Buffalo Criterion, 1985-09-26

              ■ stef s ' - why's nece*^3i7 raino spaper - featuring paid legitimate circulation w the buffalo criterion niagara regso this photo was taken at a private audience in papal place castel gandolfo from hour from rome italy last friday afternoon shown are brian d rusk left director of pubuc affairs of daemen couege receiving papal blessing from dr robert s marshall president of daemen college from his holiness pope john paul 11 blue cross seeks rate increase blue cross of western new york inc has applied to the state of new ycrk insurance dept for an increase in subscriber premium rates averaging approximately 6.5 percent to be effective january ist if approved by the state insurance dept the in crease will affect about 72 percent of blue cross members those covered under community-rated contracts and riders experience rated con tracts cover the remaining members of the mem bers included under com munity rated contracts 82.7 percent are covered by standard contracts 16.4 percent are covered by over 65 limited hospital coverage contracts and 0.9 percent hold student * contracts *-*-*■ the proponed - increase " for ' standard contracts both group and direct payment averages 2.-4 percent group 2.7 per cent direct payment 0.6 percent the increase in per diem rates of payment to hospitals effective january 1 1986 is the main factor necessi tating the proposed in crease blue cross of western new york inc is a not-for-profit health ser vice corporation which provides coverage for the costs of health care for its 1,016,000 members throughout the eight wes tern new york counties of allegany cattaraugus erie genesee niagara orleans and wyoming au income is used to benefit members either as claim payments or to provide administrative servicea to operate the plan projected claim payments _ for 198 will m exceed wl4,t**»,t»o la citing reasons for the proposed rate increase mue cross resident charles e rath said payments to hospitals wiu increase 8.6 percent effective january 1 1986 the per diem reim bursement rate the amount blue cross pays to hospitals for each day of care needed by a member is determined by the mandated statewide hos pital reimbursement method called the new york prospective hospital reimbursement methodo logy ibis method mandates payments by blue cross for a bad debt and charity care allowance a discre tionary fund allowance a fund to assist distressed hospitals and a transition pool to assist hospitals suffering a reduction in medicare revenue mr rath also noted a 1.7 percent increase is due to a bill paassd by th new york state legislature re forming the medical mal practice litigation system to control rising medical liability premiums rates the biu requires a public hearing set for oct 7th hospital where doctors have primary staff pri vileges to pay the premiums for a second tier of malpractice coverage for damages more than one million douars but less than two million douars in addition federauy mandated benefit reduc tions in the medicare a program result in larger blue cross payments on behalf of members cover ed under the blue cross over 65 limited hospital coverage contract it is important to recognize that these feder al and state mandated governmental actions will increase the demands on the financial resources of blue cross of western new york inc mr rath said ». a public laat <—_*>. rate increase request has been scheduled for mon oct 7th at 10 a.m in the walter j mahoney state office buuding 65 court st in buffalo from ashes to joy by brian rusk • • recently 1 embark on a wjeta to poland and italy which ranged in feelings of sadness to the ultimate joy one can experience fourteen months ago dr robert s marshall president of daemen couege asked me to set up a student and professor exchange between the catholic university of lublin poland and daemen couege this became a reality 5 months ago last year i traveued to poland with richard solecki national vice president of the poush american congress and joel maten buffalo area jewish business leader to begin negotiations with the great assistance of rev dr tadeusz zasepa chairman for the foreign relations office for the catholic university of lublin all details were ironed out very quickly pope john paul ii was chairman of the faculty of ethics of lublin from 1953-1978 because his holiness has such a warm spot for the catholic university of lublin i represented dr marshall at a private audience with the pope for a papal blessing for the daemen-lublin exchange program this week long trip to poland and italy included richard solecki joel maten erie county legislature chairman richard slisz erie county executive ed rutkowski wivb-tv anchor rich newberg webr radio reporter jola simon harbor linen president earl waxman big d supermarket chain v p sam gould wkbw-tv anchor don postles and several other community leaders from western new york richard solecki of depew put together most of the poland part of the trip he is a genius with details contacts and arrangements throughout poland our first stop in warsaw poland was to visit the grave site of the rev jerzy popieluszko the politically active priest who was slain by polish government operatives for his outspoken support for solidarity leader lech walesa and his movement for freedom in poland ten thousand poles barely wealthy enough to feed their families travel to this grave site every weekend they light candles sing religious hymns and mourn the loss of rev popieluszko popieluszko in poush means ashes this trip to poland and italy rose from ashes with the visit to the gravesite of father popieluszko to the ultimate joy with a private audience with his holiness pope john paul 11 the next stop was a reception honoring daemen couege at the cathouc university of lublin poland where i was fortunate to represent daemen couege president robert marshall there the administration of lublin honored our group with a luncheon tour private pipe organ concert and reception the cathouc university of lublin is the only christian | university behind the iron curtain and the only place for free thought in the communist block xxctmduat of public affairs for dh_d couesa 4380 main st amherst ~- - on the m-ay to krakow from lublin we stopped an elderly farmer on the roadside being led in a horse drawn wagon with his family this family was typical of the polish people being poor himself he extended an invitation for all 15 of our group to his home for vodka and food when asked by rich newberg about thefolitical situation in poland he remarked that he survived the nazis world war 11 and if he survived this he could handle anything towards the end of our stay in poland earl waxman of philadelphia and 1 flew to gdansk poland the birthplace of solidarity and home of lech walesa of course we were tailed by secret police upon landing in gdansk we took a cab to st bridget's church where we met with dick solecki's close friend the rev henry k jankowski the spiritual advisor to lech walesa and the solidarity movement ____ *_■ _ a ________ a _ a ........... rev jankowski told us how there was great tension in gdansk with terrible pressure put upon walesa earl and i told rev jankowski that we must meet with walesa to let him know we were behind him and in order to present him a beautiful photo of niagara falls taken by u s news and world report photographer tim peters rev jankowski had a priest take waxman and myself to walesa's humble apartment outside the old section of gdansk i noticed from our car walesa in his blue volkswagon van about a quarter of a mile from his home we waved to him and both cars stopped waxman and i got out of our car with cameras and the gift for walesa immediately 2 secret police cars slammed their brakes out of nowhere a marked police car arrived men jumped out with hands on their guns demanding my passport and film from our cameras walesa and the priest told the police that we were friends of solecki and were friends of solidarity and the working people of poland after ten minutes of fighting by walesa and the priest we were released what a moment of terror it was certainly gratifying to have a world leader and nobel peace prize winner such as walesa to fight for our freedom after poland our delegation flew off to rome italy for our private audience with pope john paul 11 at his summer palace caste 1 gandolfo about an hour's drive from downtown rome what beauty elegance and excitement surrounded our group to the palace the guards were wearing uniforms that resembled . the middle ages the ushers wore tuxedos with gold everywhere his holiness met our group privately in an all white robe with a gold cross i presented on behalf of dr marshall the mary magdalen daemen medal to father zasepa for his efforts with the dac_en-lublin inter ational student and professor exchange the rope blessed this program and encouraged more of the same he told robinson calls for suggestion program william robinson en dorsed democratic can didate for 3rd district county legislator has proposed that county government seek sugges tions from public assis tance cuents for improve ments in the delivery of social services programs establishing a system for obtaining feedback from cuents can help upgrade the quality of social services program ming direct input from the people who are served by the department and are knowledgeable about its operations is the best advice the department can get said robinson robinson is proposing that the county install suggestion boxes at vari ous social services offices in the county rath building he is also asking that jthe dept of social services send a question . naire to each recipient the survey would * ask cuents to evaluate various aspects of social services programming and to offer their recommendations in writing robinson pointed out that a questionnaire was sent to cuents in 1983 but that it served no useful purpose because its find ings were never publicized or fouowed up on considering the staff shortages and the increas ingly high case loads handled by county case workers robinson said that new and innovative steps must be taken to ensure that the dept of social services operates smoothly and that it serves the needs of our commu nity robinson pointed out that improving the social services system through feedback wiu benefit both the recipient and the county vocal group to celebrate anniversary on saturday oct sth the voices of metho dism will celebrate its first anniversary at 7 p.m at bethel ame church 1525 michigan avenue the choir is made up of members from various methodist churches ame ame zion um and cme throughout the city of buffalo choirs and groups from the city wiu be present to help celebrate the public is invited judicial convention nominates rossetti niagara falls — the eighth judicial district convention of the right to life party nominated mario j rossetti to be their candidate for new york supreme court jus tice of the bth jd in the november sth general election this district includes the ■ counties of allegany cattarugas chatauqua . erie genesee niagara orleans and wyoming the term of office is for 14 years the convention was held at 7:30 p.m sept 20th in the niagara county civic buuding 3rd st and cedar avenue in niagara falls anthony m murty of niagara falls was the . convention chairman helen m pierce of alden was the convention secre tary amherst c of c to cosponsor breakfast with business series the wuuamsviue com munity education pro gram in conjunction with the amherst chamber of commerce wiu present a series of programs de signed to help people who are thinking about starting their own busi nesses announced am herst chamber sokes man brian d rusk this three-session program wiu answer some questions which will help one plan for success the session are session 1 starting a business in your own home to be held on thurs oct 3 from 8 to 9 a.m with judy jackson proprietress of the woody pear and david sheffield owner of triple s sporting goods if one is thinking of starting a business at home this person should join these two entrepre neurs who made it big by starting out small both of these speakers will share some of their experiences in starting their own business problem areas encountered and factors necessary for growth and success session 11 wiu be held on thurs oct 17 from 8 to 9 a.m dennis kitchen attorney and counselor at law mr kitchen will ; share some of the leg aspects of running one's own business areas covered will be choosing an attorney types of corporations consumer ism collection and bank ruptcy session m will take pake on thurs oct 31 shown in the photo are mrs bessie knight 95 years-old and her daughter from 8 to 9 a.m with jim pautler executive direc tor of erie county par nership and john falk of the m&t bank com mercial banking offices these panelists will discuss sources of funding for small business which include county state and federal monies as weu as mrs frances hau the availability of private funds this will take place at the casey educational center in room a-26 the fee is 15 including a a buffet breakfast for further informaiton call the amherst chamber of commerce executive sec retary at 716 688-6905 bessie knight shines on 95th birthday by abdullah luqman mrs bessie knight was honored by over 200 church members friends and family on her 95th birthday at the moot senior citizens center on high st mrs knight was born in thomasviue georgia on september 17th she moved to buffalo in 1915 and educated her two children in the buffalo school system the pastor rev mcashan of bethel ame church spoke of some of the many wonderful things that mrs knight has done in her over 65 years of service at bethel mrs knight is the mother of two chudren glowver knight and a daughter frances hau two grand chudren glowver hau and thomas b hau two great-grandchudren mues langston hau and allegra bass hau and other relatives too numerous to mention by names the buffet dinner and the singing of lauretta anderson helped to mke this special occasion one to be remembered from ashes to joy i pm 3 • -