UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, October 5, 1994
Princess' paramour in trouble
British major faces scorn, perhaps more
The Associated Press
LONDON — To the establishment he's a cad. And if the story of a love affair with Princess Diana is true, he's also a traitor under the law and — technically at least — could face execution.
While Maj. James Hewitt ducked the verbal brickbats, sales of a book alleging the five-year affair with the princess soared yesterday.
"He has gone too far, and I think other officers will be disinclined to have anything to do with him," said Bob Higson, a representative for the prestigious Life Guards, Hewitt's former regiment.
"Princess in Love," a floridly writ
ten work by freelance journalist Anna Pasternak, shows Hewitt to be "a fully fledged cad," wrote Niall Ferguson, a fellow in modern history at Oxford University's Jesus College, in The Daily Telegraph.
It also underlines "the creeping corruption of our — supposedly — elite institutions," he wrote.
"If even the (armed) Services and the professions can no longer be depended on to instill a sense of decorum, then the legacy of the Victorians has gone forever," Ferguson added.
The book says that Hewitt and Diana first had sex in 1986 when she invited him to dinner at Kensington Palace while her husband Prince Charles was away.
Charles, 45, and Diana, 33, formally separated in December 1992. In June, Prince Charles acknowledged committing adultery, but he did not name the woman.
Britons have already snapped up more than 100,000 copies of the book.
A spokeswoman for the Home Office said the Treason Law of 1351, still in force, deceases death for various treacherous acts, including sex with the wife of the heir to the throne.
The author said she wrote the book from conversations with Hewitt. Some news reports said Hewitt had gone into self-imposed exile, possibly somewhere in South America. Charles was reported to be fishing in Scotland.
The grusome penalty was hanging "but not till he be dead," followed by disembowelment "while yet alive" and slicing up into quarters. In 1870 the punishment was amended to straightforward hanging.
Driving tests limit big bike riders in Japan
By Seth Sutel
Associated Press Writer
TOKYO — It was a study in humiliation, a drama of dashed hopes. One by one, the failed contenders slunk away in shame. Sweat popped out on my forehead as I waited my turn.
It wasn't a martial-arts contest or some samurai-inspired rite of passage. It was just what any resident of Japan must go through for the privilege of driving a motorcycle with an engine larger than 400cc.
The country's notoriously tough driving test for big bikes was implemented 30 years ago to try to reduce fatal accidents among the "bosoku," literally "reckless driving tribes," who roar along urban boulevards and country lanes at night.
It's so tough that it has become a trade issue; American negotiators say it holds down sales of foreign bikes. Most foreign manufacturers concentrate on bikes with engines larger than 400cc.
Waiting for my turn at the test center, I witnessed a string of failures. One guy dumped the bike in the wide S-turns, eliciting a burst of scornful laughter from the test officer. Others knocked over cones in the slalom section.
One skinny guy reddened after failing the very first requirement; to tie his 500-pound bike on its side and then haul it upright by its handlebars.
Taking a deep breath, I waited for the test officer, clad in a slate gray police-style uniform, to bark out the go-ahead signal.
The bump section where you stand up on the foot pegs while going over a series of metal ridges went well. Next, I scooted through a series of sharp turns. By the time I made it through the slalom course, I even felt a flicker of confidence.
Then came the balance beam.
Riders must traverse a 45-footlong, 12-inch-wide beam that is about an inch off the ground in no less than 10 seconds, at a speed of no more than 20 mph. Like bicycles, motorcycles are less stable at lower speeds.
I made it most of the way across before that slow teering feeling set in. The bike just didn't want to be on that beam anymore.
It was my third crack at the test and my third failure. I hadn't even gotten to try the hill start, the railroad crossing or the emergency braking.
"Balance beam got you again, eh?" the test official said gruffly. "You ought to practice more."
That's the catch. There's no such thing as a learner's permit, so without a license you can only ride a big bike at a driving school. There, you can have all the practice you want at $50 an hour.
Driving schools say already proficient riders of smaller bikes need about 15 hours of additional training for the big-bike exam. Even then, most take five to seven tries to pass the test at $36 a shot.
Then came a flash of inspiration, it would be cheaper and quicker to fly to the United States, take the motorcycle test there and come back with an international license, which has no limitations on the size of the bike.
So a few weeks later I was in a San Francisco parking lot, straddling a rented bike and waiting for a Department of Motor Vehicles tester.
A few simple turns in a circle and a quick buzz across the parking lot, and I was the holder of a U.S. motorcycle license. After a trip across town to the American Automobile Association for an international permit, I was all set.
Total cost: about $700, including airfare and license fee. Exaspersion factor: practically zero. As long as I leave the country once a year, I can keep renewing the permit.
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