Crime Dog
McGruff to visit schools
Page 6
Ags host Bears
Metcalf goes for No. 200
Page 10
Texas ASM m m W •
The Battalion
Vol. 80 No. 90 (JSPS 045360 16 pages College Station, Texas Wednesday, February 6, 1985
Budget director criticizes military pensions
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Budget Di
rector David Stockman virtually in
vited Congress on Tuesday to seek
cuts in President Reagan's defense
buildup, and said some military
leaders are “more concerned about
protecting theit retirement benefits
than they are about protecting the
security of the American people.”
“Vyhen push comes to shove
they’ll give up on security before
they’ll give up on retirement bene
fits,” Stockman told the Senate Bud
get Committee, quickly adding he
would probably “get in hot water”
for his comments on military pen
sions.
In his first appearance in Con-
ress in defense of the president’s
974 billion budget for 1986, Stock-
man also complained bitterly about
farmers seeking emergency aid to al
leviate the current credit crisis, al
though he said political pressure
would lead the administration to
produce a bailout package swiftly.
“I cannot figure out why the tax
payers of this country should have
the responsibility to go in and refi
nance bad debt which was willingly
incurred by consenting adults,” ne
said.
The military pension program
will cost nearly $16 billion this year
and is scheduled to rise in cost to
$17.8 billion in the president’s new
budget for the 1986 fiscal year. Un
der the plan, military personnel who
retire after 20 years of active-duty
service can receive retirement bene
fits of 50 percent of base pay. re
gardless of age.
Stockman called the military pen
sion system a “scandal” and “a dis
grace,” but when asked about his
views, said he was voicing a “per
sonal opinion.”
Defense Secretary Casper Wein
berger also declined to comment on
Stockman’s remarks, but in response
to a reporter’s question, said,
“There’s no scandal that I know of”
involving the military retirement
benefits program.
In testimony Tuesday before the
House Armed Services Committee,
Weinberger acknowledged there has
been disagreement within the ad
ministration on military retirement
progiams.
But he said he believed it was es
sential to maintain the full scope of
the retirement program in order to
keep promises made to retired veter
ans and to avoid any chance of dis
rupting the success of the present
all-volunteer recruitment program.
There were these other devel
opments as Congress began digest
ing the spending plan—with a deficit
of $180 billion—that the president
submitted Monday:
• Reagan issued a follow-up to
the budget, the annual economic re
port, in which he said his administra
tion had produced the “the strongest
recovery in 30 years.” The report
mentioned the severe recession of
1981-1982 only long enough to
blame the Federal Reserve for mak
ing things worse than they needed to
be.
• Federal Reserve Chairman Paul
A. Volcker told a congressional com
mittee he sees “bright promise in the
longer run” for the economy but
that continued growth hinges on re
ducing the federal deficit.
• Rep. Les Aspin, D-Wis., the
new chairman of the House Armed
Services Committee, said he might
end his support for the controversial
MX missile, a weapon he helped pre
serve in congressional maneuvering
a year ago. Aspin also said Reagan’s
defense buildup is virtually certain
to be cut as it makes its way through
Congress.
Many members of Congress have
talked of freezing defense spending
next year, while others have sug
gested slicing Reagan’s requested 6
percent increase in half.
Meese wins
committee
approval
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Attorney
General-designate Edwin Meese III,
overcoming concerns about his ethi
cal behavior, won 12-6 approval
Tuesday from the Senate Judiciary
Committee, as Republicans re
mained faithful to President Reagan
and two Democrats gave xixeui a
helping hand.
The two-to-one margin signaled a
likely end to Meese’s 13-month or
deal that included two rounds of rig
orous committee hearings and a six-
month independent counsel’s inves
tigation. Senate Majority Leader
Robert J. Dole said the full Senate
likely will vote on the nomination
Feb. 20.
Democratic Sens. Dennis DeCon-
cim of Arizona and Howell Heflin of
Alabama joined all 10 committee Re
publicans in voting for the nomi
nation.
Heflin said he remained troubled
by Meese’s ethics, but supported him
“in the absence of clear and convinc
ing evidence that he is unfit ... I de
cided to give Mr. Meese the benefit
of the doubt.”
DeGoncini said Meese “should be
confirmed because he has the back
ing of the chief executive officer of
the land and ... our standards of
competence are satisfied.
“The question then comes: Do we
ask for something more than a bill of
health that says ‘you may have some
warts, you may have some skin can
cer, but you don’t have anything ter
minal’?”
The nomination was maneuvered
smoothly through the committee by
Chairman Strom Thurmond, R-S.C.
Waiting patiently until all other com
mittee members had their say, he
pronounced Meese “a man of hon
esty, dedication and integrity. The
truth has come out and Mr. Meese
should be confirmed.”
Independent counsel Jacob A.
Stein, in a report issued Sept. 20,
found “no basis” to prosecute Meese
for criminal wrongdoing, but left
questions about his ethics for the
Senate to resolve.
Opponents had criticized the fed
eral jobs given to Meese’s financial
benefactors; his promotion in the
Army Reserve; and his acceptance of
a $10,000 payment from a presi
dential transition organization after
its legality was questioned.
By Monday, Democrats acknowl
edged that Meese had the votes. On
Tuesday, the nominee’s most vocal
critics, Democrats Howard M. Met-
zenbaum of Ohio and Joseph R. Bi-
den Jr. of Delaware, had decided to
cast their “no” votes without even
making statements.
Also voting no were Sens. Edward
M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, Mi
nority Leader Robert C. Byrd of
West Virginia, and Max Baucus of
Montana, all Democrats,
Among those voting for the nomi
nation were Republican Sens. Thur
mond, Dole of Kansas, Assistant Ma
jority Leader Alan K. Simpson of
Wyoming, Arlen Specter of Pennsyl
vania, and Democrats Heflin and
DeGoncini.
Photo by ANTHONY S. CASPER
SSSSHHHH...
Recording the Albritton Bell Tower’s music is all in a days’
work for Jarvis Davis, employee of the Rudder Theatre Com
plex. Davis says the tape he is making will be used as a master
for copies to be sent to Ford D. Albritton, for A&M files and
to make other tapes that will be sold to the public.
An 'investment in the future'
Easterwood to expand
By MICHAEL CRAWFORD
Staff Writer
It’s not the hub of the traveling
world, but according to Bryan
Mayor Ron Blatchley, Easterwood
Airport is important for the area’s
growth.
That’s the reasoning behind the
Bryan City Council’s decision to con
tribute $60,000 for improvements at
Easterwood. The payment ends a
five-year contract among Bryan,
College Station and Brazos County
to contribute $30,000 a year each to
the airport. Bryan did not make last
year’s payment to the airport.
The funds and an additional $6.1
million appropriated by the Texas
A&M Regents will fund airport run
way and taxiway extensions, and ad
ditional runway lighting require
ments. The runway will be extended
from its current 5,200 feet to 7,000
feet.
“Obviously you don’t have to live
in College Station to use Easterwood
Airport,” Blatchley said, “so in es
sence it’s not a University airport, it’s
not a City of College Station airport,
it’s a regional airport. The citizens of
Bryan use that airport as much as
Anybody. Maybe more.”
Director of Aviation Harry Raisor
said between 100,000 and 125,000
people departed Easterwood airport
m 1984. T he figures are kept for the
Federal Aviation Administration,
which Raisor hopes will reimburse
the airport for most of the im
provements’ costs. The airport is
owned and operated by the Univer
sity.
Blatchley considers airport im
provements vital and the $30,000
yearly payment by Brytln as an in
vestment in the future.
“Unless we have adequate air
transportation to Bryan, College Sta
tion and the Brazos Valley” Blatch
ley said, “we’re not going to be able
to do the things that a first-class,
quality community is going to be able
to do. We have got to have access to
air transportation for both passen
ger and commercial use.
“If you’re going to attract major
industry in here, then the companies
usually have some air transportation
and need some supplies; they are
going to have corporate planes and
that sort of stuff. If you can’t get
those people in and out of your com
munity, then it’s hard to attract the
kind of clientele we want.”
The airport has already disap
pointed officials bt Westinghouse
Electric Cor p.
“We have been disappointed since
we moved to town,” Westinghouse’s
Human Resources Manager Bill
Sensibaugh said. “The promise of an
expanded airport and more airlines
certainly helped our decision to
move here.”
Sensibaugh said he is glad most of
the visitors who come to the plant
have their own plane. He believes
current airport facilities are inade
quate to serve the demands of the re
gion.
plans
The briefing team from the Pen
tagon was headed by Col. Charles
Kent, a member of the Central
American Joint Intelligence Team.
Also at the session were Lt. Col.
Frederico Lopez of McAllen, who
will command the Texas task force
in Honduras, and the state adjutant
general, Maj. Gen. Willie L. Scott.
“They (the Pentagon team) were
briefing not only on the concept of
the exercise but the local situation in
the country, political implications,
neighboring countries,” Cottom
said.
He said the Texas officials were
told that the chance of the Texas
troops encountering hostile action
was “very minimal.”
White checks guard
Associated Press
AUSTIN — After getting a brief
ing from Pentagon officials Tues
day, Gov. Mark White said he has
asked the Defense Department for
more information about plans to
send 450 Texas National Guard
troops to Central America for train
ing.
“We’ll be monitoring it closely,”
White said after a meeting with mili
tary officials. “I am looking very clo
sely at additional details and looking
for some additional information.”
The Texas Guard last week an
nounced some of its troops would be
sent to Honduras — which borders
on the war-torn nations of Nicara
gua and El Salvador—to participate
in a training operation called Big
Pine 3.
The guardsmen are scheduled to
participate in April exercises with
regular U.S. Army troops and
troops from the Honduran army,
said Maj. David Cottom, spokesman
for the Texas Guard.
Although Cottom said White gave
his approval for the trip when ap-
probched earlier by Guard officials,
the governor has since said he wdnts
assurances bbout the Texans’ safety
before giving a final OK.
. After his biiefing Tuesday, White
said, “I was very impressed with the
plans they have established and the
detailed planning that has gone into
this whole operation.”
Entrepreneurship requires hard work
By LEIGH FORREST
Reporter
Texas A&M students have the
‘right stuff” to successfully join the
ranks of entrepreneur*, said David
G. Eller, chairman and chief exec
utive officer of Granada Corp., dur
ing the Career Fair Banquet Tues
day night.
Entrepreneurship and new ven
tures require hard work, determin
ation, good attitude, and a solid edu
cation in the fundamentals of
business, he said.
“These are the attributes that
many of you are developing and that
A&M is known for,” he said.
Although Eller said
entrepreneurship is essential to “the
economic vitality and job growth” in
the United States, the Texas A&M
regent stressed the importance of
looking at the good and bad before
making the decision.
“Think about the pros and cons of
being an entrepreneur,” Eller said.
“Entrepreneurship and new ven
turing is not for everyone.”
An entrepreneur, he said, “is one
who combines resources to create
"The entrepreneur plays
to, win, isn’t afraid of fail
ure, focuses on results, ac
cepts vesponsihiUi y, con
stantly seeks out new-
opportunities, stars in
touch with his market,
leads by example. ... and
vhi G, Eller, chairman and
chief executive officer of
new value and who assumes the risks
for an enterprise.”
But, Eller said, there is a differ
ence between an entrepreneur and a
bureaucrat.
“The entrepreneur plays to win,
isn’t afraid of failure, focuses on re
sults, accepts responsibility, con
stantly seeks out new opportunities,
stays m touch with his market, leads
by example, ... and prefers simplici
ty,” he said.
“The bureaucrat, on the other
hand, plays to tie, avoids failure, and
thus does not take risks; is activity-
oriented rather than results-
oriented, shifts or ducks responsibil-
tiy; seeks stability rather than oppor-
tunity;and prefers or creates com
plexity even when simplicity will do.”
But, he said, the main difference
is the willingness to explore the al
ternatives.
“An entrepreneur will explore a
variety of options, from A to Z,” El
ler said. “A bureaucrat will explore a
variety of options from A to B.”
Eller listed nine barriers to suc
cessful entrepreneurship that could
be used as a checklist before launch
ing a new venture:
• Lack of a viable idea or con
cept;
• Lack of market knowledge;
• Lack of technical skills required
for the product or service;
• Lack of seed capital;
• Lack of business knowledge;
• Lack of people skills;
• Lack of motivation and per-
sistance.
David Eller