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mCROFILUCENTER
P.0. BOX 12188
DALLAS, TX 75225-0188
Texas A&M
The Battalion
Friday, December 9, 1988
College Station, Texas
Vol. 88 No
USPS 045360 16 Pages
Soviets rush aid to quake-rocked Armenia
MOSCOW (AP) — Soviet authorities
rushed military surgeons and tons of medi
cal supplies Thursday into Armenia,
rocked oy an earthquake that officials said
virtually destroyed several .cities and killed
-Jtens of thousands of people.
Armenian journalists said a Politburo
commission led by Premier Nikolai I. Ryzh
kov received preliminary estimates that up
to 50,000 people died in the Wednesday
earthquake, which measured 6.9 on the
Richter scale. Soviet officials reported thou
sands of people were killed but provided no
death toll.
President Mikhail S. Gorbachev cut short
his trip to the United States and flew home
to lead a worldwide emergency rescue ef
fort in the southern republic, which has a
population of 3.3 million.
“Urgent measures are being taken to
help all those affected by this terrible tra
gedy, and I have to be there in this effort,"
said Gorbachev, who planned to fly to Yere
van after arriving in Moscow. He canceled
planned trips to Cuba and Britain.
President Reagan offered emergency hu
manitarian aid, Cuban President FidelCas
tro pledged to send construction workers.
and Britain dispatched London firefighters
to join the rescue effort.
Soviet TV showed a clock on a building
in the city of Leninakan, on the Turkish
border near the epicenter of the earth
quake. stopped at 11:41 — the instant disas
ter struck.
The earthquake destroyed two-thirds of
Leninakan. Armenia's second-largest city
with a population of 250,000 people, a TV
correspondent said.
Spitak, a town of 16,000 about 45 miles
away, “was practically erased from the face
of the Earth,” the correspondent said.
I ass said half the buildings in Kirovakan.
a city of 150,000, had crumbled.
A special meeting of representatives of
all 15 Soviet republics was called in Yere
van, the Armenian capital, on Friday to dis
cuss disaster relief.
Soviet authorities dispatched doctors, en
gineers, food and medical supplies to the
area, and helicopters ferried the injured
northward to hospitals in neighboring So
viet Cieorgia, the Tass news agency re
ported.
I ass said 2,300 people were hospitalized
in Yerevan with injuries from the quake
and that 200 had been hospitalized across
the border in Georgia. It did not say how
many of the injured were treated else
where.
For a second night Thursday, millions of
Soviet TV viewers saw soldiers searching
for survivon and bodies in huge piles of
concrete rubble, either by hand or with
cranes. Tho disaster coverage by the state-
run media was unprecedented in its speed
and scope.
A&M hires
firm to probe
Smith scandal
From Staff and Wire Reports
AUSTIN (AP) — Texas A&M
University has hired a private inves
tigating firm to assist the school in its
internal investigation of “hush mon
ey" payments to a former football
player, the Auslin American-States
man reported Thursday.
The newspaper, citing an un
named source, said the firm would
help as the school investigates allega
tions that (xiach Jackie Sherrill gave
money to former player George
Smith.
The source also said the move
wasn't a response to a Dallas Morn
ing News story on Wednesday which
quoted Smith's former Cieorgia high
school football coach and employer
as corroborating Smith’s initial accu
sations that Sherrill paid him $4,400
to keep quiet about NCAA rules vio
lations.
A statement released from A&M
President William H. Mobley said
the Dallas newspaper story- con
tained no new information about
Smith's allegations and that the Uni
versity already had scheduled an in
vestigative team to go to Georgia for
interviews.
Mobley was unavailable for com
ment Thursday.
Larrv Wilson, a former Coffee
County (Ga.) assistant who coached
Smith in high school, contradicted
Smith's latest statements, in which he
contended he only received friendly
loans from Sherrill. Wilson said he
allowed Smith to make phone calls to
Texas A&M athletic offices and
overheard Smith talking to Sherrill
and an Aggie assistant coach.
Tunnel vision
Reed McDonald Building
e pipes
Wedne
nesday afternoon.
Photo bv l)< an Smito
The pipes are to be buried under Ross Street for
drainage purposes.
U.S. plane downed over Africa;
Marxists blamed for death of 5
RABAT, Morocco (AP) — A mis
sile attack downed one of two DC-7
planes from the U.S. Agency for In
ternational Development over Mau
ritania on Thursday and all five peo
ple aboard were presumed dead,
officials said.
The other plane was damaged by
the anti-aircraft missiles but was able
to fly on and land in Morocco, and
no injuries were reported among
those aboard.
Official sources in this North Afri
can country suggested that rebels of
the Marxist Polisario Front were to
blame for the attack. The sources
spoke on condition of anonymity.
The attack occurred as both
planes flew over a border area where
nationalist rebels have waged a guer
rilla war against the Moroccan gov
ernment to establish an independent
Western Sahara.
/ 4
The area where the plane was
shot down is 650 miles southwest of
Rabat, the Moroccan capital.
In Washington, AID spokesman
Bart Kull said both planes were used
for spraying locusts swarms in Sene
gal, which borders Mauritania to the
south. Locust infestations have rav
aged much of northern Africa thi$
year.
A spokesman at the U.S. Embassy
in Rabat said the two planes left Da
kar, Senegal, earlier Thursday and
were bound for the Moroccan city of
Agadir when they came under fire
from ground-to-air missiles.
Moroccan government officials
said the two planes were fired upon
while they were flying at I0.(KH) feet
to 11,000 feet in an international
navigation corridor over Bir Mogh-
rein, northern Mauritania.
“The five crew members of the
downed aircraft, all of whom are
American citizens, are presumed
dead.” an AID statement said. “The
crew members of the other plane
had been taken to Agadir."
The AID statement said the
planes are owned by T&G Aviation
of Chandler, Ariz., and are under
contract to AlD’s Office of Foreign
Disaster Assistance for locust spray-
ing.
League City
daycare killer
still at large
LEAGUE CITY (AP) — Police
continued their search Thursday
for a man who witnesses said en
tered a daycare center in search
of his ex-girlfriend and then fa
tally shot an employee and se
riously wounded another a^ chil
dren watched.
No children, however, were
hurt. League City police Lt. Janet
Hombeck said.
Clyde “Buddy” Dennis Spence,
42, was charged with murder and
attempted murder with bond set
at $100,000. Sgt. Rex Fane her
said. Spence remained at large
Thursday.
About 10 children ranging in
age from 2 to 4 were playing at
the Little Tykes Daycare Center
around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday
when the man entered the center
looking for his former girlfriend,
who was hiding in another room.
Fane her said.
Hornbeck said the man en
tered the daycare center's front
door and confronted Joyce Mar-
ques.
“He knew her, and she knew
him,” Hornbeck said. “She told
him to leave or she would call the
police. Then he just shot her.”
Fujitsu America plans
complex in Richardson
RICHARDSON (AP) —Flanked
by Dallas billionaire Ross Perot and
officials of Fujitsu America, Gov. Bill
Clements welcomed the electronics
company's announcement Thursday
that it will locate an $80 million tele
communications complex here.
“Any way you look at it, Fujitsu is
good for Texas.” Clements told a
K icked room at Richardson City
all. “And, without a doubt, Texas
is good for Fujitsu.” Fujitsu America
officials said the complex, to be con
structed on 100 acres of property in
Richardson purchased from the
Perot Group, will be a manufactur
ing and research facility.
The complex will be one of four
major manufacturing plants that Fu
jitsu will operate in America, Clem
ents said.
Fujitsu America officials said the
company’s headquarters will remain
in San Jose, Calif.
Company officials said that by the
end of 1992 the Richardson complex
will employ a total of 1,200 workers
— 800 new employes and the 400 al
ready working at an existing Fujitsu
site in Richardson.
A master plan for the complex in
dicates that up to 5,000 people may
work there by 2000.
“We look forward to building a
bright future in Texas," said F'ujitsu
America president Yasushi Naka
mura, who later joined Clements in
burning a Texas-shaped brand on a
large Fujitsu crate.
Clements said that Baylor Univer
sity economist Ray Perryman esti
mates the Fujitsu investment will
lead to the creation of more than
7,800 indirect jobs.
Perryman also estimates the tele
communications expansion will in
crease personal income in Texas by
$298 million a year and boost the an
nual gross state product by $823 mil
lion.
The governor likened the Fujitsu
decision to a similar move by GTE
and the selection of Texas as the
preferred site for the super-collider
atom smasher.
Jinjiro Dodo, president of Fujistu
America’s telecommunications
group, said among the products to
be developed at the Richardson
complex will be fiber optic technol
ogy
The new fiber optics will be able
to transmit 24,000 telephone con
versations simultaneously at the
speed of light inside a fiber the size
of a strand of human hair.
“These products represent the
next generation of telecommunica-
Common Market
poses challenges
By Richard Tijerina
Staff Writer
The integration of the European
Common Market in 1992 probably
will mean great economic benefits
for U.S. businesses, but there also
will be a disadvantage: powerful Eu
ropean companies will be competing
against American companies, and
experts say they’ll be competing well.
At a nationwide teleconference
that was aired locally at KAMU-TV
on Thursday, economists discussed
the integration of the proposed 1992
European Common Market (EEC).
The European community is em
barking on a program to complete in
1992 what it started in 1958: a single
internal market with freedom of
movement around the continent for
goods, services, people and capital.
These changes in the EEC will
cause significant changes in the com
petitiveness of U.S. companies in
Europe. Economists say internal tra
ding in the market should create a
greater demand for U.S. products
due to greater efficiencies and
greater economic growth.
Specifically, physical, technical
and fiscal barriers will be removed
between member states of the EEC.
If successful, the integration will
consolidate the ecunmnu and politi
cal stahilitv of Europe and will give a
dramatic boost to the EEC economy.
However, Steve Brechor, a part
ner with Peat. McCormick and Main,
said even though the integration will
give both the European and U.S.
economies a large boost, European
corporations will become so power
ful they will be able to compete ef
fectively against U.S. companies.
“Some of the economic estimates
on the U.S. economy are five per
cent GNP growth, the creation of a
million new jobs,” he said. “Some of
the bad news part of it is that what is
not being recognized is that this is
being done by Europe for Euro
peans.
“What will be produced is
stronger, more efficient, better fi
nanced European companies that
will compete in the U.S. and else
where.”
John Blocha, president of Ck>burn
Optical Industries, said although the
integration will help business
movement in Europe, this doesn't
necessarily mean it will do the same
for nations outside of the commu
nity.
“While it’s clear that the European
members could move easily back and
forth between countries, after 1992,
I don’t know if it will be that easy for
foreigners to move that freely," Blo
cha said.
Richard Humbert, an official in
the U.S. Department of Commerce,
said both Europe and America will
benefit from the proposed integra
tion.
“Europe is by far the largest trade
partner of the United States and we
see the piocess of integration cre
ating more trade, more demand for
U.S. goods,” Humbert said. “Both
sides are going to benefit from this
integration."
A few members of the panel reit
erated a popular apprehension that
the integration of the EEC will cause
the European market to restrict its
borders by becoming more conser
vative, thus creating a “fortress Eu
rope" or protectionist barrier.
Nhu Hoang, director interna
tional for FMC, Inc., said that facing
a “fortress Europe" would create
vast economic problems for busi
nesses in the United States.
“The consequences of a fortress
Europe would not only be very had
for the European community, but
also for the U.S. businesses," Hoang
said. “We would be facing a Europe
that would not be investing abroad.
We would see a decline in imports
from Europe."
However, most economists on the
panel agreed that while the idea of a
"fortress Europe" is a possibility, it is
not probable because t>y raising of a
protectionist barrier the EEC would
stunt economic activitv between Eu
rope and the U.S.
Under the integration, existing
U.S. companies in Europe will be
treated the same as they are now.
They will not fall under control of
any European leadership.
"American multi-nationals that
are established in the EEC are cor
porations in the member state they
are in,” Humbert said. “Just as we
see American multi-nationals here in
the United States, it will be the same
in Europe. There really is no distinc
tion." '
Hoang said the U.S. should focus
its concerns on the repercussions the
EEC integration will nave on certain
aspects of the American Economy.
“We should have a concern for in
tegration in the EEC and we should
focus on certain issues, such as what
the integration will do on our mar-i
keting, sales, production, balance
and budgeting," Hoang said.
Judson Reis, executive vice presi
dent of Kleinwort Benson, said Eu
rope has set its goals for integration
in 1992 and is moving realistically
and rapidly toward meeting those
£ >als. and it is the responsibiiitv of
e U.S. to react toward it now.
“A French philosopher once said
progress toward a united Europe
could be made only when clear goals
and timetables are laid down," Reis
said. “I think we’re seeing the com
munity is moving towards 1992 and
I think U.S. business and the admin
istration have to follow these devel
opments very closely and act accord
ingly."
lions,” Dodo said. He added that the
complex will be involved with the de
sign and development of such prod
ucts as well as their manufacturing.
Perot said he is glad Fujitsu is
planning to rely heavily on parts
made in the United States, thereby
creating a ripple effect of more jobs.
“Jobs are very precious things,"
Perot said. "We no longer take jobs
for granted down in our region."
But he said he did not make the
sale of the land contingent on the
use of American-made parts.
Perot said having technology such
as Fujitu’s located in the United
States helps the nation's defense. He
said the materials produced here for
Fujitsu's products would help the
United States if there were a war and
overseas travel became difficult.
Perot took the opportunity to
praise the education in the Richard
son and Plano areas.
“You have put down your roots in
a good place for your children to go
to school," Perot told the Fujitsu
America officials. Perot headed a
state education committee that
spearheaded widespread public edu
cation reforms.
Organizations offer help
for victims of child abuse
By Laura Jones
Reporter
An 8-year-old girl was taken to the
hospital. She had gonorrhea as a re
sult of sexual contact with her moth
er’s boyfriend.
A little boy was playing too loudly
while liis father was sleeping. He was
beaten with an extension cord.
Another boy was having trouble
learning to use the toilet. His parents
dipped nis feet into scalding water.
Shala Wilkins, a child protective
service specialist, said these are just a
few examples of child abuse cases
that are going on across the country
specialist.
Child abuse, as defined by the
1987 Texas family code, is the non
accidental infliction or threat of in
fliction of physical, emotional, or
mental harm to a child by a person
responsible for the child’s health or
welfare.
The Texas Department of Hu
man Services estimated the rate of
total victims per 1,000 children in
Texas increased from 21.4 in fiscal
year 1984 to 23.5 in 1986
In Brazos County the DHS re
moved 23 children from their homes
because ot child abuse or neglect in
September alone.
Wilkins said it is the only agency
in Brazos County mandated by law
to represent the state in child abuse
and neglect cases.
In order for DHS to get involved
in a case, the abuse has to be inflicted
by a caretaker or a person living with
the child, she said.
The DHS receives reports of child
abuse over the telephone by schools,
medical professionals, police, rela
tives, neighbors and other profes
sionals in the community.
A person is required by Texas law
to report the knowledge of child
abuse to the DHS and to a local law
enforcement agency.
However, Wilkins said that most
people are reluctant to get involved
in a child abuse case.
“In a lot of cases, it's a really se
rious situation and the plaintiff
won’t step forward because of fear
of being involved in a court case."
she said.
However, unless the judge orders
that the plaintiffs name be revealed,
the DHS protects the plaintiff s iden-
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