2A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 11, 1996 NATION/WORLD Mmy sex charges spark controversy ex 0, A T 11, D N Al, { 4 POWT few complaints flood Army sexual abuse hotline The Washington Post ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. - The phones began to ring about 4 p.m. Thursday, as soon as the Army announced rape and sexual harassment charges against three mili- tary trainers here and broadcast a toll- free hot line for alleged victims to report abuse. The calls came in waves, cresting with each television news report dis- playing the number. By 4 yesterday afternoon, 1,697 people had called the hot line, and Army officials said they were still analyzing the calls for pat- terns. The calls - most from people expressing an opinion, but about 100 making new complaints deemed credi- ble - showed that the widening inves- tigation at this sprawling facility north of Baltimore hit a public nerve. Army officials have charged three instructors, including a company commander, with acts from adultery to rape. Four young women under the instructors' supervi- sion were raped and several others were forcibly sodomized and sexually assaulted, Army documents allege. Two other sergeants face nonjudicial punish- ment for lesser infractions. Fifteen other soldiers, both officers and enlisted men, have been suspended and are under investigation for possible misconduct ranging from illegal frater- nization to rape. About half the credible new com- plaints - 48 - related to Aberdeen. The others came from female soldiers across the country, some reporting allegedly incidents overseas. Women have reported everything from verbal abuse to offensive touching to sexual assault and rape. Most complaints allege incidents that took place in the last five years, but some date back 10, 20 and even 30 years. "We had people calling in from all over," said Capt. Lee Merritt, 32, one of more than a dozen officers assigned to answer the phones. "We've even had a few calls about the Navy and the Air Force." Merritt and the others work in 20- by-20-foot classroom in a training facility here, equipped with 13 phones and a blackboard with a call count. (The hot line number is 1-800-903- 4241.) If the caller reports an incident, Merritt jots down the basic information and transfers the call to one of the four military investigators in the room. "Most of them don't get emotional. They're matter-of-fact, just saying this has happened to me. They call in and give the facts," Merritt said. The investigators spend 30 minutes to an hour interviewing the caller. Sometimes, Merritt said, the hotline has been so busy that all four investigators are on the phone when a new incident report comes in. Although initial inter- views are done at Aberdeen, more com- plete investigations of allegations involving other facilities will be con- ducted at those installations. "Most of them are strong," Merritt said. "When they call, you can tell that most of them thought quite a bit about it before they called. They're ready to go on record. "I thank them for coming forward and tell them it's a tough thing to do. The easy thing to do is to do nothing. "It's very businesslike," he added. Merritt has handled hundreds of calls. When he goes home, they haunt him. "Normally, I can jump into bed and I'm asleep as soon as the lights go out," he said. "But now, you sit there thinking about some of these individuals." One woman told him she had been sexually assaulted. She said that she had reported the incident to police but that nothing ever happened. "It's kind of tough, these people telling you these things," Merritt said. "You start thinking about all this, and some of these calls do affect you." Merritt has been in the Army 11 years and served in the Persian Gulf War. "It's definitely opened my eyes," he said. "You know its a problem, and you know it's out there, but now I can relate it to myself. Now it's personal. People have told you about it, and that's different than reading about it in the paper." Rep. says Gingrich should resign WASHINGTON - Rep. Steve Largent, a member of Newt Gingrich's loyal supporters from the 1994 class of House newcomers, recommended yesterday that Gingrich give up his speaker's seat until ethics charges against him are resolved. "I think it is a good idea," Largent (R-Okla.) responded when asked on "Fox News Sunday" about a proposal that Gingrich turn his job over to Judici Committee Chair Rep. Henry Hyde (R-1ll.) while the ethics charges are penei The idea reportedly is suggested in the next issue of the conservative journal "National Review." "I think it would reduce the amount of rhetoric that we would hear on the floor for the 105th Congress and allow us to work more constructively and move for- ward," Largent said. Asked if others in Congress shared his view, Largent said, "I think behind closed doors there would be, but publicly people are maybe fearful to say that on nation- al TV" Appearing later on the same program, Ralph Reed of the Christian Coalition said a scenario where Gingrich (R-Ga.) stepped aside was unlikely. "The House members that I have talked to have indicated that unless and until the ethics c( mittee comes forth with formal charges, that Newt Gingrich is innocent until proven guilty," Reed said. 1* IOttawa 1+*1 Internship 10 Openings Available In the Canadian House of Commons with Members of Parliament May 6 - June 20, 1997 Six Weeks+ (47 Days) Invites Students To Two Information Meetings on Tuesday, November 12 6 to 8 p.m. Political Science Lounge 6th floor Haven Hal and on Wednesday, November 13 6 to 8 p.m. Political Science Lounge 6th floor haven Hall For application and interview contact: Dr. helen M. Graves, Emerita Associate Professor, Political Science The Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives is now accepting applications for Student Program Host positions for the King/Chivez/Parks College Day Spring Visitation Program Student Program Hosts assist in the supervision of student leaders who accompany visiting middle school students on a one-day visit to campus. In addition, they coordinate work schedules. Program Hosts must be team players and have a keen interest in working with younger students. Applications and job descriptions can be obtained at The Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives 1042 Fleming Building, first floor. For additional information contact Onis Cheathams at 936-1055 Man may have tried to kill daughters for insurance money WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - Pushing his deaf daughter into traffic. Handing his 4- year-old a high-voltage wire. Hiring hit men to murder his only brother. Prosecutors say David Crist, 38, committed these crimes against his own blood for a base reason: greed. He collected $133,000 from a life insurance policy in his brother's 1982 death and stood to gain $200,000 if his two young daughters hadn't survived. As a precaution, authorities also reopened investigations into the deaths of his father in 1968, his mother's fiance in 1976 and his mother in 1981, although no charges have resulted. Jury selection opens tomorrow for Crist's trial in the 1993 attempted murder of his deaf daughter, Diane. When she was 9, prosecutors allege, Crist hired a woman to run over the child with a car, but the driver swerved at the last instant. After this trial, another jury will decide whether Crist tried to electrocute his younger daughter, Miranda Jo, in 1990. Then he goes to Maryland, where he is accused of killing his brother Scott Crist. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty. More women takin. up cigar-pig WASHINGTON - When Shelly Harris wanted to improve her putting game, she didn't hire an instructor:pr play more rounds. She stuck a cigar in her mouth - you know, the way guys do - and putted. It worked, Harris said. "I think it'sdn interesting phenomenon," she said. "Maybe in your mind you believe have more power." After that first cigar on a golf course, the salesperson has two more stogies. She plans to go on puffing even though she hasn't quite mastered "gracefully spitting the stuff you get in your mouth;" An estimated 10 million Americans - 2 percent of them women - have, like Harris, tossed aside health con- cerns and political correctness and taken up the stogie. _ ''' 1*1 2200 Fuller Road, Apt. 701-B, Ann Arbor, MI 48105-2307 Phone: (313) 994-5563 FAX: (313) 994-0532 *1 W I Colombian govt. looks to toughen laws on drugs BOGOTA, Colombia - President Ernesto Samper's embattled government, seeking to polish its image and improve relations with Washington, has vowed to stiffen sentences for drug traffickers, seize more of their assets and allow their extradition to the United States. But even if Samper shows new-found political will to get tough with drug traffickers here, who provide 80 per- cent of the world's cocaine and increas- ing amounts of its heroin, they have made it clear they are still willing to fight such efforts the old-fashioned way - through terrorism and threats. The three measures are at the top of a list of demands the United States has said Samper must meet if he hopes to reestablish a working relationship with the Clinton administration, according to U.S. and Colombian officials. Relations have deteriorated sharply since the United States concluded that rr r r,.+p, '{ ' X ...v .'v} :'w.::....... Samper took $6 million from traff j- ers for his 1994 presidential campaign. Washington has revoked his visa and "decertified" Colombia for not cooper- ating in the fight against drugs. Pet owners oppose strict quarantines LONDON - Hong Kong GOv. Chris Patten may turn over Britaij's prized colony to China with equanimi- ty next year, but he will not surrender Whisky and Soda to authorities - k home without protest. "Preposterous," rails Patten at sA1 British quarantine laws that require him to send his two Norfolk terriers intosix months' solitary confinement when they return to England. As never before, animal rights, xenophobia and public health intersect in narrow cages where family pets from abroad must prove that they do not have rabies before being allowed into the country, - Compiledfrom Daily wire repoAs :. * ' i '<'? The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $85. Winter term (January through April) is $95, yearlong (September through April) is $165. On-campus sub scriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. 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