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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 1986)
&OTTA ice cm i/vTVWv, The Battalion Vol. 82 Mo. 42 CJSPS 045360 10 pages College Station, Texas Tuesday, October 28, 1986 acers opular jn B-CS : Cycles said to be ^ “too powerful' By Robert Morris Reporter inja, V-Max, Interceptor and Eliminator — these and other high- performance motorcycles with ma cho images have taken over the Col- r> leg< Station market for males be- Epwi-n the ages of 18 and 24. fflHlhey also have caused problems —, for insurance agents and motorcycle t iers. The fact is all of these cycles are i too powerful for the people on them,” said Budd Abbott, marketing --.man ager for Century Dairyman In- Uurance of Austin. "Less than 500 people in the United States are capa ble of handling the type of motorcy cles in the super-sport category, and : mpst of them are riding the pro cir cuit ” [Joe Fisher, owner of University les in College Station and a Ya- ha motorcycle distributor, said Mpst people don’t realize that along with the purchase of a high-perfor mance motorcycle comes the respon sibility of learning how to use it. Bfeandy Pazzaglia, president and general manager of Central Cycle and Supply and distributor of Kawa saki and BMW motorcycles, said these “macho-image” cycles are | called super-sports or cafe-racers by the people who sell them. Hhbbott called them "death machi nes ” ■some of the machines can reach |,Jl|ee(ls of 160 mph, and all do the quarter-mile in less than 11 seconds, ^■’azzaglia said almost none are rid- , den by people capable of handling this power. ^Randolph Adami, a junior at he couldn't i intruders wert: d, the officersy :■ office, and it# ! said the me >e their sh ■; :ler shotgun slugs. in the robh >503 N. Teuib .(1 Sunday inth! on a $105.1/': ated lor a (tell* ol his bods fe t Hospital it f .eswonunsaid idem Chnsr ■ pect in (fie t '- 'ei \ at St Juc Asstwmf >du\ and is i. ■ hospital spots Man charged with spying against U.S. Former Air Force sergeant wanted 'to embarrass' U.S. Photo by Tom Ownbey Andy Crenshaw bought his Ninja motorcycle six months ago but has ridden smaller bikes for two years. authorities a ■lease informal 1 Tejcra’sauk-p Texas A&M, is among the minority of people who own a high perfor mance motorcycle that have experi ence. He estimated almost 75 percent to 80 percent of the people currently riding these cycles have little or no experience. Adami began riding a small mo torcycle three years ago and rode two other small motorcycles before taking on a super-sport. Still, he admitted he bought the cycle because he “liked the style of the bike.” As far as performance is con cerned, Adami said he enjoys having the power, yet he said he rarely uses it. Pazzaglia said that these motorcy cles are taking over the market of the young male consumer because of their strong male-image appeal. The macho performance market was created by the Japanese motor cycle producers in the late 1970s and early 1980s in response to the lag ging sales of the typical cruiser mo torcycle made popular in the early 1970s, Pazzaglia said. However, he added the strong sales push has been greatly helped by the image portrayed in movies like “Top Gun,” where speed is pre sented as the ultimate object of ma cho release. “All these guys come in to buy a cycle that will make them Tom Cruise,” Pazzaglia said, referring to the actor in “Top Gun” who was shown in the movie riding a Kawa saki Ninja 900. College Station Police Sgt. Gary Bishop compared the current popu larity of the high-powered cycles to that of the black Trans Am in the late 1970s. Fisher said the sporty image ap peals to Americans — from muscle- See Motorcycles, page 10 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A dis gruntled former Air Force sergeant was arrested Monday and charged with trying to deliver secrets about an Air Force reconnaissance pro gram to the Soviet Union, authori ties said. Allen John Davies of San Jose, a naturalized American citizen who works for Ford Aerospace & Com munications Corp., was arrested by FBI agents in Palo Alto, south of San Francisco in the heart of Silicon Val ley, said U.S. Attorney Joseph Rus- soniello. If convicted, he could be pun ished by sentences of up to life in prison. Davies, 33, was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Frederick Woelflen and held pending a hearing Thurs day on a government request to keep him in custody without bail until trial. Davies showed no emotion during the brief hearing in a packed court room. A sworn statement by an FBI agent filed in federal court says that on Sept. 22, Davies offered informa tion about the Air Force program to an undercover FBI agent who posed as a representative of the Soviet con sulate in San Francisco at a meeting in the city’s Golden Gate Park. Russioniello told reporters that Davies did not ask for any money when he offered classified informa tion to the agent. “His apparent motive was spite,” Russoniello said. He said Davies had been dis charged in 1984 for “inadequate job performance” and apparently felt it was unjustified. Davies provided detailed verbal information about the program as well as a hand drawing depicting va rious aspects of the program, according to the statement by Agent Roger Edstrom. He said that much of the informa tion Davies provided at the meeting was classified as secret, according to Air Force Maj. Boyd Lease, director of the reconnaissance program. He said Davies stated he had worked on the reconnaissance pro gram while in the Air Force in 1983 and 1984. Davies had been told not to dis cuss his work or disclose the exis tence of his unit, he said. Davies said he was providing the information out of revenge because of the unfair way he was treated while in the Air Force, the agent said. “He also stated that he wanted to do something to embarrass the U.S. and to interfere with the effective ness of its reconnaissance activities,” he said. Political campaigns nationwide marred D° na| «by mudslinging tactics State Department shows 'displeasure' U.S. not cracking down on Syria I AST EVER* i; RNING f WASHINGTON (AP) — Neg- | atm campaigning, the volatile “dark side of politics” that some call mudslinging, is making its presence k 1 felt heavily this year in campaigns IM across the nation. __ Personal attacks as well as accusa tions of conflict of interest, absen teeism in high office and political ex tremism have left their stamp on > CLOSE T . manv Senate, House and gubernato- m; ENTfiyff-' rialjcam pa igns. sntCente' ! . ; “In these last weeks before an I: One rourtl -' election, we see again the dark side 1 Doubles, to" I of politics,” Sen. John C. Danforth, R-Mo., told the Senate earlier this month. "Each campaign plumbs new S CLOSEdepths of name-calling in thirty-sec- TI0N: Mens;'; ond TV commercials that transform t Classes A: personal attack into an art form, is D plays ft-o “Politics becomes an even dirtier oardsoutside”'!! job] hardening to its practitioners, USHARulef revolting to the public.” I pointtiebref!; j;That is the same conclusion Penn sylvania Republican Lt. Gov. William Scranton III said he reached when INTRIES CLfi-j he ordered his staff to scrap negative RACEC0U& adslaimed against Robert P. Casey, ENTRIES^ :l his Democratic opponent in the race forgovernor. year’s campaign has dete riorated into an unproductive name- calling contest,” Scranton said last week. “It has become like a back-al ley brawl. Mudslinging is not lead ership. . . . We dirty our own nest and it is time to clean that up.” Casey has run television spots at tacking Scranton’s attendance re cord at the state Senate, and several agencies as lieutenant governor. “He had trouble finding his way to work,” Casey said. “When you don’t go to work, you don’t get pro moted, you get fired.” A few days after Scranton’s no negativism pledge, 600,000 bro chures attacking Casey were mailed out. Scranton’s campaign people said it was all a mistake, that they hadn’t meant to break his promise. Casey said he’d make an issue of the mail ing. Among the many other negative examples around the country: • In Wisconsin last weekend, con sumer advocate Ralph Nader, ques tioning why Republican Sen. Robert Kasten’s drunk-driving arrest has not become a bigger campaign issue, said Kasten “needs rehabilitation rather than re-election.” Joe Sims, Kasten’s news secretary, See Mudslinging, page 10 tt. 28; PL# ■:00pm onbui" ses A, ■I play round provide thiefo*' the Sport Stf |1 WASHINGTON (AP) — Ever since Syria went on the U.S. terrorist list as a charter member in 1979, the United States, in deciding whether to censure President Hafez Assad’s government, has had to weigh the le verage Damascus may have with anti-Western elements in the Middle East. The dilemma was evident again Monday as the State Department registered its “great displeasure” with Syria’s policies while also trying publicly to hold Assad to his pledge to assist the seven U.S. citizens listed as hostages in southern Lebanon. Syria is considered the dominant political force in Lebanon, and while Assad’s government is philosoph ically too secular to please most Mos lem fundamentalist groups involved in terrorist incidents, its political in fluence is substantial. Also, terrorist experts within and outside the U.S. government are convinced that Syria plays a double role — providing a safe haven for Abu Nidal, head of the Fatah Revo lutionary Council, and others ac cused of terrorism, but also assisting American hostages, at least after they are released. In the case of at least three of them, Jeremy Levin, a Cable News Network correspondent; the Rev. Bejamin Weir, a Presbyterian min ister; and the Rev. Lawrence Martin Jenco, a Roman Catholic priest, the Syrians are credited with helping them get out of Lebanon once they were freed by their captors. “Nobody thinks Syria could press a button and get them out,” said a State Department official who spoke anonymously. “But we feel they’ve tried to be helpful up to a point.” Syria is not considered the domi nant influence with the groups be lieved to be holding the Americans. “These people, if they are in fluenced by anybody, are influenced by Iran,” the official said. “And Syria doesn’t want to jeopardize its rela tions with Iran.” Privately, State Department offi cials have no doubt that both Syria and Iran use terrorism to advance their political aims. Secretary of De fense Caspar W. Weinberger blamed both governments three years ago for the bombing of the U.S. Marine headquarters in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. servicemen. He said Iranians exploded the truck bomb with the “sponsorship and knowledge and authority of the Syrian government.” The United States also accused Syria of responsibility for the bomb ing of the American embassy in Bei rut the previous April. New shuttle engine design passes first tests SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) — Early tests show that a new rocket engine design will eliminate the flaws that caused space shuttle Challenger to blow up, a NASA official said Monday. John Thomas, manager of the space agency’s solid rocket motor redesign team, also said NASA is on track toward a resumption of space flights in early 1988. A new engine “has been tested and we are much more confident than ever before that it is a good design,” Thomas said, but added that much more testing remains to be done. Challenger blew up 73 seconds after launch Jan. 28, killing all seven crew members. A presidential commission de termined that the accident oc curred when a joint on the solid rocket engine leaked flame that ignited rocket propellant. Among the factors blamed by the commission were warping of the metal parts of the joint that unsealed two rubberized O rings and low temperatures that re duced the seals’ resilience. Thomas and his team designed a joint with an extra lip to prevent warping, added another O ring, and developed a heater to keep the joint warm. All of these el ements worked well in early test ing, he said. Thomas said engineers also tested the joint design used on Challenger and duplicated the leaks that the investigation con cluded occurred. The new design was subjected to “hot fire” tests using a scale model burning some 70 pounds of propellant for 80 seconds, Thomas said. “The results have been very, very pleasing,” he said. In one of the tests, he said, the joint sealed even without the use of O rings. Engineers are testing two ideas for insulating the steel walls of the engine from the 1,500-degree heat generated by the propellant. The next stage calls for tests using rocket segments that are the full circumference of a flight engine but which burn only 300 pounds of propellant. Leaders of world religions join in peace prayer nday, Od2oH n Rodeo, Fit H : reemanAf^ n Sal, Nov. I Nov, 2. Manor East 1 - an by Geoni 1 '; om McDonne ; .'j^SSlSI, Italy (AP) — Bearing olive branches and offering prayers, Pope John Paul II and other leaders of great world religions, from Mos lems and Jews to fire-worshipping Zorjoastrians, solemnly pledged Monday to work for peace. The pope, summing up the re solve of his religious colleagues, urged world leaders to fashion “strategies of peace with courage and vision.” Dalai Lama, the exiled Buddhist god-king of Tibet, called the historic gathering in Assisi, hill-town birth place of St. Francis, a recognition of the [“indispensable spiritual dimen sion” in efforts to end war. And the efforts had an immedi ate,-if temporary, impact in far cor ners of a war-torn globe. Warring parties in a dozen coun tries, including Nicaragua, El Salva- doriand Cambodia, acceded to the pope's appeal that combatants lay “Either we learn to walk together in peace and har mony, or we drift apart and ruin ourselves and others. ” — Pope John Paul II down their arms for 24 hours Mon day. The cease-fire broke down in Lebanon, however, and minor viola tions were reported elsewhere. In at least a dozen other conflicts, meanwhile, from the Iran-Iraq bor der to Northern Ireland, wars dragged on heedless of the plea. The 160 participants at the prayer meeting represented 32 denomina tions and groups from Christendom as well as American Indians, African animists, Japanese Shintoists, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Bahais. The denominations’ adherents number 3.5 billion people, or 70 percent of the world’s population. In a moving climax to the day’s events, the participants, resplendent in attire of a dozen colors, gathered on the steps of the Basilica of St. Francis and raised olive branches in a commitment “to make peace a cen tral aim of our prayer and action.” In his final address, the pope warned that the choice facing hu manity is “true peace or catastrophic war.” “Either we learn to walk together in peace and harmony, or we drift apart and ruin ourselves and oth ers,” he said. Dalai Lama told reporters, “The significance of today’s gathering must be found in its symbolism. We stressed the importance of prayer and reflection and the indispensable spiritual dimension in building peace.” But a Moslem from the Ivory Coast, Ahmed Tidjani, cautioned that many of the participants, unlike the pope, lacked the power to trans late “the spirit and meaning of As sisi” into concrete action. He de scribed the meeting as largely a “ceremonial exercise.” The nine hours of fasting, prayer and pilgrimage began at 9 a.m. in front of the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, built on the site where the peace-loving founder of the Franciscan order died. In chilly weather and under peri odic showers, thousands of pilgrims and tourists packed the narrow al leys of this central Italian town. Po lice and plainclothesmen pushed and shoved the onlookers to Clear the way for the religious leaders. The pope arrived in a motorcade from nearby Perugia and shook “The significance of to day’s gathering must be found in its symbolism. We stressed the . . . indis pensable spiritual dimen sion in building peace. ” — Dalai Lama hands with the leaders of more than 60 delegations, including Anglican leader Dr. Robert Runcie, the arch bishop of Canterbury, and Elio Toaff, chief rabbi of Rome. The individual groups first held their own prayer sessions in churches, monasteries and town buildings. Toaff and the other Jewish partic ipants gathered in a small square where a synagogue once stood be fore it was destroyed in the 14th cen tury. After 2'/2 hours of prayer, the participants walked in silent proc essions to a square in front of the 800-year-old Basilica of St. Francis, where the 13th-century friar is bur ied. Representatives of each religion then mounted the podium one after another and offered a public prayer. Muneyoshi Tokugawa, the chief Japanese Shinto priest, read from poems composed by Emperor Hiro- hito: “Although the people living across the ocean surrounding us are all brothers, I believe, why are there constant troubles in this world? Why do winds and waves rise in the ocean surrounding us? I only earnestly wish that the wind will soon puff away all the clouds which are hang ing over the top of the mountains.”