The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 1

KEEPING TfiACK 500-Mile Race scorecard for today's qualifications SPORTS C6 Oil A SHOESTEliriG R. Kent Baker racing team Vw rJ hopes to buck Indy's odds L.FESTYLEB1;, THE OOSS AT 170011 Bruce Springsteen stays true to form in passionate performance at MSA ARTSLEISURE C11 Pleasant Sunny skies. Low, 55. High, 75. Details on Page D23.

INDIANAPO Section SATURDAY, MAY 14, 1988 'Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty" II Cor. 3:17 fr -fr it copy 25 Cents Star A Mears Mario, gear up or pole day ill i 1 VlS i- 31 Diliflri tit rr. tj T- r-l Ifft-riiii nln ffffi ii'rti Car No. 5 captured the attention of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway crowd Friday after its driver, Rick Mears, topped 221 mph. IU president reiterates his support for Knight Author says Knight ivon't leave IU "That's not to say that he's not genuinely intrigued by the whole thing.

New Mexico would be a fresh start, you sort of let bygones be bygones and walk away, and it's a great basketball state. "But really. Sure it's a fine basketball state but have you ever heard the term 'Lobo Has anybody ever made a movie called Lobos? I mean, there are basketball states and there are basketball states and Indiana is the basketball state and Knight, as he sits and reflects on all these things, is going to realize that. "I don't think he's going to leave." Feinstein and Knight haven't talked since the book was published. Knight says Feinstein broke an agreement not to quote profanity in the book.

Feinstein insists there was no agreement. Both defy gravity by topping 220 By ROBIN MILLER STAR ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR Today's battle for supremacy at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway doesn't figure to be a free-for-all, but rather a private war. Mario Andretti and Rick Mears, lockecr together all week at speeds that seem to defy four-wheeled gravity, will punch it out for the pole position in the opening round of qualifying for the 72nd Indianapolis 500. And if Friday was any indica- ORDER OF THE DAY 7 a.m. Gates open.

8- 8:30 a.m. Practice for cars in first half of draw. a.m. Practice for cars in second half of draw. 9- 10:15 a.m.

Practice for all cars. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Qualifying. Qualifying order, Page A10 How to get to the track, Page A10 Bobby Rahal sets sights on race day, Page C1. Qualification scorecard, Page C6.

tion, it's going to be a fast and furious fight. Andretti, who soared to the unofficial speedway high of 221.565 mph last Wednesday, came back with a lap of 221.456 mph on Friday in the AmocoKmart LolaChevy. Mears, right in Andretti's mirror with a lap of 220.967 mph on Wednesday, matched Andretti Friday by running the identical speed 221.456 in the Pennzoil PC-17Chevy. The two veterans have been the only drivers over 220 mph this month, and they own a 3-mph advantage over their closest competition. 1 More impressive was the fact they were able to run so quickly In Friday's sunny conditions.

"I was a bit surprised," admitted Andretti, who won the pole a year ago with an average speed of 215.390 mph. "It's good we were able to maintain those speeds with the track quite a bit warmer." "Considering it was hot and we did it at midday, I'm very happy, very pleased," said Mears, whose speedway record of 217.581 figures to fall today. "I wouldn't have thought we'd have been able to do that (221) a couple of days ago. "It's a good sign, because See POLE Page 10 Index Arts, Leisure C11.12 Bridge D23 Business B7-10 Classified Ads D4-22 Comics C10 Crossword 023 Doonesbury D2 Editorials B6 Graham B4 Horoscope Prayer Jumble D23 Landers B3 LifeStyle B1-3 Movies C11.12 Obituaries D3 Religion Sports C1-9 Statistics ....023 TV-Radio B10.11 Weather D23 Werner B6 60 pages Lord, thajik You for bringing us musical meditations at midday, offering moments of peace to revive' our strength for our obligations during the coming hours of the day. Amen.

Chuckle This generation of students with TVs will go down in history and almost every other subject. Phone numbers Circulation 633-9211 Main office 633-1240 Classified Ads 633-1212 Scores after 4:30 p.m. VOLUME 85, No. 344 Copyright 1988 The Indianapolis Star By JO ELLEN MEYERS SHARP STAR STAFF WRITER Indiana University President Thomas Ehrlich and head basketball coach Bob Knight were talking Friday like their reportedly icy relationship was beginning to thaw. Ehrlich, in his first extensive interview since Knight startled Hoosier basketball fans by applying for the head coaching job at the University of New Mexico, said he and Knight have their differences, but that there was no rift between them.

Ehrlich also said he felt Knight was treated unfairly by NBC when a network television reporter refused the coach's request not to broadcast a controversial comment he made about rape. Knight had said this week that he Interviewed for the New Mexico coaching Job, at least in part, because of "changes." He declined to elaborate on the changes, but one consideration In a possible move to New Mexico Is his desire to marry a ki' STAR PH0T0 MAX TRUBY "And now everybody's calling me." said Feinstein. "It's kind of ironic in that I haven't talked to him in 18 months." Feinstein got so weary of telling people what he thought he sat down Friday and wrote a column about It. "I said what I think you've got here is a referendum, that Knight is sort of holding an unofficial referendum pick one. Who are you going to pick, the basketball coach or the guy (Ehrlich) in the bow tie? "I'm sort of betting against the guy in the bow tie.

"The way I finished my column is when it's all over. Knight will say he's staying because he realizes how many friends he has in Indiana, which he does, and because of all the support they've been showing for him. His message for Ehrlich will be, 'You may be president, but I am Passage by the Democratic-controlled chamber will send the bill to a House-Senate conference committee to reconcile differences between it and the Pentagon bill approved by the House. Both authorize $299.5 billion for the Pentagon. The House measure orders President Reagan to have the military "substantially halt" the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.

"I think we have a chemical war being directed against the United States," said Sen. Sam Nunn. chairman of the Armed Services Committee. Other senators warned that drugs have become a national security menace, but they also acknowledged that the military plan won't solve the problem. The loudest critic was Sen.

John Glenn, D-Ohio, "We all get up, posture, make our little statements, and it isn't going to make any difference," said Glenn, arguing that the United States lacks a coordinated or effective nationwide antidrug program. "It's absolutely ludicrous to think this will solve the prob lem." he ld. muli riitfiiniii. woman he has been dating. Knight is divorced, and sources said New Mexico offers him a chance for a new life.

It is generally acknowledged that another "change" was Ehr-lich's succession of John W. Ryan as IU president last year. In his 17 years at the helm. Ryan never publicly criticized Knight, who brought three NCAA national championships to the university. For his part of the detente with Ehrlich, Knight seemed to absolve the IU president of Involvement in the coach's impending career decision.

In an Interview with the Bloo-mtngton Herald-Telephone. Knight said Friday: "Any decision that I would make to leave Indiana or to get out of coaching would not be made because of people now at Indiana. It would be because I feel that's Just the best thing for me to do." Ehrlich Insisted Friday that See KNIGHT Page 11 institute's annual Best Educators Ball. But physicians at Methodist Hospital believe McCurdy himself might be well enough to attend the ceremony. "His attitude is good, he's talking and he's mostly looking at things on the bright side," Mrs.

McCurdy said of her son, who has been undergoing physical and occupational therapy. "He does have some down days, but he's still praying to get well." McCurdy will be cited for protecting the manager of Payless Shoe Source, 4102 North Keystone Avenue, from two men who robbed the business April 5. One of the men shot McCurdy once in his neck, fracturing a vertebra. "Harry demonstrated so much courage and compassion for another human that we started a new award just for him," said Beverly R. Newman, curriculum director of the Gage Institute for talented students in Senate votes military into war on narcotics Paralyzed student to get award created to honor his heroics By PHIL RICHARDS STAR STAFF WRITER The man who wrote Season on the Brink about basketball coach Bob Knight doesn't believe Knight is on the brink of leaving Indiana University.

"I think he's throwing a temper tantrum, that (IU president Thomas) Ehrlich spanked him and he's mad and he's coins to show Ehrlich who's Feinstein boss," said John Feinstein, the Washington Post sportswrlter who spent the 1985-86 basketball season following the Hoo-siers and then wrote the best-selling book about it. Harry "Eric" McCurdy might attend ceremony. kindergarten through 12th grade. "He is a very special young man. You don't find many like him anymore.

"Students such as Harry are the kind we want our students to see as being very real role models. He had been working since he was 1 5 years old and is particularly considerate of his mother helping her raise his younger brothers." Mrs. McCurdy said her son's See AWARD Page 8 Ml ASSOCIATED PRESS Washington The Senate voted overwhelmingly Friday to order the U.S. military to enter the war against illegal drug trafficking, approving a plan to give the Navy the power to stop drug boats on the high seas and make arrests. The chamber voted 83-6 to approve an amendment outlining a wide-ranging anti-drug plan for the military.

The proposal provides more surveillance by Air Force and Navy planes, a bigger anti-drug role for the National Guard and more Pentagon helicopters for the Coast Guard and Customs Service. The most controversial provision would require Navy vessels to track suspected drug boats in international waters and would allow Navy officers to arrest suspected drug traffickers. The officers would be temporarily "deputized" by Coast Guard officers. The anti-drug provision was the main unresolved issue as the Senate worked toward approval of a bill authorizing defense spending for the fiscal year starting ct. 1.

By LYNN FORD STAR STAFF WRITER Harry "Eric" McCurdy may have been paralyzed by a gunshot as he protected a co-worker during a robbery, but he still stands tall in the eyes of people touched by his sacrifice. The 18-year-old Broad Ripple High School senior, paralyzed from the neck down after being shot during the holdup of a Northeastside shoe store where he worked, will receive a heroism award today created in his honor. McCurdy will be given the Gage Institute's first Student Hero Award during a 7:30 p.m. ceremony in Butler University's Clowes Hall. It will be the first time the institute has honored someone other than an Indiana educator.

The award might be accepted on his behalf by his mother, Patricia A. McCurdy, who Is scheduled to speak during the.