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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1981)
ay 444 — Hostages are freed United Press International ZSBADEN, West Germany — Fifty-two Americans who i as hostages to jeers of “Down with America arrived as ; today to the cheers of delirious countrymen waving the ' Stripes and chanting “U.S.A. U.S.A.” ; hostages, now designated as “returnees, ” swarmed to the hones within momenti of their arrival at their new home for three to five days, the Wiesbaden Air Force hospital, r freedom flight marked the first time they were together i they were seized Nov. 4, 1979 at the U.S. Embassy in ny Carter, now President Ronald Reagan’s special envoy i hostages, flew to West Germany early today from Plains, greet the liberated Americans whose release he engi- in virtual all-night vigils the last two nights of his his first full day as a private citizen, Carter called the i behavior through the 14 1 /2 month crisis “really abomina- ’ But he said his main concern was the hostages and Tm just I they’re all alive and all free. ” Velcome home!” shouted the crowd of 2,000 at the giant U.S. Rhein-Main air base to greet the hostages on the small patch of American inside West Germany. “God bless you!" "We didn’t forget you,” said one banner in greeting for the Americans liberated after 444 days in captivity. Another sign, draped on the airport arrivals’ building, summed it up with a playing card term: “Full Deck — 52.” And still another proclaimed: “Welcome Home to Freedom.” “It’s absolutely fantastic, ” one of the released hostages said as he got off the plane in West Germany. “Much better than the past 15 months.” “God bless America,” another hostage shouted in the previous stop in Algeria. Kathryn Koob, 43, one of the two women held by Iranian militants after their takeover of the embassy, said she would never forget the Americans who reached out to the hostages during the agonizing days and months. “One thing I’d like to say right now,” she said, her voice breaking, “is you can never imagine how much the letters and prayers and support meant to me. “We weren’t able to write or communicate with you. Only the Lord knows how much it helped. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” The hostages spent their first night of freedom in Wiesbaden Air Force Hospital about 25 miles from the Rhein-Main base. At the facility they talked to their kin by phone. Outside the hospital, an American junior high school band tootled “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” but no one could hear it in the din of shouts, whistles and pries. Twelve hours and nine minutes earlier, the hostages flew out of Iran to the taunts of Islamic Revolutionary Guards who chanted “Down with America” and “Down With Reagan.” Their flight to freedom spanned 4,055 miles and touched three continents. The first stop was at Athens for refueling. In Aglirs — fittingly the capital of the go-between broker Algeria which made the hostage release possible — the Ameri cans were formally transferred into U.S. hands. In below-freezing temperatures of 21 degrees Fahrenheit and a fine mist, the first USAF C-9 hospital plane rolled up a floodlit tarmac to an Air Force guard of honor. The second plane was only moments behind. “I am delivering your citizens to you” Algerian Foreign Minis ter Mohamed Benyahia told Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher. Then it was on to Rhein-Main the giant military facility at Wiesbaden, transformed for the occasion by the wives and children of servicemen into a garden of welcoming yellow rib bons. Civilians were banned from Rhein-Main with the exception of 30 American college students who skipped classes and waited next to the runway to welcome the hostages. The students from the University of Miami-Ohio Luxembourg campus made a banner of tablecloth painted with the slogan: “We didn’t forget you.” Two other groups of American college students waited outside Wiesbaden Air Force hospital 25 miles west of Frankfurt — the hostages’ next stop. • i l! German and American civilians lined stretches of the au- thobahn to catch a glimpse of the Americans during their 43- minute bus ride the hospital. The hostages waved happily at the highway crowds and smiled broadly as they stepped from the buses and filed into the military hospital. Two balconies of the curving white stucco building were jammed with American servicemen. One group waved a huge American flag from the second floor. ! 5 >l I , The Battalion Serving the Texas A&M University community Wednesday, January 21, 1981 College Station, Texas USPS 045 360 Phone 845-2611 Yesterday The Weather Today High 51 Low 38 Rainw 0.06 inches High 53 Low 32 Chance of rain none . x \. ......... ...v:. * /v- lil§ Reagan summons U.S. to renewal United Press International WASHINGTON — Ronald Wilson Reagan, summoning his countrymen to “an era of national renewal,” was sworn in Tuesday as the 40th president of the United States almost simultaneously with the dra matic release of 52 Americans held hostage for the last 14 months half a world away in Iran. The stunning and joyous confluence of Reagan’s historic inaugural, the first ever conducted from the West Front of the Gapitol, and the bloodless end to the gall ing hostage crisis that preoccupied a nation for 444 days made the day more special than almost anyone had hoped it could be. “We have every right to dream heroic dreams,” the new president said in his in augural address as he took in a breathtaking view that encompassed the Washington Monument, fhe^L'incblh and Jefferson memorials — and his new home. His left hand resting on mother’s Bible, a calm and confident Reagan solemnly swore “to preserve, protect and defend the Con stitution of the United States.” The mo ment came just 25 minutes after United Press International sent a flash around the world that the hostages were free. Reagan, dressed smartly in a formal morning coat, repeated the oath adminis tered by Chief Justice Warren Burger just before noon EST, as the new first lady, Nancy Reagan, stood holding the Bible. government — a move he promised repe atedly since his nomination last summer. He resolved to act immediately on “an economic affliction of great proportions” that grips the land, to trim back on the control of big government and to place his trust in the people and human initiative. “It is time to reawaken this industrial giant, to get government back within its means, and to lighten our punitive tax bur den,” Reagan declared. “These will be our first priorities, and on these principles, there will be no compromise.” To America’s friends abroad, Reagan said the United States “will again be the exemp lar of freedom. ” To adversaries, he warned, “Peace is the highest aspiration of the American people. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it; we will not surrender for it — UU.W. or. ever. , “So, with all the creative energy at our command, let us begin an era of national renewal. ” The oldest man ever to take the oath of office—he will be 70 in 17 days — Reagan’s voice cracked at times during his delivery as the drama of the moment overcame him. It took just 19 minutes and 58 seconds to reach his final words: “We can and will resolve the problems which confront us. Why shouldn’t we believe that? After all — we are Americans.” Lines, lines, lines Staff photo by Greg Gammon he never ending hassle of “lining up” strikes A&M students once more for the start of the spring semester. Lines at the Memorial Student Center bookstore are likely to be long all week as students start back to classes and lots of studying. President Carter, whose unflagging efforts to resolve the hostage crisis that be deviled him finally bore fruit in the first minutes of Reagan’s presidency, looked on with Vice President Walter Mondale and Mondale’s successor, George Bush, 56. Moments after taking the oath, Reagan moved swiftly on his plans to shore up the economy, signing an executive order that clamped a stiff hiring freeze on the federal Reagan left no doubt he will attempt to be an activist president. “We must act to day,” he said, “in order to preserve tomor row. And let there be no misunderstanding — we are going to act beginning today.” Security was tight for the ceremony, with police fanning out all along the gaily decorated Pennsylvania Avenue parade route. Temperatures neared the spring like 60-degree mark as Reagan was sworn mate's first meeting dispute over Rain tree rezoning (semesteris tonight Referendum’s legality doubted is likely that no new bills will be voted mg whether or not classes are to be held if C 7 * Itislikely that no new bills will be voted intonight’s student senate meeting, the of the semester. Although several bills are scheduled t "Old Business,” a senate spokes- said none of the bills will be reported of committee. Hie bills still in committee are A recommendation that the student dee fee be increased by $3.75, to 23, and the money thus gained be used efive new doctors for the A. P. Beutel i Center. One which would recommend the ersity take appropriate action to re- |e bicycle congestion on the campus, that the bike route on Spence Street be sided all the way to the Commons. Several recommended revisions in University Rules and Regulations. -A request that the University develop make known an official policy regard ing whether or not classes are to be held if Texas A&M defeats the University ofTexas in football. • The senate will also hear three bills for the first time. — One bill would recommend that Stu dent Government endorse and support the Living Bank, an organization which prom otes donating organs upon death. A Living Bank representative is tentatively sche duled to address the senators. — The second bill is actually a set of five bills opposing the Housing Office’s plans to prohibit certain groups of students from living in residence halls. — The final bill requests that $1,000 be transferred between two Student Govern ment accounts to finance speaking trips for people seeking support for S.G.’s summer job program. The senate meets at 7:30 p.m. in 204 Harrington. By JENNIFER AFFLERBACH Battalion Staff Residents of Raintree subdivision in Col lege Station began circulating a petition Monday for a referendum election on a recent zone change that will allow an indus try to locate near their homes. Such a re ferendum may be against state law. “There is no law against circulating a petition,” said Robert Webb, chairman of Citizens for Responsible Government, the group opposing the zone change. “Once we file it (the petition) what’s going to happen is quite another question.” Webb said the group has until Jan. 28 to file the petition with the city secretary, who will present it to the College Station City Council. iarter off to Germany United Press International PLAINS, Ga. — Jimmy Carter flew to yt Germany on his first full day as a te citizen to greet the American hos- — a goal that eluded his presidency its final, frenzied hours. I will take with me the joy and relief of entire nation,” Carter said in a rniing talk Tuesday. He nearly twice as he spoke of the hostages’ freedom. Hie presidential jet, now dubbed SAM instead of Air Force One, will take :er today from Warner Robins Air Base near Plains to Frankfurt, West iany. Several top Carter administra- officials, including those who worked •'the hostage crisis, will accompany him on the long flight. Carter went home to 1 Woodland Drive in Plains soon after his farewell journey from Washington Tuesday afternoon. He told the 3,000 people who gathered in the rain for his homecoming he had not seen his bed for two nights because of the tedi ous hostage negotiations. Almost at the moment Carter walked with Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and Vice President Walter Mondale from the Capitol’s West Front to the East Front to board a motorcade for the ride to Andrews Air Force Base — a half-hour into the Regan administration — the Algerian planes took off from Tehran artfl the hos tages were free. For the election to be held, the petition must contain signatures of qualified voters equalling at least 25 percent of the total number of votes cast in the last municipal election, said City Secretary Glenn Schroeder. About 1,200 people voted in that elec tion last April, meaning 300 signatures are needed. However, Schroeder said it has come to light that a referendum election on zoning is against state law. The Raintree residents first called for a recall election of Mayor Gary Halter and other city council members, after the coun cil voted 6-1 at its last meeting to rezone a 55-acre tract off the Highway 6 bypass, ad joining the Raintree subdivision. The land was changed from residential and agricultural-open zoning to M-l plan ned-industrial zoning. The planning and zoning commission had also voted 6-1 in favor of rezoning. Westinghouse Electric Corp. is consid ering an option to buy the land to build a 500-employee industry on the site. Although there was much secrecy about the identity of the industry before it was revealed Jan. 13, both the Raintree resi dents and Halter say that the name of the industry is irrelevant. The move for a recall election, which would require about 4,000 signatures, was a “hassle,” Webb said, and dropped in favor of the referendum election. Another alternative is to support other candidates for office when half of the city council comes up for reelection in April, he said. “We’ve decided to push on the referen dum issue,” he said. Webb said the group’s complaint against the rezoning is that it “violates the spirit of the city’s comprehensive plan,” a land use map which designates the area as residen tial, and is, therefore, illegal. “Any change (in zoning) is supposed to be consistent with the master plan,” Webb said. Halter disagreed, saying the plan can be revised and changed and this was consi dered a reasonable change. Webb also argued that locating an indus try next to the subdivision would increase traffic and noise and eventually change the neighborhood for the worse. Halter said the council and the planning and zoning commission felt the industrial zone was compatible with a residential area. “No one from Raintree presented any arguments to me that were sufficient to change my mind,” Halter said. Residents of Raintree met with city council members last week to discuss their differences over the zoning issue. Webb said the council has told them there are enough regulations that the in dustry must comply with to protect the neighborhood but he said there is “no guarantee that the protections are there.” “There are so many unknowns in what use the land is going to be put to,” Webb said. “All we know is that it is an industry that will employ 500 people. “There are good reasons to want industry to come to College Station, but there are good reasons to want to plan where to lo cate it, ” he said. Webb said the location of the industry was “arbitrarily handled.” Webb said he considers this a precedent setting case in College Station and city offi cials may consider putting other industries in other residential neighborhoods “since this case was so easy.” Webb said the city government “frus trated a lot of people, ignored their con cerns. It’s difficult to trust someone after they have ignored your concerns.” “Opposition from citizens is one of many factors that should be taken into considera tion, but not the controlling one,” Halter said. “Not all objections are well-founded.” Halter said this rezoning issue raises the question of whether or not those people appearing at city council meetings repre sent the public opinion in the city. “My belief is that they do not, ” he said. When someone appears before the council, he is thinking of how something affects him individually and does not represent the city as a whole, he said. 9 %