Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 1986)
Brazos Valley treasure hunters help people find valuables — Page 5 A&M cagers look to rebound against celler-dwelling Owls — Page 12 econcilt ‘er Sikh used of tuandos •ne and prosecu- reasoni- suspired 'secutioii is an act 84 am e in Am- MM m Texas A&M m m m # The Battalion 1.82 No. 83 GSPS 075360 16 pages College Station, Texas Friday, January 24, 1986 His ige el) roleum k it was uId pa\ liate bv aave to ilerama “Ct bud- tax in- ,s might *unt Tor eel the manger Co., an Midland, cas’ oil- Redoes- d from ave de- ng be- idepen- and Me- percent A price irobablv te said, decline's t in oil- o guage ers may eas with Jranus emitting ignals Associated Press SADENA — Voyager 2 has dis- ered Uranus emits weak radio ials, suggesting it has a magnetic d that could reveal the lengtn of a | on the planet and whether it has lolten rocky core, scientists said ursday. |‘lf you want to know how long a is on Uranus, you have to mea- e the magnetic field,” said Ed ne, Voyager project scientist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “It’s way we will know how rapidly planet is rotating.” The existence of a magnetic field ) means Uranus must have flow- , electrically conductive material tsinterior, which is hidden by the net’s thick atmosphere, he said. Inch material could be molten k in the planet’s core or electri- y charged particles in liquid ans, he added. While tempera- :s on Uranus are far below the Imal freezing point of water and ay other materials, its high atmo- eric pressure could prevent wa- or other substances from freez- feanwhile, Voyager imaging [n leader Brad Smith said recent itos of Ariel and Oberon — two Uranus’ five largest moons — atches of bright material, bably ice that may have collected apact craters. _ut the photos aren’t sharp B ugh to determine if such craters, ch would be created by meteor- actually exist, he said. /oyager 2 makes its closest ap- ach to Uranus and the planet’s major moons today — the most [ant objects ever visited by a ecraft. Project manager Dick ser said the spacecraft will pass Kn about 50,600 miles of the pel at 51 seconds after 9:58 a.m. today. me’ve been waiting 4'/2 years for I," Stone said. “It’s the cresendo liscovery we’re facing.” [he space probe already has dis- jered nine new moons orbiting Inus, raising the total of known pnsto 14. 8-6 j Moving On The arches and ramp of Texas A&M’s Academic Building frame this student as she exits from the Photo by DEAN SAITO building. The ramp is a reminder of a facelift the building recently underwent. U.S. to perform flight close to Libya Associated Press WASHINGTON — The United States has ordered its two aircraft battle groups in the Mediterranean Sea southward toward Libya and no tified civilian air traffic officials there the carriers will be conducting flight operations over the next week. Pentagon sources said Thursday that the moves in no way presaged any type of military attack on Libya and that all operations would be con ducted in international airspace and waters. One official added, however, that the exercise was intended to demon strate that the United States would not be intimidated by an increased Soviet naval presence in the region, nor by Libyan leader Col. Moammar Khadafy’s decision to place his own military forces on alert and to pledge continuing support for Palestinian terrorists. “It’s asserting the right to passage in international airspace, with plenty of notice to everyone in advance of our peaceful intent,” one source said. Through diplomatic channels, meanwhile, the United States told the Soviets the situation was touchy and urged care be taken, said a U.S. official who insisted on anonymity. Another source said the flight op erations had been approved earlier in the week by the National Security Council “as a warning that we’re not forgetting these terrorist attacks. We know what Khadafy has done and we want him to know we’re prepared to respond.” A White House official denied re ports that the exercise was a deliber ate provocation of Khadafy. “Reports that it is a stern message on terrorism are just wrong,” the of ficial said, speaking on condition he not be identified. “It is not designed to provoke Libya. We are not flying over the Cull of Sidra; we are not flying over the Libyan land mass.” Another senior official, comment ing on an earlier published report that the administration hoped to goad Khadafy into attacking U.S. forces to give the United States an excuse for retaliating, dismissed the suggestion with an expletive. “Anyone who says a thing like that doesn’t know Ronald Reagan,” the source said. “The point is to discour- See U.S. sends, page 16 Philippine president defends war record Organization key to appeals process Fall grades can still be appealed [ By FRANK SMITH Staff Writer [Ithough Texas A&M’s academic als panel has already conducted Jegular appeals hearing for the :ster, students still can appeal emester grades if they begin the _ess sometime this spring, said Wiliam Perry, panel chairman. iccording to University regula- a student can appeal a course He if he thinks his final grade lects a capricious, arbitrary or udiced academic evaluation ...” a student thinks his case meets of those criteria he first should discuss the matter with his instruc tor, Perry said. Should the student still be dissatis fied after meeting with the instruc tor, he can appeal to the head of the department in which the course is offered. Perry said. If the depart ment head denies his request, the student can then take his case to the dean of the college in which the course is offered, Perry said. If the dean denies the appeal, the student can go to the academic ap peals panel and plead his case. “You come to see the chairman, fill out some forms, attach your ap peal and then a meeting is held,” Perry said. “The deadline for getting the paper work done with the chair man of the appeals panel is five working days before the meeting day.” The panel meets in the first week of each long semester, usually on Wednesday or Thursday, Perry said. University regulations require that the panel be comprised of a chairman, four faculty members, three students and two student alter nates. However, the presence of three faculty members and two stu dents is deemed sufficient for a quo rum. “Summer meetings are sometimes difficult because if the students on the panel aren’t going to summer school . . . it’s not possible sometimes to get a quorum,” Perry said. The scheduling of the panel meet ing for the first week of the semester may not leave much time for a stu dent to process an appeal of a fall se mester grade for the spring panel meeting, Perry said. However, he pointed out that in such a case the student doesn’t lose his right to an appeal. “It’s just that they may not be able to have it heard right in the spring See Good, page 16 Associated Press MANILA, Philippines — Presi dent Ferdinand E. Marcos said Thursday he will ignore the “crazy individuals” who question the war record on which he built his political career. He made the comment in a cam paign speech to a crowd that in cluded many World War II veterans, after The New York Times pub lished an article citing U.S. Army in vestigations that found his claims of leading guerrillas against the Japa nese to be fraudulent. In its Thursday editions, the Times cited 400 pages of Army re ports on Marcos’ military career. The reports said Ang Mag Mahar- lika, the guerrilla group he says he led, never existed as a fighting orga nization and was not controlled ad equately because of the desertion of its commanding officer — Marcos. The president, 68, is said here to have won 28, 32 or 33 medals, de pending on the Philippine govern ment report accepted. He is de scribed here as the most decorated soldier of the war and claims more honors than Gen. Douglas MacAr- thur, who directed the Allied war in the Pacific. His war record is so important to Marcos that he talks about it in nearly every interview and speech, and in 1982 closed down a newspa per that printed articles challenging it. He says he suffered five war wounds and tells war stories in his campaign speeches for the Feb. 7 election, in which he is opposed by Corazon Aquino, widow of assassi nated opposition leader Benigno Aquino. Controversy over his military re cord is not new. During a Marcos visit to Washing ton in September 1983, Defense Sec retary Caspar Weinberger gave him a case containing replicas of U.S. medals supposedly awarded to him, including two Silver Stars and a Dis tinguished Service Cross. Three months later, the Washing ton Post published an article in which it said “an 18-month effort to verify Marcos’ claims to high Ameri can decorations raises serious doubts about whether he actually was awarded them.” The paper said its investigation included searches of U.S. military archives, official military histories, personal memoirs and portions of Marcos’ personal file at the U.S. mili tary records center in St. Louis, and conversations with Filipino and American veterans. A Filipino editor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Thurs day, “It is his most sensitive issue, the one that really hurts him as a macho man.” Marcos blamed his opponents for The New York Times article. “Those who collaborated with the enemy have no right to question the See Controversy, page 16 entsen urging floating fee on imported crude Associated Press iOUSTON — U.S. Sen. Lloyd tsen is proposing a floating fee mported crude oil that would the price in the United States in l22-$24 per barrel range. said Thursday he feared the j) decline in oil prices would tipt Americans to forget about gy conservation and allow the nization of Petroleum Export- Countries to regain control of »il market. Ince you get OPEC to get con tain, it (the price) will really go Bentsen said at a news confer- the actual price of oil dropped iv that level, revenue gained by fee could offset dollars lost be- e of recently approved bal d-budget legislation, he said, cording to Bentsen, each $1- Jarrel fee annually would con- ite$l billion to the Treasury. White asks Congress to continue tax incentives Associated Press AUSTIN — Gov. Mark White, saying he is monitoring almost hourly the plunge in spot market oil prices, again Thursday urged Congress to preserve tax incen tives for U.S. oil and gas produc tion. While the Texas economy would suffer in a long-term price drop, White said, national de fense also is at risk. This week’s price slide to as low as $18 a barrel only shows how volatile foreign oil supplies are and how quickly those prices can change, White said. “Don’t be fooled by the price today,” he said. “We know the price can fly upward whimsically if we ever fall into the trap of be coming dependent once again on foreign imports.” White said the United States today is risking a return to depen dence on foreign oil that rivals the U.S. need before the 1973 Arab oil embargo. “This further points out the need for the president of the United States and members of Congress to reconsider action taken on the so-called tax reform bill that would diminish the in centives for production of oil and gas in Texas,” he said. White also wrote Sen. Robert Packwood, chairman of the Sen ate Finance Committee, urging senators considering tax reform legislation to preserve tax incen tives now enjoyed by oil and gas investors. During his weekly press con ference, White noted that most Texas oil is sold under long-term contracts which aren’t affected by this week’s spot price plunge. “If you had a $5 tax, you’d have $5 billion of revenue,” he said. The oil price futures market has shown signs of settling at levels near $20 a barrel, following a week-long trading frenzy that left prices for crude at their lowest levels in six years. Prices have been driven down ward since November as producing nations, determined to hang on to their share of the market, have pumped more oil than the world has needed. In late November, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate — the benchmark U.S. crude — cost $31.70 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The spot price Wednesday was $20.90, down 34 percent from No vember and off 17 percent in barely more than a week. “My deepest concern is that as they further go down, the people will go back to being wasteful like be fore 1973,” Bentsen said. Already, he said, the government has moved to relax automobile mile age standards. Bentsen insisted his sentiments were not provincial, since he rep resents an oil-producing state like Texas. “Concern is growing around the country,” he said. “The financial in stitutions in the Northeast — they too are concerned.” The Texas Democrat said he has' taken his import fee proposal to Treasury Secretary James Baker and White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan. “They didn’t say ‘Hell, no!’ so that’s encouraging,” Bentsen said. The senator said the White House would be forced to look for new money sources because of the bud get-balancing law. “You’re going to see such a crunch in the ‘87 budget,” he pre dicted. “We have a problem of cor recting some $60 billion. That’s going to be exceedingly difficult.”