The Odessa American from Odessa, Texas • 72

ODD THE ODESSA AMERICAN Sunday, July 28, 1985 Program spews fireworks MMm By CHARLES GOREN TheVidKid ir top By RAWSONj STOVALL Q. Sometimes in your column you use Blackwood, other times you When and how do you know which method to employ? W.J., Miami A. Blackwood is among the most misused of conventions. Its originator, Easley Blackwood, once said that, if he had a nickel for every time someone employed Blackwood erroneously, he would be a multimillionaire today. Actually, Blackwood is more useful to discover when to stay out of slam' than whether to bid it.

It should be used only on hands where all you need to determine where to place the contract is how many aces and kings partner holds. Beware of using Blackwood on hands where you need to know specifically which ace or aces partner holds, rather than how many. Typical flaws are a void suit, or a suit with at least two fast losers. play the ace or the queen. However, let's assume that partner has led from the jack.

If you go up with the ace and return the queen, declarer might be able to hold up the king for one round. Now, partner will need an entry to be able to run his suit. If, instead, you play the queen on the first lead, it will be very difficult for declarer to hold up the king because he doesn't know who has the, ace. Now suppose that, against a suit contract, partner leads fourth-best in a suit where you hold K-J-x. Since he is unlikely to be leading away from an ace against a suit contract, you might want to find out whether he has the queen.

You play the jack. If declarer wins the ace, you know partner has led from the queen. If declarer wins the queen, you can assume he has the ace and, when next you gain the lead, you may be able to attack another suit to your prom. Those types of hands are better suited to cue-bidding' than to ace-asking conventions. Q.

Ever since I started playing bridge, I've been told: "Don't finesse against partner!" In your columns, however, I often see that advice ignored. I am confused! Please clarify matters. P.M., Philadelphia A. By and large, the advice you were given is perfectly sound. However, there are some hands where you finesse against partner in order to discover his holding; on others, you might want to prevent declarer from holding up.

For instance, suppose that partner has led a low card against three no trump in a suit where dummy has a doubleton and you have A-Q-x. If partner has led from the king, it makes no difference whether you This Fourth of July, I celebrated by making my own fireworks using Activision's latest release for the Commodore 64, The Complete Computer Fireworks Celebration Kit (Fireworks). The program is a unique software tool that allows the player to create spectacular firework shows complete with all types of fireworks, music and special sparkling messages. 1 Computer greeting cards for birthdays, holidays or special occasions can be made on either disk or video tape using these dazzling displays. A great i thing about these "greeting cards" on disk is that they can be sent to a friend who also has a "i Commodore 64 and he can play them or not he has the Fireworks program.

John "H.E.R.O." Van Ryzin, the programmer, has designed Fireworks in the tradition of The Designer's Pencil and The Music Studio, where the player selects with the joystick or the keyboard from a collection of easy-to-understand symbols to create a sequence of fireworks. Each firework is by the player using a number of variables including color, size, ember (the size of the trail left behind), height and shape. Fireworks gives the player a choice of different songs. A library of special events and holiday are included in the program" "providing "music that is appropriate for many occasions: -birthday, Christmas or party invitations." These songs are played in the background to form a sort of "computer-generated fireworks music video. If the 20 songs included on the disk aren't enough, then the player can even songs created from The Music Studio, 'Activision's composer, synthesizer and recording ''program.

Six different background scenes are also available for a fireworks show. These include a castle, amusement park, ship, bridge and a city skyline of New York. Each firework or each command is called a frame. A show can have up to 254 frames which means a show can be well over an hour long. I really enjoyed Fireworks.

I spent several hours on it working on a Fourth of July computer fireworks show. I had salutes, Roman candles, twisters, crackles, parachutes, smoke bombs and large fireworks in the shape of ovals, willows, palms, stars and watermelons. I played the United States Air Force theme and put the New York City skyline in the background. My final result was a five minute patriotic, graphic and" musical extravaganza that awed all my friends and family. For creative people who like to see impressive results and show them off to friends, I strongly recommend The Complete Computer Fireworks Celebration Kit.

Write The Vid Kid, Rawson Stovall, P.O. Box 5402, Abilene 79608. Term papers get air time 0) fx rf 1 4A A V- Cambodians in Stoughton came up," said Tammy Holtan, who with Jan Brekke produced the refugee documentary. "Some girl started saying all these bad things about Cambodians and we decided to see if they were true." They found there were three unfounded myths about the Cambodians in their community: that they are largely dependent on welfare, drive fancy cars paid for by welfare money and take jobs away from local residents. Their program helped to dispel the myths.

Vicki Vindedahl was one of the Stoughton residents who thought Cambodians were getting a lot of breaks, and she said seeing the program opened her eyes. Olaf Brekke, Jan's father, said the program taught him that the refugees state officials estimate there are about 14,600 Southeast Asian refugees in Wisconsin share the same hopes and dreams as everyone else. "This was a course that was more than an academic experience. It swas a life experience," he said. STOUGHTON, Wis.

(AP) Jerm papers for Steve Landfried's high school political affairs class don't gather dust after they are done. Instead, students who carried out Landfried's assignments last year found their work showing up on television and being studied in turn by legislators in Madison and Washington, D.C. Landf ried assigned his class of juniors and seniors to turn out three 45-minute videotaped documentaries on community problems. The students chose the topics themselves: the influx of Cambodian immigrants into Stoughton, school finances and toxic wastes in this southern Wisconsin city of 7,500. "Most term papers are graded, and then they collect dust," Landfried said.

"These videotapes have done anything but that." The videotapes were picked up by the local cable television service and excerpts were shown by other stations throughout southern Wisconsin. State legislators in Madison also watched the tapes, as did educators around the country. The students' work even made it to Washington, where the tapes were shown on Capitol Hill to congressional aides. The project took a lot of time, the students say, but it was worth it. "I suddenly realized one day, 'This has taken up half of my senior said Rob Barnett, who with Julie Gyland produced the program on the three toxic waste dumps in or near Stoughton.

"I've learned more about the problem, and I've learned about what reporters have to go through to get a story like that," Barnett said. "It was time-consuming, but it wasn't really hard to do," said Mark Meyers, co-producer of the program on school finances. "For me, personally, it was worth the effort, he said. The documentary on the Cambodians created a lot more compassion for the problems of immigrants, the students said. "We were talking in class about things we could do and the AP Lasphvio Five at the same time Bogar Zunica, 11, of San Antonio juggles neld recently in Atlanta, Ga.

Zunica finished during the International Juggling third in the competition. Association junior juggling championship OC offers medication course PHONE UDOME Odessa College is offering two classes during August and September in administration of medicine to people in long-term care faculties. Medication administration continuing education, a seven-hour course, meets at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7, or Sept.

4. The two classes, taught by Sheryl Yauk, R.N., will be the last offered at OC during 1985. Fee for either class is $15. According to OC Director of Business and Industry Programs Karen Johnson, the course provides state-approved medication aide training. It includes nine units of instruction for the state-required minimum of seven clock hours of classroom instruction.

Johnson said the successful completion of this course fulfills the annual renewal requirements for medication aides to maintain their status through Dec. 31, 1986. For more information or to register, contact the continuing education office at Odessa College. Annual Percentage Rate Ho 6 YEAR CD 2V2 YEAR CD 1 YEAR CD POWER DRIVE WHEELCIKIAORS 6 MO. CD tasy to operate.

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