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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 14, 1984)
mmmmammmmmm American smokeout will begin tonight See story page 7 Freshmen names A-K can register today College hoop review gives edge to Hoyas See story page 11 fgH 1 Texas A&M V • The Battalion Serving the University community Vol. 80 No. 55 CJSPS 045360 16 pages College Station, Texas Wednesday, November 14,1984 Gandhi calls for elections United Press International NEW DELHI, India — Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi Wednes- iaycalled parliamentary elections or Dec. 24 in an apparent move to marshal sympathy for his slain JnothcM into .1 mandate to succeed mei as leader of the world’s largest ^democracy. Gandhi announced the elections -legally required to be held by Jan- Jiary — only 24 hours after winning Ihe presidency of the ruling Con- lress-I Party molded In his mother ttnd two days alter scattering her fcshes over the Himalayas, ending phe official mourning period. “He’s striking while the iron is liot,” one political analyst said. “He mas a wave of sympathy going for mini following the assassination of nis mother who was identified with |inclia during her 16 years as its leader.” The 40-year-old former pilot was [sworn in to succeed his mother, In- diia Gandhi, as prime minister Ihours after she was assassinated Oct. JS'l-by two bodyguards belonging to " the minority Sikh religion. Indira Gandhi’s murder sparked jhwave of violence in porihei n India Tmatleft some I.'_’()(! people dead. Imost of them Sikhs killed by mobs ol Hindus seeking to avenge the assas sination. Before her death, Mrs. Gandhi Ihad been expected to call the elec- jtions in January to satisfy India’s Iconstitution, which demands a ballot [before the current five-year term of parliament expires Jan. 20. The election will be India’s eighth ;since it gained independence from Britain 37 years ago. With nearly 380 million citizens eligible to vote in the nation of 720 [million, it may take up to a week be fore all 1,500 tons of paper ballots are counted, officials said. But most ; results should be known the day af ter the election. Chief Election Commissioner Ram Krishna Trivedi said voting would be held in all but two of In dia’s 22 states. It will not take place in the northern states of Punjab and Assam, which are under federal con trol because of recent unrest. Gandhi, the youngest prime min ister in Indian history, was elected president of the Congress-I Party Monday by a 21-member working T committee. He decided to call the |! elections during subsequent talks with 70 party leaders. p r | In hi^ first major speech, Gandhi promised Monday to continue his mother’s efforts to end India’s crushing poverty, improve govern ment and build better ties to both su perpowers as part of a foreign policy of non-alignment. Although Gandhi is considered relatively inexperienced in politics, he is expected to remain prime min ister by virtue of his ancestry and be cause his majority party outshadows the weaker opposition parties. Invasion plans denied by U.S. Fountain baptism Photo by CATHY R1ELY David Sanderson was baptized in Rudder Fountain Tuesday afternoon by Ron Tew- son, the local campus preacher who usually preaches by the Academic Building. Sander son said the baptism was held on campus “because the ceremony is originally meant to be a public testimony.” According to Uni versity regulations, the All Faiths Chapel is the center of on-campus religious activities, and religious worship services must be held in the Chapel and scheduled through the Student Activities Office. United Press International MANAGUA, Nicaragua — De fense Minister Humberto Ortega Tuesday said U.S. officials are con ditioning the American public to ac cept an invasion of Nicaragua and vowed to step up a national alert to protect his country against attack. “If the Marines invade, they will see what the tanks are for,” Ortega said, referring to the dozens of So viet tanks positioned throughout Managua for the second straight day. The ruling Sandinista junta Mon day declared a national state of alert, mobilizing tens of thousands of armed forces regulars, reserves, mi litia members and high school stu dents. Pentagon spokesman Michael Burch Tuesday repeated U.S. deni als that an invasion was planned. But he charged there was “enough circumstantial evidence” to indicate Nicaragua may be planning an of fensive against neighboring El Salva dor or Honduras. Tensions between Washington and Managua exploded Nov. 6 when Washington reported that a Soviet freighter that could be carrying MiG 21 jets had docked in Nicaragua. The Reagan administration wai hed it would not tolerate delivery of ad vanced combat jets to the leftist gov ernment in Managua. Sandinista leaders say plans by the United States to destroy their leftist revolution crystalized after Presi dent Reagan's re-election. Junta leader and president-elect Daniel Ortega first signaled his govern ment’s fear in a speech before the United Nations in September. The defense minister, Daniel’s brother, said “the most reactionary circles of the United States” are con ditioning the American people to ac cept a U.S. invasion of Nicaragua as they accepted the U.S. invasion of Grenada. Reciting what he called evidence of the American plans — increased U.S. military manuevers, the pres ence of American war ships in the region and “flagrant” violations of Nicaragua’s territorial sovereignty — Ortega said Nicaragua was obli gated to declare a state of alert. “We will perfect, fortify our civil defenses to repel and defeat a direct (U.S) intervention, if it comes to pass,” he said. “A strong country like the United States, unfortunately, can have the luxury of threatening others ... But a country like ours cannot just wait and see if the threat passes.” But Ortega repeatedly skirted questions about arms shipments to Nicaragua, specifically helicopter gunships believed to be Soviet-made Mi-24s. Foreign Minister Miguel D’Escoto said in an interview on ABCs “Good Morning America” Tuesday that Ni caragua recently received “a few' helicopters. Earlier, Western diplomatic sources in Managua said the Sandi- nistas httd received “about four” So viet helicopters, apparently un loaded from the Russian cargo ship Bakuriani in the Pacific port of Co- rinto. Ortega said the “great hysteria and alarm” that Washington is caus ing over arms shipments to Nicara gua would not affect his govern ment’s intention to keep obtaining the “means necessary” — including MiG fighter jets — to defend itself. Nicaragua will continue on a state of national alert, he said, until the Reagan administration “lowers or in creases its aggression against our country.” Ortega said in the next few' days, the Nicaraguan government will put into effect “another series of military measures” to guard against a U.S. in vasion and increase the army’s mili tary successes against American- beked rebels. Among the immediate steps, Or tega said, new military units w'ill take active duty, especially in the capital. “We would like a little over a mil lion guns to arm all those people able to fight,” he said. Committee to study cable options By KARI FLUEGEL Staff Writer On-campus students will not be immune to changes in their cable television service as McCaw Commu nications continues taking over Community Cablevision and Mid west Video. McCaw Communications took control of the two local companies Nov. I. Next semester as rates increase lo cally, campus residents also can ex pect a fee increase. However, a com mittee has been formed by the University to investigate options for on-campus cable service. Joe DiBacco, regional vice presi dent for McCaw, said that if McCaw' provides the same service to the campus, it must charge the same rates. Therefore, the Cable TV Im provement Committee is trying to work out an agreement between the University and McCaw to provide on-campus students with a special package at a special rate. “We’re trying to get a good deal for the students,” said Ron Sasse, chairman of the committee. The 13-member Cable TV Im provement Committee is made up of students and representatives from McCaw, students affairs and busi- ness services. “The mixture of people (on the committee) is good,” Sasse said. “I believe we all have the best interests of the student in mind.” The purpose of the committee is to recommend a cable television net- w’ork plan for the Texas A&M resi dence hails. Whatever plan the committee rec ommends will meet the needs of the majority of the residents, be rea sonably priced in proportion to the services provided and be easily ad ministered, Sasse said. The committee’s goal is to have the new plan fully implemented be fore the dormitories open for the Fall 1985 semester, Sasse said. “Our role is to put together a rec ommendation,” Sasse said. The rec ommendation would be subject to approval by the University and McCaw Communications. “We need to do something,” Sasse said. “The situation needs some kind of clarification.” Several options are being investi gated by the committee. One option is to build the cable payment into the dormitory rent structure, Sasse said. With this option, the cable connec tion, like the telephones, would be ready to use for all residents when they moved into their rooms at the beginning of the semester. Both Sasse and DiBacco said this option would help reduce theft of service on campus. DiBacco also said the option would be practical techni cally because the actual system - wouldn’t be drastically modified. Another option is leaving the situ ation basically as it is now where the student signs up for cable service. Also being considered is providing the basic and giving students the op tion of purchasing the premium services. Whatever option the University adopts, Sasse said there will be an agreement between the University and McCaw. In the past there was no such agreement. The more complex the system eventually adopted is, the more it will cost, Sasse said. To obtain feedback from stu- See CABLE, page 6 Library officials: automation aids service Editor’s Note: This is the last of a three-part series on the Sterling C. Evans Library By DONN FRIEDM AN Staff Writer A library is often thought of as a I building with shelves and stacks of I books, but when people do research * they are not interested in ornate bindings, leather covers and glossy pages; researchers are interested in the information the books contain. A fine library should provide more than just books, says Irene Hoadley, director of the Sterling C. Evans Library. It must provide in formation. “The future should stress access rather than ownership,” Hoadley says. “People shouldn’t care if T exas A&M owns a certain resource, only if they can get it to use in a reasona ble amount of time.” The best bet in making the Ster ling C. Evans Library a high-quality library, a library that can provide ex cellent research opportunities, de pends on two things, Hoadley says. The first, of course, is improving the collection in both size and scope. The second, a bit more controver sial, is increasing automation in the library. “This library and its staff are doing well in terms of automation and electronic searches,” says Dean of Faculties Clint Phillips. “It’s not a technologically backward library.” In September 1982, an electronic author-title card catalog was opened, part of an electronic card catalog for which planning began in 1979. The electronic catalog, library officials say, reflects the goals of the library to provide better service to its pa trons. Thev cite as advantages of an elec tronic card catalog: • easier catalog maintenance, be cause titles may be added to an elec tronic card catalog much more quickly than they can be with the pa per cards. • possibility of remote access, so a person could sit at home or office, call the library electronic card cata log and browse through it. • searching for a book by call number instead of by author or title. • determining the circulation sta tus of a book immediately. The library’s annual report for 1982-83 said the non-electronic card catalog eventually will be closed. At this time, only the author-title por tion of the catalog is available through the electronic card catalog, so only the author-title portion of the card catalog will be closed. “Closed, not removed,” Hoadley says. “It is not our intention to re move the existing files. However, no new cards will be added to those fi les.” This is not a process in which a li brarian one midnight will drag the existing card catalog out of the li brary and toss it onto a bonfire. “Like most University libraries,” she says, “Texas A&M is moving to ward eventual full on-line access to its catalog, but this conversion will proceed slowly.” Last spring, after announcement that the author-title card catalog would be closed, Keith Bryant, then dean of liberal arts, sent Hoadley a letter questioning the act. This letter seems to have inspired the forma tion of an ad-hoc committee of the Library Council to study the changes being made in regard to the card cat alog. University President Frank E. Vandiver also asked the Faculty Sen ate to investigate the closing of the card catalog. So, for the moment, this move to automation has been halted. There are a lot of questions the li brary should answer before going on with the automation of the card cata log, says Mark Busby, an associate professor of English and a member of the committee. The committee is creating a sur vey outlining the advantages and disadvantages of the conversion to an electronic catalog and will request responses to the proposed closing of the card catalog. This survey will be published in the Fortnightly, the Faculty newsletter, and the results eventually will be presented to the Faculty Senate, Busby says. There are four main questions the committee would like to see an- See LIBRARY, page 7 TCU tickets distributed this week Due to the T hanksgiving Holi days, Texas A&M student tickets will be distributed for the T exas Christian University football game as follows: Thursday, Nov. 15, 7 a.m. to 4 pan. GRADUATES AND SE NIORS Friday, Nov. 16, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. JUNIORS Monday, Nov. 19, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. SOPHOMORES Tuesday, Nov. 20, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. FRESHMEN Wednesday, Nov. 21,8 a.m. to 4 p.m., LATE PICK UP & SALES.