irKe Battalion
Vol. 87 No. 118 GSPS 045360 14 Pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, March 24, 1988
andinistas, Contras agree
o cease fire starting April 1
o force]
Pez Ck
^icw 1J
disapptjBSAPOA, Nicaragua (AP) — The leftist Sandi-
Ifie C|i|' a goyemment and U.S.-supported Contra re-
alks, bd signed an agreement for a 60-day cease-fire
n KJoinjjtolstart April 1, both sides announced in a joint
f SapoJ colnmuni( l ue -
im ra?M r * ie two s ‘ c f es sa * c f l h at during the cease-fire,
thi process for negotiating a permanent truce
. o ;;pi be worked out. Within the first 15 days of the
l ( H-day truce, the rebels agreed to move into
'^■■■ufied zones in Nicaragua,
i . "Blhe Contras also have agreed to accept only
^'^humanitarian aid f rom a neutral organization.
' AzcotiB
The Nicaraguan government said it would
grant gradual amnesty and allow all political
exiles to return to the country without fear of
persecution.
The first Sandinista proposal, outlined Tues
day by Deputy Foreign Minister Victor Hugo Ti-
noco, called for a truce of up to 90 days during
which the Contras would lay down their weapons
and join a “national reconciliation dialogue.”
For every rebel who stops fighting, the Sandi-
nistas offered to free a political prisoner deemed
eligible by the government. The government is
holding an estimated 3,300 political prisoners.
Tinoco also said rebels who put down their
arms would be free from prosecution without ap
plying for amnesty and could take part in Nicara
guan political life.
They would be permitted to operate uncen
sored newspapers, magazines and radio stations,
but television would remain a government mo
nopoly. Many press liberties were barred for al
most six years under a state-of-emergency de
cree.
orbachev,
eagan set
summit date
■WASHINGTON (AT) — Presi-
dant Reagan announced Wednesday
would go to Moscow from May 29
jfWjune 2 for his fourth summit
a|b‘iijwfting with Soviet leader Mikhail
“■('.orbachev and his first visit to a
- ■ ■ion he once branded an “evil em-
Visiting hours extension
depends on officials’ OK
The five-day visit will mark the
fnkt trip to Moscow by an American
[ jpCpitsident since Richard Nixon's
summer meeting with Leonid
, Biezhnev. Later that same year, in
QIpNovember, Gerald Ford met with
Biezhnev in the Soviet port city of
Fla Vkidivostok.
planta[®T'he summit’s intended cen-
hepa terpiece was i he signing of a treaty to
ales in Bap 30 percent to 50 percent of the
sign Superpowers’ long-range bombers,
irus-t missiles and submarines. However,
a scii R«agan already has suggested an
■cement will not be ready, saying
din time is too limited,
imals ^Secretary of State George P.
th tk Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister
hepat jEduard A. Shevardnadze reported
rg o Wednesday night that dif ferences
■r in lirdhiained between the two sides on
the accord.
the resigThe two said in a joint statement
a pnilhpy would meet again in Moscow on
plant -April 21-25 and also in May but did
■t indicate where that session
ret rid , would be held.
stilllx®“Both sides have worked hard,
ing i and some progress has been realized
spo: in a number of areas, but much
Sock mb re needs to be done,” the
Mini statement said.
dcs afeBAsked Wednesday if a treaty
act c would be completed, Reagan said, “I
ssent have no way of answering that” and
erca added that the two nations were
dof> committed to the cutback.
■Visiting Soviet Foreign Minister
patiti Eduard Shevardnadze, asked if a
tola treaty would be ready, said through
ginat a translator: “It is possible. This is
nicer no ’ an easy task. This is a very com-
andspBcated task, but we are becoming
convinced that it is doable.
javefoB There are many difficult ques-
flrus tious of a technical nature, mostly in
r j s |( verification, but in principle this can
npot be done,” the foreign minister said
, cent as|he left the White House following
ase, tv y () hours of talks and lunch with
Reagan.
■The summit announcement
capped three days of meetings be-
T0 tween Shevardnadze and Secretary
|v of State George P. Shultz.
■ White House spokesman Marlin
■zwater said the president would
spend all of his time in the Soviet
| toav capital, following the pattern set by
afely. Gorbachev during his December
day summit with Reagan,
reveal®
ccidef®
By Tom Eikel
Staft Writer
A proposal to extend dormitory
visitation hours by five hours per
week, unanimously approved by the
Resident Hall Association, is now in
the hands of Assistant Director of
Student Affairs Tom Murray .
If Murray approves the proposal,
it will go to Director of Student Af
fairs Ron Sasse and Vice President
for Student Services Dr. John Kol-
dus, respectively, for approval.
Results of a recent RHA campus
poll shows that about 82 percent of
A&M on-campus residents are in fa
vor of the change in visiting hours,
RHA President David McDowell
said.
Present visitation hours are from
10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through
Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 1:30 a.m.
on Friday and Saturday.
If approved, RHA’s latest propo
sal would extend weekday visitation
hours to 11 p.m., while weekend
hours would remain the same, he
said.
The proposal, put together by
McDowell and presented at the
March 9th meeting, is the culmina
tion of a lot of research and the revi
sion of previous proposals.
“We’ve been working on this for
the past three years . . . but this
(proposal) is different from the last
two,” McDowell said.
First, if approved, the new hours
would ideally go into effect in Fall
1988 on a one-year trial basis, he
said.
Second, the proposal calls for the
formation of a special oversight
committee to help prevent and/or
solve any problems that might arise.
The committee, under the direction
of the RHA vice president, will con
sist of tw’o residence hall presidents,
two RHA delegates, two resident di
rectors, two resident advisers, two
members of Student Affairs and one
RHA executive board member.
Finally, if the proposal is ap
proved, each hall will vote on
whether or not it wants the extended
hours. Three-fifths of the hall resi
dents will have to vote in favor of the
proposal before the hall will adopt
the new hours.
The longer hours will mean that
dorm resident advisers will have to
make their rounds an hour later
than usual. Despite this, McDowell
said most advisers have shown a
great deal of support for the propo
sal.
“There have been a few who are
against it,” he said.
McDowell said the opposition said
the proposal possibly would increase
staff workloads, roommate conflicts
and security problems, particularly
in women’s dormitories.
RHA’s latest proposal includes a
35-page report outlining the find
ings of three years of surveys con
ducted at A&M,’as well as other col
leges and universities around the
country, he said.
The report also makes references
and comparisons to the two previous
proposals that were made in 1985
and 1986, he said.
Photo by Mike C. Mulvey
Under the weather
Jenna Harden, a senior agricultural economics major, walks across
Olsen Field on her way to work in the MSC Wednesday.The wet
weather came af ter almost a week of daytime temperatures in the 50s
and 60s.
Student Government sponsors events
to spread information on Aggie Muster
By Andrea Halbert
Reporter
On April 21, Aggies will gather
throughout the world, as they do on
this date every year, to pay homage
to all students and former students
who have died during the year. The
tradition of Aggie Muster began in
1883 and is considered one of the
most sacred Aggie traditions.
At the Muster ceremony, a roll
call is read for those who have
passed on. A candle is lighted as
each name is called, and someone at
the ceremony answers “here” to
symbolize that the Aggie always will
be present in spirit.
Gerald Griffin, Class of ’56, will
speak at Muster. Griffin is president
of the Houston Chamber of Com
merce and former director of the
Johnson Space Center.
The Muster committee is holding
activities this week to focus student
attention on the tradition. The Mus
ter committee is sponsored by Stu-
Battalion file photo
A woman attends the Aggie
Muster ceremony.
dent Government and exists to pro
mote the tradition of Aggie Muster
on campus.
A Muster Awareness subcommit
tee was formed two years ago to
keep the growing student body in
formed .
“Pass it on” is the theme for Mus
ter Awareness Week, Subcommittee
Chairman Barbara Graham said.
She said the committee is encourag
ing students to pass on the tradition
with “pass-it-on” cards.
Students sign the cards -— which
are printed with the date of Muster
— and pass them on to someone
else.
The big event of the week is the
Muster Awareness Presentation to
be held Thursday at 7 p.m. in Rud
der Theater.
John Adams, class of ’73, will
speak about the history and evolu
tion of Aggie Muster. A slide show
about tradition at Texas A&M also
will be presented.
Adams is author of “We Are the
Aggies,” a book about the history
and evolution of Aggie traditions
over the last 100 years.
As an undergraduate, Adams was
a member of the Texas A&M Corps
of Cadets and the Muster commit
tee.
He has master’s and doctorate de
grees in history from A&M. He is
currently president and chief exec
utive officer of Meiller Co. in Col
lege Station.
Adams said he plans to discuss “e-
verything anyone could possibly
want to know about the tradition,”
including a lot of what he called
“gee-whiz” information.
The presentation is free and ev
eryone is encouraged to attend, Gra
ham said.
The Muster Awareness subcom
mittee also held a Fountain Forum
on Tuesday and will have an infor
mation desk at the MSC all week.
The Fountain Forum was held
Tuesday at Rudder Fountain.
Charly Carrinton, a senior speech
communications major, and Melissa
Van Dyke, a junior accounting ma
jor, spoke about Muster activities
and answered questions from listen
ers.
The Muster Awateness subcom
mittee plans to make Muster Aware
ness Week an annual event to help
Aggies keep the Muster tradition al-
ggies help put out fire on Galveston Island
By John H. Neill
Reporter
■ Playing the good Samaritan may
not come naturally to most people,
especially during a vacation, but 10
A&M students did stop and helped
to put out a fire on Galveston Island
Tj dui in g spring break.
Donnie Boehnke, a senior agricul-
i' K ttiral economics major from Tom-
ball, said he and some friends were
driving on the road that leads to the
city of Crystal Beach about 12:30
CHORllP-m. last Monday when they saw
smoke coming from the side of the
road. The group turned on a dirt
toad and saw three firefighters
( struggling with a grass fire.
I Although initially reluctant to ac-
.gjoK cept assistance, the Galveston Island
1 BiSrefighters agreed to allow the
it 2 ■ A&M students to help.
yes' 5 '
| Crystal Beach Police Chief Farris
Collier said the fire started as a trash
fire that started burning out of con-
trol. He said the firefighters appre
ciated the help from the A&M stu
dents.
“They were super,” Collier said in
a Battalion phone interview
Wednesday. “We would have lost a
couple of houses if it wasn't for
them.”
Chris White, an A&M freshman
and volunteer firefighter from
Friendswood, was among the group.
Boehnke said White took over the
firehose while the others worked
with “flappers,” heavy material con
nected to mop-like handles used to
press out fires.
Brad Isenhart, a 21-year-old ju
nior from Tomball, said, “We had to
do most of the work and one of the
Galveston firemen had to rest.”
Collier said the fire covered two to
three acres of land.
The fire, on a 15- to 20-acre lot of
waist-high grass, was being blown to
ward some beach houses when they
arrived, Boehnke said.
“It was spreading pretty fast to
ward those beach houses because of
the wind,” Boehnke said. “We saved
at least one beach house, if not more,
because we were there.”
The Aggies noticed the fire was
spreading despite the firefighters’
efforts, Isenhart said.
“They (the Galveston firefighters)
were fighting the fire from the north
end and it was moving south toward
the beach houses,” Isenhart said.
White, a volunteer firefighter for
two years, said he believes that the
people who were there have a better
outlook on college students because
the men had the courtesy to stop and
help. He said that some of the peo
ple believe that students will help in
certain situations instead of going to
the beach to get drunk.
“It felt good,” White said. “You
get a sense of accomplishment and
self-fulfillment.”
Isenhart said the experience of
fighting the fire was demanding.
“It was pretty exciting,” he said.
“It gets your adrenaline pumping
and we were pumped at the time.”
Although there were not many
people there, Boehnke said the ones
watching were thankful for the Ag
gies’ efforts.
“It was a good experience for all
of us,” he said. “It was fun.”
Photo by Brad Isenhart
Steve Fuqua, Robbie Legg, Joe Isenhart and Chris White fight a fire
at Crystal Beach on Galveston Island Monday, March 14. They were
on spring break when they saw the fire and decided to stop and help.
Court OKs
Texaco plan
to restructure
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) —
Texaco Inc. on Wednesday won fi
nal bankruptcy court approval for a
plan that would settle its multibil-
lion-dollar dispute with Pennzoil Co.
and bring it out of Chapter 11 pro
tection early next month.
After a day and a half of closing
arguments, U.S. Bankruptcy Court
Judge Howard Schwartzberg con
firmed the reorganization plan,
which features an agreement by
Texaco to pay Pennzoil Co. $3 bil
lion to drop a $ 10.3 billion judgment
held by Pennzoil against the nation’s
third-largest oil company.
When the plan goes into effect on
April 7, Texaco will deliver the
money to Pennzoil and will be offi
cially free from the legal constraints
that have limited its operations since
the company filed for protection
from its creditors last April 12.
It was the largest corporate bank
ruptcy in U.S. history.
Texaco said it took that action to
avoid having to pay a potentially ru
inous $11 billion security bond while
appealing the judgment.
A Houston jury awarded the
judgment to Houston-based Pen
nzoil in November 1985, after find
ing that Texaco had improperly in
terfered with a Pennzoil acquisition
of part of Getty oil company so Tex
aco could buy Getty itself.
Schwartzberg’s approval marked
the last step required for Texaco to
emerge from bankruptcy protection
under federal law.
Texaco officials and Pennzoil
Chairman J. Hugh Liedtke ex
pressed profound relief that the
four-year ordeal of litigation that
had paralyzed both companies was
finally over.
Liedtke said he never doubted
that the jury’s verdict would be vin
dicated, despite lingering criticism
from some quarters.
“Quite frankly, all the smoke
aside, people don’t pay $3 billion for
something who don’t have some lia
bility, ” he said.
Told of that remark, Texaco
Chairman Alfred C. DeCrane —
who at Tuesday’s hearing had
stoutly defended Texaco’s view that
it had done nothing wrong — said,
“What we did here today is to settle
this matter.”
In announcing his decision to con
firm the plan, Schwartzberg noted
that 96 percent of Texaco’s shares
were voted in favor of the package,
which was laboriously worked out
among Pennzoil, Texaco, and com
mittees representing Texaco’s cred
itors and shareholders.