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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 1982)
'4 wmm ■ Texas A8cM ■ ■ ■ ■ The Battalion > ) a new way to get to class? Not exactly. Paul Sawin and Franck Nichols, left, from the Swain Restoration Company are evaluating the places in the Academic building that will need restoration and the type of work that will be needed. You may see them for the next couple of days riding around the buildings going up and down and side to side as they look for bad spots that need repair. Vacation ranch denied tax cut Serving the University community College Station, Texas Tuesday, September 14, 1982 Israelis attack Syrians, Palestinians in Lebanon United Press International Israeli jets pounded Syrian and Palestinian positions in eastern Leba non for more than eight hours in the worst attacks in a month, killing up to 50 people in retaliation for alleged cease-fire violations. French troops, the last of a tri national, peace-keeping force sent to supervise the evacuation of Palesti nian guerrillas, left Beirut Monday and Lebanese Prime Minister Chefik Wazzan demanded Israeli troops leave as well. The Lebanese army, taking full control of security in Beirut, today were set to move into east Beirut, which has been under the control of the rightist militia built up by Lebanese President-elect Beshir Gemayel. For more than eight hours Monday Israeli jets bombed at least 12 posi tions in the eastern Bekaa Valley where an estimated 70,000 Israeli troops face up to 30,000 Syrian and 5,000 Palestinian guerrillas. The Israeli planes smashed a Sy rian SAM-9 missile battery — the seventh destroyed in less than one week — in the worst fighting in the area since July 22. The state-run Beirut Radio said 40 to 50 people died in Monday’s raids. It was the worst Israeli attacks in Lebanon since the latest cease-fire took effect Aug. 12 after extended negotiations mediated by U.S. envoy Philip Habib. The radio said Israeli forces Mon day reinforced their frontline posi tions by moving 40 more tanks into the Bekaa, which lies between Beirut and Damascus. The Bekaa raids and the presence of foreign troops in Lebanon was at the center of discussions between Lebanese President Elias Sarkis and Wazzan. The National News Agency said Wazzan demanded the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Israeli troops who invaded Lebanon June 6 and forced Palestinian guerril las out of southern border areas and west Beirut. Wazzan said Damascus and Beirut would negotiate the departure of the Syrian forces as called for at last week’s Arab League summit in Fez, Morocco. The Israelis have said they will not leave Lebanon until all Syrian and Palestinian military fighters are gone. Talks on the withdrawal are sche duled for the end of September after Gemayel takes office. Israel previously had warned Syria to stop Palestinian fighters — behind Syrian lines — from attacking Israeli positions. But a bazooka raid Friday left kil led three Israeli soldiers. Israel, as Monday’s raids were under way, charged 98 ceasefire violations had occurred since July 23. Begin drops plans for early elections despite popularity United Press International TEL AVIV, Israel — Prime Minis ter Menachem Begin dropped plans to hold early elections even though he is riding atop a crest of public support over the invasion of Lebanon and his hard-line reply to President Reagan’s Mideast peace initiative. The cancellation of plans to hold the ballotting as early as next May — as opposed to a scheduled race in 1985 — was made because of fears among his junior coalition partners they would lose further strength at the polls. Shimon Peres, leader of the oppo sition Labor Party, also complained that Begin would turn the campaign into “a circus” and win votes as he did in the last election by slashing taxes so more people could afford luxury items. Peres went so far as to complain that an early race would become “a festival of cars and televisions at half- price.” The announcement of the cancel led early elections was made at Sun day’s session of Parliament. Begin said he would not hold elections be fore scheduled unless all his coalition partners approved. The minority parties feared that Begin — whose support has risen since the June 6 invasion of Lebanon — would be able to gain a majority in Parliament without their support and rule with the first real majority in the Knesset since Israel was founded in 1948. Every government, including Be- gin’s Likud bloc, has been a coalition. At last week’s parliament debate, Begin called for an early election as a challenge to American and opposi tion party claims that most Israelis would give back major portions of the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights in a new peace settlement. The Labor Party for years has offered to turn over as much as 70 percent of the occupied territories in exchange for a formal peace treaty with various Arab governments. Begin, rejecting Reagan’s call to freeze Israeli settlement of the West Bank and permit Palestinian rule in the area in association with Jordan, approved construction of 11 more settlements. Aides to Reagan said the president unveiled his initiative knowing full well it would be rejected strongly by Begin. But they hoped the call would spark a new debate in Israel over Be- gin’s policies and possibly yield con cessions if Likud’s strength di minished. r 8 United Press International DENVER — The Colorado Sup reme Court Monday denied a charit able tax exemption to owners of the Singin’ River Ranch, a 260-acre facil ity that provides recreational grounds for religious groups and others in the mountains west of Denver. The high court ruled the West Brandt Foundation, Inc., failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove it falls under the tax exempt status in Colorado law. The West Brandt Foundation pur chased the Clear Creek County ranch from a church group in November 1971. The foundation is connected with the West Brothers chain of de partment stores with headquarters in DeRidder, La., and with stores in sev eral southern states, primarily Louisiana and Texas. , The ranch has a number of build ings, including two large dormitories and a dining hall, as well as a large recreational field and facilities for ice skating and sledding during the winter. The court said although a majority of the groups that used the facility were churchrelated, others had no apparent religious, educational or (haritable affiliations. It cited speci fically retirement dinners, weddings, meetings set up by the Bureau of Land Management, family reunions and meetings of managers and em ployees of the West Brothers stores. Although West Brandt alleged the ranch operated at a loss of about $150,000 a year with subsidies com ing from the Foundation, the court said the extent of that aid was not clear. “Eligibility for exemption is deter mined by examining the use to which r 1 Peso devaluation distresses Mexican students at A&M the property is put, not the character of the owner,” the court said. “Thus, the fact that the West Brandt Founda tion is exempt from state and federal income taxation as a non-profit orga nization is not dispositive of its claim (on the ranch property).” The court said it was true a large number of church groups used the facility. It noted the president of West Brandt Foundation claimed one aim of the ranch was to get more people to live the Christian life. “Nevertheless, the ranch also accommodates large numbers of groups who have no particular reli gious program and affirmatively maintains that it is open to groups of any denomination, including non- Christian parties,” the court said. The court noted the ranch charged uniform rates to all groups, whether or not they had an educational, reli gious or philanthropic orientation. West Brandt made no showing that the normal fees were ever reduced or waived because of an individual’s ina bility to pay, the court said. The court said the largest receipts for lodging at the ranch were from student ski groups. The area is not far from such popular Colorado ski areas as Loveland Basin, Keystone, Arapa hoe and others. The court said the evidence before it suggested the primary purpose of the ranch was to provide inexpensive lodgings to a variety of groups to use for whatever purpose they choose. “The provision of low-cost meeting facilities to worthy groups is certainly a commendable activity, and we do not mean to discourage it,” the court said. “However, a recreational facility of this kind must be examined closely in determining eligibility for exemp tion.” by Daniel Puckett Battalion Staff Jorge Resendez, from Nuevo Lare do, Tamaulipas, Mexico, plans to gra duate in December. But he has a problem — money. “Luckily, I paid my tuition before the August devaluation,” he said. “I have money for this month and the first few days of next month. But then ... I don’t know.” Resendez is an industrial engineer ing major. His father, who has been putting him through school, has been unable to send him any money since exchange controls were imposed in August. Less than three months from gra- |duation, he doesn’t know how he’ll finance the last few weeks of his edu cation at the University. He doesn’t work because of a heavy course-load; he can’t get a University loan; it is now illegal to take dollars out of Mexico; and the exchange-rate is so unfavor able that buying enough dollars in the United States to finish his education would be too expensive. “We’ll come up with something,” he said. “We have to.” Mario Zaldivar, who is working on his master’s degree in agricultural economics, has a different problem: he’s getting money from his govern ment but doesn’t know how long that support will continue. “I’m part of the SEP (Secretariat of Public Education) program,” he said. “They send us about $500 a month, which is enough to pay for tuition, books, rent, food — everything. But who knows how long that will con tinue?” Rumors that had circulated for weeks among the Mexican commun ity here were confirmed Sept. 6, Zal divar said. On Labor Day, more than 50 SEP students at the University of Texas were told to return home — the government could no longer afford to pay for their education in the Un ited States. SEP students come to the United States, learn English, then start work in their discipline. None of the stu dents recalled from UT had finished their English program. And Zaldivar hopes the fact that he already is work ing on his academic program will save him from a similar cut. “We haven’t heard anything yet,” he said. “But who knows? They could call us tomorrow and pfft! all our money would be gone.” Resendez and Zaldivar are among the more than 100 students from Mexico now at Texas A&M. No one knows exactly how many Mexican stu dents are attending the University this fall — the registration figures aren’t complete. But the most recent figure the Office for International Services has is from Spring 1982, when 172 Mexican students were re gistered here. Of those, about 25 were graduate students. But Tina Watkins, international student advisor, said that although the final figures haven’t come in, she feels that Mexican enrollment has dropped, perhaps as much as 20 per cent. The students fall in two categories: those whose families are financing their education, and those whom the government supports. Non-scholarship students hurt The students like Resendez, who get their money from private sources, always have faced problems in getting money from home. Even before the current crisis, no local bank would ex change pesos over the counter for dollars. Instead, some would accept the pesos and send them to Houston for exchange; Anna Colvin, a collec tions teller at University Bank, said customers had to wait from three days to two weeks before they had their money. Now, the same process takes at See AMPESO page 8 12-mile border strip exempt Trade restrictions announced for Mexico inside Classified ... 6 National 5,6,8 Opinions ... 2 Sports ... 9 State ... 4 Whatsup ... 7 forecast Today’s Forecast: High in the low to mid 90s, low in the low 60s. Forty percent chance of afternoon showers. United Press International MEXICO CITY — The central bank today slapped tight restrictions on all goods sold to Mexico in an ex tension of its unprecedented prog ram of exchange controls. A 57-page decree, published in Mexico City newspapers and to take effect Wednesday, detailed currency exchange rules and states regulations for imports and exports. Under the Banco de Mexico de cree, enabling legislation for ex change controls announced Sept. 1, all imports must be approved in adv ance by the commerce ministry. The import regulations apply to Mexican cities along the border, as well as those further inside the country. In the past, most items were allowed to enter if Mexican com panies importing them would also pay tariffs of up to 100 percent. But now the goods also will be required to have the special permits. The move was expected to further complicate sales of U.S. merchandise to Mexico, a vital market for many businesses in U.S. border states. One provision of the decree pro hibits imports of any machinery that already is made in Mexico. Com panies, including those owned by the government, must submit proof that a machine is not made locally before it can be imported. However, a 12-mile-wide band in side the border will be exempt from many provisions of the exchange con trols. Tourists crossing the border but not venturing more than 12 miles into the country are not required to regis ter their money. Any other visitor must register all funds he brings into Mexico. Other regulations set a $1,500 yearly maximum that Mexican tour ists can take out of the country. Busi nessmen with a documented need for travel may take as much as $3,000 out of the country each year. Mexicans needing foreign medical care will be allowed to take no more than $6,000 out of the country, but first they must present documents from two local hospitals stating that foreign treatment is necessary. Meanwhile, about 100 leftist orga nizations, including the nation’s lead ing leftist parties, united to demand an emergency salary hike to offset a 70 percent inflation rate. The leaders of the leftist unions, student groups and parties, who met in a marathon weekend session, also called for a demonstration Sept. 27 to protest any possible government- imposed austerity measures. Business has told labor organiza- tions that another wage increase will mean more layoffs and possible bank ruptcy for numerous companies. A document compiled by the Na tional Confederation of Chambers of Commerce said the Mexican Social Security Institute dropped more than 600,000 workers from its registry in the first half of 1982. Private and government firms alike are hit hard by Mexico’s financial cri sis, caused by a drop in foreign re venues that has left the country with out dollars to pay its $80 billion fore ign debt, the developing world’s largest.