Public Opinion from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania • 24

blic Capitol Comment Chambersburg, Saturday, April 3, 1982 Page 24 pinion ibis wmwfi cNEr.RjTI Do MoT ROSES IT MEtoLT By Chet Czarniak HurrisburK Correspondent Opinion page TRNj MARGO DROBNEY Publisher JOHN O'DONNELL Editorial Page Editor KATY HAMILTON Manoging Editor Salvador election a to consolidate U.S. chance gains Strange gadget Technology has permitted man to walk on the moon, use robots for dangerous and unhealthy work, irrigate deserts, build floating cities to cross the ocean and gigantic birds to navigate the sky. Engineering genius has both prolonged and improved our lives. But science is neutral, and will kill as readily as heal. Technology also brought us video games, ICBMs, Three Mile Island and vending machines that don't work.

In some ways we've increased capabilities without improving our purposes. Somewhere between these extremes is a new device called a "service limiter adapter," which the nation's public utilities are experimenting with in an effort to deal with delinquent customer payments. We'll let you judge where this gadget fits into the moral scheme of things. Utility companies, frustrated by rules against cold-weather shutoffs, have found a way to give customers just enough electricity to survive. The device is attached to electric meters and restricts household use to the bare necessities a refrigerator, furnace fan and two electric lights.

The customer switches on his color TV and presto the circuit breaks, disconnecting all service until he pushes a reset button on the device. As expected, reaction to its use is mixed. Service limiters turn on the utilities who say it is producing quick results in long-delinquent accounts but turn off consumer advocates, who see it as just a new way to harass the poor. One utility in New York the device has caused 80 percent of its delinquent customers to pay up within 48 hours. Exulted one company official: "It gets results, no doubt about that." Opponents, however, charge the service limiter damages appliances.

Also, a Penn State University engineer cites the danger of fire from short circuits caused by sudden electrical surges. On balance, we view the service limiter as falling somewhat short of the lofty goals we have come to demand of technology. It is not exactly a proud moment for science, diverting the creative output of engineers to such a purpose. Still, considering the alternative of total electrical service shutoff, it is a gadget society must learn to live with. Palestinians set up fund-raising group Politicos not clergy Gannett News Service HARRISBURG Legislators may be powerful officials but they are not omnipotent.

For example, one lawmaker found out last week that while he can vote on bills affecting marriage and divorce, he cannot perform a marriage. That's right. Despite all the influence a legislator can command, the laws he can set and the loquacious sermons he can deliver, he cannot legally bring together man and woman in wedded bliss. That question came up when two friends of state Rep. Allen Kukovich called to ask if he would marry them.

The Westmoreland County Democrat liked the idea and was ready to jump to the pulpit. Fortunately for all concerned, he decided to check his authority first. The Legislative Reference Bureau said no. Legislators may have a lot of power, but they can't take the place of the ministry or judiciary in tying the knot. There, of course, is some recourse.

Save for changing the law, any legislator who gets the urge to hitch up a couple of friends can apply for one of those quicky and inexpensive "doctor of theology" certificates. Besides being able to wed people, the lawmaker also could tack on a "Dr." in front of his name. It may be a record. That is the 656-page bill that was introduced in the state Senate recently, one dealing with recodification of corporate laws. One veteran observer said it was the largest single bill he had ever seen, measuring about three inches thick.

Despite this voluminous work, the question remains if anyone will read all of it. What is known of the private side of Walter Baran, the secretary of General Services, is that he is a clothing manufacturer, afficionado of antique cars and a committed student of his Polish ancestry. Now, we are told officially, he is an "all-around nice guy." Los Angeles Times Syndicate WASHINGTON The Reagan administration staked a lot on the election in El Salvador. So satisfaction comes easily. But euphoria should not obscure the reality of what happened.

American policy won only a semi-victory. The need now is to consolidate the gain on several fronts locally in El Salvador; regionally in relations with Mexico; and globally in dealing with Cuba and the Soviet Union. The circumstances of the election, as distinct from the outcome, constituted the triumph. Liberals in this country, and Socialists in Europe and Latin America, asserted the vote could settle nothing because it was being boycotted by left-wing guerrilla forces in El Salvador. The guerrillas tried to reinforce those arguments by a wave of attacks on the eve of the vote.

So the huge turnout was a testament of faith in the process supported by the United States. It constituted a clear repudiation of the guerrillas and their supporters. Still, elections by themselves are no big deal in El Salvador. There were six between 1950 and 1977, all of them eventually filched. The outcome of the latest vote could yield more of the same.

The clear winner, with about 40 percent of the total, was the Christian Democratic Party led by President Napoleon Duarte. President Duarte stands for a policy of social reform and civilian control compatible with American objec- Pac-Man pros and cons inista regime in Nicaragua. But most importantly, it could become the pivot for a change in policy by Mexico. The present Mexican government under President Jose Lopez Portillo leans heavily toward the left wing in Central America. It has stayed tight with Castro, and it backed the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and the Marxist guerrillas in El Salvador.

Secretary of State Alexander Haig has gone out of his way to accommodate Lopez Portillo, especially on hemispheric issues. Thus to please El as the president is called, Haig met in Mexico City last summer with the Cuban vice president, Carlos Rafael Rodriguez. As part of the same campaign, Haig sent his special assistant, Gen. Vernon Walters, to meet Castro in Cuba last month. In the same spirit, Haig himself met twice with the Mexican foreign minister, Jorge Castaneda, amid talk of negotiating various differences in Central America.

The target of this elaborate courtship is not Lopez Portillo. The United States does not think he will change policy. But a new man, Miguel de la Madrid, is due to take over the presidency later this year. Though a protege of Lopez Portillo, Senor de la Madrid may be able to switch. The hope here is that if this country stays on good terms with El de la Madrid will find it that much easier to join Washington in a stronger stance against Communist penetration of the hemisphere.

Believe me, I knew what Pac-Man fever was long before Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia told me in their song of that name. When you're on vacation at Disney World and your kids would rather play Pac-Man in the hotel lobby than go to the Magic Kingdom, that's Pac-Man fever. When your pre-teen-age sons ask to go grocery shopping with you because there's a video game in the corner, that's Pac-Man fever. When your husband reserves a Pac-Man home video cartridge before they're available in stores, that's REALLY Pac-Man fever. I try to rationalize the value of that phenomenal blip and those hundreds of other computer games.

I'm still in limbo. Sometimes I'm positive they are the biggest vice on Earth, swallowing quarters as fast as Pac-Man gobbles dots. Other times, I think they're fun; they're okay. Sometimes I say to my children, "It's your allowance; spend it how you want." Other days I say, "No, I won't give you your allowance before you go to the roller rink because you'll spend it on 'those Another plus: Since we got a home video game, and especially since we got Pac-Man, I usually know where my kids are (and everyone else's kids! For our sons, one of the highlights of our vacation last summer was an evening in an arcade. "It's such a waste," I said, watching quarters disappear.

"It's entertainment." Hal, my husband, answered. In spite of myself, I was intrigued. Hal played Pac-Man and I was amused. I mean, it is a cute little gobbler. "Make him gulp fruit again; I like that sound," I said.

My terminology throws my sons into hysterics. What's so funny about calling Pac-Man the gobbler World View By Joseph Kraft tives. If he stays in power, this country's purposes will be well served. But nearly 60 percent of the vote went to four right-wing parties hostile to reform. The four are maneuvering for a governing coalition that would exclude Duarte.

If they succeed, reform will be thwarted, and with it the clear choice of the electorate. Even if they fail, Duarte may have to take office with a minority government, or a shaky coalition. Conditions would be ripe for another military takeover. So it is appropriate at this stage for the United States to use the influence which goes with its aid program to promote a broad-based coalition, headed by Duarte and committed to social reform and civilian rule. Such a regime would be a source of strength to democratic forces struggling to hold on in nearby Honduras and Costa Rica.

It would offer a model for similar development in Guatemala, and a buffer against penetration by the left-wing Sand- troubles. MY kid's got a Man habit! HANK DIRSKA By JACK ANDERSON United Feature Syndicate WASHINGTON Taking their cue from the United Jewish Appeal, oil-rich Arab countries and their American supporters are trying to counter UJA's influence with an outfit of their own. It's called the United Palestinian Appeal. But where the UJA's strength comes not only from financial power but from the political power of Jewish voters, the UPA, lacking any significant Arab-American voting strength, is relying on the economic clout of its Arab sponsors. The organization has the support of the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

With this backing, it is engaged in a not-so-subtle campaign to solicit funds from American firms that do business in the Arab oil-producing countries. A recent fund-raising solicitation was titled, "An Open Letter to American Companies that Conduct Business in the Middle East." It reminded the recipients that more than 2,500 U.S. companies make money in Arab countries, to the tune of "over $53 billion worth of business for United States firms." The letter pointedly notes that "of this $53 billion worth of business for U.S. firms in the Middle East, less than .001 percent returns to the region in any form of contributions to charities and humanitarian organizations." The touchy point, of course, is whether the Palestinian fund-raising effort is humanitarian or political. While readily admitting that they have targeted American corporations for contributions, UPA officials insist that their cause is strictly humanitarian.

Their first goal, for example, is support for a hospital in the Arab city of Gaza, in the strip of land along the Mediterranean that Israel won from Egypt in 1967. UPA officials stressed to my associate Lucette Lagnado that their organization is "apolitical," and note that the Internal Revenue Service has deemed it is a charitable organization entitled to tax-exempt status. But the founder and original director of the UPA, Paul Ajlouny, is by his own admission politically Family Prayer "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." Matthew 5 9 PRAYER: For all those who work for peace, dear Lord, we ask for wisdom and courage to continue in spite of opposition. Amen. "Just a fad? I would hope so, although I think not.

I would tend to characterize it more as a species of addiction, a form of alcoholism, the same flight from reality taken by the boozer, the mainliner or the compulsive gambler." Sydney Harris minded. The publisher of an Israeli Arab newspaper, Al-Fajr, he has been an outspoken supporter of Arab causes, a critic of U.S. support of Israel and an adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization at the United Nations. What might have worried the IRS more than that, though, was the fact that Ajlouny was indicted in September 1978, on charges of trying to smuggle stolen communications equipment. The federal prosecutor who handled the case believes the contraband was intended for the PLO.

Ajlouny was convicted on one of more than 100 counts filed against him, sentenced to two years in prison and served several months in a federal penitentiary before being released. A handwritten internal IRS memo, dated Aug. 31, 1979, noted that a "question arises over the fact that the organization's (UPA's) director is an advisor on American affairs to the UN's PLO observer." The IRS lawyer who wrote the memo seemed to be unaware of the criminal charges pending against Ajlouny at the time. But Ajlouny's connection with the PLO was enough to trigger the IRS man's suspicions. In the end, however, he concluded that "even though it may raise some questions concerning the motives for establishing this organization, it cannot operate to bar (tax) exemption" sought by the United Palestinian Appeal.

Though Ajlouny has now left the UPA, the organization continues its tax-exempt fund-raising efforts from an office in downtown Washington. HOW ABOUT Among the Republican members of the Senate targeted for political extinction this fall by the newly hopeful Democrats is Harrison Schmitt of New Mexico. So the former astronaut was mildly amused to get a fund-raising letter from Sen. Alan Cranston, asking him to kick in anywhere from $20 to $500 toward his own demise. The mailing asked for help in constructing "a counterforce to the New Right extremists who now control the U.S.

Senate." Schmitt laughed at the incident and gave the Democrats credit for at least spelling his name right. An earlier mailing spelled it "Schmid," he said. Actually, the senator was being too kind. While the solicitation letter was addressed to "Schmitt," the text of the letter denounced him as "Harrison Schmidt, another disciple of the New Right." Reporter's Notebook By Lorrie Lehrian and its monsters mopheads? That's what they look like. My son Tim, 12, was playing Make Trax the other day and I warned him to watch out for a fish getting close to his paintbrush.

"That's a drop of paint, not a fish, Mom," he said. "Shoot that octopus," I encouraged son Tom, 10, who was playing a space game. "Now get the rabbit, and that blob." "Those are space invaders," he informed me, laughing so hard he could hardly maneuver the controls. "And it's not a blob; it's a command alien ship." A poor kibitzer, I'm a worse player. Invariably I manage to be squashed, blown-up, eaten shot or otherwise annihilated before I even realize it's my turn.

Maybe that has something to do with my skepticism of the good of such inventions. I have to admit, though, that I have seen skilled players, some quite young, really milk quarters, racking up astronomical scores. The thing to do, I suppose, is accept the fact that video games are nearly everywhere we go, including our homes, and are here to stay. Like many adults, I suppose I'm getting over the pinball alley image of arcade games. The bottom line, as I see it, is moderation, keeping Pac-Man in his proper perspective.

1982byNEA inc "You think YOU've got twenty dollar-a-day Pac.