The Daily Tar HeelMonday, April 17, 198913
Opinion
Circumstantial evidence points
to Robeson's -.drug problems
I JlSTTCOOILY f -fe, f
t seems that every news reporter
and columnist writing about the
Feb. 1. 1988. takeover of The
Robesonian newspaper by Eddie
Hatcher and Timothy Jacobs feels
compelled to say that the allegations
.made by the two Native Americans
concerning corruption, drug traffick
. ing and law enforcement complicity
have yet to be substantiated. Unfor
tunately, this stance by the print
media only serves to corroborate
these same claims made by state and
local officials themselves from the
.state attorney general's office on
down who bear the responsibility
for such rampant criminality.
The media demands "direct proof
of a relationship between drug
traffickers and Robeson authorities.
In other words, nothing less than the
"smoking gun perhaps a photo
graph of the culprits caught in the
act or a major "confession" by a
significant personality.
But real life criminal justice doesnl
work that way and both the media
and state and local officials know this.
The duty to investigate and present
evidence is on law enforcement
officials who have resources, witness
protection capabilities, and the power
to grant immunity to force low-level
criminals to testify against major
offenders. The burden is certainly not
on the victims or the witnesses who
are forced to live in an atmosphere
Awareness
When Susan enrolled at State
University she seemed the
model student. She was
attractive, had lots of friends, a close
relationship with her parents and
good grades. She even had the self
confidence to run for a student
"government office.
Then Susan began dating Rob.
51owly her parents and friends
noticed a change.
Worried, her parents questioned
her about a possible drug or alcohol
problem. Susan assured them she did
not have such a problem.
, ', Finally, after she and Rob had been
dating for over a year, Susan called
in tears. .
, ."Dad, can you please drive in and
get me?"
, i What is wrong, Susan? Are you
SickT -
, - .."No, Dad, 1 just want to come
.home."
When pressed by her mother Susan
.said she and Rob had just "gotten
.into a little fight."
. Two years later, she revealed the
extent of the "fights."
During one particularly violent
episode, Rob had threatened her with
a chair raised over his head, then a
knife. The neighbors, alarmed by
sounds of crying, screaming, and
objects being thrown, called the
police.
Rob had seemed to be in a semi
conscious and drunken state for
several hours, but he suddenly
sobered up ana spoke in a very
friendly and relaxed manner to the
police. To Susan's horror he denied
knowledge of any sort of a
disturbance.
Susan is not alone in her problem.
Both sexes
am writing in a general
response to the whole issue of
il. abortion and the subsequent
poles that have formed around it.
I do not claim to be either pro
life or pro-choice, simply because
in taking such a stance, one loses
one's individuality and becomes a
mere foot soldier in this no-win
war. I do, however, subscribe to
some of the views presented by
each side. In my own experience
and research, both of which are
neither limited nor vast, I have
developed some very strong gut
reactions about this whole con
fused mess. These reactions I wish
to share in hopes of fostering any
line of communication or under
standing of which might calm the
issue to a rational, reasonable
level.
My initial reaction to abortion,
once I learned the different
methods by which it is performed
and what it does to those involved,
was one of horror, realizing that
' it is an extremely cold and selfish
thing which it is, regardless of
the situation (pro-choicers, please
don't get your dander up). The
vast majority of abortions in
America (approximately 97 per
cent) are what are termed social
abortions, and it is to these
abortions that this letter is
addressed. Social abortions are
performed simply to allow the
female a way to escape the con
sequences of actions she chose to
commit freely. In this aspect I
support pro-life I feel that it
; is wrong to engage in sexual
activity and, regardless of precau-
Lewis Pitts
Guest Writer
of terror and uncertainty while public
officials do nothing.
Every day in this country, individ
uals are sent to prison based upon
cumulative circumstantial evidence
presented in state and federal courts.
Circumstantial evidence is competent
and admissible in court and sufficient
to justify conviction. In other words,
direct proof or the smoking gun is
more the norm for television than
real-life investigations and
prosecutions.
Let's look briefly at some circum
stantial evidence that has already
been documented. Evidence that is
clearly sufficient for the attorney
general and the State Bureau of
Investigation to mount a rigorous
probe:
In 1986 former Deputy Sheriff
Mitch Stevens was acquitted of
charges of stealing cocaine from the
Robeson County Sherriffs Depart
ment evidence locker after proving
that other deputies had keys, includ
ing Deputy Sheriff Kevin Stone, son
of Sheriff Hubert Stone. During
Stevens' trial, two SBI agents testified
that they were told by Hoke County
deputies that other Robeson county
first step to ending problem of
D'Ann Pletcher
Guest Writer
A recent study of a Michigan high
school in a middle-class university
community revealed that one out of
every 10 students had experience with
dating violence. These same
researchers reported that two out of
every 10 college students experience
courtship violence. Other studies
done at universities and high schools
nationwide report similar statistics.'
Most people are aware of child
abuse and the battering of women.
But information about violent dating
relationships has been left to collect
dust in academic corners.
Health educators who have read
about dating violence in academic
journals aren't actively engaged in
solving the problem, because they
don't feel that there is one. As Janice
Ryan, a Student Health Services
counselor says, "Students just aren't
reporting that many incidents."
The Student Health Services,
which passes out a routine question
naire to patients asking them about
eating disorders, date-rape, incest,
drug usage and family violence,
doesn't ask about dating violence.
Ryan says staff members just "don't
feel it's a big issue. When we feel it's
important, well add it."
Like Ryan, Elinor Williams of
Duke University Counseling and
Psychological Services doesnl feel
that Duke students live up to the
statistics found by researchers.
Do the reports of our local health
counselors mean that the statistics
ignore responsibility
Jake Washburn
Guest Writer
tions taken (no birth control is 100
percent effective), not be willing
to accept the responsibilities of the
possible consequences of those
actions. Women must be respon
sible for their actions. On the same
note, men must be even more
responsible, because they aren't
the ones that will have to carry
"the bomb," and arent forced by
nature to pay the consequences.
Women do not have the choice
that men do.. Because of the
biology involved, the choice of
whether or not they want to be
responsible isn't open to them.
Mother Nature made it that way.
This brings me to my second gut
reaction.
The pro-choice movement, to
me, does not seem to be actually
centered on the issue of abortion.
I don't think, no, I know that no
one in their right mind would fight
for such a gruesome, horrible, and
alarmingly dangerous "privilege"
because they wanted to have one.
The' true issue rather is the fight
for women's liberation. In this
aspect I support the pro-choicers
but abortion is a battle in that
war that pro-choicers cannot win.
The pro-choice movement is bas
ically, to my perceptions, about
women being mad as hell that men
can have sexual intercourse and
not pay the biological consequen
ces (though there are some women
deputies were involved in the drug
theft.
Just a month or so later, Kevin
Stone shot and killed Native Amer
ican Jimmy Earl Cummings. Inde
pendent investigators arid the Cum
mings family believe he was selling
the stolen drugs for Stone. The
coroner's inquest into Cummings'
death was branded an "apparent
whitewash" by Robesonian editor
Bob Home.
Maurice Geiger, a 30-year veteran
in the field of criminal justice and
former attorney for the U.S. Depart
ment of Justice said under oath after
having spent more than 150 days
investigating the criminal justice
system in Robeson County: ". . .
My extensive field work in Robeson
County leads me to conclude that
there are members of the Robeson
County Sheriffs Department who are
engaged in extensive drug trafficking.
Furthermore, I have no doubt that
some members of that department
have killed people in the county in
connection with drug trafficking."
There are sworn affidavits of
respected ministers in Robeson
County, the Rev. Bob Mangum and
the Rev. Jerry Lowry, which state
that individuals confided in them
about their direct involvement in or
witness to drug trafficking in Robe
son County and law enforcement
complicity in such trafficking.
found by reserchers are wrong?
Possibly but more likely we have
a Catch-22 situation. From the point
of view of counselors, students very
rarely report courtship violence, and
education and active prevention will
not be started until the problem takes
on visible proportions. But students
may not report violence in their
relationships until educational pro
grams provide information on the
classification of the subject and
methods of dealing with it.
Health counselors may not see
dating violence as a big problem, but
students do.
Leslie Foster, residence director for
Cobb and Joyner residence halls
believes "a lot of students keep it to
themselves, but it is going on."
Foster knew a student at a univer
sity in South Carolina who had an
abusive boyfriend and feels that her
situation was not uncommon. She
would like to see relationship violence
programming on campus and in
residence halls. She feels that it is just
as important as information on date
rape and alcohol abuse.
Nor is Foster the only individual
receiving word-of-mouth informa
tion about dating violence. The same
researchers reporting one in 10 high
school students and two in 10 college
students experiencing violence found
that three in 10 high school students
knew someone who had the problem
and six in 10 college students had
personal knowledge.
While the word-of-mouth problem
has not reached the ears of counse
lors, it has reached the ears of Peggy
James, the community educator for .
the Orange Durham Coalition for
Battered Women. James believes that
who think it's a wonderful thing
to be able to bear children
imagine that!). Ideally, for most,
sexual intercourse occurs in a
loving relationship between two
people committed to each other,
in which case the men share the
burden and provide support. Our
culture, however, has fostered the
idea that sex is "just for fun," and
that the man has no responsibil
ities in regards to the consequen
ces. This is why pro-choicers are
fighting for their "freedom." As I
said, I support women's liberation
to the nth degree, equal pay for
equal work and all that, but when
it comes to the issue of abortion
women want to be just as irres
ponsible as our culture has allowed
men to be. Well, this isn't possible.
God didn't make us that way.
So, disregarding all of the
propaganda and the infinitely
arguable points used by both sides,
my final gut reaction to abortion
is that it is a sad sign that our
society lacks the love to care even
for its own children. Abortion is
shirking responsibility, by both the
male and the female. There are
many factors, most of which I have
not mentioned, in this sad issue
and there is no one solution. The
only guideline that we have, and
I feel no one would argue this if
they thought about it, is that we
must all act responsibly and be
cognizant of our actions and their
consequences. It's about time we
grew up.
Jake Washburn is a freshman
speech communications major
from Burlington.
Finally, the Rev. and state Rep.
Sidney Locks (D-Robeson) has
sworn that he believes deputies are
attempting to fabricate testimony
linking him to drug trafficking as a
way of discrediting his criticism of
conditions in the county; and the Rev.
and former state Rep. Joy Johnson
has sworn that after two decades of
civil rights struggles, state and local
officials have yet "to initiate any
meaningful actions to investigate"
killings of Indians and blacks or law
enforcement complicity in narcotics.
"courtship violence is a serious
problem locally."
Due to a federal grant from June
1987 through June 1988, the coalition
was able to visit Orange County high
schools and hold educational semin
ars. They also put up posters warning,
"It started with just a slap."
Says one staff member, "The
posters were really great; they really
hit home with the kids."
The response from the high school-.
ers continues to be very strong; many
are making contact with the battered
women's shelter's hotline. Karen
Solomon, shelter director, says, "At
least two high school age women have
called into the shelter in the past two
weeks."- " : "'
The coalition also plans to visit
area high schools to show a special
video entitled, "When Good Times
Go Bad." The film is directed toward
educating high school age men and
women about the dangers of dating
violence.
Though James and the coalition
have done a lot of educational
programming on the high school
level, almost nothing has been done
at the collegiate level. Part of this
problem is that the coalition doesn't
offer their services without being
asked.
They have been asked by various
academic groups studying human
behavior and a few private organi
zations fraternities and sororities
but no public seminars have been
held because no residence hall or
campus programmers have made
contact with the shelter.
Despite the fact that courtship
violence hasn't gotten the coverage of
date rape, drug abuse or alcoholism,
Cuts, crowds and creepy
"Any cut of this magnitude will
have serious negative consequences
for the University and has the
potential to affect all aspects of our
program." Garland-Hershey, vice
chancellor for health affairs, speaking
about the $3 million cut from non
personnel state funding at UNC. The
budget cuts are a 5 percent across-the-board
withholding of budgeted
appropriations for all state institu
tions and agencies.
ODD
"One of the strategies for changing
racism is to be able to talk about it.
It's easier to understand cultural
differences than to change race
relations. " Valerie Batts in a speech
Thursday that was presented as part
of Race Relations Week.
" We need to make a lot of improve
ments, such as little creepy-crawlies
and things like that. We can take care
of some of the maintenance concerns
as well. We will at least be able, to
handle the minor problems."
Collin Rustin, associate director of
University Housing, explaining why
Craige Residence Hall will be closed
down over the summer.
OB
"For my good name, which is the
legacy I intend to leave my children
and my grandchildren, I will fight to
In this limited forum, we have only
skimmed the surface of the factors
and circumstances that underly the
unrest and injustices in Robeson
County.' As a lawyer with more than
15 years of experience, I can emphat
ically say that the evidence available
warrants immediate and objective
investigation. Meanwhile, the so
called responsible public officials
waste tax dollars on the bad faith
reprosecution of Eddie Hatcher and
Timothy Jacobs and a campaign to
discredit Christie Institute-South
courtship
statistics show its prevalence rates are
equal to, if not higher than, these
problems.
The education of young men and
women about courtship violence is
especially crucial in light of recent
research suggesting that "the occur
rence of violence during courtship
may be widespread and serve as a
training ground for later domestic
violence."
This theory, proposed in a study
of a Michigan battered women's
shelter, is supported by the fact that
5 1 percent of the women at the shelter
had experienced abuse during dating
while only 29 percent were abused
children. - 5'
Many women also reported pre
vious" violent dating relationships
with men other than their spouse.
This suggests that relationship vio
lence may be something that the
women learned to accept as normal.
Statistics at our local battered
women's shelter confirm that many
of the women housed there expe
rienced dating violence prior to
marital violence.
Until recently, prior experience
with family violence was assumed to
be the most significant factor . in
subsequent spousal abuse. Today,
researchers are suggesting patterns of
abuse that begin during dating
situations and continue over into
marital and familial relationships.
It took people a long time to admit
that domestic violence is not a
"private problem" that should be "left
alone." In fact, people are still
shocked when they hear that the wives
of university professors, policemen
and doctors have often taken refuge
at the shelter.
Week in Quotes
the last ounce of conviction and
energy that I possess. . . . My wife
is a good, decent, caring, thoroughly
honorable person. I'll damned well
fight to protect her honor and her
integrity against any challenge by any
source, whatever the cost." House
Speaker Jim Wright, defending'
himself and his wife against charges
that their private finances broke the
rules of Congressional conduct. The
House ethics committee is said to
have completed its report saying that
Wright did violate the rules.
ODD
"She's a model student. We didn't
have any problems with her, no
tempers and no sulking or anything
weird. I just cannot believe it unless
I hear Sara say it happened. "
Marvene Wallace, a physical educa
tion instructor at Texas Southmost
College, where Sara Maria Andrete
majored in physical education.
Andrete is being sought as the "witch"
of a drug-smuggling and ritual
murder cult in Mexico after 13 bodies
were dug up at a remote ranch last
week.
BBB
"It was crazy outside the ground
before the kickoff. There was com
plete madness and somehow the
with allegations that we are commu
nists. Such a campaign is only more
proof to us that the facts are strong
and compelling. Indeed, if nothing
continues to be done, the cumulative
evidence points to the possibility of
an even greater explosion in Robeson
County.
Lewis Pitts is the director of the
Christie Institute-South. He served as
Timothy Jacobs' attorney when
Jacobs was acquitted of hostage
taking charges in 1988.
violence
But the shelter's 100 volunteers and
recent $160,000-plus fundraising
campaign prove that the community
as a whole is able to transcend shock
and move into action.
The first step is awareness.
When Rob first yelled at Susan
after accusing her of flirting with his
best friend, it seemed like a display
of affection. But his jealousy got
worse. And his harassment was
almost always intensified by alcohol
and would last until the early hours
of the morning.
There was nothing Susan could do
to stop the screaming and threats of
physical harm both toherand
himself. She spent these frightening
evenings alternating between crouch
ing in a corner or locldng herself in
the bathroom, waiting for his fury to
finally spend itself.
When Rob refused to let her break
up threatened to kill himself, to
kill any man she dated, to damage
her property and embarrass her in
front of friends and paradoxically,,
when he cried a lot and told her how
much he needed her, she decided the
best thing was to stay with him a little
longer.
Because she didn't have the advan
tage of good information and coun
seling resources, she wasnt able to
make the best decision for herself and
Rob.
It took her two years of mental
stress before, finally, she broke loose
from him.-
Let's hope there won't be more
Susans in the future.
D'Ann Pletcher is a graduate
student in English literature from
Dallas, Texas.
- crawl ies
doors were opened. There were just
too many people in the section and
I saw some people crushed against
the barrier. " Gary Stanley, a 20-year-old
Liverpool fan at the British
soccer game in Sheffield, England,
where more than 100 people were
killed and 180 injured Saturday when
fans pushed forward through a
barrier fence, crushing the people at
the front of the crowd.
BBB
,"Back in 1960, I didn't know of
any housing problems or the home
less. In fact, the only homeless
problem I can think of was when the
Mayflower landed on North Amer
ica. They probably had a housing
problem then. " N.C. Sen. Terry
Sanford in a speech last Sunday at
UNC, saying students need to combat
new problems such as the homeless
situation.
" Whenever English falls asleep and
needs a new writer, an Irishman
comes along to wake it up. But
Spanish has been asleep with no one
to wake it. " Carlos Fuentes, a
leading Mexican intellectual and
writer, speaking to a full Memorial
Hall about why he writes in Spanish,
even though he grew up speaking
English in Washington, D.C.
Compiled by editor Sharon
Kebschull.