University Daily Kansan, March 1. 1983
Page 3
Debra Bates/KANSAN James Gunn, a professor of English who is well known for his science fiction writing, recently received a scare in the Soviet Union when a customs official and a soldier both had to check his passport before he could leave. Gunn is the director of the KU Center for Science Fiction Research, the first such university center in the world.
Soviet incident gives prof writing ideas
By DAVID POWLS Staff Reporter
James Gunn, a professor of English well known for his science-fiction writing, has another unusual experience to write about as the result of his recent trip to the Soviet Union.
Gunn said yesterday that he began to doubt whether he would be able to leave the Soviet Union last week after Soviet officials had asked him for his passport twice as he prepared to leave, once while he was in a waiting room and once while he was about to board a bus.
"They could have just as easily take me off to jail," he said. "They didn't offer any explanations, and you ask what is going through their minds."
HE SAID that after a customs official examined his passport in the waiting room, he began to board a bus and went on an adventure with the driver who also asked for his passport.
He said that after a 15-minute encounter with the soldier, he was
"As if it were some kind of symbol, the clouds parted for the first time during the trip and the sun shone through," he said. "I hadn't realized until then how happy I would be to get to a less-reserved place."
finally allowed to board a bus that was going to Leningrad's airport.
He said the experiences of a writer, such as those he had on his Soviet trip, almost always show up later in a writer's work.
He said a four-day stay in Moscow also made him feel uneasy.
"I had no good reason to be tense, but I was anyway," he said. "It was a highly political situation."
He said people entering the Soviet Union were required to have their picture on their visa and passport, a list of everything they brought into the country and a notation of each time they changed currencies.
"I was told at the embassy that the hotel room was probably bugged," he said. "I was also told not to worry because that was usual."
Gunn's trip also included visits to Yugoslavia and Iceland as part of the American Participants Program of the U.S. Information Agency.
The Participants Program is a cultural-exchange program that sends U.S. experts in various fields to foreign countries.
This year, Gunn was named director of the KU Center for Science Fiction Research, which is the first such university center in the world.
GUNN SAID he started writing science fiction regularly in 1948, and since then had published 16 novels and eight nonfiction books.
His latest novel, "The Dreamers," was published two years ago. One of his nonfiction books, "Isaac Asimov: Foundations of Science Fiction," was published last September, and the fourth volume of "The Road to Forever: From Here to Forever," was published in December.
Gunn began teaching fiction regularly at the University of Kansas in 1955. He taught his first course at KU in 1950.
"Whenever I have a chance to write, and don't, I feel guilty," he said. "Whenever I write, I feel like I'm doing something worthwhile."
IN 1971, Gunn was named president
of the Science Fiction Writers of America Organization, and from 1980 to 1982 he was president of the Science Teachers and Research Organization.
HE SAID that while he was in Moscow, he addressed scholars and writers from the American Literature School of the Gorky Institute, editors of the Journal of Foreign Literature, editors of Technology for Youth and members of the country's Writer's Union.
One of the things that impressed him about the Soviet Union was the amount of science fiction that the Writer's Union had published.
He said the Writer's Union annually published 40 to 50 large editions of science fiction books and that more than 1,000,000 copies were made of each edition.
Gasoline cost continues to fall as stations fight for customers
In Leningrad he met six writers, including Boris Stugastsky, one of the most famous Soviet science fiction writers.
Gunn said he was also was able to observe the Soviet people during his trip.
By SUSAN STANLEY Staff Reporter
Gasoline for 80 cents a gallon this summer is a possibility, a state energy official and area gas station operators said yesterday.
According to a report released yesterday by the Kansas Energy Office, the price for a gallon of regular and unleaded gasoline in the state rose by a mean rate of 4.2 cents in the last month, said the State of Texas chief energy analyst for the office.
HE SAID gasoline costs would drop to 90 cents in Kansas by April 1. Thus, an additional 5-cent federal motor fuels tax that will be in begin April will not have the effect on consumers because the gas prices still will be lower than before.
By June 1, the price of a gallon of regular gas is expected to be 80 cents, but it remains upward.
Mike Royer, owner of Westside 66 & Carwash, 2815 W. Sixth St., said Lawrence residents would pay lower prices for gasoline because of tough enforcement among stations and an increase in the amount of gasoline available
"Lawrence has a ridiculous market
right now," he said. "Residents are lucky because there are so many gas wars that to remain competitive, stations are selling at a loss."
MANY CONVENIENCE stores can sell gasoline at lower prices than service stations, he said, because they can afford to sell the gas at a slight loss to attract customers. The stores make money by selling other merchandise.
Royer said he considered 10 cents a gallon to be a good profit.
"Right now, I'm losing about 2.1 cents a gallon on every gallon I sell," he said, "but, because my primary business is auto repair, I'll put up with it."
Nationally, the average price of a gallon of gas is 16 cents lower than six months ago. A recent decrease of nearly 2 cents across the country has led to a decrease in law enforcement lower than the decrease in Law enforcement as a survey by oil analyst Dan Lundberg.
Lawrence stations 4 lowered their prices an average of 4 cents last week. ROUER SAID he did not expect to breveen on gasoline until later this spring.
Golfz set the psychological effects of selling gasoline at prices below $1 were
"People respond differently to a pump price of 99.9 cents, rather than seeing $1.00, even when the difference is about amounts to 20 cents a tank," he said.
Nationally, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was 49.8 cents in 1979. The average price in 1980 jumped to $1.19.
Conservation is a reason that more gasoline is available on the market,
THE TOWN AND Country Market,
501 W. Ninth, lowered its prices by
25%.
This was not the first decrease for the station, manager Loren Whitesell said. He received orders from company headquarters in Wichita to lower the prices and was not responsible for the decision.
Wayne's Mobile Service, 900 Iowa St,
lowered its gasoline prices 4 cents last
week, said David Transu, a mechanic at
the station.
Dona Britt, manager of Zarda Dairy Store, 1802 W. 23rd St., said the store's prices had decreased 3 cents a gallon in the last week.
Tim Larson, a mechanic at Hillecrest Standard Service, 914 Iowa St., said the station's prices had decreased about 3 cents a gallon in the past week.
Prof hired to interpret NCAA rules
Staff Reporter
By ANDREW HARTLEY
Staff Reports
The KU athletic department has named Lauren Rose, professor of law, to act as a part-time consultant to help interpret the three volumes of rules and regulations from the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Athletic Director Monte Johnson said yesterday that Rose would work with the University general counsel's office to explain NCAA rules and distribute written material to the athletic department staff.
The general counsel has helped the department with adhering to rules in the past, Johnson said, and Rose will work between the two departments.
In a December news conference, Johnson said that he would consider hiring an enforcement officer within the department to interpret NCAA rules and educate staff and alumni on rule changes.
JOHNSON SAID that he had not ruled out hiring an enforcement officer within the department. Rose is working only as a consultant.
Johnson said he would decide how to
fill a possible enforcement position after the budgeting process was completed.
Rose, a member of the University of Kansas Athletic Corporation board and head of the recent head football coach search committee, said that his job would be limited only to education about NCAA rules.
"I guess you could say I am assisting the University general counsel and athletic department in coming up with a program of advising the athletic department staff on rules of the NCAA," he said.
ROSE SAID he did not know whether his consulting work would include contacting alumni during the summer as Johnson had proposed.
He wrote an article for the Kansas Alumni magazine about a recent rule passed at the NCAA convention in January prohibiting face-to-face contact between alumni and recruits before national letter-of-intent signing day.
Rose also said that he would not be in charge of actual interpretations of rules for the department if a staff member needed a clarification of a rule.
THAT RECOMMENDATION was made by the NCAA to decrease the number of duplicate phone calls it received by members of the same athletic programs.
"My recommendation to him would be to have someone within the department as a rules officer on an ongoing basis to be available for rules interpretation and for work with the general counsel," he said.
Rose said that he would rather see Johnson fill the enforcement officer position with a staff member of the athletic program.
The position, Rose said, will not fulfill
"I don't think it is fair to make the coaches and staff responsible for putting a good team on the field and also make them responsible for making the very technical language of the rules understandable." Rose said.
HE SAID that person should keep up with the written decisions of the NCAA involving other schools to monitor the association's interpretation of its rules.
End apathy! Get involved!
March 4th,12 noon Meet outside the Kansas Union.
RALLY,RALLY with the BSU and BIC your opinions on any issues concerning students at KJ
Be there! Show you care!
Funded by the Student Activity Fee
He said the threat of a lawsuit, which the city has discussed filed to collect the delinquent assessments, might make developers might declare bankrupty.
City plan could ease assessment risk
The Lawrence City Commission discussed the problem of unpaid special assessments yesterday and how the city could address it. $1 million of delinquent assessments.
The commission, meeting in a study session, reviewed the wording of a resolution that would require developers to put up "front money" for the projects. In assessments, which offer a lower interest rate than that commercially available.
The commission will consider the resolution March 15.
If the assessments are not paid, the city will have to make up for the loss by rescheduling.
Commissioner Tom Gleason said that he thought the resolution would help the city in the future, but that it should specify when the city would take legal action against those owing on the special assessments.
MAYOR MARCI Francisco said that if the resolution were passed, "Developers will be less likely to take on risky projects."
He said that some small developers could not afford to put up 25 percent of their bandwidth.
The resolution would require that developers, who use the assessments to help finance sidewalks, sewers and roads, pay up 25 percent of the estimated cost.
The city is owed $200,000 for the current year, of the total amount donated.
The city finances the assessments by issuing general obligation bonds.
The special assessments become the obligation of the homeowner when the developers sell the lots or homes. But many developers and builders, after finance improvements, have found themselves without buyers for the home or lots.
COMMISSIONER Don Binns said that he thought the resolution would alleviate the problem of delinquent special assessments, but said, "I have
a feeling it's going to hurt the small developer."
BUFORD WATSON, city manager,
said that even if the city fitted
against who he had delinquent
assessments, it would be two years
before the city collected
By United Press International
Mexico sets up debt accounts
MEXICO CITY — In the latest attempt to tackle the problem of the private sector's unpaid foreign debt, the Bank of Mexico yesterday angrily declared that private industries would be allowed to open special foreign debt accounts.
Under the government's plan, firms will be able to repay debts to foreign banks and suppliers with dollars purchased at the controlled exchange rate starting Thursday, a Bank of Mexico communique said.
The U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce has estimated private firms owe some $71 billion of the country's total debt. The number is second largest in the world after Brazil.
The special account program, first unveiled in January, is aimed at restoring Mexico's foreign credit rating of the private sector's debt.
THE CENTRAL bank will allow only firms that reschedule their foreign debts to open the special accounts, which will be used for debt repayment at some future date, the communique said.
More Bengalis flee from Assam By United Press International
GAUHAIT, India — Thousands on Bengali immigrants yesterday fled fresh violence in Assam state amid reports that police earlier ignored warnings of a massacre that claimed 200 lives.
DESPITE MORE than 100,000 army, paramilitary, and police forces patrolling Assam, 14 people were killed during the weekend near Nellie, 680 miles east of New Delhi.
KU BOOKSTORE'S BACKPACK TRADE-IN DAYS
Trade in your old backpack and get:
- $3.00 off any backpack over $10.00
- $5.00 off any backpack over $20.00 Monday, Feb. 28 and Tuesday, Mar. 1 kansas
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