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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 6, 1993)
The Battalion Vol.92 No. 168 (6 pages) 1893 - A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993 Tuesday, July 6,1993 W eekend rap-up Muslim cleric surrenders Friday NEW YORK - Amid fears of violence by his radical Muslim followers, authorities issued an alert to Americans traveling abroad as U.S. immigration offi- dals took Sheik Omar Abel-Rah- man into custody. The blind Egyptian cleric, some of whose followers are ac cused in the World Trade Center bombing and a foiled plot to bomb buildings and tunnels in Manhattan, surrendered Friday after a 20-hour standoff. In Egypt, Abel-Rahman's fol lowers had threatened to initiate a bombing campaign if the spiritual leader was taken into custody. In Washington, the State De partment issued a warning of possible adverse reaction in the Islamic world to the sheik's de tention, said spokesman Mike McCurry. Man kills 8, self in high-rise massacre SAN FRANCISCO - Gian Luigi Ferri went to the law of fices of Pettit & Martin with a list of 50 potential victims, three guns and a grudge. By the time he turned one of the guns on himself, eight people were dead and six were injured in a high- rise bloodbath. Ferri, 55, the president of a Southern California real estate firm, reportedly was there to avenge a business deal gone sour, according to published reports. Armed with two semiauto matic TEC-9 9mm assault weapons and a .45 caliber pistol, Ferri rode an elevator to the 34th floor of the gleaming 48-story glass-and-granite skyscraper at 101 California St. He began his attack as lawyers, secretaries and visitors ducked for cover. His rampage continued for roughly 15 min utes on five floors. Rap trial defendant confesses to lying AUSTIN — Convicted cop killer Ronald Ray Howard ac knowledged on the witness stand Thursday that he has lied several times under oath to try to protect himself. Jurors are considering the pun ishment for Howard, 19, after finding him guilty in June of shooting a state trooper in April 1992 near Victoria. Defense attorneys are trying to keep Howard from receiving the death penalty by attempting to show the hard-driving, anti-cop "gangsta rap" music Howard was listening to moments before the crime contributed to his ac tions. Howard told the grand jury the stolen car he was riding in was tak en by a man named Trigger. But he Blimp crashes into New York building NEW YORK - A blimp crashed on the roof of a seven-sto ry apartment house Sunday, leav ing it deflated and draped over the side of the building. Preliminary reports indicated two crew members in the gondola suffered minor injuries. Three other people were treated on the building's roof, said Emergency Medical Service spokeswoman Sandra Mackey. Their conditions were unknown, she said. Federal Aviation Administra tion spokesman Duncan Pardue said the crash was caused by structural problems in the air ship's tail section. A report from a firefighter that the pilot bailed out was apparent ly unfounded. The pilot was tak en from the roof with minor in juries, authorities said. -The Associated Press U.N. abandons Iraqi surveillance effort Baghdad concerned about another U.S. attack THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BAGHDAD, Iraq — A U.N. team left Monday after trying for more than a month to overcome Iraq's refusal to allow surveillance cameras at weapons sites, in creasing anxiety in Baghdad about anoth er punitive attack. The departure hardened Iraq's latest standoff with the United Nations just eight days after U.S. missiles blasted the Iraqi intelligence headquarters in retalia tion for what Washington charged was Iraqi complicity in a plot to murder for mer President Bush. Nikita Smidovich, a Russian, left with his inspection team after a last, fruitless round of talks with the Iraqis. "Iraq has to assess the decision of the Security Council which qualifies this posi tion of Iraq as a material breach" of U.N. conditions imposed under the Gulf War cease-fire, Smidovich said before flying to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution last month saying there would be "serious consequences" for Iraq if Sad dam Hussein's government continued to reject the cameras. The U.N. commission overseeing the destruction of Iraq's chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs and long- range missiles wants to install cameras to monitor two former missile test sites. One is at Rafih 45 miles southwest of Baghdad and the other at Yam al-Azim 45 miles to the south. Saddam's government did not com ment on the situation, but the newspaper Babil, edited by his son, called the team's departure "a dirty trick." "The United States is using the United Nations as an umbrella to carry out its conspiratory schemes and vicious ambi tions aiming at the Iraqis," the newspaper said in its front page article. Baghdad appeared calm, but there was growing fears of an attack by the Gulf War allies. In a confrontation earlier this year over Iraq's refusal to allow U.N. inspection flights, U.S. forces fired about 40 Toma hawk cruise missiles at a factory linked to Iraq's nuclear weapons program Jan. 17. People in the capital listened closely to radios throughout the day for news of the standoff. Bullion traders stopped gold and silver trades, and more than 3,000 people protested in front of U.N. offices. Illustrating the anxiety from the U.S. attack on the intelligence headquarters June 27, residents rushed to stock up on meat and vegetables. "The last American attack came as a surprise, this time we want to be pre pared," said one shopper, Mohammed Mohsin. Up, up and away... BILLY MORAN/The Battalion Jennifer Johnson of Colleqe Station flies her 10 years. They both agreed that Monday's Trolby stunt kite Monday afternoon at partly cloudy skies and gusty winds made for Research Park. Johnson and her husband, perfect kite-flying weather. Drew, have been flying kites for fun for the last U.S. troops arrive in former Yugoslavia THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SKOPJE, Macedonia — The first American GIs sent to keep peace in former Yugoslavia arrived Monday with orders to keep Bosnia's war from spreading into a land that has often been a flashpoint for Balkan bloodletting. Two C-141s landed in Macedonia's capital with 20 soldiers from the U.S. Army's Berlin Brigade, wearing the powder-blue berets of the United Nations. The planes also carried vehicles and supplies. Another 20 members of the advance team were to arrive Tuesday, followed by the main body of about 260 soldiers, possibly by the end of the week. The soldiers comprise the first U.S. ground unit deployed to a for mer Yugoslav state by President Clinton, although individual Ameri cans are working in various U.N. capacities in Croatia and Bosnia- Herzegovina. The American troops will join a force of 700 mostly Scandinavian soldiers under the command of Gen. Finn Saermark Thomsen of Den mark. The peacekeepers are deployed along Macedonia's 260-mile bor der with Serbia, the dominant state in what is left of Yugoslavia, to the north and Albania to the west. Macedonia, with a population of about 2 million, is the only state to have seceded from the Yugoslav federation without violence. There is no immediate threat to its borders, but there are fears ethnic fighting in former federation partners could spill into Macedonia and possibly draw in other Balkan nations. As an impoverished, landlocked region with much larger neighbors — Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia — Macedonia was a crucible for the 1912- 13 Balkan Wars, as well as a focal point of the struggle for control of southeastern Europe in World Wars I and II. Rain, rain go away Flooding continues in midwest states THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PERUQUE, Mo. — People fled farm homes Monday as the relent less force of the Mississippi River punched a hole through another levee, this one about four miles in land of the river's usual bank. More rain upstream threatened to prolong the inundation. Addi tional storms were forecast at least through the end of the week. A part of the levee at Peruque was breached about 4:30 a.m. and 11 rural homes had to be evacuat ed. At midday Monday, small rapids still showed at several spots as the river poured over the structure's remains, rushing far ther out of its bed. A little downriver, where the also-swollen Missouri River flows into the Mississippi, volunteers slapped sandbags atop levees protecting West Alton, which lies between the two rivers. Upstream, the Mississippi ap peared to have crested at 22 feet in Davenport, Iowa, site of some of the worst damage to date along the river. That level was un changed from Sunday and half a foot short of the record set in a 1965 flood. More evacuations were under way in Illinois. The levee in Peruque north of St. Louis, is about four miles across pancake-flat land from where the river usually runs, and residents a mile beyond that were taking precautions. Some packed sandbags around the foundations of their houses and others tried to seal their homes with cardboard and plastic. Clinton visits Japan for summit World leaders to discuss economics, politics, trade THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — President Clinton heads for his first economic summit in a strange posi tion: He'll be the strongest of any of the seven leaders in Tokyo yet he's under a cloud of doubts about his global leadership and resolve. European leaders complain about U.S. indeci sion over former Yugoslavia. Asian nations are nervous about America's willingness to main tain a stabilizing military presence in the Pacific. Allies criticize Washington for sending out confusing signals on trade policies. Yet in some areas, Clinton and the allies have common ground. They all have sickly economies and they're all politically shaky. "What we will have in Tokyo is a meeting of the world's strongest countries and perhaps the world's weakest leaders," said Michael Mandel- baum, a foreign policy specialist at the nonprofit Council on Foreign Relations. Despite Clinton's problems at home, "In many ways he is in the strongest position do mestically of any of the leaders whom he will be meeting at the summit," Mandelbaum said. The murky background for Clinton's debut in economic summitry with the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Japan and Italy leaves little room for major accomplishments. The uncertainty is complicated by the collapse of Japan's government. Clinton's advisers see the summit largely as an opportunity for him to press his goals for world trade, set his agenda for Asia and make a commit ment that America will remain a Pacific power. To articulate his policies, Clinton will make three major speeches: A summit curtain-raiser Monday in San Francisco, an address on trade in Tokyo on Tuesday and a speech on security is sues Saturday in South Korea. "This summit — if it's about anything at all, it's about American leadership," said Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs In ternational. Repairs close parking garage elevator The northeast elevator lob by of the University Center Parking Garage at Texas A&M University will undergo re pairs beginning Wednesday. Repairs to the floor are ex pected to take three weeks. During this time, the elevators in this area will be out of ser vice. The Department of Park ing, Transit and Traffic Ser vices is asking people to use the stairs or the central eleva tors and exit the garage through the lobby of the Stu dent Services Building. The garage's northeast en trance (off Throckmorton St.) will remain open except for brief periods of concrete re moval and delivery. The Houston St. entrance/exit will be open at all times. TxDOT presents business opportunities The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) will be in the Bryan-College Station area this week to recruit women and minorities interested in working with or selling to the TxDOT. The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program is a free program for small business owners. The program allows women and minorities to participate in the Tx DOT's purchases of goods and services, professional services contracts and construction programs. An informational meeting will be held July 13 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the TxDOT office in Bryan. This office is located at 1300 North Texas Ave. Representatives from the TxDOT will discuss business opportunities and help people with certification at this meeting. Inside Sports ►Roller Hockey: Inline Skate Club brings sport to A&M ►Weekend Wrapup and Rec Sports update Page 3 Opinion •Column: Vasquez reflects on campus diversity •Guest Column: an open letter to tenure candidates Page 5 Weather •Tuesday: partly cloudy, isolated late afternoon showers, highs in the 90s •Forecast for Wednesday: partly cloudy, highs in tne 90s, lows in the 70s Texas Lotto •Saturda/s lotto numbers: 19, 13,20, 14, 23,5 •Estimated lotto Texas jackpot: $30 million