Battalion
Serving the University community
ol. 83 No. 137 CISPS 075360 12 pages
College Station, Texas
oxic gas
rms in
ilding
By Craig Renfro
Staff Writer
itoxic chemical was released
n , tr mi k broken 5-pound bottle, form-
■tentially harmful vapors in the
lemistry Building, but no damage
sdpne, a department official said
|di|esday.
B Bi Cartel, academic business ad-
_er lor the chemistry department,
incident happened in the
dilferen Imjcal storeroom basement when
rdinganlfpfund bottle of white phospho-
ids plat us bi oke.
■ recomjH'ee people were in the room
IJBthe bottle broke, but no one
Jffljured, Carter said. The entire
Kg was evacuated to avoid
Bnhalation, he said.
For more than an hour, toxic va-
RWtyuBmld be seen coming out of the
ildaig, as classes were postponed
d hundreds of students looked on.
. - l^n white phosphorous reacts
3 ani lh Ixygen it forms phosphorous
ntoMde, which is a toxic chemical,
. ^Br. Michael Rosynek, associate
Trill b the chemistry department,
rrponen Bliemical makes a f ine white
iwdfi which looks like smoke, Ro-
c madf nellsaid.
?nts. Ht RoLnek said a small amount can
ii sars
\ lew b
Photo by John Makely
Ron Carter, academic business adviser for the tion firefighter the cause of the toxic fumes,
chemistry department, explains to a College Sta- which formed in the Chemistry Building.
Khadafy condemns U.S., says
Libyans ready to fight, die
W lot of smoke, but there is no
jiger as long as the the toxic sub-
nce is not inhaled. If inhaled, the
emical acts as a dehydrating agent
lich can burn the respiratory sys-
n, he said.
'Mtfking sure the building was
icuated was the biggest safety con-
n,” he said. “Now it’s just a matter
letting it air out, until it’s safe to
back in.”
: ire chief Morgan Cook said Fire-
hters were spraying dry chemicals
belp ventilate the area. The fire-
iitersalso used a ventilation fan to
pdear the smoke, he said.
‘Trying to keep everyone out is
r ftiain concern right now,” Cook
ABabout 4:30, Carter said the
Iding was clear of any danger,
i students and workers were al-
edjto return to the building.
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Moam-
mar Khadafy emerged from two
days’ seclusion late Wednesday, con
demned the United States for its air
attack on Libya and vowed that his
people are ready to fight on and die.
But the Libyan leader, whose baby
daughter w-as reported killed in the
raid, told Americans, “We will not
kill your children. We are not like
you, we do not bombard cities.”
Khadafy’s appearance on Libyan
television, during which he dis
claimed responsibility for anti-
American terror attacks, dispelled
speculation he had left the country
or been killed or seriously injured in
the Tuesday morning air raid of
U.S. warplanes that dumped one
bomb just 10 yards from the Kha
dafy residence here.
Earlier Wednesday night, anti-air
craft fire streaked the skies over Tri
poli for a second day and gunfire ri
cocheted around the headquarters
compound. Government officials
denied the street gunfire signaled
factional fighting.
Anti-aircraft crews first opened
up Wednesday afternoon at what of
ficials said was a high-flying U.S. re
connaissance jet. A Washington
source acknowledged that recon
naissance planes had flown over this
north Af rican nation.
The Libyans also said there were
new U.S. air attacks Wednesday
against Tripoli and towns south and
east of here. But the Pentagon den
ied it.
/ For almost two full days after the
damaging U.S. air bombardment of
Tripoli, Khadafy had remained out
of sight. Earlier Wednesday, he
failed to appear for a promised
meeting with journalists at his head-
quarters.
Then, at 11:15 p.m. (3:15 p.m.
CST), the Libyan leader appeared
on state television.
“We are ready to die and we are
ready to carry on fighting and de
fending our country,” he declared,
speaking in Arabic.
The attacks, which the United
States said were targeted on five se
curity and military installations in
Tripoli and the eastern Libyan city
of Benghazi, also severely damaged
a civilian neighborhood in Tripoli
and killed at least 100 people.
Khadafy’s 15-month-old daughter
was killed in the raid. Khadafy said
Reagan “should be put on trial as a
war criminal and murderer of chil
dren.”
Thursday, April 17, 1986
Khadafy said
to have fled
from Tripoli
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
Reagan administration on Wednes
day received intelligence indicating
that Moammar Khadafy had fled his
Tripoli headquarters and gone into
the Libyan desert, government
sources said. They said Khadafy
might have been wounded in Mon
day night’s raid.
Speculation of a coup in Libya
moved through Washington, and
Defense Secretary Caspar Wein
berger said reports of gunfire in Tri
poli could indicate that “there may
well be some people . . . who are try
ing to take matters into their own
hands.”
One government of ficial, who re
fused to be identified by name, said
it seemed likely Khadafy was “some
place in the middle of the desert”
and had flown there within the past
day.
“He has several times before gone
into the desert when things got tight
in Tripoli,” the official said, adding
that there have been tensions be
tween Khadafy’s East German-
trained guards and the regular
army.
“He recharges his batteries in the
desert,” the official added.
“Whether there’s more to it this time
or not, we just don’t know.”
The sources said information
reaching Washington indicated that
Khadafy may have been wounded
during the Monday night air raids.
Khadafy ended speculation that he
had been killed with a television ap
pearance in which he blasted the
Reagan administration for the
bombing.
Gunfire in Tripoli around Khada
fy’s headquarters fueled speculation
about factional fighting. One con
gressional source said elements op
posed to Khadafy were “back in
town.” Another congressional
source said the administration had
See related stories, page 7
received reports of fighting else
where in Libya, outside T ripoli.
U.S. intelligence received reports
that gunfire near Khadafy’s Tripoli
headquarters was not merely re
newed anti-aircraft fire from nei -
vous Libyan gunners.
The administration professed un
certainty about developments.
White House deputy press secre
tary Edward Djerejian, “We cannot
confirm the state of his health and
w r e cannot confirm his actual where
abouts or whether he has been in
jured.”
The intelligence information indi
cated that Khadafy may have been
injured, or at the very least stunned
and that his out-of-sight posture
may have been contributing to un
rest there.
On the GBS Evening News, Wein
berger was asked whether Khadafy
u'as losing his grip on the Libyan
government.
“There may u'ell be some people
— and there are a lot of them — who
have every reason to be unhappy
with him, who are trying to take mat
ters into their own hands, in other
words, people who read the lesson
that this attack was supposed to ad
minister,’’ he said.
ABC News, quoting U.S. intelli
gence sources, said there were re
ports of mutiny at the Tarkunah
army base, south of Tripoli. The
network said there were reports that
Libyan air strikes were, used against
Libyan army units.
However, the network said there
w'as no indication any particular
group had moved to seize power.
Meanwhile, the State Department
See Khadafy, page 8
•use Republicans stop
bate on aid to Contras
WASHINGTON (AP)
House Republicans used a sur
prise tactic Wednesday to
abruptly stop House consider
ation of President Reagan’s SI00
million Nicaraguan aid proposal,
saying they wanted to divorce it
fom an unrelated spending bill
RBgan badly wants to veto.
■emocrats claimed the Repub
licans acted out of desperation
^ftuse they did not have the
votes to defeat a key proposal op
posed by the White House.
Both sides agreed the issue of
Contra aid is not dead and will re-
surfjace, perhaps under different
ground rules, within a few weeks.
femlie Republican minority
pulled its surprise by voting for
JtRunendment that would have
snded the Reagan program of
aiding the anti-Sandinista gueril
las in Nicaragua — an amend
ment that had been widely ex
pected to fail.
As a consequence, the amend
ment by Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-
Ind., passed 361-66 with only one
Republican opposing it. It would
bar all aid to the Contras while
making $27 million available for
Nicaraguan refugees.
The unexpected ploy, which
blocked consideration of an
amendment opposed by the
White House, was characterized
by GOP leaders as a move to free
the aid plan from a $1.7 billion
catch-all spending bill Reagan
says is “pork barrel” legislation
See Contra aid, page 8
Aggie Muster
'Roll call for the absent will be held Monday in coliseum
By Sue A. Krenek
Reporter
Former Texas A&M students
worldwide will gather Monday for
Muster, the traditional ceremony
honoring Aggies who have died dur
ing the past year.
The Muster ceremony, which is
combined with a Silver Taps cere
mony for the dead, features a “roll
call for the absent.” As the names of
those who have died during the year
are called, classmates answer “here”
and students light candles for each
one.
The largest Muster will be held at
8 p.m. in G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Sharon Gibson, Muster ’86 commit
tee sub-chairman, says Muster is be
ing held later in the day than usual
so students returning from the long
weekend can attend. Classes will not
be held Monday because San Jacinto
Day has been declared a state holi
day in celebration of the Texas Ses-
quicentennial.
Gibson says the ceremony will
combine the Muster for current stu
dents and faculty, the Brazos County
A&M Club’s Muster and the 50-year
reunion of the Class of’36.
This year’s speaker will be A.W.
“Head” Davis, Class of ’45, an attor
ney for the local firm of Davis & Da
vis Attorneys. Davis was the 1983
president of the Association of For
mer Students.
Gibson says the committee expects
an . excellent Muster because “Mr.
Davis is really excited and really mo
tivated about the ceremony, and
we’re really looking forward to it.”
More than 300 Musters also will
be held worldwide Monday. Almost
half will be held in Texas, but more
than 120 are scheduled in 42 states
and 44 have been planned for 34
foreign countries including Czecho
slovakia, Indonesia and Kuwait. All
will feature roll calls, and the names
of the deceased will be called at the
Muster closest to their homes.
Gibson says this year’s ceremony is
a first because it will be broadcast
live to Aggies throughout the United
States and in much of Mexico and
Canada on A&M’s new microwave
transmitter.
Home satellite viewers will receive -
the program, which will begin with a
See Muster, page 8
r
JH
nil
lachtman’s complaint against Sims dismissed
j By Frank Smith
Staff Writer
I I complaint filed by former can-
ate Mike Hachtman calling for
disqualification of Student Body
sident Mike Sims was unani-
usl\ rejected Monday night by
Student Government Judicial
ird.
ims described the board’s deci-
i as being “just,” and added, “I
the complaints held no water.”
lachiman filed the complaint
tda\ morning with the election
funiision and was informed Tues-
night that the commission den-
hisirequest. The complaint was
rred to the judicial board for re-
!.
fidicial Board Chairwoman Ma-
'n Yanta said Wednesday that
the board reviewed the complaint
Monday night and “reached a unani
mous decision that it didn’t have any
substance.”
In the complaint, Hachtman said
Sims should be disqualified because
his campaign violated the election
regulations on several counts.
The first part of the complaint-
said statements on Sims’ behalf had
been made on the air by disc jockeys
of local radio station KORA-FM
during the campaign. Hachtman
cited an election regulation requir
ing all gifts and campaign materials
used by any candidate to be assessed
a market value by the election com
missioners and subtracted from the
candidate’s campaign fund. Hacht
man said he was not offered equal
time on the station, so the comments
supporting Sims should have been
considered advertisements and thus
charged to Sims’ campaign — which
Hachtman said would push Sims
over the $300 campaign spending
limit.
However, Yanta said the pro-Sims
comments were considered public-
service announcements since no evi
dence of a monetary transaction be
tween Sims’ campaign and the radio
station existed.
Sims, who works as an announcer
at KTAM, said, "As broadcasters, we
are allowed to editorialize as long as
we disclaim that it’s not the opinion
of the station or its management.
That’s exactly what those people
were doing was editorializing their
own opinions.”
Hachtman also charged that Sims’
campaign signs were still standing at
8 p.m. on April 11, almost 48 hours
after the runoff election polls closed.
“This was well past the deadline
set by the election commission,” the
complaint said.
Thus, Hachtman said, Sims
should have been charged a $15
fine. And since the $5 filing fee can
didates pay is subtracted from their
campaigns, Hachtman said the fine
also should have been deducted
f rom Sims’ campaign.
Yanta said even if Sims had been
fined, it would not have affected his
expenditures.
“A penalty fee is not something
you budget for,” Yanta said. “(But)
See Hachtman, page 8
Sims sworn in as head of SG
By Frank Smith
Staff Writer
Mike Sims was sworn in
Wednesday night as 1986-87
Texas A&M student body presi
dent.
Judicial Board Chairwoman
Madelon Yanta administered the
oath to Sims before members of
the newly-elected Student Senate.
Student Government officials
are required to take the oath as a
result of a constitutional amend
ment, which was given final ap
proval in the April 2 student elec
tions.
Yanta also swore in Douglas
Baird as chairman of the external
affairs committee: Jose Castro,
chairman of student services;
Jerry Dingmore, chairman of aca
demic affairs; and Spence
McClung, chairman of finance.
In addition, the 48 senators
present were sworn in together.
Sims extended a welcome to
the senators, telling them that
through the senate they have the
opportunity to excel and learn,
but he charged them to always re
member the senate’s primary goal
of serving other students.