^ exas A&M
rfhe Battalion
Vol. 88 No. 76 USPS 045360 18 pages
College Station, Texas
Monday, January 16,1989
5 nations adopt new
uman rights accord
■ VIENNA, Austria (A P) —
M'ATO, the Warsaw Pact and 12
Ollier European nations Sunday
wound up more than two years of
Bird bargaining by adopting a hu-
Han rights and security agreement
Biled as historic by both superpow
ers.
■ Romania, however, immediately
■ned notice it would not imple
ment some provisions intended to
enhance freedom lor millions in the
Bviet bloc.
BA text of Romania’s statement,
which was made in a closed-door
meeting and distributed later by its
state news agency Agerpres, said Bu
charest “takes no pledge” to stick to
(fbmmitments on greater religious
h edom and emigration.
B U.S. Ambassador Warren Zim-
Bennann dismissed the statement as
“illegal” and “absurd.”
B “We simply don’t take seriously
the Romanian view that they’re at
liberty to implement our document
Bectively,” he told reporters. “They
will pay a price for it if they try.”
B In Czechoslovakia, meanwhile,
riot police used water cannons, ba
tons and dogs to break up crowds of
almost 2,000 people at a banned in
dependent rally just an hour after
the accord was adopted.
The document, adopted by con
sensus of the 35 nations w ho signed
the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, paves
the way for new NATO-Warsaw
Pact talks in March cm reducing con
ventional forces across Europe.
Secretary of State George Shultz,
Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard She
vardnadze and their colleagues from
33 other nations are expected to dis
cuss preparations for the new arms
control talks when they meet in
Vienna on Tuesday.
The Vienna accord lays down
greater freedom for East bloc citi
zens to practice religion, travel or
emigrate to the West; obtain and dis
tribute information; and form
groups to monitor government com
pliance with human rights
agreements.
For the first time, the accord also
gives Western and neutral govern
ments the right to raise human
rights issues with East bloc nations at
any time.
“It’s an excellent document, one
that can play a historic role in the de
velopment of the Helsinki process,”
Zimmermann said.
The 1975 Helsinki Final Act
signed by the superpowers, Canada
and all European nations except Al
bania gave Moscow the recognition it
long sought of the post-1945 divi
sion of Europe.
But it also put human rights
firmly on the East-West agenda,
where they have played an increas
ingly important role.
Western and East bloc diplomats
were unanimous that Mikhail S.
Gorbachev’s reforms in the Soviet
Union and willingness to disarm
contributed to the advances made at
Vienna.
One of the biggest sticking points
of the 27-month conference was a
human rights conference in Mos
cow, scheduled for 1991.
The release of more than 600 po
litical prisoners, reunification of
more than 100 divided families and
a nine-year high in Jewish emigra
tion persuaded the United States
and Britain to agree this month to go
to Moscow.
Soviet Ambassador Yuri Kashlev
said the agreement to hold the Mos
cow conference constituted “interna
tional recognition of the policies
pursued by Gorbachev.”
iTexas could get chance
to rewrite abortion laws
■ AUSTIN (AP) — If the U.S. Su
preme Com i gives Texas lawmakers
the chance to rewrite the state’s
abortion statutes, the current legis
lature would outlaw the practice, say
ai tivists on both sides of the issue.
B The Supreme Court agreed last
Beek to revisit the Roe vs. Wade
else, a Dallas lawsuit that led to the
llndmark ruling establishing a worn-
ai’s right to abortion.
■ Before the Roe vs. Wade case
cl allenged Texas’ abortion law in
1973, the statute was known as one
oi the toughest in the United States.
It remained virtually unchanged
since ii went on the books in 1854
and permitted abortion only when a
woman’s lif e w as endangered.
■ The Supreme Court’s decision on
Be abortion matter is not expected
until summer or fall, after the 71st
Begislature adjourns.
But activists say if the Supreme
bun sent the issue back to the
ates, most of the Texas lawmakers
>w in of fice would ban abortion as
|ng as there were exceptions for
pe and incest or to save the wom-
'’s life.
“I think we’d put it back on the
book,” Rep. Dan Kubiak, D-Rock-
dale, told the Fort Worth Star-Tele
gram. Kubiak, an abortion oppo
nent, said his interest is due partly to
his adopted children.
Phyllis Dunham, executive direc
tor of the Texas Abortion Rights Ac-
Tganization
pycotts A&M
MLK day
By Holly Beeson
At Reporter
A [ fubers of the off-campus or-
ption Medicine Tribe will
T, u ‘Jd Martin Luther Kings Jr.’s
jday protesting the fact that
*s are being held at Texas
N u
uNioi on the federal holiday.
this day of remembrance of
( oiu" L|i r jgi us leader who was as-
fed in 1^68, the mail won’t
Tered and banks won't be
iMedicine Tribe believes
hould likewise observe the
tfmd cancel classes.
-Btudents deserve to have
! off to think about Martin
i ling,” Kalahar savs.
1 he organization will he on
amp us today reminding stu-
lents of King's birthday. They
dll also be passing out special
joupons from Brazos Landing
encouraging students to eat off
;ampus.
“The protest wall be more like
tn economk boycott,” Kalahar
ays.
He says they will be asking stu-
lents not to spend any money on
ampus.
I: “With support and momentum
ie can make a difference,” he
ays.
Medic ine 1 ribe was founded in
esummer of 1988 by W-M stu-
ents Derek Kalahar and Todd
Joneycutt with the intent to m-
,tease awareness of various is-
ues.
“We’re an activist organiza-
ion,” Kalahar, a sophomore psy
chology major, said. We deal
lath a variet v of social issues.
"We will for the first time
since Roe vs. Wade have a
new lieutenant governor.
That means we may have
the first chance to pass an
anti-abortion law since
1854.”
— Bill Price
director,
Texas Coalition for Life
tion League, said the group has a
“tremendous fight” on its hands.
“We probably have nine to 11 pro-
choice votes in the Senate (among 31
members), maybe 40 to 50 votes in
the (150-member) House.” Dunham
said. “Draw your own conclusions. It
looks grim.”
Bill Price, director of the Texas
Coalition for Life, said a major
obstacle to passage of an anti-abor
tion law is Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, w ho
has the power to keep such legis
lation from coming up for a vote.
Hobby, a Democrat first elected in
1972, is considered no friend of the
anti-abortion movement and is
blamed by Price and others for pre
venting several previous attempts to
restrict abortion.
Hobby will leave office in 1990.
That, along with the timing of the
Supreme Court's decision, make the
1990 elections important to activists
on both sides of the issue.
“We will for the first time since
Roe vs. Wade have a new lieutenant
governor,” Price said. “That means
we may have the first cjiance to pass
an anti-abortion law since 1854.”
Dunham said for abortion rights
advocates, the 1990 elections are a
chance to choose lawmakers that
more accurately mirror public senti
ment about abortion.
“As far as the Texas Legislature is
concerned, in their attitudes toward
abortion they are much more con
servative — anti-abortion — than
their constituents,” she said. “The
vast majority of them are Anglo
males from affluent backgrounds
who may not be able to understand .
. . the drastic effect limiting access to
abortion has on women’s lives.”
Although a major legislative battle
over abortion is not expected for at
least two years, opponents and sup
porters of legalized abortion are
planning to officially unveil their
1989 legislative packages later this
week, to coincide with the 16th anni
versary of the Roe vs. Wade decision
Jan. 22.
MLK remembered
Claudette Arnold of the Pleasant Grove Baptist
Church Choir sings during the fourth annual Gos-
Photo by Jay Janner
pelFest in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The event was held Saturday at Lincoln Park.
Texas expects to receive nod
for super collider by Friday
DALLAS (AP) — Texas could get
the final nod as site for the super
conducting super collider project as
early as Monday, but officials say the
confirmation definitely will be made
by Friday when the Reagan adminis
tration leaves office.
A final, 10,000-page environmen
tal impact statement officially was
noted in the Federal Registry, En
ergy Department spokesman Jeff
Sherwood said.
U.S. Energy Secretary John Her
rington in November named Ellis
County as site for the approximately
$5 billion dollar atom smasher pro
ject, pending the outcome of the en
vironmental impact study. The 30-
day waiting period is permitted for
public commentary on the study.
Texans passed a bond proposal in
1987 promising to kick in $1 billion
to help cover such costs as building
the super collider lab, electrical util
ity capacity and for higher education
and physics research projects.
The 53-mile oval-shaped super
collider underground tunnel project
will yield about 4,000 construction
jobs, some 3,500 permanent jobs,
prestige in the scientific community
and spinoffs for transporation, med
icine, communications and defense.
The Reagan administration is rec
ommending $250 million be spent
on the project in the 1990 fiscal year.
Some $90 million of that appropria
tion would be spent on research and
development while the remaining
$160 million would pay for initial
construction of the project.
“If approved by Congress, this
will get us off to a strong start on
building the superconducting super
collider,” Sen. Phil Gramm said.
The congressman whose district
includes much of the supercollider
site, Joe Barton, said he was pleased
to see the proposed allocation in the
Reagan budget.
The Ennis Republican said he
would lobby for even more first-year
funding of the project. ■
Still, politicians in the six states
passed over for the project — in
cluding Arizona, Colorado, Illinois,
Michigan, North Carolina and Ten
nessee — are seeking independent
confirmation that the site selection
was done purely on scientific merits.
“The 1 exas decision has a strong
smell of White House politics,” Sen.
Donald Riegle, D-Mich., said at the
time of the November announce
ment.
Train crash kills more than 100 pilgrims
MAIZDI KHAN, Bangladesh (AP) — A
fast-moving train carrying pilgrims to a reli
gious festival crashed head-on into a mail
train Sunday, killing at least 110 people in
Bangladesh’s worst railroad accident, off icials
said.
As many as 1,000 people were injured, in
cluding 100 hospitalized in critical condition,
they said.
“Oh, God! Give brother back!" wailed 23-
year-old Sunil Daniel, beating his chest and
sobbing for his brother Susanta, who was
killed.
He was among thousands of anguished
people who thronged fields near the wreck
age of four derailed cars.
Police tried to keep relatives and friends
from trying to find loved ones among rows of
bodies laid alongside the track in central Ban
gladesh.
“Hundreds of bodies were lined up on
both sides of the two shattered trains,” said
Syed Sirajul Huq, a businessman from Chitta
gong who suffered minor injuries in the
crash.
Communications Secretary Manzurul Ka
rim estimated at least 2,000 people were trav
eling on the trains.
It was difficult to be exact because many
people were riding on roofs of the trains and
between cars, he said.
Government officials immediately ap
pointed a commission to investigate the crash.
Some railway of ficials said operators may not
have known how to work a signaling system
installed on Tuesday.
“Human failure and wrong signaling may
have caused the two trains to come on the
same track, leading to the collision,” a senior
railway official said on condition of anonym-
ity.
The express train, headed for the southern
port city of Chittagong, and the Dhaka-
bound mail slammed into each other outside
Maizdi Khan village.
“I saw coaches flying up to 15 feet as the
collision occurred,” said one soldier, who did
not want to be named. “It was a terrible scene
with hundreds of passengers — men, women
and children — shouting for help.”
He was with 250 soldiers holding winter
exercises nearby who arrived within moments
of the accident to rescue those trapped inside
the wreckage.
Soldiers helped police, firefighters and vil
lagers pull 100 bodies from the mangled
coaches, according to the senior railway offi
cial.
Hundreds of injured were taken to hospi
tals at Tongi, five miles north, and the capital
Dhaka, 22 miles to the south, said Commu
nications Minister Anwar Hussain.
Railway officials said many involved in the
crash were pilgrims traveling to Tongi, where
hundreds of thousands of Moslems have
gathered for Biswa Ejtema, or World Congre
gation, Islam’s largest gathering after the Haj
in Mecca.
Prior to Sunday, the worst train crash in
Bangladesh occurred Jan. 26, 1981, near
northern Chuadanga, and killed at least 75
people.
Bush advisers focus on changes in USSR
WASHINGTON (AP) — George
Bush's foreign policy team plans a
sweeping review of U.S. strategic in
terests to key on changes in the So
viet Union and cope with economic
competition from other countries,
according to top aides.
Bush has said that such a review
would delay the resumption of arms
talks with the Soviets from their
scheduled resumption on Feb. 15.
And the review is expected to
change the Pentagon budget that
President Reagan sent to Capitol
Hill this month.
Senior Bush aides, interviewed on
condition of anonymity, said the
goal is not a radical shift in U.S.-So-
\iet relations or in American strate
gic forces.
Rather, the neyv administration
wants to “do some long-range plan
ning, to sort of look out ahead, to hy
pothesize the kind of world that yve
yvould like to see, and then to look at
the kind of forces that are at yvork
for or against that kind of world,”
said one man who has been named
to a senior post.
T he neyv administration also plans
to seek a diplomatic solution in Cen
tral America, said a second senior
foreign policy adviser to Bush.
If the diplomatic effort fails to
bring greater democracy to Nicara-
am impressed with
what Mr. Gorbachev says
and I really think he wants
better relations. ”
— George B ush
gua and end the leftist insurgency
against U.S.-backed El Salvador,
then the Bush administration might
ask Congress to resume military aid
to the Contra guerrillas, who have
been fighting Nicaragua’s Sandinista
government.
In the Middle East, the adminis
tration also will be seeking to deter
mine yvhether an international peace
conference is possible in the wake of
statements by Palestine Liberation
Organization Chairman Yasser Ar
afat that he opposes the use of ter
rorism, said an aide.
U.S.-Soviet relations likely yvill oc
cupy center stage early in the new'
administration.Bush has said that
the reform policies of Soviet Presi
dent Mikhail S. Gorbachev present
new opportunities for the United
States, but that the Kremlin leader
has not changed the basic nature of
the communist state.
“I am impressed with yvhat Mr.
Gorbachev says and I really think he
wants better relations,” Bush said in
a recent television interview.
The improved climate in U.S.-So
viet relations under Reagan and
Gorbachev has started to change the
shape of the world, said one Bush
aide.