St. Cloud Times from Saint Cloud, Minnesota • Page 13

SECTION Gay conference opens2B Burners spew mercury8B Student profileMB Deaths9B 0fD QdcH Sunday, Nov. 11, 1990 St. Cloud (Minn.) Times kids expert uraes action over fear iuBBSsiog Loss of son changes view of reality By TODD J. BEHME Times Staff Writer She kept checking on him, looking out the window while she made la-sagna and he played outside at their home in April 1989 in a remote area of Pine County. Then he was gone.

Paulette Anderson's son, Aaron, who was just short of 2 years old, had vanished. Ground and air searches failed to find him. Dogs looking for a scent did no better. Soon it was assumed that Aaron had drowned in the river nearby. But after 2,000 man-hours of searching, no trace of the boy was found.

A year and a half later, Paulette and her husband, Steve, convinced people that Aaron was not a drowning victim; he was a missing child. He's still missing. In a panel discussion Saturday, the Andersons joined Patty and Jerry Wetterling, whose son Jacob was abducted at gunpoint in October 1989, and the mother of a child who was abducted by his father and later returned. Their session was part of the first National Conference on Abducted Children, sponsored by the Jacob Wetterling Foundation and held at the St. Cloud Civic Center.

At first, Steve was in the camp that believed young Aaron had drowned. But now he shares the belief of his wife thattheir child was abducted. So strong is that belief that he has put his life on hold to look for his son. "My vocation now is bringing my son home," Steve, who has taken a leave of absence from work, told the audience. "That's all I can see there is for me to do." Steve, who delivered his son, said he won't return to his job at least until Aaron is found.

He said he and his wife have contracted with the Jacob Wetterling Foundation to help find their boy. They went to the foundation because they weren't happy with the way the sheriff department in Pine County handled Aaron's case. Even today, too many people remember initial news reports and think of him as the boy who drowned, they said. He and his wife want to alert people to the danger and the reality of these crimes. "I didn't think anything like this would ever happen to me," Paulette said.

By TODD J. BEHME Times Staff Writer About 540,000 names of missing children go into the FBI's computer every year, between 200 and 300 youth are snatched by strangers every year, and only 1 percent to 10 percent of child molestation cases are reported. Those were just a few of the statistics offered Saturday by a national expert on child abductions. But the numbers and the impassioned address of Ernest Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, didn't tell the story nearly as well as the tables outside. From about 40 fliers radiated the smiles of Jacob Wet-terling and scores of other children who have been taken from their homes, their parents, their security.

They are why the Jacob Wetterling Foundation sponsored the National Conference on Abducted Children, an all-day session Saturday at the St. Cloud Civic Center. The conference was the first in what is expected to be an annual gathering. Parents, experts, law enforcement officers and media came together to explore the problem and examine how they can work together to stop the growing tragedy. About 500 people from about eight states and Canada attended, said Ron Marotte, executive director of the foundation.

Allen sparked the conference with a keynote address in which he called listeners to action and outlined steps he thinks could stem the victimization of kids. "Hopefully, we can create an action agenda," Allen said. "Parents don't need to be afraid; they need to be prepared." To that end, Allen wants to see families lower the risk of their kids being taken with a plan that would make child- when they are, they are rarely convicted for the most serious charges." Allen wants to see that those with access to children are screened before being hired and that convicted sex offenders are registered so that law enforcement can keep track of them. He said such laws would not violate their civil rights. Because such criminals often are easily paroled, "let's at least know where they are." Abduction cases also go unsolved partly because of long-held police assumptions, Allen said.

Often the missing child is assumed to be a runaway or is thought to have wandered off willingly, which means a delay in report-: ing, he said. "These presumptions cause a lot of these cases to fall into the cracks." In the audience was Stearns County sheriff-elect Jim Kostreba. He agreed that people in this area didn't worry much about such horrors until Jacob, 12, was taken in October 1989 from a rural road near his home. "This case really woke up this area," he said. Kostreba said that child safety has been and will continue to be part of the community policing and crime prevention efforts he plans to undertake as sheriff.

Yet it's clear that more needs to be done. Allen told his audience about a letter he got from Minneapolis; the writerf couldn't believe that all the time and money expended last year didn't turn up Jacob. "It doesn't matter how much we do," Allen said. "There's only one satisfactoy result, and until that result is! achieved, we're not there." As he left the auditorium, he hugged Patty Wetterl-, ing. said, but a male under 35 who first begins molesting at about age 15 and racks up a long list of victims.

"We believe that those sex offenders victimizing children are the most dangerous criminals facing America today," Allen said. They are rarely apprehended, and safety lessons part of school curricula. He also detailed the frequency of sex crimes. "Unfortunately, the principal motive for the abduction of our children is sexual," he said. And the offender typically is not a dirty old man, Allen hinese music new each time Carlson embarks on state shakeup Budget prowess, eye for skill enhance chance of success wr- ii i 1 Analysis eluded stints on the Minneapolis City Council, in the state House of Representatives and as state auditor for the past 12 years.

Some who have observed him during that time say he has the potential to establish a top-notch administration and the wherewithal to avoid the pitfalls of the state's last Republican governor, Al Quie. Bob Anderson, a Republican consultant who served as Quie's press secretary, said he expects Carlson to establish "a very professional, in many ways By MARY R. SANDOK Associated Press Writer ST. PAUL (AP) At the behest of Minnesota voters, Arne Carlson is embarking on the first shakeup of state government in eight years. It is a time of promise and of high hopes.

"I think it's going to be a high-energy time of some serious re-examination," said George Latimer, dean of the Ham-line University law school and former mayor of St. Paul. '1 think it could be a very exciting time for Minnesota." Catapulted to the state's highest office after the shortest gubernatorial campaign in Minnesota history, the Independent-Republican governor-in-waiting has a scant eight weeks before he's sworn in on Jan. 7 to lay the groundwork for the administration that will govern for the next four years. He has dozens of appointments to consider, legislative priorities to set and a two-year budget package to develop.

Carlson's long political career has in- "I think it's one that will be fundamentally ethical," Anderson said. Carlson, a moderate in a party dominated by conservatives, can be pected to make appointments based on job applicants' abilities, not their philosophical leanings, said IR Party Chairwoman Barb Sykora. "I think Arne's the kind of who can work with people of all stripes, Carlson2B i (y if tw f' fi i rv i 1 I I By LISA WILDER Times Assistant City Editor COLLEGEVILLE The Orchestra of the Chinese Music Society of North America performed a concert Saturday at St. John's University that will never be repeated again. Quite literally, each of the orchestra's concerts is unique.

"Every time a player plays a passage, it's him or her coming out," said Shen Sin-yan, music director of the Chicago-based orchestra. Individuality is a cornerstone of traditional Chinese music. More Chinese youth learn to play instruments in informal gatherings of friends and elders than in school. Small groups of friends may get together once a week somewhere to play music. Eventually, the group will draw a crowd, sometimes of up to 300 people, Shen said.

As the crowd grows, the energy builds and the musicians improvise and embellish their music, Shen said. But their playing is never originally intended for an audience. "Maybe more than 50 percent of Chinese music is not played for an audience at all," he said. Children often go to the "clubs" and decide there that they want to learn to play an instrument. "I know plenty of young kids, maybe 7 or 8 years old, who learned to play the pipa there and are now professional musicians." The pipa, also known as the grand lute, is an ancestor of the violin.

While the informal gatherings always have been around, more Chinese students have enrolled in music conservatories in the last 40 years to study under reknowned professors. But Shen said recently some people are complaining about the quality of music often heard from conservatory graduates. "In a conservatory, they only have a limited number of teachers," Shen said. By simply attending hundreds of friendly gatherings, students may have literally thousands of teachers. Many of the members of Shen's orchestra started out that way.

Each member plays more than one instrument. For example, Shen himself plays three different types of fiddles the jinghu, the banhu, and the erhu. The erhu always the second fiddle in Chinese music performances is the most popular instrument among Chinese youth. "It is as popular as the guitar is here," Shen said. Their main objective: to harmonize.

"It comes from the overall philosophy of the Chinese that harmony is the most important thing," said Lee Yuan-Yuan, who plays the Yang-quin, or dulcimer, in the orchestra. Three Minnesotans aboard plane that crashed in Florida MIAMI (AP) Three Minnesotans were presumed dead after their small plane exploded at 4,000 feet over southwestern Florida, the U.S. Coast Guard said Saturday. A wing and other smaller pieces of the twin-engine Cessna 421 were spotted just before 6 p.m. Saturday in an isolated mangrove swamp about five miles north-northeast of Cape Sable in the southwest Everglades.

A Coast Guard helicopter found remnants of the plane after learning that the crew of a commercial airliner reported seeing a fireball in the sky at 2:47 p.m. Friday, the same time the Cessna's transponder went dead, Petty Officer Carl Vitevitch said. "What we think happened right now is that there was a midair explosion with the people on board," said Coast Guard Lt. Robin Kane. "They had no communications with anyone, so we really don't know what happened." The private plane carrying three Minnesotans took off Friday afternoon from Key West, en route to Naples, Vitevitch said.

People waiting in Naples called authorities when they failed to arrive. 1 Vitevitch said the pilot was a 70-: year-old man, and his wife and a friend, both in their 60s, were also on board. Kane said their names wouldn't be released until crews reached the wreck' age, probably today. Man dies after squad car hits tractor LITTLE FALLS A 59-year-old man died Saturday evening after a Morrison County squad car rear-ended the tractor he was driving on Morrison County Road 76, a State Patrol officer said. The victim, Wilfred Meierhofer of Little Falls, was dead at the scene of the accident, which occurred about 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, said Stan Smith, a State Patrol communications officer. The accident occurred about half a mile north of U.S. Highway 10, Smith said. Meierhofer was thrown from his seat in the accident. The driver of the squad car, Morrison County deputy Daniel LaBlanc, 38, was not injured, Smith said.

Times photo by Mike Knaak Li Jia demonstrated the pipa before a concert by the St. John's University Saturday. Orchestra of the Chinese Music Society of America at 1 1 Fitzgerald's sinking still mystery 15 years later Sartell: Bloodmobile coming Friday afternoon, 2B St. Joseph: College becomes public radio sponsor, 2B St. Paul: 'Savant-like' man acquitted of bookmaking, 2B fHopefully, we can create an action agenda.

Parents don't need to be afraid; they need to be prepared. Ernest Allen, president of the National Center tor Missing and Exploited Children, speaking Saturday in St. Cloud firmed, I rang the bell 29 times and went to the altar." On each anniversary of the wreck, Ingalls pealed the bells. He meant to keep it secret. Eventually there were reporters, maritime community leaders who wanted to participate in the closet ceremony and, finally, Canadian balladeer Gordon Lightfoot.

Lightfoot'g song popularized the wreck, the lives lost and the fury of the Great Lakes. were recovered. Researchers using remote cameras to probe the Lake Superior grave have amazed themselves with the intactness of the wreck. But they have found no answers to its sinking. The Rev.

Richard Ingalls, who leads the annual requiems in Detroit, vividly recalls the first bell-tolling the day after the ship sank. "It had been my custom to ring the bell for every soul lost in the Great Lakes. When the tragic loss was con tique cathedral in downtown Detroit. They come to remember the dead, and the bell rings once for each crew member. The Fitzgerald, a 729-foot steel freighter carrying iron ore, sank during a fierce gale Nov.

10, 1975. Winds were recorded at 90 mph. Waves were reported at more than 30 feet. Ship's Capt. Ernest McSorley radioed that he was holding his own, and then the Fitzgerald was gone.

All 29 men aboard died. No bodies Associated Press Little has changed in the 15 years since the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a vicious gale on Lake Superior. It's still a mystery why the freighter went down. But the 29 men who went down with the mighty ship haven't been forgotten. At the Mariner's Church of Detroit, the bell still tolls, once for each crew member.

Today, one day after the 15th anniversary of the wreck, mariners and mourners gather again inside the an.