; 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