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Wednesday
Sunny
Highs in 80s
Lows in 70s
Perhaps there should be a
surgeon general’s warning
for carping and nagging.
— Jason Loughman, columnist
Page 9
Writer’s Insight
English professor
describes
inspiration for
her latest novel
Home Truth
Page 7
John David Crow
reflects on NFL
draft yesterday
and today
Page 3
The Battalion
Vol. 91 No. 135 College Station, Texas
“Serving Texas A&M since 1893
mi i»j^ uesc * ay t APij*, 1 21. 1992
Gas prices skyrocket in Moscow
MOSCOW (AP) — In the latest blow to price-
battered Russians, Moscow authorities unexpect
edly increased gasoline prices fivefold on Monday.
Now it costs the average Russian a week's salary
to fill the gas tank.
Motorists grumbled they would have to take on
extra jobs to pay for gas — or just stop driving.
"I can't do without my car/' moaned mechanic
Vladimir Markarov. "We are going somehow to
find ways to cope." He said he might use his car as
a private taxi, or moonlight with extra car-repair
jobs.
Prices for everything from clothing to cabbage
have skyrocketed in Russia since January, when
President Boris N. Yeltsin lifted decades of govern
ment price controls on most goods and services.
Gasoline prices had already tripled before Mon
day.
Despite the latest price increase, there were long
lines at Moscow gas stations. Some frustrated
drivers complained that state-owned gas stations
shut down over the weekend rather so they didn't
have to sell gas at the old prices.
Moscow has suffered gas shortages in recent
weeks, with fuel being diverted to southern re
gions for spring planting. Russia, which has one of
the world's largest known oil reserves, has seen
production drop in recent years because of outdat
ed equipment.
Before Monday, it cost about 48 rubles to fill the
standard 10-gallon tank with the most commonly
used gasoline. Now it costs 240 rubles — only $2,
but about a week'-s salary for the average Russian
worker.
"It's an unpleasant and rather depressing feel
ing," said Vladimir Stukalov, a computer worker,
waiting dejectedly in a two-hour line outside a
Minskaya Street gas station in western Moscow.
Envoy pleads for cease-fire
Mediator attempts to arrange safe exit for Afghan leader
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) —
With Muslim guerrillas claiming
they now control all major cities
but Kabul, a U.N. special envoy
pleaded Monday for a cease-fire
by government forces and rival
rebel groups.
Benon Sevan, who was trying
to mediate a settlement of the
nearly 14-year-old civil war before
the fall of President Najibullah last
week, said he was trying to nego
tiate safe passage out of the coun
try for the ousted leader.
Sevan said agreement was close
for an interim government to re
place the Soviet-installed govern
ment, but a radical fundamentalist
group rejected that idea. The
group, Hezb-e-Islami, threatened
Monday to attack Kabul if the city
was not surrendered to its fighters
in one week.
A more moderate group, Jami-
at-e-Islami, which is considered
the best organized of Afghanis
tan's many rebel organizations,
said its‘troops formed a protective
ring outside the capital. Troops of
the crumbling Communist gov
ernment held the city itself.
Many people fear the civil war
will degenerate into fighting
among the various factions and
turn this city of 1.5 million people
into a battleground. An estimated
2 million Afghans already have
died in the war and 5 million more
have fled their homes.
Sevan urged the rebels to put
aside their "personal and political
ambitions" and work out a peace
ful transition to a new govern
ment.
"We are almost there. Don't
risk destroying the chance for
peace," said Sevan, who appeared
in public for the first time since
Najibullah gave up power and
tried to flee the country Thursday
with the U.N. envoy's help.
Nervousness has steadily in
creased in Kabul as the guerrillas
have tightened their noose around
the capital and seized several
provincial towns in the four days
since Najibullah's ouster.
Department
of English
runs short
on funding
Committee considers
summer course cuts
By Michael Sullivan
The Battalion
English classes for the summer
semester at Texas A&M may soon
been the endangered species list
because of funding cuts, the de
partment head said Monday.
Dr. Larry Mitchell, head of the
Department of English, said fund
ing for all departments in the Col
lege of Liberal Arts has suffered
badly under the budget crunch
and his department may not be
able to offer all the classes origi
nally scheduled for this summer.
"We have discussed the possi
bility of a sort of Armageddon sce
nario, in which if the only way we
could come up with the funds
would be to cut from what we've
got right now (this summer)," he
said.
The Executive Committee of the
Department of English is meeting
today at 2 p.m. to discuss, among
other things, the possible class
cuts.
The classes hardest hit would
be the large survey courses, but
other offerings would also feel the
crunch, Mitchell said.
Courses such as English 104:
Freshman Composition, which is
part of the core curriculum and re
quired for all students; and En
glish 301: Technical Writing,
which is required in the Colleges
of Engineering, Agriculture and
Business are both threatened by
the cuts, he said.
See Course cuts /Page 6
DARRIN HILUThe Battalion
I scream, you scream...
Jessica B. Farrell, a junior journalism major from chocolate chip ice cream cone outside Monday. Farrell
Dallas, celebrates the warm weather by eating a mint says she eats an ice cream cone almost every day.
High court
considers
restrictions
Weighs limits on complaints
concerning right-to-silence
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said
Monday it will consider restricting defendants' op
portunities to complain that their right to remain
silent was violated.
At issue is whether severe new limits should be
placed on federal courts' power to reverse state
criminal convictions.
The justices agreed to hear Michigan authorities'
arguments that federal courts should not be allowed
to second-guess state judges who uphold police in
terrogation tactics. ;
In its 1966 ruling in Miranda vs. Arizona, the high
court said suspects in police custody may not be
questioned unless they are told of their rights to re
main silent, have a lawyer present and have a free
lawyer appointed if they^ cannot afford one.
Confessions or other evidence obtained in viola
tion of the Miranda ruling, which is based on the
Constitution's Fifth Amendment protection against
self-incrimination, cannot be used at trial.
The question in the Michigan case is whether de
fendants can turn to federal judges for help after "a
full and fair" state court review determines their Mi
randa rights were not violated.
The Supreme Court in 1976 barred federal courts
from reviewing Fourth Amendment claims by state
prisoners who say their convictions were tainted by
unreasonable police searches, after state courts have
rejected those claims.
The high court several times in recent years has
declined invitations from state prosecutors to extend
its 1976 decision to alleged Fifth Amendment viola
tions. In the Michigan case it now will consider tak
ing that step. A decision is expected sometime next
year.
State prisoners file about 10,000 such federal
court appeals a year. The high court has been told by
legal experts that federal judges overturn convic
tions in about 400 of those cases.
The court also acted on four race-relations cases
Monday, two school desegregation disputes and
two affirmative action controversies.
Japan signals end of plans
for plutonium production
TOKYO (AP) — Japan signaled
Monday that it may shelve its con
troversial plan to produce plutoni
um for power plants, a program
that critics have warned could re
sult in a dangerous stockpile of the
highly radioactive fuel.
Takao Ishiwatari, president of
the quasi-governmental Power Re
actor and Nuclear Fuel Develop
ment Corp., indicated the change
Was prompted in part by the dis
mantling of some U.S. and Soviet
nuclear warheads.
The disarmament program will
increase the world supply of plu
tonium, which can be used for
Weapons as well as reactor fuel,
unlike the uranium used in most
commercial nuclear plants.
"We have to think of what the
U.S. is going to do with this
Weapons material," Ishiwatari
told reporters. "Japan should
make some contributions in this
held."
Ishiwatari, however, reaffirmed
his agency's commitment to the
plutonium-powered nuclear pro
gram. The Japanese commercial
nuclear industry is the only one
that envisions relying mainly on
plutonium fuel.
Japan's plan to produce and
import tons of plutonium has been
criticized by the International
Atomic Energy Agency, anti-nu
clear activists and other govern
ments.
They contend Japan has overes
timated its needs and will end up
with a big surplus, increasing the
chance of accidents or thefts by
terrorists.
"If this is the official attitude,
then the Japanese government half
admits they are going to have sur
plus plutonium that they cannot
consume," said Jinzaburo Takagi,
a physicist and anti-nuclear ac
tivist.
Because of plutonium's dual
uses, controlling its spread has be
come a key concern of the United
Nations since the breakup of the
Soviet Union and allegations of se
cret nuclear weapons programs in
Iraq and North Korea.
Committee prepares for Muster
Battalion photo
A candle is lit and held in
memory of A&M students
who have passed away
during the last calendar year.
By Julie Polston
Tl'ie Battalion
The nearly 8,000 students, faculty, friends and
family attending the annual Muster ceremony this
evening will only see the final product. Most people
are not aware of the time and effort necessary to en
sure the success of the event.
Every year on April 21, students and former stu
dents gather to honor Aggies who have died over
the past year. This evening at 7 p.m. in G. Rollie
White Coliseum, roll will be called and friends or
family will answer "here" for the deceased.
The Muster Committee is made up of seven sub
chairpersons over five different subcommittees, and
includes general members as well, chairwoman Jen-
ni Briscoe said.
These areas include public awareness, finance,
host and reception, programs, and speaker selection.
The committee begins preparing for the one-day
event in early fall.
Seth Dockery, subchairman of speaker selection,
said the committee began the process of choosing a
keynote speaker in October. In January, the commit
tee decided on Frank W. Cox III, class of '65.
"Mr. Cox epitomizes what the Muster Committee
wanted for this year's ceremony: a man who is moti
vational, inspirational and has a sincere devotion to
the spirit of Aggieland," Dockery said.
Cox, founder of the management consulting firm
Source Of Success, was head yell leader and a mem
ber of the Ross Volunteers during his 'OF Army'
days. Cox has since written a book about his Aggie
experience called "I Bleed Maroon."
Other subcommittees, such as host and reception,
wait until mid-spring to begin the majority of their
work. The host and reception subcommittee is re
sponsible for contacting the families of students to
be honored at the ceremony.
The committee begins this process just before
spring break, and mails information packets with a
general letter to the families to explain the day's
events, said Maureen Gannon, a co-subchairwom-
an.
"It is important to explain the history of Muster
to the families, because a lot of the families are not
Aggies, and they don't know what Muster is all
about," Gannon said.
This year about 50 families are expected to at-
See Greeters /Page 6