University of Tampa - Moroccan Yearbook (Tampa, FL)

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THE 3 f )1 1 ( 1 j j FEATURES .lust for a moment I was hack in school .. “Same Auld Dang Syne” —Dan Pogelberg 19

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WORLD NEWS Flight Fright The Rev. Jerry Falwell continued to make friends at home and abroad with a visit to South Africa. He endorsed the segregationist government for “promoting reform” and promised to mount a campaign among his Moral Majority to “urge millions of Christians to purchase Krugerrands. He also proclaimed Bishop Desmond Tutu a “phony” for claiming to speak for the Black South African people. Thank you, Jerry, for those announcements. We needed an objective opinion. President Reagan got a big rah-rah when he ordered U.S. Navy fighter planes to intercept the Egyptian airliner carrying four Palestinians responsible for the seajacking of the Italian liner Achille Lauro. The plane was forced to land in Sicily, and the Palestinian terrorists were taken into custody. To some it was a hollow gesture; to others, it signalled the end of American tolerance of terrorism. Crashes of British, American, Indi- an, Iberian, and Japanese airliners high- lighted the worst year in aviation history. The year saw 15 air accidents worldwide and a death toll estimated at more than 1500, surpassing the previous record of 1255 deaths, set in 1974. There are a variety of reasons for these air disasters, and no pattern has emerged that suggests any linkage be- tween the accidents. Three of the worst crashes involved Boeing aircraft, but they apparently failed for different reasons — uncontained engine failure, the cracking of a rear pressure bulkhead, and the possible detonation of a bomb. The bleak performance of the air- lines has ruffled the feathers of even the most intrepid flyers, and is now raising serious questions about flight over- crowding and inattention to safety that could give airlines a bumpy ride in the years ahead. The Achille Lauro returns home. A test nuclear reactor using a new type of fuel began production in southern India. It does not require enriched uranium, a product not manu- factured in India. This type of fast-breeder reactor produces, as a by-product, high-grade plutonium, for use in nuclear weapons. Apartheid Government Uses Overkil Mikhail Gorbachev proved to be a politician instead of a red-nosed, octogenerian talking head like several of his predecessors. In a style similar to his Western buddy Ronald Reagan, Gorbachev rapidly con- solidated his power by stacking the Politburo leadership with his loyalists. Spreading like a brush fire out of control, the antiapartheid violence that has racked South Africa for years exploded to proportions beyond comprehension. Areas of the country that had previ- ously been untouched experienced their first outbreaks of violence. Police were constantly called on to smash the efforts of forces that oppose the nation’s apart- heid form of government. During 1985, over 650 were killed in the violence, most of them by police gunfire in black townships where a state of emergency had been declared. As the situation in South Africa steadily grew more dangerous, and inevita- bly began to damage the country’s econo- my, the government of state, president P. W. Botha seemed embarked on a course of heavy-handedness and overkill. A seni Washington official remarked that t! Botha government has demonstrated pronounced tendency to “shoot itself the foot.” The government has reacted to ev the mildest incidences of unrest by calli out legions of police. After responding the world-wide condemnation of aparthc by hinting that genuine reform was on t way, South Africa abruptly reversed its by reaffirming the present system. An example of the government’s c tremes in dealing with unrest is the way handled school boycotts. At times, hu dreds of black children, many of them or six or seven years old, were arrested a: held for days away from their parents. 20 FEATURES