The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, September 21, 1989, Image 9

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    The Battalion
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Thursday, September 21,1989
Page 9
New South African president
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PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) —F.W. de Klerk was
sworn in as president Wednesday and promised a new
I constitution that would bring blacks into South Africa’s
government by the end of his five-year term.
He appealed to South Africans of all races to help
build a nation “free of domination and oppression.
“We accept that time is of the essence and we are
committed to visible, evolutionary progress,” de Klerk
said in his inaugural speech.
He has vowed to eliminate discrimination and allow
blacks, who currently cannot vote, participation ip gov
ernment under a five-year plan.
But he did not specify any apartheid laws he would
repeal. Nor did he say how he would implement his
goal of providing limited political rights to the 28-mil-
lion black majority while maintaining the political domi
nation of the country’s 5 million whites.
De Klerk, 53, took the oath of office as reports
spread that his government will free jailed black nation
alist leader Nelson Mandela early next year. Newspa
pers quoted official sources as saying the release will be
part of a package of reforms to draw blacks into consti
tutional talks.
“The negotiation process will, from the start, receive
incisive attention,” de Klerk said in the speech following
his swearing-in ceremony.
His conciliatory words, affable style, and new policy
of allowing peaceful protests against the government
have generated optimism among foreign observers and
many South Africans. But de Klerk rejects the basic de
mand of most black leaders: majority rule.
The Rev. Allan Boesak, a leading anti-apartheid ac
tivist and president of the World Alliance of Reformed
Churches, said he will give de Klerk six months to prove
that blacks’ skepticism is unfounded.
A tear rolled down de Klerk’s cheek at a Dutch Re
formed Church when the Rev. P.W. Bingle, a family
friend preaching at the swearing-in, urged the new
president to press forward without fear.
Chief Justice Michael Corbett handed de Klerk a pa
per from which he read the oath of office in Afrikaans
and English before about 1,500 people. No foreign
heads of state were present, an indication of South Afri
ca’s international isolation.
“W<
e accept that time is of the
essence and we are
committed to visible,
evolutionary progress.” —
F.W. deKlerk,
South African president
In his 20-minute inaugural speech, de Klerk said his
goal is “a South Africa free of domination or oppres
sion in whatever form.”
“We hope that he will . . . demonstrate that he is se
rious about his vision for a new South Africa, because
that is the vision we want,” Anglican Archbishop Des
mond Tutu, the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner, said in
Windhoek, Namibia.
De Klerk said his government will move to eliminate
discriminatory laws, give “urgent attention” to adopting
a bill of rights, “gradually move away” from the 3-year-
old state of emergency, and release security prisoners.
Contact lenses
worn overnight
(damage eyes
BOSTON (AP) — About
12,000 contact lens users in the
United States suffer painful and
potentially blinding eye ulcers
each year, largely because they
wear their lenses while they sleep,
research concludes.
The studies also showed, how
ever, that even ordinary daytime
use of contacts — while far safer
than overnight wear — seems to
slightly raise the odds of these ul
cers, which are the most serious
complication of contacts.
The research is most critical of
extended-wear lenses, which
were approved in 1980 for con
tinuous use up to 30 days at a
time. It found that people who
wore these lenses day and night
were 10 to 15 times more likely
than strictly daytime users to have
eye ulcers.
Sometimes people fitted with
ordinary soft lenses also sleep
with them. The study found that
doing this just twice a month re
sulted in nine times the usual risk
of the disease.
“Our paper shows that over
night wear is the major risk fac
tor,” Dr. Oliver D. Schein said. “It
begins with even the first night of
overnight wear.
Gorbachev engineers
overhaul in Politburo;
three members ‘retire’
MOSCOW (AP) — Mikhail Gor
bachev pulled off a major shake-up
of the ruling Communist Party on
Wednesday, dropping three Polit
buro members in a dramatic consol
idation of power.
Tass news agency announced that
former KGB chief Viktor M. Chebri-
kov, 66, and Viktor P. Nikonov, 60,
were retired from the pinnacle of
Soviet power, and 71-year-old
Ukrainian party chief Vladimir V.
Shcherbitsky said he, too, was re
tiring.
The personnel moves continued
Gorbachev’s molding of the top
party apparatus, carried out in a se
ries of bold strokes. Gorbachev is
general secretary of the Communist
Party as well as Soviet president.
The shake-up came after the
party Central Committee on
Wednesday approved a program di
recting restive Soviet republics to
stifle calls to leave the union but ac
ceding to demands for more local
control of the economy.
The Central Committee also gave
Gorbachev an early chance to reach
deep down in the party for new faces
by moving up the next party con
gress to October 1990.
Gorbachev forced the retirement
of a quarter of the Central Commit
tee at the last meeting of that policy
making body in April. Almost a year
ago, two long-time members, includ
ing then-President Andrei A. Gro
myko, were removed from the Polit
buro.
Shcherbitsky, regarded as a con
servative force both in Moscow and
his native Ukraine, was the last Polit
buro member serving from the time
of President Leonid I. Brezhnev. His
retirement leaves Vitaly I. Vorotni
kov of the Russian republic the only
pre-Gorbachev appointee on the 11-
man Politburo.
Shcherbitsky long has been ru
mored to be in trouble with Gorba
chev. He presumably will remain
party chief in the Ukraine until a
meeting there can be called to name
a replacement.
Gorbachev continued to fill the
ruling body with his own men, el
evating the new KGB chief, Vladi
mir Kryuchkov, and the head of eco
nomic planning, Yuri Maslyukov, to
full membership.
Nursing aide convicted in murder trial
despite state’s lack of physical evidence
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) —A
former nursing home aide was con
victed Wednesday of smothering
five patients in a pact with her les
bian lover.
A Kent County Circuit Court jury
deliberated five hours before find
ing Gwendolyn Graham guilty on
five counts of first-degree murder
and one count of conspiracy to com
mit murder in the 1987 deaths of pa
tients at Alpine Manor Nursing
Home in Walker.
Graham, 26, of Tyler, faces man
datory life imprisonment without
parole.
With a lack of hard evidence, the
case rested largely on the testimony
of Catherine Wood, Graham’s ac
complice and former lover. Wood,
who has already pleaded guilty to
second-degree murder, testified that
Graham killed patients because she
said it “relieved tension.”
Wood said the two had formed a
love pact, each agreeing to suffocate
patients so they would be bound to
one another.
The victims were Belle Burkhard,
74, Marguerite Chambers, 60, Edith
Cook, 97, Myrtle Luce, 95, and Mae
Mason, 79. They were killed be
tween January and April 1987.
At least two of the victims’ families
sat through the entire trial.
“My mother can finally rest in
peace,” Jan Hunderman, daughter
of victim Marguerite Chambers,
said. “The scars will always be there,
but it helps knowing the truth.”
Linda Engman, daughter of vic
tim Mae Mason, said she was
“thrilled” with the verdict. “I wish we
had the death penalty,” she said.
Graham, testifying Tuesday, den
ied that any murders had occurred
at the home and said the murder
plot was nothing more than a joke
made up by Wood that had gotten
3ut of hand.
“Cathy would start it and I’d just
go along” Graham said.
But when Graham left for her
hometown of Tyler with another
woman, she said a jealous Wood
threatened to go to police with the
story.
When police began investigating
the deaths, Graham said she realized
Wood “was going to get even, just
like she said she was.”
Fran Shadden, a close friend of
Graham’s, said she was shocked by
thejury’s decision.
“I just don’t believe they can con
vict someone with no physical evi
dence,” she said.
Graham also testified she had
been sexually abused by her father
as a child and that she had a strained
relationship with her mother.
Graham’s testimony contradicted
not only Wood’s testimony, but that
of several former co-workers. They
testified that Graham, on separate
occasions, had admitted smothering
patients at the home with either a
washcloth or pillow.
Graham’s former lover, Heather
Baragar, also testified that Graham
often mentioned that she had suffo
cated patients and would “joke
around about it.”
Texans
(Continued from page 1)
was on board listed Houston as his
home.
The Peace Corps identified the
returning volunteer as Margaret
Schutzius, 23, of Dallas.
The oilmen included Pat Huff,
38, of Franklin, an employee of
Tulsa, Okla.-based Parker Drilling
Co.; Mark E. Corder, 35, a petro
leum geologist with Exxon Corp.;
James Turlington Sr., 48, of Bel-
Iville, a senior operation supervisor
for Exxon; and Russell O. Jordan
Sr., 29, an Esso Resources Canada
senior projects engineer who listed
his hometown as Houston.
Peace Corps spokesman Jim Fla
nigan said Schutzius had just com
pleted her service after 27 months in
Chad — the first three were spent in
initial training, followed oy 24
months teaching English as a foreign
language. She arrived in Chad in
June 1987.
Schutzius, a graduate of Lake
Highlands High School in Dallas,
studied romance languages and lit
erature at the University of Chicago,
but did not obtain a degree before
leaving for the Peace Corps.
“Even though it was a terrible tra
gedy, and her life was short, she
stood for a lot while she was with us,”
said Schutzius’ mother Mary K. Has-
sett. “She loved.her work and was
dedicated to the betterment of edu
cation in Africa.”
Huff, a 14-month employee of
Parker Drilling, was working on an
Exxon-owned oil rig in southern
Chad and was returning home for a
month, Colwell said. He was ex
pected to arrive in College Station
Wednesday afternoon, said Parker
spokesman Tim Colwell.
Colwell said officials with UTA
Airlines notified the company about
the accident. Three other Parker
Drilling employees also were on the
plane, he said.
Huff w T as married and the step
father of two children, said his
mother, Janice Huff, of Franklin.
She said he had worked for years in
overseas oilfields.
“He had no fears,” Janice Huff
said. “I said something to him a few
months ago after so many planes
had been going down and he said,
‘No, not really.’ You always think it’s
going to happen to someone else.”
C A A
llalional Vollogiate lucohol Hw
TUG-A WAReness
Friday, Sept. 29th
3:00 p.m. (First Tug)
Duncan Fi&ld
$20 Entry Fee
Sign Ups: Blocker & The MSC
9 a.m.-3 p.m.; Sept. 20th-26th
Need to have a team Captain at sign up • 8 members/team
4 Divisions: Corp, Greek, Residence Halls, Student
Organizations/Independents
Sponsured by: Sigma Chi, Dept of Recreational Sports
and Hullabaloo
Proceeds go to National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week
* fLA6 FOOTBALL SET ^
You’ll never play touch football again.
• Long Lasting Velcro
• Durable 12” Vinyl Flags
8 Player Set only $7.95
16 Player Set only $12.95
Send check or money order to:
I.S.A., P.O. Box 359, Garwood, NJ 07027
Leagues, schools, organizations, write for
group discounts. (Ball not included)
DERMACARE
(ELECTROLYSIS CLINIC!
Permanent Hair
l *79
SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE
v<o^ e '
Contact Lenses
Z8 ^ Only Quality Name Brands
(Bausch & Lomb, Ciba, Barnes-Hinds-Hydrocurve)
00 pr.*-STD. CLEAR DAILY WEAR SOFT
LENSES
$£1000 pr*-STD. EXTENDED
WEAR SOFT LENSES
(Can Be Worn as Daily or Ext. Wear)
pr.
*99
‘’-STD. TINTED SOFT LENSES
DAILY WEAR OR EXTENDED WEAR
SAME DAY DELIVERY
ON MOST LENSES
Call 696-3754
For Appointment
3 CHARLES C. SCHROEPPEL, O.D., P.C.
DOCTOR OF OPTOMETRY
*Eye exam not included.
Free care kit with exam and pair of lenses.
707 South Texas Ave., Suite 101D
College Station, Texas 77840
1 block South of Texas & University
SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE
Removal
European
Facials
Pedicures
Waxing
Complimentary Consultation
Nationally Board Certified Electro legists
764-9205
Cynthia K. Fontenot, C.C.E.
W. Jill Bruegglng, C.C.E.
(Behind Kroger Shopping Center)
1701 SW Pkwy • Suite 204
College Station
The LSAT
Is In
11 Weeks.
STANLEY H. KAPLAN
I Take Kaplan Or Take Your Chances
Classes Start Oct. 3
Call 696-Prep
The Battalion
MSC JORDAN FELLOWS PROGRAM
FELLOWS:
attend seminars on international topics
visit consulates and museums in Texas
are awarded grants for international travel
in support of independent research,
study, or internship
APPLICATIONS ARE AVAILABLE in room 223-G
of the Browsing Library and are due by
September 27,1989 at 5:00 pm
MSC Jordan Institute for International Awareness
Room 223-F Browsing Library in the MSC
845-8770
1219 Texas Ave.
Bryan
822-1042
1600 Texas Ave. S.
College Station
693-2627
RON BOCOY RUM
liter ^29
CROWN ROYAL
2Q
750 ml
SAUZA TEQUILA CO-PACK
^ i rk39
COORS-COORS LIGHT
99
24 pack
KEYSTONE-KEYSTONE LIGHT
12 pack
<£099
Cash and checks only on
sale items.
Thurs.-Sat.
Sept. 21-23