KANSAN
University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas
Thursday, January 14, 1982 Vol.92, No.74 USPS 650-640
Jet slams into D.C. bridge; 74 presumed dead
WASHINGTON—An Air Florida jet, carrying 78 people into a snow-filled sky, slammed into a bridge packed to rush-hour capacity yesterday and plunged into the icy Potomac river. Police said all but five were missing and presumed dead.
Officials called off the search for bodies in the frigid water five hours after the crash with most of the bodies trapped underwater in the mangled wreckage of the blue and white aircraft.
Three motorists on the bridge died in the tragedy, Washington Mayor Marion Barry said.
A passenger list released this morning by Air Florida showed 74 passengers, including three infants, as well as five crew members. The area survivors were at Washington area hospitals.
Four passengers and one flight attendant were listed as the survivors, G. W. Hankins, District of Columbia.
"The latest information from D.C. police and the coroner's office is that they have three persons on the bridge and eight persons who have been identified as having come from the plane," he said.
"I would venture to say a great majority of the passengers are still in the river. By anyone's estimate, most of the remaining passengers are in the plane and presumed dead."
A federal official said late last night that the National Transportation Safety Board, which immediately opened an investigation, probably pulled a driver and will all the bodies were pulled from the river today.
THE CRASH at the near-downtown airport happened in the midst of the capital's monuments and public buildings, just blocks from the White House, the Washington monument and the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials.
The U.S. park police said there were at least 16
brown survivors, including both plane and car.
The plane sheared the top off cars of customers trying to get home to suburban Virginia. The plane landed at a nearby airport.
Government employees had been sent home early because of the weather, and the bridge was closed.
A second tragedy struck Washington within an hour of the air crash. Four people were killed and several injured in the deralment of a subway train near the Smithsonian Institution
FEDERAL SAFETY officials had no idea of what caused the plane crash, the first fatal crash at National Airport in 31 years and the first commercial crash in the nation since 1979. Officials said that air traffic control was not part of the problem.
More than 1,200 controllers went on strike last summer and were fired.
Air Florida said the plane, a Boeing 377, was carrying 88 passengers and a crew of five on a flight to Florida.
Joe Silety, who was a passenger on the plane, said last night at Virginia Hospital that he knew from the moment the plane took off it wasn't going to clear the 14th Street bridge.
"WE WERE running out of runway. We didn't have the speed."
Stiley, 42, of Alexandria, Va., a professional pilot, said, "I had a pretty good indication that things weren't going right when we started down the runway.
'I turned to (my seatmate) and said 'We're not going to make it; we’re going in.'
Arthur Coleman, who was on the bridge when the plane crashed into it. said, "I looked over in
the water and I saw people scattered all in the water."
Jets customarily rear over the heavily used bridge at an altitude of about 500 feet, which is 165 meters above ground level.
Rescue workers struggled with sub-freezing temperatures in the chilling water, bathed by the harsh light for lamps carried by helicopters, a vehicle parked in the emergency vehicles parked on the bridge deck.
The plane crashed only second after leaving the north end of the main National Airport runway. The runway, which handles on airline flights, is surrounded by arms, arms directly at the bridge about a mile away.
After the crash, the airport was shut down again and all traffic diverted to Dulles International. Officials at National Airport said they were above minimum when the plane took off.
Carlin's proposed budget doesn't disappoint Budig
By LISA MASSOTH
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
TOPEKA-Gov. John Carlin was not especially kind to higher education with his 1983 budget recommendations, but KU officials and local legislators do not see this as a bad omen.
The top priority on KU's budget request, a faculty salary increase of 13 percent, was chiseled to a 10-percent increase of the base figure.
Carlin also recommended deleting 15 faculty positions at KU based on an enrollment decline
BUT CHANCELLOR Gene A. Budig said he was not disappointed with the recommendations, which Carlin presented Tuesday in his budget proposal to the Senate and House of Representatives.
"We will be making a strong case for the 13 percent advocated by the Regents," Budig said yesterday. "We are encouraged that the governor's recommendation of 10 percent does not constitute one of our major concerns, but we continue to believe that the 15 percent is justified."
State Rep. Jessie Branson, D-Lawrence, said the University of Kansas would be doing well to develop a program for the study.
"I certainly be pleased if we could get a10
personals this year," she said.
"I certainly seem to be looking forward to
But State Sen. Jane Eldridge, R-Lawrence, said she won't think the severance tax would other states pay.
"I don't think it will make any difference," she said. "It (severance tax) is for highways and roads."
Carlin's proposed 5 percent severance tax on oil, natural gas and coal would raise $125 million, which would go to the state's general fund. He also is proposing moving $82 million derived from motor vehicle sales tax out of the general fund and adding it to fund to be used for "trimer roads and bridges."
Eldredge said the $125 million from the
severance tax would not be enough to cover the transfer of $82 million from the general fund and still leave enough of a surplus for higher education to benefit.
The University's other top priorities in budget requests were an 11-percent increase in other operating expenditures, $82,145 and 30 new facilities, and money for additions to Haworth Hall.
Ernest Anglo, chairman of the Senate Executive Committee, said that the governor's recommendation of a 10 percent increase would help keep some faculty members from leaving KU for private industry, but it still wasn't really enough of an increase.
Gov. Carlin recommended a 6 per cent increase in other operating expenditures. He recommended deleting 15 positions and $322,722 from the University treaset and he did not mention any for Harvard Hathaway.
ANGINO SAID Carlin's recommendation seemed to be a contradiction of the new funding
Carlin's recommendation of deleting 15 faculty positions, based on an enrollment decline in fall 1881, relates to the former method of funding on a faculty to student percentage rate.
The requested enrollment adjustment funds were to make up for enrollment increases dating to 1979 that are supposed to be funded two fiscal years. The building plan passed by the 181 Kansas Legislature.
Under the new plan, KU receives funds based on the number of credit hours generated each
A full-time equivalency student, one who takes a credit hours, is the unit used to determine the grade point average.
The crusis of Carlin's message centered around the severance tax, but he offered a four-part "treaty" on the issue.
First, he said he wanted to insure the stability of the farm industry. Since property needs to be reappraised, a move that could hurt farmers by increasing real estate costs is a positive development to the state. con-
See CARLIN page 5
Weather
It will be clear to partly cloudy today and tomorrow, according to the National Weather Service in Topeka. Temperatures will be warmer, with a high of 85°F in the low to mid teens. Winds will be out of the west at 5-15 mph. The high Friday will be near 40.
Snow that has covered the campus puts an extra burden on those walking in the wooded area behind the Spencer Art Museum on their way to buy books at the Kansas Union.
MARK McDONALD/Kansen Staff
Below normal temperatures continue
By LISA GUTIERREZ
Staff Reporter
As if the cold weather hasn't already caused enough problems for KU students and Lawrence residents, it may be getting even colder within months according to the National Weather Service in Topeka.
"For the remainder of January, we'll experience near to slightly below normal temperatures," said Darryl Bertelsen, weather specialist. "We will be well above normal for the month of January."
BERTELSEN SAID the cold snap that had plagued the Lawrence area since Sunday would continue through next Monday, with a slight warming trend around Tuesday or Wednesday.
Normal temperatures for the month of January range from the mid-30s to the lower 40s, said Randy Baker, Lawrence sophomore and KU weather observer. But this winter has been cooler than normal, with temperatures ranging in the low 20s. Baker said.
The temperature in Lawrence set a record for daytime lows on Sunday, Jan. 10 with a temperature of 16 degrees below zero. It was the coldest temperature recorded on that date since 1907.
"Another arctic blast is expected around Friday or Saturday," Baker said.
The extremely cold weather has caused problems for several KU students who found the ride back to Lawrence after Christmas vacation a difficult one.
"THE DELAYS caused problems with enrollment," said Mark Antonuccio, Cherry Hill, N.J., graduate student. "My flight out of Philadelphia was delayed a few hours due to the cold weather. Consequently, my connecting flight in St. Louis was delayed about an hour."
The ride back to Lawrence was a little rocker for Stacy Holmes, Rochester, N.Y., junior.
"I started back at 4 a.m. Monday and got back to Lawrence around 3 p.m. Tuesday." Holmes
at 10 a.m.
Starting the trip by train, Holmes had to transfer to a bus in Chicago because ice on the roof was too cold.
Even students who had to drive no farther than Kansas City experienced difficulty in making the transition.
**WE TRIED TO come back around 12:30 p.m.**
Sunday and finally go back at 5:00 p.m., said Larry Cain.
"It's hard to tell," he said.
The cold weather made it impossible for Armato and her family to start two cars.
Cat troubles are more frequent in the winter and E.W. Fenstemaker of KU Parking Services offered a few preventive tips on how to avoid these problems.
MARK McDONALD/Kansan Staff
"Make sure the battery terminals are clean and you have clear connections."
Fenstermaier said.
Fenstemaker also suggested running the headlights for about a minute before starting the car. He said by using this current, the battery will increase its starting potential by 25 percent.
Also holding up is the water consumption in Lawrence.
"We're doing all right," said Bob Leah, assistant utility director with the city of Lawrence. Naturally, the cold weather affects agriculture, but production hasn't been a problem so far."
Frank Marcinkowski, Polish Solidarity leader, left Poland five months ago to visit his ex-wife in Lawrence. However, the visit with Krystyna and their nine-year-old son Robert, might become a permanent stay.
Solidarity leader believes union will survive
By KEVIN HELLIKER Staff Reporter
If Frank Marcinkowski had not come to Lawrence last September, he probably would be in trouble.
A Solidarity leader in the city of Katowice, Markinczkiew left Poland five months ago to pursue his dream.
The Dec. 13 imposition of martial law in Poland left Marcinkowski stranded in a land that is not his home, nor in which he can speak the native language.
But with thousands of Solidarity members now behind bars in Poland, Martinckiewicz's visit here is part of the initiative.
His ex-wife, Krystyna Marcinckowi, acts as his translator, although he still is reluctant to
"You have to understand, he's kind of afraid of who he's talking to," Krystyna said. "In Poland, you have to be afraid even when you're talking with close friends."
KRYSTYNA, 35, who left Poland five years ago with her children, will become a United States citizen next month. She said she hoped her citizenship would enable her ex-husband to stay in the country without requesting political asylum.
"If he asks for asylum here, that could have an effect on his relatives in Poland," she said. "Also he asked to be considered for a job."
Marcinkowski, 41, said he hoped that Solidarity would regain its independence. If it does, he said, he may resume his duties as an editor of the *Journal at a Kawicevie factory*. But he is not optimistic.
"The communists won't give up," he said. "However, he added, 'Solidarity will not give up. It will give up.'"
Craig Marcinowski, a 19-year-old KU student who also translates for his father, said the elder Marcinowski objected to references to Solidarity as a "union."
WITH EMOTION, Marcinkowski explained; "for our, Solidarity is the whole nation. There are a lot of communist officials and professors who carry the spirit of Solidarity, but they are not official members. (If they were) they could lose themselves beneath them. But Solidarity is everyone."
Marcinkowski said that out of 1,600 employees at the factory where he worked, 1,200 were official members of Solidarity. The others—including the president of the company who attended Solidarity meetings—were afraid of being replaced if they registered as union members, he said.
A leader of a 50-member Solidarity group, Marcinkowski attended one union meeting in 1980 at which he met Lech Walesa, the leader of the movement, who is held in government-impacted custody.
'Who knows, but in my opinion they won't
CRAIG AND HIS mother laughed, then tended to question into Polish Mar-
cinklown question laughed.
Did the Soviets possibly provoke the imposition of martial law?
release Walesa," Marcinkowski said, "As soon as he is free, Solidarity will regain its stature."
"Don't think we're laughing at your question," said Craig, who lived in Poland for 14 years. "But you can't understand. To Poles, the Soviets are behind everything."
Marcinowski said, "Jaruzelski (Poland's military leader) is a pupet. A stupid pupet."
Krystyna, a KU student and Lawrence real estate agent, said Jaruzelski was "stupid" for trying to squelch Solidarity, which "has been in the hearts of Poles since after World War II."
She said although the communists restricted the knowledge given to young people about the history of Poland, older Poles still remembered the war. It was a period when died when Russia took over after World War II.
Besides imposing martial law in Poland, the soviets are responsible for Poland's economic policies.
A
"THE RUSSIANS cannot militarily destroy
POLAND like Afghanistan," she said. "They are
deeply disliked by our neighbors."
Marcinkowski said warehouses of food had rotated in Poland.
"The food shortages were created by the government," he said. "They want to convince