2
THE GRANTONIAN
February 23, 1968
Alcohol dulls responsibilities
by Steph Daly
Flash . . . two car collision on
N.E. 72nd: Victims listed in seri
ous condition, more details later,
immediately the station is re
turned to musical sounds. Sound
familiar?
Yes, is naturally the answer
given by everyone. Every thirty
seconds an accident is occurring
somehow . . . somewhere.
Why? Well, some are
merely accidents, but others
are accidents that could
have been prevented if
the person behind the wheel
had thought twice before
indulging in that last drink.
To sum it all up, accidents are
becoming a little too common
lately, drinking and driving has
become a very serious and dead
ly problem.
Three out of every five
accidents are caused by in
toxicated drivers, too many
of these accidents involve
teenagers, but just so that
all the blame won’t be
placed on our shoulders let
us take the case of Joe.
Joe was a young man, slowly
but surely working up to a po
sition in his line of business,
had been married for four years,
and was the father of two fine
little sons.
It was Christmas Eve and
they had closed the office down
early for the occasion, when all
the fellows retired to a local bar.
After downing his fifth drink,
Joe began to feel depressed.
Another,
Joe?
C’mon
don’t be a party pooper—
Listen, guys, I really should
be making it on home, but
well, okay, I guess I’ll . . .
You know the rest.
Groups stressed at
Sounds assembly
“This year’s United Sounds as
sembly will be patterned after
last year’s with more of an em
phasis on ‘groups’ instead of
solos,” according to Robert Ger
ber, United Sounds adviser.
“Things are kind of sketchy at
the moment,” reported Chris
Thorn, United Sounds president.
A group consisting of Student
Body President Ron Marrs, and
Dave Schlicker, and Bart DaFoe
of Washington high will perform
two numbers; Debby Chung and
Kenn Bell will be accompanied
by Jim Mills on the banjo.
Jeff Still will perform his own
composition of a classical instru
mental on the electric guitar
with background provided by
Dale Potter and Doug Fraser;
Angelika. Braker, a graduate of
’67, and Nancy Thorn will sing
their selections of folk ballads;
and Nancy McCready, Pam Wiik,
and Wendy Wong will perform
the Irish ballad interpretation of
“Johnny Comes Marching Home.”
T1
WMlSKty
More time went by, and Joe
by now was beginning to blur
his words and was intent on ar
guing when asked if he’d care to
cab it home with the rest of
them. “No,” was his answer. He
could drive. “In fact a little bet
ter, after a few drinks.” This
statement is heard often, no
matter what the age be. That’s
what Joe thought. . .
Within twenty minutes
Joe’s car was found com
pletely totaled, crunched
and flaming. Joe had been
drifting from' one side of
the road to the other when
suddenly . . . bright lights,
screeching and . . . noth
ing. But “he could drive, in
fact a little better after a
few drinks.”
Joe did not live to share with
his family what was planned to
be a Merry Christmas.
It is up to us, the future adults
of tomorrow, to accept our re
sponsibilities before we step be
hind the wheel, a responsibility
not only towards ourselves but
towards others.
I The Implied Consent law is
one of the many used to help
keep drinking drivers off the
streets. In this law the victim
is asked to blow up a balloon
where a meter reads the exact
degree of intoxication; however
the driver must consent before
performing the test. Refusal to
take the test results in suspen
sion of the driver’s license.
But this is only to prove if we
have been drinking. We must
stop and think before drinking,
and maybe ask ourselves these
questions: Am I growing up to
be a future adult? Maybe even a
possible credit to my God, my
country, and my sex?
We must not forget that man’s
only true desire is to live—will
you? The decisions to these
questions are up to you, and only
you.
An illegally parked car is
demonstrated as the driver of
this car completely ignores the two signs which he parked right
next to.
C’
__
jiynS nave purpose
Speed cited as main teen violation
by Steph Daly
Is it a temptation for you not
to step extra hard on the accel
erator of your car? Are you
tempted to drive on through the
stop sign when all around seems
clear? In a recent survey at the
Portland Police Department, it
was found that most often boys
were given tickets for the viola
tion of speeding, and girls for
running stop signs.
The greatest number of tick
ets given were received for
speeding. “Following too close”
was another problem.
“Most young people think that
because they are young and be
cause they do have faster re
flexes that, naturally, they can
go faster,” commented Officer
Robert Harms. He also added,
“One sure improvement is being
shown through Drivers Educa
tion courses,”
Another main problem with
teenage drivers is the condition
of cars. “If the Vehicle Inspec
tion was required,” commented
Officer Harms, “then half the
cars on the road would be un
able to be driven, due to lack
of balance in suspension.”
In 1966 out of 102,000,000
people there were 10,000,000 ac
cidents involving teens and fatal
accidents numbered 10,000. In
these accidents 17 percent were
led by the age group 20-24. Fol
lowing close in line were the
teens aging 16-19.
“I feel most of the teenagers
are fine drivers,” commented Of
ficer Harms. “It is just that one
or two give the bad name to the
others and people take their ex
ample and tend to lump them all
together,” he concluded.
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