• • Th a t c h er visits Falkland in surprise trip By FRED CLARK Associated Press Writer STANLEY, Falkland Islands Hundreds of tearful islanders cheered British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher yesterday as she began a surprise tour of this South Atlantic colony, wrested back from Argentina seven months. ago. While Thatcher toured Stanley's fortified airfield and visited British troops, Argentina denounced her trip as a brazen provocation. In London, Thatcher's opposition accused her of playing politics. No advance announcement was made of the visit. The first British prime minister to visit the Falklands in 150 years of British rule arrived Saturday after an 8,000-mile, 24-hour trip from London. The final leg was a perilous 13- hour flight from Ascension Island in the mid-Atlantic aboard an unarmed Royal Air Force C-130 Hercules, a lmithering propeller driven cargo plane refueled three times in flight. It was escorted into Stanley by,Phantom fighters. Emerging from the plane in a skirt, dark overcoat and pink scarf, she declared: "I've come to talk to the people here, to support the armed forces and to pay tribute to those who liberated the islands." Argentina seized the Falklands last April 2 after a protracted sovereignty dispute , Britain regained the Falklands, called Las Malvinas by Argentina, last June 14 after a war that left 255 Britons and 712 Argentines dead. Committee to screen for new student trustee By ANNE McDONOUGH Collegian Staff Writer The Undergraduate Student Government Executive Council last night decided to send letters to seven student groups asking for members to serve on the selection committee to help pick a new student member of the University Board of Trustees. The committee will select three to five University students to present to the governor as a possible successor to present student member Paul Bell. Bell's term expires June 30 but he must serve until the new trustee is selected. Letters will be sent to the presidents or heads of organizations involved asking them to select the most qualified person from within their group to be on the committee. The organizations include: the Undergraduate Student Government, the Association of inside • Whether University stu dents are to be called for jury duty in the first degree murder trial against Subramanyam Ve. dam was contested Friday in Centre County Court Page 2 • Mentally retarded children from Centre, Clearfield, and Clar ion counties will participate in the Special Winter Olympics and volunteers are needed to serve as personal ski instructors and chaperones Page 5 weather Cloudy today with freezing rain changing to periods of rain and drizzle by mid-morning. The high temperature today will be 40 degrees. Continued cloudy tonight with periods of rain and drizzle, patchy fog and a low temperature of 35 degrees. —by Craig Wagner index Comics Crossword News briefs Opinions Sports State/nation/world the daily Islands "You know what we all fought for freedom and justice, which are two sides of the same coin," Thatcher said in a speech yesterday to the Falklands Executive and Legislative Councils "You went through dramatic experiences and we at home went through agonizing experiences," she said. "We had total faith in your wish to stand by everything we believe in. And we also have total faith in the courage, bravery and skill of our armed forces. "These things together brought us a famous victory." Word of Thatcher's arrival in Stanley at about 5 p.m. Saturday, reported in a . news flash on the local radio station, spread quickly among the population of 1,800 islanders. Hundreds of well-wishers greeted her as she rode, with her husband, Denis, into town in the converted London taxi used as an official car by civil administrator Sir Rex Hunt. Soldiers along the route snapped to attention, while residents, many with tears in their eyes, shouted: "God bless you." "Fantastic!" shouted islander Giles Mercer as Thatcher signed autographs. "I thought someone was joking when they said she was here." ' "The islanders are clearly very pleased, honored and delighted," said Hunt's deputy, Reg Williams. "They've been out on the streets in quite considerable numbers." After a briefing by Hunt and military commissioner Maj. Gen. David Thorne, Thatcher had dinner and spent the night at Government House. Residence Hall Students, the Graduate Students Association, the Council of Branch Campus Student Governments, Black Caucus, the University Scholars Program and Faculty Senate. Gov. Dick Thornburgh is not required to chose a student, for the vacant position. But state Secretary of Education Richard Scanlon's letter directs Bell to form a committee to select student candidates Scanlon suggested guidelines and named Bell a non-voting chairman of the committee. Bell will present the council's plan for the selection committee tomorrow. Scanlon has the option of not approving the plan. Although he did not know whether Scanlon would approve the plan, Bell said, in the past the secretary of education has followed the students' suggestion. Bell said he doesn't want the committee entirely made up of student leaders who are 15 guards remain hostage in New York jai Reporters attend negotiations By RICK HAM PSON Associated Press Writer OSSINING, N.Y. Inmates armed with mopsticks and clubs held 15 guards captive yesterday at the maximum-security prison once known as Sing Sing, and face-to face negotiations began later in the night. The talks began without reporters present. But later in the night, an ABC television network reporter and crew were allowed into the cellblock. Inmates had demanded that reporters be included in the talks State corrections spokesman Lou Ganim said yesterday that the situation inside the prison was "calm and the hostages are safe." Sen. Ralph Marino, R- Muttontown, who heads the state Senate Committee on Crime and Corrections, said he was optimistic that the hostages would be released one at a time "very shortly." The senator, who was briefed by prison officials, said the hostages were being protected by a group of prisoners he described as "Muslims." bile • lan *.i.4%!: W*4 10046,,5, ' ' British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher examines a mine field and a mine warning sign yesterday during her surprise tour of the Falkland Islands. The mine fields are leftover reminders of the recent war with Argentina over the islands. on Executive Council because they would form too much of a clique and encourage group thinking. Therefore, students representing other interests will also be chosen. Bell will ask a representative from the Office of Student Affairs to be a non-voting member and to give information on University policy. USG President Leni Barch said a student member of the Faculty Senate should be chosen because they are familiar with academic policy. The council agreed that a University scholar would represent the academic interests of the University and a Black Caucus member would represent the largest minority group on campus. An ARHS member on the committee would represent the housing interests of students. ARHS President Laura Cerar said the good Marino said overcrowding "is one of the big gripes. They are just very uncomfortable in there." The cellblock houses 618 inmates, each in a one-inmate cell. . The prisoners were also asking for amnesty, he said, and "so far that hasn't been resolved." Earlier, Ganim denied that overcrowding was a factor, saying inmate "idleness" was more of a reason. The negotiations among five inmates and members of a special hostage negotiation team were taking place over tables separated by bars. The state's team, established three years ago, had not been tested until now. Inmates took control of a 618- man cellblock of Ossining Correctional Facility at 7:40 p.m. Saturday. No serious injuries were reported, although one guard was hurt by a blow to the head during the takeover and was released eight hours later. In return for the release, authorities gave the inmates prescription medication for 15 to 20 prisoners. * ' Ambulances stand near the entrance to the Ossining Correctional Facility yesterday. Inmates took control of a 618 man cellblock of the facility at 7:40 p.m. Saturday. a ; ;~~ £ , communications between ARHS and the Organization for Town Independent Students makes it unneccessary for a member from both organizations to be on the committee. Bill Fracalossi, OTIS president, said an ARHS representative would be more directly affected by University housing policies. Student leaders rather than students-at large should be chosen for the committee because "they are the people that are interested, competent and motivated in student affairs," said Paul Nicollian, USG Senate working representative to the council Once the committee is formed it will decide specific criteria for the trustee selection. Some suggested criteria for candidates are the ability to grasp financial matters easily, good communicative ability, open mindedness, broad interests and good academic standing. Monday, Jan. 10, 1983 Vol. 83, No. 100 18 pages University Park, Pa. 16802 Published by students of The Pennsylvania State University WASHINGTON A government scientific panel begins considering today whether American women should be able to use a three-month contraceptive injection hailed as an improvement over "the pill" but reviled by some as a potential cause of cancer. A Food and Drug Administration public inquiry board will hear evidence on the contraceptive Depo-Provera, then take as long as it requires to make a recommendation. FDA Commissioner Arthur Hull Hayes Jr. will make the final ruling on the drug's fate in the lucrative American market. Although Depo-Provera is available as a contraceptive in 84 countries and used by 1.5 million women worldwide, the decision about its use in the United States is expected to have international repercussions. Some nations that haven't approved the drug's use cite the FDA's reluctance to clear Depo- Provera as a contraceptive. U.S. population programs do not supply the drug abroad, even in countries that request it, because the Agency for International Development has a policy against buying and distributing overseas drugs not approved for sale in the United States. The question of the drug's use is a hard-fought one. Consumer and feminist groups are against it, and government agencies and birth control groups for it. Some of those favoring use of Depo-Provera as a contraceptive maintain it helps prevent cancer. At this week's hearings, the Agency for International Development will present two studies that say the benefit-risk ratio of Depo-Provera is favorable. The World Health Organization also backs the drug's use as a contraceptive. "I believe it to be safer than the pill," said Dr. Allen Rosenfield, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University who also is a board member of International Planned Parenthood. "We have always felt this was a highly safe and effective form of contraception," added Dr. Elizabeth Connell, an international population expert from Emory University in Georgia who also is a consultant to Depo-Provera's chief manufacturer. "There is no method that is more effective." But the opposition is formidable and has helped block approval of the drug as a contraceptive twice before. ,~_.;. ;~~:"' Birth control injection examined By BETTY ANNE WILLIAMS Associated Press Writer AP laserphoto