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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 23, 1990)
123,1s, jar The Battalion >ica(i\ ittles- and 3und. i less and orm ■fool, don .nake nd a nake hree Cash )f ti er, buy from . 2,11011. Tlittft I ^en 11 ' .^ausf I s« [ rs ir ‘- I-uro-1 -tEb- >1 .lift' jtnis- .i^l eii- WORLD & NATION 13 Monday, April 23,1990 Bush stands tough President demands release of remaining hostages, refuses to deal ISLAMORADA, Fla. (AP) — President Bush thanked Syria and Iran on Sunday for helping win freedom for an American hostage in Leb- non but said his feeling of satisfaction was “sub- tantially tempered” because other U.S. citizens [and Westeners are still in captivity. “I’m not making gestures. I don’t trade for hostages,” he said when asked whether the re lease of Robert Polhill would trigger a tangible expression of his policy of “goodwill begets good will.” Bush said nothing short of the release of all hostages would satisfy hirp. “That’s the ground rules,” he said earlier in the day. “That’s the bottom line.” Spokesman Marlin Fitzwater issued a statement in Bush’s name and stressed time and again that the only U.S. response would be to press for the release of the remaining hostages. “We would hope that this release would be the forerunner to the release of others and would pave the way towards the goodwill begets good will summation at some point,” Fitzwater said. “But at this point, with seven hostages still in cap tivity, the situation has not changed a great deal.” Bush spoke with Polhill and his wife by phone, and said, “This is mission uncompleted.” He said a night does not pass without his thinking of the American hostages, adding, “I do not have for giveness in my heart as long as one American is held against his will.” Earlier in the day. Bush reiterated that any re- a I’m not making gestures. I don’t trade for hostages” — President George Bush sponse would await release “of all the hostages.” Whatever his public' posture, Polhill’s release drew calls from Congress and an Iranian diplo mat for a gesture from Bush. Bush himself said he wasn’t about to make a gesture and that he did not know if Iran had played a substantial role in arranging the Polhill release. Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Mideast, said the hostage release would make it “appropriate for the United States to send some kind of a gesture that we’re willing to enter into a dialogue with Iran.” In New York, Kamal Kharazzi, Iran’s ambassa dor to the United Nations, said his government was “very hopeful that this process would be sped up and more hostages would be released.” But he said that depends on “the policies that the other sides would adopt.” Fitzwater expressed the president’s apprecia tion to Syria and Iran for their roles in Polhill’s release and said, “There were no deals, no nego tiations with the hostage takers. We have no way of identifying any specific action on our part that could have been a contributing factor” to the re lease. Iran is thought to be interested in obtaining billions of dollars in assets frozen after Ameri cans were taken hostage in 1979. Syria is trying to move back into the Arab mainstream after years of isolation, and apparently is hoping to improve its image in the West. Polhill was to be flown to a U.S. military medi cal facility in Wiesbaden, West Germany, for a physical examination. “This is a long sought and happy occasion,” said Edward Djerejian, the U.S. ambassador to Syria, as he presented Polhill for a brief appear ance in Damascus. “An American hostage ... has been freed and will soon be with his loved ones. Our prayers for his safe return have been an swered.” While expressing pleasure over Polhill’s re lease, Bush said, “Our satisfaction ... is substan tially tempered by the knowledge that seven other innocent Americans, as well as a number of foreign nationals, are still being cruelly held hos tage in Lebanon. “Once again, we urgently call on all parties who hold hostages, or who have any influence, to work to obtain the immediate and unconditional release of the remaining hostages as a humanita rian gesture.” Judge issues gag order for attorneys I LEXINGTON, Miss. (AP)—Jury selection begins Monday in the sec ond trial of a lawsuit filed by a Mis- J sissippi family seeking $17 million against cigarette industry giant, the American Tobacco Co., in the death of Nathan Horton who died in 1987. Last week, Circuit Court Judge Eugene Bogen issued a gag order for attorneys in the case. "I entered a gag order barring all persons involved with the case from talking about the case to anyone or from any further distribution of in formation to the media,” Bogen said. Bogen’s reference to “information distribution” was likely targeted at the “Media Kit and Cigarette Liti gation Summary” which lawyers for the plaintiffs sent to various media outlets. The packet included a press re lease, a historical overview of the case, a profile of the plaintiff’s attor neys, the attorney’s business cards and facts about cigarette smoking and the attorney’s viewpoints. The plaintiffs, Nathan Horton’s widow and children, are claiming Horton’s death was caused by ciga rettes. They are seeking $17 million in compensation and punitive dam ages. Horton, 50, of Durant, was a two-pack-a-day smokef of unfiltered Pall Mall cigarettes when he died Jan. 27, 1987. He smoked for 35 years. Horton told his lawyers before his death, “Sure, I saw the warning on the package, but I didn’t think it would hurt me.” Analysis reveals nation’s increasing real estate woes WASHINGTON (AP) — Real es tate problems are spreading from the Southwest and Northeast, threatening metropolitan markets across the nation, according to a new statistical analysis by banking regula tors. Banks in regions already beset with falling or flat real estate prices have responded by tightening their Our preliminary work has led us to conclude that extraordinary growth is often followed by an economic downturn.” —William Seidman, FDIC Chairman lending policies. An analysis by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. shows that lenders elsewhere also may have reason for concern. The FDIC, which insures bank and savings and loan deposits up to $100,000, has fashioned what it hopes will be an early warning sys tem that identifies soft real estate markets before they turn sour. A preliminary version released last week examined commercial real estate in 40 metropolitan areas. Some well-known sore spots in the Southwest ranked high on the list. Phoenix, Ariz.; was first, Austin, Texas, was sixth and Oklahoma City was seventh. But many of the riskiest markets were surprises. Nashville, Tenn., was second, followed by Anaheim, Calif., Atlanta and Philadelphia. Rounding out the top 10 were San Jose, Calif., Detroit, and Fort Lau derdale, Fla. The FDIC ranked the markets on three factors: increase in new office construction started, growth in of fice jobs and change in office va cancy rates. Markets with the slowest job growth, the biggest increase In .construction and the steepest in crease in vacancies are considered the most vulnerable to a downturn. “Our preliminary work has led us to conclude that extraordinary growth is often followed by an eco nomic downturn,” FDIC Chairman L. William Seidman said. “Impru dent growth can result in real estate supply getting ahead of market de mand, sometimes with extremely unfavorable results.” Economist Mark Zandi of Re gional Financial Associates of West Chester, Pa. said, “When things are good, builders want to build and lenders want to lend. But what hap pens is you get overbuilding. Va cancy rates can take off very quickly.” A report last week by Alex She- shunoff, an Austin, Texas, consul tant, underscored the consequences when bank lending becomes too gung ho. Commercial banks last year earned $16.3 billion, 34 percent less than in 1988. Sheshunoff attributed much of the deterioration to real es tate lending. Delinquent real estate loans more than doubled in eight of nine states in the Northeast last year, he said. They tripled in Massachusetts and were six times higher in Connecti cut. Sheshunoff, however, predicted that a crackdown by banking regula tors will prevent the kind of real es tate bust that hit the oil-producing states of the Southwest in the mid 1980s. “It is often the regulators’ job to Wi hen things are good, builders want to build and lenders want to lend. But what happens is you get overbuilding. Vacancy rates can take off very quickly.” —Mark Zandi, economist prescribe preventive medicine,” he said. “It means pulling the punch bowl away from the party earlier in the evening to the profound displea sure of the party-goers.” Texas team places first in Academic Decathlon DES MOINES. Iowa (AP) — High school senior David Camp bell is a so-so student with a C av erage, but he helped pull Texas to a first-place Finish in the 1990 Academic Decathlon Sunday. ‘T don’t really think that grades measure intelligence,” Campbell said. “1 struggle with laziness my self, but this has given me the op portunity to prove myself.” The gold medal in the best overall student category hung around CampbeiPs neck as his teammates surrounded him. The team from Lake High lands High School in Dallas dinched first place with 46,627 points and won a trip to the White House. They’ll he received by President Bush in the Oval Of fice on Thursday. Laguna Hills' High School in Laguna Hills, Calif., finished a dose second with 46,035 points. Third was Mountain View school from Mesa, Ariz., with 45.949. Nine-member teams from 39 high schools nationwide have put in extra hours after school and reserved Saturday afternoons to prepare for the annual contest, which began in 1968 in Orange County, California. It became a national event in 1982. Teams were grilled For two days on a variety of subjects, ranging from the Fine arts to mathematics. The competition ended this year with a Super Quiz on American Indians. Each student was graded on a seven-minute interview, a one- hour essay and an impromptu speech. They were tested in eco nomics, Fine arts, language, litera ture, mathematics, science and social science. 'The competition isn't just for the best and the brightest. It’s a real team effort, with students with A, B and C averages compet ing against each other in separate categories and contributing to the overall team score. “1 love being with my team,” said Campbell, “Our whole team is real consistent. It's a team thing.” Preparing the students for the competition was like a marathon which paid off, said Texas coach Carole Buchanan, It was the first time Lake Highlands had won the Texas contest and earned a spot in the national competition. “We worked hard and we knew we had a chance to win,” she said. “But we all knew it. was going to be very close with California.” Laguna High School in Cali fornia finished a close second with 46,035 points. “We didn’t know until the last moment when they announced California was second,” Bu chanan said. “Then we could be lieve it.” Laguna coach Kathy Lane didn’t hide her disappointment at the second-place finish. Texas and California have been close ri vals in the competition, with each state winning the national compe- fition four times before. Discovery scheduled to launch Astronauts prepare to release telescope CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Discovery’s five astronauts re turned Sunday for a second attempt to launch the shuttle with NASA’s most valuable and celebrated pay- load, the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope. Discovery is scheduled to lift off at 8:31 a.m. EDT (7:31 a.m. CDT) Tuesday. “We feel very confident that things are going to go well this time,” Discovery’s commander. Air Force Col. Loren J. Shriver said. “We’re going to come out okay on Tuesday morning and, if not, we’ll just keep trying until we do. That’s kind of the name of the game here,” Shriver said. NASA test director Mike Lein- bach said Sunday that the count down was proceeding smoothly and the shuttle appeared to be in perfect condition. The countdown got un der way Saturday afternoon. A faulty power unit forced the first launch attempt to be scrubbed four minutes before liftoff April 10. The unit was replaced with a new one, which tests showed to be fine. “Hopefully, we’ll get the shuttle off the pad this time,” Leinbach said. A 70 percent chance of favorable weather was expected at launch time, with low clouds being the main concern, said Ed Priselac, Air Force shuttle weather officer. A weak cold front from the north was expected to pass through the area by Monday night. The outlook is considerably better for Wednesday and Thursday, Pri selac said. As Discovery’s astronauts arrived from Johnson Space Center in Houston early Sunday afternoon, the shuttle Columbia was being transported to a launch pad 1.6 miles from Discovery. It is only the second time both shuttle launch pads at Kennedy Space Center have been occupied si multaneously. The first time was in January 1986; 16 days after Colum bia lifted off. Challenger exploded. Columbia commander Vance Brand said he does not believe the National Aeronautics and Space Ad ministration is moving too fast with his shuttle. NASA expects to launch Columbia with an astronomical ob servatory called Astro no earlier than May 16, one week later than planned because of Discovery’s two- week delay. “In some cases, it could be a prob lem” having shuttles on both launch pads, Brand said. “In this particular case, everything’s fitting together.” NASA has until Saturday to get Discovery off the ground. After that, all launch attempts must be halted for eight days so Hubble’s batteries can be recharged. The six nickel-hydrogen batteries will power Hubble from the time it is disconnected from Discovery’s elec trical system until its energy-collect ing solar panels take over in space. "The Center for all your Medical need*" 200 W 26th - Corner ol 26th & Bryan Streets Bryan. Texas 77803 822-3575 FOR SERIOUS ATHLETES ONLY! SPRING 20% OFF SALE on SPORTS NUTRITION Build: • Endurance with: • performance with • strength with • power with CYTOMAX METABOLOL II MUSCLE NITRO POWER PASTA The Brazos Grill 218 N. 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