2 NT p 'TAT Q T\ \ Qr Act Associated Press NeBraskcltl
^ X 1 v VV J M y I j|. Edited by Victoria Ayotte Monday, November 20,1989
Andy Manhart/Daily Nebraskan
Toy testers practice torture
GAITHERSBURG, Md. -
Even Scrooge, on his worst bah
humbug days, might have shed a
tear at the sight.
What appears at first glance to
be a jolly Santa’s workshop in this
Washington suburb is actually a
torture chamber for Christmas toys
that is worthy of the Spanish Inqui
sition.
Working behind closed doors in
a small room stacked high with
Yulctide goodies, Bob Hundcmer,
the Torqucmada of the toy busi
ness, is gleefully wrenching the
nose off a cuddly teddy bear.
Nearby, a bespectacled helper
is dismembering a stack of dolls
with blonde tresses, yanking off
their arms without a trace of emo
tion. At his elbow arc the shattered
remains of dump trucks, airplanes
and baby rattles, and bits of stuff
ing from disemboweled toy ani
mals.
They arc working in the toy
testing laboratory of the U.S. Con
sumer Product Safely Commis
sion, and their tables arc crowded
with diabolical devices specifi
cally designed to fold, spindle and
mutilate — or worse.
Clamps and torque wrenches
are applied to the eyes of lovable
toy monkeys. Teething rings arc
dropped in pots of boiling water.
Stuffed bears arc battered with
finger-like probes.
Is this guy the Grinch who stole
Christmas?
“No, I feel more like the good
witch of the North,” says Hunde
mcr, chief of the two-man labora
tory housed in the drab former
barracks of an abandoned Nike
missile site, about 15 miles north
west of Washington.
With extra help for the Christ
mas rush, Hundemer and his assis
tant, Garfield Jenkins, work full
time testing about 900 toys annu
ally for potential safely hazards to
children.
Hundemer estimates that moic
than two-thirds — many of them
mass-produced imports from
Mexico or the Far East -- flunk the
commission’s stringent standards.
They arc either recalled for rede
signing or banned from the market
as unlit for putting under the
Christmas tree.
Last year, 245 toys were volun
tarily recalled by manufacturers at
the agency’s urging. Some of the
worst offenders will be displayed
at a Dee. 1 news conference, when
the commission gives its annual
Christmas warning to parents.
By far the biggest threat posed
by hazardous toys, which ac
counted for 142,000 injuries and a
minimum of 22 deaths last year,
are small parts that children can
easily detach with their teeth or
fingers and put in their mouths,
causing choking or asphyxiation.
Most choking deaths involve
balloons, marbles and other small
balls, says John E. Preston, a me
chanical engineer who designed
many of the agency’s toy-testing
procedures. But balloons and
marbles are exempt from govern
ment safety regulations because of
their universal popularity.
“Can we tolerate the 10 deaths
of children every year from chok
ing on balloons?’’ Preston asked.
“On the other hand, we don’t be
lieve the world is ready to accept a
ban on balloons and marbles.
We’re perplexed about what we
can do.’’
Hundcmer, as the parent of two
small children, says he has “com
pelling reasons’’ for his personal
interest in toy safely.
The government can’t begin to
test all the 150,000 different toys
on the market, he said, “so don’t
depend on the government to pro
vide you with complete safety.’’
Czechs demonstrate;
demand resignations
PRAGUE, Czechoslovakia --
About 30,000 demonstrators Sunday
denounced police brutality and de
manded that the government and top
Communist officials resign. Authori
ties arrested 10 dissidents but left the
marchers alone.
The government denied reports
that police killed a student in bloody
clashes Friday, when hundreds were
beaten, tear-gassed and attacked by
dogs in the largest demonstration in
20 years.
Sunday’s rally began with a few
thousand protesters gathering on
downtown Wcnccslas Square, but the
crowd grew to 30,000 as demonstra
tors reached Narodini Street, where
whitc-hclmcted riot police beat dem
onstrators Friday.
“We don’t let you murder us!”
the crowd chanted. They also chanted
such slogans as “Write Truthfully,”
“Free Unions” and “Jakes to the
dustbin.”
Milos Jakes is the hard-line leader
of the ruling Communist Party and,
unlike other East bloc leaders, has
resisted reforms orchestrated by So
viet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev.
Jakes is joined in his intransigence
by Nicolac Ccauscscu, Romania’s
leader.
About 2,000 demonstrators split
away and crossed a bridge over the
Vltava river in an apparent attempt to
reach the hillside presidential resi
dence.
Police did not interfere in the
march but did block access to the hill.
The smaller group eventually re
turned to Narodini Street, from where
some 10,000 streamed back into
Wcnceslas Square.
Those arrested included Petr Uhl,
a leading human rights activist, who
was charged in connection with the
spreading of news about the alleged
death of Martin Smid at police hands
Friday. The state news agency CTK
said he was charged with “the crimes
of harming the interests of the repub
lic abroad and spreading alarming
news.”
Uhl, a veteran member of the
Charter 77 group, is associated with
VIA, a dissident news service active
in several East European countries. If
convicted, he could be sentenced to 3
1/2 years in prison.
Dissident sources in Prague and
Vienna told The Associated Press
that police also arrested Drahomira
Drazska, who said she was S mid’s
girlfriend. She claimed he was killed
by rcd-bcrctcd special police Friday.
Some prominent dissidents such
as Hana Marvanova of the Independ
ent Peace Association, Emanuel
Mandlcr of the Democratic Initiative
and Anna Sabatova, a senior member
of Charter 77, also were arrested, the
sources said.
Protests also look place in at least
eight East German cities Sunday and
in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. As in
Prague, the demonstrators demanded
democratic reforms but also punish
ment of recently ousted leaders -
Todor Zhivkov in Bulgaria and Erich
Honccker in East Germany.
Plainclothes police in Prague pre
vented several reporters from attend
ing a scheduled news conference on
the Smid ease in the home of Charter
77 spokeswoman Dana Nemcova.
According to dissident sources
who spoke on condition of anonym
ity, police picked up some of the
arrested people as they left or sought
to enter Nemcova’s apartment.
The Washington Post reported
Sunday that a 20-year-old man
named Martin Smid died after being
beaten by two riot policemen near
Wenccslas Square on Friday. Police
notified h is parents that he had died in
an accident, according to the newspa
per, which quoted friends and wit
nesses it did not name.
“The information we have so far
indicates that it was an unfounded
rumor,” government spokesman
Miroslav Pavel told the AP.
Informed unofficial sources said
there may be three people named
Martin Smid in Prague, so the iden
tity of the alleged victim was difficult
to determine. Authorities spoke only
of two Marlin Smids.
Czechoslovak slate television on
Sunday evening showed the two,
both identified as students of mathe
matics at Prague’s Charles Univer
sity.
The first one was said to be from
the tow n of Beroun near Prague. The
other was identified as a Prague resi
dent, who said “I was shaken" when
told of the report he was dead.
The first Martin Smid said he did
not take part in the protest, while the
other said he did. The broadcast said
he would be allowed to continue his
studies.
East Germans continue protesting Communists
LM\coL»c,iN,na.snjcrmany — icns
of thousands of protesters in at least
eight cities braved icy winds Sunday
to keep the heat on the Communist
leadership, despite open borders and
the election of a reform-minded
Cabinet one day earlier.
Nearly 3 million East Germans
crossed into West Berlin and West
Germany between Friday and Sun
day, the second weekend since the
government opened borders to the
west, Dorucr ponce saiu. Most were
just visiting for the day.
Ferry service across the Elbe
River, which forms part of the border,
resumed Sunday at Hit/ackcr, about
80 miles southeast of Hamburg, for
the First lime since April 23, 1945.
In another change, the official
ADN news agency reported that the
roles of the parly and the government
in East Germany’s armed forces will
be separated.
auin said M),IXX) people partici
pated in Dresden’s first officially
authorized protest rally. Other esti
mates of the crowd size ranged up to
100,000.
Lord don’t forgive them because
they knew what they did,” said one
banner in the southern city, making a
biting play on words from Jesus
Christ’s agony on the cross.
In East Berlin, thousands partici
pated in an unauthorized march from
the Alexandcrplaiz square to Parlia
ment, calling for sweeping reforms
and abolition of the Communist
Parly’s guaranteed monopoly on
power.
Parliamcnton Saturday confirmed
a reform-minded Cabinet of Commu
nist Premier Hans Modrow and cre
ated a committee to study possible
constitutional changes, including
dropping a law guaranteeing Com
munist rule.
Wc won’t let ourselves he
blinded by the open borders,” said
one protest banner. “Swap DDR
(East Germany) for Mickey Mouse,”
said another.
One sign suggested, “Honcckcr to
court,” and speakers cal led for prose
cution of the country’s former lead
ers, including ousted president and
party chief Erich Honcckcr, who was
replaced bv Eeon Kren/. on Oct. IS.
Man rescued from quake dies of respiratory failure
SAN FRANCISCO -- Buck Helm,
the longshoreman rescued from a
flattened freeway 3 1/2 days after the
Oct. 17 earthquake, was mourned
Sunday as a gutsy symbol of endur
ance. His death raised the toll from
the quake to 67.
Helm, 58, died of respiratory fail
ure Saturday night at Kaiser-Perma
nentc Medical Center in Oakland,
said hospital spokesman Ron
Trelcven. No other details on his
death were available.
“Buck’s passing pretty much took
everyone by surprise because he was
improving,” Gary Frischcr, a
spokesman for Helm’s family, said in
a statement.
Helm had been taken off a kidney
dialysis machine, and doctors had
hoped to wean him from the respira
tor that had enabled him to breathe.
His death raised the toll from the
collapse of die double-deck Nimitz
Freeway in Oakland to 42. Overall,
the 7.1-magnitude quake killed 67
people, injured more than 2,800, left
more than 14,000 homeless and
caused an estimated $7 billion in
damage.
“To many, Buck had become a
symbol of survival and hope,” Fris
chcr said. “For the Helmses, the
thousands of cards and letters from al I
corners of the world gave Buck and
the family strength and encourage
ment, and for that they arc forever
grateful.”
Others were rescued from the 1 1/
4-milc collapsed section of Interstate
880 shordy after the quake hit, but
Helm was the only person to be
pulled alive from the rubble after
rescue crews began searching the
wrecked road.
Rescuers had given up hope of
finding more survivors when an engi
neer testing the structure’s stability
saw Helm wave from inside his small
car Oct. 21. A large beam that fell in
front of Helm’s Chevrolet Sprint
saved it from being flattened.
The 220-pound, 5-foot-10 Helm
suffered a fractured skull, fractured
neck, three broken ribs, nerve dam
age to his leg and kidney problems
caused by dehydration. He already
had diabetes and high blood pressure.
Helm, a longshoreman’s clerk
who worked the docks in Oakland,
commuted 250 miles each weekend
to visit his family in the small town of
Weaverville.
Nebraskan
Editor Amy Edwards Photo Chief Eric G'egory
.. 472-1766 Night News Editors Eric Planner
A„^r,a9,ni[dlIOf ian* Hlrt Darcle Wlegerl
Assoc News Editors Brandon Loomis Librarian Victoria Ayntle
c-. Ry*n Steeves Art Director Andy Manhart
Editorial Page Editor Lee Rood General Manager Dan Shattll
_ Wire Editor Victoria Ayotte Proouction Manaqe Katherine Pollcky
-°py Desk Editor Deanne Nelson Professional Adviser Don Walton
Soorts Editor Jett Aosl 473-7301
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