The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, June 3, 1981-Page 3 PRISON OFFICIALS SA Y DISTURBANCE QUELLED Inmates riot in Hawaii HONOLULU (AP)-About 300 inmates took over a cellblock of the Oahu Community Correctional Cen- ter yesterday in what had been labeled "a major disturbance," but later agreed to withdraw so riot equipped guards could search for contraband, of- ficials said. No injuries had been reported and no hostages were taken, but the trouble was considered unresolved more than six hours after it began at 8 a.m. local time, prison officials said. NO WEAPONS WERE used in the takeover, which succeeded through "sheer force of numbers," said corrections spokesman Chapman Lam. Ambulances and fire trucks were standing by outside the prison, and police closed off a busy thoroughfare in front of the prison in a residential and industrial section of Honolulu. The facility houses 55 inmates in- three wings. At an earlier point in the disturbance, inmates were chased out of the cellblock by tear gas, but they had later retarned. Riot-equipped Honolulu police provided backup in- side the prison and continued a perimeter around the facility during the shakedown, which Lam said would take several hours. THE INCIDENT WAS described as a "major disturbance" when it began, but had calmed down considerably about two hours later, Lam said. He said the inmates had made "a lot of racket" and broke equipment, but there was no immediate assessment of damages. - He also said there would be no immediate talk of any disciplinary action. "The emphasis is to keep things cool and defuse the situation," Lam said. THE INCIDENT began after an inmate threw cof- fee on a guard during breakfast at the mess hall, Lam said. No immediate action was taken against the in- mate, but when guards went to the cellblock to question him, the other inmates began the disturban- ce. "The overcrowded conditions here have made the situation in the cellblock barely tolerable," Lam said. "'We've known for months that all it would take is a minor spark and it would go." During a-meeting with prison administrator Antone Olin, inmate representatives agreed to recommend that the prisoners enter the recreation yard while the cellblock was searched for weapons and other con- traband, Lam said. THE PRISONERS left the cellblock before 80 guards entered wearing helmets and flak jackets, Lam said, adding that the evacuation of the cellblock was a test of inmate cooperation in ending the distur- bance. Police armed with M-16s and guards established a perimeter around the facility while a police helicop- ter was circling overhead. PREPARE FOR 3,000 MILE TREK: A2 hikers walk for a cause By JENNIFER MILLER Imagine a 3,000-mile, six-month hike along the Continental Divide: trekking across glacier fields, scaling moun- tains, and crossing desert, grassland, and forest. Three men and one woman from Ann Arbor are facing such a trip next week. Their main goal is not solely to sur- vive the grueling trek, however. Clarke Ball, Patricia Ball, David Kahn, and Stewart Merritt are making the trip as volunteers for the Society for Epidemiology and Voluntary Assistan- ce, to raise funds to prevent and cure, blindness in Nepal, a Himalayan coun- try where one out of every 47 people are blind. Ninety percent are curable, but there are no hospital facilities and few eye doctors, SEVA says. CLARKE BALL, 34, a veteran hiker who has walked half of the Continental Divide, said the group plans to cover 10- 35 miles per day. The trip will begin five miles inside the Canadian border, with marked trails guiding the group for 1,900 miles, and the rest navigated by map and compass. "We'll have some challenging snow fields to get across ,at first," Clarke said, and further south "in the desert, we'll travel by moonlight. You can't travel at midday there. And we'll have to travel fast or winter will catch up with us." PATRICIA BALL, 26, will possibly be the first woman to hike the Continental Divide. She quit her secretarial job at the University's School of Public Health to make the trip. "I've been trying to picture what it will be like - I have no idea. I haven't had any experience," said Patricia. The trek is sponsored by SEVA and various companies who have donated money, equipment, and food. The group hopes to raise $250,000 for Nepal through pledges and donations for each mile walked. $10,000 has been pledged so far. SEVA, an international organization, and other groups have a "goal to reduce the prevalence of blindness by 95 per- cent in five years, then leave the coun- try self-sufficient in terms of eye care," said Steve Merritt, expedition coor- dinator for SEVA. ALL THE HIKERS said the com- mitment and support they've received from people has given them incentive to finish the trip. "Sometimes I think, what the hell am I doing this for? What am I getting into? Then I feel really touched by it all," said Patricia. The four hikers also spoke of the per- sonal rewards from the trek. Clarke said, "It's an opportunity for me to use the skills that I have to make an impact on the world. Otherwise, I wouldn't be See HIKERS, Page 5 FOUR ANN ARBOR residents sort through boxes of food and equipment in preparation for a six-month hike from Canada to Mexico along the Continen- tal Divide. The group, which leaves Ann Arbor Friday, is making the trek to raise money to fight blindness in Nepal. Soviet tanks in N icaragua, Haig says, WASHINGTON (AP)-The United States has received intelligence reports that Soviet tanks may have been sent to Nicaragua and that more tanks are in Cuba awaiting delivery, the State Department said yesterday. Department spokesman Dean Fischer said the reports have not been confirmed but added that the presence of heavy Soviet Armor in Nicaragua would pose "serious problems" for Nicaragua's neighbors. IN HIS EARLIER remarks to reporters, Fischer said Soviet arms shipments through Cuba to in- surgents in El Salvador have increased recently after having been sharply reduced shortly after the Reagan administration took office. Just Monday, however, Under Secretary of State Walter Stoessel suggested Cuba was sending only minimal amounts of weaponry to El Salvador. Spokesmen did not say what type of Soviet tanks may have been sent to Nicaragua, but other sources said they were believed to be T-55 heavy tanks, which were secretly sent to that country under the cover of darkness. FISCHER ALSO suggested that the Soviets may be planning to send aircraft to Nicaragua, but he left the impression the United States has no concrete infor- mation on this point. He said Nicaragua's neighbors have expressed concern to the United States about the alleged Soviet activities. Fischer said the United States would take into account Moscow's military relationship with Nicaragua in weighing whether or not to restore U.S. economic aid to Nicaragua. CUBA'S SUPPORT for Salvadoran rebels was a priority concern for the administration during its fir- st six weeks in office. Secretary of State Alexander Haig warned that the United States was prepared "to deal with the problem at the source"-meaning Cuba-and officials said the United States was prepared to take direct action to halt the arms flow.