✓
China rocks
to English
pop group
Associated Press
PEKING — With sexy dancers in
strapless dresses, colored strobe
lights and a hard-dxiving backup
band, Britain’s pop sensation Wham
stunned a mostly Chinese crowd at a
packed Peking stadium Sunday
night in Communist China’s first
big-name rock concert.
The nearly two-hour, 10-song
performance, including the hits
“Wake Me Up Before You Co Go,”
and “Wham Rap,” delighted the
crowd of 12,000.
The All-China Youth Federation
is sponsoring the British rockers,
who arrived T hursday w ith a crew of
105 and 30 tons of equipment for
two concerts unprecedented in the
world’s most populous nation. They
play again on Thursday in Canton.
Their music has officially been la
beled “healthy” in China’s changing
society, where in the 1960s and 70s
the Communist Party banned danc
ing and considered Western pop as
banal and filthy. Some foreign rock
songs and dances are still regarded
with suspicion.
Tickets cost the equivalent of
$1.75. That is more than three times
the price of the most expensive
Chinese concert seats, but the tickets
sold out a few hours after the box of
fice opened on Friday.
Slouch
By Jim Earle
“I hope the Governor realizes that by giving us Friday off,
we’re gonna take off Monday, too.”
Tornados start off slow
around nation this year
Associated Press
DALLAS — When it comes to
predictions about the tornado sea
son, the weather wizards turn off
their crystal balls and hang the “Out
to Lunch” sign on the door.
“Mother Nature is so changeable,
it’s just impossible to predict what
kind of year we’re going to have,”
said Fred Ostby, director of National
Severe Storms Forecast Center in
Kansas City.
But so far, experts say, 1985 has
been a slow year for twisters.
Nationwide, the weather service
logged 57 tornados in the first th^ee
months of 1985.
“It’s been a relatively quiet first
three months,” Ostby said. “We had
three times that number last year.”
In Texas, which usually leads the
nation in tornados, the National
Weather Service recorded no twis
ters in January, only one in February
and eight in March.
“But that doesn’t necessarily mean
that it’s going to be quiet in the fu
ture,” Ostby warned.
“For Texas, the best we can say is:
April, May and June traditionally
have the most tornados and that’s
when folks should be on the alert.”
If 1985 continues to be a slow year
for twisters, it will track 1984 in
Texas. Ostby said last year was rela
tively calm — the state had only 93
tornadoes.
“That’s a little below normal,”
Ostby said. “Normally, Texas has
about 125. The 93 was the fewest
since 1966 in Texas.”
He said the twister death toll in
Texas last year was two.
But nationwide, 1984 was more
violent than ususal. Ostby said the
nation logged 908 tornadoes in
1984.
The storms last year claimed 122
lives, including 57 in a March 28 out
break in the Carolinas.
Tornados develop quickly out of
violent storm systems, making them
hard to predict. Although weather
men can spot storm systems with tor
nado potential a few days in ad
vance, Ostby says a few hours is
considered jjood advance notice of
an approaching tornado.
Often the notice is measured in
minutes.
“One of the greatest boons to a
warning system is trained spora
said Don Mankin, a NWS meteort
gist in Fort Worth. “WheneverJ
get storms developing, we actia
our spotters. We have spottersirT
most every county and mostarey
radio operators.
“A tornado will usually be
ceded by a rotating wall cloud,j
they report they see a wall
that usually gives us a pretty
lead time, usually about 20 mb
The powerful, twisting winds
tornado are the most violent b
on earth. Mankin said they
been clocked at up to 300 miles
hour.
Voi. so r
The worst killer tornado on
cord roared through Illinois,
(liana and Missouri in March,'
It killed 689 people along a 220-1
path.
The worst killer tornados
Texas each claimed 114 lives,
occurred half a century apart
Waco and McLennan County
May 11, 1953, and in Goliad Con
on May 18. 1902.
Affirmative action
World birthrate drops in ’84
according to private report
Hiring quotas under fire
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Associated Press
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The world's
birthrate has dropped from 29 to 27
births per 1,000 people since 1983,
largely thanks to sharp curbs on
China’s population growth, a private
population study group reports.
The Population Reference Bu
reau reports that China is currently
averaging 19 births per 1,000 resi
dents, down from 23 only two years
a 8°- .
With one-fifth of the world’s pop
ulation, changes in China’s popula
tion have far-reaching effects on
world averages, the independent,
non-profit research group pointed
out.
The new statistics, estimating the
world’s current population at 4.8 bil
lion people, were published in the
bureau’s annual World Population
Data Sheet, compiled by demogra
phers Mary Maderios Kent and Carl
Haub.
The current worldwide birthrate
of 27 per 1,000, coupled with an av
erage of 11 deaths per 1,000 people,
results in an annual world popula
tion increase of 1.7 percent, the re
searchers reported. That is down
from 1.8 percent in 1983.
However, they noted that this rate
still resulted in an extra 84 million
people being added to the world’s
population in 1984. They estimate
the total number of people in the
world will top 5 billion in 1987 and
will exceed 6 billion by the year 2000
if current rates continue.
The fastest population growth is
in Africa, where the continent-wide
birth rate is 45 per 1,000.
WASHINGTON — The Reagan administration is
facing resistance from many states and cities as it seeks
to rid court-ordered affirmative action programs of
race and sex-based hiring and promotion quotas.
Officials in major cities, including Boston, Chicago,
Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia and San Francisco,
say such programs are working well and should be left
alone, a spot check by The Associated Press shows.
The looming fight, centering on programs that grew
out of the civil rights struggles of tne 1960s, raises the
question of whether the Constitution demands color
blind public hiring policies.
Administration officials, led by Attorney General
Edwin Meese III and civil rights chief William Brad
ford Reynolds, say it does. Civil rights groups say no.
And the Supreme Court hasn’t addressed the issue di
rectly.
Reynolds maintains the high court resolved the issue
last June.
In a 6-3 decision, the court held that Memphis,
Bet nudes
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Monday.
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lews agem
Tenn., officials violated the constitutional rightsof^ gan admin
fighters covered by a seniority system to protectli “major net
from layoffs. Y Bit to din
After that ruling, Reynolds sent letters to offiriaBorld pub
charge of administering some 50 state and local™ Robert
ernment affirmative action programs, asking tfe: House nai
join his department in asking federal courts tolie admin
mandatory quotas from those programs. Khis is no
An AP spot check of public statements by sta!t |||ome.”
local officials showed that the administration wiB The p
to force the issue in several cases. |||JBC New
Lawyers and city spokesmen in Boston, Guar Soviet le;
Cincinnati, Miami, Los Angeles, Philadelphia j tlorium “v
Diego and San Francisco said they likely would!i| problems
the Justice move.
But some officials said they agreed with theJiis
Department’s position.
James Montgomery, Chicago corporation
said the city will fight any attempt to get police and
hiring and promotion quotas overturned. But
Council committee on Wednesday voted along
lines to call for an end to hiring and promotionqui
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DRIVE-THRU
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MCDONALD’S
EXTRAMURAL HIGHLIGHTS
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At University Drive
At Texas and S.W. Parkway
At Manor East Mall
At 2930 E. Highway 21
BREAKFAST EVERY
MORNING
IM GAMEPLAN
ENTRIES OPEN:
FRISBEE GOLF — Entries open
today, April 8, and close at the
event site. The contest will be
held Saturday, April 20 begin
ning at noon. Ail contestants will
meet at Mount Aggie. Partici
pants must provide their own
disc. Awards will be given to the
winners of each division in sin
gles and doubles. No entry fee.
ENTRIES CLOSE:
ARCHERY — Entries close
Tuesday, April 16. The contest
will be held Tuesday, April 23
beginning at 6 p.m. in 304 East
Kyle. Times will be selected at
registration. FITA rules will ap
ply. Participants must supply
own equipment. No compound
bows may be used.
\
ARCHERY CLUB NEWS
Texas A&M has its own Merry Men, and women, in the form of the Texas A&M
Archery Club.
The Texas A&M club belongs to the National Archery Association. There are
no NCAA archery teams because 18 to 20 teams compete at the collegiate level.
While archery is popular in the West and East, the sport is just beginning to gain
momentum in the South. Besides A&M, the only other team any where close is
the University of Texas.
Team members shoot with recurve bows since compound bows are against
amateur rules. Shooting Olympic style, that is without a telescopic sight or me
chanical release, three Aggies have qualified for the Outdoor Nationals to be held
in West Virginia in May.
Collegiate level archers compete under various conditions and distances. One
competition, the Collegiate 900, requires the archer to shoot 30 arrows from dis
tances of 40m., 50m. and 60m. By acquiring points, the archer strives for the
highest score and perhaps a chance at national-level competition.The Texas
A&M Archery Team is sponsoring an outdoor dual meet against the University of
Texas this weekend on the polo field behind Zachry Engineering Center.
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ASTROS
REDS
vs.
Charlie Hustle, better known as Pete Rose, and his Cinncinatti
Reds will be playing the Houston Astros Tuesday, April 23 in the Astro
dome.
The Intramural-Recreational Sports Office is sponsoring a trip to
and from the game. Cost for the trip is $20 per person. This price in
cludes admission to the game and transportation to and from the Dome
in an air-conditioned bus with restrooms, liquid refreshments, mun-
chies for the ride down.
The bus will leave from Parking Lot 60 (across from G. Roliie White
Coliseum) at 5 p.m. and return immediately after the game.
Reservations for the limited number of seats available will be taken
until April 15 in the Intramural-Recreational Sports Office, 159 East
Kyle. Contact Burnis Simon at 845-7826 for more information.
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REMINDERS:
Softball team captains should check the schedules outside the Intramural Office every week
to verify their team’s gametime.
HOMERUN hitting finals will be held April 9.
SOFTBALL playoffs are posted a week at a time. Teams should check the
schedules every week. If it rains ALL teams should check the posted schedule since
rescheduling will effect all teams.
INNERTUBE Water Polo playoffs will be posted Tuesday, April 11 after 2 p.m
outside the Intramural Office, 159 East Kyle.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
McDonald’s Intramural Highlights is sponsored in the Battalion by your local McDonald’s® Restaurants
at University Drive, Manor East Mall and on Texas Avenue. Stories are written by members of the Intramural
Staff, graphics are by Joel Nickerson, and photos are by Tom McDonnell and Marcy Basile.
TRACK AND FIELD
All-U finals for the Track Meet will be held Tuesday, April 9 at 7 p.m. in Kyle Field. Come on i
cheer on the runners!
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