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The Battalion
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, March 25, 1987
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Iranian official: Attack
bn Gulf would hurt U.S.
^Speaker offers aid in hostage negotiations
IUUoIBnicOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The
, /M speaker of Iran’s Parliament said
OT IS ■resday that Americans around the
world would be in danger if the
ives attenc-
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United States launches an attack in
the Persian Gulf, where U.S. Navy
1 fpin-s have been strengthened.
HHashemi Rafsanjani also renewed
*n’s offer to intervene with pro-
Hmian Shiite Moslem kidnappers in
Hbanon for the release of Ameri
cans if Washington returns an esti
mated $5 billion in Iranian assets
frozen in 1979.
He did not link the threat and the
offer, both of which were made in an
interview with Tehran radio that was
monitored in Nicosia.
The United States says Iran has
deployed anti-ship missiles in the
Strait of Hormuz, the 40-mile-wide
southern gateway to the Persian
Gulf through which 20 percent of
the non-communist world’s oil
passes.
Local businessman, 4 others
charged in 1984 bombing
By Olivier Uyttebrouck
Senior Staff Writer
H Local night club and restaurant
owner Athanasios G. “Tommy” Dal-
Kand four other men were indicted
i by a federal grand jury Monday in
^■mnection with the 1984 bombing
of Graham Central Station, a coun-
| try western night club in Bryan.
(■ The four-count indictment names
rBallis and four other men, Steve
flHuane Graham of Houston, broth-
bws William Hershel Nash and Timo-
tliy Joe Nash of Lubbock and Phillip
liBmpson of Lubbock,
ifl All are charged with conspiracy to
nHomb a building, which carries a
Miaxirnum of five years in prison and
bII $19,000 fine. The indictment also
■ames William Nash for malicious
iHestruction of a building and unlaw-
j fulIv making a firearm, each with a
qBiaximum penalty of 10 years in
designee Brison and a $ 10,000 fine. The other
burden til tour are charged with aiding Nash in
theeconor 1 these crimes.
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In addition, William Nash is
charged with making a false
statement to a grand jury on Oct. 11,
1985. Nash told the jury he had
never worked with explosives, U.S.
Attorney Albert Ratliff of Houston
said.
A sixth man, Danny Lee Webb,
who according to the indictment met
with Dallis and Graham in August
1984 and helped arrange the bomb
ing, is named as a “unindicted co
conspirator.” Ratliff, who declined
to elaborate on Webb’s role in the in
vestigation, said Webb has not been
charged with a crime but is “involved
with the investigation.”
Officials with the Bureau of Alco
hol, Tobacco and Firearms in Hous
ton, the agency investigating the
bombing, declined comment on the
case Tuesday.
The indictment charges that Wil
liam Nash entered the back door of
See Bombing, page 14
This has revived fears that the
Iranians will close the strait. The
United States has vowed to preserve
free navigation in the gulf, which
has been a battleground since the
Iran-Iraq war began in September
1980.
“The events of Lebanon could be
repeated for the Americans around
the world” if the United States at
tacks, Rafsanjani said. “If, God for
bid, such a thing takes place, Ameri
cans will be unsafe throughout the
world.”
“Of course, we don’t want this to
happen. We’re not making threats,
but we are warning the American
people to tie the hands of their lead
ers.”
By “the events of Lebanon,” Raf
sanjani appeared to be referring to
the 1983 suicide bombings of the
U.S. Embassy and Marine headquar
ters in Beirut, in which more than
300 people were killed, and to the
abductions of Americans.
Eight Americans are among the
24 foreigners missing in Lebanon
and presumed held by Moslem kid
nappers. Most are believed to be
captives of extremist Shiite groups
backed by Iran.
Defense Secretary Caspar Wein
berger said Sunday the United
States will protect oil tankers against
Iranian attack and is making contin
gency plans for military action.
British, French and Soviet
warships also patrol the Persian Gulf
area.
Iran has attacked neutral ships in
the gulf in retaliation for Iraqi at
tacks on its tankers, oil fields and pe
troleum export terminals.
Lloyds of London’s Intelligence
Unit reported that Iraqi warplanes
attacked the Iranian tanker Dena in
the northern gulf Monday.
Wheel People
Peter Glenn, left, a junior psychology major, cycles
around with Pete McDonald, a senior electrical en-
Photo by Tracy Staton
gineering major, at the meeting of the TAMU
One-Wheelers Club Tuesday evening.
-^Aggie’s dad helps
student stranded
in Mexican airport
i
By Anthony Wilson
Reporter
I All Aggies have heard stories of
Bther Aggies being in bleak situa-
I ions with no hope in sight. The
; story usually starts out with some
1 poor Ag in desperate need of help.
■ As the Aggie’s world is crumbling
laround him, others just pass by with-
|out a second thought, but then the
[ story ends with a lone defender of
; humanity and Aggie good will
Barging in like John Wayne and the
phvalry to save the day.
E For Jonette Anderson, that story
, came true over Spring Break 1987.
I Anderson, a sophomore general
studies major from Arlington, was
enjoying spring break with 12 other
> A&M students in Ixtapa, Mexico.
Everything was well and Anderson
said she was “having a blast” until
someone stole her plane ticket for
her return trip to Houston.
I “As soon as I found that out,” An
derson said, “I told security at the
■ hotel. They said, ‘We’ll be looking
for it, but otherwise, when you go to
the airport Friday morning, you can
just get another one.’ I thought they
> Could just punch it in the computer
and give me another one.”
I On Friday morning, Anderson
and her friends went to the airport
in Ixtapa to fly to Mexico City. Be
cause they had flown on a different
airline to Mexico City, Anderson
I couldn’t get a refund or a new ticket.
She didn’t have any money, so she
S bought a ticket using a friend’s
Credit card.
:> Once in Mexico City, Anderson’s
friends had to board their 1:15 p.m.
flight.
1 “I told them, ‘Y’all just go ahead
and go and I’ll just catch the next
plight,’ ” Anderson said. “The next
pight to Houston was at about 6
■clock. After they left, I went up to
the lady at Continental.”
I The language barrier that came
with being in Mexico presented an
other problem for Anderson.
E “I can’t speak any Spanish at all,”
she said. “And they were totally
Spanish-speaking people. It was
really hard for them to understand
what I was saying.
E “I explained to them as well as I
could that my plane ticket had been
stolen and I wanted to get another
one, so she looked it up on the com
puter and said, ‘OK, it’ll be $140.’ I
said, ‘Well, I don’t have any money.’
I had no money, no credit card, no
nothing.”
Jonette Anderson
The airline told Anderson she
would have to get her refund in
Houston and she wouldn’t be able to
board a plane without a ticket that
had been paid for.
“I was begging her and she just
said, ‘No dinero, no ticket,’ ” Ander
son said.
Anderson asked strangers to talk
to the lady at the ticket counter, but
nothing helped.
“I was totally desperate, so I
thought I would call my parents,”
Anderson said.
But she was not allowed to call col
lect from the airport and a call home
cost $15.
“I just started crying,” Anderson
said. “I was so upset. I had no other
alternative. Nobody had any sympa
thy for me. Everybody was just
looking funny at me. I was just
stuck.”
Anderson said a tall businessman
in a suit walked up to her and asked
if she was an American and what the
problem was. She said she told him
what was wrong and he told her he
was from Houston. He then hap
pened to mention that his son at
tends Texas A&M.
“I just freaked out,” Anderson
said. “I said, T go to Texas A&M! I
can’t believe that!’ He said, ‘You’re
an Aggie? I’m going to help you get
back to Texas.’ ”
The man introduced himself as
Paul Crozier and said he would buy
Anderson a plane ticket home. An
derson had to wait a while before
tickets went on sale and Crozier had
to catch a plane, so he gave her
money for a ticket, $50 extra for any
other problems and his address.
See Stranded, page 14
Task force to study savings and loan industry
AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Bill Clements said
Tuesday he is appointing a special task force to
seek solutions to problems in the troubled Texas
savings and loan industry.
“Our Texas savings and loans are in a critical
financial condition,” Clements said. “There’s no
question about that.
“So what I’m trying to do is bring from the pri
vate sector some very knowledgeable people who
can assist us in coming up with some answers as
to what we might do.”
The governor named Bayard Friedman, 60, to
head the new task force. He said about a dozen
other people will be appointed to the panel in the
near future.
Friedman is a former mayor of Fort Worth,
former chairman of the Fort Worth district of
the Interfirst Corp. and former chairman of the
board of the Texas American Bank, said Reggie
Bashur, the governor’s press secretary.
Clements said the task force, when completed,
will be seeking ways to ease problems facing the
savings and loan industry, which he said is suffer
ing from distressed economic conditions.
“This is a serious problem,” Clements told his
weekly news conference. “It will have a real im
pact on our economic recovery here in Texas.”
Clements said that due in part to changes in
federal regulations and in part to the state’s re
cent population boom, Texas savings and loans
have undergone considerable growth.
“Their problems are, for the most part, related
to real estate loans,” the governor said.
He said he would ask the task force to find ave
nues in which the state could cooperate with the
federal government and Congress to improve
savings and loan conditions.
Although a number of banks have failed in
Texas in recent months, Clements said his new
task force would deal only with savings and loans.
Some unresolved issues remain after final OK
Core curriculum debate nears end
By Amy Couvillon
Staff Writer
Texas A&M President Frank E.
Vandiver’s final approval of the con
troversial core curriculum proposal
on March 13 has inspired sighs of re
lief from those involved in its 3-year-
old debate, but some issues remain
unresolved.
The curriculum will take effect in
Fall 1988 for all undergraduate stu
dents entering A&M. It involves new
entrance requirements as well as 48
hours of required college-level
courses.
“I was delighted to see it finally
become reality,” said Dr. Paul Par
rish, an English professor who spon
sored the original Faculty Senate
core curriculum resolution in 1983.
But Dr. Ronald Darby, professor
of chemical engineering, worries
that the curriculum will add too
many hours to the chemical engi
neering degree plan, which he said is
constrained by rigid accreditation
requirements.
“I don’t object in philosophy to
the core curriculum,” Darby said. “I
think it’s justified . . . but the chemi
cal engineering curriculum will
probably be strained.”
In a March 13 letter to Dr. Sam
Black, Faculty Senate speaker, the
president congratulated the Senate’s
hard work on the core curriculum
proposal and, with a few exceptions,
approved the Senate’s version of the
plan.
Vandiver took out one require
ment for all students to complete a
course in technology and renewable
resourses, calling it too vague.
Black said the executive commit
tee will decide how to make the item
more specific at its April 1 meeting.
Dr. Don Russell, an electrical en
gineering associate professor who
proposed the technology section
along with Dr. Tom Kozik, ex
plained the motivation behind the
proposal and said he would be will
ing to help amend it to meet Vandiv
er’s approval.
“Our real intent was to try to ex
pose the people in non-technical
rograms to technological issues and
elp them learn to appreciate how
those issues affect them,” Russell
said. “We hope that still can be done
in some fashion, and if asked to, I
would serve on such a group (a com
mittee to suggest specific courses).”
The Senate had recommended
creating a special subcommittee to
help implement the core curric
ulum, but Vandiver’s approval letter
did not refer to this. Black said.
“Dr. Vandiver did not address it,
so that’s one part of the proposal
that is in limbo currently,” he said.
Vandiver is out of town and none
of his spokesmen could be reached
Tuesday for comment.
Assistant Provost Lawrence Cress,
who headed a committee last fall to
study the impact of the core curric
ulum on A&M’s various colleges,
said that the core will not greatly dis
rupt A&M because many of its re
quirements will be absorbed into cur
rent degree plans.
“The core curriculum will have
very little overall fiscal or curricular
impact on the University,” Cress
said. “There may be a little less flexi
bility, but the deans expected very
little net gain or loss in student credit
hours.”
The impact study’s Nov. 17 report
said that four of A&M’s 10 colleges
— business administration, educa
tion, architecture and engineering
— expect to add credit hours to their
graduation requirements. The Col
lege of Engineering’s anticipated ad
dition, a maximum of nine credit
hours, was the highest estimate.
In last April’s debate, several
members of the Faculty Senate ex
pressed worries that the lengthy core
eliminates electives'for engineering
students and could delay gradua
tions.
Darby, a chemical engineering
professor, explained his concerns
about the addition of hours, saying
the department of chemical engi
neering must meet extra accredita
tion requirements from the Ameri
can Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Because of this, Darby said, the de
partment is less flexible.
“We could do it (implement the
core curriculum) without adding
hours,” he said, “but we would have
zero flexibility in the degree plan
and no free electives at all.”
Russell said he doesn’t think the
core curriculum will force engineers
to take more years to graduate.
“It will cause some reorientation
of the degree plans,” he said, “and
possibly some increase in the flexibil
ity of the degree plans.”
Darby suggested that the state re
quirement for 12 hours of political
science and history is outmoded.
“(This requirement) in addition to
the cultural heritage and social sci
ence requirements is ‘double-kill’ in a
way,” he said.
The impact study report en
dorsed the Faculty Senate’s recom
mendation that these state require
ments be reconsidered.
“The core’s cultural heritage and
social science requirements, while
not addressing the particular issues
that motivated the Texas Legislature
30 years ago, serve the broader goal
of acquainting our students with the
nature and origins of our society,”
the report read.
Curriculum Requirements
Entrance requirements
If these are not met upon en
trance, the student will be re
quired to fill them with college-
level courses.
• At least one high-school
course in computer science or
demonstrated proficiency.
• Two years of foreign lan
guage in high school or demon
strated proficiency.
Core Requirements
No course can he counted twice
by a student in satisfaction of
these various requirements.
• Six hours of speech and
writing skills, including ENGL
104 and one of the following:
ENGL 203, 210, 212, 221, 222,
227, 228, 231, 232, 301, 325, 341
or SCOM 103, 243, 403, 404.
• Six hours of mathematical or
logical reasoning {at least three in
math) to be selected from MATH
166 or any higher math course
and PHIL 240, 341,342.
• Eight hours of science with
at least one corresponding labo
ratory. Acceptable courses in
clude: BIOL 101, 107, 113, 114;
CHEM 10L 102; GENE 301,
310; GEOG 203; CEOL 101,106;
METR 301; any PHYS 200 level
course.
• Six hours of cultural heri
tage to be selected from fine arts,
humanities, foreign language (ex
cluding skills courses in native
language), history, literature, phi
losophy, archaeology, geography
and theater arts,
• Six hours of social science to
be selected from cultural anthro
pology, geography, political sci
ence, psychology, sociology, ap
plied ethics and economics.
• Four hours of physical edu
cation.
• Twelve hours of citizenship,
including six hours of political
science and six hours of history.