MES
I 100
MPIV Texas m m V •
The Battalion
AND
PAT
Vol. 83 No. 3 CISPS 045360 24 pages in 2 sections
College Station, Texas
Thursday, September 3, 1987
ING;
f neck-1
;lace atj
i% off.!
HOP
lessories,
d gift giv-
T
SALE
2.99
1.99
4.99
19.99
Photo by Robert W. Rizzo
Towering Above The Rest
A workman for Anatek, a Midland, Mich, engi- ling C. Evans Library. The company found it
neering company examines the damage on Ster- needs to replace more sections than anticipated.
j Teen-age pilot apologizes
■for his life’s ‘great mistake’
■ guysj
HA
att’s. We
bies and
-8:30 ptf
-6:30^
MOSCOW (AP) — West German
| teen-ager Mathias Rust apologized
I to a Soviet court Wednesday for fly-
ing a single-engine plane into Red
| Square. He said it started as a mis-
f sion of peace but ended as the great
est mistake of his life.
“My flight was not the best action
J: to bring this about,” Rust, a 19-year-
old resident of suburban Hamburg,
I said during nearly five hours of testi-
| mony on the first day of trial at the
1 Soviet Supreme Court.
j “I’m very sorry,” he said.
It was his first public appearance
1 since he piloted a Cessna 172b across
the Soviet border on May 28 and set
lit down amid hundreds of aston
ished pedestrians on Red Square
l near the Kremlin, the seat of Soviet
: power.
The flight led to a shake-up of the
| Soviet military establishment.
Rust faces charges of hooliganism,
; illegally crossing the Soviet border
ij and violating international flight
I rules, and he could get 10 years in
j prison.
The trial is expected to last three
days.
Dressed in a blue suit, a light blue
shirt and tie, Rust called himself “a
very sentimental man” who meant
no harm to anyone.
Rust said he wanted to meet with
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to
discuss a new political system that
would bring east and west together
in “full democracy, democracy in the
fullest sense of the word.”
“I sought the source of peace, and
the source of peace is not in Wash
ington, but in Moscow,” Rust said.
Pale but poised, he spoke in a
“I sought the source of
peace, and the source of
peace is not in Washing
ton, but in Moscow. ”
— Mathias Rust, West
German teen-age pilot
Supreme Court Judge Robert
Tikhomirnov and prosecutor Vladi
mir Andreyev repeatedly reminded
Rust that he could have killed or in
jured many people by landing on
crowded Red Square.
Rust first told Tikhomirnov after
the charges were read that “I am
aware of my guilt.”
But later Rust said he did not ac
knowledge guilt on the charge of
malicious hooliganism because he
never had any intention to harm
anyone.
“My flight did not have any ag
gressive intentions,” he said.
Under questioning from his Soviei
lawyer, Vsevolod Yakovlev, and
prosecutor Andreyev, Rust told the
court that with the perspective of the
last 14 weeks in Lefortovo Prison, he
realizes that his approach wa;
wrong.
“I threatened the lives of people,”
he said. “That’s my opinion today.”
“I will never repeat it.
“It’s the greatest mistake I’ve
made in my life.”
Asked why he chose to fly illegally
to Red Square rather than ask Soviet
officials for permission for the
flight, he said, “I had to have the
echo of world public opinion.
“That was possible, according to
my opinion then, by a flight that
didn’t correspond with any norms.”
Rust sometimes smiled at the
a uestions from the judge and An-
reyev.
Rust began his journey with a
flight in mid-May from Hamburg to
Iceland, the site of last fall’s summit
meeting between Gorbachev and
President Reagan.
After he brought the plane down
between the Kremlin wall and St.
Basil’s Cathedral, “I waited for what
would happen next.
“I only thought about landing in
Moscow.
“What would happen after I prac
tically didn’t think about.”
War in gulf intensifies
as attacks increase
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Iranian speedboats and
Iraqi warplanes attacked at least seven ships in the Per
sian Gulf within 24 hours and U.S. warships prepared
on Wednesday to escort more tankers through the war
zone.
The Iraqis reported a fifth day of air raids on Iranian
shipping, oil fields and other industrial targets. Iran
said its artillery shelled military and industrial installa
tions in southern Iraq and Iranian planes struck in the
northern area of the 730-mile border warfront.
Eighteen attacks om&hips have been reported and 13
confirmed since Iran and Iraq, which have been at war
since September 1980, resumed their “tanker war” last
weekend after a six-week lull.
Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted
Prime Minister Hussein Musavi as declaring Wednes
day that a policy of “blow for blow will be pursued in a
calculated fashion.”
Iraq began the war on commercial shipping early in
1984 in an attempt to destroy Iran’s economy with raids
both on its oil installations and tankers carrying its
crude petroleum. Iran retaliated by attacking ships,
usually in the southern gulf, and stopping others to
search for Iraq-bound cargo.
Of 11 raids Iraq has reported since renewing the
shipping war Saturday, seven have been confirmed by
Lloyd’s Shipping Intelligence Unit in London and
other independent sources.
Two empty Kuwaiti tankers and their U.S. Navy es
corts reached the sheikdom at the head of the gulf
Tuesday. The warships are expected to make the re
turn trip with three vessels that have been loaded and
waiting for days.
Iran accuses Kuwait of receiving arms shipments for
its neighbor Iraq, whose ports were closed soon after
the war began, and since last September has been at
tacking ships owned by or serving the sheikdom.
Eleven of Kuwait’s 21 tankers have been given the
American flag so Navy ships can protect them. Convoys
beganjuly21.
' Iran does not acknowledge responsibility for the
speedboat attacks, but they are viewed in the Persian
Gulf as reprisals for Iraqi air strikes on shipping or
other targets.
Shipping sources said &n Iraqi target not identified
previously was the Sanandaj, a 253,837-ton Iranian su
pertanker hit Sunday near Kharg island.
Iraqi raiders strike tankers owned by Iran or char
tered to shuttle crude from Kharg to a makeshift termi
nal at Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz, the gulfs
narrow southern entrance. Larak is beyond the range
of Iraqi planes unless they refuel in flight.
War communiques from Iraq say its air raids on land
and sea targets are intended to keep Iran from using in
creased oil export revenues gained during the lull to
continue the war, and to force it to accept a July 20
cease-fire resolution of the U.N. Security Council.
U.S. warns ex-students
to pay defaulted loans
By Mary-Lynne Rice
Staff Writer
Nearly 950,000 former college
students who have defaulted on
Guaranteed Student Loans or Per
kins Loans from the U.S. Depart
ment of Education have been
warned to pay up.
In letters sent out during July and
August, defaulters were notified
that debts not paid by Oct. 1 will be
multiplied by stiff penalties, includ
ing possible prosecution.
Texas A&M’s current default rate
on Perkins loans stands at 6.79 per
cent, said Georgeanne Bigham, as
sistant manager for student financial
services.
“The percentage is significantly
higher (than in past years),” Bigham
said, “but although ours went up, ev
ery other institution’s rate went up
as well.”
If an institution’s default rate
reaches 7.5 percent, Bigham said,
the Education Department will re
duce the amount of loan funds avail
able to that institution. If this reduc
tion occurs, the financial aid office
would have to reduce either the
number of loans given or reduce the
amount of each loan.
But because -A&M_s.tudents’ loan
repayments are received regularly
and returned to loan funds, student
loans are not yet seriously endan
gered. Bigham said 2,310 former
students have a Perkins loan balance
this year..
Legislation sponsored by U.S.
Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, is en
abling the Education Department to
make a stronger effort to reclaim
$1.9 billion in debts nationwide.
“There had been action before,”
said Larry Neal, Gramm’s press sec
retary. “But it was spotty, scattered.
It tended to depend on the enthusi-
aism of local officials as to how it was
done.
“There were often greater priori
ties to be dealt with, and the defaults
just accumulated and accumulated.
Now there’s a centralized, specific
effort being made.”
Since Gramm’s legislation passed
last year, some progress has been
made on recollection, in part with
the participation of the Internal
Revenue Service, Gramm said in a
press release last month.
“We collected $135 million last
year by withholding tax refunds
from student loan defaulters and so
far this year, the Education Depart
ment has managed to reclaim $226
million,” Gramm said. “But these
amounts are small change compared
to the $1.9 billion that is owed.”
Bob Jamroz, special assistant to
the assistant secretary for post-sec
ondary education at the Department
of Education, cited an increase in re
payments, “to the tune of $1 million
a day.”
“We attribute this increase to two
factors: the IRS offset of income tax
refunds and a warning in the letter
advising them that the cost of collec
tion will be added to the amount
they owe,” he said. Collection costs
Students must move cars
before Saturday’s game
Students who park their cars on
campus overnight must move them
from several parking lots near Kyle
Field by 10 a.m. Saturday, Director
of University Police Bob Wiatt said
Wednesday.
The lots must be vacated to pro
vide parking for the A&M-Louisiana
State University football game on
Saturday.
The lots that must be vacated are
by the tennis courts, Kyle Field and
by Olsen Field on A&M’s west cam
pus.
The fall student enrollment at
Texas A&M has increased to a re
cord 38,685 as of Wednesday morn
ing, Texas A&M Registrar Donald
D. Carter said.
This unofficial figure is a 5.8 per
cent increase over the 36,561 stu
dents enrolled last year.
Official figures will not be avail
able until Sept. 15 when they are re
ported to the Texas Higher Educa
tion Coordinating Board.
The new enrollment shows a 4.9
The specific lot numbers are 37,
46, 48, 49, 56, 60, 62, 63, and 69,
Wiatt said.
Cars not removed from these lots
will be towed to other locations on
campus, he said.
Wiatt said most students already
are aware of the need to move their
cars because it is part of the parking
regulations.
He also said leaflets will be placed
on cars in these lots by Friday as a re
minder to students.
percent increase over the previous
nigh of 36,846 in the fall of 1983.
Higher admission standards were in
stituted after 1983 which contrib
uted to slight declines in enrollment.
The new increase also has prompted
the Texas A&M Board of Regents to
present plans to restrict enrollments.
The freshman class also is ex
pected to rise to 7,000 or 7,300, and
the Corps of Cadets’ preliminary
number may increase to 2,200, Lt.
Col Donald Johnson said.
could add an additional 25 to 45 per
cent to the debt total, he said.
Federal employees who have de
faulted on loans may have their sal
ary garnished to fulfill their debts,
Neal said.
Gramm said that a large percent
age of defaulters are professionals,
doctors or lawyers who relied on stu
dent loans to finance the educations
that are now paying off in good jobs
and high salaries.
“There is no reason that the large
majority of these loan defaulters
should not be required to pay their
bills,” Gramm said. “These are peo
ple who have, in effect, stolen money
from the taxpayers and drained the
student loan fund of cash that
should be going to help current and
future college students.”
Although Guaranteed Student
Loans are available to anyone who
wants one and can show sufficient
need, Neal said, defaulters make it
harder for some students to get a
loan.
“There is a self-perpetuating
fund, so there will be money,” Neal
said. “But the problem has grown by
leaps and bounds. What we’re deal
ing with is the fact that in failing to
repay loans, they (defaulters) are
cheating the taxpayers of today and
the students.of tomorrow.”
Some states have chosen to confis
cate cars or other property until
debts are resolved.
“A classic situation is the seizing of
autos until the loan is paid,” Neal
said. “Confiscating a Mercedes-Benz
usually gets results.”
TDC gets
one month
to reform
HUNTSVILLE (AP) — The
Texas prison system, plagued by
overcrowding and forced to close
its doors to new inmates for the
21st time this year, has another
month to meet court orders re
ducing the inmate population at
15 units.
The Texas Department of Cor-
rections remained closed
Wednesday after more than
1,300 inmates were admitted last
Friday and Monday, prison
spokesman Charles Brown said.
The department is mandated by
law to maintain its population at
95 percent capacity.
Attorney General Jim Mattox
had asked U.S. District Judge
William Wayne Justice of Tyler
for the 30-day extension of the
judge’s order to reduce prison
populations. The extension was
requested because of problems
with construction of the 2,250-in
mate, $67 million Michael Unit in
Anderson County.
Justice, who in 1982 found the.
Texas Department of Corrections
to be unconstitutionally crowded,
granted the delay until Oct. 1.
The order was filed Tuesday in
Houston.
University enrollment rises
approximately 5.8 percent