The Press Democrat from Santa Rosa, California • 4

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT PAGE 4A SUNDAY, JULY 9, 1972 115TH YEAR EDITORIAL Gun Laws A U. S. SENATE committee has given a "do recommendation to a bill outlawing sale of the so-called "Saturday night special" type of pistol. In the House, a committee has been holding hearings on a variety of proposals for tougher regulation of handguns. For a fact, about the only practical use for a pistol is to shoot a human being.

They are inaccurate at a distance, and humans are the only creatures trusting enough or stupid enough to allow a strange being to get that close. Nor do most peace officers, who are trained and skilled in their use, think much of them as a means of self-defense by amateurs. IN THE OPINION of The Press Democrat, stiff federal legislation concerning sale, registration, and transportation would do no harm, but at the same time would I be of dubious value. Virtually every state has long had stiff laws forbidding carrying concealed weapons without a permit. Criminals ignore both the law and its penalties, and there are no grounds to believe that they would respect a nation-wide law either.

Becoming the owner of a handgun in California requires filling out an application that is then checked in Sacramento before the sale can be completed but there are still more pistols in the possession of criminals than in the homes of those who wish them for protection. DR. LESTER L. COLEMAN Real Clues Emerge In Understanding Psoriasis Some real clues to the better understanding of psoriasis are emerging from scientific studies at the University of Michigan Medical School. Dr.

John J. Voorhees and Dr. Elizabeth Duell, and a team of dermatologists, are taking a brand-new approach in the hope that this devastating skin condition will yield a few of its secrets. A complex chemical, adenosine mono-phosphate (AMP), was found in a lesser amount in patients with psoriasis than in people with normal skin. It was found, too, that AMP i is involved with many complicated body processes.

When all the experimental information is accumulated and placed in its proper position it is hoped that the successful treatment of psoriasis will follow. Methods to raise the level of AMP in the skin will be studied. It is inevitable that psoriasis wil be controlled by the pressure of these and similar scientific studies. An interesting survey showed that when a teenager becomes markedly overweight the chances are greater that he will carry the burden into adult life. Dr.

S. L. Hammar and his co-workers at the University of Washington School of Medi- The Press Democrat MRS. ERNEST L. FINLEY President and Publisher Evert 8.

Person, co-publisher; Dan Bowerman, general manager; Art Volkerts, managing editor. Published Sunday morning and afternoon except Saturday by The every Press Democrat Publishing Company, 425-427 Mendocino Santa Rosa, Calif. 95402. Subscription rates: Carrier and motor delivery, $2.75 a month. Advance payments payable a minimum of three months in advance.

By mail in Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino Counties, three months, one year, $33.00. Elsewhere in United States: three months, one year, $36.00. All mail subscriptions payable in advance. Second-class postage paid at Santa Rosa, California. ERNEST L.

FINLEY Editor-Publisher, 1898-1942 cine in Seattle have begun an interesting study on the SOcial, psychological and behavior patterns of obese teenagers. A fascinating conclusion said, "It was apparent in our study that the obese adolescent occupied a unique position in the family. He was an easy scapegoat for the frustration and anger of parents and his brothers and sisters." Psychological treatment, combined with parental understanding, must be started early if the obese adolescent is to be given his greatest chance for a normal, healthy, adult life. Treatment and guidance must not be put off in the hope that the problem will simply disappear. The Committee for National Health Insurance, under the direction of its executive director, Max Fink, is undertaking a decisive battle against health insurance policies that are deceptive.

The American Hospital Association is urging Congress to look into the question of how many insurance companies are misleading people who pay expensive premiums for protection that is fanciful rather than real. The American Medical Association has embarked on an active campaign to educate the gullible policy buyer. The "Free. free, free" elaborate compensations offered by some mail-order insurance companies must be viewed with great critical inspection if the patient is to avoid inevitable disappointment. Dr.

Lester Coleman has a special eye-care booklet available called. "What You Should Know About Glaucoma and Cataracts." For your copy. send 25 cents in coin and a large. self-addressed. stamped envelope to Lester L.

Coleman. M.D.. (Eye booklet) in care of this newspaper. Please mention the booklet by title. SEVENTEEN By Bernard Lansky SEVENTEEN (R 1972 by Chicago Tribune N.

Y. News Synd. M. 7-8 World Rights Reserved "Sure, I'll go to the movie with you, Sheldon It will be better than not going out at all!" On second thought. "I Firmly Believe From TAKING HIM FOR A RIDE A DENS COVER KING FEATURES SYNDICATE JACK ANDERSON Jimmy and the Odds MIAMI Jimmy the Greek, the nation's No.

1 oddsmaker, favors George McGovern to win the Democratic presidential nomination. with either Idaho's Sen. Frank Church or Arkansas Rep. Wilbur Mills as his running mate. The Las Vegas oddsmaker.

who prepares his political odds exclusively for us, rates a McGovern-Church or McGovern-Mills ticket evenly as an 8-to-5 favorite. Hubert Humphrey, with McGovern as his running mate, is given only an 8-to-1 chance. And Ted Kennedy, with Mills in the second spot, is a 10-to-1 bet. Like most other experts, Jimmy the Greek in his first ratings for us 11 months ago made Sen. Ed Muskie a 1-to-2 favorite to win the nomination.

Jimmy rated McGovern's chances as remote. But over the months, the amazing Greek has been far ahead of the pundits and pollsters in detecting the voting trends. He called the key Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio and California primaries almost on the nose. Now here are Jimmy's odds on the eve of the Democratic convention: McGovern (with Church or Mills). 8 to 5.

McGovern (with Muskie or Washington's Sen. Henry Jackson), 5 to 2. McGovern with Florida's Gov. Reubin Askew, Illinois' Sen. Adlai Stevenson III.

South Carolina's Sen. Ernest Hollings or North Carolina's ex-Gov. Terry Sanford), 6 to 1. Humphrey-McGovern, 8 to Kennedy-Mills, 10 to 1. Muskie-McGovern.

20 to 1. Kennedy (with Hollings, Sanford or Georgia's Gov. Jimmy Carter), 30 to 1. Humphrey-Jackson. 30 to 1.

Muskie (with Jackson or Minnesota's Sen. Walter Mondale). 30 to 1. McGovern (with Kennedy, Carter, Alabama's Gov George Wallace, Indiana's Sen. Birch Bayh, or consumer advocate Ralph Nader) 50 to 1.

McGovern (with Humphrey, Iowa's Sen. Harold Hughes, Louisiana's Gov. Edwin Edwards, or Brooklyn's congresswoman Shirley Chisholm), 100 to 1. Muskie (with Wallace, Hughes, Harris or Alaska's Sen. Mike Gravel), 100 to 01.

Senator George McGovern is pondering whether to throw the vice presidential nomination wide open if he is nominated for president. Most of his oplitical managers such veteran professionals as Frank Mankiewicz, Myer Feldman, Fred Dutton and Ted Van Dyck are opposed. But young idealists in the McGovern camp are urging him to let the Democratic convention choose the running mate for the first time since the stormy 1956 convention in Chicago. Then, with the party in disarray, Adlai Stevenson let the delegates choose. They picked the late Sen.

Estes Kefauver over his dashing rival, ART BUCHWALD Strategy for Stalemate WASHINGTON Everyone has his own scenario for this week's Democratic National Convention. The way things have been going with the party, one scenario has as much validity as the next. This is the one that I have written and if it comes true, remember, you read it here. It is the fourth day of the convention and the Democrats have been unable to decide on a presidential candidate. The fight to seat delegations has taken up three days and those people who were ruled ineligible have refused to give up their seats to those who were officially designated as delegates to the convention.

Almost every state delegation has two people sitting in every chair. No one dares leave the floor for fear that someone will grab his seat. When someone tries to speak he is hooted down by the opposition faction. Larry O'Brien, the chairman of the party. has the podium ringed with the National Guard so no one can grab the microphone.

The nomination speeches have not been heard. but the candidates have been nominated McGovern. Humphrey. Wallace. Chisholm, Jackson and Muskie.

There have been no demonstrations for the candidates in the hall because everyone is Sen. John F. Kennedy. The move helped unify the party, but didn't keep Stevenson from being swamped by Dwight Eisenhower. With party unity again in tatters, McGovern spoke to Mankiewiez recently about following Stevenson's example.

The two men were driving home from a Washington TV filming. The air conditioning in McGovern's car had broken down, and they swelttred as their Searet Service chaufftur eased them through Washington's steamy streets. Mankiewicz brought up the subject of an open convention. McGovern, musing a moment, said: "Well, there's got to be a way to do something about unity." Then, the senator laughed and added: "On the other hand, throwing it open might tear the party apart." The two men drove on in silence for a moment, but the vice presidency still pricked McGovern's mind. He turned to Mankiewicz and said: "Listen, I'm still thinking about a nonpolitical guy for vice president "It seems to me that the vice presidency shouldn't be limited to politicians.

There are college presidents, labor union leaders. businessmen, doctors. We could go outside elected politics. One of them might fit the bill." Mankiewicz, who is having a hard enough time keeping delegates in line much less his candidate, smiled but gave McGovern no encouragement. "It's an interesting idea," he said.

"The way things are now, it might fit the mood." the compromise candidate is a very famous, but controversial. figure on the American scene. He has announced many times that he is not a candidate for the Presidency or the Vice Presidency, and has said under no conditions would he accept a draft. Yet, the leaders argue he is the one person who can save the party. This young man, whose name had been associated with a very embarrassing incident, is a household word now.

Because of the deadlock at the convention, he is the only one who can possibly beat Nixon in November. The compromise candidate is not at the convention. He has purposely stayed away so people would believe he was not interested in the nomination. O'Brien puts in a call to him. Everyone, in turn, gets on the phone and tells him he has to be the candidate.

The compromise candidate spoke to George McGovern, Humphrey, Muskie and Wallace. They urge him to run. The candidate finally agrees to a draft and says he will take the next plane to Miami. And that's how Bobby Fischer, the U.S. chess champion.

became the Democratic presidential nominee for 1972. afraid if he gets up and marches they won't let him back in his section again. On the first ballot McGovern picked up 1,234 votes, well shy of the 1,509 he needed. The rest were split between the other candidates with the uncommitted refusing to vote for anyone. The second and third ballot found no one budging.

By the tenth ballot of Wednesday's all-night session, the convention was hopelessly deadlocked. The state delegations caucused right on the floor, trying to get people to change their minds. But it was impossible. On NBC. John Chancellor and David Brinkley became short-tempered and refused to talk to each other.

Howard K. Smith and Harry Reasoner on ABC were also not speaking to each other, and on CBS, Walter Cronkite wasn't talking to himself. It was obvious to everyone in and out of the convention hall that a compromise candidate had to be found one who had not already been nominated. But who? The Democratic Party leaders call a recess behind the podium. They argue and thrash it out for several hours.

The only man whose name is proposed as What I Have Seen That This (the Redwood Empire) Is the Chosen S. I. HAYAKAWA You and I Statements By S. I. HAYAKAWA President, California State University, San Fracisco What do you do when your 5-year-old keeps pestering you to play with him when you are trying to relax, after a hard day at shop or office, with the evening paper? He pulls on your arm, climbs into your lap, crumples the paper.

After what you've been through that day, the last thing you want to do is play. Much of the literature of child psychology, including such books as Margaret Ribble's justly famous "The Rights of stresses the needs and rights of children so that we are sometimes left with the impression that parents have no rights at all. However, as Thomas Gordon says in "Parent Effectiveness Training" (Peter Wyden, parents do have needs and rights. They have their own lives to live, their own purposes to fulfill. Hence parents need effective ways to deal with children's behavior that interferes with parental needs.

Of course you can meet the problem head on, as most parents do, with such commands as "Stop wrinkling the paper," or "I'm going to get real angry if you don't get out from under my feet." or "Don't ever interrupt a person when he's reading," or "Why don't you go outside and play?" The first message commands him to do what he clearly does not want to do. The second threatens him. The third enunciates a general principle that you would not be willing to live by yourself. The fourth offers him a solution your solution, not his. Dr.

Gordon is quite critical about this matter of "sending solutions." Parents may ask, "What's wrong with sending solutions? After all, isn't the child causing me the problem?" Yes, he is. However, children, no less than adults, resist being told what to do. Also, they may not like your solution. Furthermore, sending your solution communicates another message, "I don't trust you to select a satisfactory solution by yourself." When you tell the child your solution you are calling the shots. You are taking control.

You are leaving him out of it. Essentially, there is a problem here of common courtesy a courtesy which we know we owe to our friends and neighbors, but which we also owe to our own children. If a friend were visiting your home and happened to put his feet on the rungs of a treasured. antique chair, you surely would not say, "Get your feet off that chair this minute!" or "You should never put your feet on somebody's antique chair." No, we treat our friends with more respect. We might say, "I'm embarrassed to mention this, but I just got that chair.

It's an American 18th-century antique and I'm terribly afraid of getting it scratched." A message like this does not send a solution. It is not a "you-message." It is an "I -message." Youmessages take the form, "You stop that or "Don't you ever or "You should know better than or "Why don't you The you-message, by stating or implying a direct criticism of the person addressed, is in its very nature discourteous. However, when the parent simply tells the child how the childs' behavior is affecting him, the message becomes an I-message: "I cannot rest when someone is crawling on my lap," or "I'm tired and I really don't feel like playing." Actually, "You are being a pest" is a very poor way of communicating the parent's feelings of fatigue. "I want to rest" communicates what the parent is feeling. The youmessage pest, does not send the essential message, which is about he parent's needs which are the central problems at the moment.

"You are a pest" is a statement that cannot be understood by the child as anything but a negative evaluation of him. "I want to rest" is a statement of fact about the parent. It is an I-statement. It is not likely to provoke a child's resistance and rebellion. Telling someone how you feel especially when the feelings are negative is much 1 less threatening than accusing him of causing those negative feelings.

Parents must be careful, however, that they are not sending disguised youmessages. Either: "I feel strongly that you have been neglecting your chores." Son: "How's that?" Father: "Well, take your job of mowing the lawn. I feel upset every time you goof off, like last Saturday. I was angry at you because you sneaked off without mowing the back yard. I felt that that was irresponsible of you." In this conversation the father has expressed his evaluations that his son was neglectful, a goof-off, sneaky and irresponsible.

The statement "I feel you are a slob" is just as much a you-statement as "You are a slob." Parents must state exactly what they feel without adding their evaluations of the child: "I was disappointed," or "I wanted the lawn to look nice Sunday," or "I was upset because I thought we had agreed that the lawn would be mowed Saturday." It is a cruious convention that says that courtesy is something we owe to our friends and neighbors, but not to our children. Perhaps they need it more than anybody. RUS WALTON Remind the Government You're the Government In a previous column we were distilling some of the wisdom and experience of one Donald K. Hoates. author of the book "How to Fight a As Old Don points out, property owners have available a pair of legal pliers which can be used to try and get their assessed values lowered.

The first half of those pliers is Section 110 of the state Revenue and Taxation Code. It defines "full cash value" and tells how the assessor must determine the value of your property. The second half of the pliers is Section 408 of the tax code. It forces the assessor to detail for you exactly how he reached that fantastic assessment on your home. Here.

Here is what the law says: 408 (b): "The Assessor shall provide such data to an assessee of property or his designated representative upon request and shall permit an assessee to inspect at the Assessor's office any information and records relating to the appraisal and assessment of his property. 408 (d): 'market data' means any information in the assessor's possession relating to the sale of any property comparable to the property of the assessee, if the assessor bases his assessment in whole or in part, on such comparable sale or sales. The Assessor shall provide the name of the seller and buyer of each property the location of such property, the date of the sale and the consideration paid for the Once you have this information, tour those "comparable" properties, check with the owners and see just how "comparable" the properties really are. Don't take the assessor's word for it, see for yourself. Maybe the old boy's right.

If he is, you don't have a case so put your sword back in the closet. But if he's wrong if those other "comparable" properties are not comparable, if they are in another neighborhood, if they are on a quiet cul-de-sac and you're on a busy highway, if the other folks see trees out their back window and all you see is smokestacks well, you've got a good case. Stick with it. Write your assessor and ask for a review of your assessments. Tell him you'd like a hearing.

Be nice, but firm. Spot of All the Earth as Far as Nature Is GRIN AND BEAR IT By Lichty SUPER I SUPER DISCOUNTS CALE DALE DATES "Look, only a year old and already he's hooked by his first television commercial!" LET THE PUBLIC SPEAK Where Did That New Bike Come From? DEAR PARENTS: What do you think when your child comes home with a bicycle. Do you ask whose it is, why is it at your house? When it remains there more than a day do you question again? Even if the story sounds logical, don't you wonder, maybe John is stretching the truth a little? Something must be done about this rash of bicycle stealing. Of course some is done by professionals but again, much of this is someone's John who wants a new 10 speed, knows his family will not buy one or can not afford one. It is understandable how John feels when so many have 10 speeds and he does not.

Perhaps he does not know many of the children have worked hard to earn the money for theirs, have received them as gifts or because their parents felt Jane or John did enough work at home to warrant the use and ownership of a new 10 speed bicycle. My daughter waited 12 years for her first bike, had it 14 days before it was stolen from inside her friend's yard. To say she is heartbroken are inadequate words. To say we are frustrated are inadequate words! Our insurance companies can not be entirely responsible, and we as policy holders will find our rates going up just to cover the bicycles these companies are paying for. As parents and citizens we must do our part to help the police stop this.

stealing. Perhaps, too, in doing this one or two boys might not find it so easy and be on their way to bigger crimes in the future. These are our children, our bikes, and our Police Force. It is our job to take care of our children, our property, and to help our Police Force help us! Are you going to help with this problem? MRS. HOWARD E.

SEACORD Santa Rosa Establishment Robbing Taxpayer EDITOR: In offering "to make book at 2 to 1 odds that we will pay at least 15 per cent more in overall taxes" as a result of the school tax ruling, Leonard Simonson is betting on a lead pipe cinch. I'll take the same bet at 3 to 1 odds and raise the percentage to 25. We bought our home in 1967, paying $20,000 for it. Since then by the Establishment's own reckoning the dollar has COUNTRY PARSON "I don't understand why husbands and wives are more courteous to strangers than to each other." -Luther Letters to "Let the Public Speak" are welcome. They should be limited to 300 words or less.

Writers MUST identify themselves with and address, which name, be withheld upon request, except if the -letter attacks another person. The editor reserves the right not to publish letters he regards as in bad taste, libelous, or based upon incorrect information. The editor also reserves the right to edit letters considered too long. lost 32 per cent of its purcahslost 32 per cent of its purchasago I got a reappraisal notice advising me that "the cash value" of our property was being set at $28,500. My income, incidentally, has actually decreased since 1967 in two ways: (1) I earn fewer dollars and (2) those dollars buy 32 per cent less.

In view of the foregoing, I submit that if we dealing with a fair and just establishment, either the alleged current "cash of my home would be adjusted to reflect the 32 per cent decrease in the dollar's value since 1967, or the amount of my tax assessment would be decreased by 32 per cent to partially compensate for it. As any fool can plainly see, if no adjustment is made, I am being robbed. The ironical part of it is that the Establishment, because of its irresponsibility and inefficienty, is to blame for the dollar's decline as well as for the decline of my earnings. And now to make up for its own inefficiency, it is raising my property taxes by more than 40 per cent. This type of banditry is less condonable, in my longignored opinion, than for me to hold up the tax collector in order to pay the increase, which, by the way, I am sorely tempted to do.

justifying it on the premise that if it's all right for the Establishment to rob the taxpayer, the taxpayer can certainly return the compliment. E. N. BROWN Santa Rosa Almanac By United Press International Today is Sunday, July 9, the 191st day of 1972, with 175 to follow. The moon is approaching its new phase.

The morning stars are Venus and Saturn. The evening stars are Mercury, Mars and Jupiter. Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. Elias Howe, inventor of the sewing machine, was born July 8, 1819. On this day in history: In 1943 American, Canadian and British forces invaded Sicily during World War II.

In 1960, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev threatened the United States with rockets if American forces attempted to oust the Castro regime in Cuba. In 1970, Maj. Gen. George Casey and six others were killed in a helicopter crash. Casey was the seventh American general to be killed in Vietnam.

A thought for the day: German philosopher Friederich Wilhelm Nietzsche said, "Distrust all those in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.".