SUNY Plattsburgh - Cardinal Yearbook (Plattsburgh, NY)

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ELECTION ' 81 Former California governor Ronald Reagan overwhelmed Jimmy Carter on November 4 to become die nation ' s for- tlcdi president Public opinion surveys noted a trend toward Reagan in die final week of die campaign but virtually all said diat the election was too close to call. ' Hie results, diough, were one-sided. Nearly complete returns gave Reagan an ab- solute majority of the popular vote and an 8,285,987 vote (or 10 percentage point) lead over Carter. He carried 44 states and won 489 electorial votes compared to Just 49 for Carter, who carried only 6 states and the District of Columbia. Independent candidate .John 13. An- dersen did not win any states. But with 7% of the vote he exceeded the 5% threshold needed to qualify for past election public financing. Falling well below the threshold were the other three party candidates. Libertarian Ed Clark drew 876,557 votes (one percent) in nearly complete but unofficial returns. Trailing with Citizens Party entry Darn - Commoner with 220,789 votes ' (0.3 percent) and Right to Life candidate Ellen McCor- mack with 34,744 votes (0.04 percent). In die vice presidenUal posidon, chosen by Reagan, is George Bush. ABSCAM Congressional Scandal Abscam, short for Arab-Scam, began in 1978 as an FBI invesUgaUon of stolen paintings and organized crime. By die time It disbanded early in February 1980 it had grown into a massive and highly secret undercover operation in which agents — posing as businessmen and rich Arab sheiks — had implicated eight members of Con- gress as criminals. These members supposedly agreed when asked if they could use their poslUons to help Arabs obtain U.S. residency, grants and gam- bling businesses for large sums of money in return. : OR PRESIDEN1 SHIP SINKS On Saturday morning October 4, 1980, the Prinsendam, a cruise ship owned and operated by Holland America Cruises burned and sank. The fire, which started in the engine room and spread to die rest of the ship, forced 470 passengers and crew mem- bers into canvas covered life boats on the open Alaskan seas while forty crew members remained on board to battle die fire. Altogether there were 510 people aboard. Thirteen hours after the ship was abandoned, a rescue was made with helicopters and two ships. A head count was taken and it was not dis- covered until hours after the rescue was completed that 20 people could not be accounted for. A search was in- itiated and die missing lifeboat was not found until 1:30 Sunday morning. The 18 passengers and two paramedics aboard the lifeboat were cold, but alive and well. EARTHQUAKE On November 23, 1980, a dls- asterous earthquake leveling much of southern Italy left many homeless while approximately 3,068 were listed as dead. Rescue attempts became delayed because of a breakdown in com- munication. It took several days for of- ficial rescue teams to assist many of the towns, therefore causing many of the villagers to offer aid to their relatives and friends trapped beneath the debria The Italian government argued that all had been done within human and institutional possibilites of our system. The Liberal and Communist parties, however, attributed die high mortality rate to inefficient govern- ment interaction. The reactions of die Italian people toward their govern- ment ' s efficiency in administering aid will be seen in Italy ' s coming General Election.

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NEWS CARDINAL SECTION YEARBOOK THE HOSTAGE DRAMA On November 4, 1979 the U.S. Em- bassy In Tehran was seized by Iranian militants who took 66 U.S. diplomatic personnel prisoner. Thirteen of them were released November 20 and another on .inly 17, 1980. On Novem- ber 14 Iran announced that It would withdraw Its assets from I ' .S. banks. President Carter forestalled Uiat action by freezing all Iranian assets. He severed diplomatic relations with Iran on April 7, 1980 and ordered trade sanctions against Iran April 17. Eight days later eight servicemen were killed during an ulxirtcd rescue mission. On November 2, 1980 the Iranian Parliament, die Majlis, approved die hostage release terms announced Sep- tember 12 by Ayatollah Khomeini: The I ' .S. must release property and assets of die Shall, cancel all financial claims against Iran, release all of die frozen assets, and promise not to Interfere In Iran ' s Internal affairs. As the weeks progressed there were debates over and slight modifications to this 18 proposal until December 19 when Iran came out with its final reply to U.S. proposals. Their demands were that die United States deposit 24 billion dollars In die Central Bank of Algeria before die hostages were released. On • January ' 15. Behgad Nabavl, Iran ' s chief negotiator said Iran agrees in general with the U.S. proposal but demands die transfer of frozen assets to an Eskrow account. On January 18 Nabavl announced diat the U.S. and Iran have reached an agree- ment on resolving die issue of the hostages. On January 20 at 12:25 p.m. ( EST) two Algerian planes earning die hostages left Tehran Airport for home.

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The Iran-Iraq border dispute began In March of 1980 when Iraq claimed three islands in the Strait of Hormuz, just off the coast of Iran. Tensions heightened when an Iranian revolutionary group claimed die at- tempted assassination of the Iraq deputy premier in Bagdad on April L. Two Iraqis were killed in that incident. While Iranians and Iraqis clashed at their funeral, two more Iraqis were killed In die fighting. Three days later bodi countries put their armies on full alert and seven thousand Iranians were expelled from Iraq. As the weeks progressed this aggression increased. Iraq ' s president Saddom Hussein made a few attempts to negotiate a ceasefire and com- promise but the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini refused, arguing diat they are corrupt . Conditions worsened on September 10 as Khomeini announced on die radio that he had dismissed all peace proposals. He stated diat he would fight against Iraq to the end and (iod willing be victorious. On September 20 die fighting had accelerated. The next day Iraq claimed diat it shot down an Iranian F-4. On the twenty-second Iraqi Jets struck ten Iranian airfields. Iraq ' s prime targets were Iran ' s oil ports and refineries. As die war continues, bodi countries are fighting for land and principles. Bodi have had their gains and losses but neither is willing to compromise. Workers at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland went on strike. .Nearly 16,000 workers walked off dielr jobs in defiance of the Communist Party in Warsaw. The striking union. Solidarity, led by Lech Walesa, called for higher wages, increased food supplies and political reforms. On the seventeenth day of strike, news came diat Warsaw had agreed to allow the formation of self-governing, independent trade unions. The Polit- buro also agreed to allow die workers a legal right to strike, unheard of in Soviet bloc countries. The Polish government had been stressing Industrial investment at die expense of consumer goods. As a result of these government investments, shortages of all consumer goods and a nadonal debt of 21 billion dollars had caused the Polish people to strike. Of 500 Poles Interviewed, 86% replied diat dicir purchasing power was insuf- ficient and only 3% would vote Com- munist Party in a free clecdon. Hut the strikers determination has evidenced gain; most recently an NUCLEAR CLUB The dircat of nuclear disaster is becoming more eminent as more coun- tries have access to new technology and increased scientific knowledge. Currently six countries have built and tested nuclear devices. Within ten years, twenty countries will have Joined die nuclear-weapon9 club. President Carter ' s Administration has tried to slow down nuclear proliferation, but at diis point, says Adrian Fisher, former deputy director of the U.S. Anns Control and Disarma- ment Agency, I think the most we can hope for is simply to slow down proliferation until we get a more in- telligent world order. agreement has been enacted to allow for a five day work week where previously it consisted of six. Hut die repercussions of Solidarity ' s unifica- Uon can be felt throughout the Com- munist Party . Edward Gierck, Com- munist Party leader was dismissed and replaced by Stanislaw Kania. Rumors of a Soviet invasion arc popular. So strong are die strikers diat recently even Western Europe and die U.S. have been feeling its effects. Said Kania of Poland ' s future: Things are very bad and diere is nothing to suggest that they will be better in a month or even six mondis. Until diings are better. Solidarity will continue to strike. And uldiough tanks can guard us, Walesa defies, they cannot make us work.