The University Daily
KANSAN
University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas
Thursday, November 6, 1980 Vol. 91, No. 54 USPS 650-640
CHRIS TOODIKANAN staff
Taking advantage of mild sunny weather, Kathryn Risk, 1828 Indiana St., varnished her window screens. Risk, a maid at Lewis Hall, sald she took the screens down about three weeks ago when the fall days began to cool off.
Women gain influence in district, county races
By DIANE SWANSON
Staff Reporter
"Someday there will be a president who is a
state senator," he said, backpacking, Douglas County treasurer, said yesterday.
Verrynck has served as county treasurer for three years and was re-elected Tuesday. She is optimistic about the future of women in politics. After all, Douglas County voters chose women for seven of the 11 state and county seats Tuesday.
David Berkowitz, Douglas County Democratic chairman, said he thought the high percentage of voters who voted for him was
"It's clearly the most women we have ever bad." he said.
John Lungstrum, Douglas County Republican chairman, said that from the election results he saw, there was "an apparent connection of women voting for women across party lines."
IN THE STATE Legislature, Republican Jane Eldredge defeated incumbent Democrat Arnold Berman for the state's 2nd District Senate seat. Democratic Jessica Branson edged out Republican Wint Winter Jr. for the 44th district seat in the Kansas House of Representatives, and Chairman Robert J. Charlton defeated Republican challenger Willie Amison Jr. for the 46th district seat.
In Douglas County races, Republican in-
dicates 2nd district and 3rd district defi-
nished Democrat Haywood Wood.
Republican Patty Jaimes beat her opponent, Barbara Vantyl, for the county clerk's office. Incumbent Vervynck defeated Republican Bernice Todd for the county treasurer's office, and incumbent Democrat Sue Neusitferr ran unopposed in the election for register of deeds.
Winter, Branson's opponent, said during the election night countdown that his campaign workers didn't think people voted strictly along party lines.
"I believe there was a phenomenon of a clear link between the women candidates," Winter said.
The shortage of qualified women in the state Legislature, Branson said, is what prompted her campaign. "It's not about her," she said.
"I have worked in the Legislature on a number of cases where there were not very many women," she said.
IN HER DOOR- to door campaigning, Branson said, "Some women and some men offered to me their belief that it would be nice to have more women in the Legislature."
She said that choosing between male and female candidates probably enters into voters'
Berkowitz said that although the candidates' sex may have been a factor in local voting, the increasing number of women in politics was a national trend.
"Voters are not judging candidates by their sex anymore, but by what they've said in the past and by what their actions have been in the past," he said.
IN THE FLORIDA race, Republican Paula Hawkins defeated Democrat Bill Gunter to become the second woman in the U.S. Senate. Kansas is the only other woman in the U.S. Senate.
Sue Himes, a local member of the League of Women Voters who worked on Branson's campaign, called the election results "astounding."
Adrienne Christiansen, Cherokee junior and president of the Commission on the Status of Women, said she was greatly pleased with the number of women elected.
Himes attributed the women's victories to hard work and effective campaigned.
She said involvement in political groups such as the League of Women Volunteers helped women be more involved in politics.
She said she also found it interesting, given the strong conservative stands taken by the Republican Party this year, that so many women were elected.
However, Linda Thurston, president of the Kansas City Urban National Organization for Women, said women were far from having equal representation in politics.
"We had one woman in the U.S. Senate to represent 52 percent of the population," she said. Another was elected in Florida, so we doubled our representation by 52 percent women in the U.S. Senate; that is ludicrous."
Tomorrow there will be scattered high clouds with a high in the upper 70s
It will be sunny today with a high near 76, according to the KU Weather Service. Winds will be off of the southwest at 10-15 mph.
No precipitation is expected for weekend, and highs will be in the low 70s. Lows will be in the mid 40s.
It will be mostly clear tonight with a
12-3pm wind. Winds will be southerly at 15-38pm.
It will be colder on Monday with a high of 55 and a low in the mid 30s.
Democrats down but not out
Bv RAY FORMANEK
State Democratic Chairman Larry Bengson was bleary-eyed and said he was in a state of shock as endless reports of a Republican land-mine attack on Democratic headquarters late Tuesday night.
Staff Reporter
"We had good candidates and adequate funnings," he said. "We put in the time and effort." Tanner and others were out.
Bengston had spent most of the evening in suite 601 at the downtown Holiday Inn in Topeka, watching as orange stickers signifying election results for the Republican candidates in race after race.
"We just got swept up in the tide," he said. "We got blitzed all over. It was a strong conservative trend, and the motto seems to be 'Don't vote for an incumbent.'"
Amid the occasional groan that rose with each orange circle's placement on the board, Bengston theorized on why the Democrats had done so badly.
Unofficial election results late yesterday showed that Republicans had picked up three crucial seats in the Kansas Senate. The Senate had been seen as a golden opportunity for Democrats to regain control of the balance tipped toward the Republicans, who now hold a 24-16 advantage in the upper house.
UNOFFICIAL RETURNS showed the Republicans also gaining ground in the Kansas House. Republicans broadened their House domination by snatching three additional House
seats, increasing their advantage from the current 69-56 marin to 79-53.
The election results still must be approved by county cavassers at the end of the week and by state officials later this month before they are final.
Bengston saw the decline of the party as temporary. He attributed the Democrats' poor showing to many Republican candidates riding into elect-elect Ronald Reagan's coattails into account.
"Historically, Kansans don't go for this type of thing," he said. "I just don't need to make any sense. I guess that this year the huge steamroller just came down and got us all."
He said the party needed to reorganize and prepare for the next elections two years away.
"We've got plenty of fine candidates to run" he says, "and we can make sure the organization is there to support them."
David Berkowitz, Douglas County Democratic chairman, agreed with Bengston's prescription
BERKOWITZ SAID yesterday that the party needed to reorganize if it expected to make a case.
"We're not in shambles," he said. "We're still in better shape in the Legislature than we were in when we started."
Berkowitz said Douglas County was one of the least bright spots for Democrats in the legislative race.
Docking is the only person to have been elected governor in Kansas for more than two terms. He was governor from 1967 to 1974.
"We managed to stop a little of the flood here," he said. "It was the first time in 40 years that the
Both Democratic challengers to the Douglas County Commission lost, Herschel Hemphill, 2nd District County Commission candidate, lost in a close race against incumbent Robert Neis. Hayden Wood, Democratic candidate for the 3rd District County Commission seat was defeated by incumbent Beverly Bradley by a 240-1 margin.
Berkowitz said he was disappointed in the party's showing in the Douglas County commissioners' races as well as the 2nd District Senate race.
Democrats carried Douglas County in a congressional runoff, the 44th, 49th and 51st districts, which were very easily won.
In a stunning upset in the 2nd state Senate District, Republican Jane Eldridge defeated State Arnold Berman in his re-election quest.
"It was a big disappointment that Berman got beat," Berkowt said.
Another Democrat who was optimistic about the party's future was Bill Hoch, Gov. John Kasich.
BERKOWITZ SAID that the party was down but not out, and that he remained optimistic.
Reagan to concentrate on defense, economy
Carlin was unavailable for comment on Tuesday's elections.
"It's a part of both Kansas and American history that landslides tend to be tempered within a couple of years," Hoch said. "There's a lot of work to be done to be read for that."
By United Press International
See DEMOCRATS page 7
Hoch bleamed the Democrats' poor showing on the liberal activism brand of Democratic politics but said he didn't know.
WASHINGTON - In the closing days of the 1960 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan began to sound more moderate as he neared the White House and some of his advisers have said would continue.
Far from being a strict ideologue like some of his supporters and a few of his closest aides, Reagan apparently is wedded to few doctrinaire positions.
A Reagan presidency will rely heavily on a cabinet that will carry out administration policy in departments, instead of making policy for the state. So Mr. Lyn Noffiger, Reagan's press secretary, said.
TRIUS, SELECTION of the cabinet will be a logical ideological shape of the Reagan administration.
There already are hints that Democrats will be in that group. Reagan has recruited Sen. Henry Jackson, D-Wash., for work on a "bipartisan foreign policy interim advisory board."
Economic and foreign policy issues were key ingredients in Reagan's electoral victory, and his administration can be expected to begin work soon on national security and defense matters.
The former California governor has little foreign policy experience, and the advisers he in this area, aside from Henry Kissinger, are not well-versed in a national campaign. Reagan tried to ease that wave.
FORMER TREASURY Secretary George Shultz and policy analyst Richard Allen and William Van Cleve are among the names of the national secretary of state and national security adviser.
It is unlikely that Reagan's election will immediately change the i.e. East-West relationship, and it is unclear what Reagan's win will mean to the future of arms limitation.
He has said he would prefer to withdraw the SALT II treaty negotiated by the Carter administration and immediately begin negotiations with the Soviets for a SALT III accord.
He has suggested that if the Soviets do not
agree, he might send the United States off on a new arms race to try to intimidate the Soviets.
JACKSON, A Democratic hardliner on defense issues, and former NATO commander Alexander Haig have been mentioned as potential candidates for secretary of defense.
Defense spending will increase, despite Reagan's plans to cut personal spending by 10 percent by 1985 and balance the federal budget by 1883.
Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Ford; economists Martin Anderson and Charles Walker; Shultz; and another former Nixon Reagan listens to on-economy Simon, are the men Reagan listens to on economy secretary. One may become the next treasury secretary.
All are fiscal conservatives who believe that the producer, not the consumer, is what makes the work properly. They also believe a personal income can be as good for business as it is for individuals.
Staff Reporter
By JANE NEUFELD
Orcs, Jello, dragons inhabit KU dungeons
"What are you going to be this week, ex-
cellent? I am an angled master, who wore a
black blazer and rolled up."
The dungeon master and ex-hobbit are two of about 500,000 people who play Dungeons and Dragons, the first and most famous of a number of games that began gaining popularity over six years ago.
The equipment for the game includes a
dungeon, a dungeon master, assorted monsters
in all colors and sizes, several hardy or greedy
monsters who have treasure on their minds and
three dice.
THE OBJECT OF the game is to send a character through a medieval dungeon and have him return alive with as much treasure as possible.
The game's appeal comes from the players' identification with their characters.
"It's doing all the things that you can't really do, but you can imagine," said Kent Martin, Shawnee Mission special student. "It's physical activity put on a mental plane."
Dan Ashlock, Lawrence sophomore and chairman of the SUA Dungeons and Dragons Club, agreed that escapism was the cause of much of the game's popularity.
"A person who has to spend all his time stairway engineering can instead be a barbarian, he is not."
Vikki Appleton, Birmingham, Mich., senior,
has you a chance to sort of try on a
different dress.
JOHN JINKS/Kansan staff
The characters in the game can be mythical or real beings, including men, elves, hobbits and dwarves. They have various occupations, but are usually fighters, magic users, clerics or thieves.
The characters can be good, evil or neutral, combined with a lawful or chaotic nature.
Each player rolls the dice to determine his character's strength, intelligence, wisdom, charisma, dexterity and constitution. Scores of three to 18 are possible.
A roll of the dice also determines how many hit points a character has. The character with more hit points loses.
Orcs, according to Appleton, are elves gone bad.
Experience points are added to the characters as they kill monsters in the dungeons. They may confront trolls, Orcs, ogres, vampires, ghosts, dragons, giants spiders or other weird creatures on any excursion, depending on the dungeon master who made the dungeon.
"They're small, ugly, stupid, vicious and
horrible," she said. "You should never trust an
Orc."
AFTER GAINING enough experience points, a character moves from first to second to increasingly higher levels, and becomes progressively harder to kill. Dungeons can be geared toward lower or advanced level characters.
The game proceeds when one person, the caller, tells the dungeon master where the party will go next. Another person makes a map of the dungeon as they go.
The dungeon master tells the party what they find in each area of the dungeon, whether it be gold or ogres. He also rolls the dice when the party fights monsters.
If the monster rolls more hit points than a character has, the character dies. If the character's roll is higher than the monster's hit points, the character dies and the character gets experience points.
The sight of any D&D game in progress shows us seriously the players take the quest through the doors.
Eleven players went through "The Dungeon of
Kings Damnation" to a meeting of the SUA
Dungeons and Dragons Club.
Doug Duncan, Leptonom sophomore and dungeon master of King Stork's dungeon, handed him a new job.
"I see it as my job to do such nasties as dungeon stone blocks from the ceiling or fill a dungeon with 500,000 gallons of green Jellor," the guide says. "If you want to dungeon the dungeon live? Neck no." He just plain sick.
See DRAGONS page 5