Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1981-02-28

              COLUS13IA. ttO. & 5201
73rd Year - No. 141 Good Morning! It's Saturday, February 28, 1981 16 Pag 25 Cents
. -
Three die in one of city's deadliest fires
Friends
mourn loss
of family
By Jim Mueller
and Michael Lamendola
Missourian staff writers
West Junior High auditorium was
quiet Friday morning when Marc Gor-don,
student body president, walked
onto the stage to open an assembly for
the dress rehearsal of the annual Wi-nter
Concert scheduled Friday night.
But instead of talking about the music,
he spoke of the sadness of losing a
classmate who had died in a fire hours
earlier.
He was speaking of David Lauder-dale,
14, a ninth- grade- r, member of the
Viking Band and Jazz Band, partici-pant
in a school- wid- e program for
gifted students and member of DeMo- la- y.
David died with his father, David,
59, and his mother, Ruth, 56, when
smoke from a cigarette fire poured
through their house at 1310 Bradshaw
Ave. about 4 a. m. Friday.
After Gordon's announcement, the
student body sat for a minute of si-lence.
Band director Don Rupp then ded-icated
the concert to David, who was to
have played the tuba Friday.
Principal Muriel Battle took the
stage after the rehearsal to tell the stu-dents
how David's death had " implica-tions
for all us here to do the best with
ourselves and our relationships with
other people."
The students responded at first with
applause but then became quiet. They
were dimissed soon afterward.
The dedication bore David's mark
even though he was absent The night
before he died, David had volunteered
to stay late to help band director Rupp
set up for the concert. That was typical
of David.
" He was always willing to help,"
Rupp said. " He was a very serious,
concerned student who worked hard at
music."
When news of the tragedy reached
school Friday, Rupp said his first im-pulse
was to cancel the concert. " After
talking to the principal, we decided to
go ahead and have it," he said.
CoBusCaabs
Neighborhood children gather outside the house where three members of the David Lauderdale family died
Mrs. Battle also was hesitant to have
the concert.
" We pondered whether to have the
concert, because the music was so
joyous," she said. " But we decided Da-vid
would have wanted it that way."
As keenly as the students and faculty
felt the loss of a classmate, they also
felt the loss of David's mother, a trav-eling
science specialist for the Colum
bia School District. Mrs. Lauderdale
began her teaching in Columbia as a
part- tim- e instructor at West Junior
High. She has been teaching fifth-- and
sixth- gra- de science classes since 1970.
" We thought she was a fine person
and had a great deal of concern for the
students," Assistant Superintendent
James Ritter said. " She will be greatly
missed by the students and the teach
ers."
David Lauderdale had been a realtor
with Boone Realty for 6 years. His
co- work- ers said he was a personable
and conscientious worker.
The younger Lauderdale's teachers
and classmates said Friday they were
taking steps to create a memorial to
David and the contributions he had
made to the school.
" We're going to establish a memori-al
band award in his honor to be given
at the end of the year to outstanding
ninth- grad- e band members," Rupp
said.
The students at West Junior High are
planning similar action.
Funeral arrangements for the Lau- derdal- es
are being made by the Memo-rial
Funeral Home.
Insight
Soviet grain
curb poses
tongli choice
New York Times
WASHINGTON Thirteen months
ago the United States curtailed grain
shipments to the Soviet Union in reac-tion
to its military intervention in Af-ghanistan.
Now President Reagan, who at-tacked
the curb during the election
campaign last fall as unfair to Ameri-can
fanners, is faced with a dilemma.
If he lifts the restriction, as he prom-ised,
he would be sending a signal to
the Russians of a return to business as
usual, even though he has accused So-viet
leaders of reserving " the right to
commit any crime, to lie, to cheat"
and even though his administration
has warned of dire consequences for
East- We- st relations if Soviet troops in-vade
Poland.
If he does not lift the restriction, he
would appear to be reneging on a cam-paign
promise.
The grain curb represents the first
time the United States has significant-ly
used food as a weapon of foreign pol
icy.
At his news conference Jan. 29, Rea-gan
restated his earlier position that it
was unfair to ask only farmers to bear
the burden of the nation's response, but
he said he had not yet decided which
way to go.
Conditions for grain sales were set
by a five- ye- ar bilateral agreement
with the Russians, running from Oct. 1,
1976, to Sept. 30, 1981. The idea was to
protect American consumers and
farmers from the abrupt market ef-fects
of unexpected Soviet purchases,
such as those that drove up American
food prices in the early 1970s.
The agreement specified that the So-viet
Union was to buy at least 6 million
metric tons of American grain annual-ly.
United States grain exporters could
sell 2 million tons more without getting
government approval. On Jan. 4, 1980,
just after Soviet troops entered Af-ghanistan,
President Carter canceled
contracts for an additional 17 million
tons of grain. But he let the Russians
take delivery of the 8 million tons they
had already ordered.
In addition to the present issue of
( See OPPONENTS, Page 16)
Fire chief
links blaze
to cigarette
ByDanHJggins
Missourian staff writer
Three persons who died early Friday
in one of Columbia's worst fires might
have survived if they had installed a
smoke detector, Columbia Fire De-partment
officials said.
Killed at 1310 Bradshaw Ave. were
David M. Lauderdale, 59, his wife,
Ruth, 56, and their son David, 14. The
three died from smoke inhalation in
the most disastrous fire in Columbia
since 1970, Fire Chief Girard Wren
said. Fire officials estimate damage to
the house and contents at $ 37,000.
Wren said a carelessly disposed cig-arette
apparently caused the fire,
which started in the living room.
" If they had installed smoke detec-tors,
their chances of survival would
have been greatly increased," Wren
said.
The attic, living and dining rooms of
the house suffered extensive fire dam-age,
while the rest of the house re-ceived
heavy smoke and water dam-age.
The fire was noticed by Jack Kace- n- a,
1403 Lowe St., who was dropping
bundles of newspapers to carriers.
Shortly before 4 a. m., while stopped
down the street from the Lauderdales',
he heard glass shattering and saw a
bright glow. He knocked on a neigh-bor's
door, and the neighbor called
firefighters as Kacena tried to rouse
the Lauderdales. He was forced away
from the house when burning debris
began falling near him.
Nine rescue and fire units arrived
shortly. Firefighters controlled the fire
" within minutes," Wren said, but at-tempts
to revive the victims failed.
Lauderdale was pronounced dead at
the scene, while Mrs. Lauderdale and
David were pronounced dead shortly
after being taken to University Hospi-tal.
Wren said Lauderdale's body was
found in his son's bedroom clutching a
fire extinguisher.
A report filed by the fire department
( See SMOKE, Page 16)
Cuts have Reagan budget back on track
New York Times
WASHINGTON Budget cuts totalling up to
$ 13 billion were decided upon by President Rea-gan
and his Cabinet Friday, according to a White
House announcement that said the Reagan budget--
cutting plan now was " back on track."
A scheduled two- ho- ur meeting ran 30 minutes
overtime as the president and his Cabinet Council
on Economic Affairs went step- by- st- ep through a
series of budget options designed to meet a range
of $ 10 billion to $ 13 billion in cuts that were still to
be settled. The administration's basic goal is to
cut $ 41.4 billion from next year's budget.
No details were offered on which programs
would be cut beyond the 83 budget reductions to-talling
$ 34.4 billion announced by the president in
his budget address Feb. 18. But the decisions Fri-day
were described as sufficient to cover both the
$ 7 billion in additional cuts originally intended be-yond
the Feb. 18 reductions, plus the additional $ 3
billion to $ 6 billion in cuts needed to cover subse-quent
" miscalculations" discovered in the origi-- -
nalplan.
" Budget savings options sufficient to hold the
line were presented to and approved by the presi-dent
today," David Stockman, director of the Of-fice
of Management and Budget, was quoted as
declaring after the private meeting. " We are
back on track."
The decisions at the afternoon meeting meant
that the administration will meet its goal of an-nouncing
the second and final round of specific
cuts on March 10 in line with a planned federal
spending ceiling of $ 695.5 billion in the fiscal year
1982.
Spending cuts totalling $ 41.4 billion were an-nounced
originally by the president, but the mis-calculations
required additional cuts ranging $ 3
billion to $ 6 billion deeper. Administration offi-cials
have contended the miscalculation came
about because of erroneous fiscal estimates they
inherited from the Carter administration. But
budget aides to former president Jimmy Carter
have denied this, contending that the Reagan bud-get
team itself miscalculated in its haste to meet
the new administration's promise of presenting
an early economic recovery program of spending
and tax cuts.
Stockman said earlier in the day that the shift
in figures was " a routine phenomenon" that had
drawn an " extraordinary response" of deeper
cuts rather than the simple easing of spending
limitations and budget growth that, he alleged,
was the Carter administration's typical response
to such a problem.
In announcing the final cuts, the White House
said that " a very few" decisions still were to be
made on the budget, but none affecting the overall
spending ceiling. In addition, it was announced
that minor increases in spending also were
agreed upon, but here, too, details were withheld
pending the President's March 10 budget message
to Congress.
Administration sources previously indicated
that one of the increases would be recommended
for the Board for International Broadcasting,
which supervises Radio Free Europe and Radio
Liberty.
Administration officials again emphasized that
the final budget cuts did not intrude upon the " so-cial
safety net" of health, Social Security and cer--
tain welfare programs that the president prom-ised
would be spared.
The March 10 message is to offer the final de-tails
of an economic recovery program that in-cludes
a proposed 10 percent annual reduction in
personal taxes for three years, worth $ 44.2 billion
to taxpayers next year, plus $ 9.7 billion in busi-ness
tax reductions and incentives.
The final proposals for cuts decided Friday
were described by some administration sources
as spread generally across the board. The one
program that has been permitted to grow signifi-cantly
under the Reagan austerity drive is the De-fense
Department budget, which Reagan pro-poses
to increase by $ 7.2 billion above the $ 181.5
billion in spending recommended by the Carter
administration.
In receiving the president's proposals, congres-sional
Democrats generally have not disputed the
idea that cuts in government spending are
needed, although some insist that a smaller scale
of $ 35 billion or less would serve the president's
purpose of displaying the government's resolve to
deal with inflation.
' Billy the KM9
9- year- - old boy gives up
in bank robbery case
NEW YORK ( UPI) A 9- year--
old boy, nicknamed
" Billy the Kid" and suspected of holding up a bank at
Rockefeller Center for $ 118, surrendered Friday to FBI
agents.
The 4- foo-t-
5 ( 1.2- meter- ), 9frpound ( 1444dlogram)
youth, too small to be photographed by bank cameras
and barely able to see over the counter, was accused of
holding up a teller at the New York Bank for Savings
Wednesday by brandishing a chrome- plate- d revolver.
" This is a holdup. Don't say a silent word," he told
her.
The brown- eye- d boy, whose name was withheld, sur-rendered
with his attorney, Mel A. Sachs. He was later
turned over to state juvenile authorities.
Police said the boy was possibly the youngest bank
robbery suspect in city history. Sachs, who refused to
identify the boy, said he arranged the surrender after
the child's parents contacted him Thursday.
" I want to make it clear that my client is surren-dering
voluntarily," Sachs said with a grin as the boy
dressed in blue jeans, a tan- colore- d ski jacket, plaid
shirt with black tie and a gray wool watch cap pulled
down over his brown hair stared up at him wide- eye- d.
" My client has nothing to say," Sachs said again and
again as the boy was peppered with questions by re-porters,
who dubbed the boy ' ' Billy the Kid."
Police had said it was possible the boy had an older
accomplice who followed the boy into the bank. Bank robbery suspect surrendersun, ei'ph'to
Prison volunteers say
they fear harassment
By Mark Schwanhansser
Missourian staff writer
About 15 prison- proje- ct volunteers
have told a state official they are being
harassed and are fearful they will be
banned from the Missouri State Peni-tentiary.
As Steve Gilpin, an aide to Lt. Gov.
Kenneth J. Rothman, listened, volun-teers
Thursday evening alleged that
prison officals have repeatedly ha-rassed
volunteers. They said they be-lieve
officals want to discourage volun-teers
from returning to state prisons.
The volunteers, who asked to remain
unidentified for fear of reprisals, cited
as evidence for their claims the recent
banning of volunteer Mark Saucier and
two other volunteers. One reportedly
has been reinstated.
Saucier was barred from the prison
after being quoted in a newspaper sto-ry
about a lawsuit filed by inmate Ron
Parton against Warden Donald Wy- ric- k,
Associate Warden Bill Armen- trou- t,
Lt. James G. Wyrick and two of-ficers
from the Missouri Training
Center for Men in Moberly.
Parton, serving a 22- ye- ar sentence
for kidnapping and rape, alleges the of-ficials
beat him when he was trans-ferred
to the prison from Moberly last
August.
The meeting of the volunteers fol-lowed
news that Gov. Christopher
( See PROPOSED, Page 16)
Im town today Index
7: 30 p. m. Theater, " Arms and the Business 12
Man," Fine Arts Building on the Classified 10- 1- 1
University campus. Tickets are Opinion . 4
$ 3.50 for the public, $ 1.75 for stu-- People 5
dents. Religion 8
Noon Men's basketball with Kan- - Sports 8-- 7
sas State, Hearnes Center. Ticket Theater 14-- 15
prices vary. Weather JZ