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College Station, Texas
Thursday August 4, 1983
ts
|olunteers training
help rape victims
■ by Gwyneth M. Vauchn
du end, 5
Hum, RoJfe
? BinghamM' Battalion Reporter
Training sessions for 22 volunteers
Monday for the area’s first
Iis was c p e cr i s i s center. A location has not
Hem found I < >i ihe center, but
•gonatW^B,i zer Carolyn Ruffino said
Reinfel 'ednesday, she hopes it will be open
carter itnn the next two months.
Huffino, the county court at law
rtVjdgs . said the volunteer counselors
V "'illlprovide escort counseling for
Tvictims, which means they will go
Be hospital with them, see them
trough questioning and assist them
16 C0Sl(M 1 gi 1 a tr i a i jf one results. The
il at the'' ; )u hsd 0 rs will act as sounding boards
ent mthe victims and “give them moral,
th the cosl|iysical and emotional support,”
red al riiBno said,
that it is I
o dine
The center also will provide refer
ral services — sending people to other
agencies for additional services or in
formation, she said, and will work to
educate the community about rape.
Bill Turner, Brazos County assis
tant district attorney, said most peo
ple think rape is a sex crime, but it is
really an assault crime. The victims
seldom bring it upon themselves, he
said.
The volunteers will staff the center
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, and
calls will be forwarded to their homes
at night, Ruffino said.
Anyone interested in helping can
attend the training sessions, she said,
and volunteers will be screened for
counselor positions after the training
is completed. She said she hopes to
eventually have 50 trained volun
teers.
The center needs funding — most
of which will come from the commun
ity, she said. To help raise the funds
Ruffino is applying for grants, but to
open the center $10,000 will have to
be collected. Eventually, a director,
secretary and full-time staff will have
to be hired for the center, she said.
Persons interested in volunteering
or donating money for the center can
call Ruffino or Turner at 775-7400,
or send donations or checks, made
out to Brazos County Rape Crisis
Center, Inc., to the county offices.
Those interested in volunteering also
can attend the training sessions being
held Thursday and Monday through
Thursday of next week at the county
court at law courtroom on the second
'floor of the county courthouse.
3 EN
6:30-1
7 a.m.-l
Search for steamboat
o end in September
2
)
by Jill Slayman
Battalion Reporter
Several sunken steamboats have
een found in Caddo Lake, but none
ave been the Mittie Stephens — the
oal Texas A&M archaeologists
Oped to find when they began their
each in March.
H)r. Ervan Garrison, leader of the
littie Stephens research team, says
>ateam learned two weeks ago the
oal believed to be the Mittie
tephens — which burned and sank
14 years ago — may be the R.K.
Junkerson.
■The steamboat can’t be the Mittie
tephens because the one which the
earns divers found is a stern-
wheeler, Garrison said. The newly
Hovered boat has one big paddle
wheel behind it, but the Mittie
'tephens had one paddle on each side
'f the boat.
Hut the research team is excited
ibout the discovery of the boat, Carri
on said, because it appears to be in
airly good condition and may con-
ain quite a bit of machinery. Three-
oimhs of the paddle and the stern
eem to be intact, he said.
Much of the Mittie Stephens’ struc-
ure is believed to have burned before
tsank shortly after midnight on Feb.
2, 1869.
■The boat is of historical signifi-
ance because of Its tfvree lavishly de
corated decks, and because it was car
rying many wealthy passengers when
it went down. At least 62 of the 104
passengers died.
At one time the Mittie Stephens
carried Union dispatches down the
Red River during the Civil War.
The New Orleans-based boat navi
gated the Mississippi River, the Red
River, Big Cedar Bayou and Caddo
Lake — which straddles the Texas-
Louisiana border.
The boat was bound for Jefferson
— the second largest city in Texas at
the time.
“I’m not totally convinced that
we’re in the wrong area,” Garrison
said of the search. “The banks could
have caved in on her.”
Searching for clues is a slow process
for the divers, he said. A pipeline in
the area with moss growing around it
covers the divers’ masks and equip
ment, causing them to surface about
every five minutes to clean up, he
said.
Metal detectors are used, he said,
but if mud is covering an object, it
usually can’t be detected.
“We’re going to keep working the
Caddo area,” Garrison said, “until
we’re absolutely sure , the Mittie
Stephens isn’t there.”
A silver spoon with the initials
“G.H.” -which -was found, vn the lake is
an interesting clue, Garrison said. It
may be nothing, but at one time, the
Mittie Stephens had a cook whose ini
tials were “G.H.” Researchers are
checking with a silver company to see
f it had the spoon pattern in the
1860s.
Two other boats also have been dis
covered, which Garrison said could be
from a list of about 12 steamboats that
have sunk.
To narrow down which ones they
may be, he said, the dimensions of the
boats must be taken after the mud is
cleared away from them.
Research can be slow at times be
cause permits are needed to do any
dredging or moving of objects at the
lake’s bottom, Garrison said. The per
mits are obtained from either Texas
or Louisiana, depending on the side
of the lake.
Researchers now are waiting for a
permit from Louisiana to work on the
R.K. Dunkerson.
Researchers will continue sear
ching for the Mittie Stephens until
September, Garrison said. If it hasn’t
been found by then, they will review
documents again to decide if they will
keep looking in the same area or start
looking somewhere else.
“If anyone knows where the Mittie
Stephens is,” Garrison said, “please
let me know.”
Stimulating
photo by Scott Minton
Sue Hill, a physical therapist at A.P.
Beutel Health Center, administers an
ultra-sound treatment to a patient’s
The patient was injured while jogging.
foot.
‘Show of force’ rapped
United Press International
A top Soviet official visiting Nicar
agua denounced the presence of U.S.
warships off Central America as a
“clear demonstration of force,” but
stopped short of promising military
aid to the Sandinista government in
case of war.
Soviet Secretary General of Fore
ign Affairs Yuri Fokine told a news
conference in Managua Wednesday
that the United States was “flexing its
muscles” by ordering a battle group to
steam off Nicaragua’s Pacific coast.
The ships are “a clear demonstra
tion of force to coerce Nicaragua into
certain action, into some behavior
that is suitable, that is acceptable to
the United States,” Fokine said at the
end of two days of talks with Sandinis
ta officials.
Fokine, however, hinted the
Soviets would not supply direct milit
ary aid to the Sandimstas if Nicaragua
became engaged in a regional war.
When asked about possible military
aid, he replied: “We will support
Nicaragua politically in all forms.”
The American battle group, led by
the aircraft carrier Ranger, is patroll
ing off the Pacific coast of Central
America. The aircraft carrier Coral
Sea and the battleship New Jersey are
to join the group by the end of Sep
tember.
Radioactive waste disposal site narrowed to 15 counties
United Press International
AUSTIN — The state has zeroed in
n 15 counties in southwest and
orth-central Texas as prospective
tes for a multi-million dollar low-
“vel radioactive waste disposal facil-
y-Sexpected to open in late 1987.
jTom Blackburn, spokesman for
le Texas Low Level Radioactive
Vastc Disposal Authority, said
S
Wednesday the list will probably be
trimmed to five sites by Aug. 31.
The 300-acre facility, which will
cost between $ 10 million and $ 12 mil
lion, will store low-level nuclear waste
produced at Texas hospitals, univer
sities, laboratories and some indus
tries.
Counties still in contention for the
plant are Maverick, Zavala, Frio, Dim
mit, LaSalle, Webb in Southwest
Texas; and Garza, Borden, Howard,
Scurry, Mitchell, Haskell, Throck
morton, Baylor and Knox in the
north.
Blackburn said none of the poten
tial sites are within 20 miles of a major
city.
A three-part siting study is ex
pected to be finished by Aug. 31 when
three to five final sites will be recom
mended to the authority, said Black
burn. A final site will be selected by
the authority for licensing.
Meanwhile, the authority said it
had extended its $590,000 contract
with a Houston firm that is conduct
ing the siting study.
The consulting firm is reviewing
elements such as geology, hydrology.
mineral resources, population and
flooding potential in its study of possi
ble sites.
Blackburn said the proposed facil
ity, which will have a life expectancy
of about 30 years, will be built “strictly
for Texas-generated waste.” He said
one site will satisfy the state’s needs
until such facilities are no longer
needed.
Blackburn said the facility, which
will open in late 1987 or early 1988,
will not store high-level spent fuel
from nuclear power reactors, but it
may handle low-level radioactive
materials from nuclear reactors.
Texas has no operating commer
cial nuclear power plants, but four are
expected to be in operation by 1990.
GM to fight fine,
recall of X-cars
Watch out, Bevo!
photo by Toni Renee Bishop
Julia Lynn, a music education major at visiting from Austin, was touring the
the University of Texas, feels right at cattle pasture by the Beef and Cattle
home with her bovine companion. Lynn, Center on Wednesday.
United Press International
WASHINGTON — General
Motors Corp., denying it tried to con
ceal a brake defect in its 1980 X-cars,
vows to fight a government suit call
ing for a recall of 1.1 million auto
mobiles and a $4 million fine.
The government filed a complaint
Wednesday asking a U.S. District
Court in Washington to recall all 1980
model X-cars for brake repairs and to
impose the unprecedented $4 million
fine on GM for trying to cover up the
problem.
The No. 1 auto maker immediately
vowed to contest the suit.
“We categorically deny the govern
ment’s assertion of misrepresenta
tion,” GM’s assistant general counsel,
William Weber Jr., said from Detroit.
The suit was unexpected, Weber
said, and “it is especially unwarranted
in view of the fact that GM has coop
erated fully with (the government) to
develop the facts which will show
clearly that no further recall or other
corrective action is appropriate.”
Transportation Secretary Eli
zabeth Dole called the complaint “one
of the most serious ever filed by the
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration” and said it “reflects
the priority this department has for
automobile safety.”
The suit, filed by the Justice De
partment for the traffic safety agency,
claims GM knew before it began pro
ducing its front-wheel-drive 1980 X-
cars — the Chevrolet Citation, Pon
tiac Phoenix, Buick Skylark and Old-
smobile Omega — that the rear
wheels had a tendency to lock prema
turely.
At least 1,740 owners have com
plained of rear wheel lockups causing
skidding or loss of control, resulting
in numerous accidents and at least 71
injuries and 15 deaths.
The lawsuit accused GM of going
ahead with production, even though
its own tests had spotted the problem,
and of failing to notify owners or gov
ernment highway safety officials of
the defect.
GM changed its brake design be
ginning with its 1981 models.
inside
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forecast
Cloudy to partly cloudy skies today
with a 30 percent chance of thun
dershowers and a high of 89. The
low tonight near 73. Partly cloudy
Friday with a 20 percent chance of
thundershowers and a high of 91.
Pardy sunny Saturday with a 10
E ercent chance of showers and a
igh of 91.