Vol. 99, No. 70 (USPS 650-640)
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PUBLISHED SINCE 1880 BY THE STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Wednesday December 7,1988
Group presses parents to stop youth drinking
WASHINGTON — Consumption of alcohol by young people remains widespread and the young "continue to drink and drive with alarming frequency" despite laws in every state against underage drinking, the National Commission Against Drunk Driving said yesterday.
The Associated Press
"In the absence of alcohol industry action, legislation should be enacted to regulate alcohol beverage advertising," the commission urged in a report on teen drinking. It said repeated testimony from teen-agers during a series of public hearings about the effects of its programs and the widespread acceptance that alcohol is a normal part of a social event.
The commission called on parents to assume a greater responsibility in keeping alcohol away from their children, but also concluded that the industry's advertising policies contribute to drinking problem among youths.
V. J. Adduci, commission chairman, said at a news conference that the panel did mean to suggest that government should force advertising changes immediately, but that such action might be necessary if the industry does not take action over the next few years.
The report summarized the findings of the commission after five public hearings on alcohol problems in the city as well as they relate to drunken driving.
It said that "one paramount conclusion" is that despite grass-roots efforts against drunk driving, laws in every state against people under 21 years of age purchasing alcoholic beverages, and numerous anti-drinking policies, people continue to drink and drive with alarming frequency."
As a result, young people "continue to be involved in alcohol-related crashes at disproportionately high rates." the commission said. "A young person under the legal drinking age remains nearly twice as likely to die in an alcohol related crash as an adult over 21."
The report noted that between 1982 and 1987 the number of alcohol-
Plan needs consideration Hayden says
WASHINGTON — Kansas Gov. Mike Hayden yesterday said that "serious consideration" should be given to lowering the blood alcohol standard used in determining whether drivers were intoxicated, but declined to endorse any specific proposal.
The Associated Press
"I encourage those who are working to lower that to continue their efforts," Hayden said in an interview in the nation's capital where he received an award from Drunk Driving Against Drunk Driving.
"We encourage them to work in the legislative halls and everything like that. We're just not interested in resisting creative standpoint at this time."
The commission issued a report recommending steps to curb drunken driving by young people. One proposal called for a strict policy against drinking under the legal drinking age, 21 in Kansas and other states.
Under Kansas law and in many other states, drivers are found legally drunk if they measure alcohol present alcohol in their bloodstreams.
The commission recommended a zero tolerance policy for young drivers that would find them legal to drive. The council also approved alcohol level above 0.0 percent.
"I don't know how practical it is to reduce it to zero," Hayden said.
related fatalities among people under 21 has declined by 2.9 percent, a figure somewhat tempered by the decline in the number of young driv
But, it continued. "drinking and driving continues to be the number one killer of teenagers."
Kuralt wins journalism award
The Associated Press
CBS newsman Charles Kuralt, known for his portraits of the common man in his "On the Road" series, will receive the 1989 William Allen White Foundation Award for Journalistic merit, the
Kuralt, who is also the host of the "Sunday Morning" news show on CBS, will receive the award and give an address marking William Allen White Day on Feb. 10 at the University.
University of Kansas announced yesterday.
The Plumouth Congregational Church Festival Ringers performed hand-held bells last night in front of Crafton- Preyer Theatre.
Ringing in the season
Two students file suits against KU
By Craig Weich
Kansan staff writer
Two KU students injured in an accident on the way to a debate tournament last year have filed two separate lawsuits against defendants including the University of Kansas, the Kansas Board of Regents and General Motors Corp., asking for a total of $8,875,000 in damages.
However, one of the students has settled his suit out of court.
David Macdonald, a Bismark, N.D. junior, was killed in the Oct. 29, 1987 accident and two other students and two graduate teaching assistants were injured on the University-sponsored trip.
One student, Ofray Hall, suffered a broken right femur, a broken left collarbone, two broken ribs, three cracked vertabrae and two collapsed lungs. The other student, Peter Cannistra, is now paralyzed from the chest down and uses a wheelchair.
Hall, Manhattan senior, filed a civil suit Oct. 27 in Clarksville Circuit Court in Clarksville, Tenn., alleging negligence on the part of the defendants and asking for $750,000 in compensatory damages. The complaint was filed almost a year after the accident because of a change in the attorneys representing him.
Cannistra, Houston senior, filed suit May 3 in the same court, asking for $2,125,000 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages.
Negligence alleged on part of officials
Jerome Levy of Chicago, attorney for both students, said that Camistra reached an agreement with the University to settle out of court, but Camistra did not agree to a settlement, or when the agreement was reached.
Cannistra declined to comment about any compensation that he received, and University offi-
cials said that the matter would be closed.
Art Grigg, attorney for the Kansas Department of Administration, said the most the state could pay for injuries under the Tort Claims Act was $300,000.
A clerk in the Clarksville Circuit Court office said Hall's 11-page complaint addressed the accident and alleged negligence in detail. She said yesterday that all defendants had been served with summons last month, but had not replied to the complaint. No court date has been set yet.
Cannistra continues to pursue a civil suit against General Motors.
Bethine Hall, Ofray's mother, said the University paid her family only $2,000 in compensation in
January for about $80,000 in hospital bills. She said the family's insurance didn't cover most of the expenses.
"It's really tough when you working with limited funds and something like this happens." Bethine said. "It's been one long hassle and I don't want anymore headaches."
Mary Prewitt, University assistant general counsel, declined to comment on the specifics of either suit or the Halls' claim that they received $2,000.
But she said a state automobile insurance policy covers accidents that occur in state vehicles and she questioned whether the state should be held liable.
"Because the state sponsored the event, does that mean the state is responsible for the accident?" Prewitt said. "I don't want to appear nice, but the issue should be 'who is at fault'."
Hall and Cannistra were injured when a van carrying them and seven other students swerved to miss a deer while traveling on a Tennessee highway. The group was on their way to the Emory University Invitational debate tournament in Atlanta when the accident occurred.
Please see SUIT, p. 6, col. 1
KU graduate has given much to University, state
By Barbara Joseph
Kansan staff writer
One item in particular stands out, a photo of Reece and her four daughters, all KU grades. The caption reads "Maryned Dyatt with her four daughters form their own Second Generation Jawhawk club."
Marynell Reece's file at the KU Alumni Center is about an inch thick.
A 1978 newspaper article recounts her receipt of the Fred Ellsworth Medallion, KU's highest award for unique and significant service. Many articles tell of her achievements on campus, a special committee for Kansas, a job she will retire from this January.
A KU tradition
That tradition spans the century from 1909, when her mother graduated from KU Med Center's first nursing class; to 1942, when Reece graduated from the University with a bachacademy in nalsim 1976, when the last of four daughters graduated from the University.
Marynell Reece is a KU tradition.
And it reaches the present,
which finds Reece on KU's Endowment Board, Development Committee, Board of Artists, Board of the School of Fine Arts.
"Marvell Reece understands
the University and what it requires to be effective," said Chancellor Gene A. Budig. "She has been a professor of the Cornell ancelov over the past seven years."
Through the job, Reece has met politicians at all levels, including Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. She described Barbara Bush as down to earth, like a neighbor with whom she could drink coffee and chat. She called George Bush a very nice man who loved his wife. He said he would do a good job.
Two years later she became Republican national committeewoman for Kansas, a position to elect her four-year term.
In 1973, when she became vice chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, she discovered the state organization was $90,000 in debt. To remedy that, she and the state chairman toured every county to encourage involvement and fund raising.
Reece has spent much of her 68 years devoted to politics and education.
Reece is equally dedicated to education.
"You'd be surprised how many students answered the Soviet Union or the United States to the question of which nation practices
This Veteran's Day she graded more than 400 essays for a scholarship competition.
apartheid," Reece said, her voice kind. "I don't think the younger students are faced with issues as were at school or at home."
Dressed in a red blouse, red sweater and red skirt and drinking tea at the Alameda Plaza Hotel in Kansas City, Ma., Reece recounted her childhood in Kanoran, Kan., when talk of politics around the dinner table was common. Her father was Republican precinct committeeman and county chairman. He campaigned for Kansans Frank Carlson and Al Flandon.
Family ties
In her mother's family, all four girls graduated from college and pursued careers.
"My family emphasized education and how it could be put to use to make the world a better place." I thought I wasn't going to college.
Reece came to KU in 1839 where she majored in journalism and minored in speech.
She became involved in politics during her KU days, working for the Women's Student Government Association. And she helped lobby the state Legislature to build Malott Hall.
She also reported for the University Daily Kansan. Hers was the
Please see REECE. p. 12, col. 1
Marynell Reece
Gorbachev lands in N.Y. for U.N. talks
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev arrived in New York yesterday and said he hoped his luncheon discussions with President Reagan and President-elect George Bush would lead to an "expansion of cooperation" between the superpowers.
Gorbachev made his arrival statement in a sun-splashed ceremony at Kennedy International Airport as U.S. officials said they were preparing for the possibility of a "grand gesture" from the Soviet leader to reduce troop strength in Eastern Europe.
Gorbachev will blend diplomacy with sightseeing on a three-day visit to the United Nations and New York. He said he hoped his meeting with Reagan and Bush today would "serve the best interests of the United States and the Soviet Union, indeed of all the world."
"We have not arranged any formal agenda so either side will be free openly and frankly to raise any questions." The speaker, speaking through an interpreter,
"We are living in a world which is going through some very crucial changes, and we all, all nations have their own concerns, their own interests," Gorbache said. "We shall be sharing our concerns and our inter-
Please see GORBACHEV, p. 6, col. 1