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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 29, 1988)
>ard ) stick Wn destin, d their diiij '° in a regio ? two teams J ts m April Southn'es| S c hampioiiji ivels to w 'here it ^ The Battalion IVol. 87 Mo. 105 GSPS 045360 12 Paqes College Station, Texas Monday, February 29, 1988 skippered J ith Chris S|iJ iM s B-dnini sed of stijn crewman y ieduledcoJ on WhiieiJ] ext chipped in j tiehn scoredi is, an indepej te to [OHa i rggiesailpi) ;ldl 2nd Panama ruler in hiding, in good spirits PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) — eposed president Eric Arturo Del valle stayed in hiding Sunday and efied Gen. Manuel Antonio No- iega, the military strongman who usted him and ordered him out of he country. The ex-president’s whereabouts were a closely guarded secret, but amily members said he was in a safe nd secure place in Panama, in good spirits” and determined to re- ;ain his job. “I am going to stay here (and) tick it out,” Delvalle told ABC tele- ision Saturday night. “I’m going to Ifight it all the way.” Delvalle did not reveal his hiding place. Roderick Esquivel, Delvalle’s vice president, was also in hiding. Both men were ousted early Fri- Iday in an action by the National Leg- slative Assembly orchestrated by Noriega, the Defense Forces chief. Delvalle ignited the latest crisis in bight months of continuing civil un- inatchandsiL« _ irrJA&M student ■r weir . was No | ass "iSIfor assault files report rest in Panama on Thursday when he tried to fire Noriega, who is charged in Florida with corruption and narcotics trafficking. The United States also has urged No riega to step down as military chief. On Friday, Delvalle returned to his home in an upper-class neigh borhood. Police surrounded the house Friday evening and Delvalle’s telephones were cut, leaving him in communicado and under an unde clared house arrest. Sometime that night, he report edly climbed over a patio wall at the rear of the house and escaped through a neighbor’s yard, avoiding the policemen who had been posted on tne street in front of his home. Raul Diaz, a brother-in-law, and other family members said military officials had warned Delvalle that if he didn’t leave the country volun tarily, he would be arrested and forcibly deported. The Panamanian government Sunday claimed U.S. officials were hiding Delvalle at an American mili tary installation in Panama. But Gabriel Lewis, a former Pana manian ambassador to Washington, said Sunday he was under the pro tection of a good Panamanian family and they will never find him. - M ■v." 8 t&A- ' " T ■*,- j „ ^ ' ' - AT Hullaballooning The Flying Tomato hot-air balloon flies over Spence Park Sunday The balloon came down and landed near the MSC for a short while afternoon while students enjoy the sunny weather and play baseball. before taking off again. in-and-jer! | repeat as fi )■ winning* N atiom! larch 2a-?? | ition z, who M 592 Olid nal chad A 22-year-old Texas A&M stu dent was assaulted and robbed early featurday morning, according to a report filed with the College Station [Police Department. A woman was walking in the 500 Iblock of Holleman Drive in College fetation at 1:45 a.rn. when a man hit ihei in the eye and pushed her down, [the report said. The man took an unknown [amount of money. ] The woman had a slightly swollen left eye and a bruised knee, accord ing to police reports. took H brown- 0 In the off Officials fail [og(rWi to find cause behind death A Texas A&M student died Wednesday evening in his College Station residence. John James “Riggins” Benziger, 20, of Georgetown was a junior busi ness major at A&M. Prayer services were held Sunday in Georgetown and funeral services were held at 10 a.m. today in Granger. Benziger worked with the Depart ment of Human Resources foster home program. A College Station Police Depart ment spokesman said the cause of death was not known and an autopsy would not be completed until later this week. Benziger is survived by his par ents, John and Carol Benziger, and four younger sisters, Michelle, Julie, Melinda and Angel. ^urnamfl 1 ' : of the 0 " l ntothei r! dy conf said, ig its at theftjj arch 5 if : squad i? be ahlt- Cente*® 1 ’ said. T Police look for suspect in assault The College Station Police De partment released this sketch of a suspect in the sexual assault of an 18-year-old College Station woman Feb. 20. The white male is described as 5 feet 11 inches tall and about 40 years old. The police said the man may have a short, well- groomed beard. OAS puts off making decision to support Noriega or Delvalle Cynthia Farrell, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Panama City, said she could not confirm or deny anything. She said the embassy was under orders from Washington not to discuss the situation. Delvalle’s hopes of regaining the presidency suffered a setback Satur day night when the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States, meeting in Wash ington, declined to take any action on Panama. Delvalle and the Reagan adminis tration would agree to impose trade sanctions against Panama, or at least approve a resolution condemning the president’s ouster by the mili tary. On the eve of a planned nation wide protest strike, priests in Roman Catholic churches throughout the country read a communique on the spread of corruption to parishoners from Archbishop Marcos G. McGrath. WASHINGTON (AP) — The governing body of the Organization of American States sidestepped a po sition on political instability in Pan ama in an extraordinary session that showed the fragility of democracy in Latin America. Members of the permanent coun cil of the OAS adjourned nearly eight hours after being called into emergency session, unwilling to de cide whether to permanently seat an ambassador favored by strong man Manuel Antonio Noriega or one picked by ousted President Eric Ar turo Delvalle. Most of the speakers who took part in an OAS debate Saturday night voiced their support for Del valle. Noriega’s representative, Roberto Leyton, protested that the OAS dis cussion violated the organization’s charter. The permanent council was an in appropriate forum for an airing of his country’s “internal affairs,” he said. Over the course of the session, the OAS ambassadors heard bitter re criminations about promises the Ni caraguan Sandinistas failed to keep, allegations the United States seeks to destabilize Panama, invocation of the name of the late Panamanian strong man Gen. Omar Torrijos, and questions concerning America reneging on its commitment in two 1979 treaties to completely transfer the control of the Panama Canal to Panama by the turn of the century. Just for good measure, Gabriel Lewis, a former Panamanian ambas sador to the United States who is now part of Noriega’s political oppo sition, had OAS technicians play a tape-recording of his telephone con versation earlier in the day with a distressed Mariela Delvalle, wife of the deposed president. In the conversation, she told Le wis what she had told military offi cers who had come in search of Del valle: “My husband is not here, nor are you going to find him.” But the council failed to come to grips with the question of whether or not to recognize the portfolio of Ley- ton or Lawrence Chewning Fabrege, Delvalle’s choice to sit on the council. Representatives of several non- OAS countries, seated in a section for official observers, gave Chewn ing an ovation when he brietly en tered into the mahogany-walled council chamber and conferred with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who came to the meeting as an ob server. But from the time the council meeting was supposed to start, at 4 p.m. EST, until shortly after 9 p.m., the action was away from the council chamber, as the roughly 30 ambassa dors wrangled in private over whether to seat Leyton or Chewn ing. A carnival atmosphere developed as Lewis, Chewning and Kennedy al ternately met with reporters in the ornate lobby of the OAS building, while musicians, waiters and wait resses prepared one floor above for a dinner-dance. At one point, the U.S. ambassador to the OAS, Richard T. McCormack, shrugged his shoulders, and ex plained to a reporter, “I’m supposed to be up there. I’m the host for that thing.” This was just moments before the formal debate began — and just af ter a rumored deal to settle the cre dentials problem had totally col lapsed. A member of the U.S. mission, talking on grounds of anonymity, said the OAS council members had seriously discussed seating neither Leyton nor Chewning. This official said they came close to giving the council seat to Soraya Cano, a career Panamanian diplo mat. But Paraguay’s Juan Alberto Llanes, chairman of the OAS perma nent council, ruled that Leyton must be seated for the purposes of the de bate. Governor declares awareness week for sexual assault By Mary-Lynne Rice Staff Writer To attract public attention to the pervasive problem of sexual assault, the College Station City Council approved a proclamation declaring March 6 through March 12 “Sexual Assault Aware ness Week.” Gov. Bill Clements issued the annual statewide proclamation to increase awareness of sexual crimes and their victims. “We’re trying to attract media attention to get assistance from the community, and we hope to get more interest in getting vol unteers by promoting awareness of sexual crimes,” said Linda Cas- toria, executive director of the College Station Rape Crisis Cen ter. “It’s also important to make as many people in the community as possible aware of our center’s services,” she said. The Crisis Center has mailed pamphlets to area churches and community organizations, Casto- ria said, with offers to make pre sentations about sexual assault and information to be included in newsletters and bulletins. In 1987, 12 cases of sexual as sault were reported in College Station, said Stephanie George, College Station police depart ment records supervisor. By con trast, Castoria said the rape crisis center handles an average of 10 to 15 cases each month. Castoria said many sexual as sault cases aren’t reported. “A lot of people don’t know we (the crisis center) exist until, un fortunately, they need us,” she said. “But when they need our help, we’re available. “We work with people who don’t report (sexual assault) also. Only one in 10 cases is reported — for many, many reasons, some victims cannot report the crime.” The center offers free support counseling, a 24-hour hotline and 24-hour escort service. Two sup port groups meet each Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Brazos Valley Re habilitation Center on Memorial Drive — one meeting for adult fe male survivors of sexual assault, the other for their family and friends to teach them how to help and support the victims. “We’re tring to ease the burden of what happened,” Castoria said. “It’s very important in recovering to know that they’re not the only ones, and to get rid of myths.” The center works not only with recent assault victims, but with those molested many years ago or in childhood. Despite widespread awareness campaigns and the work of rape crisis centers, Castoria said, the rate of sexual assault is not notice ably reduced. “Rapists are repeat offenders,” she said, “and until there is some increased intervention, they will continue to commit the crimes. “Unfortunately, the crime is not decreasing at all. But we still hope that one day we will have a rape-free rather than rape-prone society.” Hard work brings student crown, title of Miss TAMU By Tracy Staton Senior Staff Writer Stephanie Smith reached a two- year goal Saturday night when she was crowned Miss Texas A&M Uni versity. “It was a dream come true,” Smith said Sunday. “Last night was an ab solute dream come true.” But pageant life is not over for the junior biomedical science major from Richardson. “The work hasjust started,” Smith said. “I now have one notch in my belt, but the big gusto is still ahead, and I’ve got to work for it. I’ll be here this summer getting ready for the Miss Texas pageant so I can rep resent the University as best I can. I’m very honored to represent the school.” Smith has had her eye on the Miss TAMU title since she entered the 1987 pageant, she said. “When I entered last year’s pag eant, I didn’t know anything about pageants,” she said. “I had only seen them on television. But after last year’s pageant, I got the bug and de cided I wanted to win Miss Texas A&M.” She then dedicated herself to the task of preparing for 1988’s pag eant. Smith entered seven other pag eants — including Miss Tyler and Miss Commerce — for experience. “I dieted and exercised really File photo Miss. TAMU Stephanie Smith hard,” she said. “I worked harder than I ever have before. I practiced and practiced my singing.” Smith performed as a vocalist in the talent phase of the competition, which was won by Jana Fuhfman, a dancer. In the swimsuit division Sat urday, Smith successfully defended her 1987 title. Miss TAMU will receive a $1,000 scholarship to the University and a $1,000 wardrobe allowance for the Miss Texas pageant, which will be held July 9 in Fort Worth. Smith also won prizes from local businesses. The rewards of participating in the pageant are not limited to the material gains, Smith said. “It’s the greatest experience,” she said. “You can’t lose even if you don’t take home the crown. The people I met and the friends I made were a really important part of the pageant. I have some great friends from participating in this.” Smith is a member of Zeta Tau Al pha sorority and is involved in A&M intramurals. She has been involved in student government as a Fish Aide and a member of the Big Event committee. She plans to attend Southwestern Medical School after graduation in December 1989. She is on Dean’s Honor Roll and has received the Most Distinguished Student award. The first runner-up in the pag eant, Beth Brenkman, will recieve a $500 scholarship to A&M. Brenk man is a senior business major from Fort Worth. Fuhrman, a junior psy chology major from Kilgore, was second runner-up, and will receive a $400 scholarship. Third runner-up and recipient of a $300 scholarship was Paris North, a freshman speech communications major from De- Soto. Also from DeSoto was fourth runner-up Jennifer Melton, a soph omore economics major who will re ceive a $250 scholarship. t 'r i