t
he Battalion
Vol. 89 No.13 USPS 045360 12 Pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, September 19,1989
Hugo ravages Caribbean, killing at least 14
i
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Hugo’s
125 mph winds pounded Puerto Rico on Monday after
ripping across other islands in the eastern Caribbean,
leaving at least 14 people dead and thousands home
less.
The National Weather Service said Hugo, the most
powerful storm to hit the region this decade, slammed
into the eastern tip of Puerto Rico and skirted the
northern coast before roaring to the northwest toward
the Bahamas.
Hugo also threatens the Dominican Republic, which
shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, and civil de
fense authorities in the Dominican Republic Monday
dedared a state of emergency.
Eastern Airlines spokesman Karen Ceremsak in Mi
ami said the carrier flew a special Boeing 727 charter to
the Dominican resort of Puerto Plata Monday and re
turned to Miami with about 135 vacationers.
The storm’s winds overturned cars and stripped
roofs off houses and office buildings and sent chunks of
concrete plunging into streets in San Juan, where one-
third of the U.S. commonwealth’s 3.3 million people
live. Fifty airplanes were reportedly destroyed at the
airport in Isla Verde.
There was widespread damage in San Juan’s Con-
(dado Beach area, the site of many of the island’s large
tourist hotels. Shattered glass, strips of roofing and
overturned trees littered the streets, and few drivers
ventured out in their vehicles.
Hugo cut power and disrupted international com
munications to the island.
One woman in a San Juan high-rise told radio station
WOSO about watching sections of the city darken as the
first high winds and heavy rains hit San Juan. Wide
spread power outages also were reported in the Domin
ican Republic.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in
Puerto Rico although one man was electrocuted while
trying to remove a television antenna as he prepared
for the storm Sunday.
Bands of people, mostly youths, looted storm-dam
aged shops in San Juan and police patrols were re
inforced at the main post office, political party offices
and shopping areas.
In a boutique on the ground floor of the two-story
building housing the Associated Press bureau in San
Juan, young looters defied winds hitting 100 mph at the
peak of the storm and carried out armloads of women’s
clothing.
The storm blew out the windows in the AP office on a
peninsula between the sea and San Juan harbor, de
stroying its computers and office equipment. One
Students raise money for Hugo relief
The Puerto Rican Student As- dite aid to the victims of the hur- cane Hugo Relief Fund.
The Puerto Rican Student As
sociation has organized an emer-
■ relief fund for die victims
irricane Hugo, one of the
worst hurricanes ever to hit
Puerto Rico.
In cooperation with the Ameri
can Red Cross, the association will
be collecting donations to be sent
directly to Puerto Rico. To expe
dite aid to the victims of the hur
ricane, the American Red Cross
has advised the association to col
lect only monetary aid at this
point.
The PRS A has set up a table on
the first floor of the MSC to re
ceive donations. Donors are
asked to make checks payable to
the American Red Cross, Hurri
cane Hugo Relief Fund.
Donations also may be col
lected from home or office.
For more information, contact
the American Red Cross at 822-:
2157 or members of the PRSA at
764-1748 or 845-4634 (daytime)
or at 846-1228 or 696-1818
(nighttime). . • . •
staffer said his furniture was blown out the windows of
his apartment on the 20th story of his building.
At 3 p.m. EDT, Hugo’s center was about 70 miles
northwest of San Juan, said the National Hurricane
Center in Coral Gables, Fla. Hugo was moving at 15
mph to the west-northwest. Hurricane-force winds ex
tended up to 75 miles from its center.
Meteorologist Jesse Moore at the National Hurricane
Center said it was too early to tell whether Hugo would
strike the U.S. mainland. He said the storm was ex
pected to be off southeastern Bahamas by Wednesday
and “after that, it’s anybody’s euess.”
Five people were reportedly killed, 80 injured and
more than 10,000 homeless Sunday on the French is
land of Guadeloupe, relief officials said. Tyvo people
were killed in Antigua, according to Beacon Radio in
Anguilla, and there were reports of six deaths in Mont
serrat.
Richard Weening of Milwaukee, Wis., chairman of
Caribbean Communications Co., which operates the
GEM Radio Network from its headquarters on Mont
serrat, said ham operators linked to the network said
the storm killed six people on the British island.
king
crts
By Todd Connelley
Architecture department
‘visualizes’ new M.S. plan
Of The Battalion Staff
Texas A&M University may soon
ind itself on the cutting edge of vi-
ual technology.
A proposed degree plan, master’s
)f science in visualization, could be-
:ome a reality by 1990 in the Depart-
nent of Architecture and Environ-
nental Design.
The visualization program would-
nerge computer technology with
raditional media, including photog-
aphy and videotape, to produce
hree-dimensional images that can
>e altered on the screen for experi-
nentation before the idea becomes a
lodel.
“Basically, you can generate an
nage that will give you an idea of
hat the final product will look like,”
)r. Karen Hillier-Woodfin, A&M
Brofessor of architecture, said.
I Visualization can be used for any
■>b that requires visual application.
I “It is widely employed in urban
Ind regional planning and land-
Icape architecture,” she said.
The technology is not limited,
however, to designing skyscrapers
and golf courses, she said. Industries
as diverse as NASA and Paramount
are using visualization to improve
space technology and create dazzling
special effects, she said.
The proposed degree should at
tract applicants with degrees in fine
arts and computer science.
“Those applying should have two
characteristics,” Hillier-Woodfin
said.
“One is to be visually oriented, in
order to master the graphics. The
• other is to think analytically, in order
to deal with the demands of the tech
nology.”
The director of A&M’s $2 million
visualization laboratory, Dr. Tom
Linehan, said applicants for the new
program must be highly qualified.
“We will be interested in people
with film backgrounds, if they are
good and highly committed,” he
said.
“From my experience at other in
stitutions that have such programs,
the demand will be very high,” said
Linehan, who is a former director of
Ohio State University’s computer-as
sisted design program. Some of his
students went on to work at Walt
Disney and Lucasfilm Limited.
If the new program is approved,
Texas A&M will take a slight lead
over other Southwest Conference
schools in the technology race, he
said.
“This program is unique to this re
gion,” Linehan said.
\ He said visualization takes advan
tage of a culture accustomed to a
constant media blitz.
“I think this program is a necessity
because we are dealing with such
vast amounts of information all the
time,” Linehan said.
“The receiver can understand so
much more using a visual presenta
tion than a numerical one,” he said.
Linehan said he * 1 believes the
greatest advantage to visualization i$
ease of revision.
“We can consider a large number
of cases on computer before we ever
commit ourselves to concrete,” he
said.
Teen-ager takes class hostage,
releases students for pizza, soda
McKEE, Ky. (AP) — An armed teen-ager stalked into
thigh school classroom, fired a shot into the ceiling and
ook 11 classmates hostage Monday, police and wit-
lesses said. He later released all but one hostage and
Police said his only request was to speak to his father.
Although several shots were fired, including one at a
elevision news helicopter, no injuries were reported in
he incident, which began at about 9:50 a.m.
The youth “said he wasn’t going to hurt nobody,”
tccording to Craig Eversole, a classmate who was the
ast to be released. “He said he wasn’t going to shoot no-
»dy.”
Police Trooper Ed Robinson described the hostage-
aker as a 17-year-old who was armed with a shotgun, a
357 Magnum revolver and “some type of automatic
istol.”
Robinson also said the teen-ager apparently had held
)ne hostage overnight — the son of school Principal
ietty Bond. He said the two boys arrived at school in
he younger Bond’s red pickup, and it appeared that
he armed youth had been holding the principal’s son
Since the night before.
It was not clear why the youth took over the class
room at Jackson County High School. Authorities de
scribed him as a newcomer to the school who was living
with his grandparents, but some students said they had
known him for years.
Robinson said his only request was to speak with his
father in Florida. Police contacted the father through a
friend in Delray Beach, Fla., but did not say whether
the boy was allowed to speak to him.
Eversole, a 15-year-old junior, said he was in the
classroom when the armed youth came through the
door after reportedly firing a shot in the school parking
lot.
“He never said nothing,” Eversole said. “He shot the
ceiling and told the teacher to leave and let two rows of
students leave. . . . He didn’t say nothing, why he was
doing it or nothing.”
Eversole was released at about 1:30 p.m. after soda
was delivered to the room — apparently as part of a
deal with police.
Robinson said the youth released one hostage in ex
change for a police radio, then others in exchange for
cigarettes, pizza and soda.
Ouch!!
Sophomore Julie Richoux grimaces with pain
while being helped onto a stretcher by Texas
A&M emergency personnel Duddley Wait (left)
oto by Phelan M. Ebenhack
and Wade Burton. Richoux apparently suf
fered a sprained knee while skiing on Mt. Ag
gie Monday morning.
Cow Hop closes Annex;
bands may lease space
By Bob Krenek
Of The Battalion Staff
The Cow Hop Annex at
Northgate will be closing at the
end of the month, but there is a
possibility the space will still be
used to host area bands, Stuart
King, manager of the Cow Hop,
said.
The annex is being closed be
cause it is no longer needed. King
said.
“We’re not making any money
and it’s just not worth it any
more,” King said.
Local bands were featured at
the annex several times eaich
week.
Members of the local band the
Kerouacs are discussing the possi
bility of sub-leasing the property
from John Raney so that North-
gate will still have live music and
local bands will not lose a place to
perform. The property is owned
by the O.H. Boyett estate.
Had Binion, guitarist and vo
calist for the Kerouacs, said he
has discussed the possibility but
nothing has proceeded beyond
that point.
“It’s totally up in the air right
now,” Binion said. “The closing
will mean the loss of a venue, but
I’m sure there will be more to
come.”
Raney said he has received in
quiries from two restaurants in
addition to Binion’s.
The annex was formerly occu
pied by the Sunset Grill and be
came a part of the Cow Hop more
than a year ago when the Grill
closed.
Cheney orders chiefs of staff to plan for drug war
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary
Dick Cheney told the Joint Chiefs of Staff on
Monday to draw up plans for using their planes,
ships, radar and troops to help stem the flow of
drugs into the United States.
Cheney said he could not say how many peo
ple will be involved in the effort or what it will
cost until the chiefs report back to him Oct. 15 on
what they can do to cut the flow of illegal drugs
from Mexico and the Caribbean nations.
“I believe that our military forces have the ca
pability to make a substantial contribution to
ward drug interdiction, and I am asking them to
make the necessary preparations to carry out that
responsibility,” the secretary told reporters.
In helping fight President Bush’s war on illicit
drugs, Cheney said the Defense Department will
emphasize stopping drugs from entering the
country, but will also help fight drug abuse and
aid other nations in attacking drugs at their
source.
The Joint Chiefs are working out the details of
the program, which will include beefed-up bor
der radar, additional ships and planes for sur
veillance along the eastern and southern coasts,
and improved coordination among agencies in
volved in the drug battle, sources said.
“ 1 fie worker bees have got it, and they’re un
der pressure to come up with some answers,”
said an anonymous high-level military source.
Until now, the Pentagon’s role has been to sup
port efforts of state National Guard units, which
have been used for such duties as inspecting
cargo at ports of entry, taking part in aerial
searches for marijuana crops and helping trans-
“I
I believe that our military forces
have the capability to make a
substantial contribution toward drug
interdiction, and I am asking them to
make the necessary preparations to
carry out that responsibility.”
— Dick Cheney,
Defense Secretary
port law enforcement officials or contraband.
Those efforts have varied from state to state.
Chaney insisted that in no case would the Pen
tagon be drawn into a law enforcement role.
Nor, he said, will U.S. forces overseas be sent
into combat. “There’s a clear line out there,” that
the military will not cross, Cheney said.
The secretary conceded, however, that using
U.S. military personnel to train other nations’
forces, as is being done now in Colombia, can put
U.S. military personnel at risk.
“It’s a dangerous business. I hope nobody’s
hurt in the process, but I can’t guarantee it,”
Cheney said, adding that U.S. personnel are act
ing under rules of engagement that allow them
to defend themselves.
Asked whether he backed shooting down
planes that refuse to identify themselves and are
suspected of smuggling drugs, as some in Con
gress have suggested, Cheney said the depart
ment has no sucn authority.
“We have to be very careful,” the secretary
said.
Cheney said the department intends to deploy
“appropriate elements of the Armed Forces” to
help reduce the flow of drugs into the country,
but cited no specific numbers or types of military
personnel.
The goal, Cheney said, is to “complicate the
challenge of getting illegal drugs into America,
increasing the cost and the risk of drug smug-
Rling.”