Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 19, 1995 TAG: 9511170116
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: F-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A: Although Carter's presence, interest and carpentry skills gave Habitat an incalculable boost in public awareness, it wasn't he who started the housing ministry. It was founded in 1976 by Millard Fuller and his wife, Linda. Carter, who left office in January 1981, and his wife, Rosalynn, committed to working with Americus, Ga.- based Habitat for Humanity International in February 1984. Carter first worked at a Habitat site the following month in Americus, and in September 1984 he spent a week working with dozens of volunteers at the Jimmy Carter Work Project in New York. Since then he has been involved in building projects in Atlanta, Baltimore, Charlotte, Chicago, Miami, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, San Diego, Washington, South Dakota and Canada.
Carter has said he gets more recognition for his Habitat work than for the Camp David Accord, Salt II or anything else he has done since leaving the White House. This is how he puts it: ``I can walk down the aisles of airplanes talking with people, and invariably the No. 1 thing that anybody ever says is, `Tell me about Habitat.' ''
Q: I understand that family members who want to visit gravesites of veterans buried overseas can get free passports. Is that so? How do we proceed?
A: It's true. Members of the immediate family visiting overseas graves are eligible for no-fee passports. The privilege is restricted to widows, parents, children, siblings and guardians of the deceased who are buried or commemorated on tablets in permanent American cemeteries on foreign soil. You can obtain more information by writing: American Battle Monuments Commission, Room 5127, Pulaski Building, 20 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20314-0001.
Q: Will you give some background information about Cy Young? I know he was a great pitcher, but that's all I know.
A: Denton T. (``Cy,'' for his nickname ``Cyclone'') Young was born March 29, 1867, and died Nov. 5, 1955. ``A Who's Who of Sports Champions'' says a simple way to express his greatness is this: ``He had 511 career victories, 95 more than Walter Johnson, who is in second place, and 138 more than Grover Cleveland Alexander and Christy Mathewson, tied for third. Another way to express it is that he averaged more than 23 victories a season for 22 seasons.''
Some numbers: In 906 major league games, Young was 511-316, with 75 shutouts and a 2.63 earned-run average. He completed 749 of 815 starts, striking out 2,800 hitters while walking 1,219 in 7,354 2/3 innings.
Shortly after his death, the Cy Young Award was established to honor the outstanding major league pitcher of the year. From 1956 through 1966, only one pitcher was honored. Starting in 1967, awards were given to winners in each league.
Q: How much retirement pay does Colin Powell receive after 35 years of Army service?
A: It goes by a formula applicable to anyone of the same rank and length of service, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Bill Harkey explained. The amount is based on pay before retirement. A four-star general with 35 years receives a base pay of $9,016.80 a month; at retirement, that person can draw 75 percent of base pay. So Powell draws $6,762.60 a month. If a person who entered the service before 1984 retires after 20 years, the pay is 50 percent of base salary, Harkey said, plus 2.5 percent extra for each year of service over 20 years. People joining the service after 1984 will get a lower level - 40 percent - to begin when they reach age 65. .
Q: Doesn't the U.S. Constitution require that a president be born in the United States? I understand that Colin Powell was born in Jamaica, so how could he even be considered?
A: Article II of the Constitution says, in part, ``No person except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of president.'' But Powell wasn't born in Jamaica; he was born in New York City. His parents were Jamaican immigrants.
Q: I'm disappointed that Colin Powell isn't running for office, but I'd like to write to tell him I support his decision. What is the address?
A: Office of Gen. Colin L. Powell, 909 N. Washington St., Suite 767, Alexandria, Va. 22314; or fax, (703) 684-5083.
Q: What is ``winter gas''? I understand that service stations are switching from a summer gasoline to a winter one.
A: The Georgia Petroleum Council says the fuel's volatility - tendency to evaporate - is increased during winter months to accommodate lower temperatures and assure proper ignition. Conversely, during summer months, the fuel's volatility is decreased to prevent problems such as stalling (vapor lock) and to decrease fuel evaporation into the environment. Bob Leidich, of BP Oil in Cleveland, says butane is added in cool weather and reduced in warm weather. A side benefit is a reduction in hydrocarbon emissions.
Q: I was tremendously moved by the peace song sung in Tel Aviv just before Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. When was it written, and by whom?
A: The ``Song for Peace'' was written after the Six-Day War in 1967 by Jacob Rotblit, a soldier whose leg was amputated. Debbie Lincoln of the Israeli Embassy in Washington said the song was ``quite controversial'' at the time it was written because it called for peace.
Q: What are the words of the peace song sung just before the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin?
A: The ``Song for Peace,'' as translated from the Hebrew by Benjamin McKemie and provided by the Israeli Consulate General in Atlanta:
Though the sun shall rise
and the morn's clear light will shine,
The purest of all prayers
shan't bring us back another time.
Whoever's flame has been snuffed out
and whoever in the dust does lie,
Bitter weeping shall ne'er rouse him
nor bring him ever again nigh.
Us no man shall ever return
from dark and lowly grave -
Here no profit from victory's joy
nor from praise unto warriors brave!
So then just sing out a song of peace
Let not your prayer be only a whisper!
It's best now to burst out with a song of peace
with a great and resounding shout!
Let the sunshine penetrate
through each and every bloom -
Never cast a backward glance
and for those marching on to peace, let us all make room.
Lift your eyes in hopefulness
and not through your gunsight
Sing a song of loving kindness
and bid farewell to the fight.
Do not say ``a day shall come''
Bring that day by your own hand (for it is no caprice)
and throughout all time and space
Lift your voices in a cheer for peace.
Rabin was shot moments after singing the song, in Hebrew, at a massive Tel Aviv rally
Q: Where we can send condolences to the family of Yitzhak Rabin?
A: Write: The Rabin Family, c/o Embassy of Israel, 3514 International Drive N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008.
Q: Predictions by Nostradamus seem to crop up all the time in tabloids. Who was he?
A: Nostradamus was the Latin name of Michel de Notredame, a French astrologer and physician in the 16th century. His book ``Centuries,'' a series of prophecies in verse, gained him a reputation for being able to see into the future. Skeptics discount the predictions, saying they are vague and open to various interpretations. But the tabloids don't mind.
by CNB