ember 14,15
riday, September 14,1990
The Battalion
Page 9
atkins deems
rices reasonable
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,,, secretary ames V\ atkins said Ihm s-
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■ecretary J;
day he sees no sign of price gouging
y the oil industry and characterized
ie surge in gasoline prices as “not
nreasonable” considering crude oil
j|iarket conditions.
Watkins was asked repeated.!}
Jbout gasoline costs at a hearing of
the Senate Energy and Natural Re-
jurces Committee.
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., told
JVatkins that “there will be a tremen
dous outrage (by the public) if we see
I surge in profits for the oil compa-
^ nies” when they next release qual
ity financial statements.
■ The secretary said that his depart-
Bient would keep an eye on those
Brofit reports. But he told the com-
Jiittee he does not favor legislation
panel (feJudawing price gouging because
representatives a l aw wou ld require a “massive
^“‘“ureaucracy” to ensure adequate
lonitoring.
Since Iraq has occupied Kuwait
ug. 2, pump prices hav'e risen
bout 20 percent while crude oil
rices have jumped about 50 per-
ent, the American Petroleum Insti-
ute says.
Watkins acknowledged that initial
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Increases at the pump were greater
han the early rises in oil pric es. But,
:ie said, in recent weeks retail in-
treases have “lagged about 4 cents a
gallon” behind hikes on the spot
nude oil market.
Americans on average are pav ing
22 cents a gallon more f or unleaded
asoline today than before Ang. 2,
while the spot price for crude is 26
cents a gallon higher, said govern
ment and industry officials.
Oil companies’ gasoline pricing "is
working very well and is rather typ
ical of the supply and demand situa
tion,” Watkins told the senators,
adding that he considered recent
price hikes “not unreasonable.”
Six senators said Wednesday they
would try to push through in the
coming weeks legislation that would
strengthen federal laws against price
gouging by oil companies.
“The laws of grav ity and econom
ics clearly don’t seem to apply to gas
prices. What goes up stays up,” said
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn.
“They charge what they can get
away with.”
The bill sponsored by Lieberman
and a number of other senators
would prohibit “unreasonable” price
increases in petroleum products, in
cluding gasoline and heating oil, and
would make “profiteering” a crimi
nal offense punishable by a maxi
mum five-year jail sentence and
$500,000 fine.
Watkins said his department
would watch for “unscrupulous”
business people taking advantage of
oil shortages but said he didn’t want
to “assume that everyone in America
is a crook.”
According to the American Auto
mobile Association, which surveys
service stations nationwide, the price
of regular unleaded gasoline on
Aug. 1 was $1.07 a gallon. Its survey
this week put the average price at
$1.29.
‘Of course we can win. ’
Analysts speculate on chances
of driving Iraq from Kuwait
WASHINGTON (AP) — If it conies to war, military
analysts say, the United States and its allies could drive
the Iraqis out of Kuwait, but only with a land assault
against a dug-in Iraqi army that might result in thou
sands of American casualties.
for comparisons, one expert calls up the bloody is-
land-to-island Pacific warfare against the Japanese in
World War II; another reaches further back to the Brit
ish battle against the Germans along the Somme River
in Prance during World War I. In the first 30 minutes
of that fight, 19,240 British soldiers were killed or mor
tally wounded.
“If we have to fight them, the only thing that worries
me is how many Americans get killed,” said retired
Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, former chairman of the
Joint Ghiefs of Staff. “No one knows the answer to
that.”
The experts were asked a few simple but troubling
questions as the massive buildup of American and allied
forces continued apace on the Saudi Arabian penin
sula:
If war comes, would the American side win?
At what cost?
How long would it take?
“That’s a ridiculous question; of course we can win,”
said an incredulous Moorer, 78, who was shot down
over the Pacific in 1942 and rescued by a freighter, only
to have it bombed out from under him.
“It just depends on will and determination,” Moorer
added. “It doesn’t have anything to do with capability.
We are capable, and then some.”
In interviews, a variety of military analysts agreed
with that assessment and made these additional points:
— The allies aren’t ready to launch an offensive
against Iraqi forces occupying Kuwait and won’t be un
til the American contingent, now numbering 1 ,
is twice as large, perhaps not until late October.
“If Iraq has 200,000 men in Kuwait, then you’d want
a sizeable American advantage before you launch an at
tack,” James A. Blackwell Jr., analyst with the Center
for Strategic and International Studies and former
West Point instructor said. He sees a need for 200,000
U.S. troops, augmented by 50,000 to 100,000 Arab sol
diers, as well as forces from other countries.
— Iraq cannot be ejected from Kuwait militarily with
out a ground war. It can’t be done from the air or with
high-tech warfare alone.
“I don’t think you can win it by bombing Iraq,” Jack
N. Meritt, a retired four-star Army general who was the
U.S. representative to NATO’s military committee said.
“We’ve been trying that since World War II and there
has been no case in history where you’ve been able to
defeat a force on the ground from the air.”
— Fighting the Iraqis in Kuwait would be difficult;
fighting them on the ground in Iraq would be infinitely
more difficult.
Harry G. Summers Jr., a retired Army colonel, com
bat infantry veteran of Korea and Vietnam and fellow
of the Army War College said: “If we set the goal as the
expulsion of Iraq from Kuwait, then the cost will be
high, but not nearly what it would be if we tried to con
quer Iraq. I can’t imagine anybody being that dumb as
to take on that task.”
It is important, militarily and politically, that Arab
and other allied forces be in the midst of the fighting.
“You wouldn’t want to lead with American forces,
you’d want Arab forces to take the immediate action,”
said Blackwell. “It’s important to keep the coalition to
gether. This can’t become an American war.”
Couple gets
joint custody
of embryos
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) —The
Tennessee Court of Appeals on
Thursday granted joint custody of
seven frozen embryos to a divorced
couple, overturning a landmark rul
ing that had granted custody to the
ex-wife.
Charles Clifford, attorney for the
ex-husband, fell to his knees at the
courthouse on seeing the opinion
and said, “All right, thank you.”
“Justice is done,” he said.
The intermediate-level appeals
court ruled in the divorce case of Ju
nior Lewis Davis, 31, of Maryville
and his 29-year-old former wife,
Mary Sue Davis Stowe, now of Titus
ville, Fla.
“It would be repugnant and of
fensive to constitutional principles to
order Mary Sue to implant these lei
tilized ova against her will,” Judg
Herschel P. Franks wrote for tlu
three-member court.
“It would be equally repugnant t
order Junior to bear the psychologi
cal, if not the legal, consequences of
paternity against his will.”
The court ruled that both Stow-
and Davis should “share an interest
in the seven fertilized ova.”
The case was remanded to Blount
County Circuit Judge W. Dale
Young to enter a judgment giving
Stowe and Davis “joint control of the
fertilized ova (and) equal voice over
then disposition.”
“We regard it as a complete v indi
cation of J.R. Davis’ position,” Clif
ford said.
Israel attempts to block publication
of spy book in U.S. appellate court
suggestions cat
he Battalion
d to improve
een the new
umber is 845-
■ news stories,
ersonality pro-
iple.
NEW YORK (AP) — An appeals
ourt Thursday overturned a
ludge’s unprecedented order that
malted distribution of a new book
about the Israeli intelligence agency
pfossad.
I The Israeli government, which
ivon the temporary restraining oi
ler Wednesday, failed to prove that
ts agents’ lives were endangered,
aid a statement by a four-judge
panel of the state Appellate Division.
The panel also said that with
17,()()() books ahead? 1 Shipped to
tores, “any grant of injunctive relief
n this case would be inef fective.”
“We think it’s a victory for a free
jress and we are going to sell the
took again,” Roy Gainsburg, presi-
lent of the book’s publisher, St.
Martin’s Press, said. “It’s the only de-
ision. We re grateful to the appel
late conn for acting quickly.”
He said Israel might appeal to the
state Court of Appeals, but added,
“We are starting to tell the
bookstores that they can sell the
books.”
“Orders have increased dramati
cally,” he added, “which is what al
ways happens when you try to stop a
book.”
A call to the Israeli consul was not
immediately returned.
A hearing in state court scheduled
for Friday on Israel’s request for a
permanent stay was Canceled.
The original ruling by Justice Mi
chael Dontzin had been roundly crit
icized by First Amendment experts.
Richard Winfield of Rogers &
Wells called ii “without precedent
and egregious”; it was “an aberra
tion," Floyd Abrams of Cahill, Cor
don & Reindell said; “Prior restraint
is basically a no-no,” Richard Green
of Green & Hillman said.
They said it apparently marked
the first time a foreign nation sought
to stop publication in the United
States, and predicted the ruling
would not stand for long.
Following a midnight hearing in
his apartment, Dontzin on Wednes
day temporarily barred St. Martin’s
from distributing “By Way of Decep
tion: The Making and Unmaking of
a Mossad Officer” by Victor Os
trovsky, who says he served in the
spy agency for four years in the
1980s.
The book contends Israel had de
tailed information about prepara
tions for the bombing that killed 241
Marines in Lebanon in 1983, but
only gave the United States a vague
warning to damage U.S.-Arab rela
tions.
In an interview Wednesday, Os
trovsky said agents have threatened
his life.
The restaurants listed below were inspected by the
Brazos County Health Department between Sept. 3
and Sept. 7. Information is from a food service es
tablishment inspection report.
SCORED BETWEEN 90 AND 94:
Fatburger at 725 A University Dr. Score - 94.
Points were deducted for unclean non-food contact
surfaces, inaccessible toilet and handwashing facili
ties (critical item requiring immediate attention), and
unnecessary articles. It was a regularly scheduled in
spection.
Beto’s Tamales and Tacos at Skaggs Shopping
Center. Score -94. Points were deducted for im
proper waste receptacles, unprotected outer open
ings and insufficent hand cleansers in restrooms. It
was a regularly scheduled inspection.
SCORED BETWEEN 85 AND 89:
Sonic at 104 E. University Dr. Score - 88. Points
were deducted for failure to maintain non-food con
tact surfaces, unclean non-food contact surfaces,
personnel’s failure to wear hair restraints, unclean
garbage containers, unclean walls and ceilings, un
protected outer openings and uncovered lighting
fixtures. It was a follow-up inspection.
Pacific Garden Resturant at 701 University Dr.
Score - 86. Points were deducted for potentially haz
ardous temperature storage of food, unprotected
food during storage, food prepared at incorrect
temperatures, improper waste receptacles in res
troom facilities and unprotected outer openings. It
was a follow-up inspection.
David Jefferson, a registered sanitarian at the de
partment, said restaurants with scores of 95 or above
generally have excellent operations and facilities. He
said restaurants with scores in the 70s or low 80s
usually have serious violations in the health report.
Scores can be misleading, Jefferson said, because
restaurants can get the same score by having several
minor violations or a few major violations. He said
the minor violations can be corrected during the in
spection. Point deductions or violations in the report
range from one point (minor violations) to five
points (major violations).
Jefferson said the department might close a res
taurant if the score is below 60, the personnel have
infectious diseases, the restaurant lacks adetpiate re
frigeration, there is a sewage backup in the building
or the restaurant has a complete lack of sanitization
for the food equipment.
The department inspects each restaurant every
six months.
y Jay Janner
Saturdays
Louisiana
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for the Aggieland
may be picked up in
Oil and 230 Reed McDonald
Due date is
Sept. 14
(Late contracts will be received through Friday,
September 28 with a late fee.)
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INVITES ALL
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TO A
WHEN: Wednesday, September 19, 5:00 to 10:00pm
Where: Southwood Athletic Park Pavilion
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Social: 5:00 to 7:00
Buffet: 7:00
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