OPINION
December 10, 1984 Page 4
The University Daily
KANSAN
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University Daly Kannan, (USPS 60940) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Stauffer Flint Hall Lawrence, Kan 60453, daily during the regular school year and Wednesday and Friday during the summer session, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and finals periods. Second class postpaid mail at Lawrence, Kan 60443 Subscriptions cost $27 a year in Douglas County and through the student activity fee POSTMASTER Send address changes to the University Daly Kannan, 118 Stauffer Flint Hall Lawrence, Kan 60453
DON KNOX Editor
PAUL SEVART VINCE HESS Managing Editor Editorial Editor
DAVE WANAMAKER Business Manager
DOUG CUNNINGHAM Campus Editor
SUSANNE SHAW
LYNNE STARK MARY BERNICA Retail Sales National Sales Manager Manager
SUSANNE SHAW
General Manager and News Adviser
Family trivia cards useful for holidays
JILL GOLDBLATT Campus Sales Manager
JOHN OBERZAN Sales and Marketing Adviser
Now that we're into the holiday season, a melancholy fact of modern life is once again starting to make itself obvious. Family members often have trouble talking to one another.
Men, women and children who can easily blabber away with friends — or even strangers — somehow clap up around them.
how many clam up around their
a young entrepreneur has come up with a possible solution to this dilemma. Using the framework an '80s ladder, he has devised a product called Your Trivia Cards. The idea is to apply the mechanics of Trivial Pursuit to a family's life.
"I thought this up last summer," said Kevin Johnson, 31, the man behind Your Trivia Cards.
Your Trivia Cards are precisely the size of Trivial Pursuit cards; they can be used in tough playing the game is not necessary
Most of the cards in the Your Trivia Cards box are blank, with room for a family to write in questions on one side and answers on another. To get people started, there are some sample cards:
"Who got the first college degree in the family?"
"What does Mom cook best?
"How did Dad propose to Mom?"
time accumulated?"
"Who has the smallest office?"
There also are questions designed for friends and office colleagues:
"Who has the most vacation time accumulated?"
"Who has the smallest office?
At first glance, you would think this was a ridiculously simple idea. After all, these are the things that should come up in everyday conversation. Johnson, however, is certain that, especially in the family environment, something is needed to get people talking about their personal histories.
In our modern age, he said, people have grown accustomed to giving and receiving information "in discreet little bits" whether
"Sometimes people are very uncomfortable using basic conversational skills," he said, "so they subconsciously look for another way to exchange information."
BOB
GREENE
Syndicated
Columnist
on computers or on trivia cards."
Someone in the room might answer, "Because she had the flu."
So, he said, at a family gathering someone might read from a card. "Why did Aunt Edna miss Thanksgiving dinner last year?"
Someone else would turn the card over and then say, "No.
Johnson laughed. "Seriously, there are many things about a family that never come up, because there's never a forum for them to come up," he said. "In my family, for instance, there's one relative in particular who I don't know much about. To find out about her, I'd probably have to spend about a half hour getting to the point. With the cards, though, you don't need to do that. You don't need an excuse to find these things out."
Johnson said that his grandfather had died several years ago "Soon after, my grandmother said that what she wanted as a Christmas gift from a children in her town was just one gift we wanted each of us to write down what we remembered about Grandpa.
because she was dead drunk the night before."
"She had some work she wanted him to do," Johnson said "He came home, and she had left one of the cards lying on a table. On the trunk it said, 'Which pane of glass is in the dining room is broken'."
The cards can prove handy in other ways, Johnson said. He once gave a pack to a married couple he knew...
Gibson says that if the kids in your cabbage patch opt for dolls that in your preschool days would have been considered too homely for Santa Claus, the choice might result from their acting out of real life situations.
"just in case, she had written the answer on the other side, but he didn't have to look. He got the picture."
Psychology of dolls
WASHINGTON — The psychological motivation behind the purchase of dolls at Christmas is more intensive than we poor, innocent shoppers may have realized.
"Kids will act out problems they can't verbalize," she says. "If they don't report abuses, it may be because they don't have the words to describe what was done to them."
Dolls have been useful psychological tools in child abuse investigations, she says.
Nationalwide surveys show the Cabbage Patch Kids at the top of Christmas lists again this year. In addition, dolls hold at least half the places on most tallies of the 10 hottest toys.
This much I learned from a talk with Janice Gibson, a professor of developmental psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and a contributing editor of Parents magazine.
The professor is now traveling around the country to address such topics that may be of interest to holiday gift-buyers and talk show
nests
If you think that the reasons for the "baby boom" are complex, you should hear what she has to say about the current "baby doll boom."
Dolls, she says, don't necessarily have to be adorable-looking as
For instance, a child might like a certain doll because it "feels so good." Toys, Gibson says, should provide as much tactile stimulation as a security blanket. So gift buyers should make sure that the dolls they purchase are soft and cuddly.
long as they meet some other criteria.
DICK WEST
- Dolls that perform specific human-like functions are "OK for parents who have a lot of money," but a better purchase is dolls that challenge children to use their imaginations.
- Both boys and girls enjoy playing with dolls as "a necessary part of their socialization."
- Non-gender dolls generally are preferable to those that obviously are male or female. If one doll has explicit sexual features, the owner might need a few more dolls to strike a balance.
- A doll is not an educational toy, though preschoolers will act out "what they see adults doing."
United Press International
Other Gibsonesque tips:
"Good grief!" 1 exclaim, or words to that effect. "Doesn't anybody buy dolls anymore simply because they can't think of anything else to give a kid for Christmas?"
Gibson, a mother of two, says that buying on impulse is still very much in evidence. It helps, however, if people know what they're doing.
Pot Shots
Throughout the semester I sit through classes and have professors bring up books that I have not read.
I love the Christmas season, but I hate the armies of bargain hunters that invade the shopping malls on Dec. 24 looking for the perfect gift for only $9.99.
"Someday," they say, "when you have a little time, this is one of the books that you should read."
Some professors are kind enough to mention it by way of recommendations.
should read.
Other professors don't recommend books so much as they mention something that they remember from their college careers.
When that happens, I think that perhaps it's a book worth including on my "someday" list of books to read.
Working in a department store during the holiday confusion has exposed me to three categories of frustrated and obnoxious customers.
First is the hysterical husband who must find something cheap yet with a label to show his wife that he has spent a bundle on her.
his wife that he has spent all his time. The husband is usually in such a hurry that you can persuade him to make the pea green blouse left over from last month's dooburst
Robin Palmer
Picky, picky, my friends say. Don't be a snob. But someone has to tell them.
Then there are those professors who express incredulity upon learning that I or some other student in the class have never read a certain book.
I have my books and as I indulge in hours of reading over the semester break, I will think of you.
However, at the end of the first movement of their first selection, a lovely Beethoven sonata, much of the crowd burst into applause. I was filled with fear and laathing. Such applause is a no-no among polite concertgoers anywhere; if the composers
sale because you assure him it is all the rage in Paris.
Here's to you. Mr. Bennett with your report about how students are lacking in the humanities. And here's to you, kind professors with your appreciated recommendations, and even to you, professors with your advice as you acknowledge my shortcomings.
I unannually shake my head and vow to go home and begin reading it that afternoon. But with the break between semesters, I will have my revenge.
"What." they say, "you've never read David Copperfield?"
as I settled down in the stratosphere of Hoch Auditorium to enjoy the performance by Itzhak Perlman and Samuel Sanders recently, I thought myself fortunate to be at a university with such an appreciation of the arts that even the cheap seats were filled.
in Paris.
Next is the Grandmother Jones syndrome
She is looking for gifts for her 10 angelic grandchildren.
Nothing is good enough. Grandmother Jones unfolds every sweater in the store. She leaves in a rage and accuses you of being rude. She doesn't buy a thing.
When they agree on a gift, they both want to carry it.
Just try to avoid these shopper so you can get your own shopping done efficiently.
had intended applause between movements, they would have scored it there. But they didn't.
Once or twice would have been forgivable, I suppose. But like a bad joke the ill-timed applause spread, time after time, from the ignorant to the easily led to the dubious, until it drowned out any possible continuity with the next movement. After a while the rest of the audience was meaningless rassment, and many officers seemed unaware. On some occasions their playing was obscured by remnants of the aural assault.
KU concert audiences are usually well mantered, but the Perlman crowd was inconsiderate in its enthusiasm Show a little class next time, folks. There's plenty of time for applause at the end of the work, where it belongs.
--seductive place, and most of me is looking forward to being seduced again
The end is at hand.
The end is at hand.
You hold in your hands the final edition of the Kansan as produced by the Fall 1964 staff. Depending on your opinion of this publication, you are either sad or ecstatic. At least you're reading it.
Some of us will return to write again as members of the Spring 1881 staff I will not
San Francisco is many people's favorite city according to the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. It is a beautiful,
Thirty days from now, I will be climbing halfway to the stars aboard one of those little cable cars. The pastel hills of Baghdad by the Bay beckon my return.
"Hi. I'd like to sell my books back, please."
"OK, let's see what you've got. Uhhh, this one is an old edition, so we can't take it."
"But it's a brand-new book!"
"Well, I'll give you $2 for it so we can recycle the paper."
"But I paid $2 for this book — and it's brand-new!"
"You can go to the other bookstore to see whether they'll give you more, or you could just try again next time. As I said, they're using a different book next semester."
"I'll just keep it; I might need to brush up
I'm hoping that the Walkman fad will follow the course of its predecessor in popular trends, the video game, and eventually fade away.
Contrary to popular thought, I've decided that the Walkman is the biggest menace to the art of conversation since the television set.
Trying to communicate with a person who's wearing a Walkman is similar to having a conversation with the family pet. You can also be asulous as to how much you actually understood.
Rarely do you find a person who is capable of intelligent conversation while two speak
Some of the things I will tell you:
• The view from the balcony at the bill at
Louisiana Street.
forward to the law.
But a part of me will be left in Lawrence. Mount Oread's virtues tend to grow on a person. I imagine that, as I sip cappuccino at the Cafe Trieste, there will be times when I am drawn back to Lawrence in thought.
- Waking up with morning coffee and newspapers in the Kansas Union cafeteria
- Early evenings in the Jayhawk Cafe, the Wheel and the Hawk's Crossing
- Pink and orange sunsets behind Allen Field House
"What am I supposed to do with a workbook I've barely used? Can't you at least give me $2 for it so you can recycle the paper?"
- Writing "Pot Shots."
on my Burmese culture sometime. What about this one?"
"Nope. It's already been recycled once before. Why don't you sell it to a friend who takes the class? There That comes to a grand total of $2.75. Take your receipt to the register."
I can give you 75 cents for it. But I can't
take the workbook . you wrote on one page
Tap, tap.
Bye-bye, now.
Tap, tap.
"Excuse me, but don't you own the green Corvair parked outside?" You just got a parking ticket. Good thing you sold back your books, huh? Now you have the money to pay for it."
ers blast the Top 40 into that person's ears from point-blank range.
It is beyond my comprehension why people refuse to remove the contraption from their ears when it is obviously inhibiting conversation.
An exchange between two persons wearing Walkmans is a comical event. It's tilled with statements that are repeated three or four times as two novices test their skills at lip reading and pseudo sign language
I've decided that parsing a conversation with a person sporting a personal entertainment system is a waste of time and energy. From now on, I'm going to concentrate my communication efforts on those who don't go for the electronic carmulti option.
Yeah, another corny farewell column
**Venture A**
I turn into a blimp at midnight. Your everyday lame duck turns into a pumpkin, but, hey, I overshot pumpkin about 100,000 trench fries ago, and the fun of being a columnist is sitting in front of a video display terminal and eating a lot, like 24 hours a day. Reporters burn up too many calories to be happy like us.
So you are losing me to Keokun, Iowa. But look at it this way: you'll finally have enough mashed potatoes, gravy, pizza, chips, Pepsis, fried chicken, popcorn and steak to go around.
I don't mean to spawn a stereotype of writers. Writers are real people, as individ-
They tell me — in words as abrupt as stop signs — that it's one of the laws of nature.
Get out. Go on. Get moving. You've been in college long enough. Your time is up.
There are new people now, they say -- younger people with newer ideas and newer aspirations. You've had your chance. Pack your stereo. Get a career your time, but it seems a paradox that the winter is an old man. This is the winter of your collegiate life, and the snow is beginning to fall. Sell back your books. Your time is up.
Soon come the good byes, and the so-longs and the see you arounds. Good God, man Hit the road already.
Those of you who have considered this semester's editorial page obscene — you were right!
Let me explain
Be the espouse.
You might recall my "Pot Shot" from college in mesmerism in which I explained the reasoning behind a scribbly signature I was using at that time. What do you know — a few days after it appeared, a stranger came up to me and said, "Are you the editorial editor?"
Yes. I replied.
"Can I have your autograph?"
"Well, maybe you don't read it," I said.
DO N KNO X
so,
"I know - but I can sell it as a signature by a famous person."
ual as snowflakes. But that isn't the point of this essay. The point is that you are getting rid of me, and I have to say goodbye.
I promised Sandy Higgins that I would mention her in a column. The rest of you get invited to the markt mention (nobody else asked there). There are just too many of you to refer to by name. Writers tend to become attached to people and places too easily. Being more writer than journalist, I am attached to Lawrence like a happy pup to its master
Best of life to thousands of you
Peace and Merry Christmas to friend and foe.
God, I hope Keokuk has a 24-hour Pizza Hut.
As the door shuts, I look back to offer a bit of parting advice, but such last words probably will be ignored — or won't be heard. Or perhaps they'll gather dust, like the baggy T-shirts older siblings sacrifice to the younger generation — mere hand-creatures.
downs
But the door creaks closed, and I realize
I've lost my chance to say anything. Or to do
anything.
anything
It's over, they tell me. But you had a good time. You met some friends. You learned a lot. Still, your diploma's being held until you pay your library fines. And campus security still has your name on file.
"Good idea! Then I can get a split of the take!"
Say, by the way, buddy, didn't you hear last call? It's time to go. College is over. Your time — it's up
"Right." the stranger said. "We can even sign an agreement."
sugars are sweet.
'And if you cheat me, I’ll take you to court.'
In if you cheat me, I will not
court!
"That's fine with me. Good luck trying."
"That's fine with me. Good lack trying to prove that mess as your signature in court." The stranger had a point. Thus, I have a new, easy-to identify signature.
You now have in your bands the first official XXX rated editorial page in the country
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