Year 2000 to wreck havoc on computers

By Ray Stern
State Press
	"The date change to the year 2000 is less than 1300 days 
away!" the bold text screams on the Internet's Year 2000 
Information Center like some evangelical warning of doomsday, 
and for many computers, it is.
	The moment their internal clocks strike 12:00 a.m. Jan. 1, 
2000, millions of computers will start spewing out gibberish 
instead of accurate information. Or, they might just freak out and 
freeze up entirely.
	However, officials at ASU are optimistic they will get 
through this day of judgment with as little pain as possible.
	"It's not going to be the crisis situation that some others are 
going to have," said Jerry Snyder, ASU comptroller and treasurer. 
"We're progressing on a very satisfactory timetable."
	Daryl Huish, ASU Director of Applications and Consulting, 
said he feels "pretty good" about the University's plan to deal with 
the issue.
	"We know it's a big problem, but we know we have to plan 
to deal with it," he said.
	Current plans call for the student system to be fixed by 
1998, and new programs developed by outside vendors for the 
financial aid and other systems should be ready well before the 
year 2000.
	Recent newspaper articles cited estimates of up to $600 
billion dollars to fix the glitch nationwide.
	Peter de Jager, a national expert on the Year 2000 crisis, 
explained the glitch best in a Sept., 1993 issue of ComputerWorld: 
"This error will affect any calculation that produces or uses time 
spans, such as interest calculations."
	At ASU, systems like student and employee records, 
financial aid and budget are being upgraded or replaced at a cost of 
$3 to $4 million.
	"We're not going to miss payroll or anything," Bill Lewis, 
vice-provost of Information Technology said.
	Most of the cost for the upgrades will be paid for with "soft 
money," Lewis said. Rather than coming directly from the budget, 
his department has re-prioritized some projects in order to fully 
deal with the Year 2000 crisis. A plan to institute a plus-or-minus 
system into student grades, for instance, has been put on indefinite 
hold.
	Programmers must attack the problem on two levels.
	First, they must identify where a date may occur in the 
computer program (software).
	"Most of our stuff was written in the 70s and 80s," Huish 
said. "They made a reasonable assumption that what they were 
doing wouldn't be around in 20 years."
	To save space and processing time, programmers left off 
the first two digits of the year whenever it occurred in a program. 
After Jan. 1, 2000, computers will subtract and add the two digit 
dates erroneously. Subtracting a year of birth, say 1980, from the 
year 00, will produce an age of -80, for example, rather than the 
correct answer of 20.
	ASU programmers must grope their way through millions 
of lines of code to find not only where dates occur, but which set of 
instructions even refer to a line of code containing a date.
	"In many cases you have a database with a date in it. You 
may call this "year," but a program that refers to it may call it 
"XYZ" just because someone wasn't real careful," Lewis said.
	That's why fixing the glitch is not as simple as writing a 
program that goes into the lines of code of changes them 
automatically. Lewis said one of their software vendors had 
attempted to do just that, but failed.
	"We're finding there is no substitute for going in and 
touching the code," he said.
	The second major problem is that once the code has been 
fixed, the computer program must go through a long and painful 
testing process.
	Lewis said that to test corrections being made to the student 
systems, a parallel system with 10,000 students was created.
	"We are getting the results we expected," Lewis added. 
"(But) as with any testing process, you hope you get everything."
	By all accounts, computer systems that are not being 
upgraded now so they can be tested thoroughly by the year 2000 
are in trouble.
	Huish said some businesses are "patching" the problem 
instead of fixing it. Credit card companies are not issuing cards 
that expire after 1999, and one he has heard of simply lops fifty 
years off from all the dates and asks employees to mentally add 
them back in when processing the information.
	Other systems are being entirely replaced, rather than fixed. 
Cornell University, Huish said, is purchasing an entirely new 
system at a cost of $10 million.
	"That's a risk," Huish said. "What if the project team says 
we need an extra year and you haven't fixed (the old system)?"
	Besides the mainframe computers and big-picture systems, 
individual PC software will be affected if processing a date is 
involved. Budget-balancing programs like Quicken may crash or 
give meaningless information.
	"There are probably 2,500 student computers (and) more 
than 5,000 faculty and staff (computers on campus)," Huish said. 
"We're starting to see problems now and it's going to get worse. 
Some things will be unpredictable."
	Although software written in the 90s should be Year 2000 
capable, sometimes it isn't. Huish said they recently bought 13 
machines from the same company at the same time and tested them 
for the year 2000. "Eight worked, five didn't," he said.
	Individuals who can't wait to see what will happen to their 
computer in 2000 should delve into the operating system and 
change the date now, he added.

Students activists fight to save student loans

By Dane D'Antuono
State Press
	Federal Direct Student Loans are in jeopardy according to 
Arizona Citizen Action, a Washington-based grass roots national 
organization that deals with issues including consumer protection, 
environmental protection and campaign finance reform. 
	The Associated Students of Northern Arizona University 
and representatives from Arizona Citizen Action will be calling 
upon Arizona congressmen to stop voting for the elimination of the 
Federal Direct Student Loan Program at 11 a.m. today in front the 
MU.
	"We are trying to let students know that we as students 
have a voice and a vote," said Brian Davidson, associated students 
of Northern Arizona University vice president. " We want to show 
how politcs effect us directly."
	"Also, we want to outreach those congressmen who serve 
the university districts of Arizona," he said.
	ASU participates in the direct lending program. During the 
1995-96 academic year $80 million was given out to 
undergraduates in this program.
	The press conference is open to students, staff, faculty and 
anyone concerned with the handling of student loans.
	There are two types of student loan programs.
	The traditional Federal Family Education Loan Program 
(FFEL) provides guarantees and subsidies to banks that provide 
loans to students. The student then repays the bank that holds the 
loan.
	The other type of loan is the Direct Loan Program created 
in 1993 which eliminates the "web of banks, lenders and guaranty 
agencies that had multiplied under the FFEL program," the report 
states.
	According to the report,"The direct loan program saves 
money by streamlining the student loan bureaucracy É it offers 
one-stop shopping for students, it has just one form, one lender, all 
loans are automatically consolidated and funds transferred directly 
to schools. Students may adjust their repayment to reflect their 
postgraduate income."
	Kate Dillon, director of student financial assistance at ASU, 
said the direct student loans are easier for students to deal with, and 
she did not believe they were in danger.
	"There is no information that at this time there are any 
congressional actions planned for the summer that will threaten 
students loans for this fall," she said.
	Citizen Action will issue a research report titled Big Money 
On Campus-Banks, Corporate Interest and Student Loan Reforms 
and hand out pamphlets to students at the press conference.
	The report states the "104th Congress proposed more than 
$10 billion in cuts in student aid programs as a part of its fiscal 
year 1996 budget and has twice proposed eliminating student loan 
reforms in order to preserve and expand corporate subsidies for a 
narrow group of banks and lending institutions."
	Dr. Jim Driscoll, the Arizona state director of the 3-million 
member Citizen Action, said "We figure by eliminating the direct 
loan program, Congress will be making contributions of $40 
million to Arizona Banks in government interest subsidies."
	"We want to get students to call their members of congress 
and ask them to stop voting to eliminate direct lending," Driscoll 
said.
	The most recent vote passed for elimination of direct 
lending occurred May 16, 1996 by the House. A conference report, 
which passed in both House and Senate on June 13, called for a 
unspecified cap in student loan volume. The issue is up for 
decision in this year's appropriation process.
	According to the report, during the 104th Congress nearly 
$2 million  was given to Congress members by Political Action 
Committees (PACs) representing banks and financial interests that 
participate in the student loan industry, and would like to limit 
direct federal loans.
	In the Arizona arena, Congressman J.D. Hayworth received 
the highest PAC contribution - $5,800 - of the five congressmen 
who voted to eliminate direct lending, according to Federal 
Election Commission Data compiled in the report.
	"We've been tracking contributions to Congress members 
for a number of years. They are getting big money from 
corporations and wealthy individuals, then turning around and 
giving handouts back to big corporations and not serving 
constituents," Driscoll said. "Who could use it more, starving 
students or rich bankers?"
	Hayworth, R-District 6, had no comment to make about the 
PAC contribution.
	However, Jim Heath, press secretary for Congressman 
Hayworth, said "Citizen Action committee is a highly disregarded 
liberal group."
	"Congressman Hayworth doesn't support the Direct 
Lending program because it is a takeover from the federal 
government and replaces the current privatized system," Heath 
said. "We don't believe bigger government is best for students or 
anyone," Heath said. 
	"The congressional research service and congressional 
budget office concluded in a study released last July that President 
Clinton's Direct Lending program will cost tax payers 1.5 billion 
over the next seven years," Heath said.
	"Under our seven year balanced budget plan not a single 
student loan is cut. The fact is, more students loans will be 
available next year than in the history of the program, increasing 
from $6.6 to $7.1 million," Heath said. "The funding for student 
loans increases 50 percent over the next seven years."

ASASU moves to publish teacher evaluations

By Jeri Livesay and Dane D'Antuono
State Press
	The Associated Students of ASU plan to bring teacher 
evaluations on-line as early as fall 1997, allowing students to check 
out classes and instructors on the Internet.
	"Students need some sort of mechanism or system where 
they don't have to go into a class blindly without knowing anything 
about the professor or the course itself," said James Faulkner, 
ASASU government relations director.
	ASASU President Marc Baumgartner said he has been 
working on the idea for about a year. Besides making the 
evaluations available on-line, he said he also plans to have copies 
available for sale at the bookstore and on reserve at the library.
	"The idea behind this is to match teachers with students, to 
give the students some sort of idea of what to expect from the 
class," Baumgartner said.
	Evaluations are currently reviewed by professors and the 
deans of their colleges, and are one of many points looked at when 
considering tenure, but Academic Senate President Tom Callarman 
said that is a very small part of the overall purpose of evaluations.
	"The evaluations are currently used for annual performance 
reviews, merit adjustments, faculty development and improvement, 
grants and awards, as well as promotion and tenure," Callarman 
said.
	Callarman added that the current evaluations are not readily 
available to students because they are used for personnel purposes. 
If a student wanted access to the current evaluations, he or she 
would have to approach each individual faculty member for 
permission.
	By putting the evaluations on-line, students would have 
much greater access to them. But before the evaluations can go on-
line, a proposal must go to the Student/Faculty Policy Committee 
of the Academic Senate. From there, it will go before the entire 
Academic Senate for a vote.
	"This would hold teachers directly accountable to the 
students," Baumgartner said. "The teachers work for the students, 
and it's important that they understand that and work toward that 
angle."
	Baumgartner said the published evaluations would be 
comprised of about 10 to 11 core questions that would be the same 
for all colleges and courses. Individual colleges could decide to put 
their own questions on the evaluations, but the core questions 
would be the only ones available on-line for the sake of 
consistency.
	"Consistency is important," said Callarman. "If the students 
are going to get anything out of this, then they have to be able to 
compare across colleges."
	Callarman said ASU tried publishing course evaluations in 
1991, but that it was not successful for several reasons. "It was not 
done on a very wide scale, there was no consistency across 
colleges and it was not well thought-out," he said.
	The University of Colorado at Boulder is one of about 51 
state universities across the country that makes evaluations 
available to students.
	Faulkner said he sees no reason why ASU should not be 
able to join other schools in publishing teacher evaluations.
	"Part of our job (in student government) is to improve the 
quality of education, and this is one thing we can do to help that, 
but it won't happen overnight," he added. "Once it's up, it has to 
stay up."

ASASU adopts first 'tangible' goals for 1996

By Rebecca Murray
State Press
	Setting a precedent, the Associated Students of ASU has 
drafted goals for the upcoming 1996-97 academic year in an effort 
to better serve the student body.
	"In the place of unknown goals and objectives of the past, 
these are written, definable, tangible and measurable," said 
Activities Vice President Kolby Granville. "It is the first ever 
ASASU document of its kind."
	Granville said the 13 goals passed are a beginning for what 
he hopes will be a continuing program.
	"We didn't want to have lofty goals," Granville said. "There 
are lots of things we'd like to do but instead of achieving 47 out of 
50, we wanted to go 13 for 13."
	A few of the goals include:
- increasing student-voter participation. Last year, 2,020 people 
voted in the run-off elections. ASASU plans on bringing that 
number closer to 5,000 this year.
- creating a spring "Mardi Gras"
- publishing teacher evaluations
- registering 5,000 new voters
- making ASASU more student/socially oriented
	ASASU President Marc Baumgartner said an increase in 
voters will lead to a student government that better represents the 
student body.
	"Last year it was a pretty good turnout, but it still wasn't a 
good representation of our school," Baumgartner said.
	Art Carter, dean of Student Life, said  by setting tangible 
goals, ASASU is attempting to be more accountable to the students 
it represents.
	"I think the goals are excellent," he said. "I think the 
concept behind establishing the goals and the methods of achieving 
them shows good management and good organizational behavior."

New lighting in Lot 40 to add security

By Dane D'Antuono
State Press
	Lot 40's west side parking area will be closed until Aug. 29 
to install new lighting fixtures and resurface the lot.
	Parking Manager Mike Healy said the 28 existing light 
poles in the lot will be replaced with 13 400-watt parking lights. 
This will double the existing light.
	"By increasing the lighting, people get a little more sense of 
security," Healy said. "Also, the newer equipment is easier to get 
replacement supplies for and we won't have to replace as many 
lights so the cost of maintenance decreases."
	After the lights are replaced, the lot is scheduled for 
resurfacing. The angled parking lines will be changed to straight 
in-stalls, increasing parking by 200 spaces in the lot.
	The project will cost around $80,000, Healy said.
	Lot 40 decal holders can park east and north of the 
Department of Public Safety building. Temporary disabled decal 
holders can park in the disabled spots in Lot 41 west of Armstrong 
Hall off of Orange Street.
	"There is no problem re-routing the service to Lot 41. There 
are not as many students coming in now," said Brent Elford, driver 
for Transportation Services at ASU, a service that shuttles disabled 
and temporarily disabled students around campus.
	Motorcycle parking has been moved to Lot 32 on Orange 
Street and McAllister Avenue.

Beating the odds;ASU staffer receives award for overcoming disability

By Dane D'Antuono
State Press
	The Muscular Dystrophy Association has named Tedde 
Scharf, associate director of Disability Resources for Students, the 
recipient of the 1996 Personal Achievement Award for Arizona.
	"It is an honor, and I am humbled that they selected me," 
said Scharf, 53.
	The award recognizes the community service and 
accomplishments of people with disabilities caused by any of the 
neuromuscular diseases in the MDA program.
	Achievement award recipients are selected from all local 
honorees within their states. There are more than 150 chapters in 
the MDA.
	"She has overcome her disability and proved herself in the 
community," said Tammy McDougall, district director of the 
Phoenix MDA chapter. "She has an excellent career at ASU. She 
really deserves the award."
	Scharf is affected by limb girdle muscular dystrophy. She 
uses a motorized wheelchair and assisted respiration.
	Scharf was born in St. Louis, Mo., the oldest of five 
children. She was born with the muscular disease but was not 
diagnosed until she was 10 years old at which time her grandfather 
gave her a copy of Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive 
Thinking.
	"My mother read to me from this and she spoke to me 
about always approaching life with a positive attitude, always 
smile and (her mother would say) 'If one door closes, another will 
open.' "
	After high school, Scharf went to the Fashion Institute of 
Technology in New York and earned an associate arts degree. 
Scharf holds a bachelor's degree in special education and 
rehabilitation and a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling.
	Scharf oversees DRS at ASU. The program serves more 
than 1,800 students, and has 35 full-time staff and 65 part-time 
employees. The program has grown to one of the largest in the 
nation under Scharf's leadership.
	Scharf advises others to "follow your heart. Realize, 
although you may not always do things the way others do, you can 
achieve things in your own way.
	"Always look into all opportunities."

ASASU Whistle Stop program weak prevention, police say

By Jennifer Netherby
State Press
	Blowing the whistle on crime may not be as effective as is 
thought.
	Although the Associated Students of ASU Whistle Stop 
program is intended to increase safety on campus, the security 
provided by the whistles is said to be minimal.
	"If someone is considering it (the whistle) in anyway as a 
deterrent (to crime), they provide no measure of safety," said 
Radawna Michelle, ASU Department of Public Safety crime 
prevention coordinator.
	The biggest benefit of the whistles is that they attract 
attention and someone can call the police, Michelle said. Whistles 
are more effective than mechanical alarms because they have a 
different enough sound from a car alarm to attract attention.
	Compared to the human voice, however, the whistles are 
inferior, because people can yell "911" or "Fire" and attract more 
attention, she added.
	The effectiveness of the whistle "really depends on what 
the person's trying to accomplish," Michelle said.
	ASASU will be giving out the whistles during freshman 
orientation, on Safety Escort Service (SES) rides and in the 
residence halls, ASASU President Marc Baumgartner said.
	"They'll be used in conjunction with SES as a step for rape 
prevention," Baumgartner said.
	Whistles were given out last spring for safety with much 
popularity, said Patricia Pozo, ASASU Counseling and Health 
Advisory Committee director. She added that there is a waiting list 
of people who want a whistle.
	Pozo said the goal is that students "would not put 
themselves in the situation of being a victim. They would be 
advocates."
	Along with the whistles, students must sign their names 
saying they know how to use the whistles and agree to call police if 
they hear someone else whistle, Pozo said.
	Students should also make sure that the whistle is easily 
accessible, Michelle said.
	"There's no protective device that can be effective buried at 
the bottom of a backpack or purse," she said.

New machines, software to beef-up campus computers

By Dane D'Antuono
State Press
	Information Technology is bringing campus computing 
sites up to speed with the installation of Windows 95 and the 
purchase of new Power Macintosh machines.
	By fall 1996, students and faculty will be able to start on 
the Windows 95 platform on IBM-compatibles across campus 
computing sites.
	Two-hundred and seventy machines will be upgraded at a 
cost of $6,500 for the Windows 95 installation.
	"It's time to upgrade. Older Windows applications are 
getting less and less support," said Eric Van Sanford, ASU 
computer operator support specialist.
	Windows 95, however, is not the only upgrade on campus.
	Last spring, 150 Apple Power Macintosh systems were 
purchased for more than $20,000, increasing the total number of 
Macintosh workstations by 30 and replacing older models.
	There are 7200 and 7500 models in every site now, said Joe 
Williams, ASU support system analysis.
	"The old systems were outdated, not upgradable and too 
slow," Williams said. "We received a lot of complaints because 
certain classroom applications only run on Power Macs and we 
couldn't add more memory."
	A test site for the Windows 95 installation opened during 
the last week of June in the Farmer Education Building. Twenty-
five machines are up and running Microsoft Office and Netscape at 
this location.
	"We opened this site up in order to work out the bugs and 
(it) tests applications as installed," said Grant Getz, ASU senior 
support systems analyst.
	"The difference between the two platforms is Windows 95 
handles memory a lot better, it's more efficient, handles networking 
better and it's a full 32-bit operating system," said Marc Cassuto, 
systems engineer for Innovative Data Solutions, a Valley computer 
firm.
	The Computing Commons Atrium upgrade is scheduled to 
begin Aug. 12. The Atrium will be closed to IBM users until Aug. 
14.
	Information Technology plans to close IBM-compatible 
sites individually, so that students will have access to other sites on 
campus.

Barricades to help tame cruisers on Mill Ave.

By Jennifer Netherby
State Press
	Tempe police and the Downtown Tempe Community 
(DTC) are hoping to lessen congestion and stop cruising in 
downtown Tempe Friday and Saturday nights by implementing a 
new barricade plan.
	The purpose of the barricades is to "reduce cruising 
gridlock É primarily for public safety," said Rod Keeling, DTC 
executive director.
	Taylor said there are pedestrian conflicts with the cars and 
also some gang activity.
	"Some gang activity revolves around cruising. They use it 
to flaunt their gang activity," he said.
	Under the proposal, the police officers on duty decide what 
type of barricade is needed, or if a barricade is needed at all, 
depending on congestion, Tempe police Lt. Al Taylor said. 
	"There's a series of plans that we could use to divert traffic 
down different streets," he said.
	The barricades would not necessarily be used every Friday 
and Saturday. 
	"Some nights are more apt to cruising than others," Taylor 
said.
	He added the plan gives officers flexibility, since the 
barricades take less than an hour to put in place. "It's more of a 
contingency plan for when the problems start to arise."
	In the past when the city has barricaded parts of the 
downtown area for special events, they have hired an outside 
barricade company. With a barricade company, the city had to plan 
for the barricade in advance, Taylor said. The plan allows for 
barricading even when special events are not there.
	The city will partner up with the DTC to pay for and set up 
the barricades, Taylor said.
	The city will pay for the initial start-up costs, such as 
buying the barricades, and the DTC will set up the barricades and 
pay for costs incurred thereafter.
	Taylor said the exact costs are not yet known, but he 
expects it will be under $8,000.
	Keeling said cruising has been a big problem for the last 
seven years, but "(in the) last two summers it's been a pretty 
serious problem."
	There is a city ordinance in place to stop cruising now but 
that's not a long term solution to the problem, he said.
	Traffic is especially bad at 1 a.m., when the majority of 
bars and clubs close, Taylor said.
	"Sometimes at (1 a.m.) traffic's gritted up behind the 
bridge," Keeling said.
	The barricades will make it possible to clear crowds out of 
the area after establishments close.
	The exact effect the barricades will have isn't yet known, 
Taylor said, but it may reduce the amount of time police need to be 
in the area.
	Police are expecting barricade use to start in a couple of 
months, but are not sure of the exact date the plan will be 
implemented.
	"We've tried on a temporary basis and they've (barricades) 
been successful," Taylor said.
	Keeling said if the barricades do not work, they will not be 
used.

ASU appoints new track coach; assistant coaches in limbo

By Andrea M. Healey
State Press
	ASU Director of Athletics Dr. Kevin White announced the 
hiring of new head track and field coach Greg Kraft yesterday 
morning in a press conference attended by 40 to 50 student 
athletes, faculty and staff, alumni and media.
	"I think it's a huge day for Arizona State University and 
Sun Devil athletics," White said. "When you think about it, it's a 
huge appointment, and it's one we could not be more excited over."
	Kraft replaces Ken Lehman, who served as interim coach 
after the resignation of Leonard Braxton. Braxton resigned amid 
allegations of NCAA rules violations last December.
	Kraft, 41, hails from the University of South Carolina 
where he was the head coach of track and field for seven seasons. 
This season he was named Southeastern Conference and District 
VIII Women's Coach of the Year after leading the South Carolina 
women's squad to a second-place finish at the SEC meet and a 
ninth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in its 
fourth season of existence.
	Kraft's background includes assistant coach positions at 
Kansas State and the University of Virginia.
	Kraft said that ASU has always been in his mind as an 
option.
	"I've watched and appreciated the great tradition of Arizona 
State track and field," Kraft said. "I think it's a tremendous 
opportunity for my family, and I also think it is a tremendous 
responsibility to live up to the tradition the coach (Castillo) has 
built here."
	Kraft said no decisions have been made in regard to the 
assistant coaches from last year's team.
	"I was going to talk with them and have some dialogue with 
them," he said. "I haven't any preconceived ideas. I am going to 
discuss the positions with each and every coach that was on an 
interim basis last year."
	Kraft does not plan to bring any of his assistant coaches 
from South Carolina with him.
	He was not able to give a timeline of what he plans for the 
future of the track and field team, which is currently on probation 
following the NCAA rule violations.
	"At this time, it's a little premature for me to establish a 
timeline, but I think it's a situation, by the nature of the sport on a 
national level you can get significant things done with a limited 
number of athletes," he said.

SummerARTSedona;Camp for deaf, at-risk children creates communication with arts, music

Story and photos by Lori Cain
State Press
In a cool wooded area of Oak Creek Canyon, the sound of drums 
and children's laughter can be heard throughout a small campsite.
	It is the last day of SummerARTSedona, a week-long 
program designed to communicate trust and love through art. A 
group of artists and children are putting on their first and final 
performance.
	Everyone has worked hard all week for this night and it 
means a great deal to all involved. These children, in their short 
life, have faced and will face challenges that go beyond this night 
and this week at camp.
	All of the children performing are either deaf, hard of 
hearing or "at risk."
	Marjorie Timms, director of this event, says the children 
"are my heroes."
	SummerARTSedona has been in existence for seven years. 
Each summer, Timms, along with the administration of 
SummerARTSedona, puts together a group of counselors, 
interpreters and artists - young, old, hearing and deaf - to share 
their time and talents with the children.
	The camp was originally designed for deaf or hard of 
hearing children. It is only in the last two years that "children at 
risk" have been incorporated into the program. Timms said the 
administration felt compelled to include these children because 
although they are not physically handicapped, they have suffered 
enough emotionally that they need an environment where they can 
feel safe.
	Providing a safe environment is the only rule by which the 
camp is governed. The main focus of the camp is to provide an 
open avenue for communication through art. Although a good 
percentage of the children are deaf or hard of hearing, knowledge 
of sign language is not required to participate in the program.
	Lori Hale, a counselor for the camp, came knowing very 
little sign language, but by the end of the week felt confident 
enough to hold conversations with fellow deaf counselors without 
an interpreter.
	Audra Klobas, a sociology major at ASU and counselor at 
the camp, found the perfect opportunity to further her education in 
SummerARTSedona. While working as a counselor at the camp, 
she conversed freely with both the hearing and deaf members of 
the camp. The main difficulty she faced was interpreting the 
different types of sign language. 
	"Sign language is not an international language" said Cissy 
Longmore, administrative assistant for the College of Speech and 
Hearing at ASU. 
	Sign varies from country to country and there are even 
variations within the country itself. Within the United States alone 
there are two recognized types of sign language - American Sign 
Language (ASL) and Signed Exact English Sign Language (SEE). 
There is also a less formal, idiomatic type of sign language called 
Pigeon.
	Children at the camp come mainly from Arizona while the 
counselors come from all over the United States. Everyone comes 
from different backgrounds and were raised with different 
emphases placed on the importance of sign language. Some 
converse only in sign, some in both sign and oral communication 
and others live in an environment where signing is discouraged and 
learning to communicate orally is encouraged.
	For Klobas, seeing the many different styles of 
communication and having to understand and be understood was a 
valuable lesson that would be difficult to teach in a classroom.
	Communicating through art is the cement that binds this 
camp together. Through various elements and styles of art, the 
children are able to express themselves.
	Acting, art, dance and music are the children's vehicles of 
communication.  Troy Kotsur, an actor from ASL theater, worked 
with the children teaching them visual vernacular (VV), a form of 
acting that involves playing the roles of every character or element 
of a scene. If a child is doing a skit of a bird landing on a tree, he 
plays both the bird and then the tree.
	Drum music was a highlight for many of the children. 
People who are deaf can enjoy drumming through sensing the 
vibrations. Two types of drumming were taught at the camp, 
Japanese and South African.
	Vusi Shibambo, a musician from Johannesburg, South 
Africa, and a member of the band Azumah, taught children 
drumming. He said it was amazing for him to see the children with 
little or no hearing keep time with his drumming.
	Of the camp, Shibambo says "I love it. This is one of the 
best experiences of my life."
	Each night, the children and artists performed small skits 
for the camp in preparation for their final performance, which the 
parents and residents of Sedona come to see. Children and artists 
alike enjoy the opportunity to show off their hard work.
	The camp as a whole allows for many outlets of frustrations 
through the positive aspects of creativity. It attempts to break the 
chain of abuse by showing the children there are more  beneficial 
ways to channel frustrations and anger that come up in everyday 
life.
	Timms said she hopes the time these children spend at the 
camp can at least instill in them trust and the knowledge that there 
are safe places in the world.
	Timms and the administration are planning for another 
SummerArtSedona again in the summer. For information or 
donations, write to Dr. Marjorie Timms, Southwest ARTS in 
ACTION, SummerARTSedona Camp, P.O. Box 2109, Sedona, 
Ariz. 86339 or  FAX (520) 282-5547

Rio Salado vision moves closer to reality

By Jennifer Netherby and Jeri Livesay
State Press
	Both city planners and developers are set to move full 
speed ahead on the Rio Salado project.
	One problem remains: Neither side can afford to build 
without the guarantee of the other.
	Construction on the estimated $42 million project could 
begin as early as January with  construction on Town Lake in the 
Rio Salado riverbed. Construction of a 1,000 room lakeside hotel 
could begin in April.
	Within three years, city planners envision shops, 
restaurants, entertainment venues, boating and fishing on the lake, 
which will be a couple of miles long and about 1,000 feet wide.
	"There's a lot of chicken and egg things going on here," 
said Dave Hanna, chairman of the Rio Salado Advisory 
commission. "We (the city) don't want to start the dam until we 
know the developer is set to build."
	Both sides, however, are awaiting the confirmation of the 
other on construction.
	"The feeling is that once the dam is built and the water is 
provided, the risk factor to the private side (developers) is 
reduced," said Atis Krigers, Tempe city planner.
	However, the city needs the revenue from the sales tax 
charged to the hotel and other Rio Salado developments.
	The city needs "the private sector (developers) to go 
forward with the development to generate enough new sales tax to 
help pay for the lake," said Jan Schaefer of the commission.
	"It's a Catch-22," said project manager Steve Nielsen. "We 
created the hotel opportunity, (but) we need them (developers and 
hotel)."
	The city needs the developers to create $1.3 million a year 
in sales tax revenue to pay for the lake.
	"The city has to have assurances. We just simply have to 
show them that our project will do that," said Bruce Berres, local 
representative for Ciudad del Lago, the contractor for the hotel 
project.
	The city is in the process of working on agreements with 
Ciudad del Lago to establish a partnership between the two, said 
Berres.
	"It's not just a relationship, it's a contract between us," 
Berres said. "It says we will do certain things and the city will do 
certain things."
	The city and Ciudad del Lago signed the agreement to 
move forward June 12, said Gary Meyer, Rio Salado Project 
assistant project manager.
	"It calls for us to begin construction on our lake within nine 
months and it says they will begin construction on their hotel 
within 12 months," Meyer said. "So the two projects will be 
finished concurrently in 1998, and you can expect that next spring 
you will see some earth moving and construction beginning."
	Thursday the city council will be acting on a concept plan 
covering more than two million square feet of land as part of the 
agreement with the developer, Nielsen said. He added it includes 
all the land on the north side of the river east and west of Rural 
Road.
	"It's pretty extensive," he said.
	Construction proposals for the dams are under review and 
bidding will start this fall, Nielsen said. Construction is set to begin 
in January, with an estimated cost of $42 million. The exact cost 
will not be known until the bid is awarded.
	Ciudad del Lago will begin construction of the hotel around 
April, Berres said. It is expected to take 18 months. The opening 
date is set for December 1998 to coincide with the completion of 
the lake.
	"It's right on the edge of happening," Hanna said.

Editorial: Liberal brainwash

Steve Forsberg
Columnist

	The man is a former surgeon general of the United States. 
He has a college degree, graduated from medical school and has 
had a long career in public health. His scientific and medical 
training have allowed him to read literally hundreds of carefully 
written scientific studies and he has formed the opinion that 
smoking is addictive and bad for you health.
	Why?
	Because he has been brainwashed by the liberal media!
	In the "good old days" if someone did not agree with your 
opinion they would simply call you "stupid". In today's polite 
world however, it is unacceptable to question someone's mental 
faculties. People are supposed to assume that everyone is equally 
adept at processing information, like computers. But, as the old 
computer science adage relates, "garbage in, garbage out." So if 
someone reaches a conclusion different than your own it is not 
because they are stupid, but rather because they have been fed 
faulty data.
	This construction is very handy for the modern politician. 
He (or she) does not want to call you "stupid", you might not vote 
for them. At the same time they want to convince you that your 
views, if different than theirs, are wrong. How do you resolve this 
conflict in beliefs? The problem is not with the politician, nor is it 
with you. Blame it on the people who are feeding you faulty data! 
It is not your fault that you are liberal, it is "their" fault for 
misleading you!
	Did Bob Dole call Dr. Koop and ask for a list of all the 
material he had read, review it, and come to a studied conclusion 
that his sources were unduly "liberal"? Of course not. Koop came 
to a conclusion Dole did not like, so he must have been mislead by 
the liberal media. This method of evading real differences of 
opinion is becoming depressingly prevalent in conservative circles. 
It used to be that liberals were dismissed as being uneducated and 
unread. Now they are dismissed as having been incorrectly 
educated and misread.
	Of course, this tactic of dismissing a person's sources of 
knowledge is not completely limited to conservatives. Not so long 
ago I had an argument with a person about certain charges made 
against the Nazis during World War II. When I stated my case this 
person just shook his head from side to side and said "It is a shame 
to see that neo-Nazi propaganda is being accepted as factual by a 
college student." I then went to my files and pulled out the source 
of my knowledge, a scholarly article written by Yehuda Bauer, 
who happens to be director of Holocaust Studies at Hebrew 
University in Israel.
	I will leave it to the reader to ponder the likelihood of a 
neo-Nazi propagandist getting a job teaching about the Holocaust 
at an Israeli University. The point is that just as soon as this person 
found out that I had a different opinion, then automatically I must 
have been the unwitting pawn of some evil conspiracy.
	Don't believe for a minute that most of the people in this 
country are just a bunch of couch potato slobs who are helpless to 
believe anything except what they see on TV. And don't fall into 
the intellectually lazy habit of just assuming that if someone 
doesn't agree with you that they must be the victims of a clever 
disinformation ploy.
Steve Forsberg is a senior studying journalism.

Column: Zero tolerance lacks fairness

Rick Liljegren
Guest Columnist

	When you want to make a strong statement on an issue, 
"zero tolerance" sounds like a good phrase to base your stance on. 
Unfortunately, sometimes zero tolerance isn't what's really best.
	Take the case of Jeremy Oliver. Oliver, a 16-year-old high 
school junior, attended Northwest High School in Wichita, Kansas 
until he ran afoul of a zero tolerance rule against weapons in 
school.
	The rule stated that anyone caught with a gun or realistic-
looking replica would be expelled for a year. Those of us for a 
tough stance against violence applaud rules like this. Schools, after 
all, should be safe places to send our children and teachers, not war 
zones requiring combat gear.
	Oliver was pulled out from his last test on the last day of 
the school year because someone spotted a gun in his Chevrolet 
Blazer. Searching the vehicle, an assistant-principal found a paint-
ball gun partially hidden by a duffel bag. Oliver, it seems, had 
competed in a paint-ball tournament the night before and forgot to 
take it from his vehicle when he got home. Because of this, he was 
expelled for his entire senior year.
	Oliver's incident was one of eight reported for the school 
year. Oliver and his parents appealed the decision to the school 
board, but to no avail. He had pinned his hopes for a repeal of 
expulsion on his reputation and academic record.
	Oliver was an honor student, with a 3.6 grade-point 
average. He was heavily involved in school; a football player, and 
a member of the National Honor Society.
	But, because of zero tolerance, it wasn't enough.
	The school board certainly has justification for the rule. 
With the increasing incidence of weapons being brought to school, 
some action needed to be taken.
	The intent of the school board in upholding the expulsion is 
admirable in the sense of trying to send a message or make a 
statement that if you break the rule, you will be punished.
	But the truth is the punishment does not fit the crime in this 
particular incident. Oliver did not have the paint-ball gun on his 
person, and showed no intent to bring it into school or use it in a 
malicious manner.
	Presumably the members of the board have all been 16 
years old, and in retrospect should remember there is no such thing 
as a perfect member of that group. Presumably the correct thing to 
do would have been to send Jeremy home to store the paint-ball 
gun where it belonged and then punish him in a way that would 
have reinforced what the rule was trying to get across: summer 
detention, community service, picking garbage up from the school 
grounds.
	More than anything, this seems a case where a bad thing 
has happened to a good person. Jeremy is moving on. He earned a 
general equivalency diploma and in the fall, instead of beginning 
his senior year, he will begin classes at Washburn University in 
Topeka.
	The school district has moved on. It presented a tough front 
and showed it will uphold zero tolerance for weapons on school 
campuses. But some things were left behind in the process. A 
young man's senior year memories.
	A sense of real justice.
	Life is not a black and white thing, although we sometimes 
wish it was that way. If it were, a zero tolerance rule would be 100 
percent effective. 	Fairness is a concept that is very hard to 
achieve in a real life setting. In this case is the school justice 
system shows an administration mechanism that works fine, but a 
rule that needs fine tuning. Zero tolerance needs to be tempered 
with common sense.
Rick Liljegren is a graduate student studying creative writing.

Sports Briefs

From Staff Reports
Sun Devil athletics on the Web
	Monday the ASU athletic department went online with its 
own site on the World Wide Web.
	The URL for the Sun Devil Sports Web is 
http:/www.asu.edu/sparky/. The site is best viewed in Netscape 
2.0.
	The Sports Web offers game stories, photos, player 
profiles, statistics, ticket information and ASU athletic news. The 
site will be updated after every Sun Devil event, home and away. 
The site will have information on all 21 intercollegiate varsity 
sports at ASU.
	"We're very excited about putting our own site on the 
World Wide Web," Athletic Director Kevin White said. "Now 
ASU athletics has its own stop on the information superhighway."

Rose Bowl heading towards alliance?
	According to an Associated Press story the national 
championship game could soon be truly national.
	A final agreement bringing the Rose Bowl into the bowl 
alliance could be announced in the next few months, with the first 
championship game played in 1999.
	Currently the Rose Bowl takes the Pac-10 and Big Ten 
champions, with the alliance taking the highest-ranked teams 
available.
	This year was the first year of the alliance, with No. 1 
Nebraska defeating No. 2 Florida. This season the Sugar Bowl 
hosts the top game, with the Orange Bowl up in 1998.

Patterson nabs CBA post
	Former ASU basketball coach Steve Patterson was named 
the new commissioner of the Continental Basketball Association at 
a press conference at America West Arena on Monday. He 
replaces Jay Frye, who took over as interim-commissioner in May. 
	Patterson led the Sun Devils to a 48-56 record in his three 
and a half seasons as head coach (1986-89). He also served as 
executive director of the Super Bowl XXX host committee.
	Currently based in St. Louis, the twelve team CBA may 
move its league offices to Phoenix.

A one woman man

	It lurks in the shadows and behind bushes at night. Beware: 
The relationship.
	One year ago I was in the early stages of dating my 
girlfriend Jamie. I was the ultimate definition of a bachelor. Beer 
bottle collection, a pile of old pizza boxes on the floor, a black 
book full of girls names and numbers.
	That was then, this is now.
	I now share an apartment with her, but there are nary a beer 
bottle or pizza box to be found, and my black book gathers dust. 
Instead of recovering from a hangover on Saturday morning, I'm at 
the mall, on a bench, holding a purse.
	Oh how the mighty have fallen.
	I don't want to give the impression that having a girlfriend 
is all bad. After all, don't we all wind up in a relationship at one 
time or other? Jamie treats me well, and I love her, but it's certainly 
a change. And that's an extreme understatement.
	Gone are the nights of sticking beer bottle caps to the 
ceiling, replaced by the days of neatly hanging art that we "both 
agree on." As long as she likes it.
	Out: Monday night baseball, In: Melrose Place. Out: 
Dinner at Hooters, In: Sunday dinner with her mother. Out: All out 
parties in which the police show up, In: Renting Don Juan de 
Marco. The list goes on.
	In the process of living together and creating our union, I've 
also lost my own identity. I am no longer known as Damian. I am 
now called, Jamie-and-Damian. We are one. Even my mom 
finishes her messages on the answering machine with "I love you 
guys." As an only child, I've never experienced this.
	On the positive side, I find I am improving as an individual. 
It seems I've been going through life being insensitive to people. 
Who would have known? Thank goodness, however, my girlfriend 
has been able to improve on that. Sometimes I would go places and 
not invite her. I should of known she would want to go to the 
shooting range. What was I thinking?
	Besides all of this, I am happy that I have left all single life 
behind. Lots of great womanizers have fallen under the spell of just 
one woman. In recent history, even Warren Beatty has become a 
one woman man.
	It's not a curse, in my opinion. It's a blessing. I get three 
square meals a day, I have a balanced budget, and most 
importantly, I have someone who loves me. What can I say, I, 
whoops, I mean we, have never been happier.
Damian Shaw is a senior studying journalism

Grand Canyon getaway

By Lisa Cary
State Press
	Many people scurry to the mountains on weekends for 
relief from the heat, but most never think of the Grand Canyon's 
North Rim, a unique getaway in itself.
	Unique in that few people who visit the South Rim make 
the 3-hour drive to the North Rim, which is 1,000 feet higher and 
much cooler.
	The North Rim offers spectacular views of the Grand 
Canyon, the South Rim and on a clear day, the San Francisco 
Peaks.
	When entering the Grand Canyon Park, (23 miles from the 
North Rim) you will be required to purchase a $10 admission ticket 
that is good on both Rims for seven days. At the ranger station, you 
will also be given a newsletter/guide that shows the trails and other 
pertinent information.
	If you are planning on staying at the Canyon, the Grand 
Canyon Lodge offers cabins that can sleep up to four people 
ranging from $50 to $83 a night. The rustic log cabins do offer 
telephones in the rooms, however I never saw any television sets. 
There are 200 rooms total available on the North Rim.
	They recommend making reservations up to a year in 
advance, although we lucked out and got reservations for the 
following day.
	The lodge offers a  snack shop, a saloon, a gift store, a 
reception hall that doubles for church services and a dining room 
with an excellent view of the Grand Canyon. 
	Their are many day hikes within a short drive from the 
Lodge. The Cape Royal Trail offers a great view of Angel's 
Window and the Colorado River. The .6-mile paved path leads to 
another point overlooking the Canyon, but it also offers many other 
great look-out points along the way.
	As mentioned, there are other longer hikes such as the 
three-mile Transept Trail, the 10-mile Widforss Trail and the North 
Kaibab Trail. The North Kaibab Trail takes you on a 9.4 mile 
round-trip hike to Roaring Springs. Round-trip down to the 
Colorado River is 28 miles.
	If you wish to do more than a day hike into the Grand 
Canyon, it is necessary to get a back-country hiking permit which 
can take up to two or three days to acquire since there is a waiting 
list.
	There are other things to do besides hiking the Canyon. 
You can pay $60 to $100 for Rim to Rim transportation. There are 
also mule rides into the Canyon that range from $35 to $85 
depending on how long a trip you wish to take. A shuttle bus picks 
you up from the Lodge and takes you to the mules.
	Another option for lodging is the Kaibab Lodge which is 18 
miles south of the North Rim. This quiet, quaint rustic lodge offers 
six cabins with 24 rooms varying in size and price. Prices range 
from $68 to $95 a night.
	The Lodge does not offer televisions or telephones in the 
rooms, however pay phones and satellite/cable TV are available in 
the main Lodge. There is a dining room, decorated in  Martha 
Stewart fashion, that offers a buffet breakfast and a dinner with 
"entrees for all appetites." If you aren't going to be around for 
lunch, they will pack you one.
	Another option is to go camping at the 82 site North Rim 
Campground . It does not have hook-ups, but showers are available 
nearby. Stays are limited to seven days per season and it costs $12 
per night. Reservations for individuals and organized groups of 6-
50 people can be made through DESTINET at 800-365-2267. They 
recommend arriving before 10 a.m. for the greatest chance of 
obtaining a site.
	The Forest Service also allows camping at DeMotte Park 
Campground, five miles north of the park boundary for $10 per 
vehicle per night. It has 23 sites. There is also Jacob Lake 
Campground with 56 sites, 30 miles north of the park boundary. 
The price is also $10 per vehicle per night. There is open camping 
surrounding the Grand Canyon National Park as long as it's 1/4-
mile away from paved roads and/or water.
	Because of the harsh winter, both Lodges open in mid-May 
and stay open until mid-October, weather permitting. Kaibab 
Lodge is open for Cross Country skiing for the Christmas holidays 
and remains open for skiing through March.
	To reach the North Rim from Phoenix, take Interstate 17 to 
Flagstaff. Then take US 89 North towards Page. Turn west on 
junction US 89A. From there proceed to Jacob Lake. From Jacob 
Lake take State Route 67 south to the North Rim.
	The number for the North Rim's Grand Canyon Lodge is 
520-638-2611. To make reservations, call AmFac Parks and 
Resorts (303-297-2757.
	The number for the Kaibab Lodge is 520-526-0924 or 800-
525-0924.
	For back-country hiking permits write: Backcountry Office, 
PO Box 129, Grand Canyon, Ariz. 86023.

Live wire

Free Movies at the MU
Nixon, 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 16, 12:40 p.m. Wednesday, July 17 
and 3:30 p.m. Thursday, July 18. The free summer movie series is 
sponsored by ASASU.

Concerts and Music
The Mighty Blue Kings, Tuesday, July 23 and Wednesday, July 24 
at the Rhythm Room, 1019 E. Indian School Road., Phoenix.. 
Tickets are $6.50. For more info call 265-4842.



The Chimeras with Zen Lunatics, Thursday, July 18 at Nita's 
Hideaway, 1810 E. Rio Salado. For more info call 967-9531.

The Kelley Deal 6000, Tuesday, July 16 at Hollywood Alley on 
Baseline Road., just east of Price Rd. For more info call 820-7117.

The Hazies, 8 p.m. Wednesday July 17 in the Fender Room of the 
Electric Ballroom, 1216 East Apache Blvd. Tickets are $5 day of 
show. For more info call 894-0707.

White Zombie and Pantera, with Eye Hate God, 8 p.m. Thursday, 
July 18 at Compton Terrace. Tickets are $24.50 in advance and 
$25.50 day of show. Tickets are available through Dillard's at 678-
2222.

One with Seven Story Mountain and  Pollen, Friday, July 19 at 
Gibson's, 410 S. Mill Ave. For more info call 967-1234.

Idaho Friday, July 19 at the Big Fish Pub, 1954 E. University Dr., 
Tempe. For more info call 966-5010.

Art Galleries
Art Museum at the Nelson Fine Arts Center. Multiple shows. 
"Here and Now: Arizona Contemporary Artists, part II," through 
August 4. "Art of Latin America," ongoing. Museum hours are 10 
a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. 
For more info call 965-ARTS.

Memorial Union Gallery, "Unrequited Physics: The Art of Michael 
Hagelberg in ASU Research Magazine," is displayed through 
August 9. Hours for the MU gallery are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday 
through Friday.

Movie Review

By Bryn Chancellor
State Press
Lone Star
Castle Rock Entertainment
Written and directed by John Sayles
Produced by R. Paul Miller and Maggie Renzi
Rated R
***
	There's nothing worse than really, really wanting a movie 
to end but staying to find out the ending. That's the unfortunate 
problem of Lone Star - it begs to finish and go to bed a half an 
hour before it actually does.
	Even more unfortunate, when a film has so much heart and 
potential, it's a shame to see it fall short 10 feet before that 
potential state of grace.
	The film was shot on location in a little town called Eagle 
Pass, Texas, about 150 miles south of San Antonio. The location 
was a great choice because Lone Star is as much about Texas and 
Texan history as it's about the people who live there. The outer 
story tying everything together is the mystery surrounding an old 
skeleton, a sheriff's badge and a .45 caliber shell found in the 
desert.
	Sam Deeds, played by Chris Cooper, is a soft-spoken and 
troubled sheriff in the middle of solving the mystery, all of which 
took place long before his time. The bones turn out to be those of 
the notorious and cruel sheriff Charley Wade (Kris Kristofferson). 
The tie that binds them is Sam's father, Buddy Deeds (Matthew 
McConaughey), who was somehow involved. Other major players 
are the mayor Hollis Pogue (Clifton James) and Otis Payne (Ron 
Canada).
	But the mystery only serves to bubble up the complexities 
of life and history of this small Texas town that borders Mexico. 
The real story is the people - their different cultures and 
backgrounds and how they interact both in the 1950s and in the 
present to form the strained relationships that continue as time 
passes.
	The best factors of the film are the cinematography and the 
acting. Lone Star is a gorgeous pictorial from start to finish. 
Photography Director Stuart Dryburgh shot the film in Super 
35mm wide-screen focus, making it paradoxically dreamy and 
centered at the same time. The movement is seamless and flowing.
	The characters - and there are plenty of them - are all 
engaging and believable. Both the writing and the actors have a 
great deal to do with this success. Chris Cooper is all quiet drawl 
and leanness, an angular combination of Dennis Quaid and Harvey 
Keitel. Matthew McConaughey, whose role is really quite minor, 
stays on the mind mostly for his stunning looks and voice.
	Look for McConaughey in the upcoming flick A Time to 
Kill and on the cover of Details. Elizabeth Pe–a, who plays Pilar 
Cruz, Sam's love interest, is sweet and smart and just plain lovely. 
Kris Kristofferson is downright rugged and hateful, showing he 
can do more than drink a lot and sing "Me and Bobby McGee."
	The problem is there is just too much going on, much of it 
totally unnecessary for developing the characters or plot. While it 
is understandable and laudable what John Sayles is trying to 
accomplish - show how intricately linked people and culture are 
despite their seemingly adverse natures - it is frankly 
overwhelming. Certain scenes could just as easily have been cut 
and nothing would have been lost.

Young Poisoner's Handbook not for the meek

By Bryn Chancellor
State Press
The Young Poisoner's Handbook
Cinepix Film Properties
Directed by Benjamin Ross
Produced by Sam Taylor
Unrated
***1/2
	Man alive, this movie is black. And I mean black. It makes 
Heathers look like a sweet walk through high school life and 
Harold and Maude nothing more than a story of a boy and his 
charming 80-year-old friend.
	And if that weren't enough, the whole lunatic thing is based 
on true story, a loose documentation of the life of a psychopathic 
genius gone wrong. Leave it to those crazy Brits.
	The basic rundown is this: It's 1961 in a small London 
house and 14-year-old Graham is obsessed with chemistry, 
especially a chemical called antimony, which he has read can be 
made into a diamond. Meanwhile, his stepmom is an evil hag, his 
dad an unfeeling jerk and his sister, frankly, a bitch. All of this 
leads to his first experiment - offing his stepmom by having her 
ingest antimony. He mixes in a little thalium, a heavy metal that 
not only kills, but makes the victim's hair fall out in clumps. 
Needless to say, stepmommy doesn't look very pretty by the time 
Graham finishes with her.
	Graham gets caught and institutionalized. Over his eight 
years as a mental patient he is supposedly rehabilitated and 
eventually set free. He finds a job where no one knows his past, but 
much to his chagrin, the laboratory at work has scads and scads of, 
ta-da, thalium.
	This is not to say The Young Poisoner's Handbook doesn't 
have its certain charms. Specifically the young poisoner himself, 
Graham Young, played by Hugh O'Conor.
	The movie takes place entirely from Graham's point of 
view. Co-writer Benjamin Ross said, "Usually the killer is the 
outside force, the one trying to get in. Here the killer is 'normal,' it's 
everyone else who's peculiar."
	One thing's for sure - this kid is not normal, not by a long 
shot. But he is intriguing and O'Conor's pure Irish face was at once 
tormented and remorseless. O'Conor nails the absolute 
unfeelingness common to serial psychopaths.
	The film is over the top, even for a grim comedy. The 
attention to details of the dying victims is too much, even though it 
serves to reinforce Graham's cold nature. The film is difficult to get 
through - some people, apparently of a more sensitive nature, got 
up and left. It helps to have a sick love of the irreverent to make it 
through this one.

Video Reviews

By Shannon Baxter
State Press
Casino
Produced by Barbara DeFina
Directed by Martin Scorsese
MCA/Universal Home Video
Rated R, 179 minutes
****
	What an adrenaline rush! This one's got violence and lots of 
it. And it's some of that down and dirty Mafia-type stuff.
	Loosely based on the life of Sam "Ace" Rothstein (Robert 
DeNiro), a mob frontman, Casino takes you on a grand tour of a 
Las Vegas gambling palace circa 1973. There's glitz, glamour and 
greed.
	The boys back East send Ace to Vegas to run their multi-
million dollar operation and he's got his hands full. Dealing with 
the gaming commission alone is enough to put a crease in your 
shiny new sharkskin suit.
	And to make sure that Ace doesn't have any trouble, they 
send his old buddy Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), an enforcer with 
more brawn than brain. What an animal. This guy can do more 
damage with a ball-point pen than a pack of wild hyenas.
	With these two on the job there's no hand they can't beat. 
With Ace's business skills and Nicky's, well, "people skills," the 
boys back home can rest a little easier.
	Until the devious and sexy Ginger McKenna (Sharon 
Stone) causes a little trouble. Stone is appealing as Ace's little 
playmate until the pill-popping and coke-snorting gets a little out 
of hand.
	Extraordinary performances by the entire cast make for a 
gripping story that takes you behind closed doors for a believable 
view of early 70s Vegas mob-life. Coupled with a groovy 
soundtrack this one's worth the calluses on your rump that are sure 
to develop after 3 hours.
Father of the Bride Part II
Produced by Nancy Meyers
Directed by Charles Shyer
Touchstone Home Video
Rated PG, 106 minutes
**1/2
	George Banks (Steve Martin) is having a fit-his "little girl" 
is making him a grandfather and he's having a major mid-life 
crisis.
	In this sequel Banks decides he's too old to be a grandfather 
and goes out of his way to avoid the gray-haired man in a sweater 
image. He dyes his hair, buys his wife naughties from Victoria's 
Secret and seduces her in the kitchen.
	And in totally predictable fashion, Nina (Diane Keaton) 
discovers she's pregnant too. If you didn't see this one coming the 
rest of the movie may be a surprise as well.
	Banks has to deal with a housing problem and his son-in-
law's parents, not to mention having two incredibly pregnant 
women running him ragged during a summer heat wave.
	The biggest downfall has to be the times when someone felt 
they had to be overly sensitive and sappy. Does it ever get pathetic. 
And how many false alarms can one woman have in the course of a 
movie? This got old.
	This flick does have its redeeming qualities. It's got cute, 
little antics reminiscent of Father of the Bride and Martin Short is 
back as the overly flamboyant baby shower consultant and 
decorator. But even with the same cast there are some things that 
were better the first (or in this case second) time around.

Clueless
Produced by Scott Rudin and Robert Lawrence
Directed by Amy Heckerling
Paramount Home Video
Rated PG-13, 97 minutes
***
	Wow, I think I learned a new vocabulary from this movie 
and there wasn't even a quiz at the end.
	Cher (Alicia Silverstone) is a totally hip Hollywood Betty 
(female babe) who has the coolest clothes and the greatest 
reputation. And she hasn't a clue about life.
	She hangs out with her friends, charms her way through 
school and roams through her enormous closet. Life can't be all 
that bad.
	It's not as long as Cher isn't trying her hand at the game of 
love. Unfortunately for her she's not a great player as evidenced by 
her lust for one beatnik-wannabe.
	Christian (Justin Walker) is the way-cool new guy at school 
and Cher falls for him like a teen in pumps. As mysteriously as the 
relationship began, it's over. Could Christian be gay?
	Romance does flourish elsewhere in the film, which is 
based loosely on Jane Austen's Emma. Apparently if you fix-up 
two of your teachers who are going postal (freaking out) you can 
get an A. At least that's what happens to Cher. And there are a few 
other romances blossoming as well.
	This is a cute film with some pretty good one-liners. It's 
surprisingly tolerable and you'll have some new words to impress 
you're friends with. Try using a new word in at least one sentence a 
day.

This week's rating system

***** Ed McMahon and Dick Clark show up at your door with 
that giant check - and it's a good hair day.
**** Your financial aid check comes two weeks early, and your 
hair is admirable despite that Dennis the Menace cowlick in the 
back.
*** You find 50 cents in the pocket of your Levi's and well, you 
don't have to wear a hat.
** You get your minimum-wage paycheck from good ol' Mickey 
D's, and you just found out Sun-In turns your hair a lovely shade of 
orange.
* The IRS shows up at your door saying "audit," and you thought it 
would be cool to grow your hair like Michael Bolton.

ASU Police reported the following incidents last week:
- A person or persons unknown to authorities set a blanket on fire 
at 909 S. Terrace Saturday. No damage was done to ASU property.
- A male not affiliated with the University was arrested for 
criminally damaging a wall in the Life Sciences C-Wing. 
Condition of the wall was not reported.
- A non-affiliated female was arrested for "driving with alcohol in 
the body while underage."
- An adult male affiliate reported that unknown persons damaged 
"something" in the Social Sciences building.
- An adult female affiliated with the University reported that 
someone removed files from the Nursing building.
- An adult male non-affiliate and a juvenile male non-affiliate was 
arrested, cited and released for shoplifting and assault at Stabler's 
Market.
- An adult male affiliate reported that someone removed a pair of 
inline skates from the Computing Commons.
- An adult male affiliated with the University reported that 
someone entered his vehicle at Gammage and Forest Avenue and 
removed his cellular phone.
- Someone removed an unknown amount of money from the 
Goldwater Center.
- A male affiliate reported that someone removed his wallet and its 
contents from the Student Recreation Center.
- Seven people, both affiliated and non-affiliated with the 
University, were arrested on outstanding warrants from various 
police agencies.
- Four bikes were reported stolen.
Compiled by State Press news editor Timothy Tait