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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 1987)
The Battalion /ol.82 No.87 GSRS 045360 14 pages College Station, Texas Thursday, January 29, 1987 ted l ebels agree to end -day coup attempt MANILA, Philippines (AP) — About 200 rebel troops agreed Thursday to end their two-day occu- pation of a broadcast complex after pfo-government soldiers called off an assault, Defense Minister Rafael lino said. ■“I’m glad to announce we have ei<led another episode in the history ol disturbances that have plagued us tht se many months,” said Ileto at a ntws conference also attended by air faice Col. Oscar Canlas, leader of tht mutineers. ■The announcement was made fol low ing a two-hour meeting at Camp Aguinaldo, the armed forces head- qlarters, between Canlas and top pro-government military officials, inc luding Ileto and military chief of stiff Gen. F idel V. Ramos. ■ Canlas refused to call the lifting of tie siege a surrender, saying “we never left the armed forces.” ■ He was accompanied to the meet ing at Camp Aguinaldo by 13 fellow mutineers, all armed with M-16s. He was wearing blue jeans, a blue T- shirt and brown civilian jacket. There was no indication that the mutineers had begun leaving the studios of Channel 7 television and radio station DZBB, which they had occupied since early Tuesday. But private radio station DZRH reported that buses had been sent to pick up the mutineers. It said rebel soldiers and pro-Marcos civilians were still in the building. Ileto said the question of punish ment for the mutineers, who the government linked to ex-President Ferdinand E. Marcos, “would be dis cussed later.” Ramos said President Corazon Aquino was “perfectly satisfied with what was accomplished,” and he was sending her a full report. Aquino vowed T uesday to punish “to the fullest extent of the law” hun dreds of rebel soldiers who at tempted to take over major media and military facilities in the capital. Pro-government troops sur rounding the television and radio complex fired about a dozen tear gas cannisters shortly after a late Wednesday deadline expired, but did not attack. Jose Magno, military adviser to Aquino, said Ramos ordered a halt to operations against the rebels after a five-hour meeting with 200 offi cers ranging in rank from lieutenant to colonel. Participants in the meeting told the Associated Press that they did not agree with the goals of the muti neers, and Magno said none of them actually refused to fight.However, officers said they believed an attack would threaten the unity of the mili tary, and they interceded with Ra mos because they were friends and classmates of some of the rebels. ||Vrigliccm Church official relays ^assurances about Waite’s safely Send ■ BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — A group calling itself Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility Wednesday for the ab duction of three Americans and an Itadian professor from a west Beirut campus. I In London, the Church of En gland said the Archbishop of Can terbury had received assurances that his envoy, Terry Waite, was safe and continuing his mission to free for eign captives in Lebanon. ■ ‘‘These assurances have been con- veved to the Church of England from leaders of the Druse commu nity who are Mr. Waite’s hosts dur ing his mission to Lebanon,” a church statement said. “These lead ers held conversations today with leaders of the Shiite community.” ■ The four professors were “con spirators under the pretext of edu- caiion,” said the handwritten Arabic- language statement delivered to the west Beirut office of a Western news agency. The statement was accompanied by a Polaroid picture of one of the hostages, American professor Rob ert Polhill, 53, of New York City, a lecturer in accounting. Polhill and three others were seized Saturday at the campus of Beirut University College by gun men posing as Lebanese riot police. The other hostages are Alann Steen, 47, of Areata, Calif., a com munications instructor; Jesse Turner, 39, of Boise, Idaho, a visit ing professor of mathematics and computer science; and Mithileshwar Singh, 60, a visiting professor of fi nance. The group said in its statement: “The Islamic Jihad Organization for the Liberation of Palestine, as it an nounces its debut, declares responsi bility for the abduction of four Americans who are conspirators un der the pretext of education. “They have been using the facade of teaching to carry out American intrigues at Beirut University Col lege.” The Beirut newspaper An-Nahar said it received the same claim of re sponsibility, along with a Polaroid picture of Singh. It could not be determined whether the group is related to Is lamic Jihad, or Islamic Holy War, the pro-Iranian Shiite Moslem ex tremist faction that holds American and French hostages kidnapped in west Beirut in 1985. The fate of Waite had been uncer tain following unconfirmed reports that he was placed under house ar rest by Shiite Moslems who have held two Americans hostage since 1985. Waite vanished Jan. 20 after leaving his hotel to negotiate with the captors. Little Shop Of Horticulture Photo by Tom Ownbey Kim Poff, a senior horticulture major, plants tiny impatiens seeds as a part of her greenhouse pro duction class. Poff is using a vibrating seed dis penser to distibute the seeds evenly in the flats. )n ai»l urcM keom ty, sti d noi^ toptf Let® 11 ;ed ® in U f diddK e prep sysl new grains 1 .ationi govetf runio 1 ' nedia als, part' ements to delay regents' choices as long as 45 days tudei By Curtis L. Culberson Staff Writer I It may be at least 45 days be fore Gov. Bill Clements names his selections to the Texas A&M Board of Regents, a spokesman for the governor said Wednes day. James Huffines, appointment secretary for the governor’s of fice, said the governor has not de cided if any of the current re gents will be reappointed. But Robert Marbut, Mayor Henry Cisneros’ assistant, said a reap pointment for Cisneros is un likely. I “It’s naive to think that Henry will be reappointed,” Marbut said. “The word on the street and from informal contacts in Repub lican circles since two weeks after the election is that the decision lhas been made not to reappoint Henry.” I Marbut added that Cisneros ||ias been operating on the knowl edge that he would not be reap pointed for about three months, so he hasn’t even considered what he would do if the position was of fered to him again. I “Our office has not been con victed either way,” Marbut said. | Huffines said many candidates still are being interviewed for the three board positions that will be vacated Feb. 1. I No names will be released by Feb. 1, Huffines added, but they are hoping to make the appoint- rtients in February. The next ftieeting of the board isn’t until March 24, so the vacancy period should not cause any conflicts. I The terms of regents Henry Cisneros of San Antonio, William A. McKenzie of Dallas and Joe C. Richardson Jr. of Amarillo all will expire on Feb. 1. ; McKenzie said he would like a reappointment, but also that he has not yet been contacted by the governor. Henry Cisneros McKenzie added that he has enjoyed his term on the board and is proud of the work it has done during the past six years. He considers the hiring of Ath letic Director Jackie Sherill, the hiring of Chancellor Dr. Perry L. Adkisson, the expansion of Eas- terwood Airport and the devel opment of the new research park as some of the more significant accomplishments of the board during his term. Cisneros served on the board for 18 months, finishing the term of H.R. “Bum” Bright, who re signed in 1985. Marbut said Cisneros really didn’t have much of an opportu nity to work on the board, al though he was proud of the work he did in the areas of minority re cruitment and the upgrading of the Texas A&M Engineering Ex tension Service in San Antonio. Although he was not available for comment, Richardson has said he has enjoyed his term but doesn’t want another. Huffines said Clements is looking for strong, business- minded people with a sensitivity for higher education. Democrats won't let Reagan ‘off hook' WASHINGTON (AP) —- Democrats control ling both the House and Senate served notice Wednesday they won’t let President Reagan off the hook despite his plea that Congress not “let partisanship weaken us” over the Iran arms deal controversy. The day after the president made the appeal in his State of the Union address, House Speaker Jim Wright said Democrats will waste no time pursuing their own legislative goals this year, without waiting for Reagan. And even though congressional leaders pledged bipartisan cooperation, both sides quickly gave way to partisan sniping. Amid a chorus of Republican praise for the president’s speech, Rep. Charles Schumer, D- N.Y., rose to declare: “The Gipper has fumbled the ball, and he hasn’t yet recovered.” White House spokesman Larry Speakes charged that “a few old soreheads hooted deri sion” at Reagan’s call Tuesday night for a bal anced budget amendment. “I would like for the hooters to stand up and identify themselves and see if they are the ones who voted for the clean-water bill at that $20 bil lion level,” Speakes said. Referring to the Iran-Contra affair, Reagan conceded that “serious mistakes were made” in trying to achieve the “worthy” goal of establish ing contacts with Iran. While pledging to “get to the bottom of this,” the president urged Congress to avoid becoming “obsessed with failure” and letting “partisanship weaken us” over the Iran affair. But Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd said Reagan’s speech hadn’t resolved the matter. “The administration has the obligation to tell ‘we the American people’ exactly what led to the arms-for-hostage deal, and what happened to ac countability in the White House,” Byrd said on NBC-TV’s “Today” show. Faculty gets input on selection, review Department head hiring changes By Christi Daugherty Staff Writer Texas A&M President Frank Van diver has approved a Faculty Senate document that will substantially in crease faculty involvement in the ap pointment of department heads. Last February, the Faculty Senate voted unanimously to give faculty members more say in the depart ment head selection process, a proc ess which previously had been the exclusive job of the deans of the in dividual colleges. Signed by Vandiver Jan. 12, the new guidelines state that selection should involve “the widest and deep est faculty participation and the full est exchange of ideas between fac ulty and administrators.” The document outlines the proc ess for appointing a department head when a position becomes va cant. First, a search committee com posed primarily of faculty members from the department concerned is established. During the search, each faculty member from the department will be given the opportunity to talk with and evaluate the candidates for the position, rank candidates and elimi nate those they find unacceptable. The committee then will report to the dean, who will make a decision based on the strengths and weak nesses of the candidates. Dr. Clinton Phillips, dean of fac ulties, said the provost’s office worked on the original document submitted by the Senate before it was approved, making it less specific and more generally applicable to the varied departments. In its earlier form, the document didn’t allow for modification of the rules to suit any unusual circum stances that might occur in more complicated colleges such as the Col lege of Agriculture, Phillips said. For example, some department heads in the College of Agriculture also must work in the Texas Agricul tural Extension Service, he said. “This document reflects an ap proach that w'e think is a workable approach to the selection process,” Phillips said. “We think it maximizes faculty input.” Associate Provost Jerry Gaston said he doesn’t expect monumental changes to result from the docu ment. Instead, he said, it just makes See Senate, page 13 Sims: Comment on fees misunderstood By Christi Daugherty Staff Writer Student Body President Mike Sims says a comment he made at the MSC council meeting Mon day night has been blown out of proportion and was never in tended to be taken as student See related story, page 3 government policy. At the meeting, in what Sims described as an off-the-cuff statement, he said that student service fees may have to be in creased. The quote made the front page of The Battalion. “The comment was made in passing as an answer to a ques tion,” Sims said. “Someone asked w hat would happen if everybody who asks for a budget increase is granted an increase, and my an swer was that if everybody is granted what they request the fees will have to go up. “I was surprised to see it in The Battalion — it was taken com pletely out of context.” As a rule, most areas ask for in creases, but the full amount re quested rarely is granted, he said. Sims went on to say he was in no way making a budget an nouncement at the MSC meeting. It was, he said, just a tag at the end of a sentence. However, at the Student Sen ate meeting Wednesday night, Fi- nance Chairman Spence McClung announced that student service fees may very well in crease, and that a meeting of the Finance Committee will be held on Saturday, Feb. 7, at 10 a.m. in MSC room 201 to discuss the situ ation. “If you feel strongly about stu dent service fees going up, you must come to our meeting,” McClung told the Senate. “If stu dent service areas get what they are requesting now, service fees will have to go up without a doubt. It’s at $61 now, it could go up into the 70s.” After the Feb. 7 committee meeting, the Senate will meet on Feb. 11 to discuss and pass the committee’s recommendations. At that point their decision is sent to Vice President for Student Services John Koldus, and after that to the Board of Regents who have final approval.