THE BATTALION TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1981 Page 5 Shoplifting increases during holiday season Staff photo by Greg Watermann MSG •apes arc: fews'd La., toil iexuala he hal oughtoj werliii whirlwii eased, iecoiidf his rela uit’s ne after S lappenti before egra sera mg wanted I Digests is on trii I almost! is said, article ; onjui .■in shod I that soo lie’s inno ates fron the .hi Labor 'i icr Beat; to (lea ise in Panel discusses Pearl Harbor By TIM FOARDE Battalion Staff Forty years ago, the U.S. milit ary was shaken by a devastating attack by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Eight battle ships in the harbor and close to 200 planes were des troyed on Dec. 7, 1941. More than 2,400 Americans were killed. Three Texas A&M history pro fessors participated in a panel dis cussion Monday at Rudder Tower Deiorti eom,nemora bng the 40th anniver- r. sarv of the Japanese bombing of ' iffPearl Harbor - Dr. Roger Beaumont discussed the forecasting of the Japanese attack. Dr. James Bradford ex plained the strategic elements of the attack itself and Dr. Martin Melosi, author of “Shadow of Pearl Harbor,” discussed the bombing’s aftermath and the question of culpability. Beaumont traced the decay of Japanese-American relations from the end of the Russo-Japanese war in 1906, through the outbreak of WW II in 1939, up to the day of attack in 1941. The U.S. military had several warnings about the possibilty of a Japanese attack and particularly vulnerable Pearl Harbor, Beaumont said. Forewarnings of an attack in cluded a report from Billy Mitch ell in 1924 who testified before Congress that “... some Sunday morning, about 7:30, Japanese air craft would come in, catch the pacific fleet at anchor in Pearl Har bor, and destroy it,” Beaumont said. Mitchell’s prediction, however, included some prerequisites that didn’t develop before the attack. Predicitions of an attack on Pearl Harbor ranged from science fiction stories to military intelli gence reports. As 1941 approached, the increasing num ber of rumors about a Japanese attack created a type of “crying wolf’ disbelief that contributed to the U.S. military unprepared ness, Beaumont said. Bradford said the Japanese used a two-wave attack to surprise the U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor. The first wave of Japanese air craft was to cover all planes in the air, the airfields and then attack the fleet of battleships and des troyers, Bradford said. The first wave was far more damaging than the second wave, which was equipped to attack air craft carriers that had not arrived at the harbor yet. Bradford said the Japanese plan basically worked as planned, ex cept it went better than they ex pected. The American reaction was one of disbelief. Speculations about culpability — such as the idea that President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew about the attack beforehand but allowed it in order to enter the war — were common but unfounded, Melosi said. Investigations about culpability were said to threaten U.S. milit ary security, he Said. The U.S. had decoded many Japanese military codes and it was important that the Japanese did not discover their codes had been broken. The result was the Roosevelt administration’s effort to bury the Pearl Harbor story and assign the blame to Pearl Harbor Naval Commander Husband Kimmel and Pearl Harbor Army Comman der Walter Short, Melosi said. The politically sensitive nature of the Pearl Harbor issue caused the Roosevelt administration to adopt a “cover-up” attitude. Sev eral culpability investigations were carried out, Melosi said, but most of them were affected by the administration’s “national secur ity” censorship. By Chris Howland, Susan Scott and Rebeca Zimmermann Battalion Reporters As shoplifting activity triples in the final weeks before Christmas, some local merchants are prepar ing for the increase in thefts by increasing security. The College Station Police De partment has conducted a seminar on shoplifting and related crimes to alert store owners to the prob lem. Police said large coats with inside pockets, bloomers, and umbrellas with large rubber bands attached are frequently used by shoplifters. Ron Morton, manager of the local J.C. Penney Co., said his store increases the sales force and shows films about shoplifting to employees to prepare them for the Christmas shopping season. However, Ed Bushak, manager of K-Mart, said he did not notice an increase in shoplifting during the holiday season. “Actually in proportion to sales, it decreases,” he said. Morton and Bushak said cosme tics and records are a prime targets for shoplifters. Morton said clothes also disappear when shoplifters try them on. Rusty Rush of R. Rush and Co. said his store is smaller and does not have the theft problems that most large department stores have. He does not change his sho plifting policy during Christmas. At the shoplifting seminar, Johnny Maxwell, a security guard for a food chain, told the audience that most shpplifiting is done by housewives and young children. Maxwell told the group that col lege students and teenagers who actually have the money to purch ase items sometimes shoplift as a challenge. Professional shoplifters are very rare, he said. Maxwell advised store owners to remove store areas enclosed by racks to prevent shoplifting. He also suggested putting bells on doors to attract the store owner’s attention. Police estimate that a store’s profit loss is about 0.5 percent to 1 percent because of shoplifting. The average loss per shoplifter varies from $5 to $23 per incident. The Police Department said if store representatives apprehend a shoplifter, the store managers must know exactly what merchan dise was stolen, which counter it was stolen from, how it was taken and how it was concealed. They must know whether the merchan dise is still concealed on the sus pect, and they must identify it as the store s property. About 5C percent of those apprehended are prosecuted, police officials said. The penalty for shoplifting an item worth $1 to $5 is a fine of up to $200. For an item valued at $5 to $20 the penalty is a fine of up to $1,000 and/or up to 80 days in jail. For items $20 and above, a fine of up to $2,000 and/or up to 12 months in jail can be imposed. In Bryan and College Station the first-time offender is usually placed on probation, police offi cials said. drive Texas Off tee ot Traffic Mfetv AUTO«FIRE«LIFE •COMMERCIAL RON ALLEN, AGENT 707 TEXAS AVENUE SUITE 110-A 696-9351 Ken’s Automotive 421 S. 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Last year, Lincoln’s 2,637 workers divided more than $46 million in bonuses, said Irrgang, who made the announcement in the company’s cafeteria — the same place in which workers have been told since the bonus program began in 1934. LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS Why not take the opportunity to study in London? A wide range of subjects and courses is available in Central London for students of the social sciences. Junior year . . . Postgraduate Diplomas One-year Master's degrees Research Subjects include Accounting and Finance, Actuarial Science, Anthro pology, Business Studies, Econometrics, Economics, Economic History, Geography, Government, Industrial Relations, International History, International Relations, Law, Management Science, Operational Re search, Philosophy, Politics, Population Studies, Social Administration, Social Work, Sociology, Social Psychology and Statistical and Mathema tical Sciences. 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