The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 30

SRIKJOIE The Orlando Sentinel WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1996 Inside, C-6 A new computer database has led to the arrest of 160 "deadbeat parents." Weather, C-2 ft Local SE America: No longer world's safe haven? uspecit A jarring juxtaposition greeted me as I leafed through Tuesday's Sentinel. On Page 1 was a story headlined "Dow puts 6,000 in rearview mirror." On the op-ed page were the results of a Sound Off poll in which 87 percent of AV thought victim had gun V'-' sSscb3-, 7 The suspect should have just walked away from the traffic dispute instead of getting violent, deputy sheriffs said. By Tom Leithauser OF THE SENTINEL STAFF XTA Cr xx RED HUBERTHE ORLANDO SENTINEL High-tech help. Paul Taylor watches as his son Luke ogy Education in Orlando. Luke, who has several disuses a computer at the Center for Independence Technol- abilities, uses his wrist to manipulate computer programs.

An Orlando man accused of killing a woman with a club during a traffic dispute contends he acted in self-defense because he thought the woman had a gun. The woman was holding a stun gun, a non-lethal weapon that works only at close range, Orange County sheriffs detectives said. Joseph J. Holden, 25, was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder in the attack on Georgetta Eaves, 44, of Orlando. Eaves died late Monday night at Orlando Regional Medical Center, where she had been in critical condition since Saturday night.

The dispute that led to Eaves' death is common on Central Florida roads. She and Holden were passengers in cars driving north on John Young Parkway. Eaves' husband, Howard Eaves, and Hol-den's girlfriend, Kristen Campbell, were driving. They became angry at each other. Campbell said Howard Eaves tailgated her, then passed on the right and suddenly hit his brakes.

Eaves said Campbell was driving slowly in front of him and hitting her brakes. At Oak Ridge Road, the cars came to a red light. Holden and his girlfriend got out of their car, deputies said. There was shout- Flip of wrist opens whole new world 1 11 1. 11 I.

im, ft 1 Please see DISPUTE, C-5 Universal briefly closes E.T. ride 3 3 5 I I I I "He can only move his wrist, but that little bit of movement has opened up the world for him," said Luke's father, Paul. "Just to look at him, you'd think there's not much going on there. But through technology, we've found there's a thinking, feeling, loving little boy in there." The Winter Springs child's story is an increasingly familiar one in the information age as computers help transform the lives of thousands of people, young and old, with disabilities. This year, with computer giants such as Apple and IBM helping out, more than 100,000 adults and children with disabilities have received high-tech assistance nationwide.

Stocked with computer equipment donated by the companies, special centers across the country have helped people with disabilities become more self-reliant. But there is much more to lence had all but vanished until three months ago, when firebombings of businesses with ties to Cuba began again. "This is domestic terrorism, the setting of arson because of political situations outside of this country that we have no control over," Metro-Dade police Detective Michael Marquez said Tuesday. So far there have been eight firebombings of restaurants, travel agencies and import-exporters. The bombs, some of which haven't gone off, have caused about $200,000 worth of damage but no injuries or deaths.

Authorities have offered an $11,000 reward error caused in Sanford 7 a. after man's fall i By Twila Decker Computers have helped transform the lives of thousands of disabled people, including a 10-year-old Winter Springs boy. By Richard Burnett OF THE SENTINEL STAFF Almost motionless in his wheelchair, 10-year-old Luke Taylor explores the universe with a barely perceptible flip of his wrist against an electronic switch. From his computer screen, people speak, songs are sung and stories are told. Luke's eyes widen as he wields push-button power, channel-surfing out of his own silence as he hears, responds, learns and connects with external reality.

callers said the United States should not educate the children of illegal immigrants. What's wrong with this picture? If I have to explain it, you wouldn't SENTINEL COLUMNIST understand anyway. You're probably in that group of people who think that stuff about "huddled masses" on the Statue of Liberty is hopelessly naive and out-of-date. You probably believe that in a nation where the stock market rises 2,000 points in less than two years there is not enough wealth to educate a relative handful of children. Am I suggesting there should be no limits on immigration? No.

Am I saying we should nevertheless educate the children of illegal immigrants? You bet. This is in the best tradition of America, which is and always has been a welter of contradictions: a pragmatic society built by dreamers; a nation that worships self-reliance and practices altruism. Our dots don't always connect a consequence of being a work in progress. When I was growing up there was a house in our neighborhood where the door was always open. A big family lived there and it was sort of chaotic, but if you were there at dinner time there was always an extra place at the table.

If it was raining, or if you got locked out of your own house, or if it got dark and you were afraid to walk home, you knew that door was always open no questions asked. It was a safe haven. This is the image of America planted deep in my subconscious: America as the world's safe house as an extension of that house I knew as a child. This was the America we proudly pledged allegiance to. It is not, increasingly, the America I see today a place where doors are being slammed and locked, from our neighborhoods to our borders.

Guess who's coming to dinner? No one, if we can help it. Is this the image of America we would pass on to our children? Critics say we shouldn't educate the children of illegal immigrants. This is petty semantics. Once a child is seated in the classroom, he is neither legal nor illegal. He is just a child a student.

I was at an elementary school in Orlando recently observing a Spanish-speaking grade schooler whose family came to America after he was born. I have every reason to believe they are legal residents. But it would make no difference to me if they weren't They are struggling now because the family's baby is seriously ill, and there is no medical insurance. But the boy shows up every day for school and is winning his battle with English, word by word. The morning I was there he was working on the computer, transfixed by colorful cyberfish darting across the screen in the educational program.

His concentration was broken when the principal's voice boomed over the intercom system, asking everyone to rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. The boy stood up, placed his hand7 over his heart and gamely slogged his way through "republic" and "indivisible" not exactly beginner's verbiage. Which gives me an idea. Under a veto threat by President Clinton, a provision allowing states to ban children of illegal immigrants from public schools was dropped from the immigration bill just passed by Congress. But if we ever fall to such Stygian depths and adopt such a law, I think it should be the job of the legislators who voted for it to personally escort the offending children from the classrooms into the streets.

It would be a piece of cake. Unlike Capitol Hill lobbyists, these kids aren't sneaky or devious. All our brave legislator-cops would have to do is show up at school first thing in the morning. They would find the grave threats to our domestic tranquility and prosperity lined up like sitting ducks, hands over their hearts, pledging allegiance to our flag. Greg Dawson welcomes your comments.

Telephone: (407) 420-5499. E- mail: OSOdawsonfa aol.com. Please I include your name'and phone in messages. OF THE SENTINEL STAFF Universal Studios Florida shut down its E.T. Adventure ride Tuesday afternoon after a 28-year-old Casselberry man tumbled 10 to 12 a feet from a car on the ride.

The man, whose name was not was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center at about 1:30 p.m. Once there, the man! was treated and released for a scraped elbow. I Linda Buckley, a spokeswoman for Univer- sal, said she didn't know how the man felL Anti-Castro activists turn to The ride, which opened with the park in 1990, is in the children's area of the theme A park and is slow-moving. 5 1 There have been problems on other rides at 'I the park. A New Jersey man sued Universal after claiming the railing on the Jaws ride broke in 1990, causing him to fall into the wa- ter.

Also in 1990, more than 100 people were," evacuated from the Earthquake attraction after an electrical fire. Buckley said she expects E.T. Adventure to" reopen today. She said the theme park and another company inspected the ride Tuesday, "They were looking at the ride, trying to simulate the accident," Buckley said. "They 3 pushed on the bar and it wouldn't budge." Christine Shenot of the Sentinel staff tributed to this report.

RED HUBERTHE ORLANDO SENTINEL be done, say the people who run these programs. "We've only reached the tip of the iceberg of people who could benefit from access to assistive technology," said Mary Lester, associate director of the National Alliance for Technology Access, a nonprofit group based in San Rafael, Calif. "We've been able to help just a fraction of those in need." Please see WRIST, C-5 violence again for information leading to an arrest "Somebody in this community knows who is doing this," Marquez said. "It's just a matter of time before someone is going to be trapped inside trying to protect his business or somebody who has nothing to do with this is going to be walking by." The bombings have occurred even though the United States has strengthened its longstanding embargo against the lone bastion of communism in the Western Hemisphere. Businesses within the exile community that have anything Please see EXILES, C-5 GEORGE jit.

in 1 pi- pui. Bombings in Miami, which declined after the Cold War ended, have started agaia ASSOCIATED PRESS MIAMI Bombings of the businesses, cars and homes of those seen as sympathetic to Cuban leader Fidel Castro were common in politically volatile Miami in the 1980s. Since the end of the Cold War such vio FAA official: Pilot mistaken landing The Nations Air pilot asked for clearance into Orlando Sanford instead of Orlando International. By Roger Roy OF THE SENTINEL STAFF The pilot who landed a jet at Orlando Sanford Airport rather than his intended destination of Orlando International Airport mistakenly asked air traffic controllers for clearance into the smaller airport, a federal official said Tuesday. "Once he got on the ground he realized he'd made a said Donna Cropper, Orlando air traffic Aviation On of and touched about The Cropper "He guided but land controller was Puppet show 5 with a lesson Lt.

Randall Mells of the Winter Park Fire Department puts on a puppet show manager for the Federal Administration. Friday, the inaugural flight Nations Air service between Gulfport-Biloxi Regional Airport Orlando International instead down at the Sanford field, 20 miles to the north. aircraft's flight plan specified a landing at Orlando International, and controllers had correctly directed the pilot to the airport, said. was being vectored here to Orlando International then he said he wanted to at Sanford and asked the for whichever runway it he requested at Sanford," Please see LANDING, C-4 Tuesday to teach children how to handle emergencies in their homes. The show was part of a Fire Prevention Week event that brought thousands of kids to the" Central Florida 7i Fairgrounds.

SKENETHE ORLANDO SENTINF,.