mmu m Texas A&M ■ ■ ■ ■
The Battalion
Serving the University community
/ol. 76 No. 8 USPS 045360 30 Pages In 2 Sections
College Station, Texas
Friday, September 10, 1982
nti-nuke weapons group stages election
United Press International
1 AUSTIN — Organizers say
they hope 40,000 people will cast bal
lots Saturday in a citywide nuclear
weapons freeze referendum touted as
the largest non-governmental elec
tion in the nation’s history.
A i
inti-nuclear activists who planned
the election also hope voters in Texas’
capital city of 400,000 will set a na
tional trend to support a ban on nuc
lear arms.
■ “If Austin, as capital of the Sun
Belt, comes out for the freeze, it will
be a signal to the whole country in
November that the freeze is some
thing we should get behind,” said
George Humphrey, a member of the
Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign
steering committee.
About 20,000 people signed peti
tions in the group's unsuccessful
effort to get the nuclear weapons
freeze question on a city bond election
ballot. Texas law prevented the re
ferendum from appearing on the
same ballot, however.
“We were kind of depressed and
someone suggested, ‘hell we’ll just
have our own election,”’ said cam
paign coordinator Tony Switzer. “We
just laughed because we thought it
was funny, but then we said, ‘Wait a
minute.’
“As far as we know, it will be the
largest referendum ever held by a
non-governmental entity,” he said.
“We’ve got a computer printout of
registered voters and it’ll be just like a
normal election.”
Switzer said he is hopeful about
two-thirds of the 60,000 people ex
pected to turn out for the bond elec
tion will cast ballots on the nuclear
referendum.
“At this point it’s really iffy,” he
said. “We really have no idea.”
Cardboard tables will be set up for
the nuclear vote, but Texas law man
dates they be at least 100 feet from the
official voting centers.
“Where we set up our tables will
depend a lot on the lay of the land,”
said Switzer. “Some of our tables may
be in the middle of a parking lot.”
The turnout in Austin will be fol
lowed closely by 25 cities, counties
and states nationwide that will vote on
the nuclear weapons freeze question
between now and November, Switzer
said.
Referendums are scheduled in Ari
zona, California, Wisconsin, New
Jersey, New York, Oregon, Michigan,
Montana, Illinois, Nebraska, Pen-
nysylvania, Connecticut, Vermont,
Nevada, Arkansas, New York, Alaska
and the District of Columbia.
In Austin, the county clerk, a city
constable, a district judge and a Uni
versity of Texas law professor will
serve on an oversight committee
formed to supervise the vote under
the guidelines of an official election.
Balloting will be limited to regis
tered voters who will mark paper bal
lots in secret before the ballots are
placed in locked boxes and counted
by members of the committee.
Administration relaxes bans
n firm; policy still stands
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The adminis
tration quietly reduced penalites
against the Firm that First deFied Presi
dent Reagan’s ban on shipments of
equipment for the Soviet Siberian gas
pipeline, but officials said U.S. policy
iliinains firm.
K The Commerce Department con
firmed Wednesday that an export
jban against Dresser Industries of Dal
las will apply only to oil and gas equip
ment, and no longer entirely blankets
export links with the Firm’s French
affiliate.
i| Ed Luter, a senior vice president of
fijresser, said the company faces irre
parable financial damage because of
delayed orders despite the narrowed
terms of the sanctions.
I B. Jay Cooper, a spokesman for
^Commerce Secretary Malcolm Bal-
drige, emphasized that “there is no
change” in the administration’s deter
mination to slow progress on the
3,600 mile project, which will pipe oil
from Siberia and Western Europe.
The administration simultaneous
ly proposed broader sanctions against
another French company and sent a
top State Department official to Brus
sels to discuss the issue with officials
of the Common Market.
President Reagan banned the sale
of U.S. equipment and technology for
the project, which is expected to earn
millions of U.S. dollars in hard cur
rency for the Soviets, to penalize them
for sanctioning the military crack
down in Poland.
In Glasgow, Scotland, a defective
crane halted the transfer of com
pressors built by John Brown En
gineering of Britain to a Soviet freigh
ter, forestalling a fourth set of export
restrictions by the United States.
The modification in the case of
Dresser Industries actually was of lit
tle help to the firm, which deals most
ly in oil and gas related equipment.
The changes would mean sanc
tions against the British firm would be
far less damaging, since many of its
products would be exempted.
Canada also is considering
whether to permit Canadian firms to
supply the Soviet Union with equip
ment made under U.S. license in de
fiance of the ban, which Italy also has
chosen to disregard.
In Toronto, Canadian external
affairs minister Mark MacGuigan
told reporters, “I think the U.S. gov
ernment is somewhat uncomfortable
with the strong stand it has taken” on
the pipeline. “I think at this point they
would welcome a compromise,” he
said after a meeting with American
officials.
Cooper said, “There has been no
change in the Polish situation” and
reiterated that Reagan “feels very
strongly about his position” on the
sanctions.
Cooper said another French firm,
Creusot-Loire, has until Friday to
submit its objections to a Commerce
Department order widening the sanc
tions that already have been imposed
on the firm and all of its subsidiaries.
A sanction order covering sub
sidiaries but limited to oil and gas
equipment was imposed Saturday on
the Italian firm, Nuovo Pignone,
when it shipped U.S.-licensed com
pressors to the Soviets.
In Brussels, European Commun
ity sources said U.S. Assistant Secret
ary of State Richard Burt has arrived
for talks with European officials on
the pipeline and a steel trade dispute.
pwiss police rescue five hostages
held by gunmen in Polish Embassy
United Press International
i BERN, Switzerland — Police
stormed the Polish Embassy early
Thursday and freed all five hostages
held by gunmen since Monday.
■There were no immediate reports of
^casualties, but explosions were heard
inside the building.
H The Swiss government said all four
gunmen were captured,
j The liberation of the five hostages
|came at 10:43 a.m. (4:43 a.m. EDT),
less than 24 hours before the gunmen
threatened to blow up themselves and
their hostages if their demands were
|not met, Justice Ministry spokesman
: Ulrich Hubacher said.
I The condition of the gunmen was
[ not known, but witnesses heard ex
plosions inside the building moments
before the hostages were released.
M Earlier, anti-terrorist police had
[ cordoned off the rear of the building
with rolls of barbed wire.
The storming of the occupied
embassy came after the Justice Minis
try announced the gunmen persisted
in their demands for an end to milit
ary rule in Poland and the release of
all martial-law detainees. He said the
gunmen also requested a car and safe
passage out of the country.
“But the Swiss government told
them (a safe passage) was unthinkable
in a country where the rules of law are
just,” Justice Ministry spokesman
Ulrich Hubacher said.
The surprise attack on the building
came as authorities drove in food sup
plies.
Simultaneously, a detachment of
35 anti-terrorist police armed with
machine guns and tear-gas grenades
stormed the occupied building.
Within 15 minutes, eight grenade
explosions were heard.
Hubacher said the gunmen repe
ated their threat to use 50 pounds of
dynamite to blow themselves up with
their hostages if their demands were
not met by 4 a.m. EDT Friday.
The group, which calls itself the
“Patriotic Revolutionary Army,” had
originally demanded the military au
thorities in Warsaw end martial law
imposed last December.
As tense telephone negotiations
continued with “Col. Wysocki,” the
gunmen’s leader Wednesday after
noon, police commandos scaled the
back wall of the building, Hubacher
said.
They then set a ladder against the
building and helped embassy attache
Josef Matusiak down from the third-
floor room where he had been hiding
without food since the gunmen seized
the embassy Monday.
Observers saw only a yellow car
speeding away from the building with
Matusiak inside. Earlier Matusiak was
known as the “mystery man,” drawing
attention to himself by standing at the
window holding a large piece of
paper.
The gunmen earlier released eight
hostages — six women, a man suffer
ing from high blood pressure and a
student who had been in the embassy
picking up a visa when the drama
began.
In Poland, the army newspaper
blamed the Reagan administration
for the seizure of the embassy it said
was part of a terror campaign by sup
porters of the suspended Solidarity
union.
Exiled Solidarity members in
Europe, however, have strenuously
denied any links with the gunmen.
staff photo by David Fisher
Cross at your own risk
Despite the fact that the crossing warnings tell the
pedestrians when they can get across the street safely,
some people decide to risk it anyway so they can get
across the street faster. Sometimes they have to dodge
cars and sometimes they don’t.
[Republicans charged with violating postal rules
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The Demo
crats have charged that the Republi-
:ans purposely violated federal postal
regulations and saved hundreds of
thousands of dollars by mailing fund
raising appeals at artificially low rates.
The Republicans responded to the
charge Wednesday by denying that
they have broken Postal Service or
any other laws.
Under current regulations, party
organizations can mail under special
bulk rates as long as the contents are
not for the sole benefit of an indi
vidual candidate. Appeals for indi
vidual funds must be mailed at higher
rates.
The Democratic Senatorial Cam
paign Committee charged Wednes
day that its GOP counterpart “know
ingly abused the special rate, in what
may turn out to be a multi-million
dollar taxpayer subsidy to Republican
senatorial candidates.”
A Republican Senatorial Cam
paign Committee spokesman quoted
the group’s lawyer, Jan Baran, as
saying, “This committee is doing no
thing that violates federal election law
or postal law or any other law.”
He refused to comment on the spe
cific allegations until he saw a copy of
the complaint.
Democratic corrimittee chairman
Wendell Ford, D-Ky., said low-cost
mailings have been sent by the GOP
group on behalf of Rep. Jim Collins,
who is challenging Sen. Lloyd Bent-
sen, D-Texas; Rep. Cleve Benedict,
who is challenging Senate Democratic
leader Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.; San
Diego Mayor Pete Wilson, who is run
ning against California Gov. Edmund
G. Brown Jr., for an open Senate seat
and Rep. Paul Trible, who is challeng
ing Virginia Lt. Gov. Dick Davis for
an open seat.
“Very likely, the violations that we
have discovered are only the tip of a
very large iceberg,” Ford said.
In a letter to the Postal Service Aug.
31, the Democrats protested: “Not
only has the Postal Service consented
to this practice in violation of judicial
sanctions imposed by federal courts,
but it has declined to enforce its own
internal regulations prohibiting it.”
The Democrats asked that the low-
cost mailings be stopped and that the
individual candidates make up the
difference between their rate and the
committee rate.
inside
Classified
6
National
. . 7,8
Opinions
2
Sports
11
State
4
Whatsup
10
forecast
Today’s Forecast: High in the
low to mid 90s, low in the low 60s.
Forty percent chance of afternoon
showers.
Counseling center helps rape victims
overcome guilt, return to normal life
by Jane North
Battalion Reporter
Although she says she’s a little an
xious, Liz is remarkably open as she
talks about a trauma suffered 20 years
ago.
When she was a senior in high
school, Liz was raped by her boyf
riend while at a beach near her home
town. Liz says she couldn’t believe it
was happening.
“I was afraid of screaming for help
because people would think I asked
for it and because of the publicity,”
she said. “And, most of all, I was
afraid of what my father would do to
him — I literally knew my father
would kill him.”
After her ordeal, Liz said she felt
immense fear and guilt.
“I had a distinct fear of getting
pregnant,” she said. He said if she
told anyone, he would spread rumors
that she was a “bad girl” — a label she
didn’t want to bear. In addition, Liz
said she feared the rapist would harm
her if she told anyone.
She later learned the rapist had a
history of physical violence and had
been under psychiatric care. For 13
years she kept her ordeal a secret.
“It would have been nice to have
had somebody to talk to,” she said,
“but given the days (early 1960s) and
the culture, it would have been impos
sible.”
But today, that situation is impro
ving as more victims fight the stigma
and report rape.
The number of reported rapes in
Brazos County has increased steadily
over the past several years. In 1979,
there were 32 reported rapes, result
ing in 16 arrests and only two convic
tions. In 1980, 43 reports of rape re
sulted in less than four convictions. In
1981, only one conviction resulted
from the 54 rapes reported. Six were
dismissed because of insufficient evi
dence and four are pending.
But these statistics may not reflect
the actual number of rapes.
“Two out of every three rapes are
never reported,” said Dr. Ben
Crouch, associate professor of sociol
ogy at Texas A&M University.
Former District Attorney Carolyn
Ruffino attributed this to the victims’
fear of testifying.
“If the victim does not have the
reassur ance that she is not going to be
harassed and be the one placed on
trial, she will not testify,” Ruffino
said. “And without the victim’s testi
mony, there is no hope for a convic
tion.”
But Crouch, who specializes in cri
minology, corrections and deviant be
havior aspects of sociology, said rape
trials hinge on more than whether the
rapist had sexual intercourse with the
victim without consent.
“There are a great number of fac
tors to sort out in rape offense situa
tions,” he said. He named three vari
ables— the degree to which the victim
and the offender are acquainted, the
degree of force used and the degree
to which sex is the primary motive.
“Many rapes occur here at A&M —
or attemped rapes — where a young
man will force himself on his date, or
attempt to force himself on his date,”
Crouch said. “Technically, that’s rape
or attemped forcible rape — but the
woman may not call it that.”
Dr. Kerry Hope, a counselor at the
Texas A&M University Personal
Counseling Center, said date rapes
account for about 50 percent of the
rapes committed at Texas A&M.
Crouch said the motivation in this
type of rape is primarily sexual.
Gang rapes account for the second
largest percentage of rapes, Crouch
said, estimating 10 to 15 percent of all
rapes fall in this category.
In a gang rape, the amount of
force used increases, and it is not like
ly that the victim and offender are
acquainted. Crouch said. Peer press
ure and the desire to demonstrate
sexual prowess are the primary mo
tives, he said.
The other group of rapists are
strangers who will “come through the
window,” to rape a woman they prob
ably do not know. Crouch said.
see RAPE page 5