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Aggies to host Lamar in NIT
See page 11
The Battalion
Serving the University community
/ol. 75 No. 111 USPS 045360 14 Pages
College Station, Texas
Monday, March 8, 1982
fficials say
rson may be
ause in fire
United Press International
HOUSTON — Fire officials said
|ewly recovered evidence at the
festchase Hilton Hotel raises the
sssibility the blaze, which killed 10
[eople, may have been an arson.
Fire Marshal Eddie Corral said
lunday the hotel could be charged
lith fire code violations because a
light desk clerk, annoyed by the
loise, turned off an alarm that could
lave alerted the victims and 30 who
fere injured in a smoky blaze.
Investigator Richard Benson told
e Houston Chronicle new develop-
ents in the form of physical evi-
ence have prompted officials to sus-
ct the fire may have been intention-
|lly set at the 18-month-old building,
e would not elaborate, and said no
one has been arrested.
Benson said 35 containers of evi
dence had been collected from the
room where the fire started.
Smoke and soot from the fire
spread through the 13-story building
each time the clerk shut off the alarm
sounding in the hotel office because
the automatic ventilation system
switched back on early Saturday
morning.
Corral said Sunday that misde
meanor charges could be filed against
the hotel’s management for failing to
properly train employees to use the
fire alarm system.
Officials had speculated since early
Saturday the blaze at the Westchase
Hilton Hotel started when the occu
pants of one room carelessly disposed
of a cigarette.
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ilitary-backed
andidate leads
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Into the wild blue yonder
staff photo by John Ryan
George Gage, a senior petroleum engineering major from
San Juan, Texas, Mike Baker, a graduate student in
architecture from Houston, and Eric Ulaga, a sophomore
mechanical engineering major from Kennard, hold on to
the ropes as Troy Koll, a freshman mechanical
engineering major from San Antonio, prepares for flight
during the Texas A&M Hang Gliding Club’s training
session Saturday in the parking lot adjacent to the
Zachry Engineering Building. The club holds these
classes to teach the basics of safe hang gliding.
United Press International
GUATEMALA CITY — Military-
acked Gen. Anibal Guevara took a
Jtrong lead in early returns today in
uatemala’s presidential race to de-
rmine who leads the strategic Gen
ital American nation against a grow-
l leftist guerrilla movement.
The United States promised to
ur in arms and other assistance to
esist the guerrillas if the generals
llowed a clean election, but there
ere immediate suspicions of fraud
oiced by at least one opposition
arty.
“It is strange that in places where
ke have good communications, the
telexes have not yet arrived,” said
ludy Fuentes, assistant chief of the
right National Liberation Move-
nent. He noted results were especial-
f slow from eastern Chiquimula pro-
[ince, the party’s stronghold.
The military has been accused of
ligging the past two elections, both
pon by army generals.
An unexpectedly large percentage
)f Guatemala’s 2.3 million eligible vo
lets cast ballots Sunday for one of the
Four presidential candidates as well as
peputies to the nation’s Congress.
Guerrillas vowing to disrupt the
illoting attacked at widely scattered
iints across the nation but were not
[tble to deter the heavy voting, offi-
ials said.
Guevara, the government sup
ported candidate, took an early lead
in initial results with 30,802 votes, un
official returns showed. Moderate
conservative Alejandro Maldonado
Aguirre was second with 25,249
votes, while far-right candidate Mario
Sandoval Alarcon was in third place
with 22,972 votes.
Guastavo Anzueto Vielmann, a
pro-business candidate, was last with
9,730 votes.
Results also showed about 10 per
cent of the ballots were nullified,
either because they were blank, had
more than one candidate’s name or
had null written in. Guerrillas asked
people to nullify ballots to protest the
choice of candidates.
Local authorities reported clashes
Sunday between guerrillas and secur
ity forces in the towns of Chisec, Chi-
cacao, and Zalcuapa, all west of the
capital, and bombs in Puerto Barrios,
204 miles northeast of Guatemala
City, but no casualty figures were
available.
U.S. officials said they did not care
who wins, as long as it was through
clean and free elections promised by
President Romeo Lucas Garcia, who
took power in 1978 after an allegedly
fraud-ridden vote.
Guevara, 56, is the candidate of the
ruling Popular United Front coali
tion, while Sandoval Alarcon, 58,
heads the far-right National Libera
tion Movement.
Draft registration
Business slack at area post offices;
district attorney awaits FBI lists
by Julie Farrar
Battalion Reporter
If you’re a male between 18 and 20
years old and haven’t registered for
the draft, chances are good that you’ll
be asked to explain why soon.
“I urge them to get down there and
register now,” U.S. District Attorney
Dan Hedges said.
A grace period, which extended
through February 1982, allowed men
who had not registered to do so with
no questions asked. Since that period
has ended, men who have not regis
tered are violating federal law and
could be sentenced to five years in
prison and a $10,000 fine, he said.
As the grace period approached an
end, there wasn’t a great rush of men
trying to register at the College Sta
tion Post Office, Postmaster C.L. Mat-
cek said.
“You couldn’t tell the difference
here,” he said. “We don’t really have a
problem because most people send
their (registration) cards in on time.”
Hedges said no registration cases
have reached the district attorney’s
office.
“We are still waiting for a list,”
Hedges said. “There are still several
steps before prosecution.”
First, the Selective Service compiles
the names of violators. Every effort
will be made to notify the subject and
give him a chance to respond, he said.
If no response is made, then the mat
ter will be passed to the FBI.
If a person refuses to register, the
district attorney’s office is forced to
prosecute, Hedges said. He said he
feels the penalty for non-compliance
is appropriate.
“It’s a serious matter,” Hedges said.
“You’ve got to have a fairly stiff pen
alty.”
When registration was reinstated
in 1980, there was a high degree of
compliance, he said. Since then there
has been a slack-off, but Hedges said
he doesn’t feel the lack of compliance
is a sign of protest.
“People just lost track of the thing,”
he said.
Registration was reinstated July 21,
1980, six months after President Car
ter expressed the idea in his State of
the Union address. At that time,
many experts felt a combination of
rising costs and the smaller popula
tion of young men would make it dif
ficult to maintain the all-voluntary
military in years ahead.
In the summer of 1980, young men
born in 1960 and 1961 registered.
Those born in 1962 registered during
the first week of 1981. After that con
tinuous registration of 18-year-olds
became mandatory on or about the
day they turn 18.
To register, one simply goes to any
local post office and fills out a card
provided by the Selective Service.
The card bears his name, birth date,
social security number, address and
phone number. The cards are then
processed and the information is sent
to the Selective Service Agency in
Washington.
Although current legislation
doesn’t permit a draft, a law provides
for the selection of draftees by lottery.
In a lottery, a sequence of birth dates
are selected at random from the 365
days of the year.
Men will be drafted according to
w'here their birth date falls in the lot
tery, which first will consider men
turning 20 years old in the year the
draft resumes. If needed, additional
lotteries involving men through the
age of 26 will be held.
College accreditation enhances degree
itor’s note: This is the first of a
four-part series on Texas A&M
niversity’s self-study program.
by Sandra Kay Gary
Battalion Staff
How do you know your degree
|rom Texas A&M University will be
mrth anything once you’ve gradu
ated? Why is a degree from Texas
better than a degree from John
e’s Institute of Higher Education?
The answer to those questions lies
the fact that Texas A&M is an
redited university.
But what does that mean?
According to “A Study of Accredi-
Jtion in Adult and Continuing Edu-
ition Programs,” accreditation func-
is by:
• certifying that an institution has
met established standards
• assisting prospective students in
identifying acceptable institutions
• assisting institutions in determin
ing the acceptability of transfer cre
dits
• helping to identify institutions
and programs for the investment of
public and private funds
• protecting an institution against
harmful internal and external press
ures
• creating goals for self-
improvement of weaker programs
and stimulating a general raising of
standards among educational institu
tions
• involving the faculty and staff
comprehensively in institutional eva
luation and planning
• establishing a criterion for pro
fessional certification, licensure and
for upgrading courses offering such
preparation
• providing a basis for determining
eligibility for Federal assistance.
“Almost all universities whose de
grees are formally respected are
accredited in the U.S.,” said Dr.
R.J.Q. Adams, coordinator of the
Texas A&M self-study program.
Six governing bodies throughout
the United States conduct and evalu
ate university studies to determine
which universities and schools meet
the standard requirements for accre
ditation. The Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools is the agency re
sponsible for awarding or denying
Texas A&M's accreditation.
“It’s a self-disciplining organiza
tion, and by belonging to the South
ern Association ... (a university)
agrees to abide by its rules of what is
and what is not acceptable under
accreditation,” said Adams, an associ
ate history professor.
“What one gets out of this so-called
accreditation is a kind of clean bill of
health in regard to one’s programs,”
he said. “Consequently if you take a
degree from Texas A&M in architec
ture or Spanish or philosophy or
mechanical engineering, there is no
question that the program from
which you came is reputable.
“Very simply (accreditation) works
like this: the Southern Association re
quests that each 10 years the Universi
ty ... conduct an in-depth study of
itself.
“This is a faculty study ... it’s not
conducted by the administration of
the University. It’s not conducted by
the Southern Association. It’s not
conducted by presidents and chancel
lors and people like that. It is of, by
See STUDY, page 5
inside
Classified 10
Local 3
National 7
Opinions 2
Sports 11
State 5
What’s Up 9
forecast
Today’s forecast: Partly cloudy and
warm with a high in the low 70s;
low tonight in the upper 40s. Tues
day’s forecast calls for warm tem-
peratures again.