often can claim a refund on some or all the tax, so it affects residents more than visitors.
Q: How much money does each presidential candidate receive in federal matching funds? What is the source? Has any candidate ever qualified for federal matching funds and refused to accept them?
A: Candidates get dollar-for- dollar matching funds, up to a maximum of $250, only in primaries, according to the Federal Election Commission. In the general election, Democratic President Bill Clinton and Republican challenger Bob Dole get $61.8 million each in federal funds. They cannot accept private contributions, but their political parties can. So can the special committee that a candidate sets up to cover legal and accounting costs. Ross Perot, who gets $29 million in federal funds, can accept contributions of up to $1,000 a person until his total funds equal $61.8 million.
The pool of money that goes to the major party candidates comes from taxpayers who designate $3 of their income taxes for that purpose on their individual IRS tax forms, said FEC spokesman Ian Stirton. Candidates are permitted to put up to $50,000 of their own money into their campaigns and still qualify for federal funds, but if they exceed the limit, they no longer qualify. Perot four years ago, and Steve Forbes this year, declined the federal money and spent their own. Some Libertarian candidates also have refused to accept federal funds.
Q: As an expression of helpless misery, the black hole of Calcutta is a well-known symbol. What was the original black hole?
A: It was an 18-by-14-foot room into which the French-supported Nawab of Bengal, Siraj Uddaula, thrust 146 British prisoners on the terribly hot night of June 20, 1756. The only ventilation in the room was provided by two small air holes. By the next morning, 123 of the men had died. Several Indian writers have claimed it was a British hoax, perpetrated to rouse patriotic sentiments, but three witnesses testified to the story and none of the 23 survivors ever denied it.
Q: A friend told me about a blood- sucking animal that is supposedly killing herds of goats and other small animals. Is there any truth to this?
A: Newspapers and TV shows this spring reported on the creature, known as El Chupacabras, which was variously rumored to be part space alien, part vampire and part reptile, with long, sharp claws, bulging eyes and a Dracula-like taste for sucking blood from neck bites. The mystery monster created a stir in South Florida and Puerto Rico, but its tastes apparently were confined to assorted chickens and goats, not humans. Officials said wild dogs, not the mystery creature, were responsible for the dead livestock.
Q: With the interest in Bob Dole being a veteran and Bill Clinton not being a veteran, what about Jack Kemp? Was he ever in the military?
A: Kemp entered the Army Reserve in Los Angeles Jan. 7, 1958, and was called to active duty Oct. 15, 1961. He was discharged July 19, 1962. Although it isn't reflected in his service records, newspapers reported in 1987 that after he underwent a physical exam in the Army, Kemp received an exemption from further active duty because of an injury he received previously as an athlete. He continued his professional football career after his discharge, however.
Q: Vice President Al Gore spoke at a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention. What is his service record? Where did he serve in a foreign war? Did he earn any service medals?
A: Despite his opposition to the war in Vietnam, Gore accepted induction into the Army after graduating from Harvard in 1969. We say ``accepted induction'' because, for a time, he contemplated not going. In Vietnam, he was a reporter with the 20th Engineering Battalion, which was stationed outside Saigon. He was not awarded any service medals, a spokeswoman said.
Q: Where can I get a copy of Jeane Kirkpatrick's speech at the Republican Convention?
A: The Republican National Committee said copies aren't available by mail, but the full text is accessible on the Internet at: http://www.convention96.rnc.org.
Q: In Innsbruck, Austria, recently, I enjoyed a delicious orange-flavored soft drink called Cappy. The label said it was bottled by Coca-Cola. Will it ever be available in the United States?
A: Cappy is a brand of the Coca-Cola Co. Cappy fruit drinks are sold in several countries in central and eastern Europe, including Austria, said Coca-Cola spokeswoman Cly Wallace. There are no plans to introduce Cappy in the United States, she said, but Minute Maid, Hi-C and Fruitopia are among the fruit juice and drink brands owned by Coca-Cola and available here.
Q: Can you help correct the misinformation that is so widely disseminated about the date of V-J Day? As a veteran of World War II who was in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945, I am dismayed to see Aug. 15, 1945, referred to as V-J Day.
A: There's a reason for the confusion: Two dates are often mentioned. Japan agreed to the Allied terms of surrender on Aug. 15, 1945. Documents making the surrender official were signed Sept. 2, 1945.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary defines V-J Day as Aug. 15, 1945. World Book Encyclopedia refers to both Sept. 2 and Aug. 14 (because of the International Dateline, the time of the agreement to surrender was Aug. 15 in Japan and Aug. 14 in the United States).
This is what World Book says in its V-J Day listing: ``V-J Day, which stands for Victory over Japan Day, marked the end of World War II. At 7 p.m. on Aug. 14, 1945, President Harry S. Truman announced that Japan had agreed to surrender. Japan had been trying to end the war, and surrender rumors had raced through the United States for the four days before Aug. 14. Sept. 2, 1945, has since been declared the official V-J Day. On that day, representatives of Japan signed the terms of surrender aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.''
In a radio address to the American people Sept. 1, 1945, Truman proclaimed Sept. 2, 1945, to be V-J Day, ``a day which we Americans shall always remember as a day of retribution - as we remember that other day, the day of infamy.''
Q: Dr. Jack Kevorkian is often in the news in connection with assisted suicides. What is he paid to assist in these cases?
A: Nothing, according to a spokeswoman for his attorney, Geoffrey Fieger of Southfield, Mich.
Q: A wife can draw Social Security benefits based on her husband's earnings even if she never worked. But I have heard that the only way a husband can collect benefits is if he qualifies on his own. In other words, he couldn't draw benefits based on his wife's earnings. Is that true? I'm not talking about disability cases.
A: Not so. It works the same either way, said Social Security spokesman Bill DeBardlaben. When describing benefits and eligibility, Social Security is careful to use the words ``you'' and ``spouse,'' instead of husband or wife, he said.
Q: Whatever became of iron lungs?
A: Iron lungs saved many lives during the 1950s, when polio epidemics broke out in the United States. But polio is no longer common, and respiratory paralysis is rare. A few of the machines are still in use, but for the most part other respiratory aids are in widespread use for patients who have difficult breathing.
Q: What is the Natural Law Party? I've seen very little in print about it.
A: The party, headquartered in Fairfield, Iowa, is relatively new: It was founded in spring '92 and was re- launched 14 months ago by John Hagelin, a Harvard-trained quantum physicist. Its platform includes prevention-oriented health care to promote health and reduce costs, the promotion of renewable energy practices and sustainable agriculture and lowering taxes by reducing social programs. The NLP is on the ballot in 48 states and the District of Columbia, with up to 800 candidates expected to run for state and federal offices. Information: Natural Law Party, 51 W. Washington, Fairfield, Iowa 52556 (515-472-2040).
Q: What colleges did Bob Dole attend, and what degrees has he received?
A: Dole was a premed student at the University of Kansas from 1941 to 1943, when he was called up for service in World War II. After the war, he switched from medicine to law and studied at the University of Arizona and at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan., where he earned his B.A. degree in 1949 and L.L.B. degree in 1952.
Q: When Vermont was called during the roll call of states at the Republican convention, the delegate referred to it as ``the 14th state and the first republic.'' What does that mean?
A: It was not one of the 13 colonies. Originally claimed by both New Hampshire and New York, Vermont was proclaimed independent by Ethan Allen, who organized the Green Mountain Boys in 1764. The Green Mountain Boys rid the state of New Yorkers in 1770, fought well against the British in the Revolution and declared the independent republic of New Connecticut on Jan. 15, 1777. In July 1777, Vermont adopted its first constitution and its present name. Allen eventually was overthrown and Vermont joined the Union on March 4, 1791, as the 14th state.
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