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Thursday, August 23, 1973
University Daily Kansan
KANSAN
Editorials, columns and letters published on this page reflect only the opinions of the writers.
Sex Isn't Obscene
When the Supreme Court cracked down on obscurity in its 5-4 decision in July, many hoped that only the most blatantly offensive pornographic materials would be threatened with censorship.
But already some widely respected works, including such films as "Last Tango in Paris" and "Carnal Knowledge" have met the resistance of officials in various localities who zealously protect their estimation of what constitutes 'benefit' to society.
Certainly the Court intended to stifle only the more indisputably, universally offensive of pornographic pieces. But whenever a government attempts to legislate morality, and especially sex, laws are handed to local officials, a time of repression is almost inevitable.
In Hollywood, producers have already scrapped several projects and many directors are seeking financing in a less-inhibited European market. Risky shots of nudes are being created to satisfy the varying appetites of officials across this country.
The Court knew that the obscurity laws of the past were a hopeless mess. The more liberal Justice favored an elimination of most of the obscurity laws, arguing that those laws were constitutionally unsound. Chief Justice Burger favored more rigid guidelines to firm up the laws so that they could be more easily enforced.
One objective of the Court was to produce some interpretation to end the flood of obscenity cases that has clogged the Court's calendar for years. Certainly it had become ludicrous when the aging and dignified judges in their black robes logged more time in front of pornographic screenings than perhaps any group in America.
Instead of eliminating the laws, as they should have done, the Court bolstered them and turned over the interpretation to local officials.
The Burger ruling stated that states can ban any works which "taken as a whole, appeal to the prurient interest in sex, portrait sex
in a patently offensive way, and which, taken as a whole, do not have serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value."
"Carnal Knowledge" was banned in Georgia despite its Academy Award nominations and its "R" rating. The ban is being appealed and the decision should provide an important test case. In the meantime, Hollywood producers say they are operating in a no-man's-land.
After the Supreme Court's ruling, Utah officials announced that any attempt to show "Last Tango in Paris" would result in arrests and confiscation of the film. This film, despite controversial reviews by legitimate movie critics for tremendous artistic value.
By Bob Simison Kansan Editor
Burger admits that there is "no conclusive proof of a connection between anti-social behavior and obscene material." After Denmark suddenly liberalized its obscenity laws, officials noted that the numbers of sex crimes there were actually reduced.
Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner has hinted that his magazine will be less explicit, but the publisher of Penthouse says that he will defy the court ruling with more prudent coverage than ever before.
—Bill Gibson
It is hoped that the Supreme Court and the local courts will remember that sex is part of what that its legislators should be able to best when it isn't taken to seriously.
Since moral attitudes are more relaxed in Las Vegas and New York than in Mexico or Kansas, there is no reason why they shouldn't have separate standards. Burger in essence ruled.
The local-standard provision lessens the Supreme Court's burden, but it puts too much power in the hands of various book-burning and repressive elements in many communities across the country. One can only wonder about Kansas Gen. Ann Miller's next antic.
The Burger ruling insists that uncensored works must have "serious" social value. Certainly a humorous piece including sex could not fall in this category.
After a summer of uncertainty about what might appear next in the national news, I was looking forward to returning to the University of Kansas. Here, I thought, there would be at least some measure of certainty. We were going to search for chancellors, athletic directors or health directors. We have leadership.
About This Newspaper
But it's uncertain, I find, how long the paper on which this newspaper is printed will last. Stocks on hand should last into September, but a newsprint shortage affecting other newspapers is felt here. For a newspaperman, whose life is filled with day-to-day uncertainty, that's the ultimate uncertainty.
As long as the supply of paper lasts, however, this newspaper will continue to publish. Although this special, 68-page enrollment edition will be the largest of the year, we'll try to make each issue of the Kansan worth picking up and reading.
But to do all of these things, we'll need some help from you, our readers. As students (our reporters and copy editors come mostly from journalism classes) we make mistakes. When we do, let us know, and we'll correct them. And if you know about something we might not know about, tell us.
We're a student publication, so our main thrust will be to report news that affects and interests students. That means we'll focus especially on campus news, but we'll also tell you what's going on in the community and report national news with the help of the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service.
WE'LL ALSO LOOK for lighter feature fare, explore issues and trends with special reports and tell you what's available for entertainment. Look for our "on campus" column for times and places of campus events.
This page traditionally has been intended as a forum for ideas from the University community. Consequently, our editors usually reflect the opinions of their writers, who sign their names. And we welcome contributions in the form of editorials, analytical articles and letters to the editor. If you're interested in doing something specific, we can use free-lance reporters. Material from students who have backgrounds in music, literature, theatre or art is a welcome addition to the reviews page.
If you do visit us, you'll find a staff of varied background, most of whom are seniors, most of whom are journalism majors and most of whom have experience on the Kansan or other newspapers. Here's some examples that perhaps will make us a bit less anonymous.
SO COME SEE us in 112 Fint Hall or call us at 864-1410 if you want to volunteer in our library.
Guck Potter, the campus editor, covered city hall for the Kansas last year. A senior in journalism, he is an expert anger, sports a red beard and has just returned from a summer as a reporter for the Salina Journal. Members of his staff are John Pike, the university librarian, journalism who covered the Student Senate last year and worked for the Wichita Eagle this summer; Kathy Tussing, assistant campus editor, a senior in journalism who was night camp editor this summer and covered the Kansas Union last year; and Linda Doeherty, assistant campus editor, senior in journalism who worked for Hutchinson News this summer and covered the Dean of Women's Office last year.
JIM KENDELL, the features editor and a news editor, is another veteran Kan萨 reporter and a former wire editor. He spent two years working as a reporter for the Grand Rapids Press. His assistant, Karen Hilker, is seeking a B.S. in journalism to go with a degree in education. She worked as a reporter this summer for the Leavenworth
C. C. Caldwell, the editorial author, is a veteran city hall reporter, editorial writer and summer campus editor. A senior in journalism, he returned to KU last year after an interlude since 1988 in the U.S. Navy. His editorial writer earned a Master's degree and plays trombone in the KU marching band, works weekends at his father's Marion County Record and spent the summer in the office of Rep. Garner Shriver, R-Kan.; and Bill Gibson, a senior in journalism who was a reporter last spring. Diane Yeamans, the review editor, worked in journalism who was a reporter last year. She was once a vocal music major.
Gary Isaacson, who spent all last year looking for a chancellor, has become sports editor; where he presumably will spend the semester学习 for a champion of some
kind. He is a senior in journalism who worked this summer as a reporter for the Metro-East Journal in East St. Louis, II. His assistant is Brett Marshall, another senior in journalism and a veteran Kansan sports writer.
CARL DAVAZ, a junior in journalism,
heads the photography staff. He has worked
summer for the Leavenworth Times and
the Evansville, Ind., Press. Other
photographers are Al Swainston, a senior in
film production, and Brian the
Associated Press and the Chicago Sun-
Times, and Marc May, another senior in
journalism.
Copy fitting and editing will be supervised by a group of jacks-of-all-trades. They are Ann McFevere, a senior in journalism who will be news editor, makeup editor and copy editor who worked this summer at the Wichita Eagle and will be news editor, makeup editor and chief copy; Elaine Zimmerman, a senior in journalism who worked this summer at the Wichita Eagle and will be copy chief and news editor; and Joe Zanatta, a senior in education who will be news editor and makeup editor. And were editors are Margie Cook, senior in journalism and former school teacher, and a journalist who worked this summer at the Wichita Eagle.
Dave Sokoloff, creator of "Griff and the Unicorn", is back for his fifth year in the Kanaan, even though the strip has been sold to 13 professional newspapers by Universal Media. The new one he gets from a freshman from Kansas City. He's dubbed by "Hitchin'".
And Steve Carpenter, a sophomore in fine arts, is back for his second year of drawing pungent editorial cartoons and captivating montages (see his version of the travails of Nixon's administration on page one of section B).
Hai Ritter, the associate editor, is a former Student Senate reporter, former journalist and author of *Journal-World* and former Kansan news editor. A senior in journalism, he comes from a newspaper family in Burlington, and he worked this summer for the Philadelphia
And I, the editor, am a former sports editor and campus editor who has also put in time on the Wichita Eagle, the Lawrence University newspaper. Times-Union and the Wall Street Journal.
Checkers: More Than a Dog
By DON SHIRLEY
WASHINGTON — Edward Scheidt pushed the red and white basketball on the green and white basketball game with himself.
"You can tell whether a checkers player is any good if he's using this type of board," said Scheidt. A player is "a
scrub," he said, if he doesn't use the official green and white squares.
Most checkers players are square" themselves, he added, in the video, "toe-tetatowls," though Scheitd himself admits to an occasional mistake.
"And I don't know if I've ever met a dishonest checkers player." he continued. "Integrity
seems to go with it."
Scheidt is one of 20 of these upright citizens who have been chosen by the British government, England, for the Third International Checkers Match between the United States and France in 1945, held in 1903, was won by Great Britain, but America rebounded to win over the United States over the British, who call the match a victory.
South America's Potential
Special to the Los Angeles Times
By LUIGI R. EINAUDI
South America is changing decisively. Some of the changes are highly visible, but many of them have little or no documents are elusive, for they are taking place in men's minds and doors of government offices.
Cumulatively, they portend much for the shape of the world now emerging as the bipolar system. A large international affairs since World War II, continues to erode. Indeed, South America may well become a touchstone of this increased international order—and of the capacity of the United States to participate constructively in it.
During the 1960s, South America was swept by a series of guerrilla uprisings inspired by a terrorist movement that terrorism still reminds us of the failures of that earlier period, symbolized by bombing Bolivia. Yet the containment of insurgencies has, if anything, accelerated the process of our attention has gradually turned elsewhere, local and international relationships are often in unexpected ways.
In Argentina, a weak military government has yielded to a resurgent Peronist movement that believes the record of its aging leader Chile's Democratic tradition remains intact, but the election of a Marxist president has raised economic and political turmoil.
RECENT EVENTS in South America's major countries provide considerable evidence of the importance of revolutionary military government introduced unprecedented agrarian reforms. In Brazil, a movement against repressive governments has repressed dissent and presided over escalating economic growth in some regions of Brazil a major industrial power.
Nor have international relationships remained static. Japan has become a major center of the world in hemisphere. European governments and firms are aggressively expanding their activities. The United States, France, Germany, Europe, the Soviet Union and even China have established diplomatic relations and are economic and political openings.
BRAZIL HAS actively sought European and Japanese investments. Startled by Brazil's growing troubled grouping of industrial exports in less than a decade, the five Andean countries and Venezuela have joined in efforts designed to accelerate investment and to present a common front to the outside world. Argentina, Chile and Peru have recognized Cuba, and Venezuela and Colombia have proved their relationships with Fidel Castro's government. Ecuador is joining
Venezuela as a major oil exporter, and Peru may become one before 1980.
These events reflect more than the perennial flux of South American politics. Underlying the partisan disputes and conflations in American politics is American life is a generalized commitment to national development that is less dramatic, but considerably more enduring and significant than the gerilla uprisings of a decade ago.
Social reforms are sought today through a variety of means: constitutional politics in Chile, the direct imposition of foreign dollars on the economy and an indirect consequences of rapid economic growth in Brazil.
BUT FUNDAMENTAL changes are clearly taking place. Modern institutions are less subject to oligarchical or bureaucratic channels for elements of the middle sectors and the professions to make their views felt. The conflicts characteristic of South America's increasingly societal changes not fit catalytic stereotypes of left or right, of revolution or reaction. As in the United States, public policy and institutional relationships are that transcends specific regimes and narrow partisan limits.
Taken as a whole, these trends reflect South America's continuing growth, the rising influence of the potential. How the United States responds to them may affect developments, even decisively in some cases, by altering their future.
Economically, politically and socially the country is one of the most challenging part of the new international scene. Current needs are for trade, aid and safety.
game "draughts." When the 10-men teams from the two countries conclude their current match, the tie will be broken
A new U.S. policy, to be successful, will need to reflect even greater awareness of South Africa's revolution behind the scenes.
Dr. Einladi directs research on Latin America at the RAND Corp. This article is based on a collection of essays to be published in a book this fall, *Tales of Tolerance*; and takes *Charge of its Future*.
(C) 1973 The Los Angeles Times
ALL THIS ceremony may startle those who simply remember chess or vaguely remember youth with real McCools. But Sheeid, a 70-year old suburban Reston, Va., resident, who talked about his experiences with the game recently, said checkers is "The most widely played and underappreciated game" that usually played between two opponents.
Scheidt has taken pains to document his claim. When a Gallup poll was released in January noting an increase in chess players and a decrease in the number of people to the Gallup organization requesting actual numbers of people who play the games.
Furthermore, said Scheidt,
those who play "underepreciate" what they're
doing.
Gallup replied with figures that pleased Scheidt. During the year 1987, Gallup, 25,680,000 adults in the United States played checkers, according to the Gallup projection, only 17,550,000 played chess.
"It seems simple," he said,
"almost like child's play, but no one has begun to explore the checks of checkers."
This seems hard to believe, considering the library of checkers books "worth several thousand dollars" that Scheidt has written and has written records of his own games during the last 40 years.
IN TOURAMENT CHECKERS, openings are chosen by ballot from among 142 standards, so players cannot rely on personal favorites. In Schelt'ds manuscripts, he said, he had been revealed—but he didn't been revealed-on about half of the 142 openings.
His rise to the top began when he was 14. He played checkers at the local YWCA with a team of women and then laughed about it," recalled Schedl. "So much out there we knew, I books, and I sent away for them." Soon he beaten his friend. He went on the southern champion in 1924.
He received bachelor's and law degrees from the University of North Carolina and joined the New York City field office for six years. From 1953 to 1965 he was North Carolina's Commissioner of Vehicles. He now is retiree.
Distinguished professionals careers come in handy. Prizes at checkers tournaments usually pay little more than travel费 but obviously play the Scheid game in it for the money.
When Sheldt described one checkers position, he said it's "very hard." He asked the chess. "He spoke lyrically of the endless joy of checkers, once you get into it." And when games are played, you can priceless gems over and over again, you can 'derive the same value' as they were being played today."
THE CHECKERS MASTERS are definitely a "famous group," and their two married daughters don't play and "there have been no good women players," Schacht said. In addition, the game's pieces are called "men" and there is no queen in the game. The queen is the most powerful piece.
"I don't have a mind that's good for games, said Mrs. Huffman. "Why why why some people are able to cope with abstractions like checkers and chess and I can't," she said, any woman playing checkers.
But Scheckt expressed a few doubts about his 'preoccupation with the matter' that matches create too much of a 'private world of their own,' an "esoteric group with the attitude." If you don't understand the language, don't be confused with you. As a result, the general public doesn't understand us.'
"There are people whose lives have been destroyed by checkers," said Scaldit. He spoke of "international charity organizations that imagine living" but can't tear themselves away from the game.
Personally, he was depressed when he slipped in last year's national golf tournament, and I think about shooting myself. There are too many other things to get depressed about. This is a significant of the federal government.
For Scheidt, checkers is from the real stuff of life.
"It's pure and clean and so different." And it's taught him a life-long lesson:
"Don't lose the same way twice."
(C) 1973 The Washington Post
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KANSAN
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editor        Bob Simison
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