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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1982)
% The Battalion Serving the University community College Station, Texas Monday, October 11, 1982 Reagan to visit Dallas United Press International SANTA BARBARA — President Reagan, facing a barrage of criticism for an upsurge in unemployment, in tends to stress his “dramatic progress” in lowering interest rates and infla tion in the waning weeks of the con gressional campaign, aides indicate. After spending a relaxed weekend at his mountaintop ranch, Reagan flies to Dallas today for two political appearances in support of Republi can senatorial candidate Rep. James Collins, who has an uphill battle against incumbent Democrat Lloyd Bentsen. Afterwards Reagan will head back to Washington, where he will spend the rest of the week, highlighted by a nationally broadcast “progress re port” on the economy at 7:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday. White House spokesman Larry Speakes has labeled the address “non partisan,” but speaker Thomas O’Neill already has made a protest to all three major networks for giving Reagan time for what he calls “a pa tently political address for an elec tion.” NBC said it will air the address, but a spokesman for CBS said “no final decision” had been made although it was “likely” the network will carry the address. ABC said it was undecided. The harshest criticism for Reagan Sunday came from AFL-CIO Presi dent Lane Kirkland. “Never before in history have two crack-brained theories like supply- side economics and cultist monetar ism had a more extensive trial and been proved so wrong, to the great harm of so many people so quickly,” said Kirkland during an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” Chief of Staff James Baker said in a broadcast on ABC-TV Sunday that Reagan deplores the 10.1 percent un employment “and we’re going to do what we can to remedy that situation.” But, he added, “We’re making dra matic progress on two fronts — infla tion has been reduced by over 50 per cent, and interest rates are down by some 40 percent.” Baker also insisted that the 11.3 million people out of work would not be a dramatic election issue or “a watershed event” as far as the ballot ing on Nov. 2 is concerned. He said the administration does not believe it will be hurt badly be cause it had been anticipated for some time that the jobless rate would top 10 percent. Furthermore, he said that “the 99 to 100 million Americans who are em ployed are considerably better off than they were two years ago by reason of increased purchase power. “Their taxes are down and infla tion is down, and they’ve got more real take-home pay,” he added. Reagan’s political advisers and the GOP campaign committees were working out the final stages of the president’s participation in the cam paign. So far, only one other date has been set for the president to travel. He will fly to Peroria, Ill., Oct. 20 for an appearance in support of Rep. Bob Michel, the House Republican leader, and the following morning will fly to Omaha, Neb. Imprisoned leaders protest Han of Solidaritv f>v Poland igdcomes you Market ViMooled, ally meaned five hosecf; steci in friendlv afro are to test wight try 'orarchenfefeall, an lawn Jung, igofthelodgame. articipanlJ a log tie hand h'l aid a in the (Meet of ne istor:|t with ovv until ipls off u enjoyh ^ th (, re lys'and - jut lin ear ,eare, in f 1 #cal nancek5f e * n Sf cutionervpdand or sword be more to your taste. You might choose to see Merlin the Magician or the belly dan cers, or you might like to see them all. Fortunately, the king has arranged for the various entertainers to stagger their performances to allow visitors time to see many different shows. When you find yourself in need of food or drink, you'll notice that there is plenty. However, be prepared to spend many pounds and pence since the cost of sustenance at New Market Village is dear. Delicacies include turkey legs, stuffed spuds, scotch eggs (hardboiled eggs wrapped in sausage then deep fried), french "fryed" iced cream (you figure it out), and shiskabob. Beverage are king's brew (beer), queen's spirits (wine and wine coolers), soda, tea and lemo nade. Glassblowing and 15th Century print ing demonstrations are held, and the coin hammer, patterned after a sketch of Leonardo Da Vinci's, produces the Re naissance Festival coin. Demonstrations of jousting, chariot races and horse races take place at the Newmarket race track. And for those who are more inclined to church ser vices, the Benedictine Monks of Christ of the Hills Monastery sino the morn ing, midday and evening prayers in the Basilica Church of St. George. The festival is also an opportunity for craftsmen from all over the country to try to sell their wares. You can purchase hand-made pottery, clothing, leather goods, toys, jewelry, paintings, sculp tures and just about anything else you can think of. And if you are into fantasy costumes, you can even purchase a chain mail biki ni .... lenntertain and amuse you of the Renaissance 'le who work there, jpnal actors, pain- . d anyone else who ipelheir every-day one medieval per- 'Seachyearpartici- (Austin, is an artist .'"k'lwire sculpture. 'iind wire, usually ( L , JSlH)ii bronze, flat- y ies to sculpt it into dis sculptures in- '“' P hiirseback, lon- T i wire representa- Texas. ofthe Cams work fsiiove. For exam- vethe lower fin on r Vmouth opens and olPM r l ''-JSCiilpting wire for / saround the coun- • te at festivals and • He much prefers ing up a storefront th-M ' store is more like aid “This is more l)ll- (J W 1 li™ tfdren and adults Wkrer, alias Frank up a balloon. He h^ifieedle and asks ('■ tlould happen if tltf'B'alloon with the Itf'fBeds to pass the n^Balloon, but the h^^Ke-n performing ' jdlillusion for the n$Vis originally from p' : Jtfcut now travels AC’fyldomg shows in arOHstties, bars, and need for some- cone to smile, Fm there,” Konopaski says This is the first year the Flying Sor cerer has performed at the Texas Re naissance Festival. "So far it's nice," Konopaski said. "It's clean arid the people seems very friendly." Sword swallower Jonny Fox allows random members of the audience to inspect the three swords to verify that they are real. He points out that one sword's handle is narrower than the top of the blade, thus ruling out the possibility that the blade would re tract into the handle. He attaches the three swords together at their handles and ingests the sword sandwich. The crowd stares in silence. Someone wispers, "He's crazy!" Fox beckons for ap plause which the crowd gladly grants. A member of the audience grasps the handles while Fox backs away, exposing the blades. Fox, from Boulder, Colo, is one of only about a dozen sword swallowers in the United States. He said he de- Stories and photos by Janet G. Joyce cided to learn the art because he needed a strong ending for his street show and hadn't seen sword swal lowing done in a long time. Practicing three times a day. Fox took eight months to perfect his performance. This is Fox's third year at the Texas Renaissance Festival. "It's a good fair, has good people," Fox said. "It's the best fair in the country. Chain mail is a form of fabric made of chain that was once used for mak ing flexible armor. Although there's no future in chain mail armor, Ran dolph Markham has found a pleasant existence producing fantasy cos tumes made of the exotic fabric. Markham, from Florida, his wife Jane, and other friends, travel throughout the country selling the costumes that range from complete dresses to headdresses. "While I don't ever expect to be a rich man, I have a hell of a lifestyle," Markham said. Most of Markhams customers are women of above average income be tween 35- and 55-years old. His best selling item is the headdress, which ranges in price from $55 to several hundred dollars. The women wear these to coctail parties, theater open ings, or just "out rock and rolling," Markham says. His other customers include professional dancers, belly dancers and strippers. In addition to the chain, Markham used a lot of Austrian lead crystal in his costumes. A single item may take him four or five days to complete. A $150 headdress, for example, requires $40 worth of supplies and lots of labor. "You're paying to support an artist," Markham said. Markham designs the costumes and will make them to fit your precise measurements. Cheri Spangler, from Houston, is working for Markham selling chain mail. Clad in a chain mail.bikini and headdress, she insists that it's very comfortable and doesn't pinch. At Ease, The Battalion Friday, October 8, 1982 The rat catcher, alias Kent Rice, and his friend. Jane Markham, from Florida, helps a prospective customer try on a chain mail headpiece. before Friday’s parliament session, but that Glemp refused to attend to protest the Communist Party’s plan to ban Solidarity. Jaruzelski expressed his sympathy to the rank and file members of Soli darity and the state-sponsored “branch” and “autonomous” unions also outlawed by Friday’s Parliament session. He stressed that new unions simul taneously created by the bill would be different from the old state- sponsored unions and Solidarity, which he called “an anti-socialist group.” Jaruzelski said the authorities had been guided by good intentions in their dealings with Solidarity • bus round the Moon landing to the Space Shut tle program. “The space program should be en ded,” he says. “The whole thing is a hoax. It is simply a case of everything that goes up eventually comes down. It doesn’t orbit. What we see on televi sion are pre-arranged movies made in studios.” But why would the United States perpetuate such a “myth?” “The space program keeps the myth alive that the world is round,” he said. “You must have a total lie, not a partial lie. In order to keep the hoax alive, they staged the moon landing, and of course we all know that was a lie and that it never happened. “Now they keep telling us the shut tle is orbiting the world, but it is just falling down. Again, what goes up, must come down.” >rps, grow cadets. “It’s the natural evolution of the way things are in our society,” he said. “Our women do a damn good job.” above liversity > “In the first place, we are now en- » forcing the quiet hours. Our fresh- -* men and sophomores are being pro vided that time to study. Our senior - class is dedicated to that.” Burton has high hopes for the new faculty adviser program, in which 44 faculty members have volunteered to serve as advisers to Corps outfits. The commandant cited an especially ' gifted incoming class as another reason why he expects the Corps to ^ improve academically. i “I think it’s clear to our seniors and . our juniors that these freshmen are a cut above the average bear,” he said.