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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 1986)
; TBeBattalion Vol. 82 No. 62 CISPS 045360 10 pages College Station, Texas Tuesday, November 25, 1986 Keniors (above) gathered at Sully on Monday for Elephant Walk. Kyle Soltis (right) holds “Pat Palson” on Tobin Kurtin’s shoulders. Photo by Tom Ownbey M H ' ’ ' — iBcirelays Bank of Britain U,S. official blasts Reagan divests from S. Africa w ■JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Al’)— Barclays Bank of Britain, cit ing financial and political pressure, ■cl Monday it sold its last shares in ■ South African af filiate for about ,, $230 million. iSHlt was the biggest divestment yet by a foreign company. 8 lA consortium of South African companies signed the deal last week to buy Barclays’ shares in Barclays pgNational Bank of South Africa, the ^ country’s largest commercial bank. % ■“The Barclays PEC sale of shares ' must have an impact on the South fflrican economy,” Basil Hersov, chairman of Barclays National, told a news conference. “It is certainly not a perilous matter, but it is cause for serious concern in terms of psy chological impact.” ■The London-based Barclays Bank PLC once owned 100 percent of the local affiliate but since 1973 had re duced its share to 40.4 percent. Its final pullout is the first by a major British company but follows with- g jdrawal by numerous American com panies— most recently General Mo tors, Kodak and IBM. ■The value of the divestment and number of employees involved — 26,000 — made it the largest so far. However, officials of the local affil iate said the existing staff and opera tions will be maintained. ■South African bankers, speaking oil condition of anonymity, said they 1 feared Barclays’ withdrawal would encourage pullouts by other British companies. Britain is the largest foreign inves tor in South Africa, with $8.5 billion, compared to about $1.3 billion in American investments. Local managing director Chris Ball said .“Barclays are longstanding friends of South Africa. They’re not doing this to punish South Africa. They’re doing it because they’re un der political pressure which is con verting into financial pressure.” In London, Barclays spokesman Geoffrey Kelly said the sale was made chiefly because of the affil iate’s poor economic performance and unfavorable prospects for the South African economy. But he told the Associated Press, “I think certainly political factors come into it. “The lack of progress toward end ing apartheid has itself had impact on the South African economy. It is also true that the threat to our busi ness in the U.K. and the U.S. is one of the factors, but not the prime fac tor.” In Britain, anti-apartheid groups have protested outside Barclays’ branches to push for divestment. Barclays gave the sale price as 527 million rand, or $234 million at Monday’s exchange rate. Whitehead: There's evidence of Iranian terrorist activities WASHINGTON (AP) — A top- ranking State Department official on Monday bluntly challenged Presi dent Reagan’s assurances that there’s been no recent evidence of Iranian involvement in terrorism, while Reagan defended his decision to approve arms shipments to Teh ran. “I don’t like to have to differ with my president, but I believe there is some evidence of Iranian involve ment with terrorists,” Deputy Secre tary of State John C. Whitehead said during an extraordinary appearance before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Whitehead testified as Reagan said, “I didn’t make any mistakes” and declared that “I’m not firing anybody.” The president then sat down with members of his Cabinet and top advisers to weigh new moves, amid a crescendo of calls by members of Congress for a White House shakeup. According to a Justice Depart ment source, speaking on condition of anonymity, the White House meeting, whose participants in cluded Attorney General Edwin Meese, lasted over three hours, more than two hours longer than planned. In statements that left some House committee members stunned, See related story, page 6 Whitehead, the No. 2 State Depart ment official under Secretary of State George Shultz, also suggested pointedly that Congress rein in the National Security Council and said publicly that his department was dis enchanted with the unit. In his nationally broadcast speech Nov. 13, Reagan defended his policy of selling arms to Iran, saying that “since U.S. government contacts be gan with Iran, there’s been no evi dence of Iranian government com plicity in acts of terrorism against the United States.” Whitehead contradicted that statement Monday. Responding to the committee’s questions, he said: “There continue to be terrorist acts in Iran of the type that we find to be reprehensible.” Whitehead did not immediately elaborate. State Department spokesmen had been saying for weeks that while Iran remained on a list of nations of ficially identified as “terrorist-spon soring states,” they would not pro vide evidence that that nation has sponsored any recent terrorist acts. On Friday, however, Whitehead, and other State Department officials More people seek Thanksgiving meal Number of ‘new poor’ up in U. S. ■(AP) — They are the new poor, wross the country, organizations ■thai are preparing Thanksgiving l.’nieals for the needy say they are L'struck by increasing numbers of |fgmilies and youngsters who are call- •ing for help. ■in Kansas City and Phoenix, in Chicago and Little Rock, the gyms, churches and armories where the poor and lonely gather for Thanks giving will be filled this year with the (Bunds of children. ■ In the farm and oil belts, the problem is especially pronounced. '■Jess L. Duncan of the Salvation Army in New Orleans said, “The fpical person we’re working with now, compared to maybe a year or ■two years ago, are the new unem ployed.” ■Mike Moreau of New Orlean’s i&aveler’s Aid said, “The trend we see is the number of intact families thrown into homelessness. Three or Jour years ago, that wasn’t a prob lem.'’ ■In Kansas City, Mo., the director of the City Union Mission said peo ple from farms and rural towns are increasingly among the homeless. ■Rev. Maurice Vanderberg said, “I think it has to do with the farm econ- Farmers get ‘table scraps’ AUSTIN (AP) — Food for a typ ical Thanksgiving dinner this year will cost consumers $2.79 per plate, but Texas farmers will receive only 8 cents of that total, agriculture offi cials said Monday. “Texas farmers will be left with ta ble scraps after providing millions of thankful consumers with another bountiful Thanksgiving feast this year,” Agriculture Commisssioner Jim Hightower said. The Texas Department of Agri culture again this year analyzed the farm value of 11 Thanksgiving menu items grown or raised by Texas farmers. On a per-plate basis, the cost is $2.79, about what it was last year. Hightower reported. Of the 11 items, Hightower said, seven either resulted in no profit or a net loss to farmers — stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, grapefruit, green beans, milk and ice cream. Farmers received a net profit on the remaining four items — turkey, lettuce, tomatoes and pecan pie. Hightower said that the total 8-cent return to farmers was misleading. “That ridiculously low return is inflated when we consider that 70 to 80 percent of our state’s turkey pro duction is controlled by one compa ny,” Hightower said. “It is virtually the only one to realize any gain on our Thanksgiving dinner.” omy. Farms don’t require the man power they used to.” In Little Rock, Ark., restaurant owner Robert McIntosh gave away 500 baskets of free food last year, more than 2,000 people signed up for the baskets this year. “I have seen lots of hard times, but this beats them all,” he said. In Phoenix, Ariz., the St. Vincent de Paul Society is preparing 2,500 dinners, up from 1,500 last year. Spokeswoman Teresa Coury-Da- via said, “People are coming to Phoe nix for the weather. It’s all over the newspapers that Arizona is the place with a lot of jobs.” But people arrive and find they aren’t qualified for jobs, she said. Prosperous Southern states report the same problem. Social agencies are receiving an unusual number of pleas from families who came seek ing work, found they didn’t have the right skills, and wound up living in cardboard boxes or cars. Maj. Herb Bergen at the Salvation Army Post in Knoxville, Tenn. said, “They are just moving from one state to another and hoping they can find that job. Some of these people are not skilled in anything and they just fall through the cracks again when they get in your community.” The problem is not limited to the Sun Belt. In Chicago, steel plant closings boosted the number of hun- & r y- Sister Donna Marie Preston of the Parish Cooperative Social Service Center said, “We’re beginning to see those people who have been laid off some time ago. . . .” speaking privately, linked Iranian- sponsored groups to the kidnapping of three Americans seized in Beirut since Sept. 9. They are Frank H. Reed, director of a private school in Beirut, Joseph J. Cicippio, acting controller of the American University in that city and Edward A. Tracy, a writer. A department official, speaking on condition he not be identified, said the United States was initially unsure who was responsible for some of the recent kidnappings be cause a group unknown to terrorism experts — the Revolutionary Justice Organization — had claimed re sponsibility. Subsequently, the department has received “pretty good” information that pro-Iranian factions are behind the kidnappings, the official said. During a picture-taking session in the Oval Office, Reagan made no se cret of his unhappiness over news reports about back-biting among his staff, calls for resignations, and sug gestions that he admit the Iranian initiative was a mistake. “I think you’d be happier if I said I’d stop answering questions on that because you wouldn’t like my an swers,” the president told reporters. Even so, he said, “I’m not firing anybody.” As for whether he would admit it was wrong to approve arms for Iran, the president replied, “I’m not going to lie about that. I didn’t make a mis take.” Registration 'lines' busiest at the start of each class slot By Pamela Utley Smith Reporter Lines for spring registration are now only as long as the num ber of people between you and the nearest touch-tone phone, but the wait to get to the com puter may be as long as ever for those who call during the first two days they’re scheduled to regis ter, says Willis Ritchey, assistant registrar in charge of registra tion. The 32 available phone lines constantly were filled Nov. 10, the first day the system was avail able, Ritchey says. He says the number of phone lines is suffi cient, but that quite a few students who are not seniors or graduate students tried to register, and this helped to block lines which al ready were overloaded by large numbers of qualified students try ing to register. “If you have a number (action code), you can access the system,” Ritchey says, “and it won’t tell you that you can’t register until you get about 30 to 35 seconds into the process.” About one-fourth of Texas A&M’s seniors registered Nov. 10, and usually only three- fourths of all seniors preregister during their allotted time, Ritchey says. But according to fig ures from the registrar’s office, about three-fifths of all seniors registered through Nov. 15. On Nov. 17, the first day of ju nior registration, about one-third of the qualified students preregis tered, according to the registrar’s figures. About five-sevenths of all juniors registered through Nov. 22. The University has been work ing toward the phone registration system for about two years, Ritchey says. The two systems used to regis ter during that time were only in terim systems leading up to this one, he says. The phone registration system is faster and less expensive than any other system previously used, Ritchey says. Where once 40 extra people were needed to work during reg istration, now only 12 are needed, he says. Another advantage is that less damage is done to equip ment because it isn’t moved. When students become more familiar with the system the time needed for each classification to preregister could be halved, Ritchey says. In the future Ritchey expects See Register, page 10