European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 3, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday november,3,1994 commentary the stars and stripes Page 17 maitre d s. Doormen Lucky ones in vegas Las vegas a inasmuch As much of America a including those whose ancestors lived on the land Long before Columbus intruded has opened its Waterways and convention Halls to Casino gambling and inasmuch As the people of Florida will vote again this month on whether to join the flock i thought it a Good idea to make an i person special visit a purely for journalistic reasons mind you a to this Mother of All gambling Dens. After three Days in Las vegas i can Tell you that i have no definitive answers As to whether the a nation is going to. Hell in a handbags Ket As a result of Casino gambling a i need More time and better Luck at the slots first a but i can report that i have found the two most wonderful jobs Ever invented. Perhaps i am seeing these jobs Only in their most visible moments perhaps there is dirty work involved that i have not yet realized but if i had to live life Over again i would want to be either a maitre do at a Las vegas nightclub or the y who hails the taxicabs in front of the Reading hotels in town. I say this because As i viewed them there really Isnit much work to do except having to Wear funny uniforms and tuxedos a and the tips Are remarkable. If these Guys also draw a base salary then Howard Al Elfsberg the jobs Are even More rewarding i at some Las vegas shows tickets Are sold by seat number. But at the others a wow a there is something Here called maitre do seating. This Means that you Are at the mercy of the Guy and where you wind up being seated depends on now much Money you slip him. Or them As we found out. Being forewarned to slip the maitre do about $20 for a Good seat we did so. The Man was pleased so pleased that he raised his right Arm and snapped his fingers for another Tuxedo suited take command of us. Go Lee a How would you people like to sit where the Kings Ana Queens sit a maitre do no. 2 asked As we entered the big j room. My wife informed him that we had / just greased maitre do no. 1. A a that a him in a me a was his response As we stood at the Crossroads of being seated in the rafters or Down where the customers sip Champagne have five rings on each hand and have a close up unobstructed View of the performers. By now we had paid the $30-a-person admission charge for the show and slipped $20 to maitre do no. 1. Why Stop now what a a few Bucks in Las vegas when $20 can get lost in a Slot machine in less than five minutes so we paid the second $20. Multiply that by about 200 persons who were similarly seated and imagine How much each Maitred pulls in for each performance. Then there Are what Are called doormen. They spend their time opening and closing taxicab doors. Each major hotel has a taxi stand queue where customers line up for cabs. Kalz cd 5<no but when you see the person in front of you tipping the Doorman $1 after he opens the door to the cab you feel you have to be with the program so when its your turn and the Doorman whistles up a cab asks where you re headed and opens the cab door you feel compelled to slip him a Dollar a or appear to be either a Tightwad or a visiting official from a communist country. It takes All of about 20 seconds for the Doorman to get you on your Way so if he picks up $3 every minute that comes to $180 an hour a and the Guy Hasni to even got a Law degree. Sure there Are slow times like Between 3 and 4 in the morning but you get the picture. Somewhere out there Are some proud mothers who can boast a no my son is not a doctor but he a a maitre do in Las  r a the is of my a. C Cox nows  debate got Down to basics for voters Omaha neb. A you could Call it the Miracle on 45th  after the final whistle of the cowboys cardinals game on a sunday night a pm Channel 42, the Fox station at 45th and fam am treated the big football audience to an hour Long prime time debate Between 2nd District congressional rivals Peter Hoagland the democratic incumbent and Jon Christensen his Republican challenger. What will amaze you is that for 60 minutes they said not one harsh thing about each other. This despite the fact that the closely contested Campaign has featured the usual barrage of negative ads and As Moderator Byron Wood noted at the outset such less Ordinary features As reported death threats and both candidates taking lie Detector tests to substantiate their version of disputed events. The three previous debates had been of the Finger in the Eye variety. A what made this one different was a simple Rule Laid Down by a pm and the co sponsor the Omaha world Herald a you May not mention your opponents  a this forum a Wood Tola viewers a is designed to let you hear Why each of these candidates thinks you should vote for him not against his  Lany King of the world Herald and Bradley Gonzalez of a pm who handled the arrangements told me that it was the newspapers publisher John Gottschalk who suggested the unconventional approach because the a previous debates weren to really answering the questions people needed to have answered. R once that Basic Rule was set the rest of the format was simplicity itself. T cd. Three Veteran members of the world Herald staff alternated in questioning the candidates with two minutes allowed for each answer and a  available to the questioner to help clarify what Hau Beeri it obscure. It turns out that with that design you pan cover a great Deal of ground and illuminate a great Many fundamental differences. For example Hoagland favored changing the tax Davids. Broder code to discourage consumption and increase incentives for saving. Christensen would support a Flat tax on All incomes. _. Christensen opposed and Hoagland supported the use of National standards and National testing to measure schools performance. Hoagland a crack shot in High school said he no longer owns a gun and believes guns to be a a Hazard a not a Protection. T Christensen owns a 12-gauge Shotgun and had his belief in the value of guns As Protection reinforced by recent violent incidents in Omaha he said. Both attend Church and believe in god. Hoagland said that in a a heterogeneous democracy i should not use my leverage As a member of Congress to write my religious views into the statute books and used the question to emphasize his support of abortion rights. Christensen who in other forums has called for restrictions on abortion except when the life of the Mother is threatened did not choose to discuss that Issue but reiterated his support Eft a traditional  asked about their concept of the duty of a representative  that a when you Are the hired hand of the people you have to do what the Boss  the sole exception he said displaying the copy of the Constitution he carries with him would be when Public opinion supported something that violated the  after detailing his roots in the Community and asserting that a my views and values Are very much mainstream Nebraska a said a the decisions i make Are not always popular but if i just wanted to be popular i should have chosen a different  there were other questions touching on National defense immigration social Security Federal mandates and balancing the budget. The Point is simply that any viewer had a Clear definition in an hours time of where these candidates were coming from and where their philosophy of government took them on key issues. The candidates said afterwards that they liked the approach. A i had a great Opportunity to put Forward my Ronald Reagan vision for America a Christensen said. A it was a great Relief not to have charges and counter charges Hoagland said. A Good Campaign needs to offer opportunities for the candidates to mix it up from time to time. But it also needs Opportunity for quiet exposition of views a t m a 8w1nq voter a or gym Mimp no much Jim Ngop Over a i m Taw a so the mum Republican be naut j mow i m. Void hmm my us swing v0iers he Lith my Cunt on is. And that option is rarely offered. At another television debate in Hamden conn., two nights earlier i had watched four gubernatorial candidates be frustrated by a format that limited them to one minute answers and forced them into min debates with special interest representatives in the audience. The first question from the Moderator in that debate called on them to dissect the honesty of their opponents ads a and the hour passed without anyone learning what they would do if elected. For us in the Media the lesson is Clear. The format and ground rules Are critical. We can to just blame the candidates for being negative. Build them an Arena for a genuine Exchange of ideas and they will come. C Washington Post