West Chester University - Serpentine Yearbook (West Chester, PA)

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Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. President Jimmy Carter. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. The Mid East A new chapter in the Mid East drama unfolded this year when the Egyptian-Israeli peace pact was signed. After twenty-five years of terrorism and numerous wars be- tween these two countries, Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin signed, with the middleman help of Presi- dent Jimmy Carter, a Treaty that it is hoped will bring a lasting peace. There are many questions still un- answered, such as the Palastine question and the problem of the ad- verse reaction of many Arab coun- tries to the pact, but the first step towards peace has been suc- cessfully taken. Sadat and Begin embrace after signing the peace treaty.

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Iran In Chaos Worldwide instability was in- creased by the overthrow of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi in Iran. For 37 years, the Shah ruled his country, taking it from backwardness to the beginnings of modernization complete with TV sets and cars. In the last two years, however, there had been riots, strikes, and protests calling for human rights and freedoms to go along with modernization. The Shah, unable to calm the demonstrators and put an end to paralyzing strikes, was forced into exile by supporters of Muslim leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlave Students chanting support for Khomeini. Khomeini, the man behind the revolution, stands for an Islamic republic. After returning from a 15-year exile in France imposed by the Shah, he appointed Nehdi Bazargan as prime minister of the new government. Iran ' s ability to cope and rebuild will depend on Khomeini ' s and Bazargen ' s ability to reconcile all of the major factions of this divided nation.

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NATIONAL The Dollar. Down but not out. The Dollar Our year began with inflation spiraling out of control and the dollar plunging to new lows. The economy was definitely going sour and most people blamed the uncon- trolled spending of the federal government. Confidence in Amer- ica from foreign governments such as West Germany, Japan, and Bri- tian eroded to the point where they questioned the competence of American leadership to solve this nations economics woes. In this light, President Jimmy Carter announced his helt-tighting plan for the stabilizing of the dollar and Phase II of his anti-inflation program. Included in his plan were wage and price guidelines of 7 ' c , the hiking of the Federal Reserves interest rates a full I ' r, and the in- creased selling of gold by the U.S. Carter, at the feet of Washington on Wall Street. Treasury. Both proponents and critics alike feared that these steps could contribute to a recession, but the supporters contended that this would be a small price to pay if the economy were collared as a result.