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Page 2 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 14, 1986
BUSINESS
Flight Simulators enliven kiddie rides
By EUGENE PAK
Most University students can
probably remember those old elec-
tronically-powered rocking horses
that stood outside the local grocery
or discount store. For just a quarter a
youngster could sit atop the plastic
animal as it bucked and bounced
through an imaginary countryside.
Back then that simple ride must
have seemed exciting and fun, but
today's young people are more
sophisticated and demanding.
Growing up in the era of high-tech
video games and home computers,
children have become accustomed to
the whirl and flash of electronic enter-
tainment. The repetitive bump and
bounce of the old riding horse just
doesn't compare to the vivid visual
and aural thrill of saving the Omega
galaxy by blowing up enemy starships
with proton torpedos and alpha bom-
bs.
IN ORDER to enliven kiddie rides,
How to start
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Start with the Kaplan LSAT
an Australian-based company, the
Bolwell Group, has developed "Flight
Simulators," a new type of ride which
will bring state-of-the-art electronics
into the kiddie ride industry.
Bolwell's Flight Simulators look
and work like futuristic mini-
spaceships. Designed for children
from 3 to 14 years old, simulators
allow the "passenger" complete con-
trol of the craft, a feature absent form
traditional kiddie rides. By shifting th
e centrally-mounted joystick, the user
can maneuver the craft in elec-
tronically-simulated climbs, banks,
and dives.
A continuous base-to-pilot dialogue
and a lighted control -panel display
also make the ride seem realistic.
"It actually mirrors the control you
have with an airplane," said John
Winters, an amateur pilot and vice-
president of Corporate Directions
Inc., an Ann Arbor business con-
sulting firm that specializes in helping
Australian companies establish
operations in North America.
ACCORDING TO Winters, the
Flight Simulators, which come in
three different models, have been
i
quite successful in Australia and in
Kalamazoo, where the ride is curren-
tly being market-tested. The
simulator's two-minute ride, which
will cost 50 cents, has been used over
300 times a week in selected
Kalamazoo stores, and according to
Winters, "The kids do love it."
Gary Blom, an executive in the
Bolwell Group, said that the
Australian company is marketing the
simulator in the United States
because of relatively inexpensive
business costs. After successfully
marketing the simulator in Australia
for 18 months, the company decided to
bring it to the Midwest to take advan-
tage of its well-developed distribution
network among merchants.
According to Winters and Blom, the
40-year-old kiddie ride industry has
suffered a gradual decline over the
last five or six years. Although cash
box incomes of the rides have
remained constant, the increasing
cost of manufacturing and servicing
have made them less profitable. In-
novations in kiddie rides have been
virtually non-existent, because
manufacturers simply build
variations on a common idea, while
newer, more exciting forms of enter-
tainment - such as video games -
are competing for attention and quar-
ters.
But Winters and Blom are confident
that the unique qualities of the Fligh
Simulators will allow them to survive
or even resurrect the declining coin-
slot amusement ride industry.
Because can hold anyone who can fit
into them, their potential market in-
creases by 300 percent over the
traditional age market. The
fibergalss molded craft is easy
to maintain and service, and follows
Australian safery specifications, they
said.
Yet the most distinguishing appeal
of the ride is its high -tech futuristic
appearance. The three different
models have won Australian Design
Awards for Excellence, and use elec-
tronics in a way never before used in
such rides.
"We're creating a whole new market
(in the kiddie ride industry) by
bringing high-technology into it,"
Blom said.
'U' students show potential for activism
prep course. After taking (Continued from Page 1)
Kaplan, thousands of LSAT the code, they would really get out," he
students score between 40 and said, "or at least they say they would
48. And those scores give you get out."
the best shot at getting into the One question in the survey dealt
school of your choice and going specifically with the code. It asked:
on to the top firms or "Suppose the University imposed a
corporations. Call today new set of rules governing the conduct
K A P LA Nof students and students did not have
a role in drafting those rules. Would
STANLEY'H. KAPLAN EDUCATIONALCENTERLTD you be inclined to be involved then?"
Eighty-five percent of the students
203 E. Hoover surveyed said they might become in-
Ann Arbor MI 48104 volved.
MILITARY research on campus
662-3149 and minority recruitment could also
________________________activate students, said Eldersveld.
-.... ..------ ---- ----- - -
"I
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761CHIP MAY 2,1986
TAMARACK CAMPS
FINAL INTERVIEW DAY
THURSDAY, APRIL 17
SIGN-UP CAREER PLANNING & PLACEMENT
Positions still available for:
Cabin Counselors a Specialists in Waterfront and Small Crafts, Arts & -
Crafts, Nature & Outdoor Projects, Photography, Video, Computers, Horse-
back Riding, Amateur Radio * R.O.P.E.S. * Trip Leaders " Unit & Specialty
Supervisors Secretary " Food Service & Maintenance Staff " Nurse&
Clinic Assistant " Physicians (1 week) eSocial Worker * Travel Trip Bus
Driver " Staff for Silverman Village (emotionally impaired).
Also Forester/Construction positions at
Smokler Pioneer Village
Camp Tamarack - Brighton
Camp Maas - Ortonville
Teen Adventure Trips
Tamarack Camps are sponsored by the Fresh Air Society of Metro Detroit
EMERGENCY
GEO Membership Meeting
ARE YOU READY
TO FIGHT FOR
WHAT YOU WANT?
Eldersveld cites the second
prerequisite to activism as an ex-
planation of the low turnout for
student government elections, despite
the high potential level of activism on
campus. "A lot of students, feel,
'What can I accomplish by voting for
students in MSA,' " he said. Less than
one-fifth of the student body voted in
the most recent Michigan Student
Assembly elections.
Eldersveld also said the in-
volvement of friends in a political
cause helps make students active.
"Students socialize each other to in-
volvement," he said. "They learn
form each other, take cues from each
other."
The study also showed that students
in the social sciences and humanities
were more likely to be activists than
naturual science students were. "One
has to guess at the reasons for this:
Courses, professors, peers," Elder-
sveld said.
THE STUDY noted that the Univer-
sity of Michigan was one of the first
colleges to become politically active
in the 1960s. Tom Hayden founded the
Students for a Democratic Society
here in 1962 and "this was one of the
first schools to have sit-ins," said
Eldersveld, who has taught at the
University since 1946 and chaired the
political science department in 1969-
70.
IN BRIEF
COMPILED FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS AND
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL REPORTS
W. German calls Libya war
unlikely, but situation serious
BdNN, West Germany, - A West German newspaper quoted Foreign
Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher as saying yesterday after meeting
special U.S. envoy Vernon Walters that there is no danger of war betwen
the United States and Libya.
Walters, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, flew on to Paris.
later yesterday - the third stop in his mission to garner West European
support for Washington's policy toward Libya.
"There is no danger of war, but the situation in the Mediterranean is
very serious," Genscher was quoted as saying in an interview with the
Hamburg-published Bild newspaper.
Western businessmen in Libya said yesterday they were ordered to
move their workers into Libyan military camps in an apparent effort by
Khadafy to deter U.S. retaliatory strikes on the installations.
About 1,000 Americans were involved in the transfer, according to
Khadafy.
"We are not sure what we're going to do but we're stalling for time,"
said a Swedish businessman, one of two West European businessmen who
said they were called to an evening meeting with Libyan officials.
CIA has secretly funded
Contras, U.S. officials say
WASHINGTON - The Central Intelligence Agency, barred from
providing military aid to Nicaraguan rebels, secretly funneled several
million dollars to the Contras for poltical projects over the past year, U.S.
government officials say.
The officials said the money went to the rebels' political umbrella
group, the United Nicaraguan Opposition (UNO), to pay rebel officials
and supporters, open offices in Europe and Latin America, and take trips
to seek foreign support for their cause.
The money came out of the CIA's overall budget, over which President
Reagan and CIA Director William Casey have wide discretion. The CIA
must inform the two congressional intelligence committees of such
covert spending, and officials said notification'did take place.
Israeli officials swap jobs
JERUSALEM - The feuding partners in Israel's coalition government
agreed on a new compromise yesterday that would see the finance and
justice ministers swap jobs in a bid to save the government, Prime
Minister Shimon Peres announced.
Peres had delayed the weekly Sunday Cabinet session twice, for more
than 13 hours, to allow his leftist Labor party and the rightist Likud Bloc
headed by Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir to seek agreement.
Under the pact, Finance Minister Yitzhak Modai and Justice Minister
Moshe Nissim will exchange jobs, he said. Both are leaders of the small
liberal faction of Likud Bloc.
The conflict began earlier this month when Peres demanded Modai
leave the Finance Ministry by yesterday, the day the compromise was
reached, for publicly criticizing Peres and his economic policies. Likud
said the coalition agreement prevented Peres from firing Modai without
Shamir's approval.
The two parties argued over who should replace Modai and Peres'
demand that Modri not return to the Finance Ministry after Shamir
takes over the premiership in October. The bitter dispute brought the
government to the brink of collapse, with Likud ministers threatening a
mass resignation.
Filpimos rally against Aquino
MANILA, Philippines - Thousands of supporters of deposed ruler Fer-
dinand Marcos, chanting "U.S. kidnappers, release our beloved
President," rallied in Manila yesterday in the first major demonstration.
against the government of President Corazon Aquino.
At nightfall, about 5,000 protestors went to a suburban traffic circle
which they vowed to occupy until daybreak, when they would proceed to
a hotel where a session of the Marcos-controlled National Assembly
which Aquino abolished, will be held today.
Reporters at the three-hour rally estimated the crowd at about 10,000.
Police said 20,000 had attended, while organizers put the figure at 1,2
million.
"We are still for Marcos," and "Cory is Dumb," the crowd chanted.
Demonstrators carried placards reading "President Reagan: Release
Marcos," and "Bring Back the Duly elected President."
Car plows into La. crowd
PONCHATOULA, La- A car driven by the elderly mother of the parish
sheriff went out of control yesterday and plowed through a crowd walking
to the Strawberry Festival, killing one person and injuring as many as 30,
authorites said.
Three people, including a 17-month-old child, were critically injured,
authorities said.
Pontchatoula Police Chief Ernest Peltier said 30 people were injured.
while Tangipahoa Parish Chief Deputy John Dahmer put the number at
26.
"It sounded like firewords-pop-pop-pop," said Kim Zabbia, who was
in her front yard when the accident occurred. "People were yelling,
telling people to get out of the way. The last person she hit was a lady, and
she carried her on the hood of her car most of the block."
The driver of the car was identified by police at Inez Layrisson, about
80, mother of Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff-Ed Layrisson. She suffered cuts
and bruises in the accident and was under observation at Seventh Ward
Hospital, Dahmer said.
Mrs. Layrisson had a heart attack or a stroke and pressed down on the
accelerator of her vehicle when she became ill, he said. The car was
going about 20 miles an hour when it struck the crowd, he said.
01 ie Michigan Uailg
Vol. XCVI -No. 132
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967 X) is published Monday through
Friday during the fall and winter terms. Subscription rates: September
through April-$18 in Ann Arbor; $35 outside the city. One term-$10 in
town; $20 outside the city.
The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and subscribes
to United Press International, Pacific News Service, Los Angeles Times
Syndicate, and College Press Service.
4
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Editor in Chief ............ERIC MATTSON
Managing Editor ......... RACHEL GOTTLIEB
News Editor.............JERRY MARKON
Features Editor..........CHRISTYkRIEDEL
NEWS STAFF: Eve Becker, Melissa Birks, Laura
Bischoff, Rebecca Blumenstein, Marc Carrel, Dov
Cohen, Adam Cort, Laura Coughlin, Tim Daly,
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Herz, Mary Chris Jaklevic Philip Levy, Michael
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kami, Jill Oserowsky, Joe Pigott, Kurt Serbus,
Martha Sevetson, Wendy Sharp. Cheryl Wistrom.
Opinion Page Editor..........KAREN KLEIN
Associate Opinion Page Editor... HENRY PARK
OPINION PAGE STAFF: Rosemary Chinnock,
Peter Ephross, Leslie Eringaard, Gayle Kirshen-
baum, Peter Mooney, Susanne Skubik, Caleb
Southworth.
Arts Editor............. NOELLE BROWER
Associate Arts Editor .......... BETH FERTIG
Books ............... REBECCA CHUNG
Film ................... SETH FLICKER
Sports Editor .............BARB McQUADE
Associate Sports Editors ...... DAVE ARETHA,
MARK BOROWSKY, RICK KAPLAN,
ADAM MARTIN, PHIL NUSSEL
SPORTS STAFF: Emily Bridgham, Debbie
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Steinert, Douglas Volan.
Business Manager......DAWN WILLACKER
Display Sales Manager ...CYNTHIA NIXON
Assistant Sales Manager.. KATHLEEN O'BRIEN
Classified Manager ......GAYLA BROCKMAN
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