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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 1988)
r3j MM« Texas m m « • The Battalion Vol. 87 No. 134 (JSPS 045360 10 Pages Colleae Station, Texas Friday, April 15, 1988 Soviet Union signs pledge to withdraw troops GENEVA (AP) — The Soviet nion signed a formal pledge Thursday to withdraw its troops :rom Afghanistan starting May 15, but there was no indication from [uerrillas that the Red Army will be llowed to leave peacefully after iight years of war. Moslem insurgent leaders, who vere not invited to the negotiations, aid they would present their reac- ions Saturday at a rally in Pakistan. The U.S.-supported guerrillas, who claim to control virtually all the country except the cities, ere ex pected to repeat their vow to con tinue lighting until the last Soviet soldier has left Afghan soil. The United States, the Soviet Union, Afghanistan and neighbor ing Pakistan, signed the accord Thursday in an austere 10-minute ceremony. It stipulates that the with drawal begin May 15. Afterward, Pakistan, which rep resented the guerrillas at the nego tiations, predicted the civil war will go on because there is no provision for an interim government, and said it would continue denying recogni tion to the Communist regime in Ka bul. Provisions of the agreement re quire the two countries to stop inter fering in one another’s affairs. The insurgents, who have been fighting since a Communist coup in April 1978, are based in camps and cities on Pakistan’s side of the border. Ambassador Sirius Nasseri of Iran, which borders Afghanistan on the west, said the agreement pro vides a face-saving way for the Sovi ets to leave but “we do not yet have a solution for Afghanistan.” About 3.5 million Afghan refu gees live in Pakistan and another 1.5 million in Iran, together represent ing about one-third of Afghanistan’s population. Those in Iran are not covered by the agreement’s provi sions on return of refugees The pact was worked out in indi rect talks between Pakistan and Af ghanistan that began in 1982 and were mediated by the United Na tions. Soviet soldiers entered Af ghanistan in December 1979 and an estimated 1 15,000 are there helping fight the insurgents. Those signing the document were Secretary of State George P. Shultz, Foreign Minister Eduard A. She vardnadze of the Soviet Union, Afg han Foreign Minister Abdul Wakil apd Pakistan’s acting foreign min ister, Zain Noorani. Shevardnadze told reporters the accord “totally blocked” the “entire range” of interference in Afghan af fairs. He stressed that it does not cover continued U.S. and Soviet military aid to the warring factions, however, and said continued U.S. assistance to the insurgents would “complicate” the situation. Car bomb explodes, kills 5, hurts 17 at USO club ! Rough and tumble Residents of Aston and Dunn continued a seven- year tradition Thursday afternoon on the Gen. Ormond R. Simpson drill field at 5 p.m. as they Photo by Shelly Schluter went head-to-head in a football game. The Dunn residents won for the seventh year in a row, de feating Aston by a score of 14-7. NAPLES, Italy (AP) — A car bomb blew up in front of a club for U.S. military personnel in Naples on Thursday, killing a U.S. Navy en listed woman and four Italians and wounding at least 17, officials said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast that hap pened shortly after 8 p.m. (1 p.m. CST) at the USO club. A Pentagon spokesman said the American woman was stationed at Naval Communications Area Master Station in Naples. Lt. Janet Mescus, the spokesman, said the woman’s identity was being withheld pending notification of next of kin. Italian media quoted officials as saying four Italians were also killed. One of the bodies at the club’s en trance was draped in a U.S. flag. Italian hospital officials said at least four Americans were among the in jured. Navy Cmdr. Connie Haney said in Washington that personnel assigned to the three^Navy vessels docked at Naples had been accounted for and “no people assigned to those three ships died.” Haney said it was possible that other U.S. servicemen could have been at the club. Navy officials were trving to confirm the number of in jured U.S. military personnel, Ha ney said. Italian media said the bomb ex ploded during a reception at the club for the commander of the USS Paul, a torpedo boat destroyer docked in Naples. A U.S. Consulate official could not confirm the report. Passers-by ran when the explosion occurred outside the club, which is in one of Naples’ busiest areas. “It was a huge boom and we were all knocked to the ground,” an un identified Italian woman told the RAI television network from her hospital bed. “When we got up, all we could see was flames every where.” A spokesman for Pellegrini Hos pital said 14 of the wounded, includ ing four Americans and eight Ital ians, were taken to a hospital. The spokesman, who spoke on condition he was not identified, said the four Americans later were sent to a U.S. military hospital. He said he had no details on the extent of the injuries. RAI said one of the wounded, a 27-year-old Italian woman, was re ported in grave condition. A Pentagon spokesman in Wash ington, Lt. Col. Jim Jannette, said the USS Paul and USS Capodanno were in the Naples port at the time of the blast. iedmont jet engine explodes, forces emergency landing I CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — An engine on a Piedmont jetliner exploded into jagged pieces ihursday, slicing through both sides of the plane and forcing the pilot to make an emergency land ing as passengers screamed and fainted. I No injuries were reported among the 56 pas sengers and four crew members, but passengers id some on board fainted after the turbine blades ripped through the right rear bathroom and a work area for attendants as the plane cruised at 31,000 feet. “If somebody had been in the bathroom or the stewardesses’ quarters, they would have been killed,” said passenger Doug Bruce of Columbus, Ohio. “My first thought was, ‘This is it.’ ” Passenger Fred Hinton of Raleigh, N.C., said, “It blew a big hole in the plane. I’m 240 pounds, and it was big enough that I could crawl through it. “All the kids were screaming.” Piedmont Flight 486 was flying from Char lotte, N.C., to Columbus, Ohio, when its right jet turbine disintegrated, Piedmont officials said. A&M student killed as car strikes bicycle; rider thrown A 19-year-old Texas A&M stu dent died Thursday after being hit by a car on F.M. 60 west of College Station, said Texas De partment of Public Safety Trooper Robert Martinez. Srinivas Yimadabattun Rao, a sophomore chemistry major, was riding his bicycle westward on the shoulder of F.M. 60 when he was struck from behind by a car driven by 70-year-old Erma Green Woodward of Route 5 in College Station, Martinez said. After he was hit, Rao swerved into the eastbound lane and was struck by another vehicle, Marti nez said. The accident occurred at 4:45 p.m. Thursday. Rao, from 3610 Las Moras in Temple, was pronounced dead at 5:30 p.m. Thursday by Brazos County Justice of the Peace An- tone Dobrovolny. Martinez said no charges have been filed in connection with the accident. Rao, a resident of Dunn Hall, was brought to Hillier funeral home in Bryan. Jim Melville of Hillier said the funeral home is waiting to get in touch with Rao’s family to sched ule services, which probably will be today. Grand jury indicts player for assault By Drew Leder Staff Writer A Brazos County grand jury indicted Texas A&M football player Guy Broom Thursday on charges of aggravated assault stemming from an incident Jan. 30 that resulted in the hospitaliza tion of two Texas A&M students and a College Station man. Brazos County Assistant Dis trict Attorney Margaret Lalk .said Broom’s case will come to trial in district court within the next two to nine months. If found guilty of the assault charge, a third-degree felony. Broom faces a possible two to 10 years in a Texas Department of Corrections facility and a maxi mum fine of $5,000. Broom, a senior who played defensive end for A&M the past ifour years, was arraigned Feb. 8 on the felony assault charge and on two misdemeanor assault charges. Police records say he is accused of assaulting A&M stu- ents Mary Barclay and Walter oigtman and Barclay’s husband, ndy, in the Woodstone Shop ping Center parking lot. Andy Barclay underwent sur gery the following week, having wo pins placed in a collar bone hat was broken in the incident. Voigtman and Mrs. Barclay Iso were hospitalized because of injuries they sustained in the inci- fdent and both were released that night. I The Barclays and Voigtman lamed Broom in a civil suit April 1 claiming that he caused them bodily injury and damaged the Barclays’ car. Vandiver commends anti-apartheid marchers By Tom Eikel Staff Writer Photo by Jay Janner An anti-apartheid divestment march Thursday on the Texas A&M campus at tracted only about 25 participants, but Presi dent Frank E. Vandiver commended the marchers for their concern for human rights. “This is a national issue and I think that if our students weren’t concerned, we would not be on the cutting edge of what’s going on in the United States,” Vandiver said after the march. Several members of A&M’s Students Against Apartheid, which sponsored the march, presented Vandiver with a poster sized petition with about 20 signatures on it. “The undersigned condemn apartheid in South Africa,” the board read. “Furthermore, we urge the Board of Regents of Texas A&M to divest from American banks and compa nies who have financial holdings in South Af rica.” According to SAA, A&M has approxi mately $3.5 million invested in American banks and corporations that have financial holdings in South Africa. Vandiver, who was leaving the Board of Regents Annex with his wife, Rene, spoke to about 15 people who had come to the Annex after the march ended at Rudder Fountain. “I promise you we will listen and do what’s possible,” Vandiver told the group. The march began Thursday at 12:30 p.m. in front of the Systems Administration Build ing, where there was a speaker from the Afri can Students Association. Participants carrying signs and chanting anti-apartheid slogans began their trek shortly afterward, marching through the Sys tems Building on their way to the anti-apart heid shanty located near the Academic Build ing, where there was another speaker. After passing through the Academic Build ing, the marchers ended up at Rudder Foun tain, where they had planned to have several more speakers. But scheduled speakers Chancellor Perry Adkisson and Carey Cauley Jr., chairman of the Brazos County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People did not speak. A spokesman for the chancellor called SAA on Wednesday to cancel his appearance, and Cauley did not show up. David Luckenbach, a freshman political science major and SAA vice president, said that despite the low turnout, he was pleased with the march. “There’s different ways to look at it,” Lu- kenbach said. “We can look at it and say, ‘If we get X amount of people to come, it will be successful,’ but we realized that that wasn’t the point. “The point was to generate some publicity for it and specifically to try to encourage the Board of Regents and the University to talk to us. It’s fairly obvious that we achieved our purpose; it was very successful. I have to say that on that basis, it was probably the most successful event we’ve ever had.” Norman Muraya, a mechanical engi neering graduate student and divestment chairman for SAA, said part of the reason for the small turnout was that the march took place while most students were in class. “Also, the news didn’t get out until the early part of this week, so a lot of people did not know, about it ... I think next time the consensus will be to have it at 5 o’clock, which is what we’ve had in the past.” A handout distributed by SAA says 2,000 A&M students have signed a petition urging the regents to divest and requesting a 20-min- ute hearing with the Board to discuss the is sue. “We and 2,000 other people would like to know what is the official status of the Univer sity,” Muraya said. “We are right now trying to get them to issue a public policy statement on the status of our investments, but at least we do know they have monitored the invest ments in South Africa.” Todd Honeycutt, a freshman general stud ies major and a member of SAA, said Thurs day afternoon that he had met with Bill Pres- nal, executive secretary for the Board of Regents, after the march to discuss the possi bility of scheduling a meeting between SAA and the Board. Honeycutt said Presnal dismissed the idea of a meeting, saying the Board was on a tight time schedule filled with pressing matters. Honeycutt, however, said that Presnal made David Luckenbach, vice president of Students Against Apartheid and a fresh man political science major, and Karen it clear that he wasn’t necessarily speaking for the Board. In a Battalion phone interview Thursday evening, Presnal said he told Honeycutt that the regents’ meetings are open to the public, but the group had to go through the proper channels to request a meeting with the Board. Presnal said the Board is not expected to make moral, social or political policy deci sions. “I told him that in my view that was not the role of the Board,” Presnal said. “Policy Ellington, a freshman journalism major, participate in the organization’s march for divestment Thursday. change with regard to these kinds of issues are dealt with in the Legislature . . . The Board is in the business of maximizing the in come of the University, and if they fail to do that then they’re not living up to their respon sibilities. . . . “I told him that I’m sure that if he ap proached any Board member, that they would tell him that they detested apartheid as much as he does. “But that has nothing to do with the Board’s responsibilities.”