Monday, October 19,1987/The Battalion/Page 3
State and Local
fS Story of trapped child prompts
emotional impact from nation
5 the classroor .
ie the profess I MIDLAND (AP) — The ordeal of
j t p i 18-month-old Jessica McClure,
, , Bped for days in an abandoned
notnerday. Hshaft, had an impact that went
)or are (wool lyond the rescue effort.
just standing
tg. Chatting,
Tatting.
Perhaps it was her isolation in the
/ell deep below ground level or the
arrowing way she hummed, sang
Bigs and cried “Mama” while pass-
ng 58 hours in darkness. Or maybe
L ‘ m ' |Was just a glimmer of mischief her
po/iticalsciV J esrevea ^ e “ ' n a famil y snapshot.
>t for The K^ en a mu( ^" ca ^ e ^ paramedic
Hd the scratched and bruised girl
■ the chill night air Friday, a pe-
■ of agony ended for the girl’s
■ 'Hly — and for people half a world
jst gr/th>
rescuers with a water-powered
Yy|0O ; ■ chiseled rock within inches of
rlcGlure, calls from around the
torkl backed up at the Midland Po-
^ |e J5epartment, which had 12 dis-
T nUIV* at T ers answer i n g the phone in-
Livlui Jead of the usual one night-shift
iispaicher.
IBhe child’s plight was an extraor-
■y story during an extraordi-
week. On Friday alone, the
■ Jones industrial average
A Afl/5jlllJ(l unfied wild ly- wiping o ut $145 bil-
A^rwk^rtpniv'orth of stocks in one day and
?M?7HWWp|:v Reagan checked into a hospi-
foi a breast cancer operation.
Paramedic: Leaving infant
in hole was difficult decision
MIDLAND (AP) — The hardest
thing a paramedic said he ever had
to do was to leave toddler Jessica Mc
Clure behind in a dark under
ground shaft.
“I told her we would be back,”
said Robert O’Donnell, who was the
first person to touch the 18-month-
old girl more than two days after she
fell into a dry backyard water well.
Grasping the child and pulling
her out might have snapped her
neck or spine, O’Donnell said, so he
reluctantly radioed back that the
tunnelingjob was not yet finished.
Back above ground, O’Donnell
and the other paramedics avoided
each others’ eyes for fear of break
ing into tears, he said.
Several of the pediatricians ques
tioned whether O’Donnell should be
sent back down once the tunnel was
widened because they sensed his dis
appointment and the emotional
drain of his first try, he said.
But he insisted he could handle
the descent and was allowed down
the final time at 7:30 p.m.
O’Donnell estimated he took
about 10 minutes after getting a
good grip on Jessica’s pants to ease
her from the tight trap.
Theii O’Donnell locked eyes with
Jessica and thought, “That’s the pre
ttiest girl that I have ever met,” he
said.
The same day, a Canadian infant
became the youngest heart-trans
plant recipient ever, Ethiopians
warned of another wave of famine,
an Iranian warship fired machine
guns at a helicopter carrying an
American television crew and a mis
sile hit a Kuwaiti ship flying the
American flag, wounding the Amer
ican captain.
But none of the events tugged at
hearts and drew compassion on such
a grand scale as the saga of “Spunky
Jessica,” as some newspapers called
her.
Famous and obscure, rich and
poor, people responded as if they
had known McClure all her life. The
outpouring of emotion was partic
ularly striking to Flarvard University
sociologist David Riesman, author of
“The Lonely Crowd” and other
landmark studies of Americans.
For years, Riesman has lectured
on what he calls the boy-in-the-well
syndrome.
“Americans are extremely gener-.
ous when we can identify with a per
son or a small group and the most
dramatic example is a boy in a well,”
Riesman said from his home in Cam
bridge, Mass. — where he, too, fol
lowed accounts of McClure’s rescue.
“People can be slaughtered in An
gola or Israel can bomb Lebanon
three times in a week and neither in
vites similar American interest, not
to mention generosity,” he said.
But some people saw the toddler’s
retrieval as an example of patriotic
valor in the face of trouble — some
thing like the rescue of hostages.
“Whenever you see something
like this, it makes you realize we’re a
great nation,” said James Powell, a
resident of Midland.
The baby’s mother put it another
way. “I’m just so glad we got her
back safe,” she said. “The whole
world has her back.”
rmer singer Stevens cancels talk at A&M
By Elisa Hutchins
Staff Writer
Yusuf Islam, known during his
jig career as Cat Stevens, will
appearing at Rudder Theater
might as originally planned.
The former singer converted to
le Moslem faith in 1977 and was to
eak at A&M to promote a better
iderstanding of the religion on be-
dflf the Muslim Students’ Asso-
ation.
Before converting to the Moslem
ithl Islam/Stevens had many re-
irding hits during the ’70s includ
ing “Morning Has Broken” and “Oh
Very Young.”
Islam, a British citizen, was not
able to leave London with his family
as scheduled because his four chil
dren did not have the appropriate
visas.
“The visas will be issued, but it will
take a few days,” said Ahmad Jarrah,
MSA member and coordinator of Is
lam’s visit to A&M. “His schedule is
too full to arrange another time to
speak at A&M during this lecture se
ries.”
He was to have arrived Sunday
night in Houston and begun his lec
ture series at A&M. Islam will now
begin at Southern Methodist Uni
versity in Dallas on Tuesday.
Islam apologized by phone to Jar
rah and to A&M students for
cancelling. He told Jarrah the situa
tion was out of his hands, and that
he could not let his family meet him
at A&M. His wife is pregnant and he
did not want her traveling alone.
Islam’s lecture series is intended
to make American students more
aware of the Moslem faith and relate
it to world events — such as the cur
rent Persian Gulf situation, Jarrah
said.
After speaking at SMU Tuesday,
Islam will conduct two lectures in
Houston including one at the Uni
versity of Houston and at universi
ties in Tuscon, Ariz. and Ann Arbor,
Mich, before returning to England.
His first lecture in Houston on
Thursday will be on the importance
of the Koran, the sacred book of
Moslems. It will be held at 1 p.m. at
UH in the student lounge.
Later in the evening, “Islam —-Fu
ture of Mankind” will be discussed at
8 p.m. in the Houstonian Hotel at
111 N. Post Oak Lane. Anyone in
terested in attending either lecture
in Houston can call (713) 467-2337
or (713) 520-6010 for more informa
tion.
in.—. m in
What’s up
Monday
HILLEL, JEWISH STUDENT FOUNDATION: will have a
meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillel Building, located at 800
Jersey St.
PI SIGMA EPSILON: will have an executive board meeting
at 6 p.m. on the second floor of the Pavilion and team B —
Beepers will play volleyball at 9 p.m. in the Read Building.
MUSLIM STUDENT ASSOCIATION: The scheduled ap
pearance of Cat Stevens to speak at 7:30 p.m. at Rudder
Theater has been canceled. Check the story on this page
for details.
HIGH SCHOOL PUBLIC RELATIONS AND RECRUIT
MENT: General information about the High School Public
Relations and Recruitment Committee will be given at 5:30
p.m. in 226 MSC.
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION: will have a
guest speaker from Hurst Murchison Investment Bankers
at 7 p.m. in 153 Blocker.
FRESHMAN LEADERSHIP DYNAMICS: will meet at 8:30
p.m. in 301 Rudder.
ATHEIST, AGNOSTIC AND FREETHINKERS SOCIETY:
will meet at 7 p.m. in 305A-B Rudder.
ALPHA PHI ALPHA: The Rev. Arthur Hernandez will
speak at 8:30 p.m. in 701 Rudder.
LEGISLATIVE STUDY GROUP: will have a meeting at 9
p.m. in Rudder. Check the screen in Rudder for the room
number.
INTRAMURAL SPORTS: Entries open for bowling singles
in 159 Read.
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY: will have a symposium on
religion in classical antiquity Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon
and from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in 601 Rudder.
CLASS OF ’90: Applications for committee positions are
available until Friday in 216 MSC.
Tuesday
POLITICAL SCIENCE SOCIETY: will meet at 7 p.m. in 229
MSC.
PI SIGMA ALPHA: will meet at 7 p.m. in 229 MSC and team
C — Dotted Lines will play volleyball at 9 p.m. in the Read
Building.
WRITING OUTREACH: Martha Casey will discuss “Corres-
g ondence: Business Letter Writing” at 6:30 p.m. in 110
locker.
TAMU SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB: will meet at 7 p.m.
in 115 Kleberg.
Items for What’s Up should be submitted to The Battalion,
216 Reed McDonald, no less than three working days be-
fore desired publication date.
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