KENTUCKY 81‘ an independent student newspaper ~ ’unou. 21 Volume LXIX. Number 91 Friday, February 3, 1978 Close encounter... University of Kentucky Lexington. Kentucky ' ...with technical adviser of popular UFO movie By STEVE HIRSCH Kernel Reporter The phrase “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” now rivals “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing” and “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” for the title of Most Over-Repeated Comment of All Time. What most people don’t know is that the ungainly expression was coined by Dr. J. Allen Hynek, an astronomy professor at Nor- thwestern University, to classify real-life reports of alien cmtact with humans. Hynek, who lectured at the UK Student Center yesterday, was technical adviser for the film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and is Director of the Center for UFO Studies, an association of scientists established in 1973 to promote serious research on UFO’s. Originally a sceptic, Hynek became interested in UFO’s as an astronomical consultant to the Air Force on its studies, “Proect Sign” and “Project Blue Book," which examined UFO sightings. In a press conference Thursday afternoon, Hynek discussed his involvement with the film and spoke of government supp-ession of UFO- related information. “When (film director Steven) Spielbu‘g asked me to be technical adviser, I expected to meet the typical Hollywood director, sitting in his chair shouting through a megaphone. Instead I found him to .be extremely knowledgeable. I didn’t have to tell him too much about UFO‘s. “He asked me to go over the script and make it jibe a little better with reality. Many it the things in the film have their basis in real reports. Of course, Spielburg highly dramatized them." One incidental bit of drama was a cameo appearance by Hynek in the film. “It was a gag. Spielburg and I thaight it would be fun for me to have an Alfred Hitchcock walk-on seqrence. Most of it got cut, which is a relief since parts of it might have affected my professional credibility. Originally, he had the little creatures come up and examine me, pull my beard and so m." Hynek said that, far from in spiring a flood d phony sightings, the film is a boon to UFO research. “People said that as soon as the film came out, there would be a rash of fictitious sightings,” he said. “That isn’t exactly what happened The picture is making it acceptable to talk about UFO’s. What we are getting is a great number, of reports that go as far back as ’55, from people who only now are speaking out. ‘UFO’ is no longer a dirty word.” According to Hynek, efforts on the part of the Air Force and the CIA have done much to discredit UFO research. “Sightings come in global waves; the last wave was in 1973. DR. J. ALLEN HYNEK There was such an enormous wave of reports in 1952 that military wires were clogged,” he said. “The CIA became concerned not about the UFO’s but about the volume of reports. This was in the wake of the McCarthy period and it was thought that an enemy could tie up military communications with UFO reports and then pull off a sneak attack like Pearl Harbor. So the CIA and the Air Force issued a directive to debunk UFOs. “None of the 13,000 cases reported to the Air Force was ever released to the press unless the press had prior lmorvledge of the case. Six hundred of those cases were neva' explained. The government certainly has never played clean pool with the public. In Blood supply critically low; student donations needed By DEBBIE McDANlEL Kernel Staff Writer The critical blood shortages caused by January’s snowstorms continued this week despite blood drives conducted by the Central Kentucky Blood Center. The center, a non-profit organization, supplies blood to 33 Lexington and regional Kentucky hospitals. Patty Bowen, donor service representative for the center, said, “During that week of heavy snow, we had to cancel a couple of blood collection mobiles due to the weather, so we didn’t have nearly the amount we expected.” The center, which relies heavily on students for blood donations, fell low on blood levels during the hdidays and was forced to summon faculty members for support. Now that school has resumed, the weather has taken over as the main determinant of blood suptly. “We need to maintain a supply of over 900 pints on a daily basis to keep us in a safe situation," Bowen said. “One hundred twenty pints of that is to meet orders from 33 hospitals over a Ito-county area. Last week we were down around 500 pints and we had to notify hospitals that if we didn’t draw enough blood they would have to cancel all elective (postponable) surgeries and save blood for emergencies.” Radio appeals brought an over- whelming response from Lexington residents and a sufficient amount of blood was collected. Volunteer drivers for the center picked to donors and emergaicy bloodmobiles were sent to four local hospitals. Calls made to various UK fraternities and sororities attracted approximately 60 volunteers. “On (January) 22nd and 23rd, we were in desperate shape We stayed open all right and got over 500 pints in two days,” said Bowen. “People are not aware that we need it (donations) all the time. People respond so well to appeals, but when we’re not drawing blood for me two or three days it inside puts us in an emergency situation again.” Mark Pritchett, the area coor- dinator of the north campus, called, the center and arranged for two mobiles to draw blood at Holmes Hall. He said that upon hearing the radio appeal, he asked the center to send personnel “over here to save students the long walk through snow and ice.” According to Pritchett, of the nearly 140 students who volunteered, one in three did not qualify to give blood. Bowen reported that 64 pints composed the total donation. Lexington hospitals stay in operation regardless of the snowfall and must be prepared to handle emergency ‘bleeder’ cases. Each hospital struggled through the shortage in its own way. Most hospitals said that even though a shortage existed. inter-hospital blood transfers had been continued with abundant blood bank resources. Continued on page 3 today nafion ..THE FLORIDA GATORS INVADE Rupp Arena tomorrow night, hoping to avenge an earlier loss to the Wildcats. Bob Stauble writes about what’s in store for UK on page 5. state ..A MEASURE TO LEGALIZE THE MANUFACTURE AND SALE OF LAETRILE IN KENTUCKY was ap- proved 79-14 Thursday by the state House of Represen- tatives. The bill now goes to the Senate. Laetrile is a substance derived from apricot pits that is believed by some to cure or prevent cancer. The bill requires a physician’s prescription for the purchm of Laetrile, and would require all patients' requests for the substance to be filed by physicians with the state Human Resources Department. ..SI-IN. WALTER BAKER. R-Glasgow, Thursday in- troduced a bill to allow Kentucky women to use their maiden names on their drives‘ licenses. The bill is a response to a federal court ruling that a Lexington woman, Sylvia Scott Whitlow, could not use her maiden name on her license under existing Kentucky law. “The only pupose of the driver‘s liceme if for iden- tification.“ Baker said. “It's to make sure the person is in fact the person identified on the license who has passed the driving test." The bill provides a person may use any name he or she is commonly known by on his or her driver‘s liceme. Whitlow is a UK journalism professor. ..SECRETARY OF DEFENSE HAROLD BROWN said Thursday the United States must increase its defense spending by $56 billion over the next five years in order to stay‘up with Russia. He said also that Soviet advances in satellitedestroying weapons are leaving the United States with little choice but to get into a space weapons race with Russia. world ..MOVIE DIRECTOR ROMAN POLANSKI slipped into Paris Thursday after fleeing California to avoid a sen. tence for having sexual relations with a l3-year-old girl. Polanski, 44, flew from Los Angeles to London on Wednesday and then came to Paris where he maintains an apartment, according to friends of the director. Polanski. who directed such popular films as “Rosemary‘s Baby" and “Chinatown,‘ declined to discuss the matter with reporters who conta ‘ted him by telephme at his Paris apartment. But he said he might issue a statement later. slate weather ..IIEAV’Y ON THE SUNSHINE. PLEASE. Partly sunny skies have been predicted for today with a warming trend taking the tempe'ature up to highsof near 32 degrees. A 20 percent likelihood of snow showers exists for Friday night and only a slim chance of precipitation is expected for the weekend Look for even warmer air as early as Sunday. Compiled from Associated Press dispatches the military, when in doubt classify. “There’s also some face-saving involved,” Hynek said. “If the Air Force had to tell everything they know, they’d have to admit they don’t understand everything.” The biggest obstacle to the ac- ceptance of UFO research is not the govemment, Hynek said, but his colleagues’ inflexible point of view. “So many formal scientists are guilty of what I call ‘temporal provincialism,’ the idea that we have discovered everything. They forget we’ve always had scientific revolutions and will have more. They say,‘Now we know everything.’ Continued on page 3 r Senate activates withdrawal policy By JIM MCNAIR Copy Editor In a scantily piblicized legislative measure, a new course withrkawal policy was enacted by the University Senate in its last meeting of the fall semester. The policy, effective this semester, supersedes the previous withdrawal policy and sets later deadline dates for course with- drawals and pass-fail and credit- arxiit option changes. According to Professor Paul Oberst, Senate chairman, benefiting most from the rule are freshmen who are inexperienced at selecting courses and students in genaal who find themselves in courses for which they are not adequately prepared. “All students run the risk of getting into sectidns too hard for them," Oberst said. “Freshmen often don’t have enough preparation for certain courses and others take glamour courses they know they’re not prepared for.” Oberst also said students often had no grades by the time the old with- drawal deadlines approached. Extensions of the deadlines, he said, would help them decide whether to drop a class or remain. Under the old rule, if a student wanted to withdraw from a class with no grade or record of enrollment, the withdrawal procedure had to have been com- pleted within the first quarter of the semester. If the student sought to withdraw after the first quarter, it could be done “only upon petition certifying urgait reasons related to extended illness or equivalent distress." The petition had to be approved and then a‘grade assigned Now, students can withdraw from classes withtxit dire reasons until halfway through the semester. Students who withdraw during the first third of the semester will not be assessed a grade or record of enrollment. A grade of “W” will be given to students who withdraw between the first third of the semester and mid- term. If withdrawal after mid-term is dsired, a petition must be sub— mitted stating reasons including but nd limited to: . —illness or injury of the student; —serious personal or family problems; —financial inability to continue at the University, or; —call to military service. The petition must be approved by the dean of the student’s college. The instructor will then assign a grade. Oberst said one problem with the liberalized withdrawal policy is that students who were denied entry in a limited enrollment class are cheated by those who wait a long time to withdraw from it. Even though Oberst himself favors the idea of extending with- drawal deadlines, he said, “It is the consensus of faculty members that withdrawals are a waste of time and money.” Continued on page 3 David O'Neil Famed sports artist Leroy Neiman shares a laugh John's basketball game. Neiman has been com- with Mike Connelly (right),physical education junior. missioned to create a painting depicting the UK Connelly, a sportscaster for WBKY-Fm. the UK radio basketball team. station. interviewed Neiman during halftime of the St. Basketball prints available soon Neiman puts Cats on canvas By JENNIFER GREER Kernel Staff Writer Noted sports artist Leroy Neiman, whose accomplishments include paintings of the 1972 and. 1976 Olympics and, more recently, Super Bowl XII, has just finished what he considers to be one of his “best sports paintings." was made possible by Ashland Oil Inc., which commissioned Neiman to create a painting that would depict “the color and excitement of UK basketball in Rupp Arena." Neiman visited Lexington in December and made preliminary sketches while watching finals of the UK Invitational Tournament here. His finished work captures UK The subject? The University of players Jack Givens and Mike Kentucky basketball team. Three hundred serigraphs (silk screen prints done by hand) of the new Neiman painting, numbered and signed by the artist, will be offered to friends of the University by the UK Alumni Association. The serigraphs will measure roughly 25 by 32 inches and will sell for $800 apiece. Proceeds from the sale of the serigraphs will be used by UK for scholarships, professorships and other areas of academic need. This unique fund-raising effort Phillips engulfing a St. John’s player as the three go up for a bruising rebound. In the backcourt, James Lee and Rick Robey watch warily, while the faces of the other players blendinto a vivid splash of color that captures the electricity of 213.0(1) screaming Kentucky fans. Bob McCowan, president of Ash hnd Oil and chairman of the UK Annual Giving Fund, said he got the idea for the Neiman painting when he spoke with the artist‘s agent at a New York luncheon. "We‘re always looking for ways to raise money for UK. By selling something like these serigraphs— which appreciate like you wouldn’t believe—it kind of puts some fun into the giving," McCowan said. According to McCowan, his company paid Neiman $25,000 for the basketball painting. “I‘ve heard he is one of the most commercially successfully artists in the world, and that the total value of his works has been estimated at $75 million." McCowan mentioned the possibility that, following the sale of the serigraphs, prints would be made available for purchase (presumably at a cheaper price). Ray Hornbazk, vice president for University relations, said 50 of the serigraphs are already spoken for. “Like his other works, they are in great demand." he said. Inquiries concerning pitchase of the Neiman serigraphs should be directed to the UK Alumni Association.