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Show WeeMy Specis&fl a'S" Space-age technology preserves a living document Washington We have good news this Independence week. The document that started it all-the Declaration of Independence is in good hands at the National Archives. As might be expected, it has faded, and many of the signatures are illegible. Only John Hancock's bold flourish remains clear and unmistakable, un-mistakable, two centuries after he wrote it so that King George III could read it without his spectacles. Since 1952, the declaration has been sealed in a helium-filled glass case that was designed to prevent further deterioration. As long as the case doesn't leak, temperature and humidity changes will have no effect on this priceless piece of America's heritage. And experts check the case each day for any sign of a leak. There have been none so far. Two years ago, Congress got worried again about the declaration, so the Archives staff organized a group of document experts to make the daily inspections. The experts are satisfied that the precious document is not deteriorating, but just to be on the safe side, they recommended that the Archives develop a state-of-the-art method of inspecting the declaration inside its glass case. They turned to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Ad-ministration for help. The space scientists came through handsomely. Last March, NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab reported that it had developed a space-age system, based on electronic image enhancement, enhan-cement, for inspecting the declaration. The experts assured our associate Tony Capaccio that the device will give early warning of any deterioration in the document. Archives Ar-chives officials expect the new system to be in place by 1987 which happens to be the 200th anniversary of another historic document: the Constitution of the United States. The new system will also be used to keep track of the state of the Con-stitution.the Con-stitution.the Bill of Rights and other documents entrusted to the Archives. Ar-chives. Hundreds of Americans and foreign visitors stand in line each day to file past the Declaration of Independence. It is a useful reminder remin-der that there is more to the Fourth of July than picnics,' hot dogs and fireworks. We are pleased to report that the declaration will be around for at lest another couple of hundred years, thanks to the tender loving care it is now getting. NO MERCY: Most Americans who collect supplemental income payments from the Social Security Administration are impoverished women over 75. You would think the government would temper its strict enforcement of regulations governing govern-ing such payments with a touch of mercy for these elderly women. But the sad fact is that Uncle Sam is going after these senior citizens with a vengeance. Federal bureaucrats are paid well to make sure the women don't get a nickel more than they are entitled to, and often the enforcement proceedings cost more than the piddling amount of overpayments. What's worse.Social Security employees em-ployees get merit-pay raises for ruthlessness. The government offers incentives to the bureaucrats to seize the widows' mites. The more money they take away from the destitute women, the more money goes into their own pay envelopes. Fair is fair, the bureaucrats say, and the rules must be obeyed. But consider these facts: There are now 4 million people drawing supplemental supplemen-tal benefits, and roughly 3 million are women over 75. Many are physically or mentally disabled. Most never graduated from high school. Many have only a fourth-grade fourth-grade reading ability. Yet the government sends these people forms to fill out that would give pause to a Philadelphia lawyer. It is no wonder that some of these women make mistakes that result in overpayments. When it happens, the government treats innocent mistakes as if they were underhanded underhand-ed attempts to defraud the . Treasury. Legislation has been introduced in Congress that would eliminate what its sponsors call the "meanness factor" fac-tor" in Social Security enforcement. But don't get the idea this would enable welfare recipients to ride around in limousines. Nursing home residents, for example, now receive a monthly allowance of $25 for such sundry items as toiletries, haircuts and writing paper. The new legislation would raise this to the princely sum of $35. DIPLOMATIC WARNING: Is there male chauvinism in the State Department? During the 1970s, the department increased its work force by 800 women, but virtually all of them were hired for low-level jobs. The higher you look in the State Department, the less likely you are to find a woman. Recently, Rep. Lindy .Boggs, D-La., introduced legislation to end the discrimination. If such practices continue, she says, she will try to cut the department's budget. MENGELE OR ELSE: The most notorious Nazi butcher still at large is Dr. Josef Mengele, the terrible "Angel of Death" at Auschwitz. He was last reported living in comfortable comfor-table exile in Paraguay under the protection of dictator Gen. Alfredo Stroessner. Congressional sources have told us they will seek to cut off aid to Paraguay unless Mengele is deported to face long-delayed justice. Copyright, 1984, United Feature Syndicate, Inc. |