Augustana College - Rockety I Yearbook (Rock Island, IL)

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POIitiCS Hits U.S. Scene; Tension In WOI'ICI Affairs It started on September 1 wlth the shooting down of Korean Air Lines Fllght 007. Whether the civilian craft strayed acchentiiy. or purposely cut across Soviet airspace leither to trim the distance or on an espionage missronl remalns unknown, but the horror of the 269 deaths hit the hearts of the world almost immediately. Tension between the 0.8. and U.S.S.R. continued beyond the US. proposed sanctions Following the KAL tragedy. The Soviet delegates walked out on the Gen- eva arm's talks to protest U.S. deployA ment of medium range missles in western Europe. This deployment, seen by U.S. supporters as necessary to the pattern of IJ.SJU.S.SVR, mutual deterrence was protested strongly by western European anti-nukeactivists. Over 200000 West German protesters formed a 65-mile human chain along the transport route to try to stop the stationing of the wea- pons in their country. But despite the publicity of their efforts. they had little real effect on the move - as illustrated by the present existence of Pershing ll's in Europe In a milder form of antl-nuke demonstration, on November 23 ABC aired the documentarv film, The Dav After , which was an attempt to realisti- cally portray the aftermath of a nuclear confrontation. American Marines continued their mis- sion in the worn-torh Middle East, through several peace settlements were proooaed and negotiations continued off and on. Beirut remalned Under the joint peacekeeping protection of British! French, Itatlan, and US. troops, but the allles have begun to question whether the us. is holding to lts strictly peace- keeping'l role. Italy made tentative plans to cut the slze of their forces there after the horror of Bloody Sunday . On October 23 a nameless suicidal volunteer drove a truck loaded with dynamite into the US. compound in Lebanon, and blasted U.S, Marlne Head- quarters. No one quite understands how the vehicle got past the guard post, but the deaths of the 238 oeace-keeplng troops immediately enraged U.S. furor and brought tears to the families of the lost marines. At the same time a second slmilar truck-bomb destroyed a French barracks just two miles away. The American military also saw action back m the western hemisphere when on November 4 the Army's 2nd Airborne Dlv- lsion invaded and secured the tiny Carine Dean island of Grenada. The move seemed little more than an egotistical American show of force to most Americans until the media made public the discovery of the recent Cuban occupation and the existence of several American students working at the Medical school there. Back on the American front there were battles of another klnd. We saw the first batch of Presidential hopefuls make their bids for the 1984 seat. Democrats Walter Mondale and John Glenn seemed to be the front runners with the best chance of defeating the favored incumbent, Republican Ronald Reagan. Not only the political arena, but the entertainment field also pitted man against many Roger Moore hustled yet another James Bond film, Octopussy, into the workings after his rlval 007, Sean Connery, announced his return to Her Majesty's Secret Service and the renewal of his license to kill in NeverSay NeverAgal'h. Though Moore beat Con- nery t0 the release, most Bond Fans prev terred Connery's portrayal of the Old 80nd from the EEFIIEF days over the glitter and outrageous action of the younger appearing Moore character. Both Bonds were followed by yet another of the public's favorite law en- forcersy Dirty Harry After focusing on a country-westerri theme the last few years lwith E very Which Way But Loose and Bronco Billyl Clint Eastwood chal- lenged the secret weapon wielding Ehg- lishmen with his tough American Smith and Wesson. But even the entertainment field was not all fun and games. Just as the deaths of the marlnes darkened US. news throughout the yeary the golden glitter of Hollywood too, was Clouded as 1983 saw the death of such Famous performers as Karen Carpenter, age 32, of anorexia ner- vosa,EubieBlakeage100, lraGershwin,age 86, Jessica Savitch. TV news anchorwo men, age 35, and Mike Wilson of the Beach Boys. Other favorite sons and daughters that departed were Lillian Carter. thespir- tely activist mother of former President Jlrhrny Carter, Ray Kroc who has supplied most of today's younger generatlon with their daily bread and butter through his ever-popular McDonalds tranchlse, Jack Dempsey age 87, who reigned as heavy weight boxing champion from 1919-1926, and Bear Bryant, age 69, the most victor- ious Football coach in hlstory. Politlcs and competltiori showed UD in the buslness and sports worlds too. The emergence of the USFL - Unlted States -L. r.- Football League made the NFL flght for the nations top college senlors for the l first time ln years lsince the iil-fatedi World Football Leaguel. The hewlvl formed league payed top dollar to attract blg-name players which no doubt: helped it get off the ground. ' But speaking of top dollar, the NFL was 1 not to be outdone by the new kid in town. Tickets for the January 22 Sueer- i bowl between the Washington Redskins. and the Los Angeles Raiders went forl phenomenal prices, The tickets were: priced at $60, but scalpers were able to get over $1000 for a single ticket. ThereF was even more money to be made by- gamblers who like to go for the long shot : as the underdog by 3 points, L.A., took the contest 39-7. Politics reared its head once agaln lh the business community On January 1, 1984 the government enforced break-up of AT8.T was complete. The world's larg- est malor communicatlons network broke Into seven reglonal telehhoneE companies ending the era of Me Bell. The breakup caused local phone service rates l to soar since they could no longer benefit from the cross-subsidles of Ma's long dis- tance service. Governmehtotflclals claimed that, although the hlgher prlces will hurt, the move was necessary to corncide wlth U.S. anti-trust regulation.

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Football standout Jay Penney rEStS on me Sideline after a rough play. and Irstens For Instructions for hlS next venture on the field. Glad that It's only a play and not tneschool cafeteria, Debbie Hedke clears a tame m a scene from the fan production of ' Red Ryder lntrolTheme S

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On the lighter side of the news, the summer of 1983 witnessed the coia warsi' as companies outdid themseives to advertise their new caffeine free pro- ducts, New products LIKE and Kihg Cola hit the market and old stand-bvs, Coca- Coia and Pepsi followed suit with their own versions. Even 7-Up, the Un-coia chimed in with a new ad campaign re- minding the Dubiic that when it comes to caffeine, 'i7-Ue never had it and never wiilii' AS the Christmas season approached the entire country fell prev to a bunch of orphaned dolis from an unknown cab- bage patch. The Cabbage Patch kids were the rave of Christmas gift, and customers actuaiiv fought over the few that stores were able to keep stocked. Overall, for retailers, 1983 was the giiht of light at the end of the tunnel after the losses 0f1982. College campuses around the country cheered the return of Laura Weber-Balde winespencer to General Hospitai. After two years of captivitv oh the Cassadineis secret Greek isie, Laura escaped to return to Port Charles and her beloved mayor!- husband, Luke After ianding on Grenada the American troops imDFiSOnE'd the Cuban forces that had recentiv invaded The troops returned to the us. after securr ing the isiand in just ten days, Home from Beirut a marine embraces his wife and chiiti at the airport. After seven months of Deace- keeping effort the first band of marine; returned, leaving some of their comrades dead, others alive but waiting for their own homecoming Before leaving on their week-Iong trip to the Orient, President Reagan and the First Laciv get a send-off irorn VicePreSident and Mrs. George Bush Worlleationai News 5