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
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Chance of rain none
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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.
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