Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 12, 1995 TAG: 9511160006
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: E-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Cox News Service
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A: Yes, another referendum can be held, but there's no specific timetable. Marc Boucher, director of the Quebec Government Office in Atlanta, said a referendum was held in the past when one of the parties in an election promised to hold a referendum if it won. A referendum on the sovereignty issue has been held twice in Quebec: in 1980 - Canada's first referendum - and again Oct. 30, 1995. In 1992, a referendum on the Charlottetown Accord was held in all Canadian provinces and was rejected. Quebec law states that only one referendum can be held per electoral term (a term is up to five years minus one day). An election can be called anytime within that period by the ruling government. If the term goes beyond that, the government has to call an election. The Parti Quebecois came into power in September 1994. Canada changed its constitution in 1981-82, but the changes didn't satisfy Quebec's concerns, so the province didn't sign the constitution. The sovereignty issue will remain unresolved until Quebec ``feels culturally secure within North America as a distinct cultural entity,'' Boucher said.
Q: When will the White House tree lighting ceremony be held?
A: It's scheduled for 5 p.m. Dec. 6.
Q: Do the Atlanta Braves team members get some sort of bonus for winning the World Series?
A: Bonus isn't the right word. To get a bonus, a player would have to have a provision written into his contract. ``No one would have a contract saying that if we win the World Series, I get X dollars,'' explained Braves spokesman Glen Serra. Instead, team members get a ``share'' of revenues, with players voting on who is eligible. A full share amounts to a little over $200,000, Serra said. If a player were on the team for part of the year, he could be voted a partial share (Steve Bedrosian got this). Manager Bobby Cox, coaches, trainers and head clubhouse personnel also were voted shares, said spokesman Jim Schultz.
Q: What is a pirogi?
A: Pirogi is the plural of the Russian word pirog (pie). They're small pastry turnovers filled with meat, cheese, mashed potatoes and the like. Another spelling is piroshki.
Q: Can we order a photograph or poster of Hubble's newly sighted gaseous globules?
A: The new Hubble telescope images went on display last Friday at the Hayden Planetarium in the Boston Museum of Science. No videos, posters or photos are available for sale. ``Visitors have to come and see it here,'' said museum spokeswoman Kris Surette. An option: Some Hubble pictures can be seen on the Space Telescope Science Institute's World Wide Web site on the Internet. They can be reached through the institute's home page at http://www.stsci.edu/Latest.html
Q: What is the address for people to write to get greetings from the White House?
A: Send requests in writing to: White House, Greetings Office, Room 39, Washington, D.C. 20500; or fax your request to 202-395-1232. Birthday greetings are sent to Americans 80 or older, and anniversary greetings to couples celebrating 50 or more years of marriage.
Q: News reports about the FBI and wiretapping mentioned a Digital Telephony Act signed by President Clinton in 1994. Do you have any details?
A: Designed to help police wiretappers keep pace with advancing telephone technology, the plan was a priority for FBI Director Louis Freeh. For several years, law enforcement officials had urged Congress to update the wiretap law. They warned that new services such as call forwarding were confounding court-ordered wiretaps, and if the trend continued, agents might lose one of their most powerful crime- fighting tools. The legislation was long in the making, delayed by lengthy negotiations among the telephone companies, the FBI, privacy groups and lawmakers. To mollify critics, sponsors inserted several privacy provisions. Once introduced, the legislation moved quickly through Congress. Clinton signed PL 103-414 into law Oct. 25, 1994. Whether it will ever take effect is an open question; appropriations have not been authorized.
Q: Why does the Naval Academy use a goat as its mascot?
A: An academy spokeswoman said that in 1890, when some midshipmen were on their way to the first Army- Navy football game, they decided that they needed a mascot. Looking in the nearest field, they found a goat, which they took to the game. From then on, a goat was considered the unofficial mascot. It became official in 1893 when officers from the USS New York gave the academy a goat named El Cid (The Chief). Over the next few years, several other creatures - two cats, a dog and a carrier pigeon - filled in when the real thing wasn't available, but goats have served without interruption since 1904.
Q: Is there a historical precedent for the U.S. president to order flags flown at half-staff for a deceased foreign leader?
A: Yes. White House spokeswoman Julie Green said flags in the United States have been lowered in that circumstance several times in recent years: Sept. 19, 1961, after the death in a plane crash of U.N. Secretary- General Dag Hammarskjold; on Jan. 24, 1965, for World War II British Prime Minister Winston Churchill; and on Oct. 7, 1981, for Anwar Sadat, assassinated president of Egypt.
Q: I saw where someone named John Henry Kellogg patented peanut butter in 1895. I always thought George Washington Carver invented peanut butter. Am I wrong?
A: The Dictionary of American Food and Drink attributes the invention of peanut butter to a St. Louis doctor whose name is lost in history. The product was first widely promoted at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Carver, who came to Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in 1896, is credited with ultimately developing 300 derivative products from peanuts, including cheese, milk, coffee, flour, ink, dyes, plastics, wood stains, soap, linoleum, medicinal oils and cosmetics.
Q: Do residential mailboxes belong to homeowners or to the federal government? What is legal to place in them, and what is not?
A: They're considered federal property under provision 18 USC 1705 of the U.S. Code. Federal law mandates that mailboxes be used only for postage- bearing items delivered by the U.S. Postal Service - meaning that notes from neighbors and ads for gutter-cleaning services should not be placed in or on, or attached to, the mailbox. The aim is security. The Postal Service delivers millions of checks, credit cards and other valuable items every day, explained postal spokeswoman Carol Larson. ``Laws discouraging strangers from opening your mailbox help to safeguard your mail.''
Q: What exactly is the Pentium chip that is advertised so heavily? What do chips do? How big are they, and what do they cost?
A: The Pentium is a microprocessor chip. The microprocessor is a personal computer's ``brains'' - where the real calculating is done. The Pentium, made by Intel, is the latest and most powerful of the microprocessors made for PCs by that company. The main difference between the Pentium and Intel's less powerful 80486 (which is still being made and used) is what Intel calls ``superscalar architecture.'' That's just a fancy term for the way Pentium chips handle data. A chip is about the size of a fingernail. But on the chip are millions of tiny transistors, so small that you'd need a microscope to see them. The chip itself is made of silicon that is treated - or ``doped'' - with a metallic compound. A chip costs about $200. An improved, more expensive Pentium chip, the Pentium Pro, was unveiled recently by Intel. By the late 1990s, it's expected to become the chip of choice in home PCs.
Q: What has become of the Shroud of Turin? I heard that it's now in Trier, Germany, and not in Turin, Italy.
A: The actual shroud is in Turin, but exhibits relating to the shroud occasionally are staged in other places. A tunic said to have been worn by Jesus at his trial by Pontius Pilate is supposedly in Trier. The Shroud of Turin is displayed to the public only about three times in every century. The next viewing is expected in 1998.
by CNB