European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 8, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page b c the stars and stripes monday june 8,1992sigonella seniors have seen it All by Gary Miller Mediterranean Bureau Nas Simonella Sicily a erupting volcanoes earthquakes and the persian Gulf War prepared Stephen Decatur schools class of �?T92 for the world. But the seniors faced one More Challenge before they could be unleashed commencement. The Day began when the seniors left at 7 30 . Saturday to hold their Only commencement rehearsal just hours before the actual event. At 9, parents and other students followed in a bus from the school at the Simonella base to the theater. The entire graduating class of 17 fit easily on the stage of Teatro Bellini a 19th-Century opera House in the heart of nearby Catania Sicily a second largest City a we move in and four hours later we move out and its Over a said science teacher Joel Hansen the class sponsor. But those hours probably seemed much longer to Hansen. Upon arriving at the Bellini with the seniors Ushers Navy color guard and other players Hansen discovered that the stage was configured differently than he had expected. He re choreographed the ceremony and the students took an extra practice March Down the aisle but the ceremony went without a glitch. The re staging was the most minor of a series of disruptions that Simonella students have faced Over the last two years. First there was the Gulf crisis which started in August 1990 and continued through the Winter of 1991. Then an earthquake struck Sicily a Eastern coast before Dawn dec. 13, 1990, killing at least 19 people and damaging a transport aircraft and a warehouse at Nas Simonella. Last december lava began oozing from the mount Etna Volcano accelerating in april of this year and threatening the Hillside town of Zafferano Etna. On saturday commencement speaker Dave Sanders thanked each seniors parents individually something he could do because of the Small size of the class. A go from Here. Discover your Success a said Sanders in summarizing his speech in which he defined Success As a four letter word love. A the world needs your love a said Sanders director of the Simonella chapter of club beyond an interdenominational Christian youth group. Salutatorian Jimcy Hansen Joel Hansen a son also discussed Success in his speech. He pointed out that the worldly version of Success is shallow and that spiritual amps Gary Miller Loddick Shine wipes away a tear while her daughter Caritonia Barnes gets a hug from shines husband Elmo. Success the kind that results from taking time to help others is deep. Opportunities to help others in various countries Are a Benefit of attending an overseas school the elder Hansen explained. A we have a lot of service organizations Here on base like the club beyond group that have developed some projects Over the years. My songs gone to Kenya Hungary and Romania. My daughters now going to Turkina faso in Africa with a work study group a Joel Hansen said. Jammy Hansen a theme of the future was a contrast to valedictorian Jennifer ohm Rte a encouragement to remember their time in Simonella �?o10, 20 or 30 years from  Ohmart said a recall these memories and your classmates fondly. True we encountered obstacles along our journey but we conquered these obstacles together As the class of 1992.�?� later in the ceremony class president Julia Scholes led the seniors in turning their hassles. As a part of the recessional the Ushers brought the seniors parents into the theater a aisles so the graduates could give them Flowers. Loddie Shine wiped tears from her eyes As her daughter Caritonia Barnes hugged her husband Elmo Shine. A i was very proud of her a Loddie said. A i was full of love and full of desire to hold her Back from growing up not wanting her to leave  meet to determine chess champs Manila Philippines apr president Corazon Aquino opened the 30th chess olympiad on sunday with teams from the United states Western Europe and former soviet republics. Aquino and world Champion Gary Kasparov made the symbolic opening moves to begin the three week 92-nation Competition which was getting under Way today. It will determine the worlds team Champion. A Queens accepted Aquino opened with a gambit which Kasparov for a symbolic draw. Kasparov a russian team which inherited the seat vacated by the former soviet Union faces a Strong Challenge by teams from Britain the United states and the newly Independent Ukraine. Russians chances of holding the championship have been weakened by the absence of former Champion Anatoly Karnov and Artur Yusu of who did not join the team in Pomi Manila. The . Team will be led by 1s-Ycar-Oki grandmaster gala Kams Tkv a soviet Detector w to is ranked eighth m tile  id. Azerbaijanis vote for president Baku Azerbaijan up a voters in the former soviet Republic of Azerbaijan were electing a new president sunday in the first poll since the former communists tried to seize Power last month. Polls opened at More than 3,000 Sites across the largely Muslim Republic and the Central electoral commission said that by noon 42 percent of the country a 3.9 million registered voters had cast their ballots. This indicates a brisk turnout in Azerbaijan s first Ever Multi candidate presidential elections the results of which will be known in 10 Days. The voting appeared to be going smoothly although shooting was heard saturday night in the capital Baku where strict Security measures Are in Force. The front runner in the Field of five candidates was a 54-year-old philosophy professor former dissident and Leader of the opposition Azerbaijan popular front Abulfaiz Elc Hibey. If elected Elc Hibey will become newly Independent Azerbaijan a second president after Ayaz Muta Libov the former communist party chief who was elected As the sole candidate in August 1991. Muta Libov who resigned in april following azerbaijani military defeats in the disputed enclave of Magorno Karabash attempted to restore himself to the presidency last month but was toppled by a popular uprising and has been in hiding Ever since. The election Campaign was dominated by two emotional themes the War in Magorno Karabash where azerbaijani forces have suffered humiliating setbacks at the hands of numerically inferior armenian militants and plummeting living standards As the centrally planned Economy Withers away. Pope criticizes marxist influence in Africa Luanda Angola apr Pope John Paul ii on sunday urged angolans roman catholics to fill the a spiritual vacuum left by the marxist government that led the country after Independence from Portugal. The Pope has criticized the influence of communism on african families throughout his seven Day tour of Angola and Sao tom6 and Principe which began wednesday. On sunday he spoke to tens of thousands of roman catholics gathered on a Sandy stretch of wasteland dominated by the unfinished mausoleum of Antonio Agoslinho Nuto Angola s  pies it lit who died in Loo 1\hji Eais alter  e. Neto is still revered by the ruling popular movement for the liberation of Angola but his successor jos6 Eduardo Dos Santos has moved away from marxism and has pledged to hold free elections in september. A year ago Dos Santos signed peace accords with the rebel movement the National Union for the total Independence of Angola to end a 16-year civil War one of africans bloodiest. The Pope said angolans should work to protect the family against a ideologies and campaigns that attack against its  , in a speech to the counties Bishops he Aid the Church should a til the spiritual vacuum that atheism and other materialist ideologies left in the generation bom under marxism. John Paul told the Bishops that Angola s catholics should a make efforts to extinguish the hatred moderate the tensions overcome the divisions heal the wounds afflicted Between  All angolans he said should a work together for the reconstruction of the country a country where All will have a place and a  Dos Samos who attended the mass has improved relations with the Catholic Church which had its property confiscated and radio St Mon closed under Neto