Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 6, 1993 TAG: 9309230281
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Melanie Hatter
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Imagine Rhonda Refund battling a tax monster or Seymour Fraud uncovering white collar crime in a toy store.
That's the premise of a new comic book about accounting. Yes, accounting: debits and credits and settling accounts. Not the usual stuff of action-packed crime fantasies.
The Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants is trying to boost its image with youngsters. The group teamed with fourth- and fifth-graders at Ginter Park Elementary School in Richmond and Woodstock Elementary School in Virginia Beach to write the book. The students had two weeks to write four stories starring CPAs as superheroes.
The result is a politically correct comic strip.
Corporate CPA Les Loss, of Asian descent, turns a wasteful byproduct into an environmentally safe fertilizer that's used worldwide to produce crops and end world hunger. Paula Planner, a physically challenged CPA, helps Slam Dunk, a black basketball star, start his own business after he's injured in a game.
The comic has a list of ``Do you...'' questions in the back, including ``agree to working longer hours when you're busy?'' ``Agree with taking classes even after college graduation?'' ``Work well under pressure?''
If elementary students say yes to those questions, they're already superheroes!
by CNB