Texas A&M
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Vol. 88 No. 180 USPS 045360 6 Pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, August 1,1989
idnappers say they hanged American colonel
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Kid-
appers said they hanged Lt. Col.
hlham R. Higgins on Monday to re-
liate for Israel’s abduction of a
bslem cleric, and holders of other
Postages threatened to kill another
" mencan.
Higgins’ pro-Iranian captors, who
ll themselves the Organization of
lie Oppressed on Earth, released a
0-second videotape of very poor
uality showing a man hanging from
.. . ( a gallows. There was no indication
Tirsireiimhen it was made and no body had
Story (ffOi >een reported found by midnight
Bush condemns reported hanging as ‘brutal murder’
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Rope bound the bare feet and
lands of the man said to be the Ma
ine colonel who commanded a
[roup of U.N. truce observers in
outh Lebanon when he was seized
<eb. 17, 1988.
The new threat was from the Rev-
ilutionary Justice Organization,
ed in the,: vhich said it would kill Joseph James
?nts fromii acippio unless Israel freed Sheik
\bdul Karim Obeid by 6 p.m. (10
,m. CDT) Tuesday. It was hand-
<>m ever written in Arabic and delivered to
I this mor: 1th e newspaper An-Nahar with a
hotograph of Cicippio smiling.
In Jerusalem, the Israeli army
aid Obeid had confessed personal
nvolvement in “planning and
uiding and aiding” the abduction
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush con
demned the reported hanging Monday of Ma
rine Lt. Col. William Higgins and hurried back to
Washington where he met with advisers about
possible responses to “this brutal murder” by
pro-Iranian kidnappers.
“It is a most troubling and disturbing matter
that has shocked the American people right to
the core,” Bush declared. “There is no way that I
can properly express the outrage that I feel.”
While Bush cautioned publicly that he had no
confirmation Higgins had in fact been hanged,
Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan.,
said the president told congressional leaders
Monday night that “it’s about a 98 percent proba
bility that it happened.”
Bush monitored reports through the af
ternoon after returning from Chicago, then met
into the evening in the Cabinet room with top ad
visers, including Defense Secretary Dick Cheney,
Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger
and other Cabinet members, before briefing the
congressional leaders.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Da
vid Boren, D-Okla., said after that meeting that
Bush was considering several options but he de
clined to identify them.
“I don’t think anything has been ruled out at
this point,” Boren said.
During his earlier meeting with advisers, Bush
“received a briefing on the status of our knowl
edge of the situation,” Press Secretary Marlin
Fitzwater said in a statement. “This was primarily
an informational meeting at which all aspects of
the case involving Col. Higgins and the other
hostages were discussed.”
Higgins’ reported killing triggered an instant
debate in Congress over Israel’s role in the
events. Israeli commandos kidnapped a Shiite
Moslem cleric last week, and the announcement
of Higgins’ hanging said he was killed in retalia
tion.
“Perhaps a little more responsibility on behalf
of the Israelis would be refreshing,” Senate GOP
Leader Bob Dole said. But Rep. Charles
Schumer, D-N.Y., coutitered that blaming Israel
would be “turning the world on its head.”
At the White House, officials carefully avoided
direct criticism of Israel, but Fitzwater said, “It is
fair to say that many people do share the sen
ator’s concerns.” He would not elaborate.
There are nine Americans in captivity in the
Middle East, including Terry Anderson, Middle
East correspondent for the Associated Press.
Bush said, “Somehow there has got to be a re
turn to decency and honor, even in matters of
this nature.” He commented briefly on the White
House lawn after returning from Chicago where
he had addressed the National Governors’ Asso
ciation.
He also said he had spoken by telephone with
Higgins’ wife, “a wonderfully stoic individual
who is going through sheer hell.”
He had been scheduled to proceed from Chi
cago to Las Vegas for a speech to the Disabled
American Veterans, and then on to Oklahoma
City for a Tuesday address to the Fraternal Or
der of Police convention.
of Higgins and had revealed the
names of his captors.
President Bush, facing his first
foreign policy crisis, cut short a trip
to Chicago and summoned his na
tional security advisers.
“It is a most troubling and dis
turbing matter that has shocked the
American people right to the core,”
Bush declared, while cautioning he
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&M graduate Rains tells local
(supporters education is top issue
3y Kelly S. Brown
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Former Texas Secretary of State
[ack Rains, Class oCGO, plunged into
the gubernatorial race challenging
sponents to a debate over the issue
education.
Rains, who announced his candi-
lacy last week, spoke Saturday to
iupporters and local politicians
ibout his plans for a grassroots cam-
Ipaign and taking the issue of educa
tion to the people.
“There will be no hiding behind
Itelevision and slick brochures,”
iRains said. “No one is going to buy
Ithe governor’s mansion, because the
people of Texas are going to tell
them the governor’s mansion is not
[for sale.”
Rains is the second former stu-
Ident to join the governor’s race.
[Clayton Williams, Class of ’54, made
|his announcement in May.
Both Republicans say they are re
ady to fight the war on drugs, but
Williams has made this his top prior-
lit/while Rains said Texas’ education
problems must be solved before any-
lone can make a dent in the war on
drugs.
Rains said in order for the state to
jdeal with the problems of welfare,
overcrowded prisons and drug deal
ers, it first must revive the Texas ed-
lucation system.
“Starting with state money going
linto teachers salaries and core cur-
jriculum,” he said. “Education is
I about strengthening teachers, giving
Jthem the tools they need, giving
I them respect and support but most
Jack Rains
of all compensating them for doing
an incredible job.”
Rains said that during the cam
paign, all of the candidates will
promise to be against drugs and
crime.
“We’re all against those things,”
he said. “But politics is about saying
what people want to hear sometimes.
Mostly though, it’s about leadership,
which is about vision and about what
you have to do to attack the prob
lems.”
Rains said that as governor of
Texas, he would work hard for the
passage of the death penalty for
drug dealers.
“It’s time to get tough,” he said.
“The merchants of death — those
who deal in drugs — will face death.
I’m not talking about casual users,
rather those who profit from dealing
in drugs — these are the people cor
rupting society.”
Rains said some people argue that
the death penalty is too harsh but he
believes young people whose minds
drug dealers corrupt and the future
of the state come foremost.
These types of beliefs and prin
ciples drew Rains’ long-time friend
O.A. “Bum” Phillips, former coach
of the Houston Oilers, into Rain’s
campaign.
Phillips, who will be Rains’ trea
surer for the campaign, said he ap
proached Rains eight months ago,
saying, if “you ever decide to run for
an elected office, I would be hon
ored to help you.” Several months
later Rains signed Phillips up.
Phillips said he wants to help build
Rain’s team because of what he
stands for.
“For too long in this state, I be
lieve we’ve elected people whom I
call professional politicians,” Phillips
said. “I think you have to be some
kind of politician to get along in the
Legislature, but I think it also takes
another mixture.”
Phillips said a state that has a bud
get of more than $47 billion needs a
governor who knows about private
business.
Before becoming secretary of
state, Rains was a successful interna
tional business man.
“In my opinion, he (Rains) is by
far the only qualified candidate who
could possibly run,” Phillips said.
“To me he knows what the hell he is
doing and I always believe in picking
a head coach who knows what the
hell he is doing.”
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Bush calls for meeting of governors
to help improve education in U.S.
3 Evans l-
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CHICAGO (AP) President
Bush, declaring that “together we
can raise the level of learning in the
ioncontalii classrooms of America,” on Monday
■ summoned the nation’s governors to
I a September summit on education.
The Sept. 27-28 meeting at a still
unselected site will be only the third
time in U.S. history that a president
has convened the governors to help
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Heart attack
kills instructor
at fire school
A guest instructor in the Fire
men’s Training School at Texas
A&M died Monday from a heart
attack while attending a fire
training class.
Charles Page, division head
and chief of the Firemen’s Train
ing School, said Fannie Hatton,
44, was the fire chief for the Du
pont Chemical Co. in Victoria.
Hatton went to make a phone
call when he had a severe chest
pain, Page said. Cardiopulmo
nary resuscitation was adminis
tered.
Page said Hatton was picked
up by the A&M Ambulance Serv
ice and taken to Humana Hospi
tal where he was pronounced
dead on arrival.
meet a pressing national problem.
Bush, in a speech overshadowed
by the reported hanging of Marine
Lt. Col. William Higgins by Shiite
Moslem kidnappers in Lebanon, also
enlisted the governors’ aid to combat
drugs and crime, and encouraged
them to pursue trade with Poland
and Hungary.
Bush told the 50 state chief exec
utives, “To cure our nation of illiter
acy, drug abuse and crime, we must
act in tandem, president with gover
nor, and governor with mayor, up
and down the line. In short, we must
find our collective will as a nation.
“Today we do not meet in a spirit
of immediate crisis,” Bush declared.
“The nation is sound. But the de
cline of our educational system, the
threat of crime and drugs, the eco
nomic dependency of so many —
these problems threaten to endan
ger the very leadership position of
America in the next century.
“A nation in which a half of our
youth is ignorant of geography, in
which drugs are rampant, in which a
substantial proportion of the pop
ulation knows little hope — such a
nation will not long remain compet
itive,” he said.
These problems, he said, “are is
sues of our national well-being, even
our national security.
“Only twice before have the gov
ernors met with the president on an
issue of vital national importance.
Now there will be a third such con
ference, an historic meeting on edu
cation,” Bush said.
The first time was when Teddy
Roosevelt brought the governors to
the White House “to call for conser
vation, for an end to the reckless de
nuding of our forests,” Bush said.
The second was when Franklin D.
Roosevelt sought the governors’
help on how to “stem the financial
crisis of the Great Depression.”
Bush claimed a $400 million-plus
package of education reforms he
sent Congress in April would help
“redeem the future of millions of
children.”
That package includes new sup
port for magnet schools and pro
grams in which parents can choose
the public school their child attends.
“The essence of reform is accoun
tability in education and reward for
those schools that show progress,”
Bush said.
Bush campaigned on a promise to
convene an education summit of the
governors.
While no surprise, his announce
ment got a receptive response from
the state chiefs.'
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a Re
publican who is the incoming chair
man of the National Governors As
sociation, said the governors
welcomed the chance to work with
Bush on “developing consensus
goals to improve the quality of edu
cation.”
Two Democratic governors asked
Bush whether he stood ready to pro
vide more funds for education.
had no confirmation Higgins had in
fact been hanged. “There is no way
that I can properly express the out
rage that I feel,” he said.
He did not comment on an Israeli
proposal to trade Obeid and other
Shiite prisoners for Israeli and West
ern hostages in Lebanon, but had
said after Obeid’s abduction, “I don’t
think kidnapping and violence helps
the cause of peace.”
State Department officials in
Washington, speaking privately, said
they found reports that the man in
the videotape was Higgins to be
credible, but could not say whether it
was made Monday or earlier. There
have been reports Higgins was killed
last year.
A typewritten statement in Arabic
said Higgins, 44, was hanged at 3
p.m. (7 a.m. CDT). It and the tape
were delivered to a Western news
agency in Beirut an hour later.
Cicippio, 58, of Valley Forge, Pa.,
was acting comptroller at the Ameri
can University of Beirut when he
was kidnapped from the campus
Sept. 12, 1986.
In the picture delivered Monday,
he wore a brown and pink wool
sweater over a blue pullover, indicat
ing it may have been taken in cooler
weather.
“The organization announces its
quick resolve to execute the death
sentence against the American-Is-
raeli spy Joseph Cicippio if the
struggling sheik is not released by 6
p.m. Tuesday,” the statement said.
“Then the deadline will be set for
the execution, which will be broad
cast on all screens in the world.”
Driving to drive
Brad Hulse, a sophomore from the Bryan-Col-
lege Station area, passes on his moped
through the Research Park on the way to hit
“shags” Monday afternoon.
Mobley weathers storms of 1 st
year, looks to new challenges
FROM STAFF & WIRE REPORTS
When William H. Mobley took
over as president of Texas A&M
Aug. 1, 1988, he said he wanted the
school to be broadly recognized as a
major, comprehensive, internation
ally recognized University by the
time he left office.
Now Mobley can look back upon
the challenges that faced A&M dur
ing his first year in office — in
creased enrollment, the school bud
get and a National Collegiate
Athletic Association’s investigation
into the Athletic Department.
Through it all, Mobley has been in
the center of the storm and has
helped A&M move forward. He said
it has been a maturing process for
him.
“In general, I had then and I have
now great confidence in this institu
tion and its future,” Mobley said. “I
suspect, like anyone going into a new
role, there were some challenges and
opportunities awaiting that I had not
anticipated.”
La^t summer, when he became
A&M’s 20th president in the school’s
113-year history, Mobley said enroll
ment — expected to hit an all-time
high of 39,500 this fall — was his
first concern.
However, the subject of enroll
ment took a back seat in Fall 1988
when the University and the Athletic
Department weathered an investiga
tion by the NCAA.
The investigation of 31 rules vio
lations and seven procedural viola
tions stemmed from reports that
then-head coach Jackie Sherrill paid
George Smith, a former A&M foot
ball player, $4,000 in cash payments
and money orders dating back to
1986.
In September, the NCAA found
A&M guilty of 25 violations — nine
‘ Mil"
jpr
life.
William H. Mobley
major and 16 minor — and gave the
school a two-year probation, re
stricted football scholarships and
limited recruiting.
“I did not appreciate the scope
and intensity of what was coming in
that arena,” Mobley said. “We took it
head on and tried to deal with it in
an effective and professional way
with the integrity of the University
being the number one goal.”
Later in September, Mobley hired
a compliance officer to monitor the
Athletic Department and set up new
auditing requirements and revoked
privileges of several boosters.
Sherrill resigned as head coach
and athletic director in December.
Sherrill’s assistant coach and de
fensive coordinator R.C. Slocum was
named head coach and John David
Crow was named athletic director.
Former A&M President Frank E.
Vandiver, who now is the director of
A&M’s Mosher Institute for Defense
Studies, praised Mobley’s response
and handling of the athletic situa
tion.
Mobley said that although the ath
letic situation was an unpleasant or
deal, it might prove to be a charac
ter-building experience for the
University.
“It’s been difficult,” Mobley said
of the athletic controversy. “It’s been
E ainful for a lot of people. I do be-
eve we’re a better institution. As
time goes on, hopefully we’ll be able
to say it’s been good for the institu
tion.”
Aside from athletics, Mobley’s
first year in office has been a full
one.
Mobley’s financial objectives for
the University — to increase private
and corporate contributions, re
search dollars and fundraising in
general — are designed to supple
ment A&M’s state funding, which
like that of other public universities,
will probably never again be ad
equate, Mobley said.
Besides adding to state funding, a
boost in financing is crucial to meet
ing Mobley’s other goals: to recruit
top-notch faculty and to maintain
and develop new academic pro
grams.
Last year, fundraisers solicited
$46 million in private contributions.
Officials expect the numbers to con-
See Mobley/Page 6
Correction
A headline in Friday’s BattaT
bn incorrectly stated that park
ing tickets were issued to firemen
by the University Police. The tick
ets were actually issued by Texas
A&M Department of Parking,
Transit and Traffic Services. The
Battalion regrets the error.