Brazos Valley treasure hunters
help people find valuables
— Page 5
A&M cagers look to rebound
against celler-dwelling Owls
— Page 12
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The Battalion
1.82 No. 83 GSPS 075360 16 pages
College Station, Texas
Friday, January 24, 1986
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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.”