Iowa City Press-Citizen from Iowa City, Iowa • Page 5

IOWA CITY Press-Citizen OPINION FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1987 Iowa City Press-Citizen Page 5A Mory Pork Stltr Publisher Robert R. Doroo Michael R. sbsr Production Director Controller Dav lldrldg. Richard N. Thlen Circulation Director Executive Editor Marltrt J.

Porrln AlUn Wbr Editorial Page Editor Advertising Director (t ANNOUNCED StVEAAl NV5NTHS AGO THAT I i.ir kivr A Aifrir ATf But NOfioov" tm BELitVtf FOA WLSlKWT, TO THANK Vw I ASKtb My MOTHtft 'WHAT'S A GUY TO BE-UlvtS I END THE. SPECULATION. MR.OOMo OUR VIEW WEM I JAMES KILPATRICK tvEWBODV SAYS I WAS MOSCOW ASKIfJb 4B0UT THE PROBLEMS OF AJUyoAK STATE. Mob scene gets panned The Irish rock group U2 got rave reviews for its concert at Carver-Hawkeye Arena Tuesday. The performance of the crowd was something else.

At least four people were taken to University Hospital after being trampled, pushed or crushed when the crowd stormed the stage as soon as U2 I'M FOR PRESIDENT. SHE SAYS I DON'T BEUE.VE IT fciD YOU uRiTE THAT Douyg? MY MOTHER bOESNYBWtVElT. YEAH, A DtADLlNt appeared. Another 11 were treated for heat exhaustion at the arena. DiD VOV 6ET THAT? I sure, I'm furnniD RuT CAM'T M6UYS EVER ftUNNNfc FOR PRESIDENT'? BY ALE THE ATTENTION' LWi THE SUBJECT ALOAX I 2 en HWI HW I WHAT Mo oU, I can mv? yUkd $nyi the XfuAifai onday was just a preview; the big one comes Thursday The writers blunder on Some months ago The Parkersburg (W.Va.) News quoted a-reader who wanted to abolish the apostrophe: "I would like to see it eliminated from use in the possessive noun, and perhaps from contraceptions as well." The writer perhaps was related to a reporter for the Suburban Press of Orchard Park, N.Y.

There the police log reflected a complaint of "rowdy youngsters conjugating on Greenfield Street." Amo, amas, amat, and all that there. How do these blunders find their way into print? Does an explanation lie in inattention? In sheer ignorance? I don't know, but some of us who write for a living have much explaining to do. Consider some Horrid Examples: A restaurant critic, writing in a St. Augustine (Fla.) paper, "found the Clam Shell's early selection to be excellent, precluding a cup of soup or chowder." Including, maybe? In the Mount Vernon (Ohio) News, readers found an interesting verb in an account of a national softball tournament: "After Shelly Squires flew out, Amy Stull reached on an error The young lady flied out. Columnist Judy Markey came home from vacation.

She found "a kitchen barren of any combustibles except Doritos and Diet Pepsi." An explosive combination. A nodding lawyer, or perhaps a wandering mind, was responsible for an eye-opening line in the Dram Shop and Alcohol Reporter. It appeared that a plaintiff "sought statutory damages and an injection." That might be one way of handling troublesome plaintiffs. The ear, the eye and the typing fingers get out of sync. In The Miami Herald, a worker fell "from a construction sight and was impelled by a sharp piece of lumber." The Herald also provided a headline to think about: "Landmark sea battle will -be remembered." The Seattle Times reported that a 7-year-old girl had read 326 children's books in 41 days: "Ferocious reader sets, book record." The Mount Airy (N.C.) News resented attacks by cartoonists on the president; he was being "depicted as a war mongrel." Newspaper reporters and editors have plenty of company outside their ranks.

A lost-and-found ad in the Union (S.C.) Daily Times sought "small, brown, miniature Datsun, strayed from 123 Woodlawn Ave." A special trophy goes to a writer in the San Francisco Chronicle who recalled a famous Olympic race. That was when Joan Benoit "snatched the first women's marathon from gangly, striated Grete Waitz, who was 97 furloughs behind her." Ah, well. Nobody's perfect, but some are less perfect than others. James Kilpatrick's syndicated columns appear Wednesdays and Fridays on the Opinion page. PAViP KANELLIS of probability." (Nov.

16, 1929) "The recession will be checked shortly and improvement will set in during the spring months." (Jan. 18, 1930) "Recovery will soon be evident." (Sept. 20, 1930) Herbert Hoover: "The danger of significant bank failure is safely behind us." (May 1, 1930) And, responding to a delegation requesting government help to speed the recovery: "Gentlemen, you have come 60 days too late. The depression is over." (June, 1930) Well, suppose the market does self destruct for good next Thursday, with a blast that will be to the one in 1929 as a nuclear bomb is to a peashooter. Does that mean there will be another depression? Not necessarily, if we can believe the experts quoted by Nation.

In 1932, with 25 percent of the work force unemployed, not everyone called it a depression. "I don't know anything about any depression," wrote J.P. Morgan Jr. And Henry Ford said, "These really are good times, but only a few know it." Whatever the case, don't wait until next week to send your kids out trick or treating. Send them tonight.

But don't have them ask for candy. Get money. If things turn out to be anything like they were after the '29 crash, you will need every penny they can collect. David Kanellis is an Iowa City school teacher. His columns appear Fridays on the Opinion page.

Things are more like they are today than they have been before." Dwight Eisenhower I am not certain what President Eisenhower meant by the enigmatic words in quotations at the top of this column, but if he was saying that history repeats itself, I am inclined to agree. In fact, you have six more days to get your things in order before Wall Street brings us a market crash that will make the one in 1929 look like a temporary "correction" in market. It was Oct. 29, 1929, that the bottom fell out of the stock market, touching off a depression that lasted into World War II. With exact replication of history that means next Thursday will be doomsday.

Have you been reading about those Harvard and Yale business administration geniuses who have been playing the bull market for all it is worth, and how they have become multimillionaires before their 30th birthdays? And have you listened to those economists from the East who predict that the bull market might last forever? Well, that is just another case of history repeating itself. According to The Experts Speaks, compiled by Nation magazine and edited by Christopher Cerf and Victor Navasky, the following optimistic statements were made just prior to the 1929 crash. Herbert Hoover: "The poorhouse is vanishing among us. We shall soon be in sight of the day when poverty will be banished from this nation." (1928) Irving Fisher, professor of economics at Yale: "Stocks have reached what looks like a permantly high plateau." (Oct. 17, 1929) And New York Journal banner headline of Oct.

25: "Experts predict rising market." Now, you might ask, "What happens to people who make a glorious prediction only to find themselves in-gloriously wrong?" Such as, for example, Gov. Terry Branstad announcing that the worst of the farm crisis is over. What will he say if we find out differently? Here is what a few of our leaders said after the crash. Fisher again: "The end of the decline of the stock market will not be long, only a few more days at the most." (Nov. 14, 1929) And: "For the immediate future the outlook is bright." (1930) Harvard's experts were right in there with the Yalies in their mis-analysis of the crash.

The Harvard Economic Society had this to say: "A severe depression is outside the range The arena itself had $1,500 in damages. "It was an ugly sight," University of Iowa Campus Security Capt. William Fuhrmeister said. Rock concerts are not known for their gentle nature. But a U2 crowd might be expected to be better than many.

The band's music emphasizes messages of peace and love. The absence of peace in Iowa City was due to a lethal combination of young fans, band policy and set-up of the arena. Young fans stand, scream, stomp their feet and throw things. That kind of behavior doesn't go over well with those who expect to sit at a concert and listen politely. The band aggravated the problem by ignoring the advice of Campus Security and refusing to discourage the stampede.

Chairs on the main floor were placed so close that fans could neither sit on them nor stand in front of them. The only alternative was to stand on them. (There were no problems in the arena's normal seating areas.) The 200-person contingent of ushers and security personnel was larger than usual. But fans caught in the crush questioned whether they were adequately prepared to handle a crowd. Ushers, for example, were slow to come to the assistance of people who were injured, i The placement of security personnel also was questioned.

Before the concert, security people circulated in the crowd in the concourse at the top of the arena. That's where they should have been. But when the concert began, many security people stayed above. They should have moved to the main floor, where the problems arose. Concert sponsors say they will take out advertisements urging fans to behave properly during future concerts.

They also may eject those who are disruptive. That's a start. More attention to training ushers and to the arena set-up also may help. Officials should take steps now to make concerts enjoyable for everyone. A good race Runners in the Iowa City Hospice Road Races so far have turned in more than $53,000 in pledges for Hospice and 35 other United Way agencies.

That's a long way from this year's $100,000 goal, but pledges are still coming in. And it's more than the $50,000 raised last year. This year, area businesses pitched in to make the races a success. More than half 70 of Hills Bank Trust 135 employees joined the races, giving the team the sweepstakes prize for most employees participating. Among other businesses, the American College Testing Program won first place with 42 racers; National Computer Systems was second with 38.

For civic groups, Iowa City Public Library was the winner with 24 racers. University Library and Johnson County were second with 21 each. The races also owe their success to hundreds of ordinary citizens who solicited pledges and ran a good race. People like Jessica Brumbaugh, 11, set the example. "I just wanted to raise money for the community center to let them be happy," she said.

She turned in $620 in pledges for Willow Creek Community Center. Her father, Earl, "helped with the words" as she solicited door-to-door in the Pheasant Ridge apartment complex. As for her 5-kilometer run: "I got there," she said. That's the way many runners felt. They got there.

And they did something for someone else in the process. It felt good. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR lars for the 28 teams in the two leagues for a struggling economy and people who desperately need Jobs. A new business came to Iowa bringing with it 400 jobs. Over 3,000 applied for those openings, which, I assure you, did not pay $230,000 each.

Every new position is precious to someone. Have players and management lost all sense of compassion? Surely there were knowledgeable, pragmatic men or women who could have mediated this dispute and put it on the back burner until after the Super Bowl then renew negotiations with a deadline of June 1 for a settlement. Then, if there is to be a strike, everyone can adequately prepare for the 1988-89 season with minimum suffering all around. Don Klotz Iowa City Kids weren't in school I stopped by the AMPM store at Muscatine and First avenues this morning at about 9:20 and was surprised at what I saw. In the corner, huddled around the video games, was a group of obviously high school, teenage boys.

Before I left the store, three more teen-agers walked in, and as I was getting into my car, another group of three or four more boys were getting out of a car and entering the store. I couldn't help wondering why they were there and not in school. I realize I'm old fashioned in many ideas about education. After all, I went through school before the social and cultural changes wrought in the late '60s and '70s, when the idea of an open campus policy in high school was unheard of. When we arrived at school, we stayed there until 3:10 p.m.

Any free time No loyalty to fans Friends, were you as irritated over the NFL strike as I was? Whatever the issues may be, it is the non-combatants who have my sympathy. First, the loyal fans, the millions of followers who make the astronomical incomes of management, players and TV networks possible. They were treated like the dirt on a bald softball field. Isn't loyalty supposed to be reciprocal? And what about those people employed in satellite industries? A business man in Green Bay estimates that the pro football games bring over $30 million to the community annually. That adds up to close to a billion dol during the day was rigidly scheduled into study halls, where one could read, catch up on homework assignments, compose long, gossipy letters or love notes, sleep or, on a rare occasion, I even study.

In truth, study halls were such a bore, I found myself scheduling any kind of elective just to avoid them. So, I will admit there can be more constructive ways to fill time in school than sitting silently in an auditorium for 45 minutes. But I don't think trips to the local convenience store to hang around and plug quarters into video games is an improvement. Again, I realize I'm out of step with the times, but as a parent, when I send my kids off to school in the morning, I like to know that's where they are. Some say this attitude places the school in the position of baby sitter.

I don't agree. I pay a substantial amount in taxes and am hit at registration time with a multitude of fees over and above that to ensure the schools have every opportunity to educate my children. I expect them to make full use of the time allotted during the day to do just that. If kids have enough free time during the day to gather, hop in cats and drive around town, then I have to question the curriculum requirements are we expecting or demanding enough of them? In two years my oldest son will be in high school. I can only hope I never run into him at the AMPM store playing video games at 9:30 in the morning.

On second thought, he better hope I don't. Virginia J. VeDepo Iowa City DOONESBURY By Garry Trudeau JEREMY, SETTLE POUN, PtARMAN. THPAP5 0KAy LOAVS OF- OTHER. THINGS H5f 600P.

NOW JUST TRY TO RELAX. WE'RE WOOLP FRJENPS JUST HAVING PINNER, OKAY? JEREMY? ME CAM 'TALK ABOUT. JEREMY, LET THE- FUHOOf AIR OUT. THANKS! I THAJUlAS I CLOSE I MRS. IOMVNTFINP THEM! I COULPNT FINQ MY CLIPPINGS, TUB ITEMS OF INTEREST! SOMEONE MUST HAVE SMPED GOES.

1 NOW, IMKc- A ISttP I BP5ATH, IN. I THEM! .1 1. 1 Jt.