Bethpage-Tribune_1975-12-11

              BETHBAGE
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• ISLAND TREES
OLD BETHBAGE
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PLAINVIEW PLAINEDGE SEAFORD
VOL. 10 NO. 3 Thursday, December 11, 1975 10 cents per copy,
Cable TV Increase Causes Uproar
Burke, Diamond Seek Relief For Users
HELPFUL BOOS? is given to one of Santa's little fans by Donna
Makofske, 10, of 3676 Orchard Rd., Wantagh, at Wantagh Park's Mail
Box. Santa's Mail Boxes are in place in all Nassau parks, courtesy of
the County's Department of Recreation and Parks, and youngsters
who 'mail' their requests by Dec. 24 are gauaranteed a cheery -- but
noncommital - letter from Santa himself. All that's necessary is that
names and addresses be legible.
The announced intention of
Cablevision in the Town of Oyster
Bay to raise its rates in January
has brought a demand for some
regulation of the industry from
Oyster Bay Town Supervisor
John W. Burke and Councilman
Kenneth S. Diamond.
"Whether the rate increase is
necessary is not the question at
this time" Diamond said. "What
must be recognized is that this
new industry cannot be allowed
to simply raise its rate whenever
it pleases." He points out that this
first rate increase amounts to 21
to 27 percent "and Cablevision
didn't have to explain it to
anyone."
According to Diamond local
municipalities such as the Town
inititally had some control over
cable television rates, "but then
the Federal Communications
Commission announced a
regulation which preempted the
rights of all local governments to
rule on rate changes. Now only
the Corporation rules on whether
it needs an increase."
Supervisor Burke explained
Cao Minh Chiem Family To Be Welcomed
On Sunday, December 14, 1975
the parishioners of St. Martin of
Tours Church, Bethpage, will
officially welcome the Cao Minh
Chiem family from Viet Nam into
their midst. The welcome will
lake place at a reception in their
honor in the School cafeteria
from 2:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M.
The family, consisting of father
Anthony, mother Cam Duan, sons
Tarn (16) and Tien (11), and
daughters Lien (14), Chi (13) and
Ha (10), managed to escape from
Viet Nam to Hong Kong last April,
though the boat they were
traveling in broke down and for
four days and five nights they
faced death from starvation and
lack of water, as they watched
other escapees with them suc-comb
to their wounds, disease
and hunger. The family has three
other children; John, the oldest,
was able to leave Viet Nam a
year ago and is presently
s t u d y i n g Mechanical
Engineering at N.Y. Polytechnic
Institute on a scholarship from
the University of Saigon. Two
other sons (19 & 22) never made it
out of Viet Nam though Mr. Cao
had arranged for their escape
along with that of seven nephews.
Nothing has been heard from
them and Mrs. Cao fears they are
dead.
The family arrived in the
United States in September ...
anxious, penniless, homeless and
with no possessions except the
clothes they were wearing, -
much too light for our climate.
Since their arrival at St. Martin's
on November 21st, the clothing
problem has been super­abundantly
taken care of, and
temporary housing has been
provided, though the family had
to be split up.
Mr. and Mrs. Cao are staying
with the Denis McCarthy's the
two boys with Mr. and Mrs.
Donald Weiss, daughters Chi and
Ha with the Bill Wallace's and
Lien with the Raymond Walther
Family. The four younger
children are attending St. Martin
of Tours School.
After all the hardships and
heartaches the family has been
through, their faith in God, and in
the future the parishioners of St.
Martin's can offer them, has
. *, ^ «, A.. •«• _. ..1L>V~.A.».J
CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS SOID
Santa's Show of Christmas gifts,
now in your Hometown Stores.
never wavered. They are over­whelmed
with the love that has
already been extended to them.
But the task of caring for them
has only begun. Employment for
Mr. Cao, a college graduate Math
major, who reads, writes and
speaks English and whose former
occupation was Province Ad­ministrator
(a civil servant
position), is first on the list of
priorities. Adequate housing so
the family can be re-united must
be found. Temporary financial
assistance is also necessary.
To help in this last category,
the teens in the 9th and 10th Gr.
C.C.D. Program at St. Martin's
are sponsoring a CHRISTMAS
SALE on Dec. 14th from 9:00
A.M. to 1:00 P.M. in the St.
Martin of Tours Parish Hall on
(Continued on Page 15)
Bethpage Students
Show Art At Mall
With cooperation from the
Social Studies department and
Mrs. Rothenberg's Art classes,
projects with a Bicentennial
theme have been worked on.
These project banners and
mobiles are hanging in the
Nassau Mall on display. On
Saturday, Dec. 6, there was to
be a prize ceremony for the
projects at the mall.
When making these projects
many books from the library on
the Revolution and the Bicen­tennial
were used. Other classes
made project portraits of famous
Americans. These and the
banners and mobiles not hanging
in the mall will be on display in
the schools.
that one of the reasons the Town
feels there must be some form of
control on cable television rates
is that practical experience
throughout Long Island has
proven there is little room for
competition in this field. Pointing
to Oyster Bay Town's experience
Burke recalled that the Town
Board in 1967 had approved three
franchises to allow different
corporations to initiate cable
telelvision within the Town.
"Only one used its franchise
and started installation of cable,"
Burke noted. "While this Cor­poration
has continued to expand
into one community after
another, absorbing a static
market, the Town has received
no indications that another cable
corporation is even considering
requesting a franchise that would
allow 11 to compete for customers
within our boundaries." •
A possible cause for such a
situation, according to Burke is:
"A cable corporation, as with
many private ventures, must
make a sizeable initial in­vestment
to bring its product to
the consumer. It does so in the
belief that there is a market for
the product. But that's where the
similarities between cable
television and other private
enterprises end. Once a con­sumer
buys the product of a cable
television corporation there is
little chance that the consumer
will remove one cable connection
and invest in another installation
fee because another company has
come along offering a different
movie or a slightly lower monthly
rate."
Diamond noted that under the
current circumstances the
residents of the Town "who feels
he is not getting his money's
worth does not have the option of
switching to another corporation.
While the monopoly might not be
one dictated by a municipal law it
is a monopoly dictated by
economics and practicality and,
therefore, should be regulated to
some degree."
A letter requesting the FCC to
involve itself in rate regulation
has been sent by the Town ac­cording
to Diamond. "In the
letter we ask that if the FCC does
not wish to involve itself in such
regulation then it should recind
its regulation that preempts
municipalities from offering such
protection to the consumer,"
Diamond said. The letter requests
FCC action by the end of the
month.
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Mrs. Patricia Shelley of North Levittown Lanes is presenting Mrs.
Rosemary Maisenholder her trophy and check for $1,500 for being
the winner of the 1975 Champion of Champions Tournament. Tour­nament
was for all 1975 summer bowlers at Westbury Bowl, South
Levittown Lanes and North Levittown Lanes.
Rotary Fetes Foster Kids
A Gala Christmas Party with
Buffet and gifts, for Nassau's
Foster Children will be given at
Holiday Manor on Monday
December 29th. The affair is
sponsored by the Bethpage
Rotary Club.
One thing the citizenry of Beth­page
can do to ensure its success
is to repeat their generous
donations of a gift or two to a
family in town. Our churches,
Banks, Mid-Island Council of Girl
Scouts are collecting and if you
don't have a church, bank or girl
scout but goodness in your heart,
why not drop something off at
GAP Travel Agnncy in the
shopping center. Gerri will gladly
accept any and all single
donations.
Fred Ippolito will again chair
the program with the able
assistance of Rotarians and
Rotary Anns.