People

By Guy D. Garcia

Most teenagers declare their independence by rebelling, at least a little, against their parents. Walter Polovchak took his stand when he was twelve and sent a rumble through the two most powerful nations on earth. His Soviet emigre parents had decided to return to the U.S.S.R. after living six months in Chicago. Walter stubbornly said he wouldn't go, and suddenly he was the littlest defector in international headlines. Washington granted him asylum. His parents, backed by the Soviet Union, went to court in the U.S., arguing that their parental rights had been violated. Various judges ruled various ways. Meanwhile, Walter did his part and kept on growing. Last week he turned 18, and the young man, who has been living in Chicago with his older sister, is now legally free from his parents' efforts to have him returned to his homeland. If anything, the Steinmetz High School senior has become even more adamant about remaining in his adopted country. He plans to seek citizenship and will register shortly for the draft. "I'm an American," he told the Washington Post. "I got nothing to go back for. My life is here in America. There is nothing--nothing--I miss in the Soviet Union."