Page 12/The Battalion/Tuesday, May 3, 1983
Decaying Capitol
always a problem
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The U.S.
Capitol may be falling down, but
underground garage and build
a bus station under the back
the longest running Washing!
battle — what to do about it
ton
continues.
Americans have been fight
ing about the place ever since
Pierre L’Enfant, the French
military engineer who planned
the city that was to be Washing
ton, chosejenkins Hill, which he
called “a pedestal waiting for its
monument,” for the Capitol.
The opening shot in the latest
skirmish came last Wednesday
night, when a 6-foot by 15-foot
section of sandstone slabs on the
Capitol’s oldest remaining por
tion fell from a wall into a cour
tyard.
Construction started 190
years ago, and ever since the
Capitol has attracted the pas
sionate attention of politicians
who thought they were
architects, architects who
thought they were politicians
and a variety of other arsonists,
bombers and demolition ex
perts.
One vice president wanted an
outdoor restaurant on the ter
race. A former architect of the
Capitol, a title more often hon
orary than professional, wanted
to dig up the front yard for an
steps.
Through it all the Capitol has
remained, along with the
Washington Monument, an in
stantly recognizable symbol of
the United States all over the
world.
The Capitol, which is really
five connected buildings, is the
property of a whole nation that
does things the hard way, under
the rules of democratic proce
dure.
The recent collapse, officially
blamed on “normal weather
ing,” exposed the original
foundation of the building that
was started about 1800. It did
not endanger the building,
which houses Statuary Hall,
where the House of Representa
tives met between 1807 and
1857.
The incident coincided with
action by a House Appropria
tions subcommittee recom
mending $73 million be spent to
expand that area of the Capitol.
Included in the project would be
the old Senate section, built in
1793-1800, burned by the Brit
ish in 1814 and rebuilt in 18IS
IS 19; the center section sup
porting the great cast iron
dome, completed in 1865; and
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Texas State
ec Oeticae k
Since 1935.
Texas A&M Flying Club
sponsors an
F.A.A. SAFETY SEMINAR
along with
regular meeting.
F.A.A. representative, Mr. Tiner Lapsley, to present program.
All people interested in flying safety are urged to attend.
May 3 7:00 p.m.
Rudder #301
Warped
by Scott McCulfc
THE FREEL IWG5 WAVE 7U$f MOVED
INTO THEIR NEW SUEURBfKN
HOME. THE"/ ARE UNAWARE IT
WAS CONSTRUCTED ON THE 5/TE
OF A PROCESSING PLANT FOR
VARIOUS KINDS OF CHICKEN, DUCK
AND GOOSE MEAT.
SOON THE RESTLESS SPIRITS OF
ALL OF THE PERISHED BIRDS THERE
BEGAN TO MAKE THEMSELVES
KNOWN. FEATHERS STARTED
APPEARING EVERYWHERE, OBJECTS
BEGAN FLYING AROUND THE ROOM
AND PERCHING ON FURNITURE.
the old House section.
The expansion plan would
add 147,000 square feet of space
by filling in the open courtyards
between the existing building
and the broad terraces on the
west or Mall side of the Capitol.
The outer walls of the new con
struction would be exact copies
of the originals, leaving the ex
terior of the Capitol looking
much as it has for more than a
...THE SOUNDS op PECKING AND
SCRATCHING WERE CONSTANT, AND)
EVERY HOUR A SPECTRAL ROOSTER
CROWED FROM OUT OF NOWHERE.
BUT IT WAS LITTLE 8 YEAR OLD
CAROL ANN THAT FINALLY
REALIZED...
century.
This same method was used
to extend the east side of the
Capitol by 30 feet in the 1950s, a
project that also had people yell
ing at each other. But that pro
ject was ram-rodded by the last
of the speaker-pharoahs, Sam
Rayburn, D-Texas.
No sooner was that job
finished than agitation began to
extend the west front, which was
said to be rapidly deteriorating.
When a chunk of stone fell off
the roof in the 1960s, the re
sponse was to shore up the en
tire building with huge timbers,
the remains of which still stand
in the center section.
That was followed by a plan to
expand the building out over
the brow of the hill so that the
entire system of terraces built in
1874-1892 would have to be re
located. One great feature of
this plan, according to Vice Pres
ident Hubert Humphrey, was it
would make room for an out
door cafe with a view down the
Mall toward the Washington
Monument.
Compute
Vol. 7
(continued from page 1)
quired 19 microcomputers
within the past year, he said.
This has enabled the college to
add two new courses and to re
structure another course so stu
dents can use the microcompu
ters.
One of the new courses is
computer literacy, and is
offered to undergraduates. In
the course, students are taught
how to write computer prog
rams in a variety of computer
languages. Clark said the course
is instruction-oriented and
geared toward students who will
teach in schools.
The computer-related classes
are filled quickly during regis
tration, he said, and many
teachers from local public
schools take the courses at night.
Clark said the potential for
computers in education is great,
and he believes that within five
years most teachers will know
how to
teaching.
corn putt
James R. Scoggins,!
the meteorology depart!
said the department has ra
added a course in
meteorology — a class in*
er analysis and forecastit
Hijacker stays in Cuba;
airplane returns to U.S
United Press International
MIAMI — A Capitol Air jet
liner hijacked by an elderly
Latin man who said he had a
gasoline bomb and wanted to go
to Cuba arrived safely Monday
with 209 people on board.
The Capitol Air DC-8 arrived
at Miami International Airport
at 6:18 a.m. EDT after a 50-
minute flight from Havana,
allaying fears of frantic relatives
l that some of the Cuban-born
passengers might be detained.
The Cuban government held
only the hijacker and allowed
the other 199 passengers and 10
crew members to leave after a
mechanic fixed a jammed
emergency door.
It was the first domestic hi-
i jacking to Cuba in more than a
year. In February, a small airlin
er en route to Dallas from Kil
leen, Texas, was commandeered
to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. No
one was injured.
Mariel Lugones, 9, said she
was terrified during the flight to
Cuba.
“I thought the plane would
blow apart and everybody would
die. I was crying and praying,”
Mariel said. “I had a feeling in
my heart that something terrible
would happen.”
The hijacker, who was not
identified, w'as described by pas
sengers as being thin, Latin, 5-
foot-5, and between 60 and 65
years old.
Capt. Jeff Miller, 34, the
pilot, paid Cuban authorities did
not find a bomb or a weapon
aboard the jet.
The 11-hour ordeal of Flight
236, en route from San Juan,
Puerto Rico, to Miami and Chi
cago, began at 7:08 p.m. EDT
Sunday 70 miles west of Grand
Turk Island when the man said
he had a gasoline bomb and
would blow up the plane if the
pilot did not fly to Cuba, author
ities said.
Passengers said the hijacker
then locked himself in a bath
room and left a handful of
printed written notes in the aisle
which said in Spanish: “I have a
bomb. Hunger, unemployment,
poverty and destitution forced
me to hijack this plane to Cuba. I
have a bomb on board, enough
gasoline and a firearm, a gun. If
you land in Miami, I will explode
the bomb. I believe in the philo
sophy of Fidel Castro.”
Boyd Mesecher, 50, of Fort
Lauderdale, an aircraft com
pany employee on the plane
with his wife and two children.
said a stewardess thenora
all passengers tositintkt|
the plane until it landc
Marti Airport in Havanaj)
p.m. EDT.
During the flight toL
Miller said the hijackflf
quently opened the ba
door and tossed out notl
Spanish. One note, Milkj
claimed the man had set
bomb.
“I never heard thehil
speak,” Miller said. “Htl
wanted to go to Cuba. IgJ
man may have been upsew
not getting work.”
When t he plane landuiP
sengei s slid down ei ,
chutes and Cuban guardtl
machine guns whisked ad
hijacker, unloaded thel
and inspected the plane.
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SPECIAL NOTICE
1st SUMMER SESSION
OPTIONAL BOARD PLAN
United Press International
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The
Republican Party recently sent a
letter to late President Harry
Truman, asking him to contri
bute to the GOP’s 1984 congres
sional campaign and to urge
President Reagan to run for re-
election.
The letter, sent to Truman’s
Missouri home, was forwarded
♦ to the Truman Library.
It was one of 1.5 million let
ters mailed by the National Re
publican Congressional Com
mittee to potential contributors
on a computer list, said Steve
Loiterer, the committee’s|
secretary.
i v. i y .
“It went to people wB
might be potential Repljj^^*
cans,” Loiterer said. “Mr,By 5 he
man was probably on the J| tern(
people we would like tot)tB‘ itow '
publicans. WejustwereacoB* 11
of years late.” Bachir
Truman, a Den«w u J! se:
ascended to the presidentP h)r.
1945 when Franklin i^ ar
Roosevelt died. Roosadl® mrn
Truman began many ofthfBj ern i
nomic policies the RepublB aer
seek to overturn with W^ed
letter.
lie foi
their si
The
sti
Students, on campus, off campus, and graduate, may
dine on a meal plan during the 1st Summer Session at
TAMU. Students selecting the 7-day plan may dine
three meals each day, except Sunday evening; those
selecting the 5-day plan may dine three meals each
day, Monday through Friday. Meals will be served in
Commons. Fees are payable to the Controller of Ac
counts, Fiscal Office, Coke Building.
Notice dates: Commons will be open for cash business
on Registration day, May 30. Meal plans will begin on
the first day of class, May 31.
Fees for each plan are as follows:
7 Day $195.00 May 31 through July 1
5 Day $176.00 and
Plus Tax July 5 and 6
Meal plan validation will begin at 7:30 a.m., May 31, in
the Commons Lobby. Fee slips will be required.
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