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Battalion Vol. 87 No. 82 GSRS 045360 12 Pages College Station, Texas Wednesday, January 27, 1988 ntarctic ould train stronauts By Mary-Lynne Rice Staff Writer IConditions endured during Ant- an lie expeditions could be used as tin'dels, in astronaut training, to sim ulate the physically and mentally rig orous challenges of extended space missions, Austin Mardon, a doctoral ■ndidate in education at Texas A&M, says. I Mardon, who spent November H SG through February 1987 with ■ an Antarctic research team, pre- rjiented his proposal — to include Mo-month stays in the Antarctic as But of the astronauts’ training cur- rioulum — at the Johnson Space Ginter in Houston last week. (“NASA is now planning to stage a 'S|ace station, and they’re talking Bout a lunar base and a Mars mis- lion,” he says. “There has been some I Mish to use isolated human set- Btnents as models for these long- .fange missions.” I A space station’s support system ffliuld be significantly simplified, fardon says, by testing the astro- tjiauts’ capabilities in an extremely demanding environment and condi- gjoning them for comparable diffi culties in space before the mission Begins. I “Part of the reason it (the propo- fel) was spurred was that there were very easy design parameters,” he si vs. “For example, people say, ‘Oh, these poor astronauts, they won’t be |ble to take a shower for two tonths.’ But we all got along fine in le Antarctic for two months with- ut a shower. “They also wanted the tempera ture to be 70 degrees. I can show Item that they can take that down at least 15 degrees.” Any reduction in such comfort (actors — in turn reducing the pay- load of the craft — will bring NASA loser to its goal of building a space Itation, Mardon says. “People are shocked that people can live in conditions other than what we have here,” he says. “But if they set the design parameters to be very comfortable, it will take a lot of weight. “At 55 degrees, however, with no shower, and with cramped quarters, they might get a space station within five years. By designing it to be small . and frugal, they’ll have it operating cheaply, and it will be easier to put U P” Antarctic training before space missions, Mardon says, would insure that the astronauts could perform well under Spartan conditions. Such new selection requirements might possibly change the character and respect of the American astro naut, he says. “In the old days, the astronauts were war heroes, real honest-to- goodness heroes — the ‘Right Stuff,’ ” he says. Today, astronauts face much more stringent requirements, he says. NASA’s question now, he says, is how to train astronauts for crisis. “Looking at the selection process for a long-range Mars mission,” he says, “we might want to stick them in the Antarctic or in the Rocky Moun tains and say, ‘Walk 500 miles.’ “That’s not so we develop a great mountaineer; that’s so they develop certain internal emotional character istics. We can then say that this per son, under this amount of pressure and this amount of boredom, will not crack.” Once the astronaut completes his training, he has proved superior physical endurance, Mardon says. But more important than the physical accomplishment, he says, is the mental triumph. “The barrier isn’t your body,” he says. “The barrier is your mind. The only thing that can really ever stop you is your mind. The space mis sions are not going to be that physi cally rigorous, but they will be very difficult mentally. iRobertson plans [possible challenge lot forgery decision (AP) — Republican presidential [candidate Pat Robertson, threaten- [ing a lawsuit over the party’s cam- Ipaign petition forgery woes, said he [would “absolutely love” a head-to- Ihead race in Texas against Vice [President George Bush. In interviews with the Houston \ Chronicle and the Dallas Morning JVevvs, published Tuesday, Rob ertson said his staff is researching a legal challenge to the state OOP’s de cision to make all six major Republi can presidential candidates eligible to win delegates in the March 8 pri- | mary. “We’re going to challenge it,” Robertson said. “If we have to take it to court, we’re going to do it.” John Weaver, executive director [ of the Texas GOP, on Tuesday said party officials had discussed the ac tion with all six campaigns before the decision was announced last week. “We talked with all six at the time of the decision, and no one had any objections at that time,” Weaver said. “If he (Robertson) wants to sue, that’s his prerogative.” Qualifying petitions submitted by four of the Republican presidential candidates— Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, Alexander Haig, former Delaware Gov. Pete du Pont and New York Rep. Jack Kemp — contained hun dreds of bogus signatures. But GOP Chairman George Strake last week abandoned an ex pensive and time-consuming signa ture verification process, saying all candidates would be on the ballot and eligible to win a share of the state’s 111 national convention dele gates. Robertson said, “I frankly think it should be challenged and chal lenged quickly . . . It’s like a filing fee that’s paid with counterfeit money. Because he submitted over 9,000 signatures and Bush submitted more than 35,000, Robertson acknowl edged that a legal challenge could result in a head-to-head race against Bush in the vice president’s home state of Texas. Robertson questioned Bush’s Texas roots. “I know that he’s been here for a while, but I don’t know that he’s as Texan as he would like to say he is,” Robertson said. Noting that the vice president owns a home in Maine, while his le gal voting residence is a Houston ho tel, Robertson scoffed, “Anybody can rent a room at the Houstonian Club, if he can afford it.” ■"SI Ml M ZZ'- Miles to go ... Construction workers at the new parking garage site smooth out cement. Photo by Jay Janner Aggies remain missing in Vietnam on anniversary of peace accord By Shane Hall Reporter January 27, 1973: In an act to end the war in Vietnam, the United States, North Vietnam and the Viet Cong sign the Paris Peace Accord, which included a provision for the release of all American prisoners of war and any remains of American servicemen held by the Vietnamese. January 27, 1988: It is the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Pa ris Peace Accord and there are more than 2,400 Americans who remain unaccounted for. Three men from the Bryan-College Station area — two of whom are Texas A&M graduates — are in cluded in the number of those miss ing in action from the Vietnam War. The missing men are Marine Capt. Carl Edwin Long, of College Station; Air Force 1st Lt. Sammy Ar thur Martin, of Bryan; and Air Force 1st Lt. Neal Clinton Ward, of College Station. Long, A&M Class of ’66, was re ported missing in December, 1969, in South Vietnam. His body has never been recovered. Kappel says the U.S. government usually as sumes such men have been killed in action (KIA). Martin was shot down over North Vietnam in December, 1967. Like in Long’s case, Martin’s body has never been recovered. Ward, A&M Class of ’67, is listed as missing. He was shot down over Laos in June, 1969. Gary Kappel, Brazos Valley chap ter president of the Forget-Me-Not Association, leads the non-profit or ganization in supporting efforts aimed at learning the whereabouts of these Americans who are often re ferred to as MI As. Kappel says the Paris Peace Accord was not signed with Laos, so there was no provision for the re turn of any Americans that may be held by Laos. “There are 559 MI As in Laos, and I want them accounted for,” Kappel says. Kappel says the Vietnamese gov ernment had maintained that all prisoners of war, alive or dead, had either been returned or accounted for. “Now they’ve done a complete 180, and are saying that there may be some Americans living in their country,” he explains. One reason for the Vietnamese government’s change in position, he says, could be the reports of sightings of American prisoners of war (POWs) by refu gees. Kappel says there have been over by the U.S. government. In other Aides: Public backs Bush after clash WASHINGTON (AP) — George Bush’s campaign aides said Tuesday the public backs Bush in his televised clash with CBS anchorman Dan Rather and they moved quickly to exploit what they called a case of “an un fair journalist trying to mug the vice president.” “I don’t want to have a big run ning fight with Dan Rather,” Bush said when asked about the incident while campaigning in Cheyenne, Wyo. “He’s got to do his thing, he’s got to do it his way, and I’ve got to defend my record and get my case to the people,” he said. However, Bush campaign aides saw nothing wrong with crossing swords with the CBS anchorman, long viewed with contempt by many Republicans. “Any time any Republican gets into a fight with Dan Rather and wins, he’s going to come out very well with Republican primary vot ers,” Lee Atwater, Bush’s cam paign manager, said. “I got powder burns,” former secretary of state Alexander M. Haig Jr. said when asked if he had watched the confrontation. During Republican presidential debates, Haig has aggressively questioned Bush about his Iran- Contra role. Bush calls clash ‘combat’ (AP) — George Bush called his clash with CBS anchor Dan Rather “kind of like combat” but said he had no hard feelings Tuesday, while Democrats ex tended their own disagreement over help for the poor and home less. “It’s kind of like combat — he’s got to do his thing, he’s got to do it his way, and I’ve got to defend my record and get my case to the people,” Bush said. “I still like the guy.” Bush had taken strong excep tion to Rather’s questioning him about the vice president’s knowl edge of the Iran-Contra affair. But Rather said Tuesday, “I saw my job as asking questions about the central story . . . the central story being how did he get in volved in sending missiles to the Ayatollah and what about these inconsistencies in the record.” Bush’s refusal to reveal what advice he gave President Reagan about selling arms to Iran drew support from Reagan himself, who previously had said he wanted everyone in his adminis tration to lay out the facts. During a picture-taking session at the White House, Reagan en dorsed Bush’s refusal to reveal the substance of his private con versations with Reagan. “I think in the near-term Bush came out ahead,” Haig said. “But in the longer term, they’ll both lose.” In Iowa, where presidential ri val Bob Dole leads Bush in most polls, the Kansas senator’s cam paign chairman, Stephen Rob erts, said running against Rather in the state was “not a bad bet.” Atwater said that even if the confrontation does not boost Bush enough to beat Dole in Iowa, it will help the vice presi dent in the next big contest, the New Hampshire primary. “And I guarantee you, it’ll play stronger than grits in the South,” he said. In the clash with Rather and in an earlier debate confrontation with Des Moines Register editor James Gannon, what triggered the vice president’s ire were sug gestions he had not answered all questions about his involvement in the Iran-Contra affair. During the nine-minute live segment on the evening news, Bush said, “You know what I’m hiding? What I told the presi dent. That’s the only thing. And I’ve answered every question put before me.” The questions dealt entirely with Iran-Contra despite Bush’s protest that the network had told his campaign it was part of a se ries of profiles of 1988 candi dates. When the interview ended, CBS sources said Bush declared, “The b d didn’t lay a glove on me.” Obviously angry, Bush told CBS technicians in his office, “Tell your god d network that if they want to talk to me to raise their hands at a press conference. No more Mr. Inside stuff after that.” Tom Bettag, executive pro ducer of the news show, said he saw no reason why Rather should apologize. “I can’t imagine a reason why he should apologize,” said Bettag. “He did his best under extremely difficult circumstances. I think the vice president set the tone for the aggressiveness.” words, he says, the government is certain that these 100 sightings hold up under close scrutiny. “We can convict somebody off of one man’s testimony, but we can’t convict Vietnam of holding Ameri cans on the testimony of 100,” Kap pel says. Kappel says he became involved with the Forget-Me-Not Association about a year ago after hearing a ra dio broadcast by former POW “Red” McDaniel, who he says was one of the most tortured POWs in Vietnam. Although he did not serve in Viet nam, Kappel says he served in the Marine Corps from 1975 to 1979. He says the Forget-Me-Not Associa tion is made up of veterans, non-vet erans, family members of MI As and others. The common denominator, he says, is concerned citizens. “If you care about these guys, you can get involved,” Kappel says. A list of Aggie MIAs compiled by The Battalion in November 1986 in cluded the following men: Maj. William Fuller, ’57 Lt. Michael Dunn, ’63 Capt. Ronald Forrester, ’69 Maj. Murray Wortham, ’65 Col. Robert Wilke, ’65 Capt. Dennis Graham, ’63 Lt. John Baldridge Jr., ’68 Lt. Col. Donald Luna, ’60 Capt. Greg Hartness, ’60 Capt. Henry Mundt II, ’64 Col. William Campbell, ’52. According to Battalion files, an additional 101 A&M graduates who fought in the Vietnam War — rang ing from the Class of’35 to the Class of ’72 — are listed as KIA. Clements clears way for prisons AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Bill Clem ents on Tuesday issued an emer gency declaration that should clear the way for the construction of a sec ond maximum security prison planned by the Board of Correc tions. Plans for building two, 2,250-bed maximum security prisons were stalled last week when Attorney General Jim Mattox said the current appropriations bill only allows the is suance of state bonds for one of the new prisons. But the Board of Corrections and Clements on Tuesday turned to an appropriations bill provision allow ing the transfer of prison funds if the governor determines that an “unforeseen emergency exists.” The board requested the declaration and Clements responded quickly. “The safety of our citizens is at stake,” Clements said.