V Texas A&M ^ m m •
The Battalion
Vol. 82 No. 188 GSPS 045360 8 pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, Augusts, 1986
Photo by Marie McLeod
A Light at the End of the Tunnel
The entrances to Texas A&M take on a different crosswalk over Wellborn Road that connects the
look after nightfall. This shot is of the pedestrian freshman parking lots with the main campus.
U.S., Soviets announce
Summit planning talks
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
United States and the Soviet Union,
in a step toward a 1986 summit, an
nounced Monday that agenda plan
ning talks will be held here in Sep
tember between Secretary of State
George P. Shultz and the Soviet for
eign minister.
No date has been set for the long-
delayed summit itself, Charles E.
Redman, a State Department
spokesman, said in announcing the
talks for Sept. 19-20 between Shultz
and Eduard A. Shevardnadze.
However, another U.S. official,
who spoke only on condition of not
being identified by name, said “in
the sense that we’re going to take
these steps I am more optimistic” of
a summit by year’s end.
The official said Shevardnadze
probably would meet with President
Reagan as well. But at the White
House, a spokesman, Dan Howard,
said “there are no such plans at the
present time.”
Summit preparations were slowed
by a slump in U.S.-Soviet relations
after Reagan and Soviet leader Mik
hail S. Gorbachev held their “fire
side” summit last November in Ge
neva.
But in a recent exchange of let
ters, Reagan and Gorbachev as
serted their determination to
sharply reduce U.S. and Soviet nu
clear weapons — notwithstanding an
apparent conflict in their ap
proaches.
Reagan and Gorbachev had
agreed on a 1986 summit in Wash
ington and a 1987 summit in Mos
cow. In fact, the Soviet leader had
been expected here in late June or
J u, y-
But the U.S. bombing of Libya in
April, in what was described as retal
iation for terrorism, prompted the
Soviets to cancel a Shevardnadze
visit in May. Subsequently, Reagan
announced he no longer would ob
serve the unratified 1979 SALT II
treaty, which imposed ceilings on va
rious U.S. and Soviet long-range nu
clear weapons.
Last week, a U.S. delegation in
Geneva informed the Soviets that
the 1972 SALT I treaty, which set in
terim constraints, also would be
abandoned.
Reagan and Gorbachev have as
serted, however, that nuclear weap
ons on both sides must be curbed.
Negotiations are due to resume in
the Swiss city in September, dealing
also with the U.S. anti-missile re
search program, known commonly
as “Star Wars.”
Redman said Shultz and Shevard
nadze are expected to “review pro
gress achieved in areas addressed by
President Reagan and General Sec
retary Gorbachev in their November
1985 meeting and discuss what addi
tional preparations may be needed
for a summit meeting between the
two leaders later this year.”
The spokesman said the Shultz-
Shevardnadze talks also would range
over “all areas” of the U.S.-Soviet
xelationship.
The earliest practical date for a
summit meeting is late November
since Reagan has ruled out a Gorba
chev visit during the U.S. congres
sional election campaign.
The agenda is likely to cover four
broad areas: arms control, regional
conflicts, U.S.-Soviet relations and
human rights.
The Soviets want to concentrate
on the nuclear weapons issue, while
the Reagan administration sees arms
control as an important topic but not
one that should dominate the next
Reagan-Gorbachev meeting.
At the same time, the Soviets are
reluctant to place special emphasis
on human rights, which is the West’s
way of referring to the the treatment
of Soviet dissidents, minorities and
other citizens.
Looking for a pre-summit com
promise, the U S. official, who de
manded anonymity, said “there’s a
willingness on the part of both par
ties to discuss each other’s agenda”
at the Shultz-Shevardnadze talks.
OPEC oil ministers
agree on drastic
cuts in production
]\Britain agrees to S. African sanctions
LONDON (AP) — Britain reluc-
Jtantly pledged itself to limited sanc-
jtions on South Africa at a meeting of
]seven Commonwealth nations Mon-
jday, but the six other nations
Ipressed for tougher measures
iagainst apartheid.
British Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher, addressing reporters at a
Jnews conference early this morning,
said she had compromised in the in-
Iterests of Commonwealth unity de-
Ispite her belief that sanctions will not
Tend apartheid.
“It has not been an easy confer-
lence,” Thatcher said. '“I don’t be
lieve that further sanctions will bring
(about internal change in South Af-
Irica . . . but the others were bent on
further action.”
The six other countries agreed to
impose 11 new sanctions against
South Africa, including cutting air
links, which could cripple the na
tional airlines of Zambia and Zim
babwe.
Commonwealth officials said pri 7
vately they believed the conference,
scheduled to last three days, would
end with an “agreement to disagree”
and separate communiques.
Thatcher said earlier that she still
believed sanctions were wrong, but
she announced an immediate “vol
untary” ban against British invest
ment in South Africa and promotion
of tourism to that country, a British
official said.
She said the actions must be vol
untary by Britons because the gov
ernment had no exchange controls
or powers to order publications to
stop, for example, printing South
African tourism advertisements.
Another promise made by the
prime minister was that Britain
would not oppose bans on imports
of South African steel, coal and iron
due to be debated by the European
Community next month.
The British official said she would
not shift her position farther for the
sake of unity in the Commonwealth,
the 49-member association of Brit
ain and its former colonies.
Patsy Robertson, a spokewoman
for the Commonwealth secretariat,
said, “The Commonwealth, other
than Britain, feels strongly if there
has to be a choice between unity and
credibility, the time has come for the
Commonwealth to be seen to be
credible on the issue.”
She announced that the six other
leaders had rejected the Thatcher
offer made in a morning closed ses
sion.
“They feel that the Common
wealth has taken a lead for the past
25 years on the issue,” she said.
“They feel that the black people of
South Africa and many qf the white
people there who want change are
watching very carefully what the
Commonwealth is doing.”
A British official who announced
the Thatcher offer after the morn
ing session declared: “This is in the
interests of solidarity. It is a demon
stration of disgust and clearly it is a
gesture toward the Commonwealth
too ... if the Commonwealth
chooses to take it.”
GENEVA (AP) — OPEC oil min-
isters reached unanimous
agreement Monday night on Iran’s
proposal for a drastic production cut
to raise prices, the cartel’s president
said.
Rilwanu Lukman, who also is the
Nigerian oil minister, gave no de
tails. “You’ll hear all about it tomor
row (Tuesday),” he told reporters as
he emerged from a Geneva hotel fol
lowing the late-night meeting of the
13 Organization of Petroleum Ex
porting Countries ministers. An
other meeting was scheduled Tues
day.
Iran’s Oil Minister Gholamreza
Aghazadeh had told a news confer
ence earlier he was very optimistic
about the production cut plan. The
cartel’s biggest producer, Saudi Ara
bia, had remained among the few
holdouts.
Oil industry analysts consider a
unanimous agreement by OPEC
members on production cuts crucial
to reversing a worldwide slump in
prices, which have dropped from
$32 a barrel late last year to as low as
$7.35 for some grades.
By not requiring production cut
backs from Iraq, its enemy in the 6-
year-old Persian Gulf war, Iran ap
peared to remove a major stumbling
block to the quota-sharing
agreement OPEC has been vainly
seeking for years.
Oil prices surged at the news. On
the New York Mercantile Exchange,
contracts for September delivery of
West Texas Intermediate, the
benchmark U.S. crude, closed at
$13.29 a barrel, up $1.74 over Fri
day’s close.
The events came as OPEC oil min
isters entered the second week of
talks in their fourth attempt in re
cent months to reach agreement on
lowering output and boosting prices.
Aghazadeh said he offered the
proposal to the OPEC oil ministers’
conference on Sunday.
The plan seeks a return to the
quotas used in October 1984. It
would bring OPEC’s combined out-
E ut for 12 countries to 14.8 million
arrels a day, he said.
Including Iraq’s output, com
bined production would total about
16.7 million barrels a day under the
plan, he said. OPEC’s current output
is about 20 million barrels a day, in
tensifying a world glut.
Aghazadeh said the plan would be
effective for at least two months,
when the ministers could meet again
to discuss the price structure.
He said Iraq would be free to pro
duce as much as it wants, but said:
“We can control Iraq’s production
by ourselves.”
Helping Hay
Southeast farmers to get
Texas-sized donation
M4
I
AUSTIN (AP) — Texas farm
ers have donated more than 14^
million pounds of hay to be
shipped to drought-stricken
farmers in Georgia and South
Carolina, Agriculture Commis
sioner Jim Hightower announced
Monday.
Calling it a “Texas-sized contri
bution,” Hightower said the hay
will be the largest donation from
any state to assist Southeastern
farmers.
The 70,000 square bales and
5,700 round bales of hay, worth
about $300,000, should fill some
530 boxcars being donated by
four railroads, Hightower said.
He said the hay is enough to
feed 12,000 head of livestock for
six weeks.
“I know what it’s like — I’m a
full-time farmer — to be in a
bind, and those boys in the South
east definitely need the help,”
said Tommy Davis, immediate
past president of the Texas
Young Farmers organization.
The 2,500-member Young
Farmers group is one of several
organizations helping with the re
lief drive, Hightower said.
The first trainload of Texas
hay will be assembled Saturday at
Hondo, where a farmer has do
nated 8,000 bales, he said.
The bulk of the shipments will
be launched Aug. 23 from nine
depots across the state where hay
is being collected.
Hightower said he has been
calling on farm groups and oth
ers — including the 4-H, Future
Farmers of America and local
chambers of commerce and civic
organizations — for volunteer
help to load the hay.
“The farmers are ready and
the transportation is arranged,”
he said. “But the final thing we
need now to complete the pro
gram is volunter muscle power,
good strong backs, so we can get
these bales out of the fields and
into the boxcars.
“Instead of being a gift from a
couple of hundred Texas farm
ers, the Texas Hay Drive will be a
gift from Texans who are going
to pitch in in the old-fashioned,
neighborly way.”
Hightower said farmers and
other volunteers will haul do
nated hay from the fields to one
of nine train depots — located at
Abilene, Atlanta, Canton,
Hondo, Robstown, Taylor, Ter
rell, Victoria and Weatherford.
At the depots, more volunteers
will load the hay into boxcars do
nated by the Union Pacific, Santa
Fe, Southern Pacific and Texas-
Mexico railroads.
The railroads will haul the hay
free of charge to Memphis,
Tenn., and St. Louis, Mo., where
other railroads have agreed to
take the loads and carry them on
to Georgia and South Carolina.
Nationwide drug fight
launched by president
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi
dent Reagan, saying rampant drug
abuse is reaping “sorrow and heart
break” a'cross America, launched a
campaign Monday to purge schools
and workplaces of illicit drugs.
Reagan unveiled a six-point pro
gram to coax people off drugs and
embraced a combination of manda
tory and voluntary tests of both gov
ernment and private employees.
In a nationally-broadcast appear
ance, Reagan credited his wife
Nancy with working hard to get kids
to say no to drugs, and said that
“starting today, Nancy’s crusade to
deprive the drug peddlers and sup
pliers of their customers becomes
America’s crusade.”
During a brief question-and-an-
swer session, Reagan acknowledged
that he had only recently taken a
high-profile role in the administra
tion’s quest to combat drug abuse.
“We hadn’t before put the effort
that we recognize now', should be
put . . . and that is . . . the time has
come for a nationwide crusade,” he
said.
In an interview with Newsweek
magazine, Reagan, a former actor
and onetime president of the Screen
Actors Guild, had said Hollywood
and rock ’n’ roll have helped glorify
drug use, making it “attractive and
funny, not dangerous and sad.”
In the United States, there are an
estimated 3 million to 5 million regu
lar users of cocaine, 18 million to 20
million regular users of marijuana,
and 10 million alcoholics.
A senior administration official,
briefing reporters later on the condi
tion he not be identified by name,
said, “I don’t think anyone has said
make mandatory drug testing a con
dition of employment.” However,
the official added, “We’re going to
ask corporate America to expand”
drug testing.
In the question-and-answer ses
sion, Reagan outlined six broad
goals encompassing his plan to at
tack a growing problem that he said
costs business $100 million a year.
These goals include:
• Seeking to improve interna
tional cooperation to stop the flow of
illegal narcotics into this country.
• Strengthening law enforce
ment, and “insisting that the crimi
nal justice system give prompt and
severe punishment to drug peddl
ers.”
• Expanding public awareness
and drug abuse prevention efforts
by, among other things, “reaching
out to all Americans and asking
them to join (first lady) Nancy’s drug
abuse awareness and prevention
program.”
He also said his goals include a
plan to create a drug-free workplace
for all Americans and getting drugs
out of schools.
Reagan would not say how much
the new initiative will cost, nor reveal
what plans, if any, the administra
tion has for asking Congress to im
prove new spending plans or supple
ment programs already in effect. He
did say, “the solution does not lie
simply within the realm of govern
ment.
“It is time to go beyond govern
ment,” Reagan said. “All the confis
cation and law enforcement in the
world will not cure this plague as
long as it is kept alive by public ac
quiescence. So, we must go beyond
efforts aimed only at affecting the
supply of drugs. We must affect not
only supply, but demand.”
Reagan stopped short of an
nouncing a program of drug screen
ing for federal employees — a drug
fighting option that has been heavily
publicized in recent days.
“I think we’re pretty much agreed
that mandatory testing is justified
where the employees have the health
of others, the safety of others, in
their hands,” Reagan said, referring
to law enforcement authorities, air
traffic controllers and the like in the
federal workforce.
“On the other hand, I think we’re
pretty much agreed that what we
should seek is voluntary” testing
among federal employees, he said.
House Majority Leader Jim
Wright, D-Texas, hailed Reagan’s
speech, saying, “We are encouraged
by the fact he is awakened to the
reality of the problem. Apparently
he appreciates the dimensions of the
problem.”
Wright, however, said the govern
ment’s current annual expenditure
of $3 million for drug education is
like “trying to fight a bear with a fly
swatter.”
Escaped
murderer
at large
BRECKENRIDGE (AP) — Au
thorities searched the Possum
Kingdom Lake area Monday for
a condemned murderer after
finding a woman inmate who es
caped along with him from the
Stephens County Jail.
Richard Donald “Stony” Fos
ter, 33, and Cindy Davis, 27, es
caped Sunday night after Foster,
wielding a knife, locked a jailer in
a cell, Stephens County Sheriff
James Cain said.
“He was slipped a knife, proba
bly by one of our trusties,” Cain
said. “The knife came from our
kitchen.”
Authorities said they captured
Davis without resistance at about
8 a.m. on the east side of Possum
Kingdom Lake. At the time of
her escape, she was being held on
an attempted capital murder
charge for allegedly shooting at a
police officer.
The lake is located about 25
miles northeast of Breckenridge.
Foster, whose execution date
had not been set, was sent from
death row to Breckenridge for a
pre-trial hearing on a kidnapping
charge, said Charles Brown, a
spokesman for the Texas Depart
ment of Corrections.
He had been convicted in No
vember 1985 in Parker County
for the murder of a Springtown
man in April 1984.