Page 37 - 1980

National, State, local Issues
by Cheryl Workman

False panic Issues contain answers

fter two Ralston students
A died in a matter of ome issues will never students cause.
if weeks, the Board of Educa­ S make national news, yet Student smoking lounge:
tion decided to close the they are pertinent issues at Non-smokers want one so
2ii| school February 25-26. The Ralston High School. they won’t be subject to
Thefe, school was disinfected dur­ Candy sales: Candy sales smoke and cigarette waste.
mis ing the two days at a cost of were banned this year Smokers want one so they
because of careless dis­ won’t suffer the penalties of
$ 21,000.
nixedL Senior Hal Kronberg died posal of wrappers and dis­ getting ‘caught’.
oil® February 7 of staph infection ruption caused during class­ Open Campus: The
tl% which spread to the heart time. administration stands firm
Vandalism: Ralston jani­
itolfe and lungs. Sophomore Deb­ Nicotine fit Students rush into the bathroom tors spend approximately that it isn’t necessary
Milt; bie Lamb died February 22 between classes to smoke a quick cigarette one-quarter of their time because of first, seventh,
before their next class 'If these students are
Mckr after being treated for Sta­ caught they could get five dentions or possible repairing the destruction and eight hour releases.
expulsion from school '
Hiusfe phylococcal pneumonia.
igi The temporary closing of From senior Head shops fight for rights
persor>: the school was due to the
is ate,: reactions of students and to a private K | ext to minor traffic violations, smoking marijuana is the
no ml parents. After Debbie’s I * most widely committed crime in the nation, says the
death the normal absentee, \ l i l ith World affairs as they Conscientious Guide to Drug Abuse.
70 students per day, went up ■ ■ are, the Iranian-hos- The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), estimates
goinjte to 224. There was talk of an tage situation and Soviet that 1 out of every 9 high school seniors smoke pot every
agate epidemic of staph infection troops in Afghanistan, Presi­ day. The pot habit peaks in the 18 to 25 year age bracket.
in school.
aetagea dent Carter has proposed a Also, young people are turning on to pot at an earlier age. In
John Weston, Omaha-
oritwor': volunteer draft. the U.S., 43 million people have tried pot at least once, and
Douglas County Health His plan requires that all 16 million use it regularly.
Department spokesman, 19 and 20 year olds register Senator Pat Venditte was the main backer of LB991, a bill
said the two cases were
jystatf for the draft. His proposal outlawing the sale, possession, and advertising of drug par­
ingagea' entirely unrelated and in no not only wants men to regis­ aphernalia. The bill would make it illegal for ‘head shops’ to
way similar. The Health
a packag- ter for the draft, but there is sell bongs, pipes, and other instruments used in the illegal
Department officials stated
lit" a second proposal to Con­ drug culture. It will cause $600 million to deteriorate in the
that they inspected the gress stating women should paraphernalia industry.
school building and found
also enlist. The bill was passed 37-7 through the Nebraska legislature
no problems, therefore,
from Net’: p ’ Today the military is 8% with an emergency clause making it effective within a day of
there was no reason for
women; a greater percent­ Governor Thone’s signature.
disinfection. age of women than any But, the Nebraska Accessories Trade Association, a
In an assembly, students other country. Most women group of businesses that sell paraphernalia, took the issue
- were explained of the situa- are not physically able to do to court, within hours of Thone’s signing, on the basis of the
::: : tion and rumors were dis- some tasks as well as men. law being unconstitutional. The bill will be in Nebraska’s
:: pelled. They were all given a
A woman only has 55% of courts for months, maybe years.
5 -; runoff of facts about staph the muscle strength and Head shop owners are not the only ones who disagree
infection, including that you 67% of the endurance of with the passing of the bill, but the majority seem to favor
couldn’t catch staph from men. with the legislature.
inanimate objects. People The idea of registering “ It never really made any sense to me why it was legal to
are the only carriers of has created disturbing pub­ buy pipes, bongs, etc...., but it was illegal to use the equip­
ontiy^ staph, 15-30% of the popula- lic reaction. There has been ment for its made purpose. Now at least the law isn’t contra­
ortl# tion carry some sort of staph anti-draft protests on cam­ dicting itself.”
|to#3f: bacteria. puses and Yippie demon­ Senior
stepar0 Although there was not strations. “ I think it’s good. I always have thought it was hypocritical
imactiir: scientific reason for the Even if the draft registra­ for marijuana to be illegal, and say that all the little goodies,
$ 0 school to be closed down, it tion proposal is passed, it or paraphernalia, are legal.”
f,i! was disinfected to satisfy the would only eliminate 2-3 Faculty member
)gy(ji(l: people and to dismiss any weeks of the 21 weeks nec­ “ I think it’s ridiculous because it won’t solve a thing; kids
ito 0 rumors that were spread. essary to get a force of will just make homemade pipes and bongs to deny the law.”
frie0 100,000 in case of an emer­ Sophomore
gency.
is 0 :
5 fl0