NESHAMINY, Pa. - Many directors of senior centers have considered removing the word "senior" from their signs because they say the word is a turnoff to older people.

"Every time there's a story on television about senior centers, they show people in wheelchairs at a table," said Tony Anella, executive director for the Bucks County Association of Retired and Senior Citizens, which operates five senior centers in the county. "It looks like they're sitting in a morgue."

Joseph Waters, manager of the Neshaminy Senior Activity Center, has told Lower Southampton supervisors he wants the word "senior" kept off the Bucks County center's sign. He said the term keeps older people away.

"It gives people the idea of senior day care, and that's not what we're about," he said.

Others, however, don't see what the big deal is.

"I worked hard to get here," said Kitty Kesselman, 72, of Lower Southampton. "I like being called a senior. It's not a dirty word."