Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1982-08-24

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74th Year No. 290 Good Morning! It's Tuesday, August 24. 1982 2 Section 1 0 Page 25 Cent
Death- ro- w
inmate
has just
one wish:
ByJoeStinebaker
State capital bureau
JEFFERSON CITY After convicted mur-derer
Frank Coppola was executed in Virginia
recently, inmates on Missouri's death row joked
to Gerald Smith that he would be next.
Smith hopes they're right.
He is one of 19 inmates on death row in the
Missouri Penitentiary but he is the only one
requesting an early execution. If his wish is
granted, he will be the first person executed by
the state in 17 years.
Smith has asked the Missouri Supreme Court
to stop the appeals process, so he can " go on
down" as soon as possible.
But earlier this summer the court refused his
request. The state's capital murder law re-quires
the court to review every death penalty
verdict, and the mandatory hearing is sched-uled
to start Sept. 27.
If the court upholds Smith's death sentence,
Chief Justice Robert Donnelly says Smith may
be executed this year.
Smith, 23, was originally scheduled to die in
Missouri's gas chamber Oct. 13, 1981, but the
state's Supreme Court stayed his execution to
review the case.
He was sentenced to death Aug. 13, 1981, for
the Sept 9, 1880, lolling of Karen Ann Roberts in
St. Louis.
Smith chased Ms. Roberts two blocks before
beating her to death with an iron bar.
He says he does not regret having killed Ms.
Roberts and, given the choice, would probably
do it again.
Though he has no remorse for his actions, he
is concerned for the consequences of his stay on
death row.
Another reason he wants to die is to avoid
causing any emotional trauma for his daughter,
who is now 3 years old. He says he wants to be
executed before his daughter is old enough to
understand the turmoil.
He wants to hasten the judicial process so he
can " get it over with."
" I don't want to go through the hassle of sit-ting
down there for several years," Smith says.
" I'm going as soon as I can."
Death holds no fear for him. " Living on the
streets, I came close to getting it a few tunes.
You gotta go sometime.
" I don't really care one way or the other," he
says of the execution he seeks.
Smith says capital punishment is not a deter-rent
to crime. It wasn't to him. He says he never
thought about capital punishment until after he
killed Ms. Roberts.
Convicted murderer Gerald Smith says he's tired of waiting. Adm """'"
But he has no second thoughts about his deci-sion
to forego the appeals process. " Once I start
something I intend to finish it, no matter what
the circumstances," he says.
Though his family disagrees with his appeals
decision, he ignores their advice. " It ain't up to
them. I'm gonna do it anyway, no matter what
they say."
Donald Wynck, warden at the state peniten-tiary,
says he has had " not had an ounce of trou-ble"
from Smith. " You hardly know he's here."
However, Wynck says Smith once jumped a
fence in the recreation yard. His penalty was
placement in a seclusion cell that fellow prison-ers
call " the hole."
While in the hole, Smith refused to eat. His
hunger strike lasted only a few days and Smith
was later returned to his usual cell.
Wynck said Smith has had no felony convic-tions
as an adult, but had been arrested more
than 30 tunes as a juvenile.
Smith says he is confined to his death- ro- w cell
24 hours a day, except for a weekly half- ho- ur
exercise penod. He complains this leaves him
with little to do. " I sit around, play cards and
wait on the mail," he says. " All I can do is sit
and wait."
Though Smith says he believes in God and an
afterlife, he is unsure what will happen to him
after his execution " I believe in heaven and
hell, but I don't really know which one I'd be
going to."
Delay expected in latest case
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. ( UPI) - The Mis- sou- n
Supreme Court Monday upheld the death
sentence given a St Louis man for killing an un-dercover
police officer and set execution for
Oct. 7. An appeal, however, is expected to stay
the execution.
Chief Justice Robert T. Donnelly wrote the 5-- 2
opinion upholding the death penalty for Robert
Baker, convicted of the June 19, 1980, fatal
shooting of Gregory Erson while Erson worked
as an undercover agent on the prostitution de-tail
m the Stroll area of downtown St. Louis.
The defense was expected to appeal the deci-sion
to the federal court system, delaying the
execution date.
Hero's farewell
given as PLO
plans revenge
' Ready to fight and die,'
Arafat proclaims to world
United Press International
Another 1,000 guerrillas the
third group to depart Beirut sailed
to South Yemen Monday in a fare-well
salute of flowers, machine- gu- n
fire and a PLO vow to unleash its
scattered fighters against Israel " in
the very near future."
" The main lesson we have learned
in Lebanon is that armed struggle is
the only way to liberate Palestine,"
said Salah Khalaf, the number- tw- o
man in the Palestine Liberation Or-ganization
force of Al Fatah, who is
better known by his nomme de
guerre, Abu Iyad
" The world will see, in the very
near future, actions in the occupied
terntones that will make Begin's
hair stand on end," he said The oc-cupied
terntones include the West
Bank and Gaza Strip.
He said the PLO never will recog-nize
the state of Israel.
PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, in
an interview in Beirut with ABC
News, said he told his departing
fighters they " have to carry on with
their resistance and with their strug-gle
"
Although Arafat acknowledged it
will be difficult to attack Israel with
a defeated and largely disarmed
guerrilla force scattered among
eight Arab nations, he defiantly
added: " We are ready to fight and to
die for the sake of our people."
Although the latest PLO departure
went relatively smoothly, sporadic
violence followed the election of Isra-eli-
backed Christian mditia leader
Beshir Gemayel as the nation's
youngest president.
The homes of three Moslem dep-uties
who. attended the parliamen-tary
session were hit with rocket- propelle- d
grenades The deputies
had ignored a Moslem- le- d boycott in
attending the session. There were no
immediate reports of damage or
casualties
Most of Lebanon's Moslems accus-ed
Gemayel of openly assisting the
Israeli invasion and remember bit-terly
his role in leading the Chris-tians
against Moslem leftists in the
1975- 7- 6 civil war
Gemayel, 34, a pistol- packin- g Ma- roni- te
Christian, won by a 10- vo- te
margin on a second- roun- d ballot
with a quorum of 62 ot the parlia-ment's
92 members present.
Gemayel was chosen despite
staunch opposition from some Mos-lems
and much of the Lebanese left,
but with the support of a large num-ber
of Shnte parliamentarians who
are the traditional leaders of south
Lebanon
In Tel Aviv, Pnme Minister Men- ache- m
Begin sent his congratula-tions
to Gemayel in a cable signed
" your friend "
" My warm, heartfelt congratula-tions
to you on your elections," Be-gin
wrote. " May God be with you,
my dear fnend, in fulfilling your im-portant
histoncal mission on behalf
of the freedom of Lebanon and its in-dependence
"
Election of the Christian militia
leader came during the third day of
the PLO withdrawal from Israeli- encircle- d
Beirut
The latest departure brought to
nearly 2,400 the number of fighters
who have left Beirut under U S spe-cial
envoy Philip Habib's evacuation
plan 397 PLO fighters left Saturday ,
the first day of the evacuation, and
982 more left Sunday
Officials had said 7,100 PLO fight-ers
and about 5,200 regular Synan
troops and Synan- backe- d fighters of
the Palestine Liberation Army were
included in Habib's two- we- ek evac-uation
timetable
As a truck convoy earned the lat-est
1,000 departing fighters to the
port, thousands of people showered
the guernllas with flowers PLO
fighters still in Beirut saluted the de-parture
with thousands of rounds of
machine- gu- n fire into the air
However, on the other side of the
capital, a Palestinian jeep was
blown up by a land mine near the
PLO headquarters in the Fakhani
quarter, witnesses said An undeter-mined
number of guernllas died in
the blast, believed caused by a PLO
land mine planted weeks ago
Government sources said 1,000
guerrillas from the PLO groups Al
Fatah, the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine and the Dem-ocratic
Front for the Liberation of
Palestine were on the Alkyon ship
when it left. The sources earlier esti-mated
about the 600 would be
aboard
Security at the port appeared to
have been tightened, perhaps be-cause
of Israeli complaints that
three women and nine children left
with the fighters Sunday and were
counted as guerrillas
Lebanese army and French peace-keeping
troops checked each truck- loa- d
of departing guerrillas At least
five women dressed in military fa-tigues
and carrying Kalashnikov as-sault
rifles were ordered off the
trucks and escorted out of the port Board prepares changes to save Fischel
By Patti Muck and Ellen Hosmer
Missourian staff writers
iffiiiq Fischel State Cancer Center has three
years to sink or swim, for on July 1, 1985, the
state will cut off all appropriations except
those for captial improvements and indigent- patie- nt
care. Members of the newly created
Missouri Cancer Commission are hoping that
by the end of that tune, the center is more like
Mark Spitz than the Titanic.
Senate Bill 717, sponsored by Columbia's
Sen. Roger Wilson and signed into law by Gov.
Christopher Bond last April, transfers respon-sibility
for Ellis Fischel from the state to the
seven- memb- er governing board.
Many people connected with Ellis Fischel
say the doors almost closed permanently dur-ing
the past troubled years. Last fall was a
particularly crucial penod for the hospital
Personnel problems, administrative tangles,
drastic declines in patient numbers and finan-cial
difficulties overshadowed the hospital's
original goals in treating cancer patients.
Since its inception in 1940, the hospital has
lowered its dependence on the state, but it still
received approximately $ 3.1 million from the
state in 1981.
Over the last three years the hospital gener-ated
only 67 percent of its total operating costs,
says Bob Goodnck, comptroller for the hosp-ital
The new state cancer commission, however,
is amdous to take on the awesome task of mak-ing
the center self- sufficie- nt and restructuring
the weak institution into a comprehensive can-cer
center. The commission is also anxious to
quiet questions as to the importance of the cen-ter.
The members, none of whom work in the
medical field, come from a wide variety of
backgrounds and experiences, but they share a
common bond. They want to see Ellis Fischel
succeed.
Rep. Joe Holt of Fulton is familiar with the
problems at Fischel. He headed the House re-organization
committee in 1973- 7- 4 that abo--
1
Joshed the cancer commission then in charge of
the hospital and placed it under the Missouri
Division of Health.
Holt says he had a running battle with those
who wanted to preserve the original cancer
commission.
" I won that battle, but it looks like, in the
long run, lost it, because it ended up not being
the proper thing," he says. " I did the wrong
thing 10 years ago, so it's time to try to nght
it."
Ironically, Holt now chairs the new cancer
commission and says he is glad Fischel has
been released from the " benign neglect" of the
Division of Health.
One of his pnorities for the commission is to
find a permanent director who can attract
more doctors and nurses. Holt says the interim
director, Dr. Ned Rodes, characterizes the
type of director the commission is looking for.
Rodes, however, is anxious to return to his re-search
at the neighboring Cancer Research
Center and has declined to be a candidate.
" I'd like to have someone with Ned Rode's
qualities, but I don't know if I can ever find
him," Holt says. At least two candidates are
being courted, but no decisions have been
made.
Holt also says the faculty must treat more
patients and build up a referral system that
has all but disappeared in recent years. Doc-tors
in and around Missouri have to know that
Fischel is back in business and offering high- quali- ty
care, Holt contends.
Holt disagrees with cnticism that Fischel is
no longer viable because cancer treatment can
be obtained at Columbia Regional Hospital,
Boone Hospital Center and the University Hos-pital.
" I think those other hospitals, in some cases,
have developed then: cancer floors because of
troubles at Ellis Fischel," he says. With the
Cancer Research Center standing in the shad-ow
of the hospital, the combination of research
and treatment makes Ellis Fischel supenor to
cancer programs in other hospitals, he says.
Holt predicts that in five years Fischel will
Insight
begin to be self- supporti- ng and it will have a
nationally recognized director and a compe-tent
medical staff .
Commission member Bui Kasmann, who
owns a Columbia insurance agency, has a
more personal attachment to Elks Fischel and
what it stands for. He has worked with the
Amencan Cancer Society for 20 years and lost
a wife and several close friends to cancer.
His drive to save Fischel began about a year
ago when he started reading about the facili-ty's
problems in the news. He organized the
Citizens for an Ellis Fischel State Cancer Cen-ter
in September 1981, to generate community
support for the hospital. The movement has
consumed much of his tune since then
Kasmann admits to being " overly opti-mistic"
about the center's future at times, es-pecially
concerning its need to become finan-cially
independent in three years. Generating
funds will be a problem, he says, and he be-lieves
there's no time for trial and error.
r
Yet he views Fischel as a crucial part of the
city and essential to the future of cancer treat-ment
and research.
" I just don't think we can give it up," he
says. " I visualize Ellis Fischel at this point in
time like Douglas MacArthur when he prom-ised
' I shall return.' The dedication and the
hope that it's going to work are there."
Kasmann's dreams for the facility include
building three more floors on the east wing,
constructing a walkway between Elks Fischel
and the Cancer Research Center and contract-ing
for a CAT scanner, a sophisticated X- ra- y
machine.
Kasmann says he doesn't understand how
the hopital was allowed to degenerate.
" I really don't know what happened, but I
know, at one tune, they had a tremendous rep-utation
and it almost went down the tubes. I'd
like to see Ellis Fischel closed if we could kill
cancer and bury it in the same grave with po-lio.
Until we can do that, I don't think we'll see
it close."
Larry Dixon, another 20- ye- ar veteran of the
Amencan Cancer Society, joined the commis-sion
after a phone call from Bond
Dixon, a communications expert from
Springfield, Mo., says he took a day or two to
decide whether to take the responsibility.
" What we found was a hospital in cnsis It was
obvious we had to move pretty quick," he says.
The new commission has the power to hire
employees, set personnel policy and control
the payroll, and Dixon says that's the way it
should be. One of the commission's first moves
was to oust former administrator Joseph Gre-co
It was an attempt to combat the " combina-tion
of structural weaknesses" that caused
many of Ellis Fischel's problems, Dixon says.
" I think the commission feels in order to re-alize
Ellis Fischel's goals, we have to be a very
strong and well- ru- n hospital."
To be strong, Dixon says the center must
build up its medical staff and raise its level of
( See BOARD, Page 10A)
I Thief : Keep
the change
NIMES, France ( UPI) - A
bank robber who demanded
only 60,000 francs turned down
an extra 30,000 francs handed
him by a frightened teller, po-lice
said Monday.
Patrick Valvert told police
he walked into the Societe
Generale bank office Feb 9
with a plastic gun he had
bought in a five and dime store
and waited in line, asking him-self
how much to demand He
settled on 60,000 francs
($ 8,600).
Police said the teller emp-tied
his drawer and handed
Valvert 90,000 francs
Valvert handed back the ex-tra
30,000, said police
He then took the francs and
ran
Arrested Sunday, Valvert
told police he cabled a money
order worth 47,000 francs to
the United Nations Children's
Fund( UNICEF)
In Iwii tedy I
8 ajn. University registra-- I
tion continues, Heames Cen-ter
7 p. m. Board of Adjustments
meets, County Court cham-bers,
County- Cit- y Building
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