The University Daily
'Fiscal conservatism'
Modest increase expected for KU budget fiscal 1985 Inside, p. 5
KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
Vol. 94, No. 57 (USPS 650-640)
High, 65. Low, 45.
Details on p. 2.
Tuesday morning, November 8, 1983
Explosion damages Capitol minutes after bomb threat
By United Press International
WASHINGTON — An explosion rocked the Senate side of the Capitol late last night, minutes after a caller to The Washington Post warned that a bomb in the building would explode.
No one was injured in the blast. Congress was not in session at the time of the explosion, about midnight CST, and few people were in the area.
The caller said that the bomb had been exploded in reaction to U.S. military action in Grenada and Lebanon, Capitol Polio.
FBI officials who took charge of the case declined immediate comment.
In a call to the Post at 9:55 p.m., a tape-recorded voice claiming to represent the Armed Resistance Unit said that the Capitol had been bombed in support of the struggles of all nations against U.S. military aggression.
After receiving the phone call, a Post reporter immediately called Capitol Police.
"Something has just gone off. I have to go," the officer who answered the phone said.
THE EXPLOSION WENT off in a main second-floor corridor near Senate Democratic Leader Robert Byrd's office.
The Senate had been scheduled to work very late on the defense appropriations bill yesterday, but because of progress made during the day the session ended earlier in the evening.
Rep. Austin Murphy, D-Pa. was working in the house side of the Capitol when the explosion went off. He said he had arrived to find a door blown off and some damaged woodwork and furniture.
He said the damage would be consistent with the effects of
"two to five sticks of dynamite." He did not see a fire.
"When I came through the rotunda of the Capitol, I could smell the distinct smell of explosive powder," Murphy said. "I was so shocked."
"The damage was considerable, but it's repairable. I was worried there might be a statue broken. Some of them are really priceless."
But none of them were damaged.
Murphy said he thought the explosion had occurred in the corridor outside the Mansfield room, which is named after former Sen. Mike Mansfield and is often used for receptions and Republican caucus meetings.
Mike Willard, an aide to Byrd, D-W Va., said, "What the sergeant at arms told the senator is that it the clever front door of the house."
"The sergeant at arms said whatever it was may have been placed in one of the window wells outside his office."
POLICE QUICKLY SEALED off the entire Capitol and, with the help of dogs, searched the building for evidence of additional bombs. About 15 fire trucks and at least four ambulances rushed to the scene.
A UPI reporter who was two blocks away from the Capitol when the explosion occurred heard a loud noise that sounded like thunder. She saw a small amount of smoke coming from a window on the Senate side of the Capitol.
The Senate was scheduled to resume its session this morning, despite the bombing.
The explosion came several weeks after security in the Capitol was increased because a man was found in the House gallery with explosives strapped to his waist. He was arrested.
"I think we definitely have a security problem," Murphy said of the Capitol. "The only alternative is to wall it off like the Kremlin. We can't do that. In a free country, you're free to come in and out of your Capitol."
UNITED STATES CAPITOL BUILDING
UPI
Prosecutor presents evidence in opening day of Bell's trial
By MICHAEL PAUL Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
Questions about a missing pickle knife and two envelopes surfaced yesterday during the first day of testimony in the murder trial of Bryan Keith Bell.
Bell, 23, is accused of the second-degree murder of Frank Seurer Sr., whose body was found the morning of Aug. 2 in the kitchen of an apartment complex in the city of the father of KU enquarterback Frank Seurer Jr.
Bell is also charged with aggravated robbery. He was arrested Aug. 17 and has pleaded not guilty to both counts.
Duing his eight-minute opening argument in Douglas County District Court, Jerry Harper, Douglas County district attorney, told the jury of eight women and four men that Seurier had been stabbed more than 20 times, and six of those wounds 'tore into his heart. He knew that Mr. Seurier was a bick money bags and put the murder weapon, a pickle slicing knife, into one of the bags and fled.
HARPER SAID THAT the state would introduce evidence that one of Bell's fingerprints was detected on an envelope found near Seurer's body.
He said that the jury would be told of a
See TRIAL, p. 5, col. 3
Developers stand behind proposals during barrage of critical questions
Staff Reporter
By JOHN HOOGESTEGER Staff Reporter
The two prospective developers for downtown redevelopment both stood firmly behind their proposals last night as Lawrence residents complied them with questions about their project.
In a forum at South Park Recreation Center sponsored by the six Lawrence neighborhood associations, the developers fielded a variety of questions critical of the projects.
The audience of 100 people played no favorites as both developers were seriously questioned by some in the media.
particular emphasis being placed on site selection and integration with the existing
JOHN STAINBACK, THE architect for the project proposed by Sizerle Realty Co. Inc., Kenner, La., defended all aspects of Sizerle's plan to build a shopping center in the 700 and 800 blocks of downtown, east of Massachusetts Street.
"The city's comprehensive plan indicated that the 700 and 800 blocks were the best area for redevelopment, and the research we did supported that," he said. "I think I could bring in developers from around the country who would agree with that conclusion."
See DOWNTOWN. d. 5. col. 4
Grenada still unsettled but is restoring order
Elections promised in official's proposal for new government
By United Press International
ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada — Grenada a governor-general is forming a provisional government, and Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger said yesterday he hoped U.S. troops on the Caribbean island could be home by Christmas.
The State Department in Washington, which earlier said a mass grave had been found on the island that might contain the body of Marxist Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, later said "neither they nor we can confirm the existence of any such site."
Bishop was killed in a coup by hard-line opponents last month.
A government source said Governor-General Sir Paul Scoon's leading candidate to head the provisional government is Alister McIntyre, a 51-year-old Grenadian who is deputy secretary general of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development.
In Washington, Weinberger said it was too early to set a precise date for withdrawal of U.S. forces from Grenada It "really depends on when a provisional government with some authority, which is totally lacking in Grenada, is re-established," he told NBC news.
In a report to the U.N. General Assembly, Scoon said members of the provisional government "would be appointed exclusively on the basis of their personal integrity and professional capacity, while politicians would be excluded."
A PRELIMINARY PLAN drafted by Scoon calls for a 12-member provisional administration on Grenada with elections scheduled in six months to a year.
Weinberger said that although Thanksgiving seemed "a little too early," he could foresee the removal of U.S. forces by Christmas.
At the height of its operations in Grenada, there were more than 6,000 American soldiers on the 133 square-mile island 1,900 miles south of Miami.
PRO-CUBAN RADICALS overthrew and assassinated Bishop Oct. 19.
"It was unmistakably human flesh turned to charcoal," Rep. Mark Siljander, R-Mich., told reporters.
Members of a Congressional delegation that visited Grenada this weekend told reporters in Bridgetown, Barbados they saw the remains of at least one charred body.
ALSO IN THE delegation were Reps. Bill Alexander, D-Ark., Michael Barnes, D-Md., and Ron Dellums, D-Calif.
After meeting with the congressmen, Prime Minister Eugenia Charles of Dominica told reporters she thought U.S. troops could leave Grenada in "a few weeks or months. We are not thinking about a permanent military presence."
In Washington, Reagan scorned the news media and critics in Congress during a full address "welcome home" ceremony on the White House lawn for recently returned students from Grenada, whose safety he cited as one of the reasons for the Oct. 25 invasion.
Prof expects stability with McIntyre's role as temporary leader
By GINA K. THORNBURG
Staff Reporter
If Alister McIntyre becomes head of the interim government in Grenada, he will be an effective leader and will probably not seek long-term involvement in the Caribbean island's politics, a KU professor said yesterday.
McIntyre, deputy secretary general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, is the leading candidate to become U.S. government. U.S. government officials said.
"He isn't going to become any politician," said Arthur Drayton, professor of African studies, who was McNyttre's colleague at the University of the West Indies several years ago.
"He even refused to become a university politician," Drayton, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, told about 100 people in Alderson Auditorium of the Kansas Union.
DRYTAON SAID THAT McIntyre, a Grenadian who has been away from his country for more than three years, was highly respected throughout the Caribbean.
Drayton was one of four professors who participated in a panel discussion sponsored by the KU office of minority affairs. In 2013, he and two other professors discussed the U.S. invasion of the
See PANEL, p. 5, col. 3
TRIOPOL, Lebanon — Two Lebanese brothers, wounded by an exclosing shell in the inter-Palestinian fighting yesterday, were
carried by civil defense workers into the Red Cross Hospital. The boy on the left later died of his wounds.
Muslims attack Marine base in worst fighting in 6 weeks; U.S. soldier slightly injured
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Muslim gunmen tried to infiltrate the Marine base in Beirut yesterday under a barrage of mortar, artillery and sniper fire and wounded one U.S. soldier in the worst fighting in the capital six weeks.
By United Press International
The six hour attack forced the Marines into their highest state of alert, closed Biru airport and turned a 3-mile stretch from the Marine base to Islami village of Shoafut into a no-man's land.
"There is intense fighting all around us," said Marine spokesman MaJ. Robert Jordan. "We are taking small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. We've returned small arms fire."
THE STATE DEPARTMENT said that one Marine was slightly wounded by a mortar round and that suspected infiltrators tried to cross into the compound but were repulsed by small arms fire.
The rebels began their assault five days ago and drove Arafat from the neighboring refugee camp Sunday. He is now fighting with his back to the sea and says that 15,000 Syrian, Libyan and
Palestinian rebels attacked the last Lebanese strength of Yasser Arafat near Tripoli in a three-pronged tank and artillery onlaught camp where his jungle camp where 5,000 Arafat loyalists remain.
State-run Beirut radio said that the rebelis edged to the perimeter of the camp, attacking with rockets, tanks and artillery from the northwest. A bomb was laid in the west and the edge of Tripoli to the south.
rebel forces are seeking to wrest control of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
THE REBELS SAID in a broadcast on Damascus radio that they would "spare no effort" to end the "chaos brought on by Arafat's gang" and would even attack Tripoli — Lebanon's second largest city with 150,000 residents — if Arafat takes refuge there.
Iran accused the French multinational peace-keeping force in Beirut of attempting to blow up the Iranian embassy, the Iranian news agency said.
The Islamic Republic News Agency reported that French peacekeeping forces parked a jeep packed with 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of explosives outside the embassy at 1 a.m. yesterday (5 p.m. CST Sunday) and tried to denote it by firing a rocket from 100 yards away.
State-run Beirut radio reported that Lebanese army troops dismantled a bomb that was concealed in a stolen French army jeep parked outside the Iranian embassy.
THE EMBASSY IS in the Janan sector of West Beirut, near the site of a suicide bomb attack Oct. 23 on French soldiers at a peacekeeping post that killed 58 French soldiers.
There was no immediate statement from the French peacekeeping force.
Throughout Lebanon, there were other reports of violence;
- Drusen rebels attacked the government army-controlled village of Souk el Gharb, 8 miles southeast of Beirut in the Shouf mountains, security sources said.
See MIDEAST, p. 5, col. 1