Reveille V makes
public appearance
Seep
' '
Train track situation
still under discussion
See page 4
1 1 * *2' - '
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TexasASM _ - - | •
itie tsattaiion
Serving the University community
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, Decembers, 1984
Passengers released
from hijacked plane
United Press International
KUWAIT — Arab-speaking gun
men Tuesday hijacked a Kuwaiti jet
liner carrying 161 people, including
some Americans, and forced the pi
lot to land in Iran with threats to
blow the aircraft from the sky. One
passenger was reported killed and a
second injured in a fight on the
plane.
Forty-three woman and children
were freed in two separate groups
from the Kuwaiti Airlines Airbus at
Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport during
negotiations between Iranian offi
cials and the hijackers, IRNA, the of
ficial Iranian news agency, reported.
In Washington, the State Depart
ment said at least three and perhaps
more U.S. citizens were aboard the
aircraft, and that other passengers
were nationals from four other na
tions. Kuwait, Pakistan, Britain and
West Germany. Airline officials said
most of the people aboard were Pa
kistanis.
The aircraft was bound from Ku
wait to Pakistan and was seized
shortly after a stop in Dubai in the
United Arab Emirates.
One of the women released by the
hijackers told IRNA the men were
heavily armed with “bombs, machine
guns and pistols.”
“The hijackers said they were Pal
estinians and they spoke Arabic all
the time,” said Sajiada Banou Oth-
mani, 40, who was traveling to Paki
stan from Chicago. It was not known
if she was a U.S. citizen.
“The airliner stands at Mehrabad
Airport runway with all its window
curtains dosed to prevent passen
gers from looking outside,” IRNA
reported in a dispatch monitored in
Beirut. “More than 20 emergency
vehicles are standing by several hun
dred yards away.”
The hijackers’ only reported de
mands were for more fuel and an
Arabic-speaking interpreter, who
was provided. The Kuwaiti news
agency, KUNA, quoting a Tehran
radio broadcast, said Iranian author
ities also had agreed to refuel the
French-made Airbus and link it up
with ground power units.
IRNA said two passengers were
wounded in a fight aboard the air
craft with the hijackers. The most se
riously injured man was released af
ter the plane arrived in Tehran but
he died of his injuries.
The hijackers refused to release
the second man. Othmani said a doc
tor among the passengers was treat
ing the passenger. IRNA said medi
cal supplies were sent into the plane.
At least one of them had been
shot, Othmani told IRNA, but it was
unclear which had been hit by gun
fire or whether both had suffered
gunshot wounds.
Othmani, describing the takeover.
told IRNA that 15 minutes after the
flight left Dubai she heard “a quarrel
between some persons and the crew
... and the firing of a gun which in
jured a male passenger.”
After the plane touched down at
the Mehrabad airport, two hijackers
emerged from a door and talked
with Iranian officials who asked for
the release of all the women and
children aboard.
The hijackers released five
women and 14 children 11 hours af
ter the plane landed. IRNA said an
other 15 women and nine children
were allowed to leave three hours
later.
The number of hijackers re
mained in question. Othmani said
she saw four, but KUNA said six Ar
abic-speaking hijackers — four f rom
Beirut and two from Iran —boarded
the aircraft early Tuesday when it
made the stop in Dubai.
IRNA said the aircraft was carry
ing 155 passengers, including five
hijackers, and a crew of 1 f and en
tered Iranian airspace at about 5:30
a.m. local time.
Iranian officials said they sent a
fighter plane to intercept the air
liner, but allowed it to land for “hu
manitarian” reasons. They said the
pilot reported he was low on fuel
and that the hijackers had threat
ened to blow up the plane.
A&M students complain
of Austin police actions
Postmaster gives students tips
Holiday mail made easy
By KIRSTEN DIETZ
Stuff Writer
R Because of the traditional increase
1 the Christmas muil flow, students
;|e asked to follow a few simple
mles during the holiday season to al
ienate some of the potential mailing
problems.
■ College Station Postmaster C.L.
M.itcek advises students who are re
timing home during Christmas
break not to leave a temporary for-
wauling address unless it is nec
essary.
^Temporary addresses are what
kills us," Matcek said. “It’s hard to
stay up with them.”
Rif a student feels he must leave a
temporary forwarding address, Mat
cek advises turning it in to the post
office at least one week in advance.
He said it takes about one week to
process the forwarding addresses, so
students need to allow for lag time.
Matcek also asks students not to
request to have second class mail
such as magazines and newspapers
forwarded.
If no forwarding address is left,
all packages and mail, except certi
fied mail, will continue to be placed
in the student’s mail box or held be
hind the counter and delivered
when the student returns.
Because the forwarding increases
the post office’s work, Matcek said
mail has a greater chance of getting
lost before the student receives it.
T o insure that cards and packages
reach their destination by Christmas
Day, Matcek suggests mailing pack
ages by Dec. 13 and greeting cards
by Dec. 17. Postal customers also are
encouraged to mail earlier in the
day, rather than late in the evening,
to take advantage of special early
collections that speed up the mail’s
delivery-
Despite the post office’s annual
advice to mail early, Matcek said
many people still wait until the last
minute.
See MAIL, page 7
By DAINAH BULLARD
Staff Writer
A Texas A&M student who was
struck in the head by an Austin po
liceman with his night stick Saturday
night said Tuesday he may take ac
tion against the Austin Police De
partment.
“I’m not out for blood, but I’m not
going to just let them get away with
it,” said George Clendmin, a junior
environmental design major, “fve
called my lawyer and called my
home and everything. We’re not
going to let them get away with it.”
Clendinin said he was clubbed by
an unidentified Austin policeman
while he was helping to break up a
fight between four men. Clendinin
said he had just separated two of the
men when he was struck from be
hind.
“I never saw the policeman hit
me,” Clendinin said. “I have a lot of
witnesses who said he (the police of
ficer) came running up and hit the
first one there — and that was me.”
Though the blow knocked him to
the ground, he was not unconscious,
Clendinin said. When he asked the
name of the officer who had hit him,
the officer refused to identify him
self, then cursed Clendinin, telling
him to “get the hell out of here,”
Clendinin said.
“He pushed me back into the
crowd,” Clendinin said. “He was try
ing to get rid of the evidence.”
Several other incidents followed
the event, Clendinin said. Another
student was arrested for no appar
ent reason, and policemen rode mo
torcycles into the crowd, he said.
“I don’t know if it’s just the area or
the region or what — I don't think
the whole police station is bad,”
Clendinin said. “Maybe they’re just
bad losers.”
Clendinin was taken by ambu
lance to an Austin hospital where he
received six stitches in his head for
the injury caused by the clubbing.
The attack on Clendinin was con
firmed by Jill Swinbank, class of’80,
who first reported the incident to
The Battalion.
Swinbank said she and some
friends were watching Clendinin at
tempt to break up a fight between
four men when the polict
proached.
“The policeman jumped over a
car and pulled out his night stick and
cracked him (Clendinin) over the
head,” Swinbank said. “We said,
‘You just can’t be hitting people like
that,’ and asked for his badge num
ber.”
Swinbank said the policeman, who
apparently was wearing his badge on
his shirt under his jacket, ref used to
give witnesses his badge number and
cursed at the crowd.
“We continued to ask for his
badge number, and he told the
crowd to f— off, which I didn’t think
policemen ap-
was very professional,” she said.
Swinbank said the policemen
grabbed, kicked and handcuffed
one man who continued to request
their badge numbers, and they told
the man’s girlfriend she would have
to bail him out of jail. Swinbank said
that when she attempted to file a
complaint with the Austin Police De
partment she was told she was ineli
gible.
“They told me I couldn’t file a
complaint because I wasn't arres
ted,” Swinbank said.
A spokesman from the police de
partment told Swinbank that if the
offending policeman is identified
and found guilty, he may be placed
on probation for one or two days.
Swinbank said she has contacted the
mayor’s office in regard to the inci
dent.
Lt. Roger Napier, a spokesman
for the Austin Police Department,
said several “scuffles” among stu
dents were reported Saturday night.
Policemen who attempted to break
up the scuffles were hampered by
spectators, he said.
“When the police tried to make
arrests, the crowd attempted to keep
them from doing so,” he said.
Though several witnesses have
filed statements, none of the parties
involved in the fights have filed com
plaints, Napier said.
Psychologist : stress affects health, relationships
■ Editor's note: 1'his is the first arti-
B/e in a three part series on stress.
By RENEE H ARRELL
Reporter
■ Stress. Something that everyone
Experiences at one time or another,
tit can make you — if you know how
|to handle it — or break you — if you
; don't.
■ Relationships in life can bring on
l added stress or help buffer existing
press, but what is stress to one per-
gfon may not. be stress to another.
I Stress is the body’s reaction to
jvear and tear, and it isn’t always the
villain it’s made out to be. Only when
its unduly prolonged or when it
comes too often is it dangerous to
your health. In fact, some stress
could be good for you.
“Individually, we all need stress to
kind of motivate us,” Tom H. Ed
wards, a Bryan psychologist said.
“Most of us don’t recognize stress or
expect it to have an effect on us.”
The stress experienced in a
relationship is similar to the stress
that comes from anything else.
Whether it’s a boyfriend-girlfriend
relationship or a marriage, stress can
be a common occurenc e.
“Especially for two individuals liv
ing together it can be stressful when
opinions don’t agree,” Edwards said.
“It’s hard to separate relationship
stress from work stress. Few of us
can leave problems at work or at
school.
“In a relationship, stress has the
effect of magnifying our feelings.
Sometimes we say things we don’t
mean and this can lead to argu
ments. Some people say, Tm sup
pose to live happily ever,' or ‘You
should be more caring.' Love
relationships need to be based on
unconditional love.
“Most of the time in a
relationship, we place conditions on
the relationship. We need to except
the limitations of the other person.
Hopef ully we’ll be aware of the limi
tations when they happen. Most of
us are not willing to accept the
amount of influence that stress has
on us."
Dr. Lowell Krokoff, a Texas A&M
assistant professor of psychology,
said stress in a relationship can come
from “negative affect.” He said this
is negative emotions such as, con
tempt, sadness or depression that
can surface during an argument.
“The more negative affect during
a fight, the greater stress that
comes,” Krokoff said. “The more
conflict you have, the more health
problems you’re going to have.
When a husband and wife discuss
real problems, the more negative af
fect and, therefore, the more stress.
We have strong data to show we
have that relationship.”
This all may seem like common
sense, but when research was done
comparing happy marriages to un
happy ones a new aspect was discov
ered.
“These are just our first findings,”
Krokoff said, “but, there is some evi
dence from recent studies that dis
tress in marriage creates more
health problems for men than for
women. Of course, a bad marriage
or relationship with too much stress
takes its toll on everyone. Summariz
ing all the studies across the board,
it’s bad for men and women, but it’s
worse for men.
“For women, conflict in a mar
riage seems to take its toll on their
evaluation of the companionship as
pect of their marriage (they are lone
ly),” he said. “For men the conflict
takes its toll on their health. These
sex differences in men and women
suggest the way they respond to
stress in their marriage.”
This could be due to two contro
versial factors. Krokoff said he
thinks it’s a combination of both.
On the sociological side of the
controversy, women are supposedly
taught to express their emotions
more, so they are more comfortable
See STRESS, page?