The Michigan Daily - Friday, June 1, 1984 - Page 13
Floods hit Northeast,
leave 6,000 homeless
From The Associated Press
The worst flooding in parts of the
Northeast in almost half a century
chased more than 6,000 people from
their homes yesterday as rivers clim-
bed as high as 12 feet above flood stage
and water lapped at the eaves of
buildings.
Up to eight inches of rain in four days
set records for the entire month of May
in several Northeastern states and sent
floodwaters surging through the down-
town areas of several cities and inun-
dated thousands of acres of farmland
that had just been planted. It washed
out roads and covered bridges.
THE STORM system, which on Sun-
day killed 13 people and routed 4,000
people from their homes in Tulsa,
Okla., was blamed for a total of 17
deaths, including two sisters who
drowned in New York and two traffic
fatalities in Massachusetts.
In Connecticut, where 1,600 National
Guard troops were activated or placed
on alert, the Housatonic River was
eight to 12 feet above flood stage in
the eastern part of the state and the
Connecticut River was expected to
crest at 14 feet above flood stage today
south of the state capitol of Hartford.
"The Connecticut River is the highest
since the hurricane of 1938, said
Charles Smith, a hydrologist with the
Northeast River Forecast Center in
Bloomfield, Conn.
OTHERS compared the flooding to a
deluge in 1955 that killed 100 people in
Connecticut alone.
With the rivers still rising in many
areas, officials said at least 3,500 people
were displaced from their homes Wed-
nesday and yesterday in Massachuset-
ts, 1,000 in New Jersey, 650 in New
York, 600 in Connecticut and 400 in New
Hampshire.
Elsewhere in the country, tem-
peratures were making news with
either record highs or record lows.
IN THE EAST, more than four dozen
cities posted the lowest temperatures
ever on May 31 from Texas across the
Southeast into Appalachia.
Meanwhile, forecasters predicted a
repeat of Wednesday's record-breaking
90-degree heat in the Rockies.
Associated Ares
After four days of heavy rain in Connecticut, two men row past a highway
sign in the center of New Milford yesterday. The rain caused the Housatonic
River to flood a section of New Milford.
Defense asks for 'moral decision'
(Continuedfrom Page 3)
could tell something was wrong." But
she said Faber agreed to give her a ride
after Pearson said her father would be
worried about her.
PEARSON SAID she talked with
Faber and explained that she was
"being forced to do it," and asked,
"please give me your money."
Details of the shooting are unclear,
but Ann Arbor Police lab reports in-
dicated that the gun, a .38 caliber
revolver, was resting on Faber's
shoulder when it discharged a bullet in-
to the right side of her neck. She died
three days later without regaining con-
sciousness.
Pearson said she and Faber never
struggled but she realized Faber was
shot when her ears were ringing and
"(Faber) was leaning forward" on the
steering wheel.
WITH THE gun and Faber's purse,
Pearson said she fled with Hart to Yp-
silanti and returned the gun to Tony
Frazier, Hart's half-brother. Frazier,
in turn sold the gun to his uncle, Charles
Herndon. The gun was eventually
recovered by Ann Arbor Police.
Throughout the questioning, Ferris
returned repeatedly to the physical
abuse inflicted upon Pearson by Ricar-
do Hart. Ferris established that Hart
had kept Pearson a virtual prisoner
having locked her in their house on
numerous occasions.
Delhey, in a harsh and accusatory
manner, attacked the idea of Pearson
as a prisoner of Hart. He argued that
she had her own initiative and motive
on Nov. 22, and she was not just the
pawn of Hart.
DELHEY CLAIMED that Pearson
"could have stayed away from Hart."
He pointed out that she had left Hart
almost monthly for the past two years,
but continued to return to him.
Delhey pushed Pearson for more
details about the shooting, but the
defendant repeatedly claimed she
couldn't remember. To this, Delhey
glared at Pearson and said, "It's too
bad Mrs. Faber isn't here to testify."
Ferris quickly objected to Delhey's
"editorializing."
Delhey returned to the events of the
evening and argued that Pearson "used
her child-like appearance to gain the
confidence of Mrs. Faber."
MUCH OF Delhey's questioning cen-
tered around the gun. It was unclear
whether the gun had been cocked or
not.
If it had been cocked, minimal
pressure on the trigger, three pounds,
could have caused it to fire; if it wasn't
cocked, 13 pounds of pressure would be
necessary to fire the double-action
revolver, according to firearms expert
Jon Stanton of the Michigan State
Police.
The jury is expected to examine the
gun closely to determine whether an
accidental discharge was possible.
THE prosecutor ended his
questioning by asking Pearson if at
anytime she tried to help Faber. Pear-
son said she hadn't, but she felt "bad
about (the shooting)".
Ferris continued his defense by
calling numerous witnesses to describe
Pearson's bad treatment at the hands
of Hart. The judge finally decided that
the repeated efforts of the defense to
establish duress and physical abuse
within the Pearson-Hart relationship
had been overplayed and should be
restricted to post-1982 activities.
Ferris also attempted to discredit the
testimony of Marilyn Diane Martin, an
ex-jailmate of Pearson's. She said that
Pearson had enjoyed the killing and
that she and Hart had been "doing
dope" on the evening of the murder.
Both charges were denied by Pearson..
THE DEFENSE called David
Phillips, a corrections officer, who said
Martin was "sometimes truthful,
sometimes not."
Ann Arbor Police Detective Richard
Anderson, who had testified for the
prosecution, was called by the defense
to clarify whether Pearson had actually
told Martin that she'd shot Faber. An-
derson said she hadn't.
The testimony by Martin, who was
convicted of embezzlement, was almost
completely discredited by the defense.
Ann Arbor Police had been stumped
by the case until Pearson called the
Michigan State Police and offered in-
formation on Dec. 18.
For three days police officers in-
terrogated Pearson, who implicated
Frazier and Hart in the shooting. Under
questioning, Frazier disclosed the
location of the gun and Pearson was
arrested on Dec. 21.
5e *
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'U' runs numbers racket
(Continuedfrom Page )
student's college, when the student first
enrolled, or the ethnic background.
In theory each check digit, zero
through nine, will appear on ten percent
of the plastic ID cards. Every computer
in the University is supposed to know
the formula and immediately apply it to
the social security number whenever it
is entered into the system.
The primary computer system in the
registrar's office provides a data base
for systems in the housing and financial
aid offices and the libraries.
A bit of folklore has been developed
around the tenth digit by those who
have been chosen to consider its origin.
"There are obvious satanic influen-
ces in any computer system," said Tom
Benson, an LSA student. "Since nine is
one of the holy numbers, a tenth digit is
added to avoid the conflict."