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The Battalion
Serving the University community
omhi Vol. 75 No. 88 USPS 045360 14 Pages
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, February 3, 1982
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flor said | United Press International
low pr# WASHINGTON — Hours after a
l percer “loud bang” on the roof of Vice Presi-
Homebr dent George Bush’s car triggered
ns pro! fears of a possible assassination
rill the attempt, authorities determined the
icrn Mis noise was caused by a fallen rock or
irgia, ; stone.
sebrauL {“There wa s no assault on the vice
elsenhc: president,” law enforcement officials
said, saying the object apparently
dropped from an overhead construc
tion site.
1 iBush said T uesday’s incident was
“nothing to laugh about,” but added:
siShere wasn’t anything scary about
it.”
IjJ It all began at about 7:15 a.m.
while Bush was en route to work in his
armored limousine. As the car pulled
alongside the construction site a
“thud” was heard by Bush and two
Secret Service agents.
' I The vice president’s car proceeded
to the Executive Office Building next
‘bullet’
rock
door to the White House where Bush
went about his normal business.
Security, however, was tightened.
At first, officials called the object
that hit Bush’s car “some kind of pro
jectile” and left open the chance it was
a bullet.
“We were just driving to work and
heard a loud bang and that was it,”
Bush told reporters. “I just asked
what it was and nobody was sure, so
we just drove on to work ... I thought
it might have been a shot or some
thing.”
Officials later said what the vice
president heard actually may have
been construction site nail guns used
to drive anchors into masonry.
Shortly before 4 p.m., Bush’s
office issued a statemement saying,
“The Secret Service has received in
formation from the FBI based on
laboratory tests that the object that
struck the vice president’s vehicle ...
was a brick or a stone.”
[First Lady’s china
ito debut tonight
United Press International
^WASHINGTON — After months
| of being the object of public sneers
| and barbs, Nancy Reagan’s new
*l,000-a-place-setting of red and
gold china make its debut tonight.
The occasion is a White House
&YCYCve\ Vvc 'PteivAent.
Hosni Mubarak, who, along with
other guests, will now have the oppor
tunity to see matching dishes.
I One of the reasons President
Reagan gave for buying the 4,000-
piece Lenox china, at a cost of
$209,508, was that so much of the old
sets were broken that they had to be
mixed when a big crowd was invited
for dinner at the White House.
; > Despite Reagan’s explanation and
his staunch defense of his wife, Mrs.
Reagan was heavily criticized.
L i “Nancy’s taken a bit of a bum rap
on that,” Reagan told an October
news conference. “There has been no
new china for the White House since
the Truman administration and the
truth of the matter is that at a state
dinner we can’t set the tables with dis
hes that match.”
And Mrs. Reagan herself, discus
sing in an interview all the improve
ments she was making to the White
\Aovvse, va\A sWebeYveved Are was onYy
doing “the things that had to be
done.”
Each plate has a raised, gold pres
idential seal and the pieces have a red,
gold-etched border. Red is Mrs.
Reagan’s favorite color.
Sheila Tate, the first lady’s press
secretary, said the Lenox china
adorned with the presidential seal be
gan arriving at the White House Mon
day and Tuesday.
Funds to purchase the china were
donated by Robert and Antoinette
Vojvoda of the KNAPP Foundation.
They have been invited to dine on the
china for the first time with some 130
other guests at the Mubarak dinner.
staff photo by David Fisher
Umbrellas: order of the day
Umbrellas could be seen all around campus Tuesday as
rain poured down most of the day. This was the scene
from the fourth floor of the Reed McDonald Building.
Weather
S I
I January a cold record-breaker
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United Press International •
: WASHINGTON — The govern
ment says January was one of the
worst winter months in memory, cost
ing $5 billion in economic losses and
making life miserable for millions
from the Rockies to Florida.
More cold is expected for the east
ern four-tenths of the country this
month but long-range forecaster
Robert Dickson says it should not be
as bad as the record-breaking cold
and snow that hit last month.
The National Oceanic and Atmos
pheric Administration’s environmen
tal data service said the unusually se
vere weather during the first three
weeks of January produced an econo
mic loss of $5 billion in crop damage,
increased energy consumption, dam
aged roads, cars and buildings and
production losses.
January began with a storm which
brought heavy snow to the Central
Plains on New Year’s weekend-and by
Jan. 3 was a major storm system
affecting much of the nation.
Then arctic air blasted through the
eastern United States over the Jan.
9-10 weekend setting all-time, record-
low temperatures.
A new storm raced across the Plains
states Jan. 12 and a secondary storm
developed off the Carolinas to bring
snow to the East Coast. Bitter cold
gripped the northern states as the
week of Jan. 18 opened and it was
followed by another major storm that
swept across the nation’s midsection
to the Mid-Atlantic states.
“Before it (January) was over, ice,
snow, freezing temperatures and
wind-chill made life miserable for
millions of Americans from the Rock
ies to the East Coast and as far south
as Florida,” NOAA said.
Dickson, deputy chief of the long-
range forecast office, said the cold
weather patterns are now being dis
rupted east of the Rockies and more
relatively warm weather is likely to be
interspersed with additional cold.
“It looks to us, all things consi
dered, the eastern four-tenths will av
erage below normal, but we do expect
to have disruptions of this pattern
from time to time,” he said.
“The history of this whole winter
has been one of changefulness.”
Dozier ignored
Italian warnings
United Press International
VICENZA, Italy — U.S. Gen.
James Dozier blamed himself for not
heeding Italian warnings of a terror
ist plot but anticipated a hero’s wel
come today in Washington and a re
turn to work as soon as possible.
At a wide-ranging news confer
ence Tuesday on his 42 days of captiv
ity, Dozier, 50, described his Red Bri
gades captors as well-organized and
smart.
“I didn’t make friends with them
and they sure as hell didn’t make
friends with me,” he said.
The general planned to leave the
U.S. Army base in this northern Ita
lian city with his wife Judith, 47, to
day, on a military flight to head for
the United States after a brief stopov
er at a U.S. facility in West Germany.
As Dozier spoke Tuesday, police
continued a nationwide manhunt for
Red Brigades suspects and news re
ports told of new arrests. Police main
tained an official blackout but did
confirm the smashing of three more
hideouts in Rome.
They said a large cache of weapons
and documents was confiscated in the
raids in the capital, in which three
people were arrested.
The Italian news agency ANSA
said among documents seized in the
Padua apartment raid when Dozier
was rescued was a draft communique
announcing Dozier’s “execution” that
told where Dozier’s body could be
found.
The general flew to Rome after
Tuesday’s news conference to thank
President Sandro Pertini and Prime
Minister Giovanni Spadolini for the
successful Italian rescue Thursday in
Padua.
At the Vicenza news conference,
Dozier said he wanted to return to his
job as chief of staff for logistics and
administration at NATO’s southern
European land forces headquarters
in Verona as soon as possible.
He took full responsibility for not
heeding the warnings he said Italian
authorities gave him about a possible
terrorist attack.
“The experience in the past had
been that these folks didn’t have U.S.
personnel in mind and quite frankly I
was so busy I paid no attention to the
warnings,” he said.
Ford to compete
with GM rebates
United Press International
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. is
going against its sales philosophy and
offering car buyers rebates ranging
from $750 to $2,000 to compete with
industry-leading General Motors.
The announcement Tuesday came
just after the conclusion of a day of
negotiations between Ford and the
United Auto Workers on an early
contract agreement designed to help
pull the auto industry from its worst
slump since the Great Depression.
The two sides planned today to
break up into subcommittees to dis
cuss issues including how the com
pany can stay competitive with other
domestic and foreign producers.
GM last week initiated price cuts
after negotiations with the union
broke off and immediately grabbed a
price advantage over the No. 2 auto
maker.
In order to keep up, Ford will give
cash rebates of $>750 on Mustang,
Fairmont, Granada, Capri, Zephyr
and Cougar cars, which range in price
from about $7,000 to $10,000.
Selected trucks also will be included.
Purchasers of luxury Continental
models listing at around $22,000 will
get $2,000 back.
Philip Benton, Ford vice president
of sales operations, said the rebates,
which run through April 3, go against
the company’s sales philosophy.
“I do not believe in rebate prog
rams except to respond to competi
tion,” Benton said. “We would not
have chosen to offer rebates had GM
not offered them.”
The company also is extending
through April 3 an offer of two years’
free maintenance and a 5 percent
price cut on Escort and Lynx. List
price for each car is about $6,500.
Also added to the plan, originally
scheduled to expire March 13, were
the two-seater EXT and LN7 models.
Escort and Lynx sales have nearly
tripled since the program began two
weeks ago. Ford officials have been
disappointed in the slow sales of the
two-seaters.
Bargaining Tuesday was devoted
to getting organized into subcommit
tees that will examine eight contract
issues.
The group on “enhancing com
petitiveness” will look at ways to im
prove plants that have been ineffi
cient and have had quality problems,
said Ford Labor Relations Director
Ernest Savoie.
Ford in the past year has closed
four aging plants and is threatening
to close a fifth at Sheffield, Ala.
Union bargainers also acknow
ledged the possibility of a brief
“three-tier” system of wages and be
nefits at the Big Three automakers if
a contract agreement is reached at
Ford.
“It would be a temporary depar
ture but it would not detract from our
ability to bargain,” said UAW Presi
dent Douglas Fraser. “In fact, I could
argue that it might be better to take
Ford out and then bargain with GM
alone.
“Now that won’t always be the case
but I think that’s the case now.”
Union chief negotiator Donald
Ephlin added the two sides were
trying to reach agreement “as expedi
tiously as possible.”
IS'
Short-term loans available to Aggies
by Robert Curlin
Battalion Reporter
Aggieis in need of quick bucks can tap into
several available loan funds through Texas
A&M University.
The Short-Term Emergency Loan,
offered through the Student Financial Aid
Office, gives qualified students a viable
source to help cover both the expected and
unexpected costs of a college education.
The program was temporarily shut down
in January because of the heavy load of stu-
dent? applying and a lack of funds, said Dr.
William E. McFarland, director of the Stu
dent Finahcjal Aid Office.
“We loaned $182,374 during the period
between Jan. 13 and Jan. 26,” McFarland
said, “and that caused us to close down be
tween Jan. 20-26. We had to ask the president
for more funds from the G. Rollie White
Fund.”
McFarland said the program has ex
panded tremendously since he began his
position in December 1979. The department
loaned nearly $700,000 during the fiscal year
1979-1980.
The next year, however, the department
issued between $1.2 million and $1.3 million
in loans, McFarland said. More than 4,000
loans were made during 1980-1981, he said,
with the average loan totaling around $320.
McFarland said the loans have increased
because of changes in the procedure to get a
loan. In the past, an interview was required
on every loan, but now interviews are not
required for loans under $400 that can be
repaid within 90 days.
The money for the loans comes from sev
eral different University funds. The primary
fund is the Association of Former Students’
Short-Term Loan Fund.
There is an interest rate on most of the
loans of 6 percent per year; however, most of
the loans are repaid within 90 days with a
service charge of $1 per $100 borrowed,
McFarland said.
Two types of educational loans are
offered, both with a maximum of $750,
McFarland said. Qualifications of the appli
cant range from being a full-time student
with a grade point ratio of 2.0 or higher to
being a Texan or a citizen of the United
States.
The educational loans for first semester
students are limited to students who are
Texas residents.
McFarland said the reason for this limita
tion is because of a stipulation in the G. Rollie
White Fund, which supplies the money for
the program.
“The G. Rollie White will had a provision
which stipulated the money should be used
for the benefit of the residents of the state of
Texas,” McFarland said. McFarland said he
would like to see a similar program estab
lished for out-of-state students.
The educational loans for upperclassmen
are not so limited, yet the same basic qualifi
cations must be met by the applicants. The
upperclassmen loans are available to students
who meet the basic academic qualifications
and are U.S. citizens.
There are several other non-educational
loans offered, such as the “little loan” of $30
for 30 days. This program has a service
See LOANS page 14
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State
What’s Up
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page 6,9
forecast
Wednesday’s forecast: partly
cloudy skies, with the high near 50
and the low in the upper-20s.
Thursday forecast calls for colder
temperatures, with the high in the
mid-40s.
: \