Years Ago

This column is a revitalized weekly addition to the paper.  The following moments in history are selected, researched, and edited by Skaneateles High School students enrolled in Kate Hardy’s 10th grade Honors English class. For the next school year they hope to celebrate the past and remember the days from years ago. Thank you to the Skaneateles Library and the Historical Society for providing the Press archives.

20 Years Ago

… Welch Allyn and SpectRx partnered up in developing non-invasive cancer detection products like biophotonics, which is the technology that uses light beams and other forms of energy to detect abnormal cells and structural changes, specifically in cervical and skin cancer patients. This technology was essential for detecting cancer early in patients. SpectRx was also developing these kinds of technology to diagnose other medical conditions like diabetes. Today, more and more research is being done to detect and treat people suffering from cancer. For example, hormonal therapy and radiation therapy are non-invasive ways of treating patients suffering from breast cancer, which affects 1 in 8 women in the US. That makes up about 12.4 percent of the population of women in the US today. Ultra sounds, which are used to detect babies during pregnancy, is also a way to detect potential tumors within the body, though today CT scans are the most popular method for detection in all classes of cancer. The last twenty years have posed great advancements in technology that detect and treat cancer with even more expected in the future.

40 Years Ago

In 1978, the Skaneateles Press published an article addressing the number of people that died as a result of motor vehicle accidents during the month of September in our state. There were 239 fatalities, and almost one third of them were not occupants of the vehicles that crashed. This death toll of 239 people was up 14.9 percent from 208 people that died on the highway the previous year. Of those deceased there were 47 pedestrians, 27 motorcyclists, and 4 bicyclists. This prompted us to inquire about the crash statistics for September of 2017, seeing as this would be the most recent data available. It dropped by a figure of 60 percent to only 97 fatal crashes. The reasons for the decrease, most likely, are the several major improvements in vehicle safety. Rearview cameras have proliferated in recent years, and seatbelts have gradually become more secure. People also drive bigger vehicles, further raising the chance of surviving an accident. And even though the sources of distraction on the roads have grown, the vehicles themselves make our streets a safer way of traveling.

60 Years Ago

An ongoing issue in the US’s water resources today is pollution and deficit. This issue first appeared and became significant 60 years ago in the West. Almost 21,000,000 acres of 1 ft deep water was lost in the west to drought: enough water was lost to supply the whole country. Today out west, especially in California, major drought caused two violent and devastating wildfires that took away many lives and homes. Today, over 23 million residents are in drought, that is 63 percent of the population. Although this is going on, we continue to use up and pollute our freshwater drinking resources. For example, almost 40 percent of lakes in America today are too polluted for any life form to benefit from them. This happens because every year, 1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage and waste are dumped into US water.

80 Years Ago

For decades, scouting programs such as the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts have been a nation-wide tradition. Many boys fill their leisure time with Boy Scouts, and their dedication pays off. If they work at it, they can achieve certain awards. One of these awards is the Eagle Badge. This award still exists and remains the highest accomplishment a scout can achieve.  In order to become an Eagle Scout, a boy must earn over 21 merit badges, occupy a position of leadership for several months, and lead an entire service project solely on his own, all before his eighteenth birthday. 80 years ago, 10 boys of the Onondaga-Cortland Council were awarded the Eagle Badge.  Along with that, 24 boys received the second-highest rank of Life Scout which is also a great achievement, and 55 boys became Star Scouts, which is the rank below Life. Even now, receiving recognition for high ranking badges, such as the Eagle Badge, is an extreme honor that requires a lot of work and will to achieve.

100 Years Ago

… an article was published detailing that boys in between the ages of 16 to 18 years old, would be required to undergo military or vocational training. This was following the end of  World War I; however, Governor Charles Whitman stated that it was just as important to be adequately trained during a time of peace as it is in a time of conflict. Today, while there is no obligated training system in place, all able-bodied male American citizens between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register for the Selective Services System which serves as a contingency program, if necessary, to draft citizens to serve in a time of conflict. While the US hasn’t implemented a draft since the Vietnam War, this system ensures a sense of protection for our nation and more importantly the great people of it.