4 Monday, October 20, 1986 / University Daily Kansan Welcome back, baseball Some called it the greatest week in baseball history. Considering that major league baseball began in 1876, that's not a statement to be made lightly. But few who found themselves caught up in the excitement of the playoffs last week would disagree with it. Both leagues produced dramatic playoff battles that enthralled the nation, sustaining excitement down to the last out. Each series included a game that will take its place in the history books among the classics. The Red Sox's fifth game heroes recalled the unforgettable sixth game of the 1975 World Series. Dave Henderson, who earlier had turned a fly ball into a home run by deflecting it off his glove, rescued his team from the brink of defeat with a storybook ninth-inning homer. The Mets' pennant-clinching win, a tense 16-inning struggle that featured two improbable comebacks and a third that fell just short, was at least as magical. Baseball remains our national pastime partially because each contemporary event is viewed through a historical perspective as no other sport can be. Watch a game in 74-year-old Fenway Park in Boston and enter a time warp of the mind. The ghost of Ted Williams roams the outfield along with Jim Rice. Roger Clemens stands on the same spot where Babe Ruth pitched in the 1918 World Series. Recently, however, the "grand old game" seemed not so grand. Two strikes in five years contributed to the players' image as spoiled ingrates. Drug scandals further incurred public wrath. But once again, baseball has proven that the game is too good for its mistakes to keep it down for long. The major leagues set attendance records this summer, and the fans were rewarded with two true Fall Classic playoffs. Take us out to the ballgame one more time, Red Sox and Mets. And thanks for the memories. Hoop hoop hooray Finally, the waiting is over. Basketball season has returned to the University of Kansas, and the sound of rejoicing can be heard throughout the land. Finally, the waiting is over. It seems that decades have passed since March, when the Jayhawks traveled to Dallas to represent KU in the championship games of the National College Athletic Association Championship Tournament. Kansas won a record 35 games last year, and the fever that overtook this part of the world goes beyond description. It ended all too soon, with a crushing 71-67 loss to Duke, and KU fans have spent six long months waiting to see their heroes in action again. Toward that end, 13,000 drooling fans filled Allen Field House late Tuesday and early Wednesday to witness the Jayhawks' Second Annual Late Night with Larry Brown show. They were playing basketball. and little else mattered. It was the first practice of the season, but no one cared that the play was sometimes sloppy and that the Jayhawks' sometimes looked confused. All of this premature revelry is undoubtedly overdone, and fans probably should be warned not to expect too much. But who would listen listen to such advice? And who wants to be pessimistic? The Season has only just begun. Official hypocrisy The questions many must ask are. "What exactly is going on here?" and "How could this happen in the United States?" How could it happen here, where the First Amendment guarantees freedom of the press and where people cry the loudest when it is infringed upon. Scant information has been released on the detainment about a week ago of Lara, a reporter for the leading Colombian newspaper, El Tiempo, and the author of a book profiling Colombian guerilla leaders. In this land of "freedom," one Colombian journalist, Patricia Lara, found herself imprisoned. The only reason given by the Immigration and Naturalization Service was that her name appeared on a list of undesirables and that they feared she might "engage in subversive activities" while here. Lara went to New York to attend a dinner for the recipients of a journalism award. The award recognized journalists and publications for "distinguished contributions to the advancement of inter-American understanding and freedom of information." She was detained at the airport and later placed in a maximum security cell. On Wednesday, the State Department revoked Lara's visa. "We can't be specific," Mosbacher was quoted as saying in the New York Times. "It is based on information concerning her. It's of a confidential nature that we can't disclose." The acting eastern regional commissioner for the immigration service, Michael D. Mosbacher, has ruled against Lara although no hearing was conducted, and he would not state what the charges were. Opinions The Columbian government is naturally upset. It is an indignation not unlike that we felt when the Soviet Union arrested Nicholas Daniloff. Are the actions of our government any better than that of the Soviets? News staff News staff Lauretta McMillen ... Editor Kady McMaster ... Managing editor Tad Clarke ... News editor David Silverman ... Editorial editor John Hanna ... Campus editor Frank Hansel ... Sports editor Jacki Kelly ... Photo editor Tom Eblen ... General manager, news adviser Business staff David Nixon ... Business manager Gregory Kaul ... Retail sales manager Denise Stephens ... Campus sales manager Sally Depew ... Classified manager Sean Wermes ... Production manager Duncan Calhoun ... National sales manager Beverly Kastens ... Traffic manager **Letters** should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 200 words and should include the writer's name, address and telephone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University, include class and hometown, or faculty or staff position. **Guest shots** should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The The Kansan reserves the right to reedit or edit letters and guest shots. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Fint Hall. The University Daily Kansan (USPS 650-640) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Stauffer Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 6045, daily during the regular school year, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and finals periods, and on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. In Douglas County and 18 for six months and $35 a year outside the county. Student subscriptions are $3 and are paid through the student activity fee. Subscriptions by mail are $15 for six months or $27 a year in Douglas County and $18 for six months and $35 a year outside the county. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the University Daily Kansan, 118 Stailler Fri Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 68045 OK, all you car enthusiasts — still waiting for the perfect exotic car? Well, here's a dandy that's bound to catch anyone's attention, so listen up. The greatest car of allll time Muhammad Ali wants you. Rather, he wants your money. There is a new adventure in store for the ex-champ and his adoring public (you five need not stand up). This man wants to sell you a car. Jon Gregor Columnist Yes, that's right, everyone's favorite punch-drunken sports personality wants to help finance the production of, and loan his name to, an automobile. Seem too good to believe? A dream come true? Mark my words, and start saving your pennies, because it should stagger off the assembly lines of Ali Motor Inc. sometime next summer. Is there a problem with the price? Hey, people, it's an Ali; expect to pay a lot for the best. Would you rather spend your money foolishly on a Porsche or BMW? No, you want an Ali. It's new, it's hot, it's hip, and it will be available in all kinds of colors. It will first be marketed and sold in the Middle East, where Muhammad's rich Arab friends will be the first lucky owners of the Ali. But don't fret; if you're really good, he'll sell one to you for only $25,000 to $35,000. $25,000 to $35,000? Are we all vaguely familiar with that automotive disaster? However, John D Leorean was only a former General Motors executive who knew cars inside and out. Ali, well Ali he's a sportsman. He's also a car buff, and his road manager was quoted in Newsweek as saying, "You name the car — Stutz Bearacat, Rolls-Royce, a Jeep — he's had one." The Ali is expected to be in style and class somewhere between a Corvette and a Ferrari. I calculated that it would be in the 'D' range, as in De Larean Enough, enough, I'm convinced. This man knows his cars. I want my car. like Olympic gold, glove red, and knock-out black. You were thinking of a Porsche? Perish the thought. Now let's look far off into the future, when I come to possess my very own Ali. "Wow, here I am in my brand new Ali," I say. "What a fine piece of automotive crafting. The chrome gleams, the paint shines, and the ride, almost like being in another world. Never mind the dim headlights or the sluggish steering. I'm really . . ." "My Ali," I say. "Something's wrong. I had better get this down to the Phillips 66. "Sir, excuse me, sir? Could you please take a look at my Ali?" "An Ali, huh?" says Bill, the head of automotive technology at that particular 66. "Well son, you've come to the wrong place. The men you need to see are experts at fixing this type of At that same moment, somewhere in the Mideast, a man stands by oil tires, desperately trying to lasso a passenger with a passport, then he comes equipped with all-terrain tires. car. You'll probably find them sparring at Junkyard's Jvm." Needless to say, my dream of owning an Ali was turning into a nightmare. I could see the head of parts and supplies at Ali Motors telling me, "I can't get you the part until late next year, and it will cost you your mother and a domesticated animal." That phrase stuck in my mind, and inspired a little poem. Float like a butterfly. Sting like a bee. Saved for years and years Was somewhere in the Middle East. And bought me an Ali. But when the champ broke down. On highway thirty-three. By camel, by ship, by truck, to my town. The part that I needed was finally found. Though the Ali was much older, three years to be exact. The car was lookin' good, and I was back. But the day has now come that I must sell. A new story to tell. Reggie Jackson has a car For you, automobile lovers, There is one problem, however It only runs in October. For there is a new car. REACTIONS TO THE REYKJAVIK SUMMIT STALEMATE ... At one point, Poindexter said, he asked Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevadnade "What do you The Miami Herald PICK THE ΔRMS CONTRACTOR Distributed by King Features Syndicate Star Wars sends leaders home Two leaders stubbornly held onto their dreams and their fears and passed up a historic chance to halt the nuclear arms race. In the final hours of the Iceland summit, President Reagan could not relinquish his vision of a Star Wars space defense, the Strategic Defense Initiative, that would shield his country from incoming nuclear missiles. The president believes that the space defense shield is not a utopian dream and he abhors the thought that the possibility of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) has kept the peace among the supermons. Helen Thomas UPI Commentary Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev could not forego his fears that the SDI would end nuclear parity in arms and make the United States free to attack. The two leaders also were willing to reduce the number of long-range strategic missiles to 1,600 and to increase their delivery weapons to 6,000. Yet before the collapse, Reagan and Gorbachev agreed to some of the most dramatic reductions in superpower arsenals ever proposed. All of this went by the board when Gorbachev linked all the cuts they agreed upon to a commitment by the United States not less than 20 percent for 10 years. Reagan felt this meant the killing of SDI, said national security affairs adviser John Poindexter — and he was not about to do it. Both sides have enough nuclear equipments in a series of global bomb- ings. fear from the Strategic Defense Initiative?'' He said Shevardnadze did not reply. The talks in iceland's capital city of Reykjavik, which started out as a Reagan-proclaimed mini-summit, underwent a transformation into a full scale summit because the Soviets brought along major concessions. But the hooker as far as Reagan was concerned was that he would have to give up the testing of defense weapons in space for 10 years, even though scientists believe it will take that long or longer to develop them. For some scientists, however, the Star Wars space shield is pie in the sky that won't come to fruition. If it does, they argue, the Soviets can catch or improve their offensive arsenals. Poindexter contended the SDI breakthrough could be much sooner than a decade away. The U.S. has poured billions of dollars into the military industrial complex for the first phases of the program, and billions more will go into the funding for Pentagon contractors and foreign nations who have joined before it all becomes a reality, if it ever does. There is also the question of cost. Poindexter said that the summit talks did not end in bitterness and there were no polemics — only disappointment. Asked how the Russians felt, he said they did not show emotion. There was emotion apently when the final session broke up, however. Reagan was grim and unsmiling, uncharacteristic for a man who always tries to put the best face on things. Secretary of State George Shultz was deeply disappointed. Donald Regan, White House chief of staff, was angry. "It it shows them (the Soviets) up for what they are," Regan said, predicting a summit in Washington would not come about in the forseeable future. It is a matter of trust The United States contends that the secrecy of the Soviet closed society makes it more difficult to track violations. U.S. officials were not confident the Soviets would carry out the proposed dramatic cuts in their arsenals. But the reasons why Reagan and Gorbachev could not agree, at least at this juncture, are older than their prumacy in their affairs of their nations. The Kremlin, noticed for its suspicion of the United States as a potential enemy, fears the intention of an administration that has called the Soviet Union an evil empire and of a president who picked hard-liners for negotiations in Geneva that he hopes can continue from this point. Young hand mauls mom's culinary art I never thought I would miss dorm food. After all, everything I had ever heard about it had turned out to be painfully true. For an entire school year I, like so many other college freshmen, helplessly choked it down. "Next year," I told myself, "you'll have an apartment of your own and you can cook whatever you want, whenever you want it." What a child I was. My first big homemade dish was to have been a tuna-noodle casserole. "It's easy," said my mother, and she proceeded to give me the recipe. Bob Hart Guest Shot I was concerned when I found I had no tuna. But, I was in luck; good old Mom had given me a can of saltman. I knew even that salmon was a fine yet tuna. One thing I've noticed about my mother — about most mothers — is that she actually had things like cream of mushroom soup in the house at all times. I did not, so in my childhood, I didn't think of it mattered. Cream of mushroom soup? Surely vegetable-alphabet soup would do. Soup is soup, right? And why go out and spend money on some special type of noodles when you already have a box of spaghetti in the cupboard? I had a Big Mac for dinner that night. I'll spare you the malodorous details, except to say that my "Salmon Surprise" sat in the refrigerator through three roommates, two cats and several changes of seasons. Undaunted, I moved on to other creations There were the occasional failures, like the time I tried to impress a date with my phone. Still, I felt I was on my way. Cooking was, well, a piece of cake. After finding that I had no cooking wine on hand, I substituted the remainder of a bottle of Jose Cuervo tequila from the previous weekend. I haven't had a date since. About the same time, as fate would have it, I obtained employment as a cook. In my new position, I was responsible for serving up eats to 80 elderly people and a staff of fanciers. I had never seen anyone learn that there is no kind of test given for cooks' positions. They trust you — the silly fools. Let me say right now that Hungarian goulash for 90 is not all that complicated, really. Just some noodles with beef cubes and a tangy sauce all over them. The sauce consists mainly of ketchup, onions, flour, sugar and a number of spices including cayenne pepper (just a dash) and paprika (half a cup). The only problem is that cayenne pepper and paprika look alike — an awful lot alike. What can I say, except that most of the people in the 80-to-100-year-old range didn’t rank my four-alarm goulash among their favorite foods. I retired from professional cooking shortly thereafter, but my private experiments continue. Sometimes, as I'm digging into my latest concoction, I think back to my days in the dorm. So the food was terrible. But it was there, and I didn't have to cook it. You know, it was kind of nice to have someone else to blame. Bob Hart is a senior from Overland