The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 2

t-sl 2A The Pes Moines Register Wednesday, November 17, 1993 WA Me Faculty kills compromise of explicit materials policy rejected Dateline Iowa Body of Sperry man found in pond by son Tiik Register's Iowa News Service Sperry, la. The body of a Sperry man was discovered in a pond near his home early Tuesday, sheriffs officials reported. Wayne Charbonneaux, 67, was discovered by his son, Mark, around 7:30 a.m. in the pond adjacent to his home, Des Moines County sheriffs officials said. Officials did not know how long Charbonneaux had been in the water.

Authorities are waiting for autopsy results to determine cause of death. tors objected to the compromise, discussed at today's meeting because regents Elizabeth Hendricks and Thomas Collins, both of Cedar Rapids, will be absent. "My gut reaction is that this is a substantial change and I think it would be inappropriate for us to discuss this without the full board there," said Berenstein. The compromise would have required notification of students and This is the essence of vague and unsatisfactory compromises." Joseph Frankel biological sciences professor given students the opportunity to excuse themselves but would have made students responsible for learning missed class material and completing missed course requirements. But a majority of faculty sena Clironic drunken driver sentenced to prison TiieRegistek'sIowaNewsService Ottumwa, la.

An Ottumwa man, a chronic drunken driver, was sentenced Monday in Wapello County District Court to five years in prison for operating a vehicle while intoxicated and one year in prison for driving with a suspended license, officials said. James E. Wilkins was found guilty of third-offense drunken driving on Sept. 21, bringing his drunken driving convictions since 1975 to 1 1. Wilkins will serve his sentences concurrently.

8-year-old boy who fell into Big Blue Pond dies Mason City, la. (AP) A Mason City boy who fell into a pond Monday afternoon died Tuesday. Scott Christeson, 8, was taken to a hospital in Minneapolis, where he died early Tuesday. Police said the boy and his father, Roy Christeson, were near the Big Blue Pond when the boy slipped beneath the surface. The father jumped in but was unable to rescue the child.

Moments later, a police cruiser was flagged down and officers found the boy about 10 feet beneath the surface and about 20 feet from shore. the Mayor to which was presented to the Faculty Senate Tuesday. The faculty senators voted to eliminate a phrase that would have required faculty members to inform students if they expected or intended to use course materials that might elicit strong emotional responses from students. Schantz advised the faculty senators that without the phrase, the regents are likely to insist on the policy they imposed on the university at their Oct. 20 meeting, a policy that faculty members contend violates their academic freedom.

The regents policy, which went into effect the day it was adopted, requires faculty members to warn students before sexually explicit materials are used and gives students the opportunity to excuse themselves and request an alternative assignment. Berenstein, reached Tuesday evening in Council Bluffs where the regents will be meeting today, said he was not sure whether he would even allow the issue to be ,4 -art Putting tA "CI Key element By CHARLES BULLARD Of The Register's Iowa City Bureau Iowa City, la. The University of Iowa Faculty Senate rejected a key element of a compromise policy on sexually explicit classroom materials Tuesday, making it difficult for the Iowa Board of Regents to accept the amended compromise. After the Faculty Senate voted 30-22 to delete the key element, of I President Hunter Rawlings told faculty senators their action would make the compromise unacceptable to the regents. In an effort to break the deadlock between the regents and the of I faculty over the use of sexually explicit materials in the classroom, Rawlings, of I General Counsel Mark Schantz and Faculty Senate President Jerald Schnoor met with Board of Regents President Marvin Berenstein in Sioux City last Friday.

The four drafted a compromise, Residents Report Illness EPA finds no problem in Fairfield By PERRY BEEMAN Register Staff Writer Tom Reece and his neighbors in Fairfield wonder whether the cleanup of an abandoned coal-gas- mcation plant is making them sick. They have no medical proof, onlv su.ini- clons, Reece said. However, ever since workers started digging the contaminated soil and coal-tar sludge from the former Iowa Electric Light and Power plant in the center of town, neighbors have complained of foul they think may be making them ill. They also have wondered whether dust and polluted water from the site is going to cause medical woes. "1 had days when I couldn't breathe" because of summertime odors, said Reece, who lives and works in the area.

"There have been people getting sick and we want some answers." Many people were unaware of the pollution until cleanup workers wearing the familiar "moon suits" showed up at the closed plant in June, Reece said. Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Iowa Electric, the Cedar Rapids-based utility, met with residents to explain the work Tuesday. In an interview before the meeting, Iowa Electric spokeswoman Colleen Dykes said EPA tests have shown no dangerous levels of contaminants have spread to the neighborhood in air or water. The site has been fenced off to prevent people from touching soil and sludge.

Dykes said the utility bought several properties near the site, including the only two where wells were contaminated. An EPA check of air downwind of the site during excavation work found no contaminants at levels "that present a significant threat to public health," an EPA report says. Ground water, which also is heavi ly contaminated, has been pumped from the site and treated since 1990 which has stopped it from spreading to other lots, Dykes said. It is then sent to the city's sanitary sewer system. The site was placed on EPA's Su-perfund list of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous-waste sites in 1988.

Tests found contaminants known to or suspected of causing cancer or other health problems, including lead, mercury and cyanide and a variety of organic compounds such as solvents in the soil. Ground water tests found chromium, lead, arsenic, mercury and organic compounds such as benzene, a cancer-causing solvent, EPA records show. Auditions lure 3 Tiik Register's Iowa News Service Storm Lake, la. Three Buena Vista College students will audition for the Metropolitan Opera of New York City at regional auditions in Iowa. Lori Fenton, Chris Osness and David Stodden will audition Jan.

24. Two winners will advance to auditions in Minneapolis in DES MOINES 4 preferring a hard-line stance on academic freedom. "This is the essence of vague and unsatisfactory compromises," said Joseph Frankel, a biological sciences professor. Mariam Gilbert, an English professor, said the compromise raises more problems than the regents imposed policy because it is not 1 muted to sexually explicit materi als. Students could decide to leave class because they have objections based on their religious beliefs or values, Gilbert warned.

Members of the Campaign for Academic Freedom, a student organization that opposes the regents-imposed policy, also argued against the compromise. "The language is so broad it could cover anything," said Jean Fallow, a group spokeswoman. But Micah Hobart, outgoing vice president of the student body, spoke in favor of the compromise. "I have a right to know what I will be learning," he said. Work 4k A.

bob nandeuThe Register of painted light bulbs. The final two segments cover nearly 18 miles. They include a stretch from Maquoketa to the Dubuque County line at Zwingle, and another segment from the Jackson County line to the south junction of U.S. Highway 151 near Dubuque. Paving for both projects is due to be finished in 1996.

The completion We are spending lot of dollars on Interstate 80.... It has the highest traffic count of any highway in lowa.M Austin Turner chairman of the Iowa Transportation Commission of the four-lane work on U.S. Highway 61 has been long sought by Dubuque business leaders to provide the community with a better link to Interstate 80, said Martin Sankey, a DOT project engineer. a to" the size of Lorimor, population slight-' more than 400, decorating Main Street for the holidays Puts even the mayor to work. Ad-- V4: din8 color Hgfo bulbs t0 a string of hghts is Mayor John Edwards, above, on a gloomy Tuesday afternoon.

The box at left holds District Judge George Stigler Alleges racism in court system' Stiver's complaint won't be explored A spokeswoman for the appellate courts refuses to comment on allegations of racism. By FRANK SANTIAGO Recisteh Staff Writer Accusations of racism leveled by District Judge George Stigler at the? Iowa Court of Appeals have stirred the judiciary but are not likely to be officially explored, authorities' indicated Tuesday. An appellate courts spokeswoman said that there would be no comment on the accusations, and a pan el that probes judicial conduct isn't planning to investigate. Stigler is the only black among' the 101 district judges in the state. Wrong Forum Cedar Rapids lawver David Eld-: erkin, chairman of the Judicial, Qualifications Commission, said no complaints have been brought to the panel since Stigler related Sat uraay tnat ne suspected subtle bias.

bv the anneals rnnrt. Rut if there" are accusations of racism, said Eld-' erkin, the commission isn't the' imeiy iorum to explore tnem. Elderkin said the commission probes specific complaints aeainst: judges rather than sweeping claims oi Dias within the judiciary. we get an awtul lot of plaints made particularly in domestic relations where people don't; like the decision. Sometimes they claim the judge is stupid or preju-, aicea, nesaid.

Of the racial bias claims explored by the commission, "none has come to anything," Elderkin said. Becky Colton, spokeswoman for the appellate courts, repeated that there would be no comment. Earli er, Colton said the courts would stick with its policy of not commenting beyond the written opinions in cases. Stigler, 43. was angered hv the Court of Appeals' reversal of two murder cases over which hp nresid- ed.

Both of the accused were white. A popular and acclaimed judge, Stigler asserted that the annpals court focused more on "judicial misconduct than legal points. In one case, the judge had called the defendant "downright deceitful." Significant Bias Found Stigler contended in an arrount that appeared in Saturday's Des. Moines Register that the appeals court had "expected" him to think "like blacks think or what some people think they think." Said Stigler, "I really think that the court has an expectation of me that as the only black judge in Iowa I must hold the point of view that police officers are bad, that every defendant is getting a bad shake, and that I must blow kisses and hugs and proclaim undying love for every person ever arrested for any criminal offense." In an interview after the story appeared, Stigler said he was disappointed that the story didn't focus on his assertions of errors by the appeals court. However, he said the quotes attributed to him were accurate.

The issue of sexual and facial bias was examined for two years by a panel appointed by the Supreme Court. In a report issued in February, the Equality in the uurts Task Force said it had uncovered significant bias. There is no question that some quantum of race and gender bias exists, and that it is unlikely to disappear solely with the passage of "me, concluded the panel. But District Judge James Haver-Pf, Davenport, chief judge of Judicial District and Chairman of the task force, said the find- fS T.ue "in ways a i the court system." hi we've is correctable, 'he said. Centerville teen dies after car accident Ti ik Rki sister's Ii wa News Service Centerville, la.

A 15-year-old Centerville boy died Tuesday morning at Mercy Hospital from injuries sustained in a single car accident on Nov. 10, officials said. Bengie Forney was riding in a car with seven juveniles when the driver lost control. The car hit a tree and telephone pole and flipped on its top, Appanoose County sheriffs officials said. All seven were injured in the accident.

Officials said excessive speed and inexperienced driving contributed to the accident. Elsewhere: Ronald A. McCullough, 34, of West Burlington was killed Monday in a two-vehicle collision at 3 a.m. on U.S. Highway 69 near Alleman.

McCullough was killed when his vehicle crashed head-on into another vehicle, according to the Iowa State Patrol. Officials did not have information on which vehicle was on the wrong side of the highway. Police officer accused of assault in Storm Lake TiieRkgistkr'sIowaNews Service Storm Lake, la. A Storm Lake police officer has been charged with assaulting a convenience store worker. Officer Bill Gary was charged with simple assault in an incident Oct.

22 involving a 20-year-old female employee at Iowa Oil a convenience store in Storm Lake, police said. Police said Gary, while off-duty, entered the convenience store and attempted to touch the employee in an "inappropriate manner." Gary was released on his promise to appear in court. Storm Lake Police Chief Mark Prosser ordered the arrest and placed Gary on administrative leave without pay, pending the outcome of an internal investigation. Gary is scheduled to appear in Bue-na Vista County District Court Nov. 23, Prosser said.

Potholes, Congestion, Construction Truckers rate Iowa roads among the worst in U.S. Lorimor's supply 1 Commission, Tuesday defended Iowa's road system in response to the magazine survey. He said the Iowa Department of Transportation is spending $60 million annually to upgrade interstate highways. "We are spending lot of dollars on Interstate 80," Turner said. "It continues to carry a lot of traffic and it has the highest traffic count of any highway in Iowa.

We are dedicated to making it the best we can." The results of the Overdrive survey are in contrast to a recent report by the Road Information Program, a Washington, D.C., highway study organization, which said Iowa has one of the finest, smoothest-riding highway systems in the nation. That study said only 1.8 percent of Iowa's 28,461 miles of arterial and collector roads are rated poor, which is fourth-best in the United States. On another matter, the Iowa Transportation Commission Tuesday approved $55 million worth of construction projects to complete the four-lane expansion of U.S. Highway 61 between Dubuque and JDayenport. Interstate 80 is called the worst highway.

The results contradict a recent study. By WILLIAM PETR0SKI Register Staff Writer Ames, la. Truck drivers throughout the United States have ranked Iowa as having the 10th-worst roads in the nation, according to a survey by Overdrive magazine, a trucking journal. Pennsylvania was listed as having the worst roads, with New York second and Illinois third. The publication's readers ranked each state on a variety of factors, such as rough pavement, potholes, traffic congestion, frequent highway construction, bad weather, high tolls and other reasons.

The survey listed Interstate Highway 80 as the worst highway in the nation and one of a "terrible trio" of bad roads in the United States. The other two are Interstate Highways 95 and 10. Austin Turner of Corning, chairman of the Iowa Transportation Police look for person who fired on school bus Tiik Register's Iowa Newsservice Goose Lake, la. The Clinton County Sheriffs Department is still searching for the person who fired three shots at a Northeast Community School bus last Thursday as it was traveling to school in Goose Lake. Eight children were aboard when the driver heard something strike the bus, but he continued driving, thinking someone threw rocks, said Clinton County Sheriff Gary Mulholland.

Officials later found a .22 caliber rifle bullet lodged in the right front fender and spots where two other bullets had ricocheted off the window casements, he said. Officials are searching for clues one mile in each direction from where the bus was hit. Many people have been questioned in the case. Mulholland said One theory is that someone hunting in the area may nave nit tne dus by mistake. i.