Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 1985)
THE BOOT BARN The Largest Selection and Lowest Prices in The Brazos Valley Ropers, Exotics, Cowhides, Bullhides Wrangler Jeans and Shirts Silver Laced Belts HOURS: M-SAT. 9:30-6 2.5 miles east of the Brazos Center on FM 1179 (Briarcrest Dr.) In Bryan, Tx. 822-0247 Tom Mallow and James Janek present MERCEDES McCAMBRIDGE MSC TOWNHALL/BROADWAY JANUARY 26, 8:00 P.M. RUDDER AUDITORIUM 845-1234 MASTER CARD/VISA Page ISAThe Battalion/Monday, January 14, 1985 MacDonald seeks retrial to present recent evidence United Press International RALEIGH, N.C. — Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald says he will pray for freedom Monday in his prison cell while his lawyers argue his inno- .cence in the slaughter of his preg nant wife and two children 15 years ago- “I’m eventually going to be vindi cated, whether at this point or in the court of appeals,” said MacDonald serving three life sentences for the murders that inspired the television movie “Fatal Vision.” “But how can justice be done? If I’m vindicated, who gives me back Collette, Kimmy and Krissy?” Mac Donald’s lawyers maintain they have new evidence strong enough to con vince U.S. District Judge Franklin Dupree to order a new trial for the Princeton-educated doctor who be came a Green Beret captain. “My prayer is Judge Dupree will rule in my favor and free me,” said MacDonald in a telephone interview from the federal prison at Bastrop. MacDonald, 41, was stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., in 1970 when his wife Collette and their two daugh ters, Kimberly, 5, and Kristen, 2, were bludgeoned and stabbed to death. He claims a band of drug-crazed hippies burst into his home chanting “Acid is groovy, kill the pigs,” and butchered his family, leaving him bound and bleeding from 17 stab wounds. Convicted nine years later alter charges twice had been dismissed, MacDonald steadfastly has pro claimed his innocence. For Monday’s hearing, his lawyers have submitted a confession by Ca thy Williams, 33. Williams confessed to the crime to an FBI agent in Jack sonville, Fla., the day before last No vember’s airing of “Fatal Vision.” Prosecutors say Williams’ statement conflicts with physical evi dence at the crime scene and confes sions by at least six others. MacDonald said he believes the confessions by Williams and Helena Stoeckley, another drug addict who later denied her statement. She died of pneumonia in 1983. Both women claimed to be the only woman at the MacDonalds’ home. MacDonald said it “obviously ... would he better for me” if Williams’ statement “was closer in detail, but that doesn’t mean it’s unbelievable. The problem is, recounting this hor rible event 15 years later, she can’t recall it clearly.” “I didn’t have the liberty of choos ing my assailants, but that doesn’t mean I should stay in prison the rest of my life,” he said. MacDonald said he is proud of his skills as a physician and has pub lished articles in medical journals while in prison. “I have been reasonably successful in my life,” he said. “I’m a normal human being. I have very good friends, but I’ve been caught up in a terrible series of tragedies.” Charity accused of misusing funds United Press International LOS ANGELES — A Southern California organization has used television ads depicting starving Ethiopians to collect millions of dol lars for the African nation, but has spent little in aid, other charitable groups claim. A spokesman for International Christian Aid said Friday it has not been allowed to send aid directly to Ethiopia but has turned over sup plies to a French organization, Doc tors Without Borders. A spokesman for that group, how ever, said it hasn’t received a cent from ICA, an affiliate of Inter-Aid, Inc., of Camarillo, Calif. “They are real skilled at collecting money and real reticent about spending it,” said the spokesman for a respected medical aid group based in Los Angeles. A spokeswoman for the Catholic Relief Services agency in New York said it has had a problem with groups that claim to be “working in places that they aren’t.” “ICA does not have a presence in Ethiopia,” she said, “and we have been on the ground there for 10 years and have a pretty good idea of what’s going on there.” Inter-Aid is run by its founder, L. Joe Bass, who set up a group called “Underground Evangelism” in Los Angeles in the early 1960s to smug gle Bibles to Communist countries. Bass was reportedly out of the country and Nello Pinelli, the group’s director of communications, was not available for comment on the new allegations regarding Ethio pia. Pinelli told the New York Times the group collected more than $34 million in the 1983 fiscal year. He said the rate of contributions has in creased in recent weeks with appeals to former donors and heavy TV and newspaper advertising. The ads contained the implied en dorsement of Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and celebrities Martin Sheen and Shirley Jones. A spokesman for Bradley said Fri day the mayor had sent a letter to In ter-Aid agreeing to serve on its Board of Reference, but earlier this month became aware of problems with the group and sent a second let ter “telling them to take us off the board.” Actor Martin Sheen has no affilia tion with the group, a spokesman said, and “is quite upset” about the use of his name “without his knowl edge or consent.” Inter-Aid has been under investi gation by the Ventura County Dis trict Attorney’s office for two years, a probe intensified last summer when two former employees brought forth evidence of wrong doing. The Cleveland Plain Dealer, meanwhile, included Inter-Aid in a prize-winning series on questionable charities two years ago. Reporter Chris Jensen told UPI he found that ICA — with a multi million dollar budget — sent 20- year-old Civil Defense crackers to Africa in 1976. His series also noted that U.S. State Department got upset when ICA tried to raise funds for Somalia, claiming they were helping 1.5 mil lion refugees, about 1 million more than existed. Other sources said ICA and Inter- Aid had a series of interlocking fi nancial accounts around the world hiding the movement of funds. ICA, which claims to be a religious organization, is exempt from gov ernment regulations requiring other non-profit groups to account for the expenditure of contributions. Toddling terrorists United Press International DETROIT — A suburban restau rant owner facing an age discrimina tion complaint filed on behalf of two toddlers said Sunday the one-year- old diners “terrorized” ti table and he was justified in asking them to leave. Beverley Scharg and her sister, Sharon Surnow, filed a complaint with the Michigan Civil Rights Com mission last week claiming they were harassed and asked to leave a subur ban Detroit restaurant because of the ages of their children. But the restaurant owner, Cary Cochran, told the Detroit Free Press that young Brett Scharg and Adam Surnow “terrorized a 15-foot section around the table. We needed a snow shovel to clean up the mess.” The amount of food that actually landed on the floor of the Beau Jacks restaurant is in dispute. “Certainly they threw some cracker crumbs and some pieces of (peanut butter-and-jelly) sandwich on the floor,” Scharg said. But after their lunch, Cochran “came over and sat down at a table next to us,” Surnow said. “He turned his chair toward us, folded his legs and said, T’ve never seen anything like this. You have really made a mess. Is this what your children do at your home?’ “I told him we weren’t done, we hadn’t cleaned up yet,” Scharg said. “So I picked up the larger pieces, but I wasn’t going to sit there and sweep up his floor. Then he proceeded to call our children vandals. I said, ‘Vandalism? Throwing crumbs on the floor is vandalism?’ I said, ‘Why don’t you hire busboys?”’ Cochran, who recently spent $8,500 for carpeting, said he had no regrets about the way he treated the women and their children. “I’ve been in this business with seven restaurants for 31 years and have never seen anything like that,” he said. “It looked as if they ordered food and just turned around and threw it. You couldn’t get it up with just a vacuum cleaner. Jim Horn, spokesman for the Civil Rights Commission, said the case is being investigated. He con firmed that Scharg and Surnow filed a complaint Wednesday. When a complaint is filed with the commission, a mediator must try to resolve the dispute, Horn said. If no solution is found, charges could be filed, he said. Bring Mother Nature indoors . . . and add a personal touch to your dorm or apartment. In our climate controlled green house you’ll find an unlimited selection of indoor plants. Come take a leisurely stroll... and we’re sure you’ll want to bring Mother Nature indoors. Our convenient location is only minutes from Texas A&M. We Deliver I lours: Mon S.il <n>. 20% OFF ALL TROPICALS contemporary landscape S services & nursery 846-1448 l (M, North Aw.. Mrviin Newly Remodeled Newly Redecorated Very Large 1 bedroom units $275/mo. Nice 2 bedroom, 2 bath units with split bedrooms. Huge walk-in closets $405/mo. Laundry Facilities Pool Sun Deck Near Shuttle Bus Club Room 3200 Finfeather Office Hours 9-6 Mon.-Fri./Sat. 10-5/Sun. 12-5 Phone 822-7321 Tinsley’s has a great deal for you: 10 pieces of light n crispy chicken and 10 fresh-baked rolls, $5.99. No coupon necessary. '41 Chicken ’n rolls Offer good through February 28, 1985. Pi Beta Phi National Fraternity for Women Coming to TAMU Women students unaffiliated with Greek Sororities are invited to sign up: meet and talk with Pi Beta Phi representatives in the lobby of Aggieland Hotel. Thursday, January 17,12-9 p.m. Friday, January 18,12-6 p.m. Saturday, January 19,12-6 p.m. for more information call 823-0356 822-5718