>    foo(bar, baz)
>    	char bar;
>    	int baz;
>    {
>    	short what_i_want = baz;
>    
>    then all compilers will do the right thing and your code will work as
>    you expected.  
> 
> except i'll have to cast call the calls to foo() with an
> (int).  of course i think this is a bad idea.

But that is exactly what happens at the function itself anyway.  
A K&R compiler will automatically cast sub-int objects to int.

An ansi compiler will pass a short if that is what the prototype says,
but then your codes is going to behave differently depending on what
you compile it with - sub-optimal.

If you want to retain support for old-style function definitions, then
all args should be int or larger.  Anything else can produce strange
results. 

--sjg