The Desert Sun from Palm Springs, California • 3

Tuesday, November 8, 1983-THE DESERT SUN, Palm Springs, Calit. A3 Arafat offers to stop fighting; appeal to Syria By FAROUK NASSAR Associated Press Writer BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) Beleaguered PLO chairman Yasser Arafat halt today offered to stop fighting Syrian-backed guerrilla mutineers if they their onslaught to drive him from Tripoli, his last Middle East stronghold. In Beirut, U.S. Marines abandoned a vulnerable outpost on the capital's southern outskirts, trimming their peacekeeping zone after the worst outbreak of Lebanese fighting around their positions in six weeks. "I am now in the protection of Tripoli, this ancient Islamic city," the Palestine Liberation Organization leader told dozens of Western reporters after a meeting held at midday with religious and political had been pressuring him to renounce his vow to fight unconditionally.

figures. They "They have my word that I will do everything in my power to avert a bloodbath in Tripoli," Arafat said. "I will only fight in self defense, and the decision on war or peace is theirs." The committee of Tripoli's religious and political leaders issued an appeal to Syrian President Hafez Assad to intervene personally to stop the mutineers from pushing into the northern Lebanese city to hunt down Arafat and his loyalists. Sources close to the committee said it also had contacted breakaway PLO Col. Saeed Mousa, urging him to rein in his forces.

But one source, who refused to be identified, said the mutineer leader insisted Arafat "should either get out (of Tripoli) or face a court martial before a revolutionary court." The mutineers claim Arafat has abandoned the cause of violent struggle to reclaim a homeland from Israel. Arafat claims Syria supports the rebels because it wants to dominate the PLO. Since Monday, Arafat and most of his defenders have fled the heavily shelled Palestinian camp of Baddawi on Tripoli's northeast edge and regrouped in residential neighborhoods near the port area, their backs to the sea. Funeral services slated for George Coulson, 51 DESERT Funeral services will be held Friday in PALM for local golf enthusiast George Coulson, who died Virginia Sunday. He was 51.

Coulson was most recently employed as the service manager for Simon He had been a resident of Palm Desert Country Club Motors. since 1979, previously living in New Jersey. Born June 18, 1932, in Galax, he died at Eisenhower Medical Center of a heart attack. The services will begin at 11 a.m. at Vaughn Guynn Mortuary, 201 W.

Center Galax. Burial will be in the Cemetery of the First Christian Church near Galax. Coulson is survived by his wife, Barbara Coulson of Palm Desert; his mother, Alma Coulson of New Jersey; two sisters, Peggy Kent of Palm Desert and Marylou Maher of Florida; and five Coulson brothers, Billy of Ohio, and Jimmy Coulson, Wayne Coulson, Rixie Coulson and Johnny Coulson, all of New Jersey. Obituaries Kavanagh A memorial service will be held Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Jehovahs Witness Kingdom Hall in Palm Desert for Mary Helena Kavanagh, 50, of Palm Desert.

She died Sunday in Indio Community Hospital. A native of Canada, she lived in the Coachella Valley for 21 years. She worked as accountant and controller at the Erawan Gardens Hotel in Indian Wells and the Ocotillo Lodge in Palm Springs. She is survived by her mother, Katharine Wurmlinger of CoquitIan, British Columbia, Canada; a sister, Katherine O'Sullivan of Palm Springs; and seven brothers and a sister living in Canada. Burial will be private, with arrangements through Wiefels and Son mortuary in Palm Springs.

Gessler A graveside service was held today in Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City for George M. Gessler, 66, of Rancho Mirage. Mr. Gessler died Saturday in Eisenhower Medical Center, Rancho Mirage. A native of Oregon, the retired restaurant owner lived in the desert permanently for five years.

He is survived by his wife, Cleo; three sons, Steve Gessler of Sparks, Lance Gessler and Scott Gessler, both of Palm Desert; a granddaugther, Stacey Gessler of Rancho Mirage; and a. grandson, Tye Gessler of Hemet. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the cardiology department at Eisenhower Medical Center. Arrangements were made through Wiefels and Son mortuary of Palm Springs. Arrangements were made through Wiefels and Son mortuary, Palm Springs.

Babcock Funeral services will be held Wednesday for Charles Stuart Babcock of Palm Springs, who died Friday at Desert Hospital. Born in St. Albans, he had lived in Palm Sprngs for one year. He is survived by one daughter, Sandra Clarke of Rancho Mirage; one granddaughter, Alexandra Clarke of Rancho Mirage; one sister, Sister Elsie Babcock of Palm Springs; and one brother, James Babcock of Connecticut. The services will begin at 10 a.m.

at St. Theresa Catholic Church, with the Rev. Edward Connolly officiating. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to favorite charities.

Soteros A service will be held Wednesday at 1 p.m. in the FitzHenry Funeral Home chapel, Indio for Peter Soteros, 65, of Palm Desert. Mr. Soteros died Monday in Rancho Mirage. A native of Illinois, he is survived by his wife, Irene; five daughters, Carol Smith of Marina Del Rey, Renee Soteropolus of La Quinta, Pam Black of Indio, Julie Soteros of Palm Desert and Christine Soteros Talbot of Rancho Mirage; a son, Fred Soteros of Placerville; four grandchildren; and two brothers, William DenBlaker of Mission Viejo and George Soteros of San Dimas.

Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Cancer Society. Dabaco Davidson A private funeral service and burial has been held for Aliden C. Davidson, 87, of Palm Springs. Mr.

Davidson died Saturday in Palm Springs. A native of Oklahoma, he worked as a cutter for Fruhauf and a garment manufacturing company. He is survived by two sons, George Davidson of Palm Springs and Fred Davidson of Magalia; a daughter, Mary Rose of Wichita, and a sister, Della Markel of Wichita. PALM SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL IN MEMORY OF BILL SOMMERS 3-9-66 11-4-83 IN REMEMBRANCE A marquee at Palm Springs High School who was killed Friday night in a car crash in Cathedral City. bears a simple message in memory of student Bill Sommers, PSHS classmates pay last respects to Bill Sommers By KEN SWART north on Cathedral BILL Canyon Drive.

The driver of the car in which Bill was riding reportedly was treated for facial cuts, then booked into juvenile hall in Indio on suspicion of felony drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter. If the case goes to court, the boy may be tried as an adult. He was released in time to attend the somber funeral. "His friends know he's responsible, but they don't blame him for it," swim coach Ron Buda said Monday, after the service was over. "I think his Desert Sun Staff Writer PALM SPRINGS It was late Monday morning, and Bill Sommers should've been a couple of blocks west of this Catholic church maybe walking to class, wearing an easy smile and carrying pleasant thoughts of lunch and swim practice in the afternoon.

Yeah, that's where the 17-year-old Palm Springs High School senior, a swim-team re should've been. But he wasn't. Instead, he was lying in a blue coffin on orange carpeting in the center of St. Theresa Catholic Church. Bill died Friday night of massive head injuries, when the driver of the car in which he was a passenger, while traveling west on Avenue 33, allegedly ran a stop sign and smashed into another car traveling SOMMERS friends are supportive." Buda sighed, wiping his eyes with the back of his hands.

"Yeah, it's a tough one, all right," he said. "Right now, the kids are looking to me for strength. So I got to be strong for them," Buda said. "But then I've got to be able to cry with the ones who need to cry." Plenty of them needed to cry. Hundreds.

Friends who read Bible selections haltingly. Classmates who had never before taken communion in a Catholic service. Teammates who became awkward pallbearers afterward. They all cried Monday. Throughout the day clad in the dresses, stockings and pumps, ties, coats and penny loafers usually reserved for special dates and Related story, see Page C-1 happier times they sought comfort from each other, often sobbing uncontrollably into the shoulder of someone else.

They remembered Bill in their own ways. Moments of silence for him were observed in his classes. A set of candid shots Bill in the high school pool, intense as he played water polo, and posed shots, Bill clad in a pullover sweater, smiling his easy smile were passed around in yearbook class. TRAGIC LOSS Palm Springs High School swimming coach Ron Buda (second from right) looks on as friends of Bill Sommers ease his coffin into a hearse following services at St. Theresa's Catholic Church in Palm Springs on Monday.

Sommers was killed Friday night in a traffic accident. At the end of the day, two girls talk seriously with the yearbook adviser about pulling out Bill's "senior will" in which he recalled a few of his wilder "keg parties." Walking home, or riding in the school bus, many of his classmates glance up at the sign in front of the high school, usually reserved for announcements of upcoming activities. It says, on one side, "In memory of Bill Sommers: 3-9-66, 11-4-83," and, on the other, "Bill We will always love What was Bill like? As a student, Bill was "a leader in school. looked up to" by his classmates, Buda said. As an athlete, Bill was "a fierce competitor (with) a reputation for being the best," Buda added.

"'He was known all over Southern California for his swimming ability." As a person, "He was bright. He enjoyed everything he did," said English teacher Kathy Craine. "Bill lived every minute to the Betty Ford endorses local group's efforts to assist women al alcoholics By JOHN HUSSAR Desert Sun Special Projects Editor RANCHO MIRAGE "We used to think it was a male disease," Jenny Francis was saying while 28 elegantly dressed women lunched on Norwegian salmon Monday at The Springs country club, but "we now know that 35 to 50 percent of all alcoholics are women." Society's awareness of the growing problem is distorted because "we (women alcoholics) are more hidden (from public exposure) and we are more stigmatized," explained Ms. Francis, associate director of the state-funded California Women's Commission on Alcoholism (CWCA). And with some encouragement by former first lady Betty Ford, one of the nation's leading anti-alcoholism advocates, on Monday the Coachella Valley CWCA became the 18th chapter of the eight-year-old, nonprofit, Los Angeles-based organization that has 700 women and men members.

Elected president of the local chapter was Patti Parriott of Desert Hot Springs, a certified alcoholism counselor at the Betty Ford Center, an alcoholish treatment facility affiliated with Eisenhower Medical Center here. The board, as does the parent organization, consists of recovering alcoholics and "other women involved in philanthropic activities." Other board members are Bea Laub, vice president, Joan Kramer, secretary; Molly Breton, treasurer; Mary Payne, membership chairwoman; and Betty Millsaps, public relations. The luncheon, sponsored by Gina Sullivan, was to bring together women who are interested in educating the public, in helping alcoholic women find treatment, in financially aiding local recovery homes and in advocating legislation to improve services for alcoholic women. "All of us can well afford to be interested in this field of education and prevention," Mrs. Ford told the luncheon group in urging formation of a local CWCA chapter.

"'There is no end to the help we can give to the community." Pointing out there are not enough treatment facilities for women, Ms. Francis, a registered nurse, said that the ratio of beds for men patients vs. women is 30-1 in the Coachella Valley. Statewide, the CWCA claims that women comprise only 18 percent of clients in publicly funded programs, fewer than 1 percent of alcoholism programs offer any child care services, and there is only one alcohol research project and two prevention programs for women. Greyhound gives strikers a deadline PHOENIX, Ariz.

(AP) Greyhound Lines, which has interviewed more than 45,000 job applicants since announcing it might need to replace striking employees, is telling strikers it wants to know by next Monday whether they're coming back to work. A letter to strikers, released Monday, said that while the bus company doesn't want to hire new employees to replace them, "we must operate our business." Alec Barinholtz Sun Photos Eight years ago, there were only two California treatment centers that took in women and now there are 50, Ms. Francis said. The CWCA estimates there are 4 million women alcoholics in the United States. Charlotte McDonald, coordinator of community services at the Betty Ford Center, was instrumental in setting up the local CWCA chapter because it "was apparent to me that the ratio of women alcoholics to local recovery homes" was quite low.

In Riverside County, there are about 16 recovery homes for men and only about five for women. In the Coachella Valley, there are four such homes for women, including the Betty Ford Center, where 40 percent of the clients are women. Defense challenges lidocaine testimony RIVERSIDE (AP) Symptoms of 12 dead hospital patients could have been caused by other means than lidocaine poisoning, says the defense in a nurse's murder trial. Public Defender Michael B. Lewis, representing nurse Robert Diaz, Monday challenged the testimony of Dr.

Michael A. Peat, a toxicologist. Peat, associate director of the Center for Human Toxicology at the University of Utah, had testified that fatal levels of lidocaine, a heart relaxant, were found in 11 patients who died at Community Hospital of the Valleys in Perris and one patient at San Gorgonio Pass Memorial Hospital in Banning. Diaz, 45, of Apple Valley is charged with killing the patients in 1981 with overdoses of lidocaine. United Way of the Desert announces 1983-84 goal A service is planned in Chicago, for John Dabaco, 73, of Thousand Palms.

Mr. Dabaco died Friday in Rancho Mirage. A native of Italy, he lived in the Coachella Valley for several years. He is survived by his daughter, Diane Horne of North Carolina; and a son, John Dabaco Jr. of Los Gatos.

Local arrangements were made through Chapel of the Desert Funeral Home, Indio. PALM SPRINGS United Way of the of today announced the goal for the 1983-84 $757,750. "It is an achievable goal," said Sam Cross, "a realistic goal that can be reached if everyone does their part. But without your help. we can't Cross called on "each individual, each corporate enity" to work toward raising enough money to meet the goal.

Desert Board of Directors United Way fund drive is campaign co-chairman, YOU make the difference United Way In addition, Robert Small, campaign cochairman said, "Last year we reached our goal. This year, we expect to do the same. The people of the Coachella Valley will respond to the need as they have before and, by campaign's end, we will have the satisfaction of again demonstrating that we are a united and caring community.".