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. Bryan • Downtown Bryan
Open 11-8:45 Monday thru Saturday. Closed Sunday
■ coupon -
Valid Saturday thru Thursday
5 p.tn.-8:30 p.m.
2 For 1 Special
Buy one dinner and get the second of eoual or less value FREE. Not good with any other special or
coupon. Please present coupon when ordering- Alcohol not included. Dine-ln Only
Expires 04/30/90
£P/k St cl cJbLatrici
MEETING •APRIL 24th
8:30 p.m. at Rudder • Rm. 302
Activities include:
Speaker
Pizza
Games
STUDY ABROAD OFFICE
Sneak a Peek
at the NEW 1991 TAMU
STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS
Friday, April 27
401 Rudder Tower
2:30 - 4:00 p.m.
STUDY ABROAD OFFICE, 161 Bizzell West,
College Station, TX 77843 845-0544
At
Conviser-Duffy-Miller
epa
■ review
GET THE CONVISER CONFIDENCE
• Course Materials Include 5 Textbooks
• 3 Month Format
• Payment Plan Available/Major Credit Cards
• Unconditional Free Repeat
76% PASS RATE
□ Enclosed is $95. Enroll me at the TAMU Student (with cur
rent I.D.) discount tuition of $695 (Reg. tuition is $955)
□ I would like more information about your course.
Name:
Address:
City/St/Zip:
Phone:
I plan to take the GMay GNovember CPA Exam 19l
1-800-274-3926
A subsidiary of Harcourt Brace Jova-
novich. Also offeringBar/Bri, LSAT,
GMAT, MCAT & SAT
Mail To:
Conviser-Miller CPA Review
1415 Fannin, Suite 250
Houston, Tx. 77002
So ...
Yc
OU wanna be a leader?
The Student Y is looking for dedicated, fun-
loving, hard-working Aggies for the following
Student Y Staff positions:
Vice-President for Program Development
Director of Aggie Friends
Director of Aggie Workshop for Kids
Director of “Build Up To Bonfire”
Director of Food For Thought
Director of Share Group
Director of sixtysomething
Director of Youth Fun Day VI
Applications available NOW
in room 211 Pavilion
Due: April 27th Questions? Call 845-0690