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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 6, 1986)
Thursday, March 6, 1986/The Battalion/Page 13 ietnam veterans lew study links military service with higher suicide rates Associated Press OSTON — Vietnam veterans nearly twice as likely to commit de as men in the same age tp who avoided the war, a new y concludes. esearchers say they believe their Jt is the first to show a cause-and- |ct relationship between military ice in Vietnam and an unusually igh suicide rate. Di Norman Hearst of the Uni- lity of California in San Fran- , said, “I think it demonstrates experience of being drafted dur- Jthe Vietnam era had profound, ig-term psychological effects on jile.” fhe study indicated that Vietnam erans were 86 percent more likely to commit suicide in the years after the war than non-veterans. The research was based on a sur vey of death records of men who were involved in the draft lottery from 1970 through 1972. Research ers concluded that an estimated 1,250 deaths throughout the nation in the years that followed the war were directly linked to military serv ice during that three-year period. “If the draft affected men in the same way through the whole Viet nam era as it appeared to affect them for these three years, then the number might be in the tens of thou sands,” Hearst said. The study, directed by Hearst, was published in the New England Journal of Medicine Feb. 27. Four million Americans served in Indo-China during the Vietnam War and 800,000 were assigned to combat. The study was based on a review of death records of 14,145 men in Pennsylvania and California who were born between 1950 and 1952 and died between 1974 and 1983. Between 1970 and 1972, the mili tary lottery randomly assigned men to one of two groups on the basis of their birth dates. One group consisted of those with low lottery numbers who were eligi ble for the draft and the other con sisted of those with high numbers who were exempt. The researchers noted that be cause of the random lottery the two groups were identical except for their draft status. So any differences between them -in later years must be caused by the draft. The suicide rate was 13 percent higher among those with low lottery numbers than those with high num bers. This figure was diluted, however, because a low lottery number didn’t necessarily mean military service. In fact, only 26 percent of the draft-eligible men entered the mili tary during the three years while 9 percent of draft-exempt men served as volunteers. When the researchers took into account the percentages in each group who actually served, they pro jected that the suicide rate was 86. percent higher among the veterans. cut here 1 Defensive Driving Course March 10 & 11,25 & 26 College Station Hilton Pre-register by phone: 693-8178 Ticket deferral and 10% insurance discount cut here mvalanche i ijkills seven, injures nine Associated Press ■ OSLO, Norway — An av alanche of snow Wednesday hit Norwegian soldiers engaged in a NATO winter exercise, leaving at least seven soldiers dead, nine in- ■red and another 11 missing, military and police officials said. ■ Hundreds of soldiers, six heli copters and civilian rescue teams fith dogs searched into the eve ning for the missing soldiers, but iescue efforts were hampered by Bnd and snowfall, NRK radio said. Bbt. Col. Gunnar Mjell of the yiianeuver’s information office [said all the soldiers involved were ■orwegian. The NTB news agency quoted him as saying the jf VIdead men were brought to hospi- * tals in Harstad and Narvik, 900 miles northeast of Oslo. 1^3 About 20,000 soldiers from all I V '10 member countries of NATO " wore involved in the exercise, hlled Anchor Express, being hold throughout northern Nor- ofArkjway until March' 13. s and the! ve shoull dc City. South Africans protest at funeral Associated Press JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — At least 30,000 black mourners, joined by hundreds of whites, turned a mass funeral for 17 black riot victims Wednesday into a vast demonstration of opposition to apartheid. The throng packed a soccer stadium in Alexandra, a squalid black township wedged among the richest white suburbs of Johannesburg. In the crowd were black ac tivist Winnie Mandela and diplomats from seven West ern nations, including the United States. Among clergymen of all races was the Rev. Beyers Naude, 70, an Afrikaner whose spiritual journey from faith in apartheid to the struggle for black rights has made him a symbol of white liberalism. Mike Beea, president of the Alexandra Civic Associa tion, told the mourners, “No one is free in this country as long as the black man is not free. We are simply say ing, dismantle apartheid. “When is this brutality going to stop?” he asked. “When is this barbarism going to end?” Police with rifles manned all entrances to Alexandra and searched incoming cars, including that of Betsy Spiro, political counselor of the U.S. Embassy; They stayed well away from the stadium, but a helicopter circled overhead. With most other forms of protest banned, the crowd — which some estimates put at 50,000 or more — trans formed the service into a huge rally against the official apartheid race policy that reserves privilege for South Africa’s 5 million whites and denies rights to the 24 mil lion blacks. Announcing Ladies' Night Thursdays $1.00 Well J Drinks for ladies All Night Long No Cover Charge COLLEGE STATION HILTON and Conference Center 801 University Drive East * 6917500 Contractors vie for new Air Force fighter Associated Press WASHINGTON — Seven major defense contractors filed first-round bids Wednesday to build a new ra dar-evading Stealth fighter the Air Force hopes will rule the skies by the mid-1990s. . — The Air Force wants the plane, dubbed the Advanced Tactical Fighter, to replace the F-15, a me dium-range dogfighter that first flew in 1972. A later version of the plane may ultimately take the place of the F-16 for striking ground tar gets, and the Navy is watching to see whether the new fighter can take the place of the F-14s that protect U.S. ships at sea. General Dynamics Corp. and the other six contractors submitted 3,000-page technical documents two weeks agoj backed by financial pro posals Wednesday, trying to show the Air Force they can build 750 new fighters for $35 million apiece. Col. Albert C. Piccirillo, director of the Air Force program to develop the new fighter, said the purpose of the ATF is to knock out enemy fight ers and airborne warning and con trol systems planes, clearing the air for other U.S. aircraft and recon naissance craft, and protecting ground forces. The plane, still on the drawing board, will be made largely of com posite materials and will use an array of new technology, ranging from so- called Stealth devices to hide it from enemy radar, to engines that can fly efficiently at nearly twice the speed of sound at 50,000 feet above sea level. Congratulations to RHA for winning the Texas Residence Hall Association School of the Year! Also for winning "Best Delegation" and Best of luck to the following 86-87 TRHA officers: Allison Kruest-President Debbie Caldorola-Secretary Carla Carey-Gulf Coast Regional Director hinson . Weapp n we and do p es not * ks next)* up to tlit- week. . going' 0 ,-hen we ositive ® Richard! 1 having jut. Hertj . It was* ed tons. - Filing for Spring Election Wednesday, March 5 thru Friday, March 7 Student Government, OCA, RHA, Yell Leaders, CLASS COUNCIL, Graduate Council 214 Pavilion 9:00 am - 5:00 pm SPRING BREAK ONLY 9 days away. Start your TAN-U tan TODAY. TAN U M-Th 9-11 p.m. Sun 12:30-11 p.m. Frl.-Sat 9-6 p.m. 104 Old College Main at Northgate Walk-ins are welcome. Call 846-9779 for an appointment. James & Carol Barrett '85-owners Battalion Classified 845-2611 6 hours only SALE Keyboard Centers buyers have purchased large quan- ties of all products for this special sales event. It’s the Biggest ever! Sale hours Sunday March 9 1 p.m. - 7 p.m. only Colege Station Hilton Martin Guitars from $695 Ovation Guitars from $199 Yamaha Guitars from $139 Yamaha Keyboards from $195 Casio Synthesizers from $495 Alvarez Guitars from $139 Singerland Drums from $495 Synthesized Drums from $795 Amps - Effects Martin, Alvarez, Yamaha, Guild, Ta- kamine, Ovation, Casio, Westtone and Roland, plus much more Amps, PAs. Mikes Effect pedals & more All Price to Sell! KEyboARd | [Center sfr ii in ii Inc. POST OAK MALL College Station IX 77840 pon Sun. ' „ ColleS® Sta Hrtton