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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 1982)
features Executions long-time feature in China United Press International XIAN, China — A nois\ sv, crowded, dusty street suddenly grew quiet. A martial procession went by. Soldiers, weapons, military vehicles, dignified-looking offi cials, a young prisoner forced to bow his head by the hands of a gruff army officer. A scene as old as Xian itself. “They’re going to shoot him,” remarked one onlooker tersely, his face without expression. As a warning to others, they paraded him down Liberation Road, one of the busiest streets, before the execution at midday. A phalanx of blue-uniformed public security men on five motorcycles led the way, each with an outrider, automatic rifles slung across their backs. The whirl-whirl of the cruis ing machines almost was drowned out by the sirens, and the propaganda blasts from four bullnorns mounted atop a van in the following convoy. Rows of solemn-faced men, some in uniform and others in civilian dress, sat immobile in side several passeneer vans. One wore starched green uniforms, red stars staring out from their army caps. It was the PLA, rather than the less inspiring public security forces, that was entrusted with the task of guarding the bound prisoner. The theatrics were ob vious: the armed guardians of the revolution holding the cri minal by the scruff of the neck. The same theatrics have been played out on the streets of Chi na for centuries. Prisoners bound and labeled were para ded in cages and on ox carts be fore facing the executioners. They often were beheaded in public. Xian, as the center of ancient Chinese civilizat|ion for more than a thousand years, is no stranger to processions of this sort. On this particular Saturday, Jan. 16, there were three truck- loads of soldiers armed to the teeth. A submachinegun with a dis cshaped clip of ammunition was positioned on each driver’s cab, manned by a trooper adopting a firing stance. Other soldiers on the backs of look at them and instead con centrated on maintaining their combat-ready poise. These pris oners were going to serve jail sentences. The condemned prisoner was in the first truck. Hands tied be hind his back, he stood beside the soldier manning the sub machinegun. A burly officer held him from behind. “Prisoner for execution,” de clared a cloth banner hung across the front of the truck. The cloth was white, the charac ters black — the traditional col ors of death. A local cadre said the prisoner was a killer who was convicted and sentenced earlier that morning at a sports stadium in front of thousands of selected spectators. It was half an hour from noon. The column was moving slowly south on Liberation Road. The officer kept forcing the doomed prisoner’s head into a bow — the prescribed posture for someone soon to die in shame. But the prisoner refused to play the role. Again and again, he obstin- Jann Licandro, a senior secondary education major from Bryan holds her son, Jamie Licandro, who seems to be How to exercise without work New facili haven’t goi Computer side several passenger vans. One Otner soldiers on the backs ot /\.gam ana again, ne oostin- unmistakable message in their the trucks leveled their rifles at ately raised his young, pudgy demeanor: “We mean business.” Then came the People’s Liberation Army, protectors of the Communist faith, symbol of the ultimate good guys in China. The young soldiers had mean looks pasted on their faces and an angle from the front, aiming at some invisible enemy off both sides of the street. The last two trucks each car ried six other convicts. They stood with downcast faces among the troops, who did not face and squinted as he looked into the winter sun arching lo\V over the southern horizon. He knew that when the sun lined up with the road he would have a bullet in his head. He was 20. United Press International CHICAGO — It’s a lazy per son’s dream — exercising with out working up a sweat. Youjust lie back and relax and the elec tricity does all the work. Phyllis Hartigan, a tall, slim redhead, is running an electro- MSC ARTS COMMITTEE PRESENTS THE NATIONAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY £ nic reducing salon in Chicago. “It sounds too good to be true, I know,” Hartigan said, whose studio is just off fashion able Michigan Avenue. “But not everyone can do physical exer cise. Hartigan said the device is a medical machine used for mus cle therapy, and it can keep the muscles of a paraplegic from atrophy. Its use can be risky under certain conditions. Dr. John Toerge, medical di rector of rehabilitation services at Northwestern Memorial Hos pital, said there is little danger of injury if the subject is in good health and has had no joint in juries — and if well-trained peo ple monitor the effects of the electrical muscle stimulator. But, Toerge said, “Any time you artificially impose activity on a muscle, you run the risk of unbalancing the muscle. “When you exercise, there is an organ in the muscle that pre vents you from over-extending yourself. With the machine, you run the risk of overextension.” Hartigan said they don’t take any unnecessary chances. She said she had one 60-year- old woman client who did not say in her medical history that cle she suffered from a muscle dis- DEADLY! ... is the only word for the hottest video game in town. From novice to expert, you choose the level of compe tition you want. Avoid the dangerous spikes to super zap your way to the high score on Tempest’ Face it today at GAMES tjalote* Northgate and Culpepper Plaza “Well, we worked on her,” Hartigan said. “She lost so many inches in a half-hour her slacks would not stay on. I had to run out and buy some safety pins for her. “The next day she was ex periencing terrible pain and swelling. She thought one time wouldn’t hurt her. Her doctor made her call and apologize.” Hartigan also said Olympic teams use the machine for train ing, to eliminate the pain of sprains. She said a nurse is always on hand and Dr. Ron Kirschner, who operates a weight loss clinic on the premises, is on call. Kirschner has been working with Hartigan about six months. Kirschner said the machine changes muscle tissue in much the same way as other forms of exercise, such as running. Hartigan’s Figure-tone studio caters to the wealthy and to busi ness executives who say they lack time for exercise.' • A client first lillsoutanJwj 1 T~* S T history. People sufferimft ^ muscle, kidney, glandiil heart disease; epilepsy, T A ' tis, asthma, diabetes, hemBO y y lia, gallstones, certain all® or skin diseases artK accepted, she said, norattH u n i le d re gnant women or those bBcHICAGO their menstrual period, l rn ett took ! Weight and measui her accompai are recorded for those wli liei sultry alto the medical criteria. president’s far The treatment is givenE / ' ldt was a ! cushioned table with 1« | d re " lta J trodes attached to the wj F . ran . k V 1 D ' K “A slight (electrical) ra I ed ‘ he >'° l goes into the muscle and™ 1 !’ „ emem it contract,” Mrs. Hartiganfr 11 ' “On the first visit, a clien [) 1C retin lose a quarter to twoincl»|^ ss ;in( l s j n j pending on body stmcturihe f lrst blacl have a lot of people whoait the White H ing their clothes in.” tied back on The impulse feels likeasAioon with an of pin pricks. Temember “s Hartigan said the ele8i|t fr career, can be arranged toworkoiB ... c.fic problem areas or for ? ofthe invita) al body toning d(in - t remen She said 16 30-minii# edal sions three times a we« casion needed to reach am, i (lou - leven , level and one 30-mmutesT| wore „ she a month thereafter. | BarneU „ * u he 1 b-sess.on senet* while $ 448 and theonce-a-mo^pearances sion, $35. gVh the mo “I don’t like pain—andfters of 1932 what a lot of exercise iCFfe Barnett, gan said. “This is passive®! cise. We don’t build musdsl tone them. We re-eduatef cle groups to work togettaj She said similar satol operating in New York,®! West Coast and in “ Ohio. less I Now Better Than Ever. 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