Tuesday, March 27, 1984AThe Battalion/Page 7
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Community program offers classes
Spring session registration for classes offered by College
[Station Community Education is tonight in the A&M Ju
nior High School gym at 7 p.m. for College Station resi-
[dents and at 8 p.m. for all others. Late registration will con-
[tinue Wednesday and Thursday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Jin the Community Education Office, 109 Timber, in Col
lege Station.
| Classes are being offered to children, youth and adults.
[Courses will be offered in the areas of arts and crafts, com-
[puters, vocational and office skills, music, dance, fitness and
jrecreation. Among the new classes for the spring are sail
ing, fresh pasta making, discovering yourself, stress man
agement, applique and stenciling.
| Also classes for those interested in completing their high
'school equivalency and classes in English as a Second Lan
guage will be given free of charge. For more information,
fcontact the Community Education office at 696-3620.
Program to offer motorcycle class
The Texas A&M Safety Education Program will offer a
[class about learning to ride a motorcyle during the latter
■part of April. The course will consist of eight hours of class-
[room instruction and 12 hours of on-cycle instruction. Reg-
[istration for the class will close at 5 p.m. April 2 and will be
ion a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information call
845-30 1 9.
Engineers to travel to Germany
Any Students interested in travelling to Germany this
'summer through the College of Engineering are invited to
[attend an informational meeting March 28 at 5 p.m. in 342
iZachry. The trip will be May 10-30 and will cost $1,000.
The entire fee is due April 10. For more information call
Lou Ann Morris, 845-72/0.
Variety Show tickets available
Tickets for the MSC Variety Show are available at the
MSG Box Office.The show will be April 13 at 7 p.m. Tickets
i are $3 for students and $3.50 for non-students.
Workshops offered to students
The College of Science will hold a series of workshops for
students interested in careers in biology and physics.
Speakers from business, industry, research and education
■ will discuss career opportunities. The meeting for students
interested in physics will be today in 105 Heldenfels at 6:30
p.m. and the biology meeting will be Wednesday in 100
Heldenfels.
Juniors host weekend actitivites
The Class of ’85 will host its Junior Weekend March 30
through April 1. Activities include a mixer March 30 from 8
p.m. to midnight at the Elks Lodge and a playday April 1 at
the Royal Oaks Raquet Club. Tickets now on sale in the Me
morial Student Center.
Defensive driving course offered
The Brazos Valley Safety Agency will conduct a de
fensive driving course today and Wednesday at the Ra-
mada Inn. The eight-hour course will be from 6 to 10 p.m.
both days. Students must attend both sessions. Registration
begins at 5 p.m. at the Ramada Inn or students can pre-reg
ister by calling 693-8178. Cost for the course is $20. The
course can be used to have certain traffic violations dis
missed or to get a 10 percent reduction in automobile rates.
Judge hands down
12-year sentences
to barroom rapists
United Press International
FALL RIVER, Mass. — Four
men were ordered Monday to
spend up to 12 years in state
prison for their convictions in
an emotional barroom gang
rape trial that sparked a na
tional debate over the rights of
rape victims.
Daniel Silva, 27, John Cor-
- deiro, 24, and Victor Raposo,
23, were sentenced to nine-to-
12-year terms at Walpole State
Prison for their role in the
March 6, 1983, assault on a 22-
year-old woman at Big Dan’s
Tavern in New Bedford. Jo-
^ seph Vieira, 28, was ordered to
9 spend six to eight years in
M prison.
IS “By their verdict, the jury has
K established beyond a reasonable
doubt that the female victim
I herein was raped,” Young told
a silent, crowded courtroom.
“Thus, it would impugn that
verdict to entertain ... any plea
,for leniency based upon some
ieory of consent.”
Cordeiro, Silva and Raposo
11 be eligible for parole after
six years; Vieira, after four
years.
’ The four convicted rapists,
found guilty by two separate ju
ries, could have received a max-
limum of life in prison.
Silva wept when he heard the
rdict. The other three de-
[fendants were expressionless.
All four were handcuffed and
separated from spectators by a
double row of court officers,
f When the men were led out
of the 86-year-old courthouse
to a waiting sherriffs depart
ment van, the crowd whistled
and booed. Shouts of “Let them
go” were heard as the van drove
off under heavy guard.
But the onlookers were re-
ained and dispersed quickly,
irm
vicf
unlike the hostile crowd that
gathered outside the court
house to hear the guilty verdicts
against Silva and Vieira March
17. Then, spectators raced from
the courtroom screaming and
E ounded on cars in the parking
>t.
Vieira apparently received a
lighter sentence than the three
other defendants because there
was no evidence he had any
form of intercourse with the
woman.
Silva and Cordeiro — the
only defendants to testify dur
ing the trial — admitted having
had sex with the woman in the
March 6, 1983, incident, and
Cordeiro said Raposo also had
oral sex with her. Both de
fendants testified that the
woman was a willing partici
pant.
Young rejected arguments by
defense attorneys that sen
tences should be more lenient
because of the men’s national
origin. All the defendants are
Portuguese immigrants.
“A defendant’s ethnic back
ground plays no role in the sen
tencing process,” Young said.
“Any such consideration of-
fenas the deepest ideals of
American justice and fair play
and would be the most pro
found misconduct.”
Afterward, Bristol County
District Attorney Ronald Pina
called the sentences fair.
“They weren’t excessive, but
they weren’t minimal,” he said.
“There is a message that anyone
who considers doing the crime
will take (the sentences) into
consideration.”
Defense attorneys called the
sentences harsh, and two said
they would appeal.
Prom night ’84
School bashes cost a bundle, but parents and grads fork over
United Press International
Prom night 1984, a rite of
passage in which high school ju
niors and seniors are trans
formed into princes and prin
cesses, costs a king’s ransom,
experts say.
The price is nearly $1,000 a
couple in some areas, a figure
guaranteed to shock parents on
a budget.
The annual spring ritual has
become so sophisticated and ex
pensive in major cities that the
cost alone excludes a lot of kids,
said prom organizer Esther
Bello, chief of the math depart
ment at North Providence High
School in Providence, R.I.
In many areas prom night
begins with youngsters in for
mal attire climbing into chauf
feur-driven limousines to go to
an expensive restaurant for din
ner, followed by the dance in
the ballroom of a posh hotel
and breakfast before returning
home at dawn.
Some youngsters forego the
limousine and spend the money
instead on an after-prom hotel
room. Trend-watchers say such
extravagance is necessary.
“It’s a milestone,” said Sarah
Wright, fashion editor of The
Journal in Providence. “There
can be the first drunk or the
first intercourse. It formalizes
relationships.
“Graduation is not their
choice, not their rite of passage.
The senior prom is,” Wright
said.
As a rule, the bigger the city
the bigger the bill. In Dallas the
symbol of prestige is a Texas
Taxi, affordable only if Daddy
strikes oil.
The Texas Taxi costs $50 an
hour for a minimum eight
hours, a price that includes
rental of a white Cadillac Eldo
rado with 6-foot longhorns af
fixed to the hood, yellow roses
and a chauffeur in a Western
outfit with boots and a 10-gal
lon hat.
In places like Boston, Pitts
burgh, Los Angeles, New York
and Atlanta, high schools rent
ballrooms at posh hotels. The
cost: between $4,000 and
$10,000, which may not include
light refreshments served by
the hotel.
A band may be hired for
about $2,000, but many schools
instead select a local disc jockey
who brings tapes and provides
banter for about $500.
The prom is strictly a dress-
up affair — formal gowns for
girls and tuxedos for boys.
School officials say the boy is
responsible for renting the lim
ousine ($30 an hour for a mini
mum of eight hours) and his
tuxedo (about $45). He also
must buy the prom tickets ($20-
$100), a corsage for his date
($15-$35), dinner before the
prom ($40-$ 100) and breakfast
afterward (about $15). With
gratuities, the evening total may
equal a year’s allowance.
9-month-old child found
crawling on busy street J
United Press International
INDIANAPOLIS — Child
neglect charges may be filed
against the mother of a 9-
month-old baby who was found
clad in a diaper crawling along a
busy city street, juvenile officers
said Monday.
“We are investigating the
case for child neglect,” Sgt. Ste
phen Thompson, a city juvenile
officer in the felony abuse unit,
told UPI. he said it was a “possi
bility” that charges would be
filed.
The infant, Cary Wesley Al
len, was spotted crawling along
a northside street just before 8
a.m. Saturday. The street is a
main artery southbound into
downtown from the northern
suburbs and residential areas.
Jim Plummer, 47, of subur
ban Carmel, stopped his car as
he noticed the baby, which he at
first thought was a dog. He said
he was amazed when it turned
out to be an infant, adding he
was thankful he stopped.
Thompson said the baby was
being housed at the Marion
County Guardian’s Home while
the investigation was underway.
“We have 72 working hours
in which to do something in the
case,” he said. The baby must be
returned to his mother if no
charges are filed after that time.
A published report quoted
the tiny boy’s mother as saying
the baby was taken from her
while she slept and she resented
police treating the case as child
abandonment.
“I would never, ever aban
don my baby or even think
about it,” the mother, Rosalene
Allen, 23, told the Indianapolis
Star.
Police were taking a
statement from Allen Monday.
Officials said the boy ap
peared healthy and well fed
when found on the street, but
Thompson said the child had
some “bruises” on his buttocks.
“The baby was cold too, he
only had a diaper on,” the juve
nile officer said.
Allen called police several
hours after Gary was found.
She told the Star a woman
she knew only as “Jackie” paid
extraordinary attention to her
son, Gary, during a Friday
night gathering she called a get-
together — “not a party” — at
an apartment building.
She said she and her son
stayed in the building because
she did not have a ride home
and she lived more than 15
blocks away.
“This Jackie was acting weird
or something,” Allen said. “You
know, just wanting to hold Gary
and show him a lot of atten
tion.”
She said she awoke about
6:30 a.m. Saturday and gave
Gary his bottle, but dozed off in
a chair while feeding him.
She woke again about 9:10
a.m., she said, and “I knew she
(Jackie) must have taken him
because we were up on the sec
ond floor, and there is no way
Gary could have climbed down
two flights of steps and then
pushed a heavy door to get out
side.”
She said another woman also
stayed at the building Friday
night.
Thompson said “it’s a little
doubtful” that the baby was
taken from the apartment, and
then left out on the street.
\ SPRING SAVINGS W
^20% off all Twisties
20% off all wedding bands
and wedding sets in stock
30% off all Keepsake" wedding
bands and Keepsake® wedding
sets in stock
DOUGLAS JEWELRY
Locally owned and operated for over 20 years.
1623 Texas Ave.
212 N. Main
Downtown Bryan
822-3119
College Station
693-0677
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Hours Mon. - Fri. 7 a.m. -10 p.m.
Sat 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
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■ •fifteen
L. Sprague de Camp
Catherine de Camp
Don Maitz
Wilson “Bob” Tucker
nunncrt
A Four Day Science Fiction Extravaganza
SF Writers * SF Artists * SF Movies * Panels * Readings
Banquet * Masquerade * Art Show * Auction * Dealers
Room * Parties * More Movies
STARTS THURSDAY!
Tickets on Sale Now at MSC Box Office