Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1981-05-28

              STATE HISTORICAL . OCIETY 1334
HITT & LOWHY ST. 4; LRV
A kLA. COLUMBIA, MO. 65201
73rd Year - No. 216 Good Morning! It's Thursday, May 28, 1981 2 Sections - 16 pages - 25 Cents
Jack Hagan and Monica Jennings check to see
if Hagan is in his proper place in the Hearnes
Commencements
Hickman: Shape your lives
B Warren Faunee
Missourian staff writer
Amid the pomp and circumstance of the
event, the 1981 graduating class of Hick-manHigh
School Wednesday heard com-mencement
speaker William " Mack"
Jones tell them their lives were like shapes
ready to be molded.
With thousands of friends and relatives
watching over the graduates at the Heames
Center, Jones, a professor e& Ejpglish at the
University- tol- d the 515 graduating seniors
they must shape their own lives.
Jones said he has been trying to find a
pattern from past graduates and has found
that most people are the same in later life
as they, were in high school.
" The same people who cheated on their
biology exam are the same ones who are
rh; iq" g on their income tax today," Jones
said.
Robert Rogers
Center before Hickman High School gradua-tion
exercises.
He said people who change little after 25
years are " periods" because they have re-mained
in the same spot for so long, while
people who are " circles" never have time
to get everything done and always end up
exactly where they started. " Triangles"
are those who go through life with an up-turned
nose and are content in feeling supe-rior
to others.
The ideal person is shaped like an open- ende- d
" TJ" because their lives are not
closed off . He said these people are free to
mink, feel and live for themselves.
Jones also said most graduates muddle
through their lives saying " the world
doesn't change much, and we can't do
muchto change it, but we can affect the
shape ofour lives."
Jones told the graduates the best thing to
do is to set sights on what they want and go
after it, because the future is shaped out of
the past
In town
today
7: 38 pjn. " Anything Goes," Maple- woo- d
Bsm Community Theatre, Ni- fo- ng
Park. Tickets axe $ 2 for adults
and $ 1 for senior citizens, students and
children.
8: 15 pm. Susan- Le- e Whalen, mezzo- sopran- o,
Missouri Symphony Society,
University' Fine Arts Recital HalL
Tickets are $ 5 and $ 6.
I Index
Business.. 4B
Classified 4-- 6B
Opinion -.- ....-...... 4A
Sparta --................ 1- 2- B
Theater 8B I Weather... .2A
Leon J. C Hsiao
Rock Bridge High School graduate Lisa Long, left,
receives a gift from a classmate.
Rock Bridge told to shine
By Karen Dickenson
Missourian staff writer
Bryan Snyder's grandfather and cousins
drove 200 miles ( 320 kilometers) to see it,
and his parents had bought him a pair of
python- ski- n cowboy boots for it. Wednesday
night, Bryan graduated from Rock Bridge
Senior High School.
Graduation ceremonies took place in the
school gymnasium. As 220 seniors filed
through to their seats, parents and friends
in the audience fanned themselves with
their programs as they strained to catch
the first glimpse of the seniors they knew.
The Rock Bridge Band, under the direc-tion
of Richard Hadfield, played traditional
processional music until the seniors were
seated.
Assistant Superintendent Harold Steere
introduced Sen. John Danforth.
In relating his advice to the seniors, Dan
forth referred to the book ' ' Frannie and
Zooey" by J. D. Salinger, which tells the
story of a brother and sister who took part
in a radio show.
At the end of the book, said Danforth,
Frannie and Zooey are told to shine their
shoes before the show, " for the fat lady who
is listening." Danforth related the " fat
lady" to Jesus Christ and reminded seniors
of their ' ' duty to give the best efforts to j
serving the fat lady." I
" So I charge you, the class of 1981 shine
your shoes the fat lady is listening. ' '
Bryan glanced at his snake- skinn- ed boots
- and smiled.
Bryan, who owns 14 pairs of cowboy
boots, is known as" Boots" to his Rock
Bridge friends. ' ' I guess I won't be hearing
that name much anymore," reflected Bry-an
after the diplomas had been handed out
and the ceremony had ended. " Except
maybe at our 10- ye- ar class reunion."
Reagan silences noise control office
ByLyssvRoseuini
e New York Times
WASHINGTON They will make Charles
EDrins move out of his office before long.
They will take away bis 143- memb- er staff,
bis subscription to Sound and Vibration mag-azine
and the desk where he keeps his ear
protectors. They already have begun revok-ing
some of the federal regulations he
worked to enact, including one that limits the
noise of garbage trucks. -
" We bad planned to regulate jackhammers
as well," said Elkins, who directs the Envi-ronmental
Protection Agency's noise pro-gram.
" We just haven't gotten there yet"
For five years, Elkins dreamed of a world
where motorcycles and jackhammers would
purr as quietly as kittens. But Reagan ad-ministration
officials and some members of
Congress have other ideas.
As part of their cuts in federal spending,
regulation and employment, they plan not
only to revoke many of Elkins's antinoise
regulations, but also to eliminate his $ 13 mil-lion
office as welL
" I don't find it pleasant, no," Elkins said in
his office. Outside his door, a sign below his
name read " Deputy Assistant Administrator
for Noise Control Programs." Inside, the
windows offered a panoramic view of Virgin-ia.
On a wall hung a picture of Elkins with
Richard Nixon at the White House.
Insight
" Do you mind if I record mis?" he asked,
leaning over and setting a tape recorder on
the table. It has taken Elkins 14 years of gov-ernment
work to get this office and the $ 50,- 10- 0
annual salary that goes with it. He ex-plained
that he did not want to risk being
misquoted on something that might displease
his superiors and cost him his job.
" After all," he said nervously, " It's a new
president."
Then he sat down near the tape recorder
and launched into the language peculiar to
Washington bureaucrats, speaking rapidly of
" regs," meaning regulations, that were
" promulgated" in his years in government.
Elkins said he came into the government in
the Johnson administration in 1967, a time
when it seemed that federal regulations
could solve almost anything. He worked first
in the Office of Management and Budget,
then moved to the fledgling EPA. In 1972,
Congress enacted the Noise Control Act,
which required the agency to identify and
regulate major sources of noise. A few years
later, Elkins . was named head of the anti- nois- e
office.
And suddenly, noise became Charles El-kins's
life. Street sounds of which he was pre
viously unaware a passing motorcycle, a
jackhammer biting into pavement now ir-ritated
him. He studied the decibel levels of
power lawnmowers, air conditioners and
trucks.
He wrestled with the tough questions. Was
84 decibels too loud for motorcycles? Was 80
decibels unrealistically soft? What do motor-cycle
manufacturers think?
- " Harley- Davidso- n didn't want to make one
that sounded like a sewing machine," he re-called.
After a while, Elkins took great satisfac-tion
in helping promulgate crisp new anti- noi- se
regs. Before long there were federal
regulations limiting the noise of garbage
trucks, motorcycles, railroad trains, semi- tractor- trail- ers
and portable air compres-sors.
And mat was just the start.
" We were planning to move to other con-sumer
items," he said, " lawnmowers, air- conditione- rs."
Elkins said Ms staff also was
studying bulldozers, vacuum cleaners and
chain saws.
But on Feb. 16, the Washington's Birthday
holiday, Elkins' plans came to a halt At 2
p. m. he was called at home and told that the
Reagan administration was going to abolish
the program.
" I must admit," he said, " the next three
hours were among the most difficult of my
life."
The next morning Elkins called a meeting
of his staff and told them the bad news, news
similar to that being conveyed in many other
agencies. The staff would be cut to 45 persons
by Sept. 1. The budget would be cut from $ 13
million this year to $ 2.3 million in 1982. And
the entire office would be shut by Oct. 1, 1982.
" So now if people ask me what's happening
with the program," he said, " I tell them the
program is going out of business in 18
months. And that's the way I'm running
things."
These days, the week- at- a- glan- ce datebook
propped on Elkins's desk is less crowded
than it used to be. The people from the truck-ing
companies do not drop around anymore.
" I'm looking at some of my office ma-chines
to see if I can get rid of them," he
said. " I don't need two Xerox machines. I
don't need many typewriters."
How does he feel, seeing his program abo-lished?
He paused, weighing his words carefully.
He has not survived into a fifth administra-tion
by talking to reporters about his feel-ings.
Finally, he replied: " Yes, I have personal
feelings on it But I'm not the president. I
wasn't elected."
Pilot error
unverified
in disaster
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ( UPI) Reports blaming pilot
error for the crash of a Navy jet on the deck of the nuclear
carrier Nimitz are premature, Cmdr. Jim Lois, spokes-man
for the carrier Nimitz, said Wednesday. " That's ex-actly
why we have investigative teams."
The Prowler jet, used to jam enemy signals, missed its
mark while attempting to land on the flight deck of the Ni-mitz
Tuesday night and plowed into parked aircraft, ignit-ing
a fireball that killed 14 servicemen and injured 48 oth-ers,
according to Navy reports.
" It was landing and impacted" on the rear part of the
flight deck, Lois said. " It brushed up against some planes,
skidded forward and hit the rest ( of the planes)."
Damage was estimated at considerably more than $ 100
million. Four aircraft were destroyed, five more suffered
serious damage and 11 others light damage in the fire that
followed the crash.
The 92,000- to- n ( 82,800- metri- c ton) Nimitz, carrying a
crew of nearly 6,000 and with a capability of carrying 90
planes, was on a training mission 60 miles ( 96 kilometers)
off the Florida coast east of Jacksonville when the crash
occurred. Pilots were practicing nighttime takeoffs and
landings at the time of the mishap.
The Navy said none of the aircraft involved in the acci-dent
was armed, but would not disclose whether nuclear
weapons were aboard the Nimitz. Officials said it ap-peared
that jet fuel ignited the blaze.
Navy firemen fought the huge blaze for 70 minutes be-fore
extinguishing it with a chemical foam. " This fire was
substantial," said Cmdr. Ken Pease of the Atlantic Fleet
headquarters in Norfolk, Va. " When we say substantial,
it's a big fire."
Thirteen other aircraft in the air when the crash oc-curred
at 10: 51 p. m. CDT were unable to land and were di-verted
to Charleston, S. C.
The Nimitz and its sister carrier, the Eisenhower, are
the largest fighting ships in the world. The crash is the
worst accident ever suffered by a nuclear powered carrier
and the worst on any aircraft carrier since 1963.
Helicopters ferried 19 Navy doctors and medical aides
from the Jacksonville Naval Hospital to the carrier and 21
of the most seriously injured were taken to Jacksonville
hospitals for treatment. The Navy said the other 27 inju-ries
were slight enough to be treated on board.
A hospital spokesman said 10 of the injured were in
" very serious" or " very critical" condition. Most suffered
varying degrees of burns and broken limbs. Officials said
at least four of the " most severely burned" crewmen
would be flown to the Brooks Army Hospital outside San
Antonio, Texas, which has a special bum unit.
A helicopter crewman involved in the evacuation said he
saw " just a mess of aircraft on the bow" where the plane
dubbed " The Prowler" because of its radio jamming ca-pabilities
crashed into several sophisticated fighters
and helicopters.
The Navy did not announce the crash until after dawn
Wednesday. It did not immediately release a damage esti-mate.
But damages were expected to easily top $ 100 mil-lion.
There were three crewmen on the Prowler, which can
hold a maximum of four. However, Lois did not know how
many of them were among the dead or injured.
The Navy withheld identification of the dead and injured
pending notification of relatives.
Capt. Sam Flynn of the Oceania Naval Air Station, Va.,
where many of the planes on the Nimitz are based said
" the EA- 6- B has a very good, excellent record. And it did a
great job for us in Vietnam."
When asked about the plane being to the right of center
line, Flynn, a veteran of 335 combat missions from aircraft
carriers and 1,078 carrier landings, said " basically if
you're within 15 feet ( 4.5 meters) of center line, there
would be no degree of difficulty. ' '
" I think what happened is the guy had some degree of
difficulty with lineup and hit the aircraft parked on the
side," said Flynn.
Flynn said the accident could have occurred for several
reasons, including control problems, inability to determine
horizon, " any mechanical problem; there may have been
wind but that's unlikely."
Pease said the Prowler was on an " an electronic warfare
exercise" where it was " actively and passively assisting
other aircraft operations by suppressing and degrading
enemy defense systems through the jamming of enemy
electronic signals."
A spokesman in Washington said damage to the Nimitz
was limited to the flight deck. Pease said he didn't know
the extent of the damage, but added, " It's hard to burn a
steel deck."
" At no time was the ship ever in danger of sinking," said
Pease.
The Nimitz headed straight for its base in Norfolk,
where it was expected to arrive sometime today.
The Prowler and three F- 1- 4 Tomcats that were destroyed
cost a total of $ 62.3 million when they were purchased in
1978 and 1979. The four A-- 7 light attack jets and one F- 1- 4
that were damaged severely cost a total of $ 43.3 million.
Insurer drops body shop business
ByDanHiggios
and Lisa Hoffman
MLssncrian staff writers
Farmers Insurance Group decided
Wednesday to stop "" Ming its business
to Rolando's Body Shop, 1812 Dogwood
Lane.
The Columbia Missourian reported
Wednesday that current and former
employees said that overcharging cus-tomers
and insurance mmppnjcg was
common at Rolando's.
They said the bogus estimates took
these forms:
inflation of repair bills by adding
hours onto work orders for labor not
actually performed;
charging customers and at least
one insurance comapny, Farmers In-surance
Group, for parts not actually
used in the repair of damaged auto-mobiles;
and putting used parts in auto-mobiles
but charging the customer or
insurance company for new parts.
On Tuesday, Columbia police, armed
with search warrants, confiscated fi-nancial
records at the shop.
The owner, Jose Rolando Tobar, 39,
of 301 Westridge Drive, told reporters
Tuesday that he denies all the accusa-tions.
But Richard Wells, Columbia district
manager for Farmers Insurance
Group, said Wednesday that after
reading the Missourian stories he con-tacted
Leonard Snavely, Farmers
material damage claims supervisor
for the eastern half of Missouri. Snave-ly
agreed with Wells to discontinue
business with Rolando's, Wells said.
Current and former employees at
Rolando's said Tobar often refused to
show customers damage and repair es-timates
and falsely told customers that
J
Farmers Insurance Group, in partic- uli- r,
has a policy of not releasing esti-mates.
" Rolando had a policy of not produc-ing
the final, itemized bill next to the
check from the insurance company for
the customer to compare," said Ruth
Lutz, Rolando's bookkeeper from Octo-ber
1979 until March 1980.
The way it is supposed to work at
Farmers Insurance Group, the cus-tomer
receives a copy of the final esti-mate
when he receives the check for
any repair work done on his car.
Wells said the computer printout is
supposed to itemize each part and list
the final costs.
But at least three customers of the
insurance company found that it does
not always work that way.
Mary Manning, a Columbia College
student, wrecked her Pacer in Decem-ber
1980. She said she never received a
copy of the final estimate, although she
said she received the insurance check
from Tobar.
Roxann Durham, a University stu-dent,
said she never asked nor was she
given a copy of the estimate from Ro-lando's.
She said she took her car in in Jan-uary
after hitting a deer and damaging
the front end. She said when she went
to pick up the car, Tobar presented her
with the insurance company check but
no estimate.
Lynndel Spurgeon, 26, of Route 9,
said Tobar refused several times to
show him a repair estimate of damage
to his 1975 Lincoln Continental.
Even after Frank Mills, the Farmers
Insurance Group claims adjuster,
looked at his car, his request to see an
estimate was denied, he said.
Spurgeon, himself an auto mechanic,
said he considered it " very weird" that
pggeS. INVESTIGATION:
c5l3iP SHOP
he was not allowed to see an estimate.
" Everybody I've ever dealt with in
the repair business uses estimates,"
Spurgeon said.
Tobar said Tuesday, " I've never re-fused
( to allow) a customer to see an
estimate.
Wells said under normal procedures
the final estimate should be mailed di-rectly
to the customer along with the
insurance check.
He said it is the responsibility of the
company claims adjuster to see that
this procedure is followed.