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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 30, 1979)
ongress tightens belt THE BATTALION MONDAY, APRIL 30, 1979 Page S f!2 United Press International i WASHINGTON — “I believe in fiscal restraint as strongly as any member of this Senate,” Sen. How- Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, prom- d his colleagues. Then he asked t AA , t them to add $100 million to the rec- p 1 ' ommended 1980 budget. ■ Metzenbaum believed the Budget Committee’s proposed fiscal ■ plan gave short shrift to the nutri tion program for the elderly. B But, like nearly every lawmaker to take the floor in three days of budget debate last week, he did not iJpant to sound like a big spender. ■ Most requests for funds above the Stringent committee recommenda tion were prefaced with calls for government belt-tightening. | And when two amendments add ing $400 million to the committee plan won Senate approval, the law- akers trimmed other programs to lablt make up the difference. The budget the Senate finally^ adopted is a plan born of “Proposi tion 13 fever” and the threat of a constitutional convention to require a balanced budget. It cuts the federal deficit to $29 billion next year and provides for a balanced budget in 1981; it would be the first balanced spending plan in 12 years. And it postpones tax cuts until 1982 in favor of putting the government back in the black. The House begins work this week on its own, similarly austere version of the budget. It differs from the Senate version not so much in the bottom line, but in where spending cuts will be made. Defense funds under the Senate plan would increase 3 percent over the inflation level; the House plan calls for a 2.4 percent hike. The House plan provides more generously for social programs and, unlike its counterpart, it recom mends that revenue-sharing fiindc mends that revenue-sharing funds be dropped in 1980. Budget Committee spokesman Jack McDonald and other House staff members believe the debate will be heated. CT -—o -- quick or easy, which might string it along into next week,” he said. Veterans Committee Chairman Ray Roberts, D-Texas, already has announced he wants to increase veterans benefits. And committee staff members say they expect other amendments to restore funds to so cial programs and beef up defense allocations. The House plan would trim the federal deficit from an estimated $34.3 billion in 1979 to $24.9 billion in 1980. It sets spending at $532.7 billion and revenues at $507.8 bil- rogram sets fire to set-fires lion. The new Senate budget puts spending at $532.6 billion, with revenues of $503.6 billion. The two plans also vary because the House and Senate used difierent economic assumptions to compute them. The Senate basically adopted un employment, inflation and eco nomic growth rates figured by the Congressional Budget Office. The House figures, developed by House Budget Committee staff after interviews with administration and private economists, are slightly more optimistic. By law, the two chambers must reconcile their fiscal plans by May 15. The resulting, non-binding budget will be used by committees to fund legislation throughout the summer. A final budget will be adopted just before the 1980 fiscal year begins Oct. 1. Reputed crime leader busted United Press International SAN FRANCISCO — Joseph C. Bonanno, reputed crime syn dicate leader, was arrested today on charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice in an investiga tion of the “laundering” of Mafia money through legitimate busi nesses, federal officials said. Also arrested was Jack Di- Filippi, 53, of San Jose, Calif., an employee of Bonanno, one-time head of a New York Mafia “fam ily now living in Tucson. The two men were named in a secret indictment handed down by a San Francisco federal grand jury Thursday. They are charged with conspi racy to obstruct justice, and De- Filippi is also charged on six counts of perjury. Federal officials said the charges involve attempts to con ceal the books and records of four companies in San Jose, Calif., owned by members of Bonanno’s family. The grand jury is investigating Hiese companies, all now de funct, to determine whether they were used to launder Mafia money. Evidence leading to Friday’s arrests was apparently gathered in a recent FBI raid on Bonan no’s residence in Tucson. DeFilippi is charged with per jury because on six occasions he denied before the federal grand jury that he knew anything about the records or where they were. Arson all washed up in Seattle )osita] ter, i for I ■ms, or fill 8 'ees. safi t Slatf United Press International SEATTLE — “The more you talk out arson, the less it occurs.” The speaker is James H. Dixon, an investigator for Seattle’s arson prevention program which is being Bsed as a model for other cities. I Under the program to publicize flie danger of arson and ways to pre- jent it: —Buses carry signs with such slo- ns as “put the heat on arson.” —Kids sport T-shirts with pic- res of a creature dubbed “Sinder Sid the Arson Rat.” A toll-free Arson Hotline oper ates 24 hours a day for anyone wish- pig to report a fire suspected to be son-caused. —A special police and fire de- lartment arson unit has been estab lished. -Insurance companies have put up a $5,000 fund for rewards for tips leading to conviction of arsonists. —Athletes from Seattle’s profes sional sports teams visit schools reg ularly in support of the “Sinder Sid” campaign to combat juvenile arson. —Each fire battalion has a car available for arson patrol in high in cidence areas. —Businesses which, because of financial problems or economic conditions, might be likely arson targets are inspected regularly by fire marshals. While arson nationally has be come the fastest growing and most destructive crime, in Seattle the in cidence of arson and resulting prop erty loss have declined dramatically in the past three years. A task force of business and gov ernmental leaders was set up in 1975 to organize an attack on arson because Seattle faced the same problems of escalating arson loss as other large cities. “It was a reaction to a crisis,” said Tom Brace, who represented busi ness on that task force and has since become state fire marshal. “Our arson problem was bad, though not as severe as in Detroit or (New York City’s) south Bronx.” The statistics show that in the four years prior to organization of the task force, property loss due to arson had climbed from $620,000 in 1971 to a projected $4 million in losses in 1975. The statistics since then indicate the impact of the program. In 1974 there were 662 arson fires in the city with a loss of $3.2 million. In 1977 there were 518 arson fires and a loss figure of $1.8 million. While cases of arson in most major cities remain unsolved, or even undetected, Seattle’s arrest rate in arson fires runs close to 50 percent. “The key message is that if you start an arson fire in Seattle, you stand a good chance of being caught,” said Hugh Maguire, a spokesman for the Seattle Fire De partment. “And if you are caught, you stand an even better chance of going to jail.” “We attempt ty be highly visible. People who might be thinking about setting a fire think again.” When 500 copies of a thick man ual on the Seattle program were printed in response to requests from other cities, they were snapped up in a few months. uclear accident: rauma lingers United Press International HARRISBURG, Pa. — Three ile Island was safely shut down aturday, the first month anniver- sary of America’s worst nuclear ower accident, but people in the usquehanna River Valley say the rauma of the near-catastrophe lin- srs. Richard Vollmer, a high-level of- [ieial of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said the new cooling brocess designed to put the nuclear Jeactor in the equivalent of “cold shutdown” was successful. “We’re certain it’s working. I vould describe it as very stable and pafe,” said Vollmer, who was put in pharge of NRC operations at the plant while the regular chief, Victor Stello was absent to attend to a per sonal matter. Vollmer said experts knew the ew core cooling system was work- jing because temperatures in the Ireactor dropped steadily at first and Ithen leveled off as expected. The hottest part of the core was at 323 legrees Farenheit. Vollmer said engineers will work ) isolate the cooling system entirely rom the outside world so that no |radiation carried off from the uranium core in the cooling process vill get into the air. “When that’s done, we can walk [away from it and just think about ultimate recovery of the plant, ” said Vollmer. He would not estimate bow long the isolation plan would [take, but estimates were a minimum of a month. The shutdown means that the vater in the reactor’s critical cooling system is circulating by natural con vection rather than by use of a huge pump. The NRC decided to go ahead with the final shutdown plan Friday, five days ahead of schedule, because gauges for the pump cooling system that were important in a pre cooldown phase issued “erratic readings.” Rather than use backup instru ments, the NRC believed it was safe to turn off the pump at 2:07 p.m. Friday. Heat in the damaged uranium core will remain over 212 degrees Farenheit — the maximum temper ature under normal circumstances — for some time yet, Stello said. That’s one reason officials hesitated to use the phrase “cold shutdown.” Workaday life in the vicinity of Three Mile Island, 10 miles south of Harrisburg, resumed its pace. Robert Reid, who as mayor of Middletown spent hectic days reas suring alarmed citizens, went fish ing. Korean family reunited — split in war in 1950 United Press International PYONGYANG, North Korea — With tears streaming down their faces, a 36-year-old Korean-American and his mother and sisters were reunited Saturday for the first time since he left North Korea and followed the retreating U.S. Army south 29 years ago. Ko Young II, operator of an automobile body repair shop in Annan- dale, Va., came to North Korea as an interpreter for the American team at the 35th World Table Tennis Championships. In this heavily politicized Communist country, Ko saw his mother and two sisters for the first time since. 1950 in front of a battery of reporters and cameramen for an hour. Ko was only 7 years old when he left and they did not recognize each other at first. They sparred for two or three minutes, talking about their long ago home near the China-Korea border before the doubts vanished. The reunion symbolized the tragedy of divided families that over took Korea when it was separated into Soviet and American occupa tion zones at the end of World War II. About 10 million Koreans were separated from their families because of the hostilities between the two Koreas. Ko and his father left North Korea together and followed the re treating American Army into South Korea after China intervened in the 1950-53 Korean War. Now you know United Press International Frankie Avalon sang his first hit song, “Dee Dee Dinah,” while holding his nose. FOR A NATURALLY LIGHT LUNCH Come to the Sbisa Dining Center Basement. The fresh crisp salad items are almost unlimit-, ed and the superb sandwiches are made with big loaves of bread baked daily for this special purpose. If you are dieting you may also wish to try a bowl of natural freestone peaches. No sugar has been added to these beautiful peecbes. Qua|ity ^ Open 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri. 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