European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 21, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes wednesday. February 21,1990 7 victims trapped by ice after plunge into Calif Lake stateside Mammoth lakes. Calif. A three teen agers from a probation Camp and four adults plunged into icy convict Lake on monday and the Lake froze Over them officials  13 to 16-year-old victims from nearby Camp o Neal were on an Outing to the Lake in the Eastern Sierra Nevada about 250 Miles North of los Angeles when they fell through thin ice around noon said Mono county sheriff Coroner Martin Strelneck. Two Camp o Neal Counselor fell into the Lake As they tried to save the victims Strelneck said. A . Forest sen ice worker and a Volunteer firefighter Fol Lowed them into the water. None of the fatalities was immediately identified. A 16-year-old boy also fell into the water but he escaped by crawling Back onto the ice and walked Back 19 the parking  said Pierre Labossiere. A reporter for the Mon county review Herald who was on the scene. Labossiere watched helplessly As the attempt to Rescue the three Young Vic Tims failed. It was  he  he watched three of the adult rescuers plunged into the Lake in a failed at tempt to reach a youth still floundering in the icy water. The youths fell into the Snow covered Lake at least a Quarter of a mile from the Shore making Rescue impossible the reporter  was an incredibly Long distance Labossiere said. They could t just stick a rope out there. They had to figure a Way to get across the  however Strelneck said the Accident occurred Only about 200 Yards offshore. Forest service spokeswoman Margaret Gorski said it happened in the Center of the Lake which is a mile Long and and an eighth to a Quarter mile  seven were never seen again and the holes through which they fell froze Over just hours later said Strelneck. The would be rescuers used rubber boats and ropes to try to reach the youths in the water but to no Avail. Authorities called in a special team of divers from the Washoe county sheriffs department in Nevada to search the Lake Strelneck  arc not equipped to search the Lake said Strel neck. The temperature of the water would be right at freezing and where they went through is fro in Over right  Forest sen ice worker was a firefighter with the Mammoth Ranger District of the Inyo National for est Gorski  was very concerned with the welfare of  she said. A learn arrives monday to Start efforts to recover bodies of plunge victims at convict Lake Calif. The firefighter was a member of the Volunteer Long Valley fire department. Strelneck said. It was a heroic Effort on his part. The input i got on the Man was he was one of these men who go Gung  Strelneck. The state run probation Camps Are for Young people convicted of relatively minor offences. Convict Lake just South of the Mammoth ski resort got its name from a shootout Between a posse and convicts in the late 1800s. People ski and skate on the make in Winter Labos Swierc said. The area received heavy Snow in a weekend storm but the weather at time of the Accident was Clear and sunny. The ice obviously was not very thick he said. 22 Miles of Ocean Shore invaded by Black sludge fire Island . A Black sludge that washed onto 22 Miles of Ocean Shore tues Day was believed to he a naturally occurring phenomenon authorities said. It. Kent Mack commander of the coast guard station at fire Island said the goo was an outbreak of algae that washed ashore after a cold snap killed the algae off. Mixed in with the algae. Mack said were Tensor thousands of crab shells shed by the creatures during melting. The melting is Normal at this time of year he said. Fire Island is a 30-Milc-Long ribbon of popular Beachland parallel to Long Island s Southern Shore. Psychic Geller beaming his support to sen. Pell Providence . A psychic Uri Geller claims to be Able to Bend spoons through mind Power and now he is aiming to get voters to Bend his Way and support a . Senator who is into parapsychology. Sen. Claiborne Pell a Democrat whose pen chant for the paranormal is Well publicized was praised by Geller for standing up to the criticism that his beliefs engender. I will beam my Energy for him to win the election Geller told the Providence journal bulletin during a recent interview. People ridicule him but he stands there Geller said of the senator from Rhode Island. All the barrage of controversy he rides it  Pell has no lock on the paranormal vote How Ever. His opponent Republican Claudine Schneider has taken her share of ribbing As Well for her interest in astrology. Firm says it has sold Slot machines to .s.r. Chicago up Bally manufacturing corp. Said monday it has sold Slot machines to the soviet Union which will install the units at a Moscow Airport. Bally manufacturing did not release financial details of the contract nor did it indicate the number of machines involved. The company said its top of the line system 5000 Slot machines would be used at the Shere my trevo Airport in Moscow. We Are extremely pleased to participate in the development of the gaming Industry in the soviet Union said Roger n. Keesee Bally manufacturing s president. The Sale of these systems. Is key in that it represents significant growth opportunities for the  Marine s conviction overturned trial was flawed9 Washington a a military appeals court has overturned the conviction of a Marine Corporal who served 226 Days in the Brig in 1988 for allegedly having sex with another woman court documents show. In an unusual decision the court of military review in Washington on thursday found that two of the jury members at Barbara j. Baum s court martial were biased and that the military judge allowed uncorroborated testimony. I think that her trial was flawed in a number of respects and i am glad that they recognized the errors that they  said Susan Masling an attorney with the Washington Law firm of Arnold and Porter which represented Baum at no charge. They technically Are free to retry her at another court martial. However As we understand the Law she would not Beable to serve any More Lime in the Brig so the Only thing they could get out of another court martial besides a lot of bad publicity is perhaps getting her Abad conduct  Masling said. But it. Col. Ron Stokes a Marine spokesman said last week that no Deci Sion had been made yet on a new trial. The appellate court declined to Rule on several other arguments raised in the a peal including that it is unconstitutional to selectively prosecute and punish homosexual people for sodomy while heterosexuals Are not punished for the same actions. We did t actually think we would win on those charges but we did think it was important to Start making a record on those issues Masling said. Baum 25, originally from Mishawaka ind. But now living in Lakewood fla., said saturday she had expected to be exonerated because i knew it was unfair from the Start and i d said All along it was t All  Baum said she will continue to fight to Force the government to pay the $14.000 Bill from her first lawyer. I refuse to take the answer that you have no claim against the government Baum said in an interview. They re going to pay it it s their own stupid  according to court papers the three judge military appeals panel last wee found that two jurors identified Only As sgt. Maj. Moore and col. Nunnally were not impartial. Moore had attended Baum s so called article 32 investigation which is Akin to a grand jury and had listened to the government s key witness. Sergeant major Moore s statement that he attended Appellant s article 32 investigation moreover suggested that he had some interest in the outcome of the Case the judges wrote. The Mili tary judge failed to ask him Why he at tended the hearing thereby leaving his reasons open to  Nunnally revealed during the Early stages of Baum s trial that he had discussed the investigation of lesbian activities at Parris Island with a Navy investigator. Colonel Nunnally appears to have extrajudicial knowledge of the evidence and an interest in the outcome of the litigation the judges wrote. Baum was the first of five women charged in a crackdown in 1988 on alleged lesbians at the Marine corps Par Ris Island. S.c., recruit depot. The defense department s official policy states that homosexuality is in compatible with military service. The presence in the military of persons who engage in homosexual conduct. Seriously impairs the accomplishment of the military  Baum had been charged with conspiracy to obstruct Justice sodomy indecent acts obstruction of Justice and communicating a  woman with whom she allegedly had sex Lance Cpl. Diana Maldonado testified against Baum at the court martial. But the appeals panel found the Lack of Independent corroboration Ren dered Maldonado s testimony insufficient As a matter of  Baum was convicted in june 1988. She was sentenced to a year in prison and a dishonourable discharge. But five months later her commanding officer granted Baum clemency. She was freed after serving 226 Days in the Brig at Quantico  dishonourable discharge was up graded to a bad conduct discharge but left intact were portions of Baum s sen tence that reduced her rank to private and required her to forfeit All pay and  commander s staff urged clemency be denied but Baum claimed she had been promised leniency by a military prosecutor in Exchange for her cooperation with investigators. The Marine corps denied that that the prosecuting attorney in the Case had eve made a binding Promise to Baum