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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 14, 1986)
Bluegrass singers win first in 1986 MSC Variety Show — Page 3 hhhv Texas A&M ^ ^ The Battalion Serving the University community Vol. 83 No. 135 CISPS 075360 10 pages College Station, Texas Monday, April 14, 1986 fe* 1 ■ ' 1,1 - ■ ' ' ' ! M ■ - ■■ —— 1 TutanKevin? Kevin Murray, starting quarterback for Texas A&M, eyes a young fan Saturday at the Maroon-White game at Kyle Field. The Aggies’ first Photo by Anthony S. Casper team played the second and third teams. Although several points were scored, in the end the scoreboard still read 0-0. See story, page 7. Libyans claim foreigners live at target sites TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Col. Moammar Khadafy’s government claimed Sunday it had moved for eign workers, including U.S. citi zens, to oil fields in the desert and army bases purportedly targeted for attack by American forces. But a Western diplomat told The Associated Press he had spoken to several representatives of his coun try in Libya, and none of them re ported any such incident. He spoke on condition he not be identified further. A statement released by a Libyan Information Department official, who refused to be identified, said, “Foreign workers have been forced to live in them (oil fields), taking into account that the majority are Ameri cans.” Tripoli has remained quiet for days, and there were no signs Sun day of any military preparations. Diplomats and business people es timate 800 Americans still live in Li bya, including executives, oil field workers and about 100 American women married to Libyans. Reagan ordered all Americans out under risk of a 10-year prison sen tence and cut all U.S. economic ties with Libya after terrorists attacked the Rome and Vienna airports Dec. 27, killing 20 people, including five Americans. The U.S. 6th Fleet, meanwhile, was poised in the Mediterranean off Libya, awaiting President Reagan’s decision on a possible strike in retal iation for Khadafy’s reputed sup port of international terrorism. Reagan and Chancellor Helmut Kohl of West Germany have said Li bya is a prime suspect in the April 5 bombing of a West Berlin discothe que that was a gathering place for U.S. troops stationed in West Ger many. A U.S. Army sergeant and a Turkish woman died in the blast, and 230 people were injured, in cluding 63 Americans. Reagan said he would consider a retaliatory strike if evidence proved Khadafy was behind the bombing. The United States blamed Pales tinian terrorist Abu Nidal of carry ing out the attacks and accused Kha dafy of harboring him. Other Westerners in Libya in clude Europeans. The British com munity there is estimated at 5,000. Hundreds of foreign workers al ready live in the desert oil fields, of ten on rotating one-month shifts. The Western diplomat told the AP only five major docks are used to load oil on tankers, so there would be no need for U.S. warplanes to hit the widely scattered oil fields. “The Americans could take out the jetties’ loading points, and that would stop the oil flow,” the diplo mat said. Official reports Japanese chief says reforms will aid West ■THURMONT, Md. (AP) —Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone of Ja pan assured President Reagan at a Camp David meeting Sunday he is “determined to effect an historic change” in Japanese lifestyle and culture to accommodate Western markets and interests, a senior American official reported. Hriie official, who attended the meeting and spoke to reporters af terward on condition he not be iden tified, said Reagan was impressed by the commitment and determination of the prime minister to eliminate the huge trade imbalance between Japan and the West. TNakasone was quoted as saying, “Now is the historic moment” to make clear to the Japanese public and to the world at large that the time has come for fundamental re form of Japan’s export-oriented economy. The prime minister also ex pressed sympathy to Reagan for the most recent terrorist attack in Berlin in which an American soldier was killed and more than 200 people, in cluding 63 U.S. military personnel, were wounded, the official said. Both men expressed a desire for international cooperation in combat ting terrorism, the source said, but Reagan neither sought nor received support for a retaliatory strike against Libya, which has been blamed for terrorist attacks in the past and which Reagan has termed a suspect in the latest killing. The president welcomed Naka sone to his mountaintop retreat with a careful informality characteristic of life at the camp. Vice President George Bush, who had arrived home only hours before from his trip to the Middle East, and Secretary of State George P. Shultz were among those on hand for the brief formal talks in Laurel Lodge, the main conference center in the heavily guarded Camp David com plex. Reagan and Nakasone joined the president’s wife, Nancy, for a private lunch in the rustic luxury of the Rea gans’ quarters in Aspen Lodge, while Bush, the foreign secretaries of both nations and other top offi cials held a separate working lunch. Symbolic of the informality of the visit, Reagan gave the prime min ister a navy blue windbreaker with the presidential seal and Camp Da vid insignia like one the president was wearing and a set of presidential golf balls. Nakasone gave the Rea gans a tiny portable color television. A senior U.S. official, who briefed reporters at the White House on condition he not be identified, said terrorism in general was discussed in the meeting, but Libya was not men tioned specifically unless it came up in private conversation between the two leaders. Japan, which is heavily dependent on foreign oil, does not buy oil from Libya and has instructed its indus tries not to interfere with U.S. sanc tions against Col. Moammar Khada fy’s regime. U.S. and Japanese officials, speak ing on condition they not be identi fied, said a key topic of the dis cussions was to be a report released earlier this month calling for funda mental changes in the Japanese life style to accommodate the West. The United States and other Western na tions import massive quantities of Japanese products while com plaining that the one-way trade route hurts their domestic econ omies. The document prepared for the Nakasone government recommends dramatic changes, including short ening the work week in Japan to five days from the six now worked by many; raising wages; encouraging more consumer spending on hous ing and other personal comforts; and reducing personal savings which now, encouraged by special tax breaks, are the highest of any indus trialized nation in the world. The government hopes the changes over time would make Japa nese exports more expensive while creating a domestic climate more conducive to purchases of foreign- made goods, which now encounter stiff consumer resistance in Japan. Heyes to be A&M Parents of the Year Lk ' I l|A ? illiarn and Joan Heye of Rich ardson were named Texas A&M’s Parents of the Year Sunday as Par ents’ Weekend activities drew to a dose. .wVhen contacted Sunday night af- 1 “ ter arriving back in Richardson, Wil liam Heye praised the values and ideals of A&M in addition to the ed ucation offered. ®‘‘You can probably get a college education anyplace,” he said, “but you can’t get the kind of feelings that 'veifelt — that we wanted our kids to be exposed to. For myself, A&M has w been a special place.” ■-l!aKfoan Heye said receiving the award was an overwhelming experi ence. ■We’ve talked about it all the way back home this afternoon,” she said, ffi'he Heyes will succeed 1985-86 bonorees Joseph and Pat Hlavinka. I Nominations for the award are ac cepted from students currently en- colled at A&M. Amy Lister, chairwoman of the Student Government Parents’ Week end committee, said the selection is nade each year based on parents’ contributions to their community, amily and to A&M. ■/All the applications were great,” See Parents, page 6 Office’s paperwork up due to installment plan By Nancy Neukirchner Reporter Although the payment of fees by installment may somewhat lessen the financial burden of struggling students, it’s creating more work for Texas A&M’s Stu dent Financial Fiscal Department, says Bob Piwonka, department manager. The plan, mandated by the Texas Legislature in conjunction last September’s tuition increase, allows students to pay tuition and required fees in one, two or four payments throughout the semes ter for a S10 fee. Required fees include the stu dent services, building use, stu dent center complex, health cen ter and identification card fees. Piwonka says that about 13,000 students last fall and 9,000 to 10,000 students this semester took advantage of the plan. Of those, about 30 percent each semester do not make their payments on time, he says. Piwonka says the fiscal office mails a reminder notice to stu dents about two weeks before the payments are due. If the payment is not made on time, a $ 10 late fee is added. If the student does not pay by the end of the semester, he is ad ministratively withdrawn from the University and does not re ceive credit for any classes. If he wishes to receive credit, he must pay the fees, any late charges and a $50 reinstatement fee. Piwonka says that if a student is paying for his own tuition, the plan might make it easier to meet the initial payment but harder in the long run to pay it off. However, if parents are pay ing, they might find it easier to meet the payments over the pe riod of a semester, he says. Piwonka says that the program is a more involved process than the old system. But does the plan significantly alleviate financial strains on stu dents? According to the 1985-86 Texas A&M undergraduate cata log, students pay between $4,800 and $5,400 per year for school. This includes tuition, fees, books, supplies and incidental and living costs. The average tuition and re quired fee payment, which is the only portion that can be paid on the installment plan, is $760 to $780 per year for a student tak ing 15 hours. This is about 14 to 16 percent of the estimated cost per student. Since off-campus students usually pay on a monthly basis, Piwonka says, the program may benefit them more than on-cam- pus students who are required to pay room and board at the begin ning of the semester. Also, he says, the plan may be more of an advantage for non residents and international stu dents, who pay a much higher tu ition. Tuition and fees for non-resi dents and international students taking 15 hours compromise about 45 to 48 percent of their to tal expenses. Papal synagogue visit believed first in history ROME (AP) — Pope John Paul II and Rome’s leading rabbi embraced, read from the Psalms and prayed to gether in silence Sunday during the first recorded visit by a pope to a synagogue. John Paul deplored the “hatred and persecution” of the Jews throughout the centuries. “You are our dearly beloved brothers and, in a certain way, it could be said that you are our elder brothers,” John Paul said to re sounding applause from the crowd of about 1,000 people. Speaking in Rome’s monumental main synagogue facing the Tiber River, spiritual center of what is be lieved to be the oldest Jewish com munity in the West, the pope pledged the Roman Catholic Church would further its efforts to remove all forms of prejudice. But John Paul did not address the thorny issue of Vatican refusal to es tablish diplomatic relations with Is rael. John Paul and Rome’s chief rabbi, Elio Toaff, sat in gold-trimmed upholstered chairs at the head of the synagogue, facing the congregation. They entered the synagogue to the accompaniment of a choir sing ing a Psalm. The pope wore a white skull cap and cassock, decorated by a gold cross. Toaff also wore a white gown, with a stole striped in black. After readings in Hebrew, which were translated into Italian, Gia como Saban, the president of Rome’s Jewish community, spoke first. He said that in the 16th century, copies of the Talmud, a collection of Jewish writings, were burned in Campo dei Fiori, a square a short distance from the synagogue. Shortly afterward, Saban said, in 1555, Pope Paul IV ordered the city’s Jews confined in the ghetto, which existed until 1870 and is the site of the present synagogue. Saban then declared that Israel is “central to the heart of every Jew,” and expressed the hope that “any reticence in regard to the State of Is rael” will be removed. The pope, speaking in Italian, said: “Certainly, we cannot and should not forget that the historical circumstances of the past were very different from those that have labo riously matured over the centuries.” He quoted from Second Vatican Council’s revolutionary 1965 docu ment on non-Christian religions, “Nostra Aetate” (In Our Times), See Pope, page 6