European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 16, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes monday january 16,1989 sign of the Smoot fading Cambridge mass. A the Smoot Marks Are vanishing from the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge and the 30-year legacy of Oliver r. Smoot or. And his fraternity Brothers May soon be just another Mit legend. There s no item in our contract concerning the replacement of smoots said de Mclnnis superintendent for modern Continental construction co., the general contractor on the Bridge repair Job. Late one night in october 1958, Mem Bers of Lambda Chi Alpha at the Massachusetts Institute of techn9logy used Smoot to Blaze a new Trail in distance measurement and fraternity prank Dom. Smoot s 5-foot-7 Frame was Man handled length by length to measure the distance of the Span also known As the Harvard Bridge that crosses the Charles River. The idea was to let Strol lers know How far they had to go. The fraternity Brothers painted Smoot Marks on the Bridge Walkway "10 smoots "20 smoots and so on re porting that the distance they measured was "364.4 smoots plus one  successive fraternity members have re painted the smoots twice a year. But the work to replace the cracked and corroded Bridge has already destroyed the smoots on the Bridge s West sidewalk. If the repair timetable goes As expected the East smoots will be gone by fall. The construction Crew says the re Mains mailing smoots could be saved if someone foots the Bill. Labor Steward Henry Troville said the smoots could be Cut out of the old Concrete and implanted in the new. But he did t think much of that idea saying the 60 or so Coats of paint make the Smoot lines very Slippery. I be seen Many bicyclists brought Down by the smoots he told the Boston Globe. Smoot now 48, an executive vice president of a Washington based com Puter and business equipment association said he is optimistic about the smoots ultimate Fate. He said there May be a future for a Micro Smoot or a kilo Smoot. I under stand that the Yard got its Start As the length of the King s Arm and the Inch was the Width of a knuckle he said. But there is a move among students to re Smoot the rebuilt Bridge using the original s son Stephen r. Smoot 21, an Mit Junior. He has not yet committed himself to the project. The Junior Smoot also cautioned that his height 5 feet 11 inches would result in a different calibration. Re shooting the Bridge would Cor rect an error however. The original group overlooked a Bridge Section that spans storrow drive on the Boston Side of the River. So they were off by approximately 26.87 smoots give or take an ear said Mclnnis of the contracting firm. Number of Black men attending College drops Washington up More american Black men Are completing High school than Ever before but few of them go to College compared with a decade ago the american Council on education said sunday. Hispanics in the United states also had increases in the number of High school diplomas but the Council s seventh annual status report on minorities in higher education noted the High school completion rate for hispanics continued to be dismally Low in 1986, and does not appear to be increasing As rapidly As that of  the report which reviewed data Over 10 years said total enrolment at two year and four year colleges grew from 11 million to 12.5 million Over the period. Between 1984 and 1986, minorities As a group netted an 8 percent gain in College enrolment led by gains of 15 percent in asian enrolment and 17 percent in his panic enrolment. Black College enrolment Between 1984 and 1986 remained relatively stable at approximately 1.08 Mil lion still below the 1980 High of 1.11 million. But the authors of the report Reginald Wilson and Deborah Carter said preliminary figures for 1988 show an in crease of Between 2 percent to 5 percent in Blacken Rollent for that year. Enrolment for Black men fell 7 percent from 470,000 to 436,000 during the decade while Black women held relatively steady during the period. Despite gains in the past decade hispanics still Are underrepresented in higher education accounting for 5 percent of the total College enrolment. The report also found that More than 55 percent of hispanic students and 57 percent of american indians attended two year institutions compared to 37 percent of All College students. Overall the percentage of 18 to 24-year-Olds completing High school increased from 67.5 percent to 76.4 percent for Blacks and from 55.6 percent to 59.9 per cent for hispanics Between 1976 and 1986. Wilson said studies show that More minorities Are eligible for College today with significant improvements in Scholastic aptitude test scores. But he said most Black men after High school seek Low paying jobs attend Trade or vocational schools or enter the military. Convince1 for safety Philadelphia judge Dominie Jeremie and a doll take a ride in the convincer a device that simulates an Auto crash and shows the need for safety belts. During the demonstration staged by insurance Industry officials last week the 10-Mph Jolt caused Little discomfort for the seat belted traffic court judge. However the doll in his Lap was thrown into the Windshield. University asked to Honor 1856 offer of free tuition Bloomington ind. A even Back when a loaf of bread Cost a couple of cents it must have seemed like a bar gain contribute $100 and your sons your grandsons your great grandsons and so on in perpetuity would get free tuition at Indiana University. Sixty eight people took the school up on its offer in 1856. Now one of their descendants wants the school to make Good on the Deal. Scott Raper is the first descendant of state rep. Elias Abel to try to Benefit from his great great great great Grandfather s investment. However Indiana residents now pay about $1,100 a semester not $8 As in 1856, and the University is studying How it will handle the family s claim. University counsel Cliff k. Travis said he will review the request when he receives copies of wills and documents that establish a line of succession for the scholarship. Raper a 1988 graduate of Owen Val Ley High school in Spencer is majoring in business at Indiana a state University founded in 1820. His Mother Nancy Raper said last week that she has the documents Travis needs and threatened to sue the univer sity if the scholarship is not honoured. She said she has known about the scholarship since she was a child but considered the piece of paper just a curiosity until a year ago. Previous generations of Abel s descendants either did t go to school or included no sons. The scholarship specifies male descendants because women were not admitted to the school when it was created. Nancy Raper said that when her Mother died a year ago and her son was Mak ing plans to attend Indiana the scholarship s significance hit her. She consulted a lawyer and decided to follow up on it. It s something that my great great great Grandfather purchased in the belief that his heirs would be taken care of she said. He was a supporter of the University and i m sure $100 helped tremendously at that  if the Validity of the scholarship has to be decided in court Travis said it would be the first time. He said similar requests have come up a few times Over the decades. But for at least 40 years they have been rejected for in state residents on the basis of a University ruling that no one from Indi Ana technically pays tuition Only  the ruling said that out of state residents Are eligible for partial scholarships the difference Between in state fees and the total charged to out of state Resi dents. University officials Are considering whether that definition will be applied to disqualify Scott Raper. Reagan considering Pardon for Patty Hearst Washington up president Reagan said sunday that he is considering giving a full Pardon to publishing heiress Patty Hearst who was convicted of Bank robbery in 1976. Reagan and other californians including the late actor John Wayne mounted a Campaign for her clemency soon after her conviction. On Jan. 19,1979, president Carter commuted Hearst s sentence after she served 23 months of a seven year sentence. When asked whether he will Pardon Hearst Daugh Ter of san Francisco newspaper publisher Randolph Hearst before he leaves office Reagan said i be asked everybody to look into this for  Hearst became eligible for a full Pardon the presiden tial Seal of forgiveness when her prison sentence expired. She was kidnapped at gunpoint by sym ionese liberation army terrorists on feb. 5, 1974, at her Berke Ley Calif apartment. Eventually she issued statements announcing she had joined the Sla cause under the revolutionary nickname  testimony after her capture showed her captors had kept her locked in a closet much of the time As they Dick ered for Ransom from her father. She was convicted of participating in an april 15,1974, san Francisco Bank robbery that netted the Sla $ 10,960. A Bank Security camera showed her holding a gun. She married her bodyguard Bernard Shaw after she was paroled and has since then lived a quiet life