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
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March 10 & 11,25 & 26
College Station Hilton
Pre-register by phone: 693-8178
Ticket deferral and 10% insurance discount
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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
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