ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

SALAH NASRAWI

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP)—Yasser Arafat brought dozens of his supporters to a meeting Sunday of a key PLO policy-making body considering his peace deal with Israel.

The 107-member Palestine Central Council was meeting to decide whether or not to approve the accord on self-rule for the occupied territories. Arafat packed the chamber with his supporters—including many non-Council members.

Approval by the Central Council is a preliminary step to formal approval by the Palestine National Congress, or parliament in exile, whose approval is required under the accord.

The Council, which functions as the policy-making body in between meetings of the much larger Congress, was not expected to make a decision until Monday at the earliest.

Despite opposition from hard-line Palestinian factions, Arafat was expected to win a vote of approval from the Council.

The hard-liners wound up a three-day meeting in Damascus, Syria, on Saturday vowing to keep on fighting Israel, but it appeared they could not agree on forming an alternative leadership to Arafat and his Palestine Liberation Organization loyalists.

Under the Sept. 13 peace accord, Palestinians won a measure of self-rule in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho, with their powers to be spread over a wider area pending talks in the next three years.

Radicals within the PLO oppose the accord because it fails to deal with crucial issues such as the status of Jerusalem or guarantee the right of refugees to return to their homes.

The small conference room at a Palestinian school where the meeting was held was packed with more than 200 Palestinians, double the number of the council's members.

Arafat loyalist Salim al-Zanoon told the council before it started deliberations that a group of Palestinians from the occupied territories was ‘‘invited'‘ to take part in the discussions—and its decision-making.

Al-Zanoon did not explain how the nearly 50 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza could participate in the voting of the council.

It was not clear how many actual members of the council attended the meeting because Arafat's security men asked journalists to leave when council secretary Mohammed Subaih started checking the quorum.

PLO officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Arafat had packed the council with his own backers by reworking the membership of the largest group on the council—his own Fatah faction.

Although this was sure to raise a storm among the hard-liners, Palestinian officials said PLO factions were technically entitled to change their representatives on the council. Arafat could make the changes for Fatah because he leads the faction.

Among the rebellious leaders he has taken off the council are Hani al-Hassan, Abbas Zaki, Mohammed Jihad and Sakhr Nizar—who also are members of Fatah's powerful Central Committee. The PLO officials said those four were replaced by Arafat loyalists.

The NIU Hall of Fame starts its 12th year, since its inception in 1978, by inducting six former student-athletes Oct. 15.

The inductees include Laura Cooper (1964-68), Diane Hillard (Sembell) (1971-74), Larry Johnson (1971-74), Scott Kellar (1982-85), Chuck Kittleson (1954-58) and Sam Smith (1938-41, 1948.)

This year's class is adding two members to its "sibling" Hall of Fame. Both Larry Johnson and Scott Kellar had older brothers who were inducted into the Hall of Fame. The last siblings to be inducted were in 1984.

The inductees will be honored at halftime at the Homecoming Game on Saturday. The game against the Universtiy of Pacific starts at 1:05 pm.

The NIU Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet will preceed the game. Friends, fans, Northern Illinois alumni and the public are invited to attend the dinner. Tickets for the chicken kiev dinner will be $25 each. A social hour will begin at 6 p.m followed by the dinner at 7 p.m.

First of the inductees is Laura Cooper of DeKalb. Cooper participated in badminton, basketball, field hockey, softball and volleyball between 1964-68. She completed four years as a basketball forward with a career scoring record of 389 points and broke the old Huskie women's mark of 284 points. In the 1965-66 season she scored her game career high of 30 points against Northwestern.

Cooper also starred at center-half in field hockey as a sophomore and junior. She capped the latter season with First-Team All-Midwest honors from the U.S Field Hockey Association Sectional Tournament system in 1966.

In softball she was a three year regular as a pitcher and shortstop. She boasted a .357 career batting average, including the team's best, .429, as a junior (1967).

Next is Diane Hillard (Sembell), of Alexis, Ill., for her achievements in volleyball, basketball and track during 1978-82. Hillard lettered in basketball for four years, and track and volleyball for two.

Hillard was named Northern Illinois SportsWoman of the Year in 1982. She also was the Mid-American Conference Scholar-Athlete Award winner with a GPA of 3.97. Hillard also was selected for the National Dean's list as a pre-med major for her final six semesters (1979-82).

In basketball she hit her career high of 16 points on 8 of 11 from the floor and led NIU to a 75-61 victory vs. Marquette in (1981-82). In track she competed in the pentathalon and set the NIU 800-meter record (2:19.7) at the NIU Roadrunner Invitational in 1979.

Third is Larry Jonhson who participated in wrestling at the 150, 158 and 167 weight levels from 1971-74. He was a three-time Huskie Most Valuable Wrestler and National Collegiate Athletic Association Championship qualifier.

In 1972 Johnson gained Division I All-American status by placing fifth in the NCAA Championships at the 158-pound weight class. He also finished seventh at 150 pounds in the 1973 NCAA Championship as a junior.

Fourth is Scott Kellar of Roselle, for his participation on the 1982-85 football team as defensive tackle. Kellar led the Mid-American Conference in tackles-for-loss and ranked seventh nationally as a junior.

He also was named Huskie defensive MVP, MAC Defensive Player of the Week vs. Central Michigan, First Team All-MAC and Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American in 1985.

Kellar ranks as the third highest National Football League draft pick in NIU history. He was picked in the fifth round by the Indianapolis Colts in 1986. Kellar won 16 starts as an NFL rookie before being placed on injured reserve five games into his second year.

He was a free agent with the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings and the Canadian Football League Ottawa Rough Riders before retiring.

Chuck Kittleson of DeKalb is fifth on the list of inductees for his achievements in Golf durring 1954-58. Kittleson joins former teammates Mike Spinello (1957-60) and Don Wegrzyn (1956-60).

Kittleson led NIU with a 74.1 medal average and an 8-1-1 match-play record his freshman year. He then produced a perfect 13-0-0 match-play record and topped the Huskies with a 75.8 strokes per round average in 1957-58.

Last but not least, Sam Smith will join the the Hall of Fame for football and baseball during 1938-41 and in 1948. Smith was a three-year regular at quarterback and a triple-threat southpaw passer, runner and blocker in the Huskie T-formation.

Smith was a two-time recipient of the Cullen Keefe Award as the Northern Illinois MVP in the 1940-41 season.

Smith served the country as a U.S. Air Force pilot and retired as a Lt. Col. He flew a B-17 during World War II, a B-29 in the Korean War and a C-23 cargoplane in Vietnam.

GALVESTON, Texas (AP)—Salvage crews scrambled Sunday aboard a gasoline tanker ripped open by an explosion that peeled back part of the deck ‘‘like a sardine can.'‘ Three people were believed killed.

The Coast Guard strung containment booms in case of a possible fuel spill from the damaged OMI Charger, which was carrying no cargo but held 365,000 gallons of fuel.

‘‘There is a potential for a major spill,'‘ said Capt. Paul Prokop, commander of the Coast Guard station at Galveston.

The Houston Ship channel, one of the world's busiest waterways, was closed part of the day because officials feared ship wakes could endanger the tanker. Officials later allowed restricted use of the channel, which serves the Houston petrochemical industry, and reopened it Sunday evening.

Coast Guard officials said they were convinced none of the fuel had spilled from the 660-foot ship. It was partially afloat in about 40 feet of water.

Crews planned to remove the fuel and booms were set as a precaution around the ship and along wetlands on the Galveston shoreline, about 50 miles southeast of Houston.

Witnesses said the ship was hit by two explosions Saturday. The first blast around 8 p.m. was felt more than four miles away, while a less intense explosion occurred about an hour later. The fire burned out of control for some 5^4 hours.

Two men were confirmed killed and one other was missing and presumed dead. Three of the 35 crew members remained hospitalized Sunday, one in serious condition. About a dozen others were treated and released.

The blasts opened a gaping hole along the left side of the ship, exposing its interior. Pipelines on the deck were twisted like blackened spaghetti.

Part of the main deck was ‘‘peeled back like a sardine can,'‘ said Coast Guard Cmdr. Roger Peoples, who flew over the wreck Sunday. The ship's stern had sunk to the channel bottom and it listed to port, but Peoples said it was in no danger of sinking.

Twenty-seven crew members were rescued from the burning ship minutes after the blast by the crew of a passing oil rig supply boat.

But Allen LeBlanc, the 54-year-old captain of the supply boat, said he and his crew are no heroes, only a bunch of Cajuns who did the right thing.

‘‘You try to help the other guy, 'cause you never know. One day it might be you,‘' LeBlanc, of Abbeville, La., said Sunday.

Owners of the ship and the Coast Guard would not say what caused the blasts.

‘‘It's too early to speculate,'‘ Peoples said.

Authorities said, however, that a couple of workers were welding inside the ship at the time of the blast. And Peoples said hydraulics systems also were suspected.

Joe Raia, an assistant manager for New York-based OMI Corp., said eight contract workers were among the crew, including the two welders. He said they often worked aboard the ship and followed OMI safety standards.

OMI President Jack Goldstein said the ship, built in 1969 and refurbished in 1989, was at anchor at the time of the blast and fire. It was returning from an Amoco Oil Co. terminal at Tampa, Fla., and was to head to an Amoco refinery in nearby Texas City.

Goldstein estimated the insured ship was worth about $10 million.

It was the worst shipping accident in the area since the Norwegian tanker Mega Borg spilled 4.3 million gallons of crude oil about 60 miles off Galveston in June 1990.

Students wishing to bring out their creative side may be interested in what the Creative Arts Center in NIU's Recreation Center has to offer.

Beginning the week of Oct. 18, the rec center will begin offering a new "Mini Series" of three different introductory courses which each will last five weeks.

"Basically we offer short classes so people can get the feel for the medium and the particular type of art," said Shelly Kulp, Creative Arts Center coordinator.

A stained glass class will be offered on Monday nights. Students will be able to make their own design or get one from a book. This has been the only class out of the three which has previously been offered at the rec center and has been very successful in the past.

A new class to be offered is a woodcut print-making class on Tuesday nights. Instead of using the usual carving of a sketch in metal and then printing it, this class has students carve into pine, which is a soft wood.

A papermaking class will be offered on Thursday nights. Kulp said those enrolled use the paper to make art pieces such as picture frames, bookmarks and Christmas ornaments.

Kulp said this selection of classes was offered because she wanted a wider variety of classes than what's being offered now and these are classes which interest her as an artist.

Kulp hopes students will come out nd give the classes a try. "I think any new experience is a good experience and anything to broaden your horizons and take stress off of school purely for fun is good," she said.

Kulp said the print-making and papermaking class is something that can be done easily at home and that she would love to offer an advanced level of these classes in the spring.

There is a limited number of spaces in each class—six in woodcutting and 10 in papermaking and stained glass, so students need to enroll soon.

The classes run from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on their respective evenings and there is a $20 fee for students and members ($25 for non-members).

To enroll, call the Office of Campus Recreation at 753-0231. For more information, call Kulp at 753-9424.

ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

MATTHEW FORDAHL

CHICAGO (AP)—The General Assembly has less than a week to reach a consensus on parts of a school bailout plan that took the Chicago Teachers Union and the Board of Education more than six months to thrash out.

It won't be easy, lawmakers from both parties said Sunday.

‘‘I don't know if it will fly,'‘ said Rep. Joel Brunsvold, D-Rock Island and chairman of the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee. ‘‘A lot of downstaters who had school districts on strike will say we didn't bail those out.'‘

But: ‘‘It doesn't mean a deal won't be cut. In Springfield, a deal can always be cut.'‘

The teachers union and the board reached the tentative contract agreement Saturday, during a 16-hour negotiation session. Under the two-year deal, the school system's $298 million deficit would be erased by a combination of teacher concessions and borrowing over a period of years.

Teachers would contribute 1.5 percent of their salary for health insurance premiums. The school board would borrow $110 million from the teachers pension fund and up to $300 million in bonds.

Teachers are expected to vote on the agreement Thursday, and the board shortly after that. Lawmakers return to Springfield on Tuesday to begin their fall veto session—and to consider the bailout.

They have until Oct. 18, when a federal judge's order keeping schools open expires. Or they can waive the law barring Chicago schools from opening without a balanced budget.

Senate Republicans, who unilaterally passed their own rescue plan last month, made school reforms—such as more principal control—a high priority. Some demands, which were not included in the accord, could scuttle the proposed pact.

‘‘They (Republicans) are not willing to compromise on school reform,'‘ said Mark Gordon, spokesman for Senate President James ‘‘Pate'‘ Philip, R-Wood Dale. ‘‘My guess is they're also not going to be enthusiastic about the pension diversion.

‘‘I'd say it's going to be—based on what we know so far and presuming unanimous Democratic support—difficult to get the 10 Republican votes needed to pass it.'‘

It will take a supermajority of 36 votes in the Republican-controlled Senate and 71 in the Democratic-controlled House to approve the plan for it to be effective immediately.

Senate Democratic Leader Emil Jones of Chicago said the plan should receive support because it merely allows for loans backed by future property tax collections.

‘‘It should pass because it doesn't require any funds from the state of Illinois to solve the problems,'‘ Jones said. ‘‘I trust (Republicans) will look at it in this light rather than just beat up on Chicago, and they'll let Chicago solve its problems as other districts are permitted to do.'‘

The Republican chairman of the Senate's Education Committee agreed some of the school board's ties to Springfield should be severed. But he questioned the board's long-term financial health under the proposed plan.

‘‘I think you will see us do what has to be done, but we won't give away the store,'‘ said Sen. Frank Watson, R-Vandalia. ‘‘You'll find a desire for strong work rule changes and some fiscal responsibility with the $300 million. (But) how will it be paid back, and what happens after the second year?'‘

The Christian Campus Ministry is presenting a series of video presentations and live discussions entitled "Truth is Stronger than Fiction".

The forums are designed to strengthen the relationship between students and the Christian Campus Ministry by focusing on various topics that some might label as "the religious right".

Scott Stocking, campus minister, said the Ministry has been accused of bigotry and homophobia.

"We're not that way at all," Stocking said."The Christian Campus Ministry aims at helping others in considering a relationship with Christ. We believe in the standards that the Bible puts forward such as the Ten Commandments."

The first two discussions of the eight-part series have already been held. The series began Oct. 4 and will continue until Oct. 26.

The past presentations focused on "The Evolution Conspiracy" and the Christian belief that the earth is a product of divine workings, not random chance. NIU's Biology department dedicated one of its classes to contribute to the forum and to challenge the Christian perspective.

Upcoming discussions will involve issues on homosexuality, AIDS, and the allure of Rock and Rap music. The next video-discussion is at 7:47 p.m. tonight in DuSable 305.

It is entitled "Coming Out of Homosexuality" and features men and women who have abandoned the homosexual way of life for a heterosexual existence. Members from the Lesbian and Gay Bisexual Coalition are expected to attend. Stocking said that there are issues that need to be addressed, such as AIDS and its spread throughout the community at large.

The allure of rock and rap music will be discussed in future programs and will attempt to expose the hidden evils of both. Rap stars such as Hammer are exposed as hypocrites because of his use of sexually explicit dancers in his ‘Pray' video. Rock star Madonna's defamation of the Holy Cross is also examined for its implied insult to Christianity.

Stocking said he believes rap and rock music discourage family values and he dismissed the notion that the lyrics to certain songs are no more that words with no adverse effects on society.

"Words mean things. When you say words in a song you want to impress someone, but actually you change society," he said.

The Christian Campus Ministry is a bible-believing group that has been on NIU's campus for the past 15 years. Services are held Mondays at 8 p.m. The video presentations are held each Monday and Tuesday night in October at the aforementioned time and place.