The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, September 30, 1982, Image 1

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    talion
Serving the University community
*
76 No. 22 USPS 045360 18 Pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, September 30, 1982
leagan calls
all elections
referendum’
■ United Press International
ICHMOND, Va. — President
gan Wednesday depicted the fall
■ctions as a referendum on his poli-
s, saying voters must choose be-
;en restoring the economy or
ibarking on another Democratic
inge like the one which left us with
lay’s pounding economic han-
er.”
“The choice that the American vo-
shave this year is just as important
jthe one they had two years ago,”
igan said in remarks prepared for
epublican Party rally.
“It is a clear choice about the kind
oiiation we will be — whether we will
cclitinue our sure and steady course
to put America back on track or
”ether we will slide backward into
ther economic binge like the one
lich left us with today’s pounding
nomic hangover.”
Reagan delivered one of his most
ing attacks to date on Democrats
lamed for “decades of overin-
gence” which, he said, produced a
ated bureaucracy, excessive gov-
ment regulation and double-digit
ation.
he attack came during a brief trip
Richmond that included a speech
to several thousand GOP supporters
and a $500-a-person reception for
Rep. Paul Tnble, the Republican
nominee for the Senate.
In the Nov. 2 congressional elec
tions, Reagan said, “the American
people will be asked to reaffirm our
difficult course toward national re
newal. The vote of every citizen will
matter and every ounce of individual
commitment will count.”
Reagan — who at a televised news
conference Tuesday acknowledged
unemployment may hit a post-
Depression high of 10 percent — con
ceded the path to recovery would be
“arduous and long,” but admonished
his critics:
“To those who are faint-hearted
and unsure, I have this message: If
you’re afraid of the future, then stand
aside. The people of this country are
ready to move again.”
The theme was the same Reagan
has used in recent campaign appear
ances, but the sharpened tone
marked a rise in the level of the rhe
toric he has used in taking the offen
sive against Democratic charges his
policies have prolonged the recession
and led to some of the highest unem
ployment since the Depression.
breeder reactor
rets Senate nod
United Press International
VASHINGTON — The Senate
;ed 49-48 Wednesday to continue
ding the controversial Clinch Riv-
| breeder reactor, a project oppo-
ts charge is a “technological tur-
” that will cost taxpayers $9 billion.
The vote came on a rider to the
tinning resolution for fiscal year
which is needed to fund the
eral government past midnight
ight. The unsuccessful amend-
nt, by Sens. Gordon Humphrey,
.H., and Dale Bumpers, D-Ark.,
ght to eliminate funding for the
nch River project.
Humphrey said the reactor was
ginally estimated to cost $600 mil-
n, but “huge cost overruns” have
iced the actual cost at nearly $9 bil-
i.
“It is an obsolete technology,”
bmpers said, adding that when the
factor is completed in 1999 the tech-
Jlogy will be 16 years out of date,
fou’ll have a technological turkey on
lur hands when it is completed.
|Woman assaulted
near East Kyle
A Texas A&M University stu
dent was assaulted in Parking-
Annex 46 at 9:20 a.m. Wednesday,
University Police said. Officials did
not disclose the woman’s name.
The woman was walking
through the faculty parking lot by
East Kyle when a white man in his
20s asked her for help because he
was having car trouble, police said.
He then pulled out a switch
blade and opened his door trying
to pull her into the car, police said.
The woman kicked him and ran
into G. Rollie White Coliseum and
called the police. The woman was
not injured, police said.
University Police are looking
for a white male in his 20s, driving
a late model white Mustang.
Clowning with the cadets
, \ f i i ^'»< * * '4 * " ::
staff photo by Bill Schulz
Silas DeRoma (left), a biology major, gets Red Skelton’s
autograph on his cap Wednesday night in Duncan Hall.
Skelton joined cadets at their Fish Dinner to get a taste
of life in the Corps. He has been on campus this week,
touring the University and learning about campus life;
he will perform Friday night in G. Rollie White
Coliseum. DeRoma is a sophomore from Canyon
County, Calif.
“It’s fine to have a pork barrel (pro
ject) on occasion. But this goes far
beyond the bounds of reason.”
Supporters, led by Senate Republi
can leader Howard Baker of Tennes
see, noted $1.3 billion already has
been spent on the project, which is
one-third completed. They argued
that the nation needs the new technol
ogy for the next century.
“I think it would be foolhardy in
the extreme to withdraw from this,”
Baker said.
The vote on the amendment was
held open 12 minutes longer than
usual, but opponents of the reactor
could not rally enough support for
their side.
Anti-breeder forces made their
move in the Senate after failing last
week to have the full House cast a
separate, yes-or-no vote on whether
to continue the project.
Last year, the Senate came within
two votes — 46-48 — of terminating
funding for the program.
Mexico forces property sale
United Press International
MEXICO CITY — The Mexican
government Wednesday began a
program to sell off billions of dollars
worth of U.S. real estate purchased by
its citizens during the oil boom years.
A decree published Tuesday in the
federal registry and effective
Wednesday sets up a government
bank trust that is responsible for sell
ing off foreign property held by Mex
icans.
Budget Ministry legal adviser Jose
Manuel Villagordoa in a television in
terview Tuesday said Mexican
citizens can turn over deeds to their
foreign property and the government
will sell the real estate on the foreign
market.
The owners will receive the equiva
lent of the sale price in Mexican pesos,
and the government will keep foreign
exchange from the sales, Villagordoa
told Mexico City’s Channel 2 news.
He said the program, in which par
ticipation by Mexican property own
ers is voluntary, is aimed at ending a
problem outlined by President Jose
Lopez Portillo in his Sept. 1 state of
the nation address.
The president lashed out at Mex
icans who had been buying expensive
U.S. real estate, sapping the nation of
needed funds. He estimated that
property in the United States owned
by Mexicans was worth $25 billion.
The amount of property held in
other foreign countries is believed to
be relatively small. Lopez Portillo did
not mention real estate in any other
nation.
Officials have said the massive
flight of capital into U.S. real estate
mainly took place in 1980, 1981 and
the early part of this year as Mexicans
earned big salaries during the oil
boom years.
When Villagordoa was asked what
would happen if a Mexican property
owner did not accept the price
obtained by government salesmen, he
said that owner could instruct officials
to stop the transaction.
But he warned that the Mexican
property owner “could find himself
in a difficult situation” if he balked at
“taking advantage” of the govern
ment’s program.
It was impossible to determine
what reception the new program
would have among Mexicans owning
foreign property. Published reports
have shown some government lead
ers are big holders of U.$. real estate.
Funding hangs on compromise
United Press International
WASHINGTON — With the gov
ernment due to run out of funds at
midnight, Senate-House negotiators
must reach a compromise on an in
terim money measure today that can
quickly win the approval of Congress
and President Reagan.
During a nonstop 13-hour session
Wednesday, the Republican-led Sen
ate rejected several controversial
amendments to the money measure
— called a “continuing resolution” —
including a Democratic attempt to
create a $1 billion emergency jobs
program, then approved the con
tinuing resolution on a 72-26 vote.
The House passed a similar resolu
tion Sept. 22.
But to avert a government shut
down Friday, the beginning of the fis
cal year, a joint Senate-House confer
ence committee still must resolve the
differences between the two mea
sures and submit the compromise to
the House and Senate for final
approval. Also, the president must
sign it.
A stopgap measure is necessary be
cause Congress has enacted only one
of the 13 regular appropriations bills
for the new fiscal year, yet it plans to
begin a two-month recess Friday to
campaign for the Nov. 2 congression
al elections.
Both resolutions would fund the
government until midDecember.
Congress intends to return for a
lame-duck session Nov. 29 to com
plete work on the necessary approp
riations bills.
Just before final passage, the Sen
ate voted, 60-37, to kill an amend
ment by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-
Mass., to create a temporary $ 1 billion
emergency program to put 200,000
people to work repairing the nation’s
roads and bridges.
The tabling of the Kennedy
amendment erased the last major ob
stacle to passage of the stopgap fund
ing measure.
Minutes after final passage, the
Senate joined the House in approving
a $46.8 billion appropriations bill for
the Department of Housing and
Urban Development, making it the
first 1983 funding bill to pass Con
gress.
In the marathon session the
Senate:
—Killed, 50-46, a rider by Sen.
Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., to eliminate
$988 million in funds for building
five MX missiles until it is decided
where to put the weapons.
—Rejected, 51-47, an amendment
by Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, D-
Ohio, that would have kept several
states from losing 13 weeks of federal
unemployment benefits when eligi
bility requirements are tightened.
—Voted, 49-48, against a rider to
eliminate federal funding for the
Clinch River breeder nuclear reactor
in Tennessee.
—Killed an amendment by Sen.
Jesse Helms, R-N.C., that would have
prevented labor unions from using
compulsory dues of their members
for political action committees.
The Senate moved slowly at first.
At mid-afternoon, Republican leader
Howard Baker held up several yellow
sheets of legal-size paper listing
dozens of amendments still to be
brought up and told his colleagues:
. “This is a full year’s work!”
khmidt government still expected to fall
West German party official resigns
United Press International
BONN, West Germany — The gen-
leral secretary of the Free Democratic
iParty resigned Wednesday to protest
Ithe party’s decision to oust Chancellor
iHelmut Schmidt and replace him
jwith Christian Democratic leader
[Helmut Kohl.
The resignation of Guenter
[Verheugen, who acted as the party’s
Ibusiness manager, reflected the deep
■division in the small liberal party
|caused by the decision to desert
'chmidt and form a new coalition
|with the Christian Democrats.
But the division was not expected
|to save Schmidt.
A no-confidence motion to end his
’fight-year rule was handed to mem-
[bers of the Bundestag, the lower
house of parliament to be voted on
Friday. It was almost certain to pass.
“This is a difficult time for the
country and we must do our duty,”
Kohl, 52, said Tuesday.
Verhuegen, who became general
secretary in November 1978, said in a
letter to party leader Hans-Dietrich
Genscher he could not remain in
office after the decision to support
Kohl taken by the Free Democratic
members of parliament Tuesday.
A majority of parliament members
of the Free Democrat Party, which
split Schmidt’s coalition when they
withdrew Sept. 17, agreed in a secret
ballot to support Kohl in his “con
structive vote of no confidence.”
The ballot came after eight hours
of heated discussion that reflected the
deep split within the Free Democrat
Party over its desertion of Schmidt.
The motion was handed to Bun
destag Speaker Richard Stuecklen
Tuesday for distribution Wednesday
so all 497 members of parliament can
consider it 48 hours before the vote
takes place Friday, as required by the
constitution.
“The Bundestag expresses its lack
of confidence in Federal Chancellor
Helmut Schmidt and elects as his suc
cessor the member of parliament Dr.
Helmut Kohl as Federal Chancellor
of the Federal Republic of West Ger
many,” it said.
“The federal president is re
quested to dismiss Federal Chancellor
Helmut Schmidt.”
Schmidt was expected to appeal to
parliament not to withdraw its sup
port, but his plea was thought unlike
ly to sway enough of the 53 members
of the small but pivotal Free Demo
crat Party in his favor.
The Free Democrat vote was 34 in
favor of supporting Kohl and 18
against, with two abstentions. It was
enough for Kohl, who needed a mini
mum of 23 votes to gain a majority in
parliament, and said he would pro
ceed with Friday’s vote.
Free Democrat Leader Hans-
Dietrich Genscher, who faced stiff
opposition in his party over his deci
sion to support Kohl, said the opposi
tion leader could count on the Free
Democrat votes on Friday.
The support of 33 Free Democrats
will give Kohl 259 votes in the 497-
seat house — 10 more than a majority.
Schmidt’s Social Democrats have 215
seats. One of the Free Democrats,
who represents West Berlin, has no
parliament vote.
Friday’s vote was expected to end
the eight-year chancellorship of
Schmidt who took over when Willy
Brandt resigned May 6, 1974 in the
aftermath of a spy scandal. Schmidt
was reelected in 1976 and 1980.
The new government was not ex
pected to introduce major changes in
West German foreign policy but
probably will try for closer ties with
the United States.
inside
Classified 8
National 9
Opinions 2
Sports 15
State 4
Whatsup 11
forecast
Today’s Forecast: High in the
low 90s, low in the mid 70s. Partly
cloudy skies.