The Jackson Sun from Jackson, Tennessee • 3

CALL US LOCAL INSIDE Across West Tennessee 4A Nation 5A World 8A Deaths 10A Questions, comments? Please call: City Editor Kathleen Merrill, 425-9629. Assistant City Editor Jimmy Hart, 425-9760. E-mail address is sunaeneas.net Thursday, December 2, 1999 PAGE 3A Ma gigs wte May HOW Family thankful son's alive If workers vote to unionize, managers must negotiate with the union. By CHANDRA M. HAYSLETT The Jackson Sun Production and maintenance employees at Milan Arm Ammunition Plant will cast ballots today to decide if they want to unionize.

While some employees complain of slashed benefits, inflated insurance premiums and othep issues, company officials from American Ordnance, the ammunition plant's parent company based workers vote to form a union, employees cannot be forced to join the union. But all employees will be covered by any contract negotiated said Ronald Hooks, regional attorney with the National Labor Relations Board in Memphis. If workers vote to unionize, managers are required to negotiate with the union, Hooks said. Unionization efforts by USWA at Ormet Aluminum Mill Products Corp. in Jackson fell four votes shy last month, the second such close defeat' at that plant within the last two years.

Milan arsenal employee James Cowan said he stockpiled about 580 hours of sick pay during his 18 years at the plant. On Dec. 31, those hours worth about $8,000 -will be eliminated, he said. The 50-year-old Milan man has other concerns, saying officials have frozen his pension plan, decreased his benefits and increased his payments for insurance. Tve stood about all I can and I think most people have too," he said.

"It used to be a good place to work. We used to have free insurance and meals. There used to be a swimming pool." Cowan said he now pays about $1,700 a year for insurance that pays 80 percent of medical bills. He said the cafeteria and pool have Presidential visit Mother with disabled kids needs basics iliill '7 long been shut down. While American Ordnance President R.M.

Loghry admits there have been changes in benefits and paid time off, officials with the company say it is still a good place to work. Baucum said with the new benefits package, paid time off ranges from 90 to 220 hours a year. Employees also get 10 guaranteed paid holidays, one more than with the old package. He said insurance was never free. And when he surveyed employees, they indicated they would not support an in-house cafeteria, Baucum said.

HOW TO HELP Neola Bryant and her three grown children, who are bedridden from a spinal condition, need sheets, towels, food, clothes and shoes. To donate, call Joyce Burkeen at Southwest Human Resource Agency at 989-9606, ext. 1148. "I've had a time with this," Bryant said. "But I've been living with this for 54 years.

Jimmy would have been about that age now." But Jimmy died at 36 from the spinal condition. The condition didn't show up until Jimmy was nine and after all Bryant's children were born. "When they are crawling around, you can't tell," she said. "It is when they start walking when it shows up. You've seen a drunk man walk before, right? That's what it looks like." 5hc jtoiheon gun AFL AND CIO DUE TO MERGE TODAY No Feir-ftwr 2 "5 December 2, 1955 brought to you WHAT TO KNOW Production and maintenance employees at the Milan Army Ammunition Plant will vote today to decide if they want to unionize.

employees don't need a union and that the benefits package that some of the workers are fighting is better than in previous years, said Tommy Baucum, Milan plant manager and vice president of American Ordnance. "The employees have better coverage now than they have had in the past," Baucum said. Tennessee is a right-to-work state, which means if education because we informed them," he said. It would cost an additional $100 million to fully fund UT, and although that may seem like a lot of money, it is less than .7 percent of the state's $16 billion budget, Gilley said. He highlighted several current and potential problems: The infrastructure of the campuses is crumbling, especially in Knoxville.

Some buildings don't have air conditioning or wiring for technology. It would cost $250 million to bring the facilities on par with those in other states plus $50 million for information technology, he said. And it would take five or six years to complete the improvements. Many of the state's best high school students don't attend college in Tennessee. Of the 200 National Merit Finalists in the state, 38 attended UT last year, Gilley said.

The University of Florida, comparable in size to UT, has about four times as many. National Merit 7' i is 7 7' '--t--- in Lexington, say worker benefits have gotten better. Plant workers began meeting in September with representatives from the United SteelWorkers of America to take steps to form a union. About 600 production and maintenance workers out of nearly 1,000 plant employees will vote today. A simple majority is needed to unionize.

"We're confident we're going to election," said Mike Black, a representative with the USWA, who is organizing the Milan election. Officials at American Ordnance, however, believe ill legislators informed him that higher education would be a top priority next year. But currently, based on the state formula that determines how much should be budgeted for public universities, UT has been under-. funded by 10 percent for each of the last eight years, he said. The state formula is targeted to the average amount spent at other Southern uni-versities.

Because UT doesn't receive the full amount, it is behind other schools in several areas, Gilley said. Higher education is crucial to the new technology-based economy, and the areas that have the best-educated people will prosper the most, he said. In the four months he has been president of the five-campus, system, Gilley has spent much time learning about UT and informing legislators about the need for more money. "Many legislators told me they had just been made aware of the needs of higher COURT The family of Henderson County Executive Dennis Jlayand Jane McDaniel Had one big blessing to qbuot this past Thanks-J-giyiog. -That's because last -year on the Sunday before Thanksgiving -Nov.

22, 1998 they were not even sure if their son, Darren, now 19, would live to see the holiday that iTONYA that'day, SMITH-KING Dar i was involved inafour-rjiSijeeler accident in that left him ith a fractured skull. vWTfie quick response by x'tneJdlcal officials saved IJafren's life, said Roger the Clarksburg "'resident who found called 911 on his phone. iPrayer works oJaiie said the family is fgrateful to Lindsey and health care officials with jjihe, Carroll County "Ambulance Service, the 7Arvac Lifeteam No. 7, jWhlch is based at -JaclCson-Madison County JQenferal Hospital, and Dr. fijrlf Franzen and other pfrepnnel at Jackson 7General.

jo: She said they would all x3.getting Christmas cards from the family this aif; The family is also Hthajikful for everyone who prayed for Darren in Henderson County and other counties as well. 7 A lot of people from other counties prayed for Darren," Jane said. "I wanted other people, other than the people in Lexington, to know that I appreciated them praying for him and coming by." In September, Lindsey received a "Life-Saving Award" from the Woodmen of the World for the part, he played in Darren's, rescue. Lindsey had been out deer hunting that Sunday morning, when he normally would have been in churich. But it had been such' a beautiful day that he tailed his wife and said he would continue hunting and to go on to hirfch without him.

1. Jtrwasn't me who J-TS'ivfed Darren," Lindsey saidJ "It was God. He yorks in mysterious i ways. I just happened to come along." I Tonya Smith-King works in the Sun's Lex- iftgton bureau covering Henderson and Carroll 1 cbnJtties. She can be reacted at 967-3269: Her fdpiiumber is (''.

VHOWTO HELP University of Tennessee president J. Wade Gilley with The Sun's editorial board. Philip Conn, UT Martin's responds to a question Wednesday during a meeting chancellor, sits at left. Budget problems crippling to UT system president By TIM TURNER The Jackson Sun Displaying a mother's love has helped Neola Bryant cope with what has been her life the past 54 years. Bryant, 75, from Bolivar, is the mother of 12 children eight boys and four girls.

As if the dozen mouths to feed were not enough, she has seen five of them disabled by a hereditary degenerative spinal condition. Currently she cares for Rodney, 33, Randy, 37, and Peggy 43, all stricken with the condition. Rodney and Randy are totally incapacitated, while Peggy has minimal use of a wheelchair. Also living with her are two grandchildren Christopher, 17, and Brannon, 15. This is a heady task in and of itself, but it is made all the more difficult by Bryant's health.

She is widowed her husband died 10 years ago a diabetic and wheelchair bound. Bryant is today's focus of the Jackson Sun's Brighter Christmas Fund Drive, a community outreach program that provides money and other goods to families in need during the holiday season. In 1955, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO) halted a 20-year split and merged into a single federation of some 16 million -members. In 1939, New York's La Guardia Airport began operations as an airliner from Chicago landed at 12:01 a.m. This piece of history is DREW TARTERThe Jackson Sun Finalists are students who score among the highest in the country on certain standardized tests.

Part of the problem is a lack of strong recruiting, Gilley said. He wants to raise $150 million over the next five years for an academic excellence fund, $15 million to $20 million of which might be used to recruit National Merit Finalists. He hopes to get $30 million from the state if UT raises the rest of the money through administrative budget cuts, private fund raising and corporate sponsorships. Fifty percent of the faculty will be eligible for retirement over the next five years, and those positions will be difficult to fill unless salaries become more competitive, he said. UT Knoxville has already lost 5 of its 20 engineering faculty members and will lose another four this year.

Only three of those positions have been filled. UT Martin has the same difficulties finding people to hire, Chancellor Philip Conn said. slaying UThas been underfunded for the last eight years, J. Wade Gilley says. By AMY McDANIEL The Jackson Sun The University of Tennessee faces continuing problems with facilities, student recruitment and loss of faculty over the next five years if more money isn't found, UT President J.

Wade Gilley said. Gilley shared his thoughts on UTs funding needs with the Jackson Rotary Club and The Jackson Sun editorial board on Wednesday. His visit comes as state legislators try to reconcile a projected $382 million shortfall in the state budget next year, including the possibility of cuts to state services. Although the General Assembly's special session on tax reform ended last month without any action, Gilley! said several mn Utility Division 'We're here for you' www.jud.com MORNING BRIEFING WATCH TRAFFIC Three to appear in court over CEO: Lifeline needs type blood Lifeline Blood Services in Jackson is asking members of the community with type blood to donate during the next week, as ther is a dangerously short-agfcOf that blood type, Lifeline Chief Executive Officer Joe Schi-fanoaid. have about the same (amount) of blood," he said.

"We Just" have had a rash of usage of U.S. 45 In Chester County Construction area of tour-lane highway still limited to 2-way traffic except from Gamer Road to Henderson Bypass. U.S. 45 in Gibson County New road construction from north ol Trenton bypass to north of Dyer. Hopper Barker Road- Section between Stratford Lane and Benjamin Cove closed for replacement of bridge.

Chrlstmasvllle Road Section from north of Manchester Bay to Malone Road closed for bridge construction. have used more type blood than anticipated, and the number of donations has not been able to meet the need. Only a half-day's supply of type is available. The bloodmobile has been out during the last few days at area colleges, and Lifeline would like to increase collections at the center, Schifano said. Because of the upcoming holidays, more donors are needed.

"In December, blood is needed all the time," he said. The Jackson Sun preliminary hearing in September. A fisherman found Farrar's headless body on Aug. 14 in White Oak Creek, just south of Saltillo in Hardin County. The head has not been found.

Evidence collected included a whiskey bottle and Bamurai sword. Farrar had reportedly moved less than two months before his murder to live with his uncle in. Saltillo. A motion hearing is set for Jan. 20.

The Jackson Sun Two Hardin County men and a third from Decatur County accused of cutting off a Maryland man's head are due in court for a hearing next month. Timothy Creasy, 24, of Scotts Hill, Brian Justin, 22, and Courtney Smith, 22, both of Saltillo, entered not guilty pleas last week, Assistant District Attorney John W. Overton said. The three men are charged with first-degree murder in the August death of Paul Farrar of Hager-stown, Md. The men waived their right to a blood.

We need to collect a lot, over the next several days to get it back to normal." Goth local and regional patients.