The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 78

1 ADVICE G-2 COMICS G-9 GAMES PEOPLE G-2 PUZZLES TVRADIO G-10 EDITOR: JOHN KIESEWETTER, 369-101 1 THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1984 S3! TIPOFF Jim Knippenberg I IKA i "1 7j Hackers' Delights With Care, Please First off this morning, there's word from the Hand Tools Institute that some people abuse screwdrivers and that's a pretty dangerous thing to do, you bet. Well, thunders the Institute, screwdrivers are for driving or removing screws, not prying, poking, using as wedges, fishing around the garbage disposal or digging mangled bread from toasters. Furthermore, the institute says, don't use pliers on the handle for leverage, don't smack it with other tools and don't, no matter how frustrating it is assembling Christmas toys, fling at spouses. And finally, buy several stubby, Phillips, standard-so you can handle anything. Except, of course, assembling the aforesaid toys which don't have all the right parts anyway.

A 1 'fMi. Wmti f' 4 V. 4 i J-' 1 a i 'f- 'V 'f, I A 1 '-s -v, r. Computer Play May Be Fun, But It Could Be A Dead End BY STAN SULKES Enquirer Contributor It's easy to imagine parents and their adolescent seated at a dining room table brimming with colorful college catalogs: "Have you considered computer programming?" asks Mom. Dad nods thoughtfully, both dreaming no doubt that computers offer their offspring endless career possibilities.

For many youngsters the American dream formerly a limitless frontier has now been relegated to the small compass of a microchip. And with good reason. Computers, like E.Ti, have a special affinity for the young. The Japanese recognized this. When committing themselves to modernizing via the computer, they defied centuries of tradition and entrusted the task to men under 35.

But even that may be elderly by electronic standards. Keep in mind that computer engineers measure velocity in terms of nanoseconds, or one billionth of a second. Such thinking demands the right stuff: energy and vision. Daring. Even arrogance.

Not wisdom, and certainly not moderation. After all, wasn't today's multi-millionaire Steven Jobs all of 22 when he and a friend put a prototype together in his garage, giving birth to the first Apple computer? Even younger was teen-age programmer John Harris whose video game Frogger hopped its way to a $300,000 royalty before spawning a sequel in Frogger II. Given all this hype, it is no wonder that parents advise their progeny to pursue computing. They are to be forgiven for hoping that all the time their youngster spends on Donkey-Kong or Berzerk, if not socially useful, at least points toward a career. But are parents offering good advice when they recommend that their children attempt computing? The answer to that question depends on the temperament of the youth as well as on the current state of the industry.

For in a volatile business such as electronics, a few months can produce major change. And what was true of the industry last year, may be as relevant as comparing today's Cincinnati Reds to the championship team of a decade ago. For example, the sale of personal computers has declined from last year. And the hardware and software fields are no longer dominated by whiz kids like Jobs. Less money currently goes to research and development and more to marketing.

Parents should be aware, too, that not everyone who wants to specialize in some computer activity is suited for it. The drop-out rate for programmers at some local schools is 80. According to Ted Cook, systems manager of computers at Raymond Walters College, "Programming is hard work, and one must be (See COMPUTERS, Page G-6) A World Of Color On a more colorful note, researcher Harry Wohlfarth has a warning for people about to paint the house: Color, he tells Science Digest, does indeed influence behavior because different hues cause the brain to release different biochemicals. Such as: When a school was repainted yellow, blue and orange, from white, beige and brown, test scores jumped and rowdlness fell. In another test, blood pressure rose In people exposed to red but fell when blue was introduced.

In addition, Wohlfarth says, orange stimulates the appetite, which is why fast food joints look the way they do; pink is calming, which is why some prisons have pink rooms; and the black one gets on the hands whilst reading this doesn't do anything. Except make people testy. 1 The Cincinnati EnquirerDicK Swaim HIGH SCHOOL senior Howard Ullman views computers as a tool. Channel 64 Expands To 17 Free Hours In '85 is approved by Jan. 1, the new schedulemade up of movies, old network series and syndicated programs-begins on the first day of 1985.

Since April, 1982, Channel 64's free programming has been limited to about four hours a day, leaving the rest of the day for broadcast of scrambled transmissions from ON TV, a subscription movie service, over the Channel 64 frequency. The new owners plan to cut back the subscription service to late-night only and broadcast non-scrambled programs 6 a.m. to until 11:30 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends.

Programming will include: Children's shows such as "Bull-winkle," George of the Jungle," "Dudley Do-Right" and "Fat Albert and the BY TOM BRINKAAOELLER The Cincinnati Enquirer Cincinnati's Channel 64, a TV station overshadowed by ON TV's pay service since it signed on in early 1980, will find a life of its own Jan. 1 when it begins operation as a 17-hour-a-day free station. Purchase of the station from Home Entertainment Network for $9.4 million was completed late Monday, said Stephen J. Kent, one of the new owners and president of the buying corporation, Channel 64 Joint Venture. An application has been made to the Federal Communications Commission to change the station's call letters from WBTI-TV to WIII-TV, Kent said, but regardless of whether the change Cosby Kids." "Off-network" series such as "Trapper John, M.D.," "Eight Is Enough," "Gunsmoke," "The Untouchables," "Have Gun, Will Travel," "The Phil Silvers Show" and "The Odd What Kent said was a film library of "between 1,500 and 2,000 titles." Many of those films are older "classics" such as "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and the Marx Brothers' "Monkey Business," Kent said.

Syndicated film packages such as "Black Belt Feature," "Charlie Chan Feature" and "The Elvira Movie," a series of horror films hosted by a woman named Elvira. The ON TV service will operate only overnight starting Jan. 1, and will be primarily targeted at owners of video recorders who can tape off the air and watch later, he said. Three features will be run each night, with more emphasis put on the basic ON TV service over the R-rated movies the subscription service currently offers for an additional charge. The monthly price will drop from $27 to $15.95, he said.

ON TV, which signed on here in 1980, reached its highest sukbscription level (38,000 homes) before the area was totally wired for cable TV. About 12,500 homes now receive the service, Kent said, with about 75 of them taking both ON TV's basic and R-rated services. The spread of cable hurt ON (See NEWTV, Page G-8) LINDA LAVIN Starry, Starry News Meanwhile, off in the world of stars and rumors, CBS is this close to giving "Alice" the ax. No word on what star Miss Linda Lavin, who has been braying about quitting anyway, will do. Open a home for people with mouths the size of small caves, maybe.

Speaking of Linda Lavin, that reminds us: Mr. Ed's co-star, one Alan Young, will join "General Hospital" as some sort of villlan who no doubt has 11 ex-wives, 42 parents, six kids down in a Peruvian plane crash and a talking horse. On a sad note, folk in Rajneeshpuram, run by guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, have been ordered to wear rubber gloves during, uh, physical encounters lest they spread disease. And no, we don't know how they check this. Bug their tambourines, perhaps.

Not All TV hp fir -Jj Shows Hit The Air HC ft 1-. 'fm Life Without Smoke Gifts that keep on giving, division of free at last: The American Lung Association, nee Christmas Seal people, offers a double whammy for shoppers who Just plum don't know what to get the smokers on their list. Freedom From Smoking in 20 Days and A Lifetime of Freedom from Smoking, a pair of step-by-step manuals designed to unhook the hooked, are built around positive reinforcements and have proved fairly effective over the years, particularly with people who have betimes tried and failed. Just be careful' who gets the set, on account of some smokers aren't exactly a laugh a minute when non-smokers get helpful. It runs $7 (that includes wrap-job and mailing); call 751-3650.

Managing Men Takes Training, Bit Of Guidance BY ALICE HORNBAKER The Cincinnati Enquirer Stephanie Brush is Into MANagement. Her book that spoofs care, feeding and fetishes of the opposite sex, Men: The Own-ers's Manual (Linden Press, Simon Schuster, is in its fifth printing since publication in July. The 30-year-old writer is in Cincinnati today to appear on Channel 5's "Midday" and on radio shows to explain how she acquired expertise in high animal husbandry. What Brush says in her owner's manual is you can't live with men or without them. So in order to make any arrangement more compatible, it behooves females to learn how to bridge the sexual gap.

How to do this Brush details in her manual, a zany collection of "care and feeding" analyses. She details what men are, how they think, where and when to take them out and how not to get a lemon. While she doesn't explain their trade-in value, she does say they do "appreciate." This slapstick male psychoanalysis deals with the sloppy man, the sports nut, foreign lovers, male balding, midlife crisis, old girl friends, old boy friends, adult toys for males, sexual problems and women who are funny. Women who are funny? Men don't like women who are funny? But Susan Brush Is funny. Yes, she said, but not out loud.

"My family was funny. I was born in Cleveland and later we moved to Pleasant-ville, N.Y. There my two younger sisters and I tried hard always to make our dad laugh. He was funny, genuinely funny. So I'd save up some really witty things to say to him.

(See MEN, Page G-7) BY TOM BRINKMOELLER The Cincinnati Enquirer Elaine Green and Jim Cavanaugh received plenty of recognition while they worked in the TV news business at WCPO-TV, Channel 9. Among other honors, she won a Peabody Award In 1980 for her coverage of the Channel 9 newsroom takeover by an armed gunman, and he won a regional Emmy Award the same year for his Cincinnati historical series. Still, one of the strongest recent memories the two former journalists (now business partners) now share is one of something they didn't get: last year's Christmas. Their new business, which is today something of a plum, looked like a stocking full of coal at the time because last December was the month most of their clients chose not to pay their bills. Starting a small business Is tough enough, but starting one which devours holidays, could have been a bummer.

That business, much friendlier now, is Video Features a local television consulting and production firm which, since the beginning, has been trying to demystify "video" for non-broadcasters who want to use television to their advantage. Most of what they do isn't seen on the home set; a lot of their work is professional-quality training tapes and sales presentations which play often enough on vldeocassette recorders, but are never broadcast. The venture appears to have grown Impressively from its almost-accidental beginnings. Green and Cavanaugh started it in March, 1982, while both were working Inside O-s The Cincinnati EnquirerAllan Kain AFTER A nervous start, Video Features is now going full tilt. Company members include, first row left to right, Jim Lummanick, Jim Cavanaugh and Elaine Green; second row is Tom McKee; rear is Greg Hahn.

It's A Matter Of Time 2 A frustrated mother who spends her valuable time transporting her daughter to and from music lessons wants to know how she can convince the girl to help out at home. City Hall Open House 3 Cincinnati City Hall may look like a fortress, but city fathers don't want the public to think of it as one, so they're having an open house Thursday, and the public Is Invited. at Channel 9. A horse-owner Green had interviewed for the old "7 O'clock Report" provided the impetus when he contacted her several months later and asked her to shoot some tape for him of one of his thoroughbreds. Like busmen on a holiday, they agreed, and-uslng equipment they borrowed $600 to rent-taped the man's million-dollar stallion.

It was the first of many jobs. For more than a year, they worked out of Cavanagh's basement-always careful to separate the new duties (See VIDEO, Page G-4).