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July 15, 1978 - Image 6

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
Michigan Daily, 1978-07-15

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Page 6-Saturday, July 15. 1978-The Michigan Daily
OVER 3,100 TO ATTEND CONVENTION
War games enthusiasts invade N. Campus

....-

(Contined from Page 1)
ding to Bill Somers, convention co-
chairperson.
"We hope to getsome fun out of this,"
aid Somers. "There's types of games
for everybody. We have a variety.
Some are complex; some are for fun.
Ita a matter of peraonal taate."
Players set up games like
"Waterloo" and "Africa: World War
Two Desert Campaign" just about
anywhere they can find room, from
Bursley's cafeterias to lounges to tables
on the front patio.
EVEN THE U.S. Army sent five of-
ficers to observe the games. Charles,
Carrico, a captain from Fort Carson in
Colorado, said the Army uses similar
games and computer games to train
recruits.
"It's better to learn to maneuver in a
game than on the battlefield," he said.
"These games build up your confiden-
ce."

Carrico was sitting in on a game with with miniature battleships and huge
three of his uniformed cohorts. The con- maps of real or fictional territory.
test involved moving artillery over a Exhibitors include giants like Parker
six-foot square table marked with cloth Brothers and small enterprises like
symbols for hills, forest, and mou- Jack Radey from Oakland, California.
'There's some people here who would like to see
another war just so they could make it into a game.
-exhibitor Jack Radey

tains. Fourteen pages of rules accom-
panied the game, which was carefully
measured in centimeters.
"THIS IS just practice," explained
Carrico. "The game starts at 5:00."
Tournaments can last four or five
hours, say war gamers, and the con-
testants are deadly serious. The person
who oversees games won't let players
set their drinks on the table.
At NCRB. the exhibit fills the gvm

LAST FIVE DAYS
Mon.-Tues.-Thurs.-Fri. 7:30-9:30
Sat.-Sun.-Wed. 1:30-3:30-5:30-7:30-9:30

Radey says he's been interested in war
games since he was five, and after
trying out journalism and factory work,
decided to design war games full-time.
"PEOPLE LIKE to play with
history," explains Radey. "There's
some people here who would like to see
another war just so they could make it
into a game." Radey says he thinks
some people have difficulty
distinguishing the war games from the
real thing.
Carrico agreed that the games are a
learning process, but they are
"realistic to a point. There's as much
realism in the first hour of play as in
five hours of play."
Also at the exhibit are special interest
games, such as the fantasy games
"Second Empire," and "Lord of the
Middle Sea." The exhibit also has
games dealing with the American Civil
War, naval gaming, armor gaming,
Napoleonics, and computer games.
"I THINK the public gets the idea
these are games for kids, but they're
not," claimed one gamer who drove two
days from Alberta, Canada. "There's
some intellectual types who play these
games."

Somers agreed. He says most gamers
are men from college age to mid-
thirties,,wwith a smattering of high
school students, and only eight to ten
per cent women. "They're (the
gainers) a little bit more academically
inclined," he said.
"I think everyone's having fun here,"
continued the Alberta gamer. "They'll
be having more fun tonight. Everybody
bought new games. It's just like
Christmas. You want to open them and
get the rules out and play." He owns
over 100 games himself. "I won't be
able to play all of them even if I live to
be 100," he joked. "Maybe it's the sear-
ch for the ultimate game."
AWARDS WILL be handed out
tomorrow night for such things as Best
Strategic Game, Best Tac-
tical/Operational Game, All-Time Best
Fantasy Board Game and others.
Players also receive awards for win-
ning tournaments. Prizes range from
magazine subscriptions to cash.
Somers estimates the convention will
cost over $20,000. He said funds are
generated from other Metro Detroit
Garners conventions and from
registration and playing fees paid for
the convention itself.
Tod Hanson, Bursley building direc-
tor, said problems have been minimal.
"It's a zoo," he admits, but the conven-
tion "just took a lot of time and
negotiations."
Gainers are also staying in Baits.
Adds Somers, "What makes these
games different is that the games are
not abstract like chess or checkers.
Everything is related to something in
the real world. You kind of project
yourself into the real world. The games
are quite complicated. The players can
put themselves into a role."

LE -

Prison for dissident

NOW SHOWING
Mon.-Tues.-Thurs.-Fri. 7:30-9:45
Sat.-Sun.-Wed. 1:15-3:20-5:30-7:35-9:50

(Continued from Page 1)
SHCHARANSKY could have been
sentenced to death for the treason con-
viction, but the prosecutor asked for 15
years at hard labor - two more than
the three-judge court eventually set -
citing the defendant's youth and clean
record.
His brother Leonid, the main source
of information for Western reporters,
who were barred from the trial, quoted
Shcharansky as saying in his closing
statement:
"To my wife and my people I can only
say, 'Next year in Jerusalem!' To this
court which decided my fate.in advan-
ce, I say nothing..."
"I AM happy although I should be
very sad, because I have lived an
honest life with my conscience and
have never taken the path of
hypocrisy."
Speaking ina sudden rainstorm as he
emerged from the courthouse, Leonid
Shcharansky said his brother spoke
"very bravely, without any tension."
In his final words, his brother said,
Shcharansky told the court, "Five
years ago I applied to emigrate. Now I
am as far from my dream as I have
ever been."
LEONID SAID that when the senten-

ce was announced, applause broke out
in the courtroom amid shouts of
"They've given him too little!"
Carter on
dissident
(Continued from Page 1)
He said the message of the Sh-
charansky trial "is saddest of all
for the Soviet people. . . who
yearn like all others for peace and
liberty, who have seen their own
government pledge two years ago
to respect those human rights and
desires; and who now have seen
that pledge broken once again."
"THE STRUGGLE for human
liberties is long and difficult, but it
will be won," Carter said. "There
is no power on earth that can long
delay its progress."
After Carter declared at the
news conference that his criticism
of human rights violations would
not be silenced, Schmidt, with the
President at his side, told repor-
ters: "I wholeheartedly agree with
everything President Carter said."
Following a two-and-a-half-hour
meeting with Schmidt, Carter
traveled by motorcade in a
limousine through the downtown
section of this German capital to
the 1S0-year-old rococco. nink

HELD OVER SECOND WEEK
Mon.-Tues.-Thurs.-Fri. 7:30-9:30
Sat-Sun.-Wed. 1:30-3.30;5:30-7:30-9:30

l

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