The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 25, 1986, Image 1

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Oil analysts report failure
of OPEC talks no surprise
— Page 3
Union Carbide settlement
with Indians said to be too low
— Page 8
Rockets' Sampson may have
suffered broken back in fall
— Page 10
T«« ASM _ « « ««
The Battalion
bl. 83 No. 120 GSPS 075360 12 pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, March 25, 1986
Libya exchange fire over gulf
1 Associated Press
■
[ WASHINGTON — Libya today
:d ;it least six more missiles at U.S.
I ftlanes flying over the disputed
Hof Sidra, and the United States
fated against two Libyan patrol
and radar installations, the
Bagon said.
One boat was lef t in flames; debris
Mpotted after the other was hit by
Knerican missile. But the Ameri-
Morces sustained no damage.
Rpbert Sims, the Defense Depart-
rjt's chief spokesman, said it was
Iclear how much damage had
een inflicted on the radar sites.
^iSmce Libya first fired on the U.S.
—orors Monday, the spokesman said,
taijbti 12 SA-5 and SA-2 missiles had
teei directed at American ships and
CE PG daiT's. None of the Libyan missiles
rUREPGl
hit their targets; a total of four Li
byan ships and at least one radar site
were attacked in retaliation, Sims
said.
Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy
had threatened any of the U.S.
forces taking part in a large naval
exercise if they crossed his “line of
death,” which cuts across the north
ern boundary of the Gulf of Sidra.
Libya claims the gulf, an appendage
of the Mediterranean, as its own; the
United States regards it as interna
tional waters.
Sims said a Libyan patrol boat that
was preparing to attack the U.S. 6th
fleet was “engaged with a surface-to-
surface missile” at 6:12 p.m. EST
Monday by the cruiser Yorktown.
Sims said this confrontation oc
curred in the Mediterranean outside
the Gulf of Sidra and that debris
from the patrol boat had later been
spotted.
It was the first Pentagon an
nouncement that a Libyan ship had
ventured north of the “line of
death.”
At 6:54 p.m. EST, Sims contin
ued, the United States launched its
second attack of the day on a radar
site serving missile batteries at Sirte,
Libya. The spokesman said two A-7
attack jets from the carrier Saratoga
fired missiles at “a radar site that was
radiating (operating) at the time.”
He added that the Pentagon had
not determined so far whether the
radar units in the latest attack were
the same ones attacked earlier Mon
day.
The spokesman said the con
frontation continued as dawn broke
over the Mediterranean. At 1:07
a.m. EST today, attack jets from two
carriers hit another Libyan patrol
boat that had been detected sailing
from the port at Benghazi, on the
eastern rim of the Gulf of Sidra.
Sims said two A-6 attack jets —
one from the carrier Coral Sea and
another from the carrier Saratoga —
had left the boat dead in the water
and on fire.
Life rafts were spotted in the wa
ter after the attack, Sims said, and
Libyan search and rescue helicopters
had been seen in the area.
Pentagon spokesman, Cmdr. Rob
ert Prucha said later, “There has
been no damage to U.S. forces.”
A Pentagon spokesman declared
Monday that any Libyan plane or
ship closing on the Navy’s three car
rier task forces off the Libyan coast
would be regarded as having “hostile
intent” and subject to attack.
Libya, meanwhile, in broadcasts
on state-run radio that were mon
itored by the British Broadcasting
Corp., vowed to “make the Mediter
ranean into a sea of fire” and urged
attacks on U.S. oil facilities and
American workers throughout the
Arab world.
Earlier Monday, sources who
spoke on condition of anonymity
had declined to pinpoint the location
from which the surface-to-air mis
siles were fired.
However, the Soviets are known
to have been assisting the Libyans
with the installation of SA-5 batteries
outside the town of Sirte, at the
southern end of the gulf, and near
Benghazi on the gulfs eastern rim.
The Gulf of Sidra is a large, U-
shaped body of water that cuts into
the central Libyan coastline from the
Mediterranean Sea.
Khadafy has claimed the gulf as
Libyan territory, warning he has
drawn “a line of death” above the
gulfs entrance below which U.S.
planes and ships are subject to at
tack.
The United States refuses to rec
ognize the Libyan claim.
According to the sources, the mis
siles were detected early Monday
morning Eastern Standard Time
during the second day of maneuvers
off the Libyan coast.
The first flights by U.S. Navy jets
over the gulf occurred late Sunday
night without incident, the sources
added.
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iday, April
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mares to have twins because one and sometimes
both foals are aborted. If not, he said, the foals
usually are born with congenital defects. Denise
Perkins, a graduate student in agriculture, said al
though one twin has a problem with the tendons in
its back legs, the outlook is bright for both foals.
Libyan radio demands
retaliation against U.S.
Associated Press
LONDON — Libyan radio threat
ened Monday to turn “the Mediter
ranean into a sea of fire,” and urged
attacks on U.S. oil facilities and
American workers throughout the
Arab world in retaliation for the
U.S. firing on a Libyan boat and the
Libyan shoreline.
“The oil which America exploits
and usurps should now be de
stroyed,” said the Libyan radio
broadcast, monitored in London by
the BBC. “The American bases in
the Arab homeland should now be
stormed. The American spies who
were pushed forward as experts and
consultants should now be executed,
wherever they might be in the Arab
homeland.”
Libyan television, and the official
news agency, JANA, had reported
earlier Monday that three U.S. jets
were shot down over the Gulf of Si
dra.
The White House denied the re
port. Spokesman Larry Speakes said
American aircraft fired on a Libyan
patrol boat, setting it afire, after Li
byans launched six missiles at Amer
ican planes. He said no U.S. planes
were damaged.
The editor in Rome for the Li
byan agency telephoned the Asso
ciated Press in the Italian capital and
read the following brief dispatch in
Italian:
“American aircraft today attacked
with missiles the region of Sidra, and
at the same time, Libyan air defense
has struck back, shooting down
three American fighter planes.”
Libyan television said the U.S. Air
Force had “started violating the air
space over Libyan territorial water in
the Gulf of Sirte Monday morning.”
The television said two of the
planes were shot down at noon local
time (8 a.m. EST) and the other
Monday night, according to the
BBC.
The Gulf of Sirte is known in En
glish as the Gulf of Sidra.
The British Broadcasting Corp.
monitor said that Libyan television
interrupted a musical program with
the following statement read by an
announcer:
“Brothers and sisters, we now re
ceive the following:
“The American Air Force com
menced this morning violating the
air space over Libyan territorial wa
ters in the Gulf of Sirte. Our air de-
See Libyans, page 12
Libyan conflict troubles legislator
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The chair
man of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee expressed concern Mon-,
day that a military confrontation be
tween the United States and Libya
could erupt into a “significant con
flict resulting in the loss of American
lives.”
Rep. Dante Fascell, D-Fla., also
suggested that the administration
may be in violation of the War Pow
ers Act of 1973.
Administration officials said U.S.
warplanes knocked out a Libyan
missile site and disabled two guided-
missile patrol boats on Monday after
Libya fired at least six missiles at
American jets operating in the Gulf
of Sidra.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., vice
chairman of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, expressed concern that
the confrontation might spark Li
byan attempts to carry out terrorist
actions in the United States.
“My chief concern now ... is not
whether we can hold our own there
in the gulf, because certainly we’ve
got much more power there than
Khadafy does.
“But my concern is what action
might be taken on the terrorist
front, given Khadafy’s threat to
carry terrorism to our shores. I want
to find out all possible information
we have about what possible steps he
might take regarding terrorism,” he
said.
However, Leahy said the “FBI is
See Legislators, page 12
egents give initial OK to fee changes
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By MARY ANN HARVEY
and
MONA PALMER
Staf f Writers
ihe Texas A&M Board of Regents Monday
pie preliminary approval to increase fees for
hilent services, parking, bus passes and mod-
>lai style dormitories.
^&M President Frank E. Vandiver said he was
oncerned that the A&M would outdo itself with
increases and price itself right out of the
university market.
■! asked Dr. Ed Davis ... to do a very special
tudy justifying our fee structure and he sure
e doing everything to contain costs,” Van-
:r said.
•avis, vice president for fiscal affairs, said the
ffjrease in student service fees was reviewed
Bdully by the students and administration and
n produce about $2 million a semester. The
iversity would use this money principally to
band services at A.P. Beutal Health Center, he
!
Student services lees were raised from $54.50
bmester to $61.00, a 10.6 percent increase. Al-
Bugh the regents based this figure on a charge
5.20 per semester hour, Davis said $61.00 is
maximum amount the University will he al-
ed to charge students.
e said the statutory limit for student service
is $90 a semester and that most universities
reached that limit.
'avis said a parking fee increase is necessary
and a multi-level parking garage, which is ex-
:ted to be completed by 1988. This raise in
A parking fee increase is necessary
to fund a. multi-level parking ga
rage, which is expected to be com
pleted by 1988.
— Dr. Ed Davis, vice president for
fiscal affairs.
parking fees would be the first increase in two
years.
In 1984, Davis said, parking fees almost
doubled after 10 years without an increase.
Dorm parking fees will rise from $63 to $66,
day student parking from $45 to $47 and sum
mer permits from $15 to $ 16.
Davis said this will add $800,000 to the pro
jected funds for the parking garage. The esti
mated cost is $12.6 million, and previously the
board allocated $260,000 by the board at a pre
vious meeting for preliminary design of the ga-
rage.
The cost of bus passes also will increase in Fall
1986, going from $44.50 to $46.00. Davis said
this will fund intra-campus bus service, currently
funded by student service fees.
The regents also increased the room rental
rate for modular style dormitories from $791 to
$825 a semester — an increase of less than 5 per
cent.
Davis said the modulars are almost twice as
large as rooms in the Commons and have carpet
and private bath facilities. He said rooms in these
dorms are more sought after than those in other
dorms.
This increase will bring the modular’s rent in
line with the rental rate for the Commons dormi
tories, he said.
The board also gave preliminary approval to a
recommendation from Student Government to
establish an international student fee of $12.00
per semester and $6.00 per summer session.
According to a release from Vandiver’s office
the extra cost of services and materials for the
special administration of international students
requires funding over and above the student
services fee. These special services include:
• Verification of visa status.
• Processing changes in visa status.
• Processing transfers between universities.
Davis said he believes these increases won’t put
a heavy burden on the students.
The board also preliminarily approved a re
duction in the rental rate for married student
apartment “A” complex from $237 to $195.
Davis said the current rate is putting a burden
on the tenants.
A report from Vandiver’s office said students
in these apartments must pay for their utility bills
on a metered basis while other tenants’ utility
costs are included in the base rental rate. The re
port said the rental rate needs to be adjusted to
compare with other University-owned apart
ments.
In other action, the board gave preliminary
approval to a resolution recognizing J. W. “Bill”
Runyon’s gift of an extensive art collection va
lued at nearly $5 million.
Faculty Senate passes
changes in A&M rules
By SONDRA PICKARD
Staff Writer
The Faculty Senate finished
amending specific items in the
core curriculum document Mon
day and also passed three resolu
tions, one which urged Texas
A&M to persuade the Texas Leg
islature to provide free tuition for
full-time employees and their de
pendents at state universities.
The senate also approved 23
revisions to the University rules
and regulations.
The requested tuition exemp
tion benefits for faculty, staff and
their dependents originated in
the Personnel and Welfare Com
mittee, which argues that it’s be
coming increasingly difficult to
provide adequate salary increases
and to recruit and retain qual
ified employees.
Dr. Richard Shumway, com
mittee chairman, said many other
private and public university em
ployees and their dependents al
ready receive such benefits, and
offering the extra compensation
would help recruit faculty and
staff to A&M.
In other business, the senate
approved a resolution urging
state legislators to maintain and,
if needed, increase the state’s con
tribution to retirement programs
in Texas to achieve parity with
comparable institutions.
According to a Personnel and
Welfare Committee document, in
1983 the state and member con
tribution rate to the Teacher Re
tirement System was reduced,
and then in 1985 it was subse
quently raised by a small percent
age. The senate fears that such
patterns of legislative action
could adversely affect the long
term soundness of the TRS when
coupled with other factors such as
lower withdrawal rates.
Also, although funding of the
Optional Retirement Program
has not been affected, if the Leg
islature ever decided to change
the state or member contribution
to ORP, there would be an imme
diate impact.
ORP benefits are directly re
lated to member and state contri
butions and no safeguard mea
sures have been passed to protect
See Faculty, page 12