lexas A&M
e Battalion
College Station, Texas
Vol.
USPS 045360
Pages
PLO leaders accept
Israel’s right to exist
ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — PLO
leaders accepted a U.N. resolution
Sunday implicitly recognizing Is
rael’s right to exist and recom
mended the PLO’s parliament en
dorse the decision.
Approval by the Palestine Na
tional Council, the PLO’s parlia-
ment-in-exile, is virtually certain and
would meet one of the conditions for
U.S. recognition of the Palestine Lib
eration Organization.
The action by a committee of PLO
leaders showed that chairman Yas
ser Arafat has won his struggle with
hardliners over the controversial
U.N. Resolution 242. In the 450-
member PNC, 80 percent to 85 per
cent of the parliamentarians are
aligned with Arafat.
In Washington, President Reagan
was asked if he was pleased with the
PLO leaders’ action and said, “We’re
still looking at that; that’s all I can
say.”
The declaration accepting the res
olution was debated and being
drafted by a committee for presenta
tion to the plenary session of the Pal
estine National Council, which be
gan a four-day meeting in Algiers on
Saturday.
“The PNC will come out with a
political decision and a program of
peace,” PLO spokesman Ahmed Ab-
dul-Rahman said.
“In the political statement, we will
adopt all resolutions of the U.N. Se
curity Council dealing with the Pal
estinian question. What’s more, we
will emphasize resolutions 242 and
338 as the basis for an international
conference to achieve peace in the
Middle East.”
Resolution 242 calls for an end to
hostilities and Israeli withdrawal
from territories occupied in the
1967 war. Adopted by the Security
Council in 1967, it implicitly recog
nizes Israel by referring to the right
of all states in the area to live within
secure and recognized borders.
Resolution 338, passed in 1973
during the Arab-Israeli war, calls for
an end to fighting; urges implemen
tation of Resolution 242 and, most
important, calls for negotiations be
tween Arabs and Israel toward “a
Amtrack’s Eagle line
makes first run to CS
College Station will be a “station”
again today for the first time since
1958.
Amtrak’s Texas Eagle line, on its
first run, will stop at the city’s new
train station on Marion Pugh Boule
vard at 12:25 for an inaugural cere
mony.
Peggy Calliham, College Station
public information officer, said the
ceremony will begin at noon with
music by the A&M Consolidated
High School band. Speeches will be
given by the Bryan and College Sta
tion mayors, Chamber of Commerce
President Bill Vance, Robert Smith,
vice president of finance and opera
tions, and an Amtrak representative.
Fred Brown, College Station City
Council member and liaison be
tween Amtrak and College Station,
will be master of ceremonies.
Refreshments will be served, and
a drawing will be held for free tick
ets.
The train, which will carry digni
taries from Bryan, College Station,
Dallas, Corsicana and Houston on its
inaugural run, will leave for Hous
ton at 12:55 p.m.
The train will make its first public
run Tuesday. It will head north to
Corsicana, Dallas, St. Louis and Chi
cago Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays
and south to Houston Mondays,
Wednesdays and Saturdays. Call 1-
800-USA-RAIL for ticket informa-
tion and reservations.
The regularly scheduled passen
ger last train to stop in College Sta
tion was the Southern Pacific Owl,
which ran for 86 years.
egistrar’s office releases final exam schedule
omaU'i
he Unis
lio Sefi
ch, CH
and aft
The last day of classes for the this semester will be
j)ec. 7, and finals will begin Dec. 9.
The registrar’s office released this semester’s final
Examination schedule Friday. The revised schedule in
cludes a “reading day” on Dec. 8.
I Donald Carter, Texas A&M registrar, said University
iPresident William Mobley approved the revised sched
ule a week ago. The schedule allows faculty to submit
degree candidates’ grades early so that most students
’ Expecting to graduate can receive certification before
fommencement.
Diplomas will be awarded at commencement ceremo-
|iies to all students who have been certified, Carter said,
list will be posted in Heaton Hall on the morning of
ec. 16.
“Every degree candidate may participate in gradua-
[ion ceremonies,” Carter said. “However, those who are
not clear — for whatever the reason — will have a letter
in their (diploma) tube explaining why there isn’t a di
ploma. These students will have until Friday during the
first week of the spring semester to work things out.”
Carter said each final examination will last no longer
than two hours. He also gave other rules and proce
dures: “Courses carrying one credit hour of theory or
practice shall have one hour exams given during the
last class period,” Carter said. “When a student is sched
uled for three final examinations in one day, the stu
dent may request of his or her dean rescheduling of one
of the exams. The dean, department head and faculty
member will make every effort to accommodate the stu
dent when such a request is made.”
Final examinations for classes meeting at times other
than those listed below will be scheduled during the fi
nal examination period at a time agreed upon by the
faculty member and students, he said.
The following is the final exam schedule for this semester.
Friday, Dec. 9
Friday, Dec. 9
Friday, Dec. 9
Friday, Dec. 9
7:30 a.m.-9:30 a.in.
10 a.m.-12 noon
12:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
3 p.m.-5 p.m.
MWF 4 and after
MWF 8
TR 12:30-1:45
TR 11-12:15
Monday, Dec. 12
Monday, Dec. 12
Monday, Dec. 12
Monday, Dec. 12
8 a.m.-lO a.m.
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
1 p.m.-3 p.m.
3:30 p.m.-:5:30 p.m.
MWF 9
MWF 12
TR 8-9:15
MWF 3
Tuesday, Dec. 13
Tuesday, Dec. 13
Tuesday, Dec. 13
Tuesday, Dec. 13
8 a.m.-10 a.m.
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
1 p.m.-3 p.m.
3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
MWF 10
MWF 2
TR 3:30-4:45
MWF 1
Wednesday, Dec. 14
Wednesday, Dec. 14
Wednesday, Dec. 14
Wednesday, Dec. 14
8 a.m.-10 a.m.
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
1 p.m.-3 p.m.
3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
TR 9:30-10:45
MWF 11
TR 2-3:15
TR 5 and after
just and durable peace in the Middle
East.”
In the closed-door committee
meetings among PLO leaders, there
was strong opposition to Resolution
242 from the Marxist-oriented
groups, particularly George Ha-
bash’s Popular Front for the Liber
ation of Palestine.
Habash’s faction is the second-
largest of the eight groups compris
ing the PLO. Arafat’s Fatah is the
largest.
Sources close to the talks said that
after two days of haggling, it was
clear no compromise was possible.
Habash agreed to note his reser
vations but bow to the majority and
not create a major split.
Salah Khalaf, a top Arafat aide
known as Abu lyad, said, “Never in
my career have I seen the Palestinian
leadership acting as responsibly as it
is during this session. Unity is a
priority and the minority is accept
ing the verdict of the majority with
out any hard feelings.”
The 450-member Palestinian
council began meeting Saturday and
is expected to conclude on Tuesday
with a declaration of independence
for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In all previous meetings, the
council has explicitly rejected Reso
lution 242.
Those opposed to Resolution 242
objected to.its referring to the future
of Palestinians in the occupied terri
tories as “a just settlement of the ref
ugee problem.”
The Algiers conference was called
to deal with the new developments
in the Middle East and especially to
take advantage of increased atten
tion and sympathy for the Palestin
ian cause.
Court orders
A&M to pay
GSS lawyers
Texas A&M must pay almost
$250,000 to lawyers who rep
resented Gay Student Services in its
court battle for recognition at A&M.
U.S. District Judge Sim Lake or
dered the award Thursday.
The GSS applied for recognition
by A&M in 1976. The University
denied the request on the grounds
that recognition would sanction and
promote homosexual activities. Such
activities were illegal in Texas in
1976.
The GSS filed suit in 1977 against
A&M. The case originally was dis
missed, but the Fifth Circuit Court
of Appeals in Baton Rouge, La. or
dered the case reinstated. U.S. Dis
trict Judge Ross Sterling then ruled
against the GSS.
The group then appealed success
fully to the 5th Court of Appeals.
A&M appealed to the U.S. Su
preme Court, but the court refused
to hear the case, which meant the de
cision by the 5th Court stood.
A&M recognized the GSS in 1985.
onference discusses job emigration to Mexico
By Alan Sembera
Senior Staff Writer
and
Juliette Rizzo
Staff Writer
For decades, millions of Mexican
orkers have migrated to the United
^ yr States in search of better-paying jobs.
- j But in a recent switch, jobs have begun
moving south across the border in search
WOU of lower-paid Mexican workers.
J HI This emigration of jobs from the
United States to Mexico was just one of
the effects of Mexico’s “maquila” indus
try discussed at an international confer-
nce Thursday through Saturday at
Texas A&M.
1 Students and faculty from more than
50 universities in the United States and
+ iir ex * co atten ded the conference, which
I Igyas designed to educate the public about
|lhe past and future effects of the maquila
UfjU industry on the economies of both coun
tries.
I Maquiladoras are assembly plants in
Mexico that offer foreign manufacturers
. ii, tlie opportunity to take advantage of
|3Pl! Mexico’s lower-paid work force.
1 Parts are manufactured in other coun-
M iff' es — ‘ n l ar 8 e P art * n the United States
* K~ anc * are 'roported into Mexico duty-
^^yfree for assembly. The finished products
are then exported, and duties are paid
inly for the value that has been added to
lie parts.
1, j The maquila program provides many
j ' |enefits to U.S. companies.
Up Bill Wolfe, president of LINK, an in-
dustrial management company in
ig
Brownsville that provides services and
advice to companies in the maquila pro
gram, explained some of the benefits.
Wolfe said moving labor-intensive
jobs to maquiladora plants offers another
alternative to companies that are in dan
ger of losing profits because of foreign
competition.
The other options, he said, are to sell
the company while it is still worth some
thing, to move jobs to the mostly non-
unionized parts of the United States, or
to move production to Asia.
“These are options many people face
on a daily basis,” Wolfe said.
Moving the jobs to Mexico rather than
to Asia saves more U.S. jobs, he said,
because the parts still are manufactured
in the United States under the maquila
dora option.
Mexico’s proximity to the United
States also makes U.S. production of
parts more viable, he said.
Wolfe said that by locating labor-in
tensive jobs in Mexico, U.S. companies
can keep service-related jobs in the
United States.
The maquila program also offers many
advantages to the Mexican economy.
Lucinda Vargas, marketing research
manager for a Mexican industrial devel
opment group, listed the benefits and
drawbacks of the program for Mexico.
One of the most crucial benefits the
maquila program offers Mexico, she
said, is increased employment.
More than 350,000 Mexicans are em
ployed by the maquila industry, she said,
and this number is increasing dramati
cally. In 1987 alone, employment in the
industry increased 22 percent, she said.
Another major benefit, she said, is the
transfer of “soft technology” from other
countries. Soft technology includes the
knowledge of work methods and produc
tion systems.
Foreign exchange is another crucial
benefit that the maquila industry brings
to Mexico, Vargas said.
“Since 1985, the maquila industry has
been the second largest source of hard
currency in Mexico, following petro
leum,” she said.
Mexico is $104.5 billion in debt, and
with low petroleum prices, foreign cur
rency is in short supply.
On the other hand, she said, the ma
quila program has several drawbacks.
One disadvantage is accelerated
growth in Northern Mexico, she said.
The infrastructures of the major cities are
unable to handle the large influx of
workers, she said, which creates traffic
and telecommunication problems and a
shortage of housing.
Another major drawback, Vargas
said, is the lack of integration between
the maquila industry and the Mexican
economy.
She said less than 2 percent of the raw
materials used in maquiladora plants
originate in Mexico.
Dr. Joseph Grunwald, former presi
dent of the Institute of the Americas, said
the maquila industry offers Mexico the
chance to become a major player in the
world economy.
Grunwald, an expert on global trade
and economics, said the import of U.S.
technology and capital offers Mexico the
chance to follow the development path of
Asian countries such as South Korea,
Taiwan and Singapore.
These Asian countries developed in
dustrially, he said, because the United
States took advantage of the cheap labor
there much the way it uses the U.S.-
Mexican border area today.
“After the United States was the un
disputed economic leader in the world
after the second world war,” Grunwald
said, “competition reemerged with the
recovery of Europe and with the recov
ery of Japan.
“When the United States then found it
self in an international market in which it
had to compete with low-cost producers,
it looked for ways in which it could cut
down its production costs.
“It came upon the idea of slicing up
production processes into labor-intensive
processes and capital- or knowledge-in
tensive processes, and then sending the
labor-intensive processes abroad.”
Grunwald said the United States first
went to Asia instead of Latin America
because labor costs were much lower.
“It wasn’t called maquiladora, but
that’s in fact what they were,” he said.
Grunwald said these Asian countries
began supplying components in increas
ing proportions and started becoming op
erators of their own assembly plants.
Soon they were able to produce a use
ful product by themselves, he said.
“They sucked up the technology that
was inherent in the maquiladora because
Joseph Grunwald
some of the maquiladoras are very so
phisticated,” Grunwald said. “They used
the maquiladoras as a springboard for ex
porting and for using high levels of tech
nology in production for their own local
markets.”
He said the offshoot plants have not
yet developed in Mexico because Mexi
cans until recently had considered the
maquila industry undignified and not an
activity that would lead to industrializa
Photo by Dean Saito
tion. “They felt as if they were taking in
someone else’s dirty laundry,” he said.
Mexican capitalists found it much eas
ier to produce for the local, protected
market, he said. It was much easier than
meeting the delivery schedules and stan
dards of quality control that are nec
essary for exporting, he said.
But today, he said, Mexico’s ailing
economy is forcing Mexican capitalists
to look outward for avenues of growth.