The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 11

Wednesday, March 20, 1996, Section The News Journal, Wilmington, Del. Got a Local news tip? Call 324-2774. CROSSROADS: Wilmington aims to crack down on vacant buildings B3 wr A mil ill iiii mil 11.1.11 11 ringing into action i' l.JCj-.- 3 vk State money panel chief says treasurer 'inaccurate' money on its derivatives a broad class of securities whose worth depends on the value of some other asset if it had to quickly divest itself to meet an unexpected need for cash. "What Janet said was inaccurate," according to Flynn, president of Rollins Environmental Services Inc. north of Wilmington.

The target of the proposal isn't any particular source of money, such as short-term cash, Flynn said. The investments would be made from an $800 million pool of funds that includes hundreds of millions of dollars that remain untouched for years. Only a portion of those funds less than $100 million would be considered for derivative investments. Rzewnicki said Tuesday that she didn't misrepresent anything. "The board never had a discussion of where the funds were coming from.

Because the board hasn't addressed this problem, that's why it doesn't know where I'm coming from." The treasurer said that she and Flynn had agreed that if the state lost money on derivatives, the loss would be deducted from cash re- serves. Rzewnicki said asking other pool members such as school districts to take any loss would be politically impossible. See RZEWNICKI -B2 By NANCY KESLER Dover Bureau chief DOVER In the midst of the three-week-old controversy over the state's position on derivative investments, state Treasurer Janet C. Rzewnicki fired off letters to several other state treasurers seeking support. Rzewnicki later used those replies, mostly counseling against derivatives, in her campaign to discredit a proposal allowing expanded use of the sometimes risky investment tool.

She also used the letters to bolster her claim Gov. Carper is mismanaging finances. But a review of the letter Rzewnicki used to solicit the treasurers' comments suggests the tenacious Rzewnicki's version of the proposal bears little resemblance to the one being considered by the state's Cash Management Policy Board, according to the chairman of the panel, which handles the state's nonpension fund investments. She told her counterparts in the March 4 letter that the source of the proposed derivative investments would be money in the state's "short-term cash" reserves an improbable investment for such funds, which usually are kept closer at hand, said Board Chairman John V. Flynn Jr.

The state, she said, could lose The News JoumalBOB HERBERT UD junior Jabari McCoy, 21, is reflected in a mirror as he works out at Carpenter Sports Building. McCoy is getting ready for spring break in Florida. I Florida vacations strong motivators for workouts at UD "Si. a 'A ing, Pencader Complex and Harrington Complex. Participation reached an all-time high of 800 students a day in February, when the facilities expanded their hours and the weather kept students from exercising outside.

"There's not a noticeable increase right before spring break but I wouldn't be surprised if spring break was in their minds," Higgins said. In the Carpenter Sports Building's cardiovascular room, there's even a countdown on the bulletin board. Classes at UD resume April 1. Delaware State University took its break last week. Students at Delaware Technical Community College must wait for their recess until the week of April 6.

Andrea Feldman, 21, a UD senior in nursing, needs no reminder of spring break. She goes to the gym "all the time. But now I do it with more energy," she said. "Spring break is a good motive to exercise as much as you can." A goal for the Daytona-bound Elisa Levin, 19, is looking good in her bikini. "Unfortunately I got one again this year," she said jokingly.

Levin, a sophomore in family and community services, also works at the different fitness centers. "It's definitely been busier, with a lot of new people," she said. McCoy just kind of laughs at the novice lifters who have lately packed the Carpenter weight room. "They think coming out here will make them fit for spring break," he said "I don't think so." Woman recounts return of a rapist By PATRICIA V. RIVERA Staff reporter NEWARK Jabari McCoy, a University of Delaware junior, takes his workout seriously.

Every day he drops into the Carpenter Sports Building, where he puts in at least three hours of weightlifting and exercising. And he runs an average of 25 hours a week. But lately the psychology major has devoted even more energy to building his physique. With spring break two days away, even the brawniest students are putting in some overtime at the UD fitness centers before they hit the Florida beaches. And McCoy is no different.

He's added five hours to his running regime. "You got to do what you got to do to look good," said McCoy, who's heading to Miami Beach's South Beach area Friday. "I wouldn't mind meeting a female while I was down there." Leanne Higgins, interim director of fitness, said attendance at UD's student fitness centers remains steady year-round. An average of 550 students a day frequent the facilities at the Carpenter Sports Build i Cara Vincelette, a 19-year-old UD freshman, works out at the Carpenter Sports Building. 9-year-old praised for saving burning man tacked as many as 12 middle-age or older women in their New Castle County homes between 1991 and 1994.

Howard, 37, a Wilmington auto mechanic, is on trial in the rapes of three women, including the Newark woman who was faped on two separate occasions. Because he is accused of raping her three times once in February 1991 and twice that night in September 1993 he faces five counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, as well as several counts of burglary and robbery, in this trial. Altogether, Howard has been indicted on nine counts of rape, in addition to related offenses, but the remaining charges are scheduled for a separate trial in May. The victims, like the woman who testified Tuesday, are unlikely to be able to identify Howard as their attacker, prosecutor Ferris W. Wharton told the jury Tuesday.

See RAPE -B2 By ANN MANSER Staff reporter WILMINGTON She came out of her bathroom to find a man standing in her bedroom. He had climbed through a window of the small Newark home where she lived alone. With his face covered by the hood of a sweat shirt, he spoke one short sentence: "You know what to do." To the terrified 64-year-old woman, the intruder's meaning seemed sickeningly clear. She was sure he was the same man who had invaded her home and raped her two years earlier. And now, she thought, after her life had finally returned to normal, he was going to rape her again.

Her fears quickly came true that night of Sept. 28, 1993, she told a Superior Court jury as the first witness to testify in the trial of Kevin J. Howard in Wilmington Tuesday. Investigators believe Howard is the serial rapist who at room and the flames from Macfeat were at the bottom of the window," the elder Veith said. Veith 's girlfriend, Tracy Mat-lack, was also up by this time and told David to go outside to see who was yelling.

David saw his father's friend, flames shooting off him, in the back yard. See FIRE -B2 night in his Denham Avenue home in Knollwood. But when Macfeat, who is homeless, needed a place to sleep early Saturday, he chose not to bother Veith. Instead, he climbed into Veith 's boat stored in his back yard. Enter David Veith a third-grader at Maple Lane Elementary School.

He was asleep in his second-floor bedroom when he heard a scream. "I woke up and looked out the back window, and I saw our boat was on fire," Veith said in a telephone interview from his baby sitter's house Tuesday. "So I was yelling, 'Dad, Dad, the boat's on His father, an auto mechanic at a Claymont garage, woke up, looked outside and saw his friend on fire. "I was in my second-story bed By TED CADDELL Staff reporter CLAYMONT Friends and family of a 37-year-old man critically burned in a fire in Knollwood early Saturday are crediting a 9-year-old with saving the man's life by yelling at him to "stop, drop and roll." David Veith sometimes let his friend David Macfeat spend the 4 1 honor Four wome aceo n's deeds lift them to a pi yyn in iuiwy i i ji -ny? 'mill ninn mymi'i' Dinner and the induction ceremony for the Delaware Women's Hall of Fame are 6 p.m. today at the Sheraton Inn in Dover.

Cost is $25 per person. Call 761-8005. rLJ As V. By BEVERLY JAMES Staff reporter For years, Sally J. Knox asked for an area in Legislative Hall to honor those who had worked to improve the lives of women.

For years, she was turned down, But that didn't stop Knox from ultimately convincing legislators that women also had a place in the hall filled with plaques honoring men. Today, four nominees including Knox, who died in 1994, will be inducted into the Delaware Women's Hall of Fame. Plaques honoring the four will find their place of honor in Legislative Hall alongside other women inducted over A 1 1. i chair of the Commission on Family Law. During her tenure, Maroney has put women and children's issues on the front line.

Maroney, 72, has focused on infant mortality, AIDS prevention and unwanted pregnancies. "A wider number of people are working together on some of those issues because they affect so many lives," Maroney said. Her role in women's issues is as "a catalyst for change to bring a better quality of life for Delaware-ans," Maroney said. Honoring these women for their achievements will set an example for younger ones, Tuman said. "This gives us an opportunity to fill in the missing pieces of women's history that have been ignored or credited to men," Tuman said.

"Young girls need mentors and role models who forge new ground and often face enormous challenges every the past 15 years. "She would have been honored that she was included in this group. When she worked to get the space for women, she never thought she would be on that wall," said widower Andrew Knox. The four inductees were chosen from 21 nominees, said Rhonda Tuman, chairwoman of the Hall of Fame committee. The inductees: Cynthia M.

Boehmer, director of Families in Transition, a statewide family violence prevention program and shelter. Boehmer, of Milford, is a member of the Domestic Violence Task Force and the Agenda for Delaware Women. Boehmer, 48, has devoted the past 16 years to fighting for women who are victims of domestic violence. "I've tried to help policy makers recognize that domestic violence needs to be taken out of the closet and discussed on a public 4 Julie K. Boozer Sally J.

Knox Rep. Jane P. Maroney Cynthia M. Boehmer forum," she said. died, fought for equality for women.

As a past chair of the Delaware Commission for Women, Knox helped women in issues such as pay equity and reproductive health. In 1994, Gov. Carper awarded Knox the Order of the First State for her diligent work in women's issues and the effect she had on others. "After her death we got letters from women of all ages saying what a positive impact she had on their lives," Andrew Knox said. State Rep.

Jane P. Maroney, R-Talleyville, has been a member of the House for 18 Jears and is "If parents can have a positive birthing experience, it's more likely their parenting experience will be more satisfying too," Boozer said. "Then your chances of having a strong, healthy relationship with your children is more likely." Knox.who was 70 when she Julie K. Boozer, a registered nurse and teacher, has used her expertise to help improve women's lives. Boozer, a 61-year-old Dover resident, has focused on reaching women through nursing, childbirth and breast-feeding education, Bertinda Bruce is on assignment.

Her column will resume Friday..