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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 10, 1992)
■ The Showdown Longhorns, Aggies duel it out at Olsen Field in key SWC series Page 5 Christmas is not important to Christians -Michael Quinn Sullivan, columnist Page 5 The Battalion College Station, Texas ‘Serving Texas A&M since 1893” 8 Pages Friday, April 10, 1992 (leans ment LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister John Major, who waged a come-from-behind oapbox campaign to extend 13 years of ie big paris Conservative Party government, ap peared headed for a nerve-wracking elec tion victory Thursday. With results in hand from 602 seats out of the 651 contested, the British Broad casting Corp. computer analysis predict- nts to aban Jed the Conservatives were assured of an overall majority in the House of Com mons, winning 334 seats. Labor was pro in the House ral Demom ; hdown'spri •'ommitmeut of wiima '1 districts stem that J) jected to win 273 and the Liberal Democrats 19.332 seats. Projections by Independent Television ion each lational vote as closeasl ’ outcome mai :il Friday aflc ist three tk ted to repot a loss of ti ? inherited rm Margii? i he was' at Id certain 1 ity on Tb for the d§ ;es that has recession would bear ild be anis or the Conse or. ne for less that & prepared m rVs.Thechairl D-Fa.,said,"j i ot cooperatj very pleastf ould be ml *rnmenttr«| they mid trips it ids ity 'S wido| ictim a'O police! 11 ] t violate(j ^f amansh rh-speeil fl -woman | ll | t PatrolJ' Daniel GJ ressivef iey fired i naelU urred all »involviifl , testified] 3ulfus,' ( 1 ■ am iddenrif] n the shK : cusly 'fj jice revief tjryinvef BBC analysis predicts Conservative victory in Great Britain News gave the Conservatives 333 seats. Labor 271 and Liberal Democrats 21, with the rest going to smaller parties. "The evening is not yet concluded, but I believe when it is concluded, it will have a satisfactory result, the right govern ment, and we can push ahead with the re covery for Britain that all of us wish to see," Major said. He won his own district by 36,000 votes, the biggest victory of the night. "Pm very pleased. Everything we have done in the last 13 years will now be con served and built on in the future," former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher exult ed. No party had won four straight elec tions in Britain this century. With actual tallies in from 596 districts. Conservatives had won 315 seats, com pared to Labor's 268 and 14 for the Liberal Democrats. "The battle is not yet over," insisted Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock. The BBC projected that the Conserva tives would win 43 percent of the popular vote, matching their share in three land slide victories under Margaret Thatcher. "This is very, very bad news for La bor," said BBC analyst Peter Kellner. "It is also rotten news for the pollsters. . . they blew it." The combined verdict of the last opin ion polls this week showed Labor about a point ahead, though the difference was well within the margin of error. The projections moved steadily toward the Conservatives after the polls closed as Labor failed to win in several battle ground districts. If no party wins a majority. Major would have the first chance to line up enough support from other parties to gov ern. If he failed, Kinnock would have a try. The rejuvenated Labor Party cam paigned hard on the theme that the Tories have held power too long. But what hurt the Conservatives most was an enduring recession that has pushed the unemployment rate to 9.4 per cent. The other big issues were taxation and the state-run National Health Service. The opinion polls suggested that both major parties might fail to win a majority in the 651-member House of Commons, which has happened five other times this century. If that occurred, both parties likely would try to form a government based on the informal support of smaller parties. Brenham explosion inquiries intensify Officials investigate possible valve flaw By Karen Praslicka The Battalion BRENHAM — Indications of a possible valve malfunction hours before had no consequences on the I explosion, said officials investigat- t ingthe blast near Brenham Tues- i day. Charles Batten, head of the op erations group of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said there was a backup valve connected to the valve that caught on fire during the explo sion. "There was an earlier concern about a signal at 4 a.m. on records, indicating a possible change in the status," he said. "Adjacent to that valve was a manually operated valve that was closed. If the sig nal in fact determined that the valve moved, it would be of no consequence, because there was a valve closed adjacent to it." George Mocharko, a spokesman for the NTSB, said the investigation will continue. The fire was extinguished at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, which al lowed investigators to get closer to the disaster scene. Mocharko said one of the four connections on the six-inch flam ing valve was blown off, and it was found 47 feet away. Another connection was cracked and bent, he said. These connections will be sent to a Washington lab for examina tion. Investigators have learned from three witnesses and Seminole Pipeline Co. employees that a large water column was seen in the air over the plant area minutes before the explosion. "We're looking at the opera- See Officials/Page 4 ORTRUN GiNGERICH/The Battalion Final touches Margot Havel, a seamstress at a local clothing store, alters a dress for Ring Dance, which will take place this Saturday in the MSC. Havel is a third-generation seamstress. Officials investigate possible rape U.S. court convicts Noriega Miami jury finds former leader guilty of 8 of 10 racketeering, drug charges By Alysia Woods The Battalion As Texas A&M authorities con tinue to investigate a possible date rape that occurred on campus last Sunday, another sexual assault was reported to the College Sta tion Police Department on Tues day. This latest incident is the 11th reported rape in College Station since the beginning of the year. Last year, nine sexual assaults were reported in College Station for the entire year. These figures do not include rapes reported on the Texas A&M campus. The woman who reported the sexual assault to CSPD on Tues day said she was raped by an ac quaintance who gave her a ride home after a party late Monday night. She has decided not to press charges, said Lt. A.W. Un- stott of CSPD. The woman involved in Sun day's reported rape said she was visiting the accused at his resi dence in Dorm 12. This case is the second reported rape on campus for the 1991-92 school year, said Bob Wiatt, director of University Police Department. UPD keeps its statistics on re ported rapes separate from Col- See UPD/Page 4 MIAMI (AP) — Manuel Norie ga was convicted today of eight of 10 drug and racketeering charges that led to the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama. The former Panamanian leader was found guilty of the key counts of racketeering and racketeering conspiracy, plus six lesser charges. He was acquitted of two lesser charges, cocaine distribution and conspiracy to import cocaine. The federal court trial lasted seven months, during which the government painstakingly built its case against a head of state it called "a small man in a general's uniform" who was "just another crooked cop." The jury finished work in its fifth day of deliberations. On Wednesday, they announced they were deadlocked with one hold out; U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler urged them to try again. Noriega's lawyers maintained he was a victim of U.S. politics, saying the case "smelled all the way to Washington." They had defended him by portraying the government's witnesses — con fessed drug traffickers in many cases — as unscrupulous thugs looking only for a "get-out-of-jail- free card." The trial marked the first time the United States invaded a sovereign country and brought back its leader for a trial on crimi nal charges. Noriega, who records say is 54, was indicted on Feb. 4,1988, along with 15 other people, including the head of Colombia's Medellin drug cartel, Pablo Escobar. At the time, Noriega was still in power in Panama, and sneered at U.S. de mands that he step down. On Dec. 20, 1989, the United States invaded Panama. U.S. forces tracked Noriega to a Vati can mission in Panama City, sur rounded it and blasted the Pana manian leader with rock music until he surrendered. His trial opened in U.S. District Court on Sept. 5 with jury selec tion; opening arguments began Sept. 16. The government called 46 wit nesses, plus 14 others on rebuttal after the defense rested. The de fense called 19 to the stand. The most crucial prosecution witnesses were confessed drug traffickers, some with violent streaks, including Carlos Lehder, Max Mermelstein and Jose "Pepe" Cabrera. In exchange for pointing the finger at Noriega, they won re duced sentences, immunity from other charges and sometimes the right to keep millions of dollars in drug profits. The witnesses said Noriega's formal relationship with the Medellin traffickers began in late 1981. Leftist Colombian guerrillas had kidnapped the sister of the cartel's Ochoa brothers. As head of Panama's powerful G-2 intelli gence division, Noriega negotiat ed her release. In response, pleased cartel lead ers sent emissaries to him in early 1982 to establish a business ar rangement, prosecutors said. Soon, prosecutors said, drug - and cash-laden Colombian planes were flying into Panamanian air ports. Incoming Battalion editors summarize theories, strategies zxed thf ^ xy's verf f us' wtfl Summer editor's objectives include thorough reporting feel" s j thi^ ‘ idowi • rsM [ proves] -uifu mi' -y and' 1 ?ar'ys ^ decisk] ial> -ton at® .tifM =rdi cl -they ^ By Matari Jones The Battalion As the new summer editor of The Battalion, Todd Stone plans to provide Texas A&M with bal anced and complete news cover age. "First and foremost, I want to provide the public — Texas A&M and the surrounding communities — with objective and thorough re porting of the news," says Stone, a first year graduate student in the Graduate School of Business. Secondly, he wants to train fu ture journalists with hands-on newspaper experience. Stone began his undergraduate journalism career as a reviewer for The Battalion on the Lifestyles desk from Fall 1989 to Spring 1990. In the summer of 1990, he was promoted to Lifestyles editor. Stone says he is most interested in writing columns about personal experiences. "Writing is a personal way to communicate to the general public that reporters are human, too," he says. After graduating from A&M in 1990 with a bachelor of arts degree in journalism. Stone worked for a year in Dallas with Temp Associ ates Personnel Company. He says it was a good experience because See Stone/Page 4 Fall editor seeks diverse staff to cover wide range of issues By Julie Polston The Battalion BILLY MORAN/The Battalion Todd Stone, editor for the left, editor for the summer, and Atlantis Tillman, fall, prepare for the upcoming semesters. Atlantis Tillman plans to make The Battalion as diverse as possi ble in her role as editor of the school paper next fall. Tillman, a senior journalism major from Garland, was officially chosen as the fall editor for The Battalion by the Student Publica tions Board April 3. "I want to hire a diverse group of people to represent and cover all aspects of the student body, as much as we can," she said. Every semester there are al ways one or two major controver sial issues, she said. Therefore, Tillman wants a staff that works well together and can handle any situation fairly. "I'm really excited about hav ing new people in new positions to give The Battalion a new personal ity," she said. "So many people are going to be coming on in the fall, and I really hope to get a group that works well together, like the group we have now." In addition, Tillman plans to fo cus more on the administration around campus and in the com munity. This includes the Board of Regents, Faculty Senate and city council. "There are things going on See Tillman/Page 4