The Battalion • Page 7 Thursday • January 26, 1995 Quake criticism wont necessarily lead to political shakeup in Japan Japanese expect little from leaders when disasters occur TOKYO (AP) — Job securi ty isn’t a given for Japanese prime ministers. The country has had seven of them in the last six years. So, will Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama have to take the fall for the heavy criti cism against his government in dealing with the nation’s worst earthquake in 70 years? Few think so. The situation says much about how weak the office of prime minister is in Japan, and about how little Japanese peo ple expect from their leaders when it comes to taking charge in emergency situations. Hundreds may have died in the ruins oFKobe as the govern ment dallied over accepting for eign help, sending in troops, and clearing roads for emergency ve hicles. While no one is giving Murayama an A-plus, few sup pose that other prime ministers would have done better. “Given the current system, it couldn’t be helped,†said Shige- taro lizuka, a professor of poli tics at Nihon University. “In Japan’s postwar democracy the prime minister doesn’t have ab solute, strong powers.†One illustration of that came when Switzerland offered to send specially trained dogs to search for quake victims buried under rubble. The Foreign Min istry wanted to accept the offer right away, while the Agricul ture Ministry reportedly felt the dogs needed to undergo full quarantine checks. In Japan, such bureaucratic quarrels are legion, and prime ministers rarely step in to solve them. Murayama’s response was typical: He announced he was studying the matter, then let the dogs in the next day af ter pressure mounted. Reformers have long sug gested that the powers of bu reaucrats be reduced and that the prime minister act more like an American president in giving orders. Many Japanese fear strong-arm leaders more than the sluggish bureaucracy. When Murayama visited evacuation centers, some vic tims pointedly commented that they needed food more than a visit from the prime minister. The top opposition strate gist, Ichiro Ozawa, on Tuesday blamed Murayama for taking four hours to mobilize the Japanese military after the earthquake. Russian ‘missile shootdown report false 'Missile' turned out to be rocket used to study Northern Lights MOSCOW (AP) — It’s a missile! It’s been shot down by the Russians! It’s ... all a mistake? Yep. An erroneous report that Russian forces had shot down a missile launched from northern Eu rope had governments around the world and their militaries asking questions Wednesday. The “missile†turned out to be a NASA-funded rocket that aimed to study the Northern Lights. The Norwegians launched it successfully within their own territory after informing the Russian government. It was not shot down. The Interfax news agency later acknowledged that its report was wrong. Vyacheslav Terekhov, deputy director of the agency, blamed the mis take on false information from a high-ranking military source. Following the initial urgent report, Russian government and military officials said they knew nothing about a missile shootdown. But at a time when Russia’s military is em broiled in a bloody war in Chechnya, the report set off widespread alarms. Spokesmen for NATO, the Pentagon, the Allied military command in Europe, several countries and FYesident Clinton immediately said they were look ing into the report. Later, a White House spokesman called it “totally unsubstantiated.†In Oslo, the Norwegian Defense Ministry said a research rocket was fired from the civilian An- doya Rocket Range on Andoya, an island off northern Norway, but with a trajectory to the northwest — away from Russia. It was reported to have landed in the Arctic Ocean near Norway’s Svalbard Islands. “We are a little puzzled by the report,†said spokesman Erik lanke. Valery Grishin, a Russian government spokesman, said Norwegian authorities had fully informed Moscow of the launch of a weather re search rocket. “The rocket fell on its own — no one shot it down,†Grishin said. The four-stage research rocket. Black Brent XXII, was part of a NASA project and carried in struments from American and Norwegian uni versities to study the Northern Lights. Trade Us Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Used CD's FREE CD WITH TRADE IN OF 5 CD'S *Upto $15.99 Everyday Price Trade-In CD's Must Be Full Length, No Scratches, and In Original Jewel Box With All Cover Art. Trade Subject to Hastings Approval. ill* books • music • video Culpepper Plaza - College Station Manor East - Bryan WELCOME ENGINEERING & OFFICE SUPPLY Redmond Terrace Shopping Center 1418 Texas Ave. S. • College Station (409) 693-9553 DRAFTING TABLES 29 X 41 X 30 1/2 297-1052 109. 95 EOS EOS EOS EOS 5 BRING IN ™ u THIS AD FOR™ m co o CO O in 15% OFF AIX a IN STOCK SUPPLIES. 15% off does not apply to any sale items. Expires 02/28/95 MUST BE ORIGINAL AD CO m O co m O co EOS EOS EOS EOS BEROL PRISMACOLOR PENCIL BONUS PACK - 24 SET tiWV t* >*- W3fS* W. .. SKETCH BOOK 8 1/2X11 HARDBOUND SALE IN #1003 ON NEW AND USED FURNITURE. Details in store. EDG DRAFTING KIT KOH-I-NOOR TECHNICAL PEN SET DRAFTING LAMPS 3165SP7 7-PEN s 49. 99 16th A.MMLJA.L BUSINESS CAREER FAIR Participating Companies Option I Option II Option III Sundav, January 29 • Monday, January 30 • Tuesday, January 31 Reception Banquet Banquet Monday, January 30 • Tuesday, January 31 • Wednesday, February 1 Recruiting Booths Recruiting Booths Recruiting Booths Banquet Banquet Reception Accente Acxiom AMOCO BankOne Andersen Consulting Academy Barnes &C Noble Arthur Andersen Andersen Consulting Brinker International Becker CPA Review Armstrong World Industries BSG Consulting Bridgestone Firestone AT&T Career Center, TAMU Cole Vision Blockbuster Video Circuit City Stores Comptroller Circuit City Stores City of Houston Container Store CONOCO Cole Vision Deloitte & Touche Conviser Duffy CPA Review Color Tile Eastman Kodak Coopers & Lybrand Consolidated Graphics EDS Dauberman CPA Review Dauberman CPA Review Electronics Boutique Deloitte & Touche EW Blanch Enron Capital Dillard’s Dept. Stores EDS Ernst &C Young Duff, Thompson & Company Foley’s EXXON Enterprise Rent-A-Car Hastings Ferguson Enterprises Ernst & Young JCPenney First Commerce Corp. First Interstate Bank Kent Electronics Fleetwood Enterprises General Services Admin. KMart Corporation Great-West Employ Benefits HEB Grocery Company MJ Designs GTE Directories Houston Chronicle McLane Company Guaranty Federal Bank JCPenney Life Insurance Neiman Marcus Jasons Deli Kinney Shoe Corp. Northwestern Mutual JCPenney Koch Industries Olde Discount Stockbrokers Kenneth Leventhal &C Co. Lever Brothers Pier 1 Imports KPMG Peat Marwick Mervyn’s Price Waterhouse Kroger Company MOBIL Randall s Luby’s Cafeterias Northwestern Mutual Life Rent-A-Centef Mortgage Bankers Assoc. Peterson Consulting Sears Merchandise Group NationsBank Pizza Hut Service Merchandise Phillip Morris USA Sherwin-Williams Sewell Motor Company Pizza Hut Inc. Star Enterprise Specialty Retailers Principle Financial Group State Farm Insurance Stanley H. Kaplan SBC Communications Taco Bell Target Stores Target Stores TAMU Employment Office Terminix International Toys R Us Texas Commerce Bank Texaco Universal Computer Sys Texas Dept. ofTrans. Texas Dept, of Banking USAA U.S. Army Recruiting Toys R Us VALIC UARCO Tractor Supply Company Venture Stores Univ. of Houston Health Ad U.S. Agency, Internatl Devi Wal-Mart USAA Walgreen TICKETS ON SALE JAN 23 - FEB 1 • 10:00-4:00 * WEHNER&MSC For additional Information stop by the Business Student Council Booth at the MSC Open House or stop by Rm 116 of the E.L. Wehner Building.