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.