cG
v Texas A&M m m 1 •
The Battalion
Vol.82 No.85 GSPS 045360 12 pages
Tuesday, January 27, 1987
'New 7 grocery store
holds appeal for old,
young in Smetana
— Page 9
unmen grab 2 more foreigners in Beirut
books*
*5EIF:
/•
[BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Gun-
nun kidnapped two men believed to
be foreigners from a store in Mos
lem west Beirut, dragged them by
their hair to a getaway car and sped
ofi A store employee said the vic
tims spoke broken English and
might be Poles.
■Most universities and high schools
in the Lebanese capital staged a one-
day strike to protest the abduction of
three Americans and one Indian
from Beirut University College on
Saturday.
■The abductions raised to 23 the
number of foreigners missing after
Hing kidnapped in Lebanon, in
cluding eight seized since envoy
Terry Waite arrived in Beirut on
Jan. 12 to seek the release of two
American hostages.
Waite remained out of sight for a
seventh straight day Monday, the
longest he has been underground in
five trips to Lebanon.
The Reagan administration, in a
statement read by White House
spokesman Larry Speakes in Wash
ington, condemned the latest wave
of kidnappings as a declaration of
war against civilization, and told
Americans to get out of Lebanon,
warning, “there’s a limit to what our
government can do” for them.
Police said four gunmen grabbed
two men from an office equipment
store in the Sanayeh residential dis
trict at 11:30 a.m Monday. Police
said they believed the victims were
foreigners, but did not identify
them.
A Lebanese woman who works at
the store said she thought the victims
were Polish, although she did not
know their names.
“They are familiar to me,” said
the woman, who spoke on condition
of anonymity. “They used to pass by
us to photocopy documents. They
always spoke broken English.
“I knew them for a while as Po
les,” she said. “I cannot recall exactly
why, but I assume they were first in
troduced to me as Poles.”
IQ
Cathn
refeffRj
lanihcj
I a tr|
powfif
ay he if
i laiMjiJ
and rr4;
ovemaf
lv on -;y
un l5 i
dvik-j
20-w]
E. Mar:
or the:-
immisj
nlv im
Ik
t the ie
m
tthing™
lie whoi
Daniel Bloch, left, president of the Institut Na
tional Polytechnique de Grenoble, and Texas
Photo by Dean Saito
A&M President Frank E. Vandiver exchange
agreement memorandums on new cooperative.
laid
VERl
A&M, French institute agreement
encourages exchange of ideas
eactir
By James Florez
Reporter
In an effort to increase inter
national communication and en
hance the development of new
technology, the Texas A&M De
partment of Nuclear Engineering
and the Institut National Poly
technic de Grenoble (INPG) in
France have signed a memoran
dum of agreement which will fa
cilitate the exchange of students
and faculty between the two insti
tutions.
The agreement, which formal
izes a relationship begun three
years ago, was signed by A&M
President Frank Vandiver and
INPG President Daniel Bloch in a
ceremony Wednesday in Vandiv
er’s office.
Witnessing the signing were
Gerard Dumont, the French con
sul general from Houston, his sci
entific attache, Yvon Gousty, and
a contigent of faculty members
from the nuclear engineering de
partment.
A&M has signed 35 such
agreements with various institu
tions around the world, and
INPG recently signed agreements
with the University of California
at Berkeley and Cornell Univer
sity.
Dr. K.L. Peddicord, head of
the nuclear engineering depart
ment, said contact between the
two schools was initiated by the
French consulate in Houston
and, while the memorandum is
not a strict, binding contract, it
does serve as a strong link be
tween the universities.
“We’re not saying that on a cer
tain date we will send ‘X’ number
of students,” Peddicord said. “It’s
not a formal, binding agreement.
It’s more recognition that these
exchanges are taking place.”
The goal of the program is to
increase communication between
the United States and France,
both leaders in the field of nu
clear power, he said.
“The most important goal, in
my mind,” he said, “is greater
communication in the interna
tional community.
“The French are very ad
vanced in the field of nuclear
power. About 65 percent of their
electricity in produced by nuclear
power.
“What we are really after here
is to enhance the communication
between the two countries, which
will lead to higher levels of tech
nology in this area.”
While the exchange of techni
cal knowledge is the major objec
tive, Peddicord said the program
is a valuable experience to the
students involved.
“We think this is an excellent
experience for the students who
come to the United States and for
our students who go to France,”
he said. “It' is important for the
students to gain a little wider pro
spective of the world.”
Jeffery Simmons, a graduate
student from Seguin who spent
the past summer studying at
INPG, said the exchange pro
gram is important, not only from
a cultural standpoint but also be
cause it will give him an opportu
nity to compare the power sys
tems of the United States and
France.
“I want to gain technical as well
as cultural experience,” Simmons
said. “I grew up in a farm town,
and going to places like Paris was
quite a cultural shock to me.
“Hopefully, I’ll be able to say
something good and bad about
both systems. I can say we do
some good things here and
maybe we can change some of
our ideas to be similar to those of
the French.”
Carole Guyot, an exchange stu
dent from INPG, said she
thought the program was a suc
cess and hoped it would continue.
Guyot returned to Grenoble
over the Christmas break and had
the opportunity to speak to seve
ral students about the program.
While Peddicord is pleased
with how the program has pro
gressed thus far, he said he hopes
the exchange program will con
tinue to grow.
“It has been a very positive
thing for our program,” Peddi
cord said. “I hope the program
will expand not only within our
department but to other depart
ments as well.
“What we ultimately want to do
in nuclear engineering is to pro
vide this kind of opportunity for
any student who is interested.”
She said she saw four gunmen in
civilian clothes drive up to the shop,
and two of them entered the store.
“Each of them grabbed one of the
foreigners by the hair and dragged
them out, bundled them into the
Mercedes and sped away,” she said.
The abduction was so quick that
two policemen guarding a Western
news agency office next door did not
notice, she said.
The employee and a second wit
ness said one victim was blond with
blue eyes and the other had dark
hair. Both victims seemed to be in
their early 20s.
About 1,000 Beirut University
College students demonstrated out
side Prime Minister Rashid Karami’s
office a few blocks from the store to
protest the weekend kidnapping of
the four teachers.
The American educators were
Alann Steen, 47, of Areata, Calif., an
instructor in communication arts;
Jesse Turner, 39, of Boise, Idaho,
visiting professor of mathematics
and computer science; and Robert
Polhill, 53, of New York, a lecturer
in accounting. The Indian was Mi-
thileshwar Singh, a visiting professor
of finance who is a U.S. resident
alien.
Lebanese professors at the college
led the demonstration, in which stu
dents held posters bearing a single
word: “Why?”
Beirut University College said its
classes would remain suspended un
til the teachers returned.
The Christian-owned Voice of
Lebanon radio said two anonymous
callers claimed the kidnappings on
behalf of the Organization of the
Oppressed on Earth, a group of pro-
Iranian Shiite Moslems.
The callers threatened to kill one
or more captives unless West Ger
many released suspected Lebanese
hijacker Mohammed Ali Hamadi or
if the United States provided sup
port for Iraq in its war with Iran.
MSC Council approves
pick for 38th president
Hartman will begin work at post in April
By Carolyn Garcia
Staff Writer
Linda Hartman will all but have to
hang up her dancing shoes in April
when she takes over from Bobby Bi-
sor as the 38th MSC president.
“Time is always a concern,” Hart
man says. “Every time I consider tak
ing on anything, I have to stop and
think about the time involved.”
And time is involved. Current
president Bobby Bisor says the non
paying job consumes anywhere from
20 to 30 hours per week, which
makes it a challenge to keep up the
required 2.5 grade-point ratio.
The senior marketing major says
going dancing with her friends is the
way she best likes to spend the little
spare time she has.
“I like to stay in touch with them,”
she says. “They usually hear about
whatever I’m up to.”
Hartman says one of her greatest
loves is watching movies.
“I love to see movies with my
friends,” she says, “but when we go
out, they get frustrated because I’ve
already seen what they want to see.”
Although she was on the commit
tee to nominate the MSC president,
she says she was surprised by the ap
pointment.
“The other two people who ran
with me are my friends and they
were definitely very qualified,” Hart
man says.
Hartman, who currently serves as
MSC vice president for cultural pro
grams, has been involved with the
operation of the MSC for four years.
“It’s what I get out of it,” she says.
“You’ve heard of activity-oriented
people — that’s me. ”
Photo by Bill Hughes
Linda Hartman will take over from Bobby Bisor as MSC president.
Hartman is also president of the
Austin Hometown Club.
“We’re trying to show it’s not a
curse to be from Austin,” she says.
Hartman says there are many
benefits for people who want to take
an active part in organizations!
“The greatest benefit of being in
volved with the MSC is that I have
learned time-management skills,”
she says.
Hartman says that all students
should be involved in some Univer
sity organization.
“I think if nothing else, they
should be involved in at least one or
ganization outside of studying and
working,” she says.
“If you don’t set a pattern now of
being involved you’re missing out,”
she says.
Hartman says that improving tea
mwork is the first objective she wants
to tackle when she takes over as MSC
president.
“I would like to develop greater
teamwork, and to develop a closer
network among the administration
and improve the flow of informa
tion,” she says.
Hartman will train with Bisor un
til April.
Soldiers in Guardians group
seize TV station near
MANILA, Philippines (AP) —
Hundreds of soldiers said to be loyal
to ousted President Ferdinand E.
Marcos seized a television station on
the outskirts of the capital and tried
to storm several Manila-area military
bases early Tuesday.
The military said revolts were put
down at Villomar Air Base, located
at the Manila airport, and at the
headquarters of the 15 th air force
See related story, page 10
strike wing at Sangley Point, 10 miles
south of Manila. Military chief of
staff Gen. Fidel V. Ramos said one
mutineer was killed and 16 were
wounded at Villomar.
The official Philippine News
Agency also reported that about 100
}St
jay,*
smayf
ural-Ret
:best(jf
prize*!
ibleintii
er wilt
SG may increase student services fee
MSC Council sees budget process winding down to close
By Carolyn Garcia
Staff Writer
Addressing the MSC council
Monday night, Student Body Presi
dent Mike Sims said there is a possi
bility that student services fees may
have to increase.
Sims said he doesn’t know at this
point if Student Government will
raise the fees.
“If everyone keeps asking for ad
ditional funding it will most proba-
I bly have to go up,” he said.
Kristin Allen, MSC vice president
for finance, said the council has
asked for a 9,2 percent increase in
the fees, which make up small part
of the MSC budget.
Allen said all committees and pro
grams were required to submit bud
gets to the council.
She said the budget process,
which began in October, is winding
down with some programs facing
cuts and others being considered for
small increases.
The Budget Review Committee,
consisting of 30 staff, student and
Council members, spent seven days
going through each committees’
budget, “line-item by line-item,” to
see how the $3.2 million budget will
be spent, Allen said.
Each committee had the chance to
come before the Budget Review
Committee to defend its budget.
Bobby Bisor, MSC president, said
the council will take the final budget
before the Student Senate for ap
proval.
At the close of the meeting Roger
Feldman, associate professor in the
College of Veterinary Medicine,
made an appeal to individuals on the
council and their friends to donate
blood in the name of Gregory
Treibs.
Treibs, 22, a senior biomedical sci
ence major from Fredericksburg,
died Friday at St. Luke’s Hospital in
San Antonio from injuries received
in a Jan. 17 car accident that claimed
the lives of two other Texas A&M
students and a former student.
Feldman said 150 pints of blood
are owed in Treibs’ name.
“I don’t know of a better cause,”
Feldman said.
“fully armed Marcos loyalists” were
disarmed and detained as they tried
to break into Camp Aguinaldo,
headquarters of the Defense Min
istry and the armed forces general
staff.
About 500 pro-government
troops surrounded offices of Chan
nel 7 television on the outskirts of
Manila, blocked access roads and cut
electricity after dissident soldiers
seized the building.
There was no report of any move
against the presidential palace, and
spokesman Teodoro Benigno issued
a statement saying President Cora-
zon Aquino wanted to assure the
public she was in complete control.
He quoted her as saying the plot
was apparently aimed at blocking
Monday’s plebiscite on a new consti
tution. He said the rebels had been
identified, but did not name them.
Witnesses said rebel soldiers
mounted machine guns on the roof
of the private television station’s of
fice. The mutineers wore red scarves
and blue headbands emblazoned
with the word “Guardians” — the
name of a military fraternity linked
to recent coup rumors.
Ramos said the military was in
control of the situation and “sup
ports the government of President
Aquino.” Fie said the mutineers were
Marcos loyalists and that about 70 of
them remained inside the television
station.
Fifty-two mutineers surrendered
at Villomar. At Sangley Point rebels
ransacked an auditorium and took
two officers hostages but released
them unharmed when they surren
dered, Ramos said.
There were conflicting reports
about the number of mutineers at
the television station. Officers at the
scene first said there were about 300
but later reported they were not sure
of the number.
Another military spokesman said
more than 50 mutineers took part in
the takeover attempt at the air base.
Col. Emiliano Templo, a loyal of
ficer at the television station, said the
dissidents apparently had planned
to take over Camp Crame, head
quarters of the Philippine Constabu
lary, the national police.
But pro-government troops got
word of the plan and secured the
base. The dissidents then moved to
Channel 7, Templo said.
An announcer on government ra
dio said dissident troops entered the
offices of Channel 7 around 3 a.m.
(2 p.m. EST).
The Guardians fraternity claims
the membership of about 70 percent
of the officers and men of the armed
forces.
The leader of the Guardians, Maj.
Efren Arayata, rushed to the station
early Tuesday to negotiate with the
troops inside.
An armed forces statement said
about 200 soldiers from central Lu
zon infiltrated Manila late Monday
but it was unclear if they were the
only troops involved in the plot.
Government radio said soldiers
also had entered the state broadcast
ing complex to protect it.
Later, the government radio said
the situation at Channel 7 was “un
der control” but gave no further de
tails.