The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, June 19, 1995, Image 2

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    Page 2 • The Battalion
&z Briefs
Monday • June 19
Rebels release hostages
after Russian concessions
BUDYONNOVSK, Russia (AP) —
Chechen rebels holding 2,000
hostages in a hospital began releasing
capt ives Sunday after the Russian
government agreed to halt combat
operations in Chechnya and allow the
gunmen safe passage.
Some 200 hostages, mostly women
and children, left the hospital after the
agreement was reached. The hostages,
looking dazed and exhausted, emerged
in two groups and were taken in ambu
lances to nearby clinics.
Sunday's hostage release came after
Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin
reached an agreement with rebel
leader Shamil Basayev to halt combat
operations in Chechnya. He also
agreed to allow the rebels safe passage
to nearby Chechnya by bus or plane.
Thousands of civilians and soldiers
have been killed so far in the war in
Chechnya. The war is unpopular in Rus
sia, and Yeltsin has faced harsh criticism
around the world for prosecuting it.
U.S. investigators find no
prison, POWs in Vietnam
HUONG NON VILLAGE, Vietnam
(AP) -— U.S. investigators found no
prison and no American prisoners of war
in a daylong search Sunday prompted
by an activist's claims that hundreds are
still being held two decades after the
Vietnam War ended.
Three Americans and three Viet
namese escorts searched an army
truck depot and acres of rice paddies
at the spot where POW activist Billy
Hendon claimed an underground
prison is located.
Hendon, a former Republican con
gressman from North Carolina, said the
prison was hidden inside a mountain
and gave the geographical coordinates
of the alleged spot in Vinh Phu province,
about 50 miles northwest of Hanoi.
But the investigators tracked the co
ordinates to a low-lying field where
farmers had recently harvested a rice
crop. No mountains were in view for
miles — only one-story brick and thatch
homes, towering haystacks, banana
trees and startled villagers.
Vietnamese officials said there were
no prisons in Huong Non or adjacent
Hung Hoa Village, and the Foreign
Ministry said Thursday that Vietnam
does not have underground prisons.
Summit's lack of results
show limits of power
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — If
all it took was money or military
might, there's not much the club of
the world's top seven industrialized
nations and Russia, its honorary
member, couldn't do.
But at their annual summit here.
President Clinton, Russia's Boris Yeltsin
and the leaders of Japan, Canada and
the four richest nations of Western Eu
rope found being the biggest show on
earth a frustrating business.
"There's nothing," Clinton admit
ted of the search for a diplomatic set
tlement in Bosnia. "They will not
make peace, sir, until they get tired of
fighting each other."
The summit, too, steered clear of
officially pronouncing on a trade dis
pute between the United States and
Japan about autos and auto parts, al
though the European leaders delicately
isolated Clinton over his threat to im
pose trade sanctions with talk about
preferring "multilateral solutions."
Mexicans say peso crisis
far from over
MEXICO CITY (AP) — President
Ernesto Zedillo predicts the country's
economic slide will hit bottom by
year's end, but millions of Mexicans
are hurting deeply from "La Crisis"
and it seems only to get worse.
Inflation is roaring, paychecks are
eroding and the peso is still wobbling
after a steep devaluation that began
Dec. 20 - a tailspin that now is insti
gating a deeper crisis of confidence
in government.
Many Mexicans are increasingly
skeptical that the government can turn
the economy around unless it ends of
ficial corruption and implements wide
democratic reforms.
Salinas had painted an image of
Mexico as a country living in the best of
times, opening its economy under the
North American Free Trade Agreement
with Canada and the United States.
But three weeks after Zedillo suc
ceeded him on Dec. 1, the crisis broke
open to the shock of most of Mexico's
90 million people.
Six months later people are hurting
more than ever. The peso's value has
dropped about 40 percent, while
prices soared. Inflation was 29 percent
in the first five months of 1995 and is
still rising. Dozens of businesses are
going bankrupt every week. Homes
and cars are being seized from people
unable to pay loan rates topping 90
percent annually.
Serbs free last 26 hostage U.N. peacekeepers
□ Four weapons col
lection points in Serb-
field territory were
deemed too dangerous
and are no longer un
der U.N. supervision.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herze-
govina (AP) — The last 26 of
more than 370 U.N. peacekeep
ers seized by Bosnian Serbs last
month were freed Sunday after
the United Nations effectively
caved in to a key Serb demand
tied to their release.
A shell killed seven people
and wounded 12 waiting for
scarce water in a Sarajevo sub
urb, even as U.N. peacekeep
ers abandoned weapons collec
tion points set up to deter such
deadly attacks.
The Serbs announced the
release of the 26 peacekeepers
after four Serbs were freed
from U.N. detention in Sara
jevo, as the rebels had de
manded. The United Nations
had repeatedly insisted that
the peacekeepers’ release
should be unconditional.
The Serbs also had demand
ed an end to NATO airstrikes in
exchange for releasing the
hostages, and they claimed to
have received assurances there
would be no more raids. “We got
a commitment,” said Nikola
Koljevic, a Bosnian Serb leader,
on Sunday.
U.N. officials said, howev
er, that airstrikes remained
an option.
Serbs had detained the
peacekeepers in late May in re
taliation for NATO bombing
raids. The peacekeepers have
been released in groups since
June 6, and the bus carrying
the final ones crossed into Ser
bia on Sunday evening.
Canadian Capt. Patrick
Rechner, who was shown on
television and in photographs
chained to a stanchion at a
Serb ammunition dump, was
the only freed captive who
was brought to the bus door to
talk to reporters.
“It’s been a difficult time,
and we’re glad that the crisis is
over,” said Rechner, a U.N.
monitor in the Serb stronghold
of Pale before his detention.
Asked if he was willing to
serve again in Serb-held terri
tory, Rechner said, “Yes, as
well as on any other side in the
conflict.” He declined to dis
cuss how he was treated.
Of those released, 12 were
Canadians, three Dutch, two
Czechs and one each from
Brazil, Russia, Nigeria, Fin
land, Belgium, Pakistan,
Kenya, Ghana and Jordan.
U.N. peacekeepers with
drew from five observation
posts and four weapons collec
tion points in Serb-held territo
ry around Sarajevo after the
areas were deemed too danger
ous, U.N. spokesman Lt. Col.
Gary Coward said.
The collection points con-
"We're glad that the
crisis is over."
— Capt. Patrick Rechner
U.N. monitor in Serb stronghold Pale
tained heavy guns turned over
by the Serbs in February 1994
under a NATO threat of
airstrikes designed to end at
tacks on the besieged city by
banning heavy weapons from a
12.5-mile radius.
Sunday’s withdrawal
means neither Serb nor gov
ernment weapons are under
U.N. supervision.
“The duties performed by
the U.N. in Bosnia and in the
capital Sarajevo have shrunk,”
U.N. spokesman Alexander
Ivanko acknowledged. He in
sisted, however, that airstrikes
Government-Bosnian Croat federation
O U.N. safe zones
■ Croat-Serb and Bosnian-Serb
M Bosnian Serbs freed the last 26 U.N.
peacekeepers, including 11 Canadians.
ii Seven people were killed and at least
10 wounded when a shell landed in the
southwestern suburb of Dobrinja.
Si Rebel Serbs reacted to the government
offensive by declaring a “state of war,”
immediately drafting all males over 18 and
putting the army in charge of the government.
Associated Pre
remain an option.
But it seemed unlikely that
any attacks like the shell that
smashed into a line for water in
the government-held Dobri
suburb on Sunday willds
NATO airstrikes. “No cham
senior U.N. official said.
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
PRESENTS THE
PUJ
<TEXSIS
usic festival
<TOMDgH<T
7:30 p.m. — Rudder Theatre
The St. Petersburg
Quartet from Russia
in works
by Borodin, Shostakovich, and the
winner of Moscow’s 1985 Young
Composers Competition,
Zurab Nadarejshvili.
A reception to meet the
artists, sponsored by Emil and
Clementine Ogden, will follow
the program.
Supported by: Brazos Valley Arts
Council, the Texas Commission on the
Arts and the University Honors Program.
Tickets available at the MSC Box Office
Adults — $10.00 (season $35.00)
Senior Citizens (65+)— $7.00
(season $25.00)
Students - $5.00 (season $20.00)
Parking available in the University
Center Parking Garage. ($.60 p/hr)
Rudder Theatre is Handicapped
Accessible.
For Information: 845-3355 or 845-1234.
C HOOSE FEE OPTION 18 to
order your copy of the 1995-96
Campus Directory when you register
for fall classes. The student directo
ry includes listings of students, fac
ulty, staff and other information
about Texas A&M. Only $3.25.
HEALTHY
MALES 18-35
WANTED
as semen donors
excellent compensation
confidential! Call 77&"4453
Don’t
Worry
when an accident or
sudden illness occurs
CarePlus is open when you
need them 7 days a week
with affordable medical
care.
CarePlus stai
Family Medical Center
2411 Texas Ave. and
Southwest Parkway
696-0683
10% ASM student discount
$
CONTACT LENSES
ONLY QUALITY NAME BRANDS
(Bausch & Lomb, Ciba, Barnes-Hind-Hydrocurve)
Disposable Contact Lenses Available
118
00
TOTAL COST.. .INCLUDES
$
EYE EXAM, FREE ALCON OPTI-FREE CARE KIT, AND TWO PAIR OF STANDARD
FLEXIBLE WEAR SOFT CONTACT LENSES.
TOTAL COST . includes
EYE EXAM, FREE ALCON OPTI-FREE CARE KIT, AND FOUR PAIR OF STANDARD
FLEXIBLE WEAR SOFF CONTACT LENSES.
SAME DAY DELIVERY ON MOST LENSES.
Cali 846-0377 for Appointment
CHARLES C. SCHROEPPEL, O.D., PC.
DOCTOR OF OPTOMETRY
505 University Dr. East,
Suite 101
College Station, TX 77840
4 Blocks East of Texas Ave. &
University Dr. Intersection
PUS UPDATES PUS UPDATES PUS UPDATES * PUS UPDA1
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*** Parking Update ***
Several campus parking lots are scheduled for surface repairs this sum
mer. To facilitate this process the parking lots involved will need to te
cleared of all parking for approximately one week (3-5 days) for bast,
repairs, and again at a later date for one week to resurface and repaint,#:
weather permits. Below is a list and schedule for the parking are#
involved:
PA 55 Wednesday, June 21
*The parking spaces on the street
between Teague and PA 55 will
remain available.
(Relocate to PA 51, shuttle service provided)
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PA 54 & 88 Monday, June 26
(Relocate to PA 51, shuttle service provided)
PA 51 Friday, June 29
(Relocate to PA 50)
PA 59 Saturday, June 30
(Relocate to PA 48)
PA 50 Wednesday, July 5
(Relocate to other commuter (blue)
parking areas, suggeste areas are PA
89 behind tennis courts, PA 48 south of
Kyle Field, PA 62 on Wellborn Rd.
next to Kyle Field)
PA 46 Monday, July 17
(This is during Fireman’s Training
Schools, relocate to PA 48, PA 47,
PA 91, PA 62, PA 69)
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Please note that this information may be subject to change. When you
arrive on campus and your assigned parking area is closed, please park
in the alternate parking area indicated above.
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