Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1980-08-13

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72nd Year No. 281 Good Morning! It's Wednesday, August 13. 1980 7 Sections 62 Pages - 15 Cents
Missonrians I
fight hard
for planks
By J. Russell King
and Jennifer Hun
Missoorian staff writers
NEW YORK Missouri " pro- life-"
delegates to the Democratic National
Convention were expecting a floor
fight on the platform's abortion plank
Tuesday night, and they very nearly
got the real thing.
Congressman Harold Volkmer of
Hannibal was involved in a scrape on
the floor with unidentified persons who
supported a minority report that, in eu- phemi- stic
language, called for federal
funding of abortions for needy women.
Volkmer and others in the Missouri
delegation were attempting to display
a sign representing their anti- abortio- n
position, only to have their efforts th-warted
by the " pro- choic- e" forces who
stood in front with their own sign, de-liberately
blocking Volkmer's mes-sage.
A momuntary scuffle ensued, with a
few demonstrators ending up on the
floor. No one was hurt, and Volkmer
left the floor shortly after the incident.
Emotions had run at a high pitch
throughout the day, however, as the
delegates debated and voted on several
minority reports supported by Sen. Ed-ward
Kennedy and opposed by Presi-dent
Carter.
The abortion issue was one where the
Missouri delegation was out of step
with the convention as a whole; while
the federal funding plank got only a
very few of Missouri's 77 votes, the
rest of the convention passed it by a
surprisingly large margm.
That vote had a particular impact in
the Missouri delegation; Frances Noo- na- n
of Des Peres was the national con-vention
leader of Democrats for life. A
candidate for state representative, she
had said earlier that it was difficult for
her to run when her party's platform
( See DELEGATES, Page 12A) Colombian Linda Locke urges Democratic support for the ERA plank
"" mmmmurnBM"" MMMi f TO Til Bolivian government
releases Missonrian
By LemMan- k- it
Missoorian staff writer
" Hallelujah!" was James Spool-er's
reaction to the news about his
daughter's release by the Bolivian
government Tuesday night
Mary Helen Spocner, a 28- year- o- ld,
free- lan- ce writer from St.
Louis, had been detained without
being charged for a week by the
military regime in Bolivia for send-ing
to London over the Laun- Reut- er
News Agency wires an article im-plicating
Bolivia's leaders in co-caine
trafficking.
Her release came after the Boliv-ian
authorities accepted " express-ions
of regret" from two British
publications, the Financial Times
and the Economist, for which she
works, United Press International
reported.
Representatives of both publica-tions
arrived in La Paz, Bolivia,
earlier this week to negotiate for the
freedom of Miss Spooner, a 1976
graduate of the University School of
Journalism.
Miss Spooner left Bolivia Tuesday
night. She is scheduled to arrive in
Luna, Peru, this morning.
The Bolivian military regime ear-lier
indicated it would prosecute
Miss Spooner with " defamatory li-bel,"
which could carry a sentence
of three to 15 years m jail.
A Tunes spokesman said her
material was not published.
Miss Spooner left Bolivia Tuesday
night. She is scheduled to arrive in
Lima, Peru, this morning.
The Bolivian regime earlier indi-cated
it would prosecute Miss
Spooner for " defamatory libel,"
which carries a jail term of three to
15 years injaiL
Spooner said he and his wife will
talk to their daughter by phone to-day
when she arrives in lima.
But Spooner expects more phone
conversations than that today.
" I got a lot of people to call," be
said. " I didn't know I had so many
friends until this thing happened."
Researcher uses psychology
to humanize technology
ByReginaVieira
Missoorian staff writer
Anyone who's been burned reaching
over a hot stove to turn a control knob
knows some machines aren't designed
with people in mind. That's a problem
people like Benjamin Somberg are
working on.
A University doctoral candidate in
experimental psychology, Somberg is
one of three candidates nationwide to
receive a $ 20,000 grant from Honeywell
Corp. He and his colleagues will study
how machines can be designed for
their most efficient use.
Somberg is one of many researchers
in the fast- growin- g field cf " human
factor psychology," the study of man's
relationships with the machines he cre-ates.
There are two major aspects to the
field, as he describes it First, human
responses to different stimuli are ex-plored
in the laboratory. Information
obtained in experiments is then used to
design such diverse items as lounge
chairs, stoves and computers.
In fact, nothing man creates to make
his life easier is beyond the realm of
human factor psychology. And Som-berg
says the field will grow even more
as man surrounds himself with bigger,
better and more complex machines
" One of the reasons people hate ma-chines
is that they can be so frustrat-ing
to use," he said, using the typical
household stove as illustration.
The average electric range has four
burners " and there are any number of
ways to arrange the controls," he said.
If they are placed poorly, a person is
forced to check the burners to make
sure they used the right controls.
A more serious application of human
factor psychology is in aircraft design.
" You don't want to put two controls
with opposite effects next to one anoth-er,"
Somberg said, noting that confu-sion
between nearly identical instru-ments
has led to some plane disasters.
At Honeywell's Minneapolis office,
Somberg will use psychological experi-mentation
to design more efficient ma-chinery
and work environments.
" When you know the way a human op-erates,
you can design a machine that
he can use efficiently for instance,
placing the controls where an operator
can use the machine most easily," he
said.
An application of such knowledge is
in the booming small- comput- er mar-ket.
Such advances as the integrated
circuit make it possible for small busi-nesses
and even individuals to afford
computers. These computers have to
be easy to operate by a wide range of
people, Somberg said.
" Certainly in our society, everyone
has oeen touched by the computer," he
said, even if one never sees a silicon
chip in his lifetime. Still, there is a lot
of uneasiness and downright fear of
modern technology. Somberg is sym-pathetic.
Often the only contact someone has
with a computer is when he receives a
Kennedy rouses
delegates in call
for party unity
NEW YORK ( UPI) Sen. Edward
Kennedy, in an emotional and rousing
appearance before the Democratic Na-tional
Convention Tuesday, blasted
Ronald Reagan and pleaded for party
unity, but stopped short of endorsing
President Carter.
Kennedy's appearance in behalf of
four economic planks that were the
heart of his campaign so roused the
delegates that the Carter forces gave
in and let the delegates shout their ap-proval
without the formality of a roll
call
On the eve of Carter's renommation,
Kennedy won the applause of even the
Georgia delegation and left many of
his own delegates with tears streaming
down their faces as he called on them
to " march toward a Democratic victo-ry
in 1980."
Kennedy came to the convention to
argue in behalf of a platform plank
supporting his $ 12 billion jobs program
a proposal Carter has rejected as
too costly.
Kennedy's speech so fired up the del-egates
that the Carter forces withdrew
their request for a state by state roil
call and the convention passed the pro-posal
by voice vote giving the sen-ator
a philosophical victory over the
president he could not defeat for the
Democratic presidential nomination.
Kennedy won approval of all his eco-nomic
program except the plank for
mandatory wage and price controls,
which was shouted down by the dele
gates.
Kennedy stirred up the delegates
first with a plea for the liDeral prin-ciples
he called " the soul of our party"
and then with a stinging denunciation
of Reagan, a conservative who he said
wants to lead the nation on " a voyage
into the past."
" It was a barn burner,' said Car-ter's
press secretary Jody Powell of
Kennedy's speech. " If he goes around
making fine speeches like that, he
could be a considerable amount of
help "
Although he didn't endorse Carter,
Kennedy gave indications he was rea-dy
to end his long feud with the presi-dent
saying he was confident " that the
Democratic Party will reunite on the
basis of Democratic principles and
that together we will march toward a
Democratic victory in 1980."
The Carter camp, badl.-- in need of
the support of Kenned and liberal
Democrats in the war against Reagan
and independent John Anderson, hoped
the Massachusetts Democrat would
unite behind the president once the
platform battle was over.
" I hope 111 have his support, but
that's a decision for him to make,"
Carter told reporters after he returned
to the White House from Camp David.
Asked whetner he could win without
Kennedy, Carter said ' I could win
much better with him "
Anderson's office in Washington an-nounced
Tuesday night the indepen-dent
candidate would travel to New
York Wednesday to woo disenchanted
Democrats
Carter campaign manager Robert
Strauss seemed confident Kennedy and
his troops would join the president's
campaign.
" A couple of good nights' sleep and
the will be back helping us," Strauss
said
Earlier the convention passed one
( See KENNEDY, Page 12A)
sexual assault unit at crossroads
By Walt Potter
Missoorian staff writer
Three rapes in a six- da- y period.
Nine sexual assaults in tv o months.
Yet, when that rash of crimes against women fi-nally
subsided, the city's police department found its
proposal for a beefed- u- p sexual assault unit in jeopar-dy
because of budgetary restraint.
Chief Dave Walsh told the City Council Monday
night his department had no choice but to collaborate
as well in the proposed elimination of a unit designed
to prevent crimes, including sexual assault.
When these proposed cuts became public Aug 2,
public reaction, especially among citizens groups
dealing with rape, was negative and vocaL
Four such groups the Abuse, Assault and Rape
Crisis Center ( AARC), the Boone County Task Force
Against Sexual Assault, the Citizens- Labo- r Coalition
Against Rape and Violence, and the Columbia Chap-ter,
National Organization for Women gathered
Saturday in front of the police station at Sixth and
Walnut streets to protest what they called City Coun-cil's
unresponsiveness.
The groups also appeared Monday night at the polic-e-
council budget work session, hoping to speak di-rectly
to council, but work session rules forbid public
comment.
The groups, while praising the work of rape investi-gator
Carroll Highbarger, insist Columbia needs both
a sexual assault investigator and the crime preven-tion
unit to effectively combat sexual assault.
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With a $ 20,000 Honeywell grant, University doc-- how humans relate to today's complex technolo- tor- al
candidate Benjamin Somberg will study gy and how to make machines more efficient.
bogus utility bill, and Somberg says
" once you have a problem with one, .
tt's awful hard to forget "
People also fear that modem tech-nology
means depersonalization, the
reduction of human beings to faceless
Iraslgfei
" I know that if there were 13 murders in the citv,
there're be more than one homicide) investigator,"
said Kathryn Lowe of AARC. ( Thirteen rapes hav
been reported to Columbia police so far this year. )
The budget proposal marks as a lower priority a po-lice
department suggestion to create a sexual assault
investigator position. The budget also rW for elimi-nating
the community relationscrime prevention
unit, which has rape prevention education as one of
its responsibilities
A sexual assault investigater would give police the
personnel to expand beyond the most serious sexual
assault, rape, investigative division head Maj. Wil-liam
Morgan said. Sexual assauit also includes voy-eurism,
exposure, fondling, sexual harassment and
obscene phone calls and other abuses.
Two Columbia policewomen have had training in
sexual assault investigation and it's anticipated a
woman would hold the position if it's funded.
" I think the local women's groups would prefer it,"
Morgan said, " and it might provide additional sensi-tivity
to rape victims "
Sensitivity is important here, Morgan said, because
rape is the most serious crime in which the viatim
lives. Police deal with victims suffering severe emo-tional
damage.
Police have been making efforts to become more
digits. He explains that in the language
of a computer, a number is easier to
understand than a name.
So a major function of human factor
psychology is making machines under- -
empathetic and accessible to the public, Morgan
says, and the cnme prevention unit is one way
" It's important to have a policeman up there ( for
women who may have to report a rape to a po-licemen)
and see he's against it," said Mitchell
The seminars discuss the nature of rape, defense
procedures and how police and prosecutors investi-gate
a rape
Police, however, can offer no proof of the cnme
prevention unit's effectiveness, saying there's no way
to prove that a cnme that didn't happen, would have
happened.
Morgan, however, feels that the crime prevention
effort is necessary, because the onlj wav to decrease
cnme is to educate the public about how to protect it-self
better. Enforcement and investigation can keep a
lid on cnme, he said but they're the last line of de-fense.
Yet, because they're the last line of defense, patrol
and investigation must be retained ahead of preven-tion
units, Morgan said
If police get to keep their prevention units and ac-quire
a sexual assault investigator, Morgan sees
quicker clearance of sexual assault cases, earlier
identification of sexual offenders and a broadening of
the effort against all sexual assaults
If these positions are not in the police budget, Ms.
Lowe said it would indicate to a large number of peo-ple
in Columbia who are concerned about rape that
the City Council doesn't have rape prevention and in-vestigation
as a high enough pnont .
" A lot of people will be very angry.' ' she said.
standable and useful to the average
person, Somberg said
They are going to be around, so we
might as well learn to use them," he
said. " Machines can serve us rather
than us serving them "
schools hike
cost of lunch
bv 10 cents
By Barb A. DuNard
Missoorian staff writer
Elementary, junior and senior high
students will pay 10 cents more for
each lunch served by the Columbia
public schools beginning Aug. 25
Last year the Columbia schools'
lunch program operated at a deficit.
With the dune increase, the district
hopes to break even this year, said
Sharon Gibson, school food service
coordinator.
Elementary students will pay 60
cents for lunch, and junior and senior
high students will pay 65 cents.
Also, in order for the school milk pro-gram
to break even, students will have
to make up a loss in federal funds and
pay an additional 3 cents for each half- pi- nt
carton of milk, Gibson said. The
new price will be 8 cents.
Hm town
6: SO pjn. Work session on possible
annexation of Perry Philips ate for
proposed May. Co. shopping mall, city
planning and legal staffs. Public in-vited.
Council chamber, County- CS- t'
Building, Seventh Street and Btoax
way.
Movie listiags, Psge li