Wednesday, January 29, 1986/The Battalion/Page 17
Photo by MIKE SANCHEZ
Three cadets walk through a construction detour adjacent to the
Zachry Engineering Center along Spence Drive.
Coroners trying
to verify death
of church father
Associated Press
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. —Cor
oner’s officials Tuesday said they
would match fingerprints taken
from a body to try to confirm the an
nounced death of L. Ron Hubbard,
the reclusive founder of the Church
of Scientology.
The wealthy organization, often
entangled in battles with the Inter
nal Revenue Service and the target
of lawsuits from former members,
said late Monday that Hubbard, 74,
died Friday of a stroke at his San
Luis Obispo County ranch.
It said Hubbard, who had not
been seen in public since 1980, was
cremated, and his ashes were scat
tered at sea.
A funeral was held Monday at the
Hollywood Palladium for Hubbard,
a science fiction writer who founded
Scientology in 1954, said Ken Ho-
den, president of the Church of Sci
entology of Los Angeles.
“We had 2,800 people inside, and
approximately 2,000 outside who
just couldn’t get in,” Hoden said.
He added that the service was be
ing sent by satellite to 600 churches
and missions across the world.
Scientology is based on Hubbard’s
1948 book “Dianetics: The Modern
Science of Mental Health,” a book
that has sold millions of copies.
Through the use of a so-called E-
meter, somewhat like a lie detector,
church members undergo exercises
and counseling to eliminate negative
mental images.
The church has claimed up to 6
million members worldwide, and re
portedly earned $100 million a year
at its peak in the 1970s.
In 1980, the IRS took the church
to U.S. Tax Court in Los Angeles be
cause of the group’s tax-exempt sta
tus from 1970 through 1972. The
IRS maintained the California
branch of the church was not tax-
exempt and owed $1.4 million in in
come taxes for the period. In 1984,
the court decided against the
Church of Scientology, ordering
payment of back taxes and penalties.
Hubbard’s eldest son, Ronald E.
DeWolf, in a lawsuit filed in 1982,
had claimed that Hubbard was ei
ther dead or mentally incompetent,
but a judge ruled Hubbard was alive.
And in a lawsuit tried in Portland,
Ore., a former church member was
awarded $39 million in May after
claiming the church fraudulently en
ticed her to buy its courses by prom
ising to improve her intelligence,
creativity and eyesight. Thejury ver
dict was overturned by the trial
judge, and another trial is pending.
Fingerprints taken from the body
at a mortuary were to be matched to
see if they were Hubbard’s, San Luis
Obispo County Coroner Don Hines
said Tuesday. Hines said he was no
tified of Hubbard’s death at 7:30
a.m. Saturday, several hours after
Hubbard’s reported death.
A death certificate signed by Hub
bard’s physician, Dr. Eugene Denk
of Los Angeles, a will and a certifi
cate of religious belief from Hub
bard asking that no autopsy be per
formed was turned over to the
coroner’s investigator who viewed
the body, Hines said.
Soviets may have received intelligence
Airman charged with passing information
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — An Air Force
enlisted man who woi ked with the
aviation wing that operates super-se
cret SR-71 spy planes has been ar
rested and charged with trying to
pass intelligence information to the
Soviet Union, of ficials said Tuesday.
Airman 1st Class Bruce D. Ott, 25,
of Erie, Pa., was arrested by Air
Force and FBI agents in Davis,
Calif, on suspicion of attempted un
authorized release of national de
fense information, said Capt. Joseph
Reagan urges
Congress to
support Angola
WASHINGTON — The Rea
gan administration urged Con
gress on Tuesday to support re
bels fighting the Cuban-backed
government of Angola, but cau
tioned there is “no possibility” of
an outright military victory for ei
ther side.
And conservative groups, who
hailed the forces of guerrilla
leader Jonas Savimbi as “brave
anti-communist freedom fight
ers,” renewed their call for U.S.
companies to close their opera
tions in the African country.
Savimbi, arriving Tuesday for
a press agent-guided tour includ
ing meetings with President Rea
gan and leaders of Congress, will
be trying to drum up backing for
his military group, UNITA,
which is fighting a government
aided by Cuban troops.
Saxon, the public information offi
cer at Beale Air Force Base, where
Ott was assigned.
The spokesman said the arrest oc
curred on Jan. 22, and that Ott was
now in pre-trial confinement at the
base. He refused, however, to dis
cuss any further details of the case or
say to which country Ott was at
tempting to pass information.
Air Force officials at the Pentagon
also refused to discuss the case pub
licly or to explain why the service
waited almost a week to disclose the
arrest.
But a number of military and gov
ernment sources who demanded an
onymity said Ott had been singled
out by federal investigators after
making an attempt to pass secret in
formation to the Soviet Union.
One source said Ott had been
charged with attempting to pass in
formation “that concerned the SR-
71.” Another said he was believed to
have been operating alone and that
the investigation “was fairly recent,”
addings authorities believe they ar
rested Ott before any information
actually changed hands.
The SR-71, unofficially known as
the Blackbird, is a long-range recon
naissance jet that can fly more than
three times the speed of sound at al
titudes above 80,000 feet. The plane
is routinely used by the United
States for classified intelligence
gathering missions, and can be
equipped with cameras and other
surveillance equipment capable of
surveying 100,000 square miles in an
hour’s time.
Parental kidnapping devastating
Associated Press
Abducted children suffer even
when Daddy or Mommy is the kid
napper — a notion which experts on
missing children say the public has
been slow to accept.
“We find that about 95 percent of
the children who are recovered do
require psychiatric care,” says
Georgia Flilgeman, director of the
Vanished Children’s Alliance in Los
Gatos, Calif.
Parental kidnapping, she said
Tuesday, is “really a devastating
form of child abuse.”
Katheryn Rosenthal, director of
Children’s Rights of Florida, Inc.,
says “First of all, the type of person
who kidnaps a child is not the stable
sort.”
Parental kidnapping — often a
desperate last act in a failed mar
riage or love affair — is far more
common than kidnappings by
strangers, and is estimated to occur
anywhere from 25,000 to 500,000
times a year in this country, accord
ing to the National Center for Miss
ing and Exploited Children in Wash
ington.
The last case to draw national at
tention involved a five-year-old boy,
Benjamin Lee Studer, who recog
nized himself last week on an NBC-
TV program on missing children.
A court hearing is scheduled
Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala.,
where Benjamin Lestser Studer was
arrested on charges of kidnapping
and unlawful flight.
The father had brought the boy
from Covington, Ky., to Alabama a
year aeo. Studer’s former wife, Jen-
“We find that about 95
percent of the children
who are recovered do re
quire psychiatric care. ”
— Georgia Hilgeman, di
rector of the Vanished
Children’s Alliance.
nifer, claims she had been awarded
legal custody by a Kentucky court.
Studer, who was arrested on charges
of kidnapping and unlawful flight,
claims he had not been served with a
divorce decree' and had no knowl
edge of the custody award.
Benji appeared to have been well-
treated by his father. Sadly, that is
not always the case.
“The basic reason for abduction,
we have found over the years, is re
venge,” Rosenthal said. “Anytime
you have a situation like that, you
end up with children who very
quickly become excess baggage.”
A parent on the lam, for instance,
can’t use his or her Social Security
number for fear of being traced, and
thus can’t work. Inevitably, the child
is blamed for the hardship, Rosen
thal said.
In some cases, children are kid
napped and then abandoned or put
up for adoption by a parent who
only wants revenge against a former
spouse.
Rosenthal recalled one case in
which a father kidnapped his chil
dren, then would telephone his for
mer wife to make her listen while he
beat the children.
CONTACT LENSES
pr.* - daily wear soft lenses
pr.* - extended wear soft lenses
pr.* - tinted soft lenses
call 696-3754
FOR APPOINTMENT
* eye exam and care kit not included
OPEN MONDAY THRU SATURDAY
CHARLES C. SCHROEPPEL, O.D.,P.C.
DOCTOR OF OPTOMETRY
707 SOUTH TEXAS AVE-SUITE 101D
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS 77840
jjp&j 1 block South of Texas & University Dr. vkmmkJ
Learn to Teach
Aerobics
Learnabout:
Background benefits of aerobic dance. The Dance-
exercise industry, Choreographing routines, Designing a
safe and fun workout, choosing music and finding an
aerobics job.
Dress Ready to move
Feb. 9 from 9-5
at Gyms of Texas, 700 University
846-0053
sponsored by Fitness Services of Texas
Garnett Langston, M.A. 764-8259
Amount encloses includes
Name □ $45°° Total Fee
local Q $40<)o T 0 t a ] p ee
Address A&M Student with ID
Phone
Send registration form with
check or money order to:
Fitness Services of Texas
P.O. Box 3444, Bryan TX 77805
□ $20°° Non-Refundable
Deposit-Balance Due Feb. 9
Number of Participants limited
Register by Feb. 2
HELP!?
Rudder Theatre Complex
Needs Student Workers
For Stagehand and
Spotlight Work.
To Apply Come To:
Rudder Auditorium
Mon. Feb. 3 7 p.m.
COME SIGN UP!
Kent Har'tce
—^=Etor
Governor
Paid advertising by the Kent Hance for Governor committee
Get involved! Help elect the
next governor of Texas
Republican Primary-May 3
Organizational Meetina Thurs. Jan. 30
7 p.m. Room 302 Rudder
If interested, but not able to attend call:
Matt 260-3791 Jeannine 693-8632
^ New and Improved %
Student Book Exchange
In the Spring, a listing of all
books for sale will be made
available free of charge!
Come by 2nd floor
Pavillion january 16-24
and register your books to be sold!
GOVERNMENT
STUDENT
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
★ FINALLY ★
Tired of the inconvenience of going to a
laundromat. For about the same amount of
money that you and your roommates are
spending, all of you can enjoy the affordable
convenience of having a brand-new, full size,
washer and dryer in your house or apartment.
(W/D connections required)
IMAGINE THE ADVANTAGES
• Can wash as often as you wish
• No more hassles with the weather
• No more scrounging for quarters
• No more leaving your home to wash
For more details please call Hinphil
Rentals at 693-6527 and ask for Phil.
Come out and help
The
Phi Delts
in their
“Search for Gandhi”
Thursday, Jan. 30
8 p.m.
Knights of Columbus Hall
Definitely Phi Delt