The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 3

The Salina Journal Monday, May 27, 1985 Page 3 Kansas lawmakers oppose referendum for wheat growers WASHINGTON (AP) Everybody has their favorite description of the Agriculture Department's announced referendum for wheat growers. Rep. Pat Roberts, a western Kansas Republican often referred to as "Mr. Wheat" in the House, uses a sports simile: "It's going to be like whether the USFL plays on Saturday. I don't think it has much meaning." His colleague on the House Agriculture Committee, Democratic Rep.

Dan Glickman of Wichita, conjures up a political comparison: "It's like voting for Wendell Wilkie for president in 1984. It doesn't make any sense." The message for the folks back in Kansas, the nation's top wheat producer, is essentially the same. Although, it's still uncertain whether voting will be conducted, they don't like the proposed referendum. Most of all, they fear it could hinder work on the 1985 farm bill, which is reaching a critical stage of debate in Congress. "What I contend the administration is doing by going ahead with this referendum is just slowing the process down and confusing farmers, delaying decision-making," Glickman said recently.

According to Roberts, there is little to gain by moving ahead with the vote July 19-26, but much to lose. "I don't want it to get to be such a hot contentious issue and spend all of our time arguing whether the referendum should pass," Roberts said. "If we're not careful, by drawing attention to the referendum, by making it the issue, we're going to spend all of our time on the referendum as opposed to what we should be doing up here and that's reaching a consensus on the farm bill." Their concern stems from Agriculture Secretary John Block's announcement last month that wheat farmers will vote this summer to determine what kind of a government program they'll have in 1986 if Congress doesn't pass a new farm bill. The vote will determine whether to impose strict controls on production and marketing quotas. The current farm law expires Sept.

30. If nothing new is passed to replace it, the wheat program and eventually programs for other commodities will revert to legislation dating back to 1938. That "permanent" legislation calls for the farmer referendum. It takes a two-thirds majority to approve of the mandatory controls, which would assign allotments to producers limiting their wheat acreage based on the 1977 crop but in return provide fairly high price supports. Wheat growers rejected the last referendum in 1963.

Last week, both the Senate and House agriculture committee endorsed legislation to postpone the scheduled referendum. But even that added more confusion to an already confusing situation. The House version, thanks to an amendment by Glickman, would flatly forbid the Agriculture Department from conducting the vote. The Senate version, however, merely allows Block to delay the referendum, "The department feels it is important to proceed with the referendum in July. Growers deserve the certainty of knowing what the program will be so they can make planting decisions," said Robert Thompson, acting assistant agriculture secretary for economics.

He said he expected debate over a new farm bill to "drag out into the fall." Under that theory, the referendum works as a backstop in case of congressional inaction. Few Kansans in the farm bill debate agree, however. The farm program options contained in the referendum are "30 years irrelevant," says Glickman. John Gordley, top agricultural aide to Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, says it would be "counterproductive" to proceed with the referendum when it is clear that Congress eventually will approve a new farm program. Lefthander Magazine celebrates 10th year TOPEKA (AP) Southpaws shunned for ages in social circles and the workplace, and often labeled worthless, witches or worse this year celebrate the 10th anniversary of the world's only journal created just for them, Lefthander Magazine.

"Us lefties are all treated the same," said Dean Campbell, the Manhattan beer distributor who launched the project a decade ago. "Some people still think of us as oddballs. But we've been making strides. We like to keep a positive outlook." Though Kansas is hardly a publishing polestar, from Topeka headquarters Campbell has turned the one-time newsletter into a slick bimonthly with 13,000 paid subscribers. It even went into the black last year.

Published by Campbell's company, Lefthander International the magazine's board of trustees is composed of such left-handed heavyweights as former President Gerald Ford, football player Gale Sayers and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan. The firm originally started as an organization for left-handers individuals whose motor functions are controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain. It is estimated between 10 and 15 percent of the world's population is left-handed. The organization has successfully pushed for the manufacture of products for left-handers, the installation of left-handed desks in schools and colleges and the reversal of the negative connotations associated with left-handedness. "Ten years ago, you would never have seen a pair of left-handed scissors on store shelves," Campbell said.

"You could have walked into a classroom and all the desks would have been the same. Parents are no longer forcing children to use their right hands. I think the awareness we've created has helped." As club membership grew, so did the need for a bigger newsletter, originally called "Lefty." The name changed to Lefthander Magazine last year. "We thought Lefty was kind, of, you know, juvenile," said Mary Kay Rucker, one of four full-time employees who put out the journal from the basement of an Block building on the edge of Topeka. The office is located, naturally, on the left-hand side of the street as you're heading out of town.

The image Campbell wants the magazine to portray is anything but juvenile. To him, this is serious business. For instance, included in the last 32-page issue was a news article outlining the successful court battles of an Illinois grocery store cashier and a Seattle postal worker who fought being forced to perform their work with their right hands. Also included was a regular how- to feature that gives left-handers tips on activities right-handers take for granted. Hints have been on such everyday hobbies as quilting, knitting, photography, batting and woodworking.

For $15 a year, subscribers receive six issues and voting rights to the annual Lefthanders of the Year contest. So that readers don't feel left out, there's a catalogue section to keep subscribers up to date on the newest left-handed gadgets. The products are sold by Campbell's firm. Necessities include a food slicer with a guide-plate designed for left- handed control for an iron with a reversible cord for and a pair of nickel-plated pinking shears for $29.95. More practical wish-book items include coffee mugs, knives, ladles, bottle and can openers, cork screws, notebooks and rulers.

Campbell said he expects circulation, and therefore advertising sales and the magazine's size, to climb dramatically over the next few years. That should translate into a further erosion of the bad name left- handers have typically combatted. It can be traced, he said, to the Roman Empire, when the word for left was sinister, from the Latin word sinus, meaning pocket. Kansas Wesleyan graduates applaud friends and families who supported their education. Photos by Scott Willioms Graduates end paper chase Sacred Heart seniors prepare to enter the cathedral.

By JIM BOLE Staff Writer About 230 people put on robes and mortarboards, strode across a stage and received diplomas Sunday during graduation ceremonies at Kansas Weslyan, Bethany College and Sacred Heart High School. Graduates at all three ceremonies waited uncomfortably and nervously outside in the hot sun, but emerged afterwards with smiles and yells. At Kansas Wesleyan in Salina, 50 students received degrees Sunday afternoon in the school's Sams Chapel. Consuelo Diaz, associate professor of Spanish, talked about the meaning of nostalgia to the graduating class. Then students were given their diplomas and then walked across the stage to have their tassels flipped to the left side of their mortarboard by KW President Marshall Stanton.

One student, however, did it his own way. Gene Hartman, 22, Sand Springs, went about halfway across the stage, flipped his tassel and then walked off the stage back to his seat. "I did it to be different," Hartman said later. Tony Guzman, 22, Salina, and Jason Ruckman, 22, Ellinwood, the only two chemistry majors, congratulated each other after the ceremony. Guzman said he was "looking for a job anywhere," and Ruckman said he was planning to major in chemistry at the University of Kansas this fall.

Thirty-nine people received bachelor of arts degrees, 16 received bachelor of science degrees and two received associate of arts degrees. At Bethany College in Lindsborg, more than 120 students were awarded degrees. About 1,900 spectators packed the college's Preser Hall Auditorium. After presenting Bethany graduates with their bachelor of arts degrees, two honorary doctorates of humane letters were presented to Joel W. Lundeen, Grand Forks, N.D., and Donald Weddle, Wichita.

At Sacred Heart High School in Salina, 47 seniors dressed in royal blue robes streamed into Sacred Heart Cathedral early Sunday evening to receive their high school diplomas. More than 400 people attended the ceremony. The valedictorian was Gloria Wetter, who had a 3.96 grade point average, and the salutarian was Sandra Seller, who had a 3.95 GPA. Seiler also was also with John F. Ritter Sr.

Humanitarian Award. If you don't keep your mind active it dies' By MARTIN MELENDY Staff Writer Despite a 35-year respite from participation in a college graduation, Larry Edwards felt as excited about receiving his degree from Kansas Wesleyan Sunday as the first time he donned a cap and gown. Edwards, 64, 2353 Montclair, joined 56 other students receiving their degrees in the afternoon ceremony 35 years after he graduated from Bowdoin College in Maine with an economic degree. After he received his first degree, Edwards entered military service, where he served for more than 30 years. After his 1980 retirement he went to work for the Saline County Sheriff's Department until 1983 when he enrolled at Wesleyan.

The realization that a person does not stop learning sent Edwards in search of a bachelor's degree in humanities with an emphasis in criminal justice. "Well, it wasn't totally being inquisitive, but if you don't keep your mind active it dies. Be excited and stay current," he said. Edwards, who contributes much of his time to community organizations, began as a full-time student in 1983. "I had the time, the inclination, and the interest," he said.

"Either stay active or become very dull. If you have the time you should learn." Larry Edwards Edwards said that while he found a helpful faculty at Wesleyan, he still had to adjust to the life of a student. "The greatest difficulty was the intellectual discipline and establishing study habits," he said. Edwards said classwork was a stimulating challenge that made him work hard. He also benefited from the excitement and interest of fellow students, many about 40 years younger than him.

"I probably gained a little more awareness," he said. When he first started back students asked him questions as if he were a professor or staff member, Edwards said. "It was exciting to meet younger people," he said. "I might have been the oldest, but I was just another student," he said. He also noticed a change in the way one class, introductory pys- chology, is taught.

"I was amazed at how fast this science had become so involved," he said. Because of his fervor for learning, Edwards plans to take two classes next year. "Exposure to intellectual pursuits keeps you current today," he said. Although he plans a couple of courses, Edwards said the challenge will be lost a bit with graduation. He plans to compile a reading list and continue to learn new and different ideas..