Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 3, 1994 TAG: 9404030240
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FROM WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A: A living will has nothing to do with distribution of money or possessions, but states a person's feelings about certain medical procedures that could be used to postpone or prolong death. The advocacy group Choice in Dying, the national group that invented the concept of living wills 25 years ago will send you free a document that conforms to the laws of any particular state. It also has a toll-free number to connect you with trained counselors and lawyers. To request a living will, write to Choice In Dying Inc., 200 Varick St., 10th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10014-4810. The number is 800-989-WILL(9455).
Q: What was the most number of actors ever nominated for "best actor" from the same movie? Has there ever been a tie?
A: Charles Laughton, Clark Gable and Franchot Tone all were nominated for their parts in "Mutiny on the Bounty" in 1935. But on Oscar night, the prize went to Victor McLaglen for his role in "The Informer." There was a tie for best actor when Fredric March, for "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," and Wallace Beery, for "The Champ," both took home an Oscar in 1932. There also was a tie for best actress in 1968: Barbra Streisand for "Funny Girl" and Katharine Hepburn for "The Lion in Winter."
Q: What are the two symbols behind the speaker's podium in the House chamber in Washington? A: Each is called a fasces, a classical Roman symbol of authority. A fasces consists of a bundle of rods - used to hold scrolls of written law - and an ax with a projecting blade, all bound together. Individually the rods could be snapped like kindling, but together they would be virtually unbreakable, the Capitol curator's office explained. The fasces were not part of the original decor of the House chamber; they were added during remodeling in the 1950s. (Incidentally, "fasces" is the root word for "fascism.")
Q: Is it true that Nike, which targets youths to buy its athletic shoes, has moved all its manufacturing overseas, thus offering no jobs to the youths who pay high prices for those products. What about other sports shoe manufacturers?
A: None of the top three athletic shoe manufacturers - Adidas, Nike and Reebok - manufacture their products in the United States, though they do develop their prototypes here, according to the Sporting Goods Management Association. If you want to buy American, go for Converse, Keds or New Balance, which manufacture a substantial part of their products in the U.S.A.
Q. Is the Hillside Strangler, Kenneth Bianchi, still in jail?
A. Bianchi is serving two consecutive life terms at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, and he is considered highly unlikely to be paroled. His earliest release date, counting credit for good behavior, would be in 2058, when he would be 107 years old. Bianchi pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in five of 10 murders in California, in which young women were raped and strangled and their bodies dumped on hillsides around Los Angeles in 1977 and 1978. He is serving time in Washington for the slayings of two Washington women in January 1979.
Q. What causes myopia (nearsightedness)?
A. It just happens.
"It's like some people are taller and some are shorter and fatter," said Richard Kendall, a retired optometrist and member of the California Optometric Association.
"There's a theory by some that myopia is created by individuals who constantly do near-work, like jewelers and writers and so forth," Kendall said. The theory follows that people, such as farmers, whose occupations rely on seeing distance, develop hyperopia - farsightedness.
But, so far, it's only a theory and one the optometric community hasn't been able to validate.
Kendall added that neither myopia nor hyperopia should be confused with presbyopia, which develops as a person ages.
Presbyopia, from the words "presbyter," meaning elder, and "opia," meaning sight, is the diminished elasticity of the lens.
by CNB