Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 21

anety Minneapolis Star and Tribune CD CO CO cn CO 0T' Tuesday December 271983 GOOD DATE OF SALE ONLY 1C. CO Gun foes of '60s torn when children of '80s want a toy one 1 in i iTi By Bonnie Miller Rubin Staff Writer For parents who have always prided themselves on being politically correct right down to their Earth Shoes buying an Uzi submachine gun doesn't come easily. It was only after we realized that our child was the only one on the block not brandishing a caliber automatic that we relented. Now, our living room looks like an arsenal, we're stockpiling MX missiles in the den and at least bne bedroom has been taken over by the G.I. Joe Anti-Terrorist Team.

Sidestepping all this high-tech toy weaponry is nothing compared with sidestepping the inconsistency of parents who came of age during the late '60s. We campaigned for Gene McCarthy, eschewed grapes and even stenciled peace signs on our mortarboards (although just how that was going to get us out of Vietnam escapes me now). But the last vestige of liberalism vanished not when we qualified for a mortgage, but when we bought a toy rifle realistic, the ultimate weapon' ') by Remco. The dilemma over whether to buy guns is one that many parents face over the holidays. Torn between wanting their children to participate in neighborhood play and their own pacifist convictions, any argument can be if you'll pardon the expression shot full of holes.

For a long time we straddled both camps: Daggers and ray guns were OK; carbines and "Saturday Night Specials" were not. It became so illogical that we finally gave up, consoling ourselves that most well-adjusted adults once said, 'Bang, bang, you're dead." "it is not a question of turning a child into a permanent warmonger, but stimulating aggressive behavior, which otherwise' may not occur," said Leonard Berkowitz, professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 'Experiments show that after children have played with guns, there is a greater chance of pushing, shoving and hitting. Even the presence of a gun in the room is more apt to pull out aggressive behavior." But a child can wage guerrilla warfare even if parents steadfastly refuse to do any military spending. Tinker Toys, blocks and twigs can be made into menacing weapons; even a sandwich can be meticulously nibbled into a revolver.

At least, that's the argument well-intentioned parents frequently use as justification for their purchases, said Elizabeth Crow, editor-in-chief of Parents' Magazine and mother of two children, ages 4 and 7. "I can't stop them drawing a gun on a cardboard, but I can refuse to spend $5.95 on a cap pistol that looks like a genuine weapon of death," Crow said. There is a difference between improvised guns and real ones, according to Berkowitz, whose research has shown links between toys and aggression. "When parents provide guns, Toy guns 7C Staff Illustration Kent Mackintosh whom you talk to. In Wall Street parlance, the stock slide was triggered by a fourth-quarter report showing Disney's net income dropping 13 percent to $24.5 million although revenues rose 23 percent to $363 million.

The net income for the fiscal year fell 7 percent to $93.2 million while revenues rose 27 percent to $1 ,3 billion. Brokerage analysts say the one-day turnover of 2.3 million shares reflected disappointment over the performance of the new Epcot Center and Walt Disney World in Florida, as well as the Disney Channel. Disney officials put the blame on the analysts for overestimating how the Florida parks and the pay-TV channel would perform. "Disney has been more optimistic about the Disney Channel than many of the analysts," said Harold Vogel, who tracks film companies for Merrill Lynch in New York. 'It seems to be running at the lower end of what is feasible to be on schedule.

'The theatrical films will have to Improve following a fairly Disney 4C the world arrive at the rate of two per week. The company predicts a rosy 1 984 in terms of profits. Yet, in November Disney stock dropped to a 12-month low, and the studio's young production chief abruptly quit. Most of the studio's new, more mature film projects have attracted small audiences, and attendance at Disney's U.S. amusement parks has been down.

Disney no longer has a network television series, and its new pay-TV channel lost $28.3 million this year. Could there be real-life trouble in Fantasyland? Like almost any Hollywood issue, it depends on Disney successful? Depends on whom you're talking to By Bob Thomas Associated Press Burbank, Calif -t It is the best of times and it is the worst of times for Walt Disney Productions, the factory that has produced dreams and fantasy for the world's billions. The house that Walt built is marking its 60th year with a series of celebrations. After a 30-year absence, the studio's greatest star is returning to the screen in a holiday featurette, "Mickey's Christmas Carol." The Tokyo Disneyland is a whopping success, and offers to build a pleasure park elsewhere in Nick Coleman I yfjf i ll fjje Mickey Mouse returns to the screen as Bob Cratchit in "Mickey's Christmas Carol;" that's Bob Cratchit at left with Nephew Fred (Donald Duckk and, at right, getting a scolding from Scrooge. A Santa filled TV stations' stockings with good news Translated into numbers of Twin Cities households watching the various newcasts, Arbitron showed an average of 259,000 homes tuned to Channel 4 at 10p.m.

while 236,000 watched Channel 5 and 72,000 watched Channel 11. If WCCO and KSTP were delighted, Channel 1 1 was thrilled with the Nielsen survey. WTCN revamped its newscasts in September, replacing coanchors John Bachman and Cora- Ann Mihalik with Paul Magers and Diana Pierce. The ratings surveys for October showed no change in the station's dismally low audience from the last survey taken before the changes were made. But the November surveys were a different story.

The Nielsen survey said Channel 1 1's share of the virtually tied, it gave KSTP 37 percent of the audience compared to 36 percent for WCCO and 1 5 percent for Channel 11. Reid Johnson, WCCO's news director, said Channel 4 is "pretty pleased with the ratings, especially given the fact that KSTP had such a blockbuster with (ABC's) nuclear war ('The Day After'). To be able to do well in spite of that is just terrific." KSTP's President Stanley S. Hubbard also was pleased with the November ratings because Channel 5's ratings are usually hurt by ABC's "Monday Night Football," which causes the station's Monday newscasts to be delayed until 1 1 p.m. or later.

"If we tie or only have a slight lead in November, I'm delighted," Hubbard said. Santa must've done the television news ratings last month because he left something in everyone's stocking. All four local TV stations found something to cheer about when results of the November ratings period came in last week. The Arbitron ratings service gave the victory at 10 p.m. to WCCO-TV (Ch.

4), which also won during the October ratings period. But the A.C. Nielsen said KSTP-TV (Ch. 5) was tied with WCCO for first place. And KSTP considers the tie a victory because its 10 p.m.

"Eyewitness Update" was delayed several nights by late football games and movies on ABC. Meanwhile, WTCN-TV (Ch. 1 1) had its first bit of good news in years. The survey showed that the audience for the station's 10 p.m. "News 1 1 increased by about a third since October.

The Arbitron stirvey, on the other hand, reported little growth in Channel 1 1 's audience. And it remained, in both surveys, far behind Channels 4 and 5 in popularity. independent station that doesn't compete with the 10 p.m. reports of the larger, network-affiliated stations, was pleased that the audience for its "Prime Time News" at 9:30 p.m. remained stable.

Arbitron said the most-watched TV newscasts in the Twin Cities air at 10 p.m. WCCO's 10 p.m. Report? won an average of 39 percent of the viewing audience on weeknights compared with 33 percent for KSTP and 1 1 percent for WTCN. Nielsen however, said KSTP and WCCO were Coleman 7C.