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3.12.99
eight.a
ROAD RAGE
THREATENS DRIVER SAFETY
Increased traffic personality types contribute to growing aggression
More drivers are on the road than ever before. That means more traffic, more accidents and more irritation with the way other people are driving. Across the United States, road rage is prevalent and on the rise.
People having crue, what drives Jason Crue, Lansing freshman, absolutely crazy.
"When people drive slowly, I ride their bumper or pull around in front of them and slow down," Crue said. "I live in Lansing, and I like to get home fast. I go home to do laundry, but I want to get back here and get things done."
When the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety studied more than 10,000 incidents of violent aggressive driving committed between 1900 and 1996, it found that at least 218 people were killed and 12,610 were injured when drivers got angry. According to the HAA, many of the drivers involved in the incidents were men between the ages of 18 and 26
Sgt. Steve Jensen, of the Kansas Highway Patrol, said he had seen some increase in road rage incidents, which he attributed to traffic volume being higher than ever.
Classifying road rage
"We're a very hurried society," jensen said.
"You are pushing yourself constantly, and when someone makes a mistake in front of you, that is not very acceptable."
Jensen recommended that drivers leave 15 minutes earlier than necessary. More time to drive decreases the panic inherent in running late. Jensen also recommended that people stop doing things such as drinking coffee, talking on the phone and reading while they are driving. Such distractions lead to poor driving habits that can irritate other drivers.
Perhaps some people have forgotten how perilous driving actually is because it has become such a primary mode of transportation. Every 13 minutes someone dies in an automobilie accident, and every 10 seconds someone is injured, Jensen said.
"We need to get back to a basic focus on driving," Jensen said. "It's the most dangerous thing we do. We've become complacent because we have driven from point A to point B so often."
Although the AAA found more incidents of violence while driving among men, Jensen said that he had reports of road rage from both sexes.
"Guys are more likely to get violent because it's kind of a macho thing," Jensen said. "But we had a report of a girl in Kansas City, Missouri, who shot a guy who had tried to knock on her window."
How to avoid road rage:
Don't offend other drivers.
Don't cut drivers off.
Don't drive slowly in the left lane.
Don't tailgate.
Don't make obscene gestures.
Don't engage in violence.
Steer clear of angry drivers.
Avoid eye contact with angry drivers.
Information provided by the Kansas Highway Patrol
If a driver catches himself or herself yelling at someone, making rude hand gestures, slamming on the brakes or cutting another driver off — all symptoms of road rage — Jensen said the person should take a step back and reevaluate his or her actions.
Determining the cause
Stephen hardi, assistant professor of psychology, said that certain personality types, specifically Type A personalities, might be more inclined to roadrage.
People who are Type A are generally more organized, more detail-oriented and more prone to stress. Hardi said people who were Type A were also more likely to experience high blood pressure, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.
"Type A behavior includes a sense of extreme time urgency that's unrelenting." Hardi said. "They are always in a hurry, and if there is any perceived time delay, it is seen as a personal affront, like, 'This person's incompetence is causing me to lose precious seconds.'"
There is a second personality trait that might be more prone to road rage, lardi said. Some people are able to control their negative impulses, but those with an impulsivity trait tend to act rashly.
"Impulsivity refers to the ability to inhibit impulses," lardi said. "Sometimes it is very difficult to reign your impulses. Most of us say, 'Yeah, that would be good for a second,' but then we realize that our actions have consequences."
Being shielded from other drivers by the glass and steel of a car could also cause some people to act out their aggression against other drivers. Ilard said people should track their aggress-
Hards said people should track their aggress- and identity patterns.
"They should think, What is at stake here?
How much am I really going to lose in the grand scheme of things," Hardi said.
Raging in Lawrence
Aaron Bartlett, Lawrence transportation planner, said that traffic congestion was a problem in Lawrence that could cause heightened anger on the road but that people should keep their reactions in check.
Compared with driving on the East and West Coasts, the Midwest has less congestion and fewer accidents. What is considered a traffic jam in Lawrence is a light day in Los Angeles.
Naomi Carson, St. Louis sophomore, thinks that Kansans have it easy when it comes to heavy traffic.
"I was just talking to my friend the other day, and she was saying how she hated traffic. She
was getting kind of angry about it," Carson said. "And I told her that this was nothing compared to the traffic in St. Louis."
Barlett said he thought road rage was a product of drivers' attitudes on the road.
"It's a response factor and has more to do with the way people react." Bartlett said. "Road rage is a change in society's idea of how long it should take to get somewhere. There's no way to completely get rid of road rage. It's just too bad that we have to teach people to be nice." Making new laws
In a pamphlet distributed by the Kansas Highway Patrol, driving slowly in the left lane was cited as one cause for road rage. State State Senator Ben Vidricksen, R-Salina and chair of the transportation committee, said he had tried earlier
this year to pass a bill that would have made it illegal to drive continuously in the left lane on the highway when there was no one in the right lane. Whether there was an infraction of the law would be a judgment call on the part of highway patrol, Vidricksen said.
"A law like this has worked in Oklahoma because it has been found that slow drivers in the left lane is one of the biggest causes of road rage." Vydickson said. "People don't want to pass on the right because it scares them. It that person then pulls into the right lane and hits you, then it's your fault."
Vidricken said he did not believe the bill would be passed this year.
"I have a very obstinate committee," Vidrick-sen said. "Some people think we've got enough laws already."
Corruptor fails to blend action into story line
Mark Wohlberg and Chow Yun-Fat are the ambigiously good duo in the action film. The Corrupper.
The Corruptor
Rating : C
By Brendan Walsh Kansan movie critic
Action movies are made for male adolescents who don't like football, but still feel the need to watch valiant gladiators battle it out on screen.
Intricate plots only get in the way of speeding cars and whizzing bullets, so distractions in action movies are usually limited to naked women who still keep teen-agers' attention.
Action movies that try to create a story line with any subtleties have to avoid upsetting the die-hard action fans and distracting audience members, who are into a plot with gratuitous violence.
Two rival gangs, the Triads and the Fukienese Dragons, are battling for control of the streets and lucrative profits from illegal Chinese immigrants employed in prostitution and sweatshops.
Nick Chen (Chow Yun-Fat) and Danny Wallace (Mark Wahlberg) are police officers in Los Angeles's Chinatown. Yun-Fat plays the decorated veteran cop, while Wahlberg portrays the stereotypical idealistic rookie.
It's a difficult feat to accomplish, but in the Corruptor director James Foley, tries just that, but falls short.
Despite Chen's wonderful track record, he's on the take
from one of the gang's leaders. In exchange for information about drugs and illegal immigrants, Chen ignores prostitution and gambling. In Chen's mind, he's doing the greater good. However, he works hard to keep Wallace on the up-and-up.
After an undercover FBI agent working in Chinatown is killed, the agents start looking at Chen and Wallace, and launch an investigation looking for corruption. The FBI motives contrast the questionable stance of Chen, and Wallace is trapped somewhere in between.
Much of The Corruptor is comprised of the 3-second scenes and tight editing that makes up so many action movies. The plot is surprisingly intricate,
The movie is no Star Wars when it comes to blending action with intrigue, but at least it tries. The long car chase scene, although full of gore, is almost as good as the famed car chases in The French Connection. There is more gunfire in this movie than there was in Desert Storm, and more blood than one would find at a Red Cross blood bank.
Wahlberg did a better acting job in the video for Good Vibrations, and Yun-Fat is hardly "the coolest actor in the world," as the Los Angeles Times once labeled him.
and the moral ambiguity of the good guys is refreshing.
The movie's racist jokes about Chinatown and the Chinese will be bothersome if audience members think too deeply, but action fans will enjoy the explosions, gore and gunfights.
Bare Jr.'s new album kicks some Boo-Tay
MUSIC
REVIEW
Bare Jr.
Boo-Tay
Rating : B
By Matt Cox
Kansan music boy
Bare Jr. ignites the modern rock scene with sarcastic lyrics, heart-felt vocals, and divergent rock.
The album Boo-Tay is the outlet for guitarist/lead vocalist Bobby Bare Jr. to get everything off his chest. The lyrics are hilarious and the music is notable.
Their current single on 105.9 KLZIR is You Blew Me Off. It is a sarcastic twist on man's desire to have what he can't and woman's attempt to play hard to get.
Bare sings "If you ignore me you get my respect. When you turn to hug me I like you less."
The music is typical rock but with noticeable extra power and extremity.
Patty McBride, a country-influenced rock tune, starts of with a sweet sounding dulcimer, soon to be complemented with electric guitar strums. There's nothing intense about the song but it's an entertaining tribute to a singer you can't help but love because of her beauty and talent.
Another song, *Soggy Daisy*, is a different kind of tribute. It is a reminder that residents of nursing homes are people, too. Bare words, "Seven lonely people all died in one day. Seven people put away and forgotten. Seven people with a lifetime of wisdom for the offering."
It's a solo acoustic song by Bare who goes on to give descriptions of the people who
died to drive home the point that the dead should be respected.
Give Nothing Away, starts off dangerously close to Everclear's Everything to Everyone, but then continues with a more complicated structure similar to that of U2, assuring the listener that Bare Jr. are more talented than Everclear, which isn't saying much. The song is about a relationship, and the hardships of starting out.
The lyrics are funny and sincere as Bare sings, "Sometimes at the movies I buy you a soda, you do just sit a little bit closer." He goes on to preach that you can't get if you don't give.
The hidden track is one of the funniest hidden tracks to date. It begins with a recorded message from his ex-girlfriend on his answering machine. She tells him never to call again and yells at him for apparently cheating on her.
The girl says, "Guess what? I found out. Don't call me, don't come up to me if you see me out, don't write me a letter and don't write me a song."
Two seconds later Bare sings "I wrote this song for my girl. It's all about her, it's all about her, it's all about Pearl." The song is a comical response to his ex-girlfriend that anyone would enjoy.
Songs like I Hate Myself and Tobacco Spit are the low lights of the album with trite themes and tired music common to modern rock radio. The lyrics are still sarcastic and witty, but the songs as a whole don't live up to the rest of the album.
Bare Jr. may have more singles off this album and they should. The combination of punch music and witty lyrics make Boo-tay a must-have for country/rock and pop/rock fans.
EVENTS CALENDAR
Friday, March 12
Matt Merkel-Hess
Latin American film festival. The Official Story. 2:30 p.m. Spencer Museum of Art auditorium. Sponsored by Latin American Studies. 864-4213.
Instructional Development and Support.
"Real Media Producer: Demonstration, Part II."
3 p.m. Budig Hall 4, IDS, KU faculty and GTAs only.
Prereq: Registration required. 864-2600.
Alumni recital. Delores Bruch, organ. 7:30 p.m. Bales Organ Recital Hall. 844-3436.
Saturday, March 13
Conference. "Exploring International Careers '99: A World of Opportunity." 8 a.m. Kansas Union. Sponsored by International Programs. Prenetration required. 864-4963.
Lecture. "Full House: Pop Art, Domesticity and Consumer Culture." Christin Mamiya, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 3:30 p.m. Spencer Museum of Art auditorium. Sponsored by Department of Art History. 864-4710.
Faculty recital. Ben Savevich, violin, and Rita Sloan, piano. 7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall, Murphy Hall. 864-3436.
English Alternative Theatre. "The Final Four." Staged readings of KU student scripts. 8 p.m. 100 Smith Hall. Also 8 p.m. March 14 and 15. 864-3642.
Sunday. March 14
Exhibit. MFA thesis show. Art and Design Gallery. Hours: 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 8:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Friday, 1-4:30 p.m. Sunday. Closed Saturdays and holidays. Ends March 19. 864-4401.
Student recital. Jessica Reynolds, viola.
1:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall, Murphy
Hall, 864-3436.
Films. Brooklyn Bridge. 2 p.m. Modern Times. 3 p.m. Spencer Museum of Art auditorium. Call 864-4710.
Choral concert. "The Joy of Singing!" KU Chamber Choir and Oread Consort, KU Men's Glee Club, Men's Choir of the combined Lawrence high schools, Central Junior High School's Excalibur, Mell Melamane, Fine Arts Chorale of Kansas City, and the Kansas City Youth Symphony Chorus. 7:30 p.m. Lied Center. $5 adults, $4 students and seniors. Tickets at Lied Center, 864-2787, Murphy Hall, 864-3982; and SUA, 864-3477.