Northwest High School - Silvertip Yearbook (Wichita, KS)

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safe tml News To appear again House defeats 18-year drinking bill A bill was put before the Kansas House to raise the drinking age of 3.2 beer from 18 to 19. If it had passed, it would have been the first change in the drinking law since Prohibition ended in Kansas 47 years ago. Should the law have changed, it would have brought Kansas statutes closer to those of three neighboring states. In 1983, Gklahoma raised the drinking age to 21, Nebraska did the same in February, 1984. Missiouri had a minimum drinking age of 21 since 1945. Colorado has the same laws as Kansas. Supporters of the bill argued that if the age was raised from 18 to 19, it would reduce road fatalities. One reason for the proposed increased drinking age was that up to 21 percent of the traffic accidents were caused by teenage drivers. Highway safety studies indicate that up to 60 percent of all crashes involving 16-20 year old drivers were related to liquor. Barry Sweedler, director of the Bureau of Safety programs at the Transportation Safety Board in Washington D.C., said, We figure that if every state went to 21, we'd save 1,250 lives every year. Some college students and beer industry represen- tatives argued that alcohol-education programs would -be effective if given a fair chance. Both groups agreed Former Governor Docking dies from emphysema battle that an effective public education program and an er forcement of the existing drinking laws would l enough to solve the problems. There is not sound co relation fbetween raising the drinking age and reducir traffic deathsj. I think there would be a sound correl: tion between an alcohol-education program and savir lives, and enforcement of our DWI law, said Ne Whitaker, executive director of the Kansas Be4 Wholesalers Association. Most agreed that any new la raising the drinking age would be unenforceable. A survey given by the Associated Students of Kansas pol ed seven regent universities. Of the 1,000 studen chosen at random, 75 percent of the students preferrc the present 18 drinking law. Six percent wanted an evr Former Governor Robert Docking, who served four terms as Kansas, chief executive blaz- ing new trails in the political history of Kansas, died in his sleep on Oct. 8, 1983. The cause of death was due to a long bout of emphysema. His death occurred the day before his 58th birthday. Docking had been hospitalized at the 'Shawnee Mission Medical Center from May 4 to Sept. 19 for treatment of emphysema that had been detected several years ago. Described as a man without hobbies, Robert Blackwell Docking thrusted his burning energy into the fires of politics. As a self-assured individual, he leaped from Arkansas City Mayor to City Commissioner directly to Governor. Seeking accomplishment, he was a decisive public servant. He 34 ' Current Events disliked mediocrity and inspired loyalty among his staff and his friends. During his four terms as Governor, Docking recharged Kansas' state government and moderated many policies. He fostered efforts to revise the state's out of date constitution, reorganized the executive branch of government, sup- ported election reforms and forced the state to revamp its t8.X structure. .,,, In former Governor Docking's honor, Governor john Carlin ordered the State flag to be flown at half-mast for a week. In his absence, Bobp Docking's many contributions to our way of life in Kansas willy remain as a thousand' monuments to this life, said Carlin. -Stefony VonScoyk lower drinking age. Although the bill did not pass in April, 1984, it w expected to appear before the Kansas Senate again. -Srefany VunScc Wolf Creek brings fights from anti-nuclear groups Much was said and written about the risks of producing energy--hydroelectric dam breakage, the Three Mile Island accident, coal plants exploding and more. Much was also said about the risks of not having energy. Progress, a report to the public on the progress of the Wolf Creek Generating Station Project emphasized the need for adequate electricity. The report stated, According to a Kansas City news story, 1,265 persons died from severe heat of last summer, most of them were those who did not have access to air conditioning. The point? There also are life threatening risks when there is not enough electricity. Many, not only in Burlington where Wolf Creek is located, felt that the building of the plant was a mistake , There were nearly 1,000 pro- testors gathered outside the plant in August and the ques- tion of whether power from Wolf Creek was needed became central to the politicial firestorm that raged in Kansas. By the utilities' own recko ing, all of the output of tl 1,150 mega watt plant won't l needed until sometime in tl late 1990's. A KG8 spokesman said that the predi tion failed to take into accou the company's desire to rely 4 uranium instead of natural g to generate electricity. We a committed to the overseeing work on the plant, was the c fical stand of KG8cE officials. Petitions were made fro anti-nuclear groups claiming have evidence of extensive co struction problems of tl nuclear power plant and wanti to participate in license pr ceedings. Across the country and Kansas, public opinion studi: most of them made for or elected government officia continued to show a strong rr jority of people favored t development of nuclear energ particulary to help offs dependence on foreign 4 sources. -Tim Rc

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After 15 months Andtopov di g Chernenko takes over After being in power for 15 lonths, Soviet President Yuri tndropov died. Taking His lace was Konstantine lstinovich Chernenko, 'who at 2, was the oldest member of ie party considered to be a otential replacement. There ad been some concern with xoosing such an old leader, ecause of health problems :lated with age. Health and ge had been Andropov's pro- lem. Appointment of the new premier was of special interest to the United States.Under An- dropov, the Soviets walked out on Arms talks in Geneva, Switzerland. Administrator of the Central Committee and Leon Brezhnev's appointment secretary, dismissed Chernenko as a second choice for the office. The Kremlin's new master did not offer to take any bold foreign policy initiatives. However, he restated the Soviet Union's committment to peaceful co-existence and rallied against the reckless adventurist actions of im- perialism 's aggressive forces. On the Arms races, he said that the Soviet Union had no wish for military superiority, but would not allow other na- tions to upset the strategic balance of arms. In his acceptance speech, he made some tough statements that pleased the military establishment. Chernenko pro- mised to see to it that our country's QSoviet Unionj defense capacity be strengthen- ed, that we should have enough means to cool the hot heads of militant adventurers. ' ' Balancing his tough words, he gave vague assurances that Moscow recognized that it had a responsibility for perserving and strengthening peace. He said, We are for a peaceful set- tlement for all disputable inter- national problems through serious equal and constructive talks. As the regime settled in the Kremlin, Western analyists scrutinized Chernenko's stance, but could not gather that much from it, for his main concern was the Soviet economy. -Sfefuny VanScoyk Named as the new Soviet Premier, Konstantin Chennenko has received media coverage since his appointment. American troops invade Pacific island Granada On Oct. 25, 1985, only two days after the suicidal bombing of Marine barracks in Lebanon, America had an additional crisis with the invasion of a small Pacific island called Grenada. President Ronald Regan said the invasion was aimed at restoring law and order and a constitutional governing body on the small island where a brutal group of leftist-thugs violently seized power. The forces consisted of nearly 2,000 Marines and Army paratroopers and were followed by 300 soldiers from six Carib- bean islands. During the pre- dawn invasion, they attacked with an airborned strike, battl- ing with Grenadian troops and armed Cuban workers. Reagan called the invasion completely successful. The troops has seiz- ed the main airports of the small island. In the initial fighting two U.S. Marines were killed and 23 wounded, according to Con- gressional services in Washington. It was reported that three members of the Greneda forces had been killed, 30 Soviet advisors and approx- imately 600 Cuban workers had been captured. Many Soviet weapons were also seized. Another major purpose of the invastion was to secure the safe- ty of American citizens, the ma- jority of whom were medical students at St. George's Medical College. There were all reported ro be unharmerl -Stefcny VunScoyk Current Events 0 33

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