The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, November 19, 1986, Image 1
Vol. 82 Mo. 58 USPS 045360 12 pages College Station, Texas Wednesday, Movember 19,1986 ombodion killing fields refugee elates horrors of Khmer Rouge By Paula Janda Reporter When Dith Pran left Cambodia seven years ago after surviving the Cambodian death camps, his nights were filled with the night mare of the “killing fields.” Now he dreams of his homeland the way it once was. Pran’s relationship with New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg and his escape from I the death camps were the basis of the film “The Killing Fields.” He told an audience of about 400 Tuesday that he sometimes has to drink to make sleep come easier and keep the horrors of his war- torn nation from coming back to him. The movie “The Killing Fields” is very mild compared to what he went through, Pran said. Al though the people who made the movie were true to the story, he said, the scope of killing two to three million people wouldn’t fit in a two-hour film. What makes the killings more horrifying, Pran said, is that the people were being killed by their own government. In 1970, the Cambodian communists, the Khmer Rouge, began fighting the American-supported Lon Nol government and soon gained control of the country. But during the rule of the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia became a mass grave for two million or more of the nation’s seven million people. The killing fields were the places used for mass execu tions. “In order to survive, we had to grab lizards, snakes, leaves and scorpions,” Pran said. “I ate scor pions like you eat shrimp.” Pran said times were devastat ing, with Cambodians dying from starvation, disease, overwork and dismaying conditions, he said. People sometimes died because they ate the wrong things, he said, and children were hit espe cially hard. Other deaths were suicides, he said, because many people couldn’t handle the horror of the situation. Pran said he was shocked that the Khmer Rouge forced even the crippled and the blind to work, making them chase birds out of the rice fields by clapping and yelling all day. And, he said, the crippled and blind weren’t the only ones forced to work. “They used kids from eight years old to work in the rice fields,” Pran said. The kids didn’t have on any clothes and were barefooted, he said. The movie comes to an end, but this type of killing and torture is going on every day, he said. “I apologize for the sad story, but I am very happy that the mes sage goes out,” he said. “I would feel guilty if I did not speak up for those who died in my country, for those who are still suffering there. The killing fields go on, around the clock and around the world, in Afghanistan, in Nicara gua, in Africa.” GSU requests $144 million rate increase Cambodian death camp survivor Dith Pran AUSTIN (AP) — Gulf States Uti lities Tuesday asked the Public Util ity Commission for a $144.1 million rate hike, part of which the company claims it needs to avoid running out of money next spring. GSU President E. Linn Draper said he knows the increase could be hard on ratepayers in the economi cally troubled Southeast Texas serv ice area, but that bankruptcy for GSU would be worse. “GSU wants to continue playing an active role in bringing in new in dustries and new jobs, but bank ruptcy would have a disastrous im pact on those efforts,” Draper said. Public Utility Counsel Jim Boyle, the state lawyer who represents resi dential and small business custom ers, said he is concerned about the fi nancial well-being of GSU customers. “If the alternative is to put cus tomers into bankruptcy, that is not acceptable,” Boyle said. “Clearly the company has Finan cial problems,” he said. “There is a tendency for a company like this to point the Finger at everyone but themselves.” Attorney General Jim Mattox an nounced he would intervene to chal lenge the GSU request. He estimated the increase could cost state govern ment an additional $2.4 million a year for power it buys from GSU. “We don’t want GSU in big trou ble and we don’t want ratepayers to pay more than is absolutely nec essary,” Mattox said. Company officials Tuesday trucked its 20-volume filing package to the PUC office in Austin. GSU serves 275,500 Texas customers. The Beaumont-based company filed a two-part request that includes an emergency $82 million increase that would take effect late this year and an additional $62.1 million in crease for next year. Under PUC calculations, which differ from the method used by the company, the total increase would be $153.8 million, according to com mission spokeswoman Maria Baker. According to GSU, the $82 mil lion emergency hike would raise the price of 1,000 kilowatt-hours for res idential use from the current $68.46 to $75.05, which the company said would be about the same as custom ers paid in 1983 before fuel prices declined. The additional $62.1 million in crease would bring monthly bills for 1,000 kwh to $85.02. This second increase would allow the company to cover costs of the River Bend Nuclear Plant in Loui siana, which went into commercial operation June 16 and supplies elec tricity for GSU customers in Texas and Louisiana. See Rates, page 12 President Parking garage proposal put on hold by board f not firing’ viser ad WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi dent Reagan wants his national secu rity adviser to remain on his job and is not annoyed at Secretary of State Hleorge Shultz for speaking his mind |bout U.S. arms shipments to Iran, a dike House spokesman said Tues day. John Poindexter, the president’s assistant for national security affairs, ‘-has been widely reported to have Coordinated the administration’s se- cret diplomatic contacts with Iran, which have brought sharp criticism p from Capitol Hill and elsewhere. i On Tuesday, former President ■perald R. Ford was asked whether ■ Poindexter should have to pay for any errors that may have been com- -™iitted. “Anybody who makes a mistake in |his very complicated world has to ike whatever the responsibilities |}:’are, and that’s a judgment that the ■[president has to make,” he replied. I In a joint appearance on NBC’s ■Today” program with former Presi- f dent Jimmy Carter, Ford said that, ■Who initiated this (dealing with Iran), who carried it out, I think, de serves some condemnation by cer tain people in the Congress, by peo ple on the outside because it hasn’t Been, in my opinion, run as well as it ought to have been,” At the White House, spokesman ,arry Speakes was asked whether rReagan wants Poindexter to stay. “Yes,” Speakes replied. He gave the same one-word reply dien asked whether Poindexter vould remain at his post. Shultz has made no secret of the fact that he opposes sending arms to Iran, but has acknowledged that he •did not have authority to speak for he administration on the subject. Asked whether the president was annoyed with Shultz for being out- •spoken, Speakes said, “No, he’s not.” When asked about one published Recount saying that Reagan and his senior staff were miffed at Shultz, the spokesman replied: “I don’t know. What does miffed mean?” Speakes replied, adding [hat, “All these questions are sort of imprecise.” I Referring to another report sug gesting that there would be a Cab inet reshuffling, Speakes said, “I jiaven’t heard anybody give him fReagan) that advice and I haven’t given it to him.” Asked directly whether Shultz muld remain in the Cabinet, Speakes said, “As far as I’m con cerned, as far as the president’s con cerned.” By Mike Sullivan Staff Writer Most students now at Texas A&M won’t be here to reap the benefits of the proposed six-level, 2,000-car parking garage, but if the project is approved by the Coordinating Boat'd in January as expected, stu dents who are now freshmen may be parking in the lot as seniors. The proposal for the new parking facility, originally scheduled to be considered by the Coordinating Board Oct. 31, was deferred by the board until January, said Wesley Peel, A&M System vice chancellor for facilities planning and construc tion. The board’s action was one of sev eral taken at the meeting involving the A&M System. Peel said the Coordinating Board was backlogged with proposals at its last meeting, and because A&M isn’t going to award the construction con tract until March, he offered to put million to expand utility plant A&M gets $8.2 By Mike Sullivan Staff Writer The Coordinating Board has ap proved $8.2 million in funding for utility plant expansion at A&M, the board’s assistant commissioner in campus planning has said. Gorden Flack said the utility plant funding was approved at the board’s last meeting. Wesley Peel, A&M System vice chancellor for facilities planning and construction, said those funds will go toward adding three chillers and making room for additional boilers at the utility plant on the west side of campus. The additions to the utility plant are needed to support new buildings and future construction in that area of campus. Peel said. More than half of the money ap proved for the utility plant project will pay for the underground piping required for expansion projects on the west campus, Peel said. In other action, the Coordinating Board: • Deferred a proposal by the Texas A&M Agricultural Research Station to use $2.7 million in state funds for renovations to the agricul tural labs and residences and for im provements of sites. the parking lot proposal on hold un til its next meeting. Gordon Flack, assistant commis sioner in campus planning for the Coordinating Board, said the board will consider two areas before ap proving the parking lot proposal. He said before the board ap proves the use of state funds for the project, it will examine whether A&M’s projected $12.6 million cost estimation of the project is as rea sonable and efficient as possible. “We had a horrendous amount of projects to evaluate (at the last mee ting),” Flack said, “and A&M agreed to defer this project so we could eval uate the cost data.” Flack said the board also examines whether proposed facilities are really needed. He said board members were con vinced by Peel and his staff that the parking lot is necessary. “I think A&M has really done its homework on this particular pro ject,” Flack said. “Basically the only thing we wanted a little more time on was to see if the cost that the Uni versity was paying is in line with comparable projects.” Paul Stevenson, manager of facili ties planning, said that if the parking lot proposal is approved by the board in January, A&M will begin to advertise for bids on the project at the end of that month. He said bids for the project will be taken during the month of February and the contract will be awarded in March. “Roughly speaking, it should take about 20 months to complete the project (once it’s awarded),” Steven son said. Stevenson said the parking lot will be built directly across the street from the Blocker Building where the Physical Plant offices are now lo cated. Judge: CS official removed because of poor job results WASHINGTON (AP) — A fed eral judge Tuesday dismissed an Ag riculture Department official’s charge that he was transferred from College Station in retaliation for a sexual harassment complaint that led to his boss’ suspension. U.S. District Judge John H. Pratt ruled that James P. Jones was trans ferred to Washington because of poor performance in his role as the second highest-ranking official in the Texas division of the Agricultu ral Stabilization and Conservation Service. Jones, 63, filed a discrimination suit in 1984, alleging his move out of College Station that year came be cause he had filed sexual harassment charges against his boss, Charles W. Mayfield, on behalf of several women in Texas ASCS offices. Mayfield was suspended for 30 days by the U.S. Department of Ag riculture after an internal investiga tion validated Jones’ accusations and found that Mayfield had sought sex in return for promotions on several occasions. Employees’ sworn statements also said Mayfield allowed a woman to drive a government car home and that he carried alcoholic beverages in a government vehicle. But Pratt said evidence intro duced by Justice Department attor neys had convinced him Jones’ transfer was made because of a poor work record and not in retaliation for blowing the whistle on his boss. “The record clearly shows that Jones had a history of performance inadequacies over a long period . . . that he frequently challenged major decisions of his superiors and was in subordinate . . . that he was disrup tive and disloyal and preoccupied with seeking Mayfield’s removal and that there was an irreconcilable per sonality clash between the two men.” “The facts do not support Jones’ claim of retaliation,” Pratt wrote in his decision. “The decision to trans fer Jones was made by Washington officials confronted with an impossi ble situation . . . which was adversely affecting the office’s efficiency.” Jones’ attorney, Andrew Lipps, said that Pratt’s decision was disap pointing and that he would decide whether to appeal after a thorough study of the ruling. “In light of the very important is sues under the civil rights laws, we will be seriously considering an ap peal,” Lipps said. “The findings of sexual ha rassment against Mayfield . . . would never have come to light had it not been for the actions of J.P. Jones,” he said. “Mayfield should take no pleasure in a decision by the court that reaf- See Ruling, page 12 Chernobyl may yet lack nuclear safety upgrade WASHINGTON (AP) — The Soviet Union most likely has re sumed operation of some nuclear plants without making the safety improvements promised in the wake of the Chernobyl accident, Energy Secretary John Herring ton said Tuesday. “Our best estimate is they started Chernobyl up probably too soon to do all the upgrades they said they were going to do,” Herrington said after testifying at a Senate hearing. “We are rea sonably sure they are operating reactors today without the up grades they promised.” Asked if the safety im provements eventually will be made, Herrington replied, “There’s no way of knowing. I certainly hope so.” Herrington also said the United States is having trouble getting information about two re actors the Soviet Union is build ing near Cienfuegos, Cuba, 180 miles from Key West. He said the Soviets were reluctant to discuss the plants in August at a meeting in Vienna. “The typical response was, you will be reading about this in our technical journals,” he said. “And that is not good enough in this sit uation.” The first plant was started in 1983 and scheduled to go on line next year. Construction on the second began in 1985 with star tup planned for 1990. However, Herrington said there have been delays, and operation of the first plant is “not imminent.” The secretary said he suspects the reactors will not be of the same design as the graphite-mod erated plant that caught fire at Chernobyl. But he said the United States has no details about the construction of the Cuban “Our best estimate is they started Chernobyl up probably too soon to do all the upgrades they said they were going to do. ” — Energy secretary John Herrington. plants, their safety systems and who will be operating them. The energy secretary said un certainties about the reactors in clude: • Containment building. The first reactor under construction does have one, but U.S. experts lack information about the de gree of steel reinforcement, the concentration of concrete used and other specifics. • Fire safety system. Is there one and if so, what kind? • Instrumentation. Herring ton said Finland has agreed to put a sophisticated system in So viet reactors, but it is unclear whether the Cuban plants will have the same one. • Simulators. The Finns have an outstanding system that opera tors use to practice, but it is not known whether Soviet reactors or the Cuban ones will have any thing comparable, Herrington said. Ambassador-at-large Richard Kennedy, a board member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he has urged Soviet and Cuban authorities to provide the type of information that is in the public domain in this country. “We have indicated to the gov ernment of Cuba . . . we’re pre pared to make further informa tion available. We expect them to do the same vis-a-vis the reactors in Cuba,” he told Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., chairman of the Governmental Affairs sub committee on energy, nuclear proliferation and governmental processes. Kennedy said the United States has made it “absolutely clear” it expects the highest safety stan dards to be applied to the Cuban reactors. He also said the United States is urging the IAEA, a United Nations agency, to be come more involved by making safety suggestions to Cuba. Both Herrington and Kennedy expressed doubts about the feasi bility of international safety stan dards and inspections.