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I - iJ. .'.. . , w . . -- . I: ETT a- - L', .. i . . . 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 I Business 9a 1 Classified g- 7- A J Comics 8A I 1 Opinion 4a I 8 People 3A I I Sports 5A J
Object Description
Title | Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1982-08-24 |
Description | Vol. 74th Year, No. 290 |
Subject |
Columbia (Mo.) -- Newspapers Boone County (Mo.) -- Newspapers |
Coverage | United States -- Missouri -- Boone County -- Columbia |
Language | English |
Date.Search | 1982-08-24 |
Type | Newspaper |
Format | |
Collection Name | Columbia Missourian Newspaper Collection |
Publisher.Digital | The Office of Library Systems of the University of Missouri |
Contributing Institution |
State Historical Society of Missouri University of Missouri School of Journalism |
Copy Request | Contact the State Historical Society of Missouri at: (800) 747-6366 or (573) 882-7083 or email contact@shsmo.org. Some fees apply:http://shsmo.org/research/researchfees |
Description
Title | Full Page |
Date.Search | 1982-08-24 |
Type | page |
Item.Transcript | I - iJ. .'.. . , w . . -- . I: ETT a- - L', .. i . . . 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 I Business 9a 1 Classified g- 7- A J Comics 8A I 1 Opinion 4a I 8 People 3A I I Sports 5A J |