Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1986)
>iy- t)B- Student group to hold rally for National Divestiture Day — Page 4 Marcos may return home to 'save' country from Aquino — Page 5 Freshman leads Louisville to win over Duke in title game — Page 7 The Battalion Vol. 83 No. 125 (JSPS 075360 10 pages College Station, Texas Tuesday, April 1, 1986 166 die after plane crashes into mountain Protocol Committee members for the MSC Wiley Lecture Series greet former president Gerald Ford at Easterwood Airport Monday night. From left, the committee members are Debbie Stafford, Chris EFird, Susan Yeager, Ruben Brochner, Gigi Shamsy, and Chris Wagner. Ford is in Photo by John Makely town to participate in the Wiley Lecture Series, which begins today. Other participants in tonight’s lecture, “U.S. Interventionism: Resolv ing International Conflict”, are former president Jimmy Carter, histo rian Stephen Ambrose and journalist George Will. MORELIA, Mexico (AP) — A Mexicana Airlines jet carrying 166 people crashed into a mountain Monday soon after leaving Mexico City for two Pacific resorts and Los Angeles. The airline said everyone aboard was killed, Robert R. Ct igler, manager of the Mexicana Airlines office in Los An geles, said seven U.S. citizens and two Canadians were among the vic tims, but he did not give their names. The Boeing 727 hit the peak about 90 miles northwest of Mexico City, near Maravatio, on its way to stops in Puerto Vallarta and Mazat- lan. An airline statement said the pilot radioed that he was losing altitude and mentioned problems with cabin pressure in his last message. A source at the Mexico City airport said contact with the jet was lost 14 minutes after takeof f . “Unfortunately, there are no sur vivors” Mexicana spokesman Fer nando Martinez Cortes said of the 158 passengers and eight crew mem bers on Flight 940. fie said federal highway police were First at the crash site on the 7,792-foot mountain known locally as El Carbon, and re ported that all aboard apparently were killed on impact. Helicopters began taking the bod ies down to a base camp for trans port to Morelia by ambulance. Offi cials said crews at the site were looking for the flight recorders, but the body recovery operation was sus pended when darkness fell and would be resumed Tuesday. Jorge Sanchez, a helicopter pilot who brought down six bodies, said the jetliner was “in pieces. . . . The largest single piece was the tail, and everywhere there were bodies.” He said the tail section was in a clearing on a ridge, with other wreckage scattered over 500-6()0 yards. He reported the crash started several small brush f ires. Sanchez said witnesses in the See Crash, page 9 Oil prices fall below $11 a barrel NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices hit their lowest levels in eight years Monday, plunging more than a dollar a barrel to less than $11 on the futures market. Analysts said a continuing fall into single-digit figures was likely. Andrew Lebow, at the Shear- son Lehman Brothers Inc. securi ties firm, said, “There’s nothing holding the market up.” In Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Oil Minister Mana Saeed Oteiba was quoted as say ing that oil prices would drop to “$8 to $5 a barrel” without coop eration among producers inside and outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. But U.S. Energy Secretary John Herrington disagreed with that view. “I think we’re getting near the bottom,” he said at a meeting with See Oil, page 9 Reasons for Fox’s, Carter’s bids for CS school board vary By Paula Vogrin Reporter Ronnie Fox, candidate for Place 5 ftlheCollege Station School Board, ■he had not planned to run for a Ijtion on the school board, but was Rilled by the lack of community Herestin the election. List year there were 10 candi- ites for four positions on the I'd," Fox, 43, said. “When I saw be were only three candidates for tee positions, I was disgusted by e ackof community interest. I felt running for Place 5, I might be lie to get the community involved the election.” pices 3, 4 and 5 are up for elec- on, but only Place 5 is being con- sted. mx said he wants to serve the immunity but doesn't want the iijnninity to have to pay for that rjice. For that reason. Fox said, he financing his own campaign and d he will not accept an v donations. Fox said that if elected he will push for a larger junior high school, good teachers, a new sports complex and more interest from everyone in volved in the school district, includ ing parents, teachers, staff, adminis trators, taxpayers and students. Fox has owned and operated Ag- gieland Service and Repair for five years and has lived in the College Station Independent Scool District for 10 years. He has a son that at tends A&M Consolidated High School. Fox said one of the first im provements of the school system that needs to be made is the construction of a new junior high school and el ementary school. Consolidated's sports facilities also are too small and out-dated for a 5-A school. He recommends building a sports complex. Currently the school’s football team plays its home games on Texas A&M’s Kyle Field. Fox said he is concerned about the possible inju ries team members might suffer by playing on an artificial playing sur face. Fox said the baseball and track teams also need new facilities. “If we can provide 5-A facilities for a 5-A school, we can bring home state championships,” he said. “We need a new sports facility to house football, track, baseball and soccer, and the facility should be within the limits of our tax dollars.” Fox said that although sports play a big part in school, they should never overpower academics. He said academic programs always have room for improvement. The school board has performed exceptionally during the past year. Fox said, especially with five new members and a new superintendent. “Ray Chancellor has done an ex cellent job as superintendent. . . .” Fox said. By Karen Boehnke Reporter Donald Charter said he is running for Place 5 of the College Station School Board because he has an in terest in education and possesses the ability to make sound judgments. Carter, associate registrar at Texas A&M, is running against Ron nie Fox for a position being vacated by John Reagor. Places 3, 4 and 5 are up for elec tion, but only Place 5 is being con tested. One of the most important re sponsibilities of the school board is to chart the course of the school sys tem for expansion and its ne.eds. Carter said. Carter, 42, received both his bach elor’s of business administration in 1961 and his master’s of business ad ministration in 1966 from A&M. He College Station Independent School District. Carter said he thinks education should be an important issue to the community. Gathering input from citizens and conveying that input to the board would be would be his main respon sibilities. Carter said the school board has been doing a good job in his opinion, although there is always room for improvement, he said. Until March 5, Carter was unop posed in the election. But Ronnie Fox, owner of Aggieland Service and Repair, is now running against Carter, making theirs the only con tested College Station school board election. When Fox entered the race. Car ter said his campaign changed. He said he’s now' running a more active and more expensive campaign. If Reagor was running for re-elec tion, Carter said he would not have run against him. Former school board member Reagor said he supports Carter’s de cision to run for the school board. “He is an individual who I would have liked to have seen on the board for a long time,” Reagor said. Reagor said he agrees with Car ter’s philosophy that school board members should set policy and not try to run the district. Carter said he is not on a crusade to change the district and does not have an ax to grind. It is his first step into political life, and he said he thinks that, as a 20-year resident of the community, he can effectively convey the feelings and thoughts of the community to the school board. “Being a school administrator, fa ther and husband makes me a good candidate for the school board,” Carter said. Seven to be honored at Silver Taps tonight University News Service :ven deceased Texas A & M Indents will be honored in the traditional Silver Taps cere m o n y Tuesday. Those to be hon ored are: David R. Hedegard, 19, a sophomore from Tom- ball; Arther J. Strom, 19, a freshman from Dallas: Christopher Hol mans, 24, a junior f rom Denton; John L. Thorn ton, 19, a sophomore from Spring; Mitchell Smithw'ick, 20, a sopho more from McKin- nev; Scott Woodard, 21, a senior from Houston; and Richard Beck, 22, also a senior from Houston. Nineteen Texas A&M students have died since Aggie Muster last year. The solemn Silver Taps cere mony is conducted in front of the Academic Building beginning at 10:30 p.m. Students gather in si lence on the darkened campus and an honor quard from the Ross Volunteers flies a rifle sa lute followed by a special ar rangement of taps performed by buglers from the Corps of Ca dets. ‘Chance to curb arms race lost’ WASHINGTON (AP) — Former American arms control negotiators expressed regret Mon day at President Reagan’s rejection of a U.S.-So viet summit meeting to ban nuclear weapons tests, calling it a lost opportunity to curb the arms race. While none of these analysts was surprised by Reagan’s rebid f of Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gor bachev's proposal, thev were virtually unani mous in characterizing the president’s action as a setback and in saying it broke a long-term commitment with the Russians. Rep. Les Aspin, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said of administra tion officials, “They are rejecting something that’s worth pursuing.” And a Soviet of ficial \ isiting here said Gorba chev will not be deterred in offering proposals to challenge the Reagan administration to slow the nuclear weapons competition. “We will be coming up with other initiatives,” said Sergei Plekhanov, a department head at the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences. He said it will happen “not because we have been painted into a corner and forced to be nice” but because “there’s no other way.” Entering the minority view' of U.S. analysts uoyv prominent in the private arms control com munity, James T. Hackett, former acting direc tor of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, said neyv U.S. weapons tests yvere nec essary to maintain the integrity of the American nuclear deterrence. Hackett, now an official of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research group, said it yvas the only yvay to assure warheads were not deteriorating and likely to malfunction. “It’s like recalling a car yvith faulty brakes,” Hackett said. T he United States found after ending a mor atorium 20 years ago that several of its war heads, including the W-52 tactical ballistic mis sile didn’t yvork and had to be replaced. But four former U.S. officials and negotia tors, Paul Warlike, Spurgeon Keeny, Gerard Smith and John B. Rhinelander, said in separate intervieyvs that Reagan yvas wrong to reject Gor bachev's invitation to hold a summit in a Euro pean capital to ban f urther testing on both sides. Like Hackett and Aspin, they all appeared to assume the Soviets would now end their seven- month moratorium and the United States would folloyv its March 22 explosion with further tests in the Nevada desert. “I’m certainly not surprised,” said Warnke, chief U.S. negotiator in the Carter administra tion. “Since 1981, the Reagan administration has made it clear they have no interest in a compre hensive test ban,’’Warnke said. He dismissed as “nonsense” the arguments by senior administration officials that nuclear yveapons must be tested for safety and reliabil ity. “There’s no basis for that,” Warnke said. “We do very little in the way of proof-testing.” T he usual procedure, he said, is to inspect See Rejection, page 9