Miami Hurricane, September 19, 1989

              A real assignment
A walk through Downtown Miami is a lesson in life.
Opinion — page 4
Hitchin’ a ride
Student security patrol officers escort others all over campus
Accent — page 6
The final cut	
I Hurricane assistant sports editor tries out for the base- 1	
I ball team.	Sports — page 8 I
Volum« 67, Number 6
University of Miami, Coral Gables, Fla.
Tuesday, September 19,1989
Radical Soviet calls for change
By LAURIE L. THOMAS
Contributing Editor
Amidst a mob of television reporters, photographers and well-wishers, Soviet politician Boris Yeltsin entered the banquet room of the Omni International Hotel Sunday and immediately began to work the crowd.
While his every movement was captured on camera, Yeltsin shook hands and smiled in the style of a true politician, while his interpreter explained to him what was happening.
Yeltsin later told the group, which consisted of such local notables as Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez and Miami Herald publisher David Lawrence, he has nothing good to say about conservative members of the Politburo, which he was removed from in 1987.
"Especially because they are trying to destroy Yeltsin,” he said through interpreter Harry Colter.
In the 2,250-member Congress of People’s Deputies, Yeltsin is
Photos by MICHAEL ROY / Photo Editor
Charging on
(Above) Hurricane fullback Leonard Conley has more rushing touchdowns after two games than all of last year. (Right) Fans of the orange and green show their enthusiasm at Saturday’s game against California. See story, page 8.
ieadci oí the lude pendent Caucus.
SG retreat a w;
members in March and has grown
to about 600 representatives.
A general constitutional overhaul is needed, according to Yeltsin.
The overhaul would include ownership rights for workers of the land, Politburo accountability to the congress and freedom to secede from the U.S.S.R. for the Baltic republics.
Additionally, Yeltsin said he thinks a radical bilateral reduction in arms, private ownership of a portion of the means of production and a socialist-based economy would benefit his country.
Yeltsin stressed the need for stronger relations between the United States and the Soviet Union.
“We have to pass over to a policy of speaking the truth,” said Yeltsin. He said he came to speak the truth to people in the United States because "the more truth we speak to one another, the greater will be the level of confidence" between our
Please see page V/YELTSIN
Senator:
By ROBERT MILLER
Assistant News Editor
The Student Government retreat to Marco Island, Fla., held the weekend of Sept. 8, was ineffective and too expensive, according to one SG senator.
“I think it was a waste of time and money,” SG Senator Mark Bratkiv said.
According to Bratkiv, SG received about $26,000 from the Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee to spend this year. Out of that amount nearly $16,000 is already earmarked for office expenses.
The money for the retreat, Bratkiv said, came out of the remaining $10,000. The total cost of the weekend was more than 25 percent of this amount.
Bratkiv estimated SG spent
$2,559 on the two-night retreat and said he doubts it was worth it.
SG Treasurer Steve Fox said he had planned to spend about $2,300 for the retreat when he was preparing this year’s SG budget.
However, in last year's request for this year’s funds fromSAFAC, the amount to be spent on the retreat was estimated to be $800.
Former SG President Freddie Stebbms estimated last year’s SG retreat cost $700. Last year's retreat lasted one night, but Stebbins said he believd that was all that was necessary.
“We had more than enough time to do everything in one night,” Stebbins said. “It was also a very productive retreat.”
SG President Troy Bell said the money spent on this year’s retreat was not as important as Bratkiv believes because Bell and his cabinet
are planning fund-raising events to offset the cost.
“We expect other forms of revenue,” Bell said. "We will not be working with just the budget of $26,000.”
Bell would not say specifically what those fund-raising events would be.
Bratkiv said the money spent would not have been an issue if the retreat had been effective, but he said he did not believe that was the case. He also questioned whether everyone had gone there to work for SG.
"There would have been no problem if they all had showed up and participated in the seminars,” he said.
According to Bratkiv, only about 38 of the 62 people who went on the retreat attended the meetings
Rape convictions few in number
RAPE CONVICTIONS IN FLORIDA- 1988
■	Arrests
■	Dismissals
■	Indictments 0 Trials
□ Convictions
MICHAEL MORRIS/Graphics Editor
By YVONNE ALVAREZ
Staff Writer
This is the third of a five-part series on date rape. Today's report focuses on the legal aspects of rape.
Only 3.8 percent of the people arrested for rape in Florida last year were convicted.
The legal aspects of rape are complex and far-reaching and play a major role in the way rape offenders and victims are treated.
Rape is classified under sexual battery, which is defined in the Florida Criminal Defense Trial Manual as “oral, anal or vaginal penetration by or union with, the sexual organ of another or vaginal penetration of another by any other object.”
The Florida State Court Administrator’s Office reports that in 1988, there were 5,579 arrests. Of that number, 2,315 were charged and 3,264 were dismissed. Out of the 346 that went to trial, 216 were convicted.
Sgt. Christine Echroll, of the Metro-Dade Sexual Battery Unit, explains why the conviction rate for rapists is so low.
"What usually happens in rape cases, especially date rape, is that the victim delays reporting it to the police. After 72 hours, the physical evidence we need to prosecute is gone. If they do report it, they usually bathe and
change clothes. It is understandable because they want to wash away all traces of the attack, but they have removed all the evidence we need to build a strong case,” Echroll said.
Echroll added that sometimes the victim fails to tell the detective everything that happened.
"She will change her contribution to the act. She will do it not because it was her fault, but be-cuase she feels guilty. It is usually something like saying she didn’t drink when she had two or three drinks. But it makes her original story untrue, and when it goes to court, the defense attorney will rip her apart for it. The jury then starts to wonder if she told the truth about anything at all.”
Echroll said many cases never even make it to court. Often the victim changes her mind about prosecuting or the defendant will plea bargain. In this case, the prosecutor and defense attorney will agree on a charge and a sentence beforehand to avoid a trial.
“Plea bargaining is good,” Echroll said. "The offender will get a conviction on his record, and the victim is spared the trial.”
When a typical date rape case goes to trial, the offender will be charged with sexual battery involving the use of force not likely to cause serious personal injury. It is classified as a second-degree felony and under the guidelines will receive a sentence of be-
tween four and one-half and five and one-half years in prison.
Lerms v. State of Florida, a case tried in September 1986, set up several guidelines. First, it reinforced the fact that a court could not "rely on victim injury, the dangerousness of the defendant, the helplessness of the victim, emotional hardship or physical trauma to justify” a stronger sentence than what the guidelines indicate.
However, if premeditation can be proved, the defendant might be given a stronger sentence than what the guidelines suggest.
The case also reinforced the seriousness of the issue. According to the case, "Everyone convicted
of sexual battery is dangerous, and the vast majority of victims of sexual battery are virtually helpless. Nearly all sexual battery cases inflict emotional hardships on the victim."
In his court opinion, one judge confirmed the serious nature of date rape as well.
“I would also note that emotional trauma equal to that suffered by the victim here |a victim of a brutal stranger rape | could be suffered by a victim of ‘date rape.’
Although most date rape cases and rapes in general, never go to trial, victims should be aware of
Please see page .7/R APE
>
and seminars. Dr. Craig Ullom, SG adviser, confirmed this estimate.
"Why should these people get to go on a trip at the expense of SG?” Bratkiv asked.
Bell denied those figures were accurate.
“The majority of the people that were there participated," Bell said.
Bratkiv also said he thought the retreat was poorly planned and executed. He said many people were not told how to get to the retreat and consequently were late getting there.
Because of this, the first scheduled meeting had to be cancelled.
Bratkiv said this was indicative of how the whole retreat was handled.
He said he was also unsure of who exactly was supposed to be in-
vited to go on the retreat. Bratkiv said that of the 62 whowent, only four were from the SG senate.
The rest of the people present, he said, were from the executive branch and other organizations that were invited.
According to Bell, every student was welcome at the retreat because he wanted more people to get involved in SG.
“The more people involved, the better,” Bell said.
However, Bratkiv said, only a few organizations were told this and attended.
In his comments, Bratkiv referred to Bell’s comparison of SG to a ship that never sails.
“Troy said that we all wash the decks and everything else, but never go anywhere,” Bratkiv said. “Well, the ship is not going to go anywhere if no one is steering it.
Inmates share prison tales
By MAUREEN McDERMOTT
Insight Editor
Eric, Carlos and Danny talk about life in the dorm and sharing living quarters (12 by 17 feet) — which are about the same size as a room at the University of Miami. Their sparsely-furnished double rooms contain two beds and a toilet. They are all on the 21-meal plan, with no options.
Instead of residential college masters, however, these men are under the guidance of prison wardens at the South Florida Reception Center in West Dade.
Eric Sheen, a former Florida State University football player, Carlos Andongo, a former landscape artist, and Danny Venegas, a former firefighter and emergency medical technician, are first-time offenders serving drug-related sentences for crimes in Broward County. All three earn gain time of 20 days a month taken off their sentences for working at the prison.
Thursday evening, the three inmates got a taste of life at UM while visiting Hecht Residential College and sharing their version of dorm life with about 100 people in HRC master Dr. Fitzgerald’s living room.
8on of God
Sheen, 22, has been in jail for five
months, serving a five-year sentence for conspiracy of trafficking cocaine.
“I like to be a high-roller and let people know I had money. I wanted to have what my father has," Sheen said.
His friends and customers called him "SOG" or “Son of God.” His father is a pilot for Delta Airlines and a former U.S. Air Force lieutenant now in the reserves. Sheen said his parents’ home outside Orlando is worth about $50,000.
Sheen was introduced to cocaine when he was 17 by a 15-year-old neighbor. During his senior year of high school, he abandoned a strict upbringing by moving to an apartment with a friend he describes only as “richer than himself."
His parents gave him $1,000 a month for living expenses. When his body started shrinking, he stopped using and started dealing.
During that time, he managed to earn an athletic tuition scholarship to FSU. After one semester of living on campus, he moved to a small suburb with his girlfriend because people were coming to his place at all hours of the night for drugs.
"I did the dumbest things for my girlfriend,” Sheen said. Wanting to keep her in style, he bought her jewelry and a BMW. During the off-season, he started driving to
Please see page 3/CONVICT