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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 1989)
exas A&M he Battalion WEATHER FORECAST for FRIDAY: Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain. HIGH:57 LOW:47 .. bvoI. 88 No. 84 USPS 045360 16 pages 118 high/ College Station, Texas THURSDAY, JANUARY 26,1989 . German authorities raid firms tied to Libya favor o( I hey p| a , d extrah ootbali: said he k ' district ’Ut not for also dislilp BONN, West Germany (AP) — Authori- ies Wednesday raided the offices of three tonipanies and the homes of 12 people in an investigation of allegations that West German firms helped Libya build a sus pected chemical weapons plant. Some politicians, meanwhile, accused hancellor Helmut Kohl’s government of jungling West Germany’s initial response to the allegations, and a magazine reported that companies had helped Iraq build a rocket factory. time," hti it fair.Sui way to jo deas. ist first (j ( - c ‘ding th f Customs authorities searched the offices and homes on suspicion that export laws had been violated with deliveries to the Li byan plant, said Hubertus Voegele, spokes man for the prosecutor’s office in Offen- burg. He declined to identify the businesses searched, but confirmed that the Imhau- sen-Chemie firm of Lahr was among them. Imhausen-Chemie is suspected of play ing a major role in building the factory in Rabta, about 60 miles south of the Libyan capital of Tripoli. U.S. officials say Libya intends to pro duce poison gas at the plant. Libya says it is a pharmaceutical factory. West German officials who conducted the searches in cities throughout the coun try seized a huge quantity of material, espe cially from Imhausen-Chemie, that will take time to examine, Voegele said. Allegations of West German involvement in the Libyan plant came to light late last year. Kohl’s government at first denied any wrongdoing by West German firms, and exonerated Imhausen-Chemie after an in vestigation earlier this month. But officials have acknowledged over the past two weeks that several companies ap pear to have provided materials or know how to the Libyans, including a company owned by the government, Salzgitter In- dustriebau AG. A day after U.S. senators accused Kohl’s government of looking the other way dur ing such operations, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the West German parliament met in special session Wednesday to discuss official handling of the affair. Members of the opposition Social Demo cratic Party singled out Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Finance Min ister Gerhard Stoltenberg for criticism. Lawmaker Norbert Gansel said Stolten berg did nothing after learning from the U.S. embassy in Bonn last May that Wash ington suspected West German firms of in volvement with the Libyan plant. Another prominent Social Democrat, Karsten Voigt, said it was unbelievable Gen scher could have been uninformed for months about intelligence reports that West German firms helped with the plant. Voigt said the scandal had reduced West Germany’s international prestige to a low point. Genscher met with World Jewish Con gress leader Edgar Bronfman on Wednes day for talks that centered on the scandal. Bronfman said Genscher assured him West Germany would do its best to see that the Libyan plant would not be used to pro duce chemical weapons. “We want to make sure that the teeth of the tiger get pulled,” Bronfman said. Also Wednesday, the weekly magazine Stern said West German companies were involved heavily in an Iraqi rocket devel opment project. West German companies had shipped technology and equipment to Iraq for a re search and development center that by all indications is a rocket factory, the magazine said. It described the factory as a heavily guarded plant near the city of Mosul, about 210 miles north of Baghdad. Stern identified the project’s general contractor as Gildemeister Projekta of Bielefeld. su pennies C* Planners hope ditch 5sin 8 U P '■ • i -j -I -I . will curb smuggling :M headi head con issed the because ?s. ‘d for set V, butvias ecause of a r confirmei ney’d like# champion e. WASHINGTON (AP) — A 4- mile-long ditch that a Justice Depart ment official compared Wednesday to a buried Berlin Wall is planned for a stretch of the U.S.-Mexican border to stem drug smuggling into Southern California. But the plan is being criticized as too little too late by a group that ad vocates building fences along the t r;7 b° rc ter and blasted as repressive by immigrant rights organizations. Associate Attorney General Fran cis A. Keating II said he proposed [the idea last fall as a way to discour- Tage drug smugglers from driving ■ loads of drugs across the border -kAi/l i nearSanDie g 0 - c/ W1 The plan being undertaken by the Immigration and Naturalization I Service was approved last month by J Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, Keating said. gs ) — NBCs for theSui C and nillion am o 49ers’20-; er Cincinit 3.5 and h 41.9 and' ngton sents thep the mark lects thepf it the time. show had 1 share, 1 40 last v The ditch, which Keating likened to a buried Berlin Wall, will be deep and wide enough to discourage smugglers from driving trucks and cars across the border along a four- cent overtj m j] e stretch of fiat desert east of San Ysidro, Calif. The associate attorney general, p, netMi | w h 0 i s leaving office with the start of lly sa ^hi I the Bush administration, said the de sert stretch in the Otay Mesa area least of San Ysidro is a major drug I smuggling route. “This is not intended in any way to interfere with legitimate traffic or trade, it is not intended to stop ille gal entry,” he said in an interview. The Border Patrol has tried to stop vehicle traffic across the desert by digging shallow trenches, but smugglers have been able to fill in the ditches to drive through, said Keating. But the plan has its critics. “The drainage ditch is too little too late if it is to be taken seriously as a method of deterring illegal entry,” said Patrick Burns, assistant director of Federation for American Immi gration Reform. “There is a serious problem at San Diego of which a very, very small component is high-speed drive- throughs by drug smugglers,” said Burns, whose organization is pre paring to release a study proposing ways to “harden” the U.S.-Mexican border. Burns said a barrier of earth re inforced with concrete would be a more effective means of preventing drug trafficking across the desert. Eugene Hernandez, an official of the Mexican-American Political As sociation in Los Angeles, called it “a very repressive and a very ill- founded idea.” Keating confirmed a report in Wednesday editions of the Los An geles Times, which said the 5-feet deep and 14-foot wide ditch was planned for completion by next fall. A&M may receive drug center grant ■ said, matt people s® 1 since it * 14 seconds ised with i By Denise Thompson STAFF WRITER rl Super Bt' a me betttr England,* million'it* I Hinds Serving as a designated driver could become more popular in Texas if a $25,000 grant to Texas A&M’s Center for Drug Prevention and Education is approved. The proposed grant from the Texas State Department of High ways and Public Safety will be used to fund a program enabling bars and other establishments that sell alcohol to encourage groups to have desig nated drivers. Texas was chosen as one of six states to receive funds for the pro gram, and A&M will be responsible for coordinating the program throughout the state. Although the grant has not actually been given to A&M, Dennis Reardon, coordinator for the Center, said he feels confi dent A&M will get the grant. “We haven’t actually received the grant yet, but I don’t forsee anything else happening,” he said. “We should know by the end of this month.” ickejr- rawn n rmans Driving tips These tips for sober driving are provided on the cups that designated drivers will recefive when the Center for Drug Pre vention and Education program begins: • Obey state drinking laws. • Participate in designated driver programs. • Never ride with an intoxi cated person. • If you or the driver has been drinking, find an alternate means of transportation. • If drinking, always include eating food. • Remember, alcohol can af fect you differently at different times. • Always wear a safety belt. Ann Coombes, assistant coordina tor at the Center, said the program is a state-wide designated driver cam paign that will be promoted to bars as an alternative to selling alcoholic beverages to the designated driver. “The people in the bars will say to the designated driver, ‘Okay, we’re going to supply you with this cup and free re-fills (of non-alcoholic beverages) through the night,’ and then that person will provide trans portation for their group,” Coombes said. The national chapter of Boost Al cohol Consciousness Concerning the Health of University Students (BAC CHUS), which also will be involved with the program, will provide cups and other supplies needed for the program. “The drivers will get to keep the cup, and some bars may even pro vide free coupons for food and other incentives for them to con tinue being drivers in the future,” Coombes said. “For instance, if you and a group of friends went into the (Dixie) Chicken, then hopefully one of you would agree to be the designated driver. And you would go up to the bartender and tell him that you were going to be the driver, and he would give you the cup and free soft drinks for the night.” Ideas for the designated driver program in Texas developed from a similar program in Colorado called “Salute the Sober Driver,” which Coombes said was a tremendous suc cess. “It was a state-wide promotion, and all the bars jumped on the band wagon,” she said. “They gave away the cups and prizes for people who would sign up and pledge to be a designated driver for the night.” Coombes said the program will begin by mid-February if A&M re ceives the grant. The center will be gin its efforts by contacting schools with BACCHUS chapters, she said. “We hope to go to Houston, Dal las, Baylor — anywhere they have es tablished BACCHUS chapters,” she said. “It’s really going to be a big project, and we’re hoping to have as much success as other programs have had.” From left to right, junior mechanical engineering major Keith Swainson of Houston, freshman wildlife and fisheries major Matt Michaels of Houston, junior journalism major Joe Ferguson of Vidor and sophomore electrical engineering major Quentin Howard of Spring try out the new basketball courts between Mc- Innis and Walton Halls. The design of the courts was voted on by Mclnnis, Schumacher and Walton hall councils last semester and the courts were completed Wednesday. Intense hearing planned for Tower WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary- designate John Tower headed for tough ques tions Wednesday in confirmation hearings be fore the Senate Armed Services Committee he once ran with an iron hand. The former senator, a Texas Republican who led the fight on Capitol Hill for Ronald Reagan’s trillion-dollar defense buildup, was expected to be grilled on how he plans to trim Pentagon spending to help reduce the federal budget defi cit. Tower also may be asked, in public or perhaps in private, about health, personal and profes sional matters, some of which apparently caused a delay in his appointment by George Bush while extensive background checks were completed. Among lingering questions are how Tower’s recent work as consultant for defense contractors might affect his ability to run the Pentagon. He also may be asked about his role as chairman of a commission that investigated the Iran-Contra arms deals and concluded that Bush, as vice pres ident, had little to do with the affair. The Senate has rejected only three Cabinet nominees in history, and the chairman of the ft/ly old colleagues will be dancing in the streets with the thought that old Tower won’t be here to kick them around any more.” - John Tower, 1984 Armed Services Committee, Sen. Sam Nunn, D- Ga., has said he expects Tower, the committee’s former chairman, to clear the Senate hurdles. But no one has promised to make it easy. Nunn has said that open sessions of the hear ings would concentrate on how Tower planned to cut costs on weapons systems that he cham pioned in the early 1980s and how he will carry out Pentagon reforms legislated by Congress. Aides said more sensitive issues might be ad dressed in meetings closed to the public. Tower spent 24 years in the Senate and for mer colleagues have complained that as chair man of the Armed Services Committee, from 1981-84, he played a brand of hardball politics not usually associated with the Senate, where members pride themselves on civility. He himself said just before he retired from the Senate, “My old colleagues will be dancing in the streets with the thought that old Tower won’t be here to kick them around any more.” Shortly after retiring from the Senate, Tower was appointed chief negotiator to arms control talks with the Soviets in Geneva. Dean: TV draws students to law school AUSTIN (AP) — Television’s glamorous portrayals of lawyers and their lives is partly responsible for a 17 percent increase in the University of Texas Law School’s 1988-89 ap plications, a school official says. “It’s all speculative, but it’s just in vogue to go to law school,” Joy Se- gars, assistant dean of admissions and placement, said. “The glamour of law through ‘L.A. Law’ and noted trials like the Baby M trial are drawing people to law school,” she said. Although 500 more students ap plied to the UT law school in 1988 than in 1987, the number of stu dents accepted remained the about the same, officials said. Admissions rose from 535 to 560. According the Law School Admis sions Service, the number of stu dents taking the Law School Admis sions Test nationwide rose 22 percent in 1988. Daniel Inman, UT pre-law asso ciation president, said television shows impress students taking the admissions test. “They are getting the impression that a lawyer’s life is full of glam our,” Inman said. “They don’t real ize the long hours and weekends that are spent.” “It is common to see lawyers in their late 20s and early 30s not have time to get married and raise a fam ily,” he said. James Matthews, a UT senior, told the Daily Texan that television’s portrayal of a lawyer’s lifestyle trig gers interest in obtaining the degree. “Law is one field you can pursue for a long time and not get bored. I have a lot of respect for lawyers, but it’s not from watching TV,” he said. Inman said a law degree’s diver sity is influencing more people to at tend law school. “If you ever become disillusioned with law, a law degree opens up a lot of other opportunities,” he said.