Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 27, 1994 TAG: 9412290070
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: G4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: COX NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A: Among other requirements, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 protects disabled people from discrimination by private employers and requires that public buildings and mass transportation be accessible to disabled people.
Michael Oestreicher, president of Challenges Unlimited of Hadley, Conn., and an authority on accessibility issues, said city, state and federal laws apply in various locations.
The federal law: If a lot has between one and 25 parking spaces, one is designated for disabled; 26 to 50 spaces, two; 51 to 75, three; 76 to 100, four; 101 to 150, five; 151 to 200, six; 201 to 300, seven; 301 to 400, eight; 401 to 500, nine; 501 to 1,000, 2 percent; 1,001 and over, 20 plus 1 percent for each 100 over 1,000.
Q: During the Christmas season, I often see people ringing bells outside stores to raise money for the Salvation Army. Do those people get a percentage of the money they collect?
A: No. All the donated funds go to the Salvation Army, according to Allan Wiltshire, Christmas Kettle coordinator for the Atlanta Temple Corps of the Salvation Army. The people ringing the bells are Salvation Army employees, not volunteers.
Q: Whose voice is used in Mercedes ads on TV? It sounds like actor Edward James Olmos, who was on TV's ``Miami Vice'' and in the films ``Stand and Deliver'' and ``The Godfather Part III.''
A: The ad agency handling Mercedes spots says actor Joe Mantegna does the voiceover in Mercedes commercials shown primarily during football games recently. ``He was in `Searching for Bobby Fischer,' '' said Natalie Nichols of the Martin Agency in Richmond. Mantegna played Fred, the father of 7-year-old Joe Waitzkin, in the chess-oriented 1993 film. Mantegna also appears in ``The Godfather Part III,'' but Olmos doesn't.
Q: Milwaukee and Kenosha, Wis., both had referendums Nov. 8 on banning handguns within the city limits. Did they pass?
A: Voters in both cities rejected the measure, according to spokeswomen for the Milwaukee Election Commission and the Kenosha city administrator.
Q: What kind of power does the speaker of the House have to make the position so awesome?
A: The Congressional Almanac spells out these duties of the speaker: He serves as presiding officer of the House of Representatives, elected by its members. The speaker, who always has been an elected member, appoints committee chairs and conference committees, recognizes members during debate and makes many important rulings. The speaker may vote, but usually does not, except in the case of a tie. This also may have something to do with it: After the vice president, the speaker is next in line of presidential succession.
Q: When a newspaper describes New Gingrich as a ``right-wing Young Turk,'' isn't that yellow journalism?
A: A Time magazine article said Gingrich ``entered Congress with the class of 1978 and soon founded the Conservative Opportunity Society, a group of right-wing Young Turks.'' The term is not derogatory. This is how Webster's defines Young Turk: ``any of a group of younger people seeking to take control of an organization, party, country, etc. from an entrenched, usually conservative, group of older people.'' Gingrich spokesman Allan Lipsett expressed no negative reaction to the term. . .
Q: What is the piece of classical music played during the Oldsmobile Aurora ads.?
A: Joel Treisman, at Chicago's Leo Burnett Co., the ad agency handling the Oldsmobile account, credits composer Aaron Copland's ballet ``Appalachian Spring.''
Q: How can an elected public official who ran as a representative of one political party simply switch parties when the going gets tough?
A: Nothing in law or custom prevents politicians from jumping parties.
Q: Has a memorial fund been established for the children of David Smith in Union, S.C.?
A: Yes. Send memorials to: Adam Walsh Center of South Carolina, 1400 Pickens St., Suite 102, Columbia, S.C. 29201. Adam, 6, was kidnapped and murdered in Florida in 1981; his father, John, a marketing executive in Hollywood, Fla., at the time, was stirred into relentless anti-crime action and is now host of TV's ``America's Most Wanted.'' Information: 803-254-2326. Send cards or letters to: David Smith, P.O. Box 1021, Union, S.C. 29379.
Q: I see that Fidel Ramos, the new president of the Philippines, is a West Point graduate. How could a Filipino get appointed to the U.S. Military Academy?
A: U.S. law permits a maximum of 40 cadets from foreign countries to attend the Military Academy. Currently, 36 are enrolled in the classes of '95 through '98. Two brothers from Chile became the first foreign students to attend West Point, enrolling in 1816 (neither graduated).
Andrea Hamburger, a West Point spokeswoman, said the State Department prepares a list of countries that are eligible to submit nominations. ``At the time Ramos attended, we probably had specific slots allotted to cadets from the Philippines,'' she said.
``The respective governments pay for the foreign students to attend West Point, with the amount of payment determined by the State Department,'' Hamburger said. ``The fee might be waived by the U.S. government in the interest of training young people in democratic ideals. Ramos graduated in 1950. He's a fine example of someone who received training in American principles at West Point.''
Q: What became of the man whose car hit and killed Margaret Mitchell? Did he go to jail? Is he still living?
A: Hugh Dorsey Gravitt died of cancer April 15 at age 74 and was buried next to his mother in Hawcreek Baptist Church Cemetery in Cumming, Ga. He was a 29-year-old taxi driver, off duty, when his car struck the author of ``Gone With the Wind'' at 8:20 p.m. on Aug. 11, 1949. It happened on Atlanta's Peachtree Street when ``Peggy'' Mitchell and her husband, John Marsh, were crossing the street to see the movie ``A Canterbury Tale'' at the Peachtree Art Theatre. She died five days later.
Gravitt was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and served 10 months and 20 days in prison. In an interview in 1991 - his first lengthy interview in 42 years - Gravitt said: ``I'll make it till I die, I reckon. But I know I'll be haunted and hounded till I take my last breath.''
Q: Can you print the telephone number for the naval master clock observatory, if that is the proper name?
A: To reach the U.S. Naval Observatory master clock, call 202-653-1800. It's a toll call to Washington. You'll hear a recording, and it repeats itself constantly, so you can check your timepiece to the split second. It says, for example: ``At the tone, Eastern Standard Time, 11 hours, 55 minutes, 20 seconds. Universal time, 11 hours, 55 minutes, 36 seconds.'' .
by CNB