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Escapees shoot Tennessee resident See page 3 Construction starts on new building here See page 4 Aggies beatTCU in double overtime See page 13 The Battalion Serving the University community ■l 78 No. 101 USPS 0453110 14 pages College Station, Texas Thursday, Februaiy 23, 1984 Reagan vows to continue Beirut policy Photo by DEANSAITO sixth inning of the first game and sparked a six run rally. The Aggies swept the double header, 9-1, 7-0. See story page 13. banese wait to take camp EIRUT — Lebanese soldiers lhad refused to fight Moslem re- Bnoved into position Wednesday |ke over the camp of withdrawing Marines as factional warfare 10( k Be rut and the overlooking ioi htains. T esident Amin Gemayel, his pal- * )nly 3 miles from the battle for le ast mountain post held by loyal ^■ers, was reported to be bargain- ■to cancel the Lebanese-Israeli jfoi I in return for Syrian conces- fainst a background of unceas- fcolitical crisis and fighting, the lies continued a slow withdrawal [their base at Beirut airport, hall groups of Marines packed jnd were lifted by helicopter to |th Fleet ships waiting offshore, Ihe bulk of the 1,200 combat |>s remained at their positions. At the Marines’ heavily fortified northernmost outpost, the Ameri cans watched Lebanese army troops return to positions they abandoned when they refused to fight the rebel uprising Feb. 8. “It looks like they’re ready to take over the area when we leave,” said Lt. John Latorre. “This is the first time we’ve seen any big activity at their headquarters in two weeks.” Shiite Moslem militia leader Nabih Berri said Tuesday the army’s 6th Brigade, which had stayed in its west Beirut barracks since the rebels seized control of west Beirut two weeks ago, would start patrolling streets and take control of the route to the airport on Thursday. With the sound of the fighting in the background, most of Lebanon’s religious leaders assembled for the first time since the civil war started in 1975 and appealed for a cease-fire. The meeting brought together the local leaders of the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam plus heads of 11 Christian sects. Only the Druze Mos lems were unrepresented. The session took place in the Christian neighborhood called Ash- rafiyeh, near the scene of fighting along the “green line” dividing Mos lem west Beirut from the Christian eastern half of the city. The cease-fire appeal had no im mediate effect. At dusk, Lebanese army spokes man Maj. Maroun Awad said from the defense headquarters near Gem- ayel’s palace that “the Defense Min istry area and the nearby regions are under heavy bombardment from the mountains.” The battle centered on the army C ost of Souk A1 Charb, the army’s ist stronghold in the mountains and the major obstacle to a Druze ad vance that would threaten the presi dential palace, the Defense Ministry and a number of embassy residences, including that of U.S. ambassador Reginald Bartholomew. Inside the divided capital, ambu lances shuttled dead and wounded to hospitals amid exchanges between the Moslem rebels and the Lebanese army and their pro-government Christian militia allies. With the fighting continuing and U.S. forces following the British and Italians out of Beirut, Saudi media tor Rafik Hariri arrived in Beirut from talks with officials in Damascus. The newspaper said Gemayel has agreed to please Syria by canceling the May 17 accord but first wants the formation of a national unity Cabinet or resumption of the peace talks be gun in Geneva last November. United Press International WASHINGTON — President Reagan said Wednesday the United States is “not bugging out” of Beirut by putting the Marines on ships off the coast and vowed to follow his Lebanon policy as long as there is a chance for peace. Reagan briskly and optimistically defended his Middle East stance, say ing the dramatic shift of the U.S. troops, announced two weeks ago, would not lead to the “disastrous” re sults that he had warned Democratic critics would come from “cutting and running.” The president scoffed at a sugges tion that Secretary of State George Shultz should resign and declared, “He and our (Middle East) ambassa dors ... have been doing a splendid job and we’re going to continue as long as there is a chance.” As for where U.S. policy will go from here, Reagan said, “As long as there’s a chance for a peaceful solu tion, we’re going to try and see if there’s any contribution we can make to achieving that.” Reagan opened his first news con ference of the election year with a statement laying out a domestic agenda of three top items — new anti-crime laws, prayer in schools, and cutting the swollen budget defi cit. But he was questioned for nearly 15 minutes about Lebanon. Asked if his Middle East policy has proved a failure, the president said, “No, I don’t think we have lost as yet.” But he added, “I know that things don’t look bright.” Reagan, who had complained that Democrats demanding withdrawal of the Marines because of the mounting U.S. death toll were inviting “disas trous consequences” around the world, denied his decision to move the troops off shore would have that effect. The Marines are now being re moved from the Beirut airport base where 241 Americans died in the Oct. 23 bombing to 6th Fleet ships in the Mediterranean. “We’re not bugging out,” he de clared. “We’re just going to a little more defensible position.” Reagan said they might be moved back to Beirut “if they could improve the possibility of carrying off their mission ... Yes, that would be a rea son for sending them in.” In a nearly five-minute answer that began, “It’s time to review a little history,” Reagan detailed the devel opments that led to his September 1982 decision to send more than 1,000 Marines to Lebanon as part of a multinational peace-keeping force. After reciting the long-standing enmity between Syria, Lebanon- and Israel, and the chaotic situation in Beirut under Israeli seige in the sum mer of 1982, Reagan said he decided to send in the U.S. troops on “a stabi lizing mission.” “We wanted to prevent war be tween Syria and Israel,” as well as bring peace to Lebanon, he said. “I have no regret of the fact we went in there with the idea of trying to bring peace to that troubled coun try,” he said. ubble boy dies after experimental cure attempt I United Press International I BOSTON — David — the hand- I I, intelligent “bubble” boy who | |two weeks ago lived all of his 1 2 jin germ-free plastic isolators — [Wednesday of heart failure af- pi experimental attempt to cure Tailed. [ylor College of Medicine pswotnan Susannah Griffin said 1, who had lived longer than any person suffering from Severe jbined Immune Deficiency syn- [le, died at 8 p.m. after experi- kgan irregular heartbeat as fluid in accumulating around his 1 had been placed on a respira- Pednesday morning as his condi tion deteriorated following an Oct. 21 bone marrow transplant and com plications that forced his removal from his isolator Feb. 7, Griffin said. “He had been mentally alert up until going on the respirator. He had to be sedated to ease his breathing,” Griffin said. She said last rites were performed earlier Wednesday for David, whose family name was kept secret to pro tect his privacy. His parents, who had been taking turns staying with him, were at the hospital. They went into seclusion. “It’s a sad occasion for them,” Griffin said. “It’s been a very de manding situation. They’ve lived with this for a long time. It’s been very difficult. “I was sad. It was very upsetting. We had all hoped he could be cured. He grew up here. We are very sad,” Griffin said. David was placed in a sterile plastic bubble moments after his birth be cause doctors anticipated his im mune deficiency after a brother died of SCID at age 7 months. He lived in bubbles at Texas Chil dren’s Hospital and at home until two weeks ago, when he was removed so doctors could treat vomiting, diar rhea and fever after the bone mar row transplant intended to give him the immunity he lacked. His mother touched him with ung loved hands, kissed him, for the first time in his life when he came out of the bubble Feb. 7, Griffin said. The bone marrow normally pro duces most of the body’s anti-infec tion tools. On Oct. 21, in a gamble to cure him in which he personally con curred, doctors injected nearly two ounces of bone marrow from his 15- year-old sister, Katherine. The mar row was intended to migrate to his bones to fight disease. The operation was delayed for years because there was no matching donor. Doctors performed it after a new technique developed for cleans ing unmatched marrow. Doctors said at the time his re lenn to shut down Maine campaign; cus on the New Hampshire primary moval from the bubble environment was final and he could never go back, but they initially expressed optimism he would recover. David, however, developed his first illness ever, the vomiting, fever and diarrhea. The symptoms were attributed to graft vs. host disease, common in bone marrow transplant cases. In graft vs. host disease, a re verse immune reaction occurs in which the marrow cells reject and at tack the host body. He also developed a stomach ulcer and other intestinal bleeding. He was receiving blood transfusions, steroids for inflammation and other drugs aimed at controlling his symptoms. Fluid accumulated in his lungs and around his heart, which experts said sometimes accompanies both graft vs. host disease and heart failure. At death, he was receiving acyclovir, a drug approved for herpes and other virus infections. He also had been re ceiving antibiotics and steroids. David’s chief physician. Dr. Wil liam T. Shearer, said he would not know if David had an infection — or the exact causes of death — until an autopsy could be performed. Doctors were not sure if the fluid that devel oped in David’s lungs and around his heart was the result of his transplant. David was born into sterile isola tion Sept. 21, 1971 after doctors pre pared because his brother had died at 7 months of SCID. United Press International )NCORD, N.H. — Sen. John i shut down his campaign oper- in Maine Wednesday to con- [ate on the Feb. 28 New Hamp- primary as the second tier of ocratic candidates girded to bat- llominant Walter Mondale. Pe facade of party unity began to tel in the final week of the cam- i for the country’s first primary, I Sen. Ernest Hollings of South l>na hinted he might not sup- IMondale if he is the Democratic [uee for president. [here’s no education in the sec- Tick of a mule,” Hollings told a Ing of realtors in Concord. He |«e backed Jimmy Carter and Mondale in 1980, but: “We are about to run an instant replay of 1980. There is no way to sell Fritz Mondale toe-to-toe with Ronald Reagan.” Republicans, who have little to do right now since President Reagan has no real primary opponents, added a little mischief to the state’s politics Wednesday with a plan to push a write-in campaign for Reagan in the Democratic primary. The Fund for a Conservative Ma jority announced an advertising cam paign to convince registered Demo crats to embarrass Mondale by giving Reagan a large write-in vote. Mondale, with a commanding lead in the polls, and Sen. Gary Hart of Colorado, whose campaign gained new life with a surprise second-place finish in Monday’s Iowa caucuses, were back in Washington Monday. They plan to return before the League of Women Voters debate at St. Anselm’s College near Manches ter late Thursday. All six of the other major Demo cratic candidates campaigned under bright skies around the populated southern areas as the Granite State’s run of unusually balmy, snowless weather continued. New Hampshire voters were bom barded with phone calls and radio and television advertisements as the campaign entered its final week. It is difficult to find music on local radio stations, where evening time is domi nated by talk shows featuring presi dential candidates. Glenn, his back to the wall after his disastrous fifth-place finish in Iowa, sought to regain momentum with at tacks on Reagan during a swing through Nashua, a prosperous in dustrial town on the state’s southern border. During a stop at a high-tech nology defense contractor, he called Reagan’s cuts in research “stupid.” In Augusta, Maine, however, Glenn’s state campaign coordinator, John Diamond, announced the sen ator has shut down his campaign or ganization and will ignore the March 4 Maine party caucus in favor of a greater effort in New Hampshire. Local • As part of Black History Month, the MSC is display ing Ugandan artwork. See story page 3. State • A Dallas businessman says he was tortured in a Saudi Arabian prison for eight months. See story page 7. • State Senator Kent Caperton says he’ll endorse Nee ley Lewis for the district 14 race. See story page 6. • Texas remains the #1 state in the U.S. for oil pro duction. See story page 9.