College suicide rate on the rise By VIVIAN B. MARTIN The UConn Mental Health Clinic — were an average of one or two UConn Mental Health officials — located on the bottom floor of the attempts a month. like their colleagues nationwide — University Health Services — is Brown also notes an increase in the are combatting a problem for which handling an average of about three number of emergency calls — about even "back-to-basic courses" and .serioussuicide attempts a month, a 15 a weekend — the clinic receives. tighter curriculums have no answers situation which results in the stu- Last semester, more than 500 stu- — more seriously depressed students dents being taken to area hospitals. dents sought help at the clinic, and and an increase in the number A year ago, according to Albert Brown estimates five to ten per cent attempting suicide. Brown, the clinic's director, there See "Combatting." page 6 A rough time for mental health By VIVIAN B. MARTIN defense budget was about right, and that fall also; more students were It was around the same time that most surprising of all — for the first going in debt to attend college; many Gallup was telling America about time in 20 years. 42 per cent of the can't write a sentence, but more of some of his fall findings: most country was going to church. them, too. were going to church. families spend their free time watch- The National-On-Campus-Report Yet. nowhere in these publications statt Photo by John Oobhardt television, most people felt the ing had some interesting things to say See "Suicides" page 7 (Efltmecttmt Safin (ftampufi Serving Storrs Since 1896 v VOL. LXXX1 NO. ss STORRS.CONNECTICIIT THURSDAY. MARCH 9. 1978 Despite IARC objections Panel recommends parking, shuttle fees By MICHAEL T. CALVERT next year, and he said students may find it The UConn Traffic and Parking Advisory financially trying if all fees go up at once. Committee voted Wednesday to recommend a Roy Bobowick. president of the Graduate $3 charge for the University Shuttle bus Student Council and committee, disagreed service, and voted to raise the parking fee with Cafero, and said costs for maintanance of from $10 to $">0 the parking areas were already over $37.00 If adopted, the charge will be on the student per space. "The sooner we start to increase fee bills in the Fall of 1979. The recommenda- the fee the better we will look." Bobowick tion to raise the fees was made by an ad hoc said.since the fees will go up eventually committee formed by the Traffic Advisory anyway. Committtee at their last meeting. The Cafero expressed concern over whether the committee decided to recommend the fee hike fee raises would mean improved services for in a meeting on Monday. students, especially in the area of shuttle bus operation, and put forward an IARC proposi- IARC opposes fees, page 3 tion which included recommendations for extended bus hours, more stops routes to One member of the ad hoc committee, outlying apartment houses, and a "change in however, was opposed to the parking fee hike. the philosophy that the shuttle buses are United Press International Larry Cafero, Chairman of the Inter-Area primarily for the commuters." U.S. Sen. William Scott, R-Va., arrives prepared for a Resident's Council (IRAC), said, "I don't William Massett. director of traffic services, speech he was to deliver on the Senate floor Tuesday in think we should raise the parking fee this said the standing proposal would create" op- opposition to the Panama Canal treaties. The bound volumes year." erational problems" and could not be are records of assets of Americans living in the Canal Zone Cafero said that since the student fees were implemented with existing funds and equip- which Scott claims the United States is giving away. not increased this year, they probably will be ment. Strikers support Professor backs Haldeman claim seizure of mines Story page 4. By MICHAEL T. CALVERT refusing the Russian advances and work at Columbia University's Rus- Many people may have been informing the Chinese of the Rus- sian Institute. surprised by the recent revelation in sian's intentions. Tokes said this was Tokes said it is not surprising that H.R. Haldeman's, "The Ends of a "brilliant move" on Nixon's part the Russians wanted to launch a Power" that Russia was seriously as a method of gaining Chinese trust pre-emptive strike against China in considering a nuclear attack on China and normalizing Sino-American rela- 1969. At that time, Tokes said, the in 1969. Rudolf Tokes was not. tions. Chinese were just beginning to bring "Haldeman's story, on the whole, Tokes, who has been teaching here their nuclear programs up to an is quite accurate," the professor of since 1970, said he first heard of the effective level, and their civil defense political science here said Wednes- Russian offer in 1969 from "friends "system was not what it is today." day. "In the summer of 1969, the in Washington" who he declined to The Russians, on the other hand, had U.S. was given to understand by the identify' Before coming to UConn. just reached nuclear parity with the Russians that they wanted the U.S. to Tokes was a fellow at the U.S. stand by in the event of a pre- Research Institute on Communist However, there is a more deep- emptive nuclear strike on China." Affairs, an organization founded by seated reason for the Russians want- According to Tokes, then-President Dbigniew Brzezinski, now President ing to attack the Chinese, Tokes said. Richard Nixon used the knowledge of Carter's national security advisor. the Russian threat as "the key to Brzezinski was Tokes' doctoral ad- "If they act this way. there is a open the door to China." by flatly visor while he was doing his doctoral See "Prof," page 3 Ghmttrttirut Satlg (tatnpiu The new mythology Serving Storrs Since 1896 MARK A DUPUIS/Editor-ln-Chie» CRAIG K SPERY/Busineaa Manager JOHN HILL HI 'Managing Editor of the comic books VIVIAN B MARTIN/Associate Editor various special powers (the group is By JOHN HILL ID currently in iimbo — its leader has lost his particular super-power and the group has broken up. Whether Involve the students The Greeks had their gods, the loss is permanant. only time and headed by Zeus, who hurled his Marvel Comics Group will tell). thunder bolts, the Mesopotamians had the legend of Gilgamesh, and MARVEL LEADS THE PACK over other comic publishers in sales at the The College of Liberal Arts and the liberal arts debate at this time is early Britain had King Arthur and the Other Brother, Dasse said. The other Sciences Monday kicked off what that' it fails, however, to include Round Table. major competitor is DC Comics, with promises to be a worthwhile and students. While the faculty of the college should have final say in what such famous titles as "Batman," healthy debate on proposals to BUT MYTHOLOGY of the ancients change curriculum requirements for "Superman," and "Wonder Wo- is approved, students should at least is being replaced by the mythology of man." its several thousand students. be included to some degree in the the 20th century, a pantheon led by a discussions leading to those final half-naked sword-swashing barbar- WHILE DEFINITE ACTION on the actions. ian in the distant past, a youth who CASE IN POINT proposals to tighten and extend can crawl up the sides of buildings distribution requirements for a de- and a talking duck who acts suspic- gree from the University's largest AFTER ALL THE DEBATE and iously like Groucho Marx. Comic books have not only pene- college was not taken, the professors after the final vote has been taken, it trated the imaginations and dormi- did agree that some change was will be the students who will be most The new mythology is, of course, tory rooms of UConn students, but needed. affected by any new requirements, also at least one of their classrooms. and thus they should have some say Oomi'J books. Despite the image of The major apparent problem with in what is going on now. being merely picture books for children, comic books are attracting Thomas J. Roberts, professor of an increasing audience from the English on sabitical this semester, college-age group. teaches courses in fantasy literature and science fiction. He has comic The Other Brother Bookstore, in books on his required reading list. Storr's Post Office block, is the main source of comic books for the UConn "Some students suggested I do it," campus. Bruce Dasse, the manager Roberts said. "I found they had of the Other Brother, says most of his complicated plot structures, with market for comics is college students. some stories spreading over six issues." "A majority of them buy more than In his fantasy course Roberts says one title," Dasse says. "Some buy he used "Conan," "Howard the three or four at a time." Duck." "Dr. Strange," "Master of the Mystic Arts" and other titles. THE FASTEST MOVERS in the UConn area are "Conan the Barbar- "I think it is a neglected art form," ian" and "Howard the Duck." Dasse Roberts said, "it is a strange said, followed by "Spiderman," the combination of words and art. It is "Fantastic Four." and "Thor." creating a whole new mythos." * Mi .Gn^men.' Its me! Good d' "iongsun ?ar^... fcrrerrber ?" Conan is based on the fantasy "They also have a lot of irony, it is a novels of the 1920's by E.