University of Tampa - Moroccan Yearbook (Tampa, FL)

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NATIONAL NEWS Thomas Jefferson call- ed the lottery “a wonder- ful thing: it lays taxation only on the willing.” As people lined up across New York to buy chances on a $41 million lottery prize, the largest jackpot in North American histo- ry, new concerns were raised that the games prey on the poor. “Sure, I’m poor,” said one man, “but I figure one day they’ll make a mistake and I’ll win.” Challenger, January 28, 1986 The Space Shuttle Challenger ex- ploded into a fireball over the Atlantic Ocean during its ascent into space on Tuesday, January 28, 1986. All seven people aboard, including teacher Christa McAuliffe, were killed instantly. It was the worst accident in the history of space exploration and the first fatal accident in 56 American manned space flights. McAuliffe, 37, was a high school social studies teacher from Concord, New Hampshire. She was the first private citizen to fly on the space shuttle. McAuliffe’s husband Steven, their two children—Scott, 9 and Caroline, 6— as well as her parents witnessed the horrifying explosion from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral where thousands of people had gathered to watch the start of what was to have been a showcase mission. The painstaking search for the remains of Challenger continued for weeks after the fiery incident occurred. Unfortunately, the debris that was col- lected yielded few clues about what occurred. NASA officials speculated that the explosion was caused by a leak in the right solid rocket booster of the shuttle. Shuttle Explodes New and Improved? The message came from Atlanta and was applauded across the nation. The Coca-Cola Company was reinstating the original flavor of their soft drink in the face of overwhelming consumer protest. On April 23, 1985, Coca-Cola an- nounced it would be changing the formu- la of Coke to “something even better.” Better turned out to be sweeter, and more suited to direct competition with Pepsi-Cola, the number two cola in the country. During the weeks that new Coke was the flagship product of the company, the national headquarters received an aver- age of 1500 complaints daily. Appar- ently, they had over estimated just how many marketing ploys people would put up with. After Coke Classic (as it was now called) was back on the shelf, rumors of conspiracy spread quickly. Had Coke launched their new product with plans to pull it when consumer outrage peak- ed? A Coca-Cola executive addressed the question: “Some people think we made a marketing error. Others think we planned the whole thing. The truth is, we’re not that dumb, and we’re not that smart.” 22 FEATURES

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President Reagan visited Bit- burg Cemetery in West Germany amid cries of protest from Ameri- can Jews and veterans. The cem- etery holds the gravesites of 47 Nazi SS officers. Reagan saw it as a gesture of reconciliation to the United States’ German allies; others felt it was a flower day for murderers. Iran launched a long-awaited major offensive against Iraq, throwing as much as a fifth of its army across the marshes dividing the two countries. But Iraq struck back hard, killing more than 15,000 Iranians and setting off a wave of mourning in Teheran. Washington called for a peaceful settlement, to no avail. A killer earthquake destroyed downtown Mexico City, the death count mounting into the thou- sands. Mexican officials reported that property damage was astro- nomical, the Earthquake was the most devastating ever to strike North America, and with foreign debts of nearly $100 billion, Mexi- co will find it difficult to rebuild. French 'Underwatergate’ Was Absurd In a private session with journalists, French President Francois Mitterand described it as “criminal and absurd ... and stupid.” Indeed, whoever blew up and sank the Rainbow' Warrior, flagship of the Greenpeace environmental organization, in New Zealand’s Auckland harbor, did not do France or its President any favor. As the major French papers zeroed in on the culpability of the government in the mysterious act of sabotage, the President could no longer remain aloof from what was rapidly becoming one of France’s worst political crises in the four years since the socialist party swept to power. Members of an aroused conservative opposition quickly dubbed the affair “Underwatergate.” They accused Mit- terand either of conducting a deceitful cover-up or of ignorance of his own government’s secret-service operations. With crucial legislative elections only six months away, the President could not afford to see his moral authority jeopar- dized in the eyes of an electorate already largely disenchanted with Socialist lead- ership. As Mitterand attempted to defuse the Greenpeace scandal, his Defense Minister Charles Hernu resigned, a tacit admission of French wrong-doing in the affair. The reason for the sinking still remains unclear, but it is suspected that some French government officials wanted to kill key Greenpeace leaders who were supposed to be meeting on the boat. Ironically, the only person who died in the incident was as American photo-journalist. Mexico City digs out Convicted spy Arthur Walker was sentenced to three life terms plus forty years in prison for helping his brother run a Soviet espionage ring. No one could be sorrier for what I’ve done. I have dishonored myself and devastated my family,” said Walker, a retired Navy lieutenant commander from Virginia Beach. Walker, convicted August 9, 1985, confessed he slipped confidential military documents to his brother, con- victed spymaster John Walker, a former Norfolk private detective and retired Navy chief warrant officer. The leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union met in Geneva Switzer- land in late November, 1985 to produce a joint communique summarizing points of agreement. King Hussein of Jordan proposed direct peace negotiations between Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinians. The talks would be organized under the aus- pices of an international Middle East peace conference, which would include other Arab states, the Palestine Liberation Orga- nization and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Hussein, calling recent Middle East vio- lence a setback for the PLO, told PLO chairman Yasser Arafat that the peace process was in danger unless we “put our act together.” FEATURES 21

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AIDS Claims Rock Hudson Rock Hudson, 58 Millionairess Martha “Sunny” Von Bulow lay in an irreversible coma while a jury reversed an earlier decision and found her second hus- band, Claus, not guilty of attempting her murder. A $75 million estate and a mud- slinging public trial divided the couple’s three children with each playing Pick-A-Par- ent and fighting over their share of the estate. Flamboyant broadcaster Ted Turner attempted to buy CBS — the first time any individual had ever offered to buy an entire national net- work. He proposed to pay a major portion of the takeover price by, in effect, borrowing the money from CBS share- holders. He would then reduce the enormous debt by selling off some prized CBS property as well as some of his own. The world mourned the loss of United States film and television star Rock Hudson. 58-year-old Hudson was a victim of the deadly AIDS disease. Hudson’s condition became public in July when he flew to Paris to be treated with an experimental AIDS drug not then available in the United States. Unfortunately, his case had progressed beyond the capabilities of the drug. He returned to Los Angeles several days later on a stretcher. The news that Hudson had AIDS came as an explana- tion to his fans of Hudson’s deteriorating appearance during his one-season run on the prime-time soap Dynasty. Rumors had circulated for years about Hudson’s sexual preference, and the news came as little surprise to much of the entertainment industry. He had, for many years, made no secret of his homosexuality among his close friends. In his final months, Hudson was alternately forsaken by his fans for not being the embodiment of his manly Hollywood persona and praised by mem- bers of the gay community for his courageous announcement that he had the disease. His public struggle was seen as a step forward in the fight for awareness of the disease. Hudson was too ill to attend an AIDS benefit coordinated by Doris Day in September, but he sent his commen- dations to the enormous group of celebri- ties from across the country. Hudson died in early October, 1985. The week of his death, congress vastly increased appropriations for AIDS re- search. An explosive devico dropped by police destroyed a two- block section of Philadelphia. Censorship was all the rage in Washing- ton. A group organized by Senator’s wives and billing themselves as the Parents’ Music Resource Center led an assault on Rock music, calling it “pornography”, and demanding that album jackets carry ratings labels and com- plete lyrics. Rock stars and members of PMRC turned a Senate hearing into an emotional shouting match, but no legislation was ever introduced. An urban siege in Philadel- phia left two city blocks and 61 homes charred to the ground. The battle began when police attempted to raid the brown- stone home of MOVE, a cult that preaches a mix of primi- tivism and anarchy. An incen- diary device dropped by the police created a fire that spread to the adjacent homes. Philadelphia Mayor W. Wil- son Goode accepted “full re- sponsibility” for the disaster, and said he was “devastated.” Certainly the residents of what had been Osage Avenue could identify with that. FEATURES 23