ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 6, 1997 TAG: 9704070027
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: 5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: COX NEWS SERVICE
Q. When the national anthem was played during a baseball game at Atlanta's new Turner Field, photos showed team owner Ted Turner and many others with their hats off. Jane Fonda kept her hat on. What is the protocol?
A. Etiquette rules involving the wearing of a hat during the anthem apply only to males. This is from ``The Amy Vanderbilt Complete Book of Etiquette/A Guide to Contemporary Living'': If a man is wearing a hat, he should remove it and hold it with his right hand over his heart. Others should stand at attention or place the right hand over the heart.
Q. I'm curious about the name Scottish Rite. What is the origin of that?
A. It's one of two advanced divisions of Masonic membership; the other is York Rite. The names are symbols of early times in Masonry. The earliest traditions are associated with Scotland and York, England. After a man has been accepted for membership by the Masons, he joins a Blue Lodge, the basic organization. After moving through the ranks to third degree in the Blue Lodge, he may be invited to join either or both of the two advanced branches. If a Mason enters the Scottish Rite, he may advance through various degrees that are designated by names and numbers. The highest degree in the Scottish Rite is 33rd.
Q: Which is worse for you, getting a tan in a tanning bed or naturally in the sun?
A: The American Academy of Dermatology refers to all tanning as ``precancerous glow.'' Whether it's attained outdoors or indoors in a tanning bed, tanning is dangerous, the organization contends. The same ultraviolet A and B rays are the culprits, with no distinction based on the tanning method.
Q: Why are some military installations designated fort while others are called camp?
A: As defined by the Dictionary of Military Terms, a ``fort'' is a permanent defensive structure, often including living quarters for a sizable force. It designates a permanent Army installation or garrison. The word ``camp'' is sometimes applied to any military post, the dictionary says, but in general it's less permanent than a fort - for example, a group of tents, huts or other shelters for temporarily housing troops. In the United States, Marine bases usually are called camps while Army installations usually are designated forts.
Q: Credits on the movie ``Fargo'' say it's a true story exactly as it happened. Was it a true story?
A: It's in dispute. Press notes released when the film first came out claimed ``Fargo'' was loosely based on real incidents that occurred in 1987 in Minnesota. But a Minneapolis newspaper has disputed the claim.
Q: Is there a recommended preventive maintenance for septic tanks?
A: The best preventive maintenance is to have the solids pumped out of your septic tank every five to 10 years. Over time, the solids that do not biodegrade will build up in the tank, causing it to overflow into the drain field and plug it up, said Tony Tyson, an engineer with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service in Statesboro. Every community has companies that provide septic tank maintenance, so look in the Yellow Pages under Septic Tanks - Systems, Cleaning. If you live in an older house with clay pipes running from the house to the septic tank, you should keep roots and other potential obstructions away from the pipes, Tyson advised. .
Q: Comet Hale-Bopp is said to be 40 miles across. How does that compare to the sun and moon? What about Mercury, Venus and Mars?
A: Equatorial diameters in miles: sun, 864,390; moon, 2,160; Mercury, 3,030; Venus, 7,520; and Mars, 4,217. For comparison, the Earth's diameter is 7,926 miles.
Q: Who decided that daylight-saving time has to start on April 6, and who decides when it ends? What is the rule?
A: Congress made the ``rule,'' but daylight-saving time doesn't always start on April 6. It was instituted by the Uniform Time Act, which became effective in 1967. At that time all states, the District of Columbia and U.S. possessions were to observe daylight-saving time beginning at 2 a.m. on the last Sunday in April and ending at 2 a.m. on the last Sunday in October. On July 8, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation moving up the start of daylight-saving time to the first Sunday in April, starting in 1987.
Q: A radio announcer said the 1040 tax form got its number designation from Lady Godiva. Is that true? What is the connection?
A: It's a colorful story, but it isn't true. The connection is because Lady Godiva rode naked through the streets of Coventry, England, to protest taxes in - you guessed it - A.D.1040. Another yarn has it that the forms are so named because, in 1040 B.C., Samuel, the last of the prophets, gave in to his people's demands that he give them a king, yet warned them that a king would require them to pay taxes. The Internal Revenue Service's explanation is that the number 1040 was the next available in the forms- numbering system in 1913 when the 1040 was devised.
Q: What are the educational and background requirements for someone to become an FBI agent? Are there different fields?
A. Among general qualifications: A candidate must be U.S. citizen; at least 23 years old, but not older than 36; available for assignment anywhere in the FBI's jurisdiction; have uncorrected vision not worse than 20-200 and corrected to 20-20; pass a color vision test; be in good physical health and physically fit; and possess a valid driver's license. Employment can be precluded for conviction of a felony or a major misdemeanor, poor credit rating, use of illegal drugs or failure to pass a drug screening test and polygraph examination.
There are four entrance programs, each with its own set of educational and capability requirements: law, which requires that the applicant have a J.D. degree from a resident law school; accounting, in which the applicant must have a B.S. degree with a major in accounting and be eligible to take the CPA exam, or if a candidate has not passed the CPA exam, he or she will be required to pass the FBI's accounting test; language, which requires the candidate to have a B.S. or B.A. degree in any discipline and be proficient in a language that meets the needs of the FBI, as well as pass a language proficiency test; and the ``diversified'' program (which is the largest), in which a candidate must have a B.S. or B.A. degree plus three years of fulltime work experience, or an advanced degree and two years of fulltime work experience. For employment information, call your local or regional FBI office and ask to speak to a special agent recruiter.
Q: What dates will Easter fall on in the future, say for the next 20 years?
A: 1998, April 12; 1999, April 4; 2000, April 23; 2001, April 15; 2002, March 31; 2003, April 20; 2004, April 11; 2005, March 27; 2006, April 16; 2007, April 8; 2008, March 23; 2009, April 12; 2010, April 4; 2011, April 24; 2012, April 8; 2013, March 31; 2014, April 20; 2015, April 5; 2016, March 27; and 2017, April 16. Most years, Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter on a later date.
Q. How is the date of Easter determined? What about Passover?
A. The simple explanation is that Easter usually falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon that occurs after the vernal equinox. But that is somewhat misleading, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, because it's not a precise statement of the actual ecclesiastical rules.
Easter is determined by the ``ecclesiastic moon,'' which is defined by church-constructed tables and isn't identical with the real moon. In addition, the vernal equinox - the time at which the apparent longitude of the sun is zero degrees - is fixed at March 21, not by the motion of the sun.
As a result, the date of Easter occasionally differs from the date that would be obtained astronomically, the observatory says. In addition, two dates separated by the International Date Line are always simultaneously in progress on Earth.
Passover begins on the 15th day of Nisan, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. .
Q: Whatever happened to ``Pappy'' Boyington of World War II fame? Can you refresh my memory about his exploits?
A: Marine aviator Gregory ``Pappy'' Boyington scored six ``kills'' with the Flying Tigers in China before taking command of VMF-214 on Sept. 12, 1943, as a 31- year-old major. Known as the ``Black Sheep'' squadron, his F4U Corsair-equipped outfit was based in the central Solomon Islands. Boyington was the oldest member. His Black Sheep squadron shot down nearly 100 Japanese planes in the South Pacific and became one of the most famous units of the war. Scoring the last of his 28 kills Jan. 3, 1944, he was shot down over New Britain island in the Pacific along with his wingman, Capt. G.M. Ashmun. After 20 months as a prisoner of war, he returned to duty and retired in 1947 as a colonel. He had been awarded the Medal of Honor ``posthumously'' because it was believed that he was killed when his plane was downed. He also won the Navy Cross. His book, ``Baa Baa Black Sheep,'' was a best seller in 1958 and was the basis of a television series starring Robert Conrad. In January 1988, Boyington, 75, died of cancer in Fresno, Calif. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Q: With so many trees being cut down in our part of the country, the pollen count continues to increase. Why is that?
A: Pollen counts measure total pollen. As trees are cut and removed, the trees that remain may have more resources to generate larger crowns and produce more pollen flowers or cones. But pollen doesn't just come from trees. When trees are cut down, many other green, pollen-producing plants move onto previously treed sites. These wind-pollinated annuals and perennial plants generate proportionally more pollen than trees.
Q: Articles about Dale Jarrett's winning the Primestar 500 called the Atlanta Motor Speedway NASCAR's ``only true oval.'' Aren't those at Daytona, Talladega (Ala.) and Charlotte true ovals?
A: No. They're ``tri-ovals'' and ``quad-ovals.'' They can be visualized as D- shaped tracks. Picture something like a paper clip, with one side bent so it's extended outward. After the Atlanta track is reconfigured, there will not be any true oval anywhere, said Richard Sowers, Atlanta Motor Speedway spokesman. The reconfiguration of the speedway will be finished in time for the NAPA 500 race in November.
Q: I read recently that when people first started using telephones, they answered with ``ahoy.'' Is this true?
A: Published accounts say ``ahoy'' was suggested by Alexander Graham Bell as the salutation for telephone calls when he invented the telephone. But the term never caught on. Early telephone users opted for ``hello'' instead. Bell's idea about ``ahoy'' is believed to have sprung from its use for many years by sailors as a greeting. The word is a combination of the interjection a and hoy, a natural exclamation used to attract attention, similar to the cry for calling hogs.
Q: I'm considering a personal boycott of food products owned and sold by R.J. Reynolds because of its Joe Camel advertising promotion. What food lines are involved?
A: Selected RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. products, as listed in Hoover's Handbook of American Business 1997, are in several categories. Among candy, gum and nuts: Breath Savers, Bubble Yum, Care Free, Gummi Savers, Life Savers, Now & Later, Planters. Among cookies, crackers and cereals: Barnum's Animal Crackers, Better Cheddars, Cheese Nips, Chicken in a Biskit, Cream of Wheat, Nabisco Honey Maid Grahams, Newtons, Nilla Wafers, Nutter Butter, Oreo, Premium, Ritz, Triscuit, Wheat Thins. Others: A.1. Steak Sauce, Blue Bonnet, College Inn, Fleischmann's, Grey Poupon, Knox, Milk-Bone, Move Over Butter, My- T-Fine, Vermont Maid.
Q: What has become of Bobby Hurley, the former Duke basketball star who went on to play professionally? He was seriously injured in an auto accident several years ago.
A: He's with the Sacramento Kings, although he didn't get a lot of playing time under coach Garry St. Jean, who was fired recently.
Q: Who was the last black actor to win any Oscar, let alone one for best supporting actor?
A: Before Cuba Gooding Jr., who won for his role in ``Jerry Maguire,'' the last black winner was Denzel Washington in the same supporting actor category in 1989 (for ``Glory''). Other previous black actor or actress winners have included Whoopi Goldberg, supporting actress, 1990 (``Ghost''); Louis Gossett Jr., supporting actor, 1982 (``An Officer and a Gentleman''); Sidney Poitier, best performance by an actor, 1963 (``Lilies of the Field''); and Hatti McDaniel, supporting actress, 1939 (``Gone With the Wind'').
LENGTH: Long : 221 linesby CNB