W-b Twp. 
Tax Reporting Problem And Solutions Discussed 
The Subject Of Taxes Was Discussed Monday Night At The Township Council's 
Regular Meeting At The Municipal Building.

30-point Performance Keys Nanticoke Win

By SANJAY BHATT; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Monday, February 03, 1997 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A 





A state-mandated fine for bringing cigarettes to school should help clear
the air, educators and some students say. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The law, which goes into effect today, imposes up to $50 in fines plus
court costs on students caught with tobacco on school property. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Administrators say the law eliminates confusion. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Some schools have been sending smokers before district justices, despite
the lack of a clear law imposing civil penalties. In some municipalities,
offenders were fined under the 1988 Clean Air Act. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But at Pittston Area, "whenever we find cigarettes or chew, all we do is
confiscate it and throw it away," said Joseph Orlando, the high school's
assistant principal. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The new law puts districts and magistrates on the same page, said Charles
Suppon, a Wyoming Valley West administrator who reports the district's
disciplinary actions to the state. The district's high school, with the
county's highest number of reported cigarette possessions, fined students for
possession in four of 93 cases last year. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Officials at Valley West and Wilkes-Barre Area schooled districts
anticipated an increase in the number of citations issued. Students at the
Wilkes-Barre Area high schools have been notified of the new law through
special assemblies. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The law also could have a long-term side effect -- curbing the growth of
teen addicts in Northeast Pennsylvania. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "A lot of times when freshmen come to high school, they're very curious,"
said Simone Dixon, a Wyoming Valley West sophomore. They want to mingle with
older kids, many of whom encourage them to smoke. "They start smoking and
they're more accepted." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She said the new law could wield more influence because "if they have to
get the money, they're going to have to get it from their parents." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 One teen smoker disagreed. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kelly, a Coughlin High School student, said kids like her already steal or
ask for cigarettes from their parents or friends and smoke off school grounds.
The 15-year-old, who declined to give her full name, lights up every morning,
not so much because she likes it, but because she said she is hooked. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "You cannot stop because once you start smoking in the sixth grade, it's
kind of hard," she said. "You can cut down, but you can't quit." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 King's College assistant professor Bernie Healey said the new law is just
the first step in attacking the region's alarming teen smoking rate. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A survey he recently completed of 14,523 students from six school districts
in Lackawanna, Luzerne and Bradford counties found that 37 percent of children
in the fourth through 12th grades have tried a cigarette. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A 1995 statewide survey of 56,198 students in sixth, seventh, ninth and
12th grades found that about 14 percent smoked almost daily, while almost 70
percent said they never used cigarettes or had stopped. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The new law "is better than nothing, but not much better," Healey said.
"I'm more into preventing access in the first place. The (new) law is dealing
with access after it's occurred." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Healey pointed to a constitutional amendment in California that sets stiff
fines -- as high as $6,000 -- for retailers who repeatedly sell tobacco to
minors. In the United States, 3,000 children start smoking every day. "At that
rate, 5 million children today will die from smoking-related illnesses,"
Healey said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Regardless of the law's impact on teen smoking, cracking down on it at
school represents a step forward in making school a more pleasant place to
learn, said Suppon, the Valley West administrator. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "You come back from the lavatories and smell like an ashtray, and everyone
thinks you smoke," said Leslie Bartorillo, a Valley West student. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

New Fine Sparks Praise Some Educators And Students Say It Will Eliminate Confusion About How To Deal With Students Who Bring Cigarettes To School