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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1982)
\ 4 The Battalion Serving the University community f ol. 76 No. 44 USPS 045360 20 Pages College Station, Texas Monday, November 1, 1982 Elections to United Press International KThe 1982 election campaign, more ;harply focused on pocketbook “fears inti hopes” than any in recent de aries, wound down today with ex- jerts forecasting less than landslide jains for the Democrats in Congress mri the states. |§ Elections in the middle of pres- dential terms traditionally turn on ocal issues, but this recession-year anipaign became, with President leagan’s participation, a referendum >n Republican stewardship of the iconomy and the federal “safety net” >f social programs. At stake in Tuesday’s voting were 13 seats in the Senate, the entire 435- eat House and 36 governorships, as well as thousands of other state and local offices. Of these, the spotlight was on Con gress, where Reagan’s GOP held a four-seat Senate majority and, with the frequent aid of conservative “Boll Weevil” Democrats, a thin working majority in the House. This mix during the 97th Congress repeatedly carried the day for the administration’s aggressive attacks on federal spending and its “supply side” theory of tax cuts and deregulation to stimulate business. White House pollster Richard Wirthlin said the election hinged on whether voters were persuaded by their “fears and hopes” — their apprehension about high joblessness test Reagan’s course or their hope that the Reagan prog ram would bring down unemploy ment as it has done with inflation and interest rates. Reagan, in a weekend blitz of GOP- purchased television commercials, said his program was “lifting our eco nomy out of the mess created over the past several decades. We are on the road back.” ^Democrats called this “trickle down” economics — helping the rich in hopes that the poor w'ould benefit eventually — and mocked the Repub lican campaign slogan, “Stay the course,” with demands for a “mid course correction.” The Democrats hit hardest on the charge that the Reagan program was unfair, sacrificing jobs — illustrated by the current 10.1 percent unem ployment rate — to cut inflation and slashing programs for the poor and handicapped while pumping new funds into a military buildup. While the economy provided the main grist for the campaign mill, So cial Security also popped back into the picture in the final throes. The Demo crats darkly predicted that Reagan was plotting a “November surprise” — a post-election plan to make severe changes in the Social Security program. Reagan responded sharply to this in his five-minute TV spots: “Others have tried to frighten the elderly ab out Social Security. Well, they are wrong, too. And they know it. As long as I am president, we will protect the solvency of Social Security. And we will protect the benefits of those who depend on it.” In a televised national Democratic campaign speech, former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie again ham mered at the economic theme. In a paid broadcast statement, Muskie urged voters to “decide whether we stay the course for a pri vileged few or say America can do better for us all.” He said voters face “a choice of whether we let our people continue to suffer the worst economic times since the Great Depression, or whether we set as our highest and most urgent priority putting America back to work.” Many of the weekend predictions — by Republicans as well as Demo crats — saw a GOP loss in the House of 20 seats or more. A 50-state survey by United Press International showed Democrats likely to pick up between 14 and 24 House seats, two seats or more in the Senate, and five or more governorships. In the House, an addition of 20 or more to the existing 52-vote Demo cratic House majority could seriously jeopardize the Reagan coalition of 1981-82, which repeatedly required solid support from the 191 Republi cans and about 30 defecting “Boll Weevils.” Election ’82 Campaigns keep heating up as voting draws near by Robert McGlohon Battalion Staff Once again the day of accounting raws near. On Tuesday, voters :ross the nation will go to the polls to loose their state, local and national :presentatives. Bieated campaigns will grind to a dt; mudslinging will stop; and when i|he votes have been counted, the aders for the next few years will take eir respective offices. After the day is done, the decisions ill have been made and the reins of government will be placed in the hands of the victors. Here is a list of candidates for con tested local and statewide races: U.S. Senator Jim Collins, Rep. Collins, a resident of Dallas, has been a member of the U.S. House of Rep resentatives since 1968. Collins says °olls reflect images, mblic preferences by Phyllis Henderson Battalion Staff Polling — an art that many politi- ns are trying to turn into an inexact ence — is becoming a major factor campaign strategy. ^Candidates running for such Tices as district judge and president the United States have come to rely polls to legitimize their campaigns, get information to formulate their mpaign strategy and perhaps most iportantly, to get contributions. Polls can be used effectively to legi- nize a candidacy, Texas A&M poli- al science professor David Hill said. pit has come to the point where ndidates feel they have to do polls pie perceived in their own mind, id with the public and the press, as a tble and serious candidate,” Hill id. '"The press is impressed by a candi- ite who has done a poll — even ough the thing may be jury- rged.” Political science professor Norman . Luttbeg agreed. (‘Very few politicians will take the >k of not using polls for information irposes — especially if the other guy )es,” he said. And conducting a poll isn’t enough, Hill said. The candidate also must hire well-known and respected pollsters, he said. “It’s not just doing the poll,” he said. “The pollster you pick will tell the press and the public — the sophis ticated lay public — how serious you are.” “If you hire a college professor from Texas — although he may be entirely competent — that doesn’t in dicate you are as serious as if you hire Pat Caddell. “The very hiring of a pollster can become a very critical image-making factor.” And the image a candidate por trays is an important part of the cam paign strategy. Bill Dunn, deputy press secretary for Democratic gubernatorial candi date Mark White, said: “Perception makes a big difference.” When Republican senatorial candi date Jim Collins released a poll early in the campaign that showed White leading Gov. William Clements, it gave White’s campaign a boost, Dunn said. “It made a big difference in how people perceived Mark as a serious candidate,” he said. See POLLING page 12 government spending must be cut and taxes need to be lowered. He also supports strengthening the defense and wants to stop forced school busing. Lloyd Bentsen, Dem. Bentsen, a Hojaston resident, is the incumbent and has held his present position since 1971. He has been a Hidalgo County judge (1945-48) and a member of the U.S. House of Rep resentatives (1948-54). Bentsen says government spend ing is too high and taxes should be cut. But he says the Federal Reserve Board must reverse its tight money policy. He also opposes efforts to cut social security benefits. The main issue of the race seems to be whether Bentsen is a liberal or not. Collips says he is. Bentsen says he’s not. Also running are John E. Ford (Libertarian) and Lineaus Hooper Larette (Citizens’ Party). U.S. Rep., District 6 Phil Gramm (Dem.) is running for re-election. Ron Hard (Libertarian) is his only opponent. Republicans aiming for the top in race by Daniel Puckett Battalion Staff Having a choice on the November ballot — between Democratic and Re publican candidates — is relatively new to Texans, but they can expect to have at least two names on the ballot, for the foreseeable future. Spokesmen for both parties agree that the Republican Party is here to stay, no matter what happens Tuesday. Texans will decide then whether to re-elect the first Republican governor they’ve had in a century. And the gov ernor’s race seems to involve much more than the re-election of one man. When William Clements was elected governor, his victory was hailed — and cursed — as the begin ning of a true two-party system in Texas. Many said the Democratic monopoly on statewide elective offices had been broken for good. But now Clements is running neck-and-neck with Democratic chal lenger Mark White. Both parties are confident of victory. And both think defeat would be much harder on the Republicans than on the Democrats. “II he (the governor) gets smeared, I can see that having a tremendously discouraging effect on the party, much more so than if he just loses by a couple of points,” said Bob Ward, media director of the state Republi can Party. “Of course, even a loss by a slim margin would set us back. But, frankly, I can’t see either one hap pening.” The executive director of the state Democratic Party, Joe Gagen, agreed that a Republican loss would diminish the GOP’s chance of winning future races. “I think the defeat of the governor would be tremendously damaging to the Republicans,” he said. “I don’t think the size of the defeat would make any difference; if he loses, it’s going to set them back.” For Republicans, Clements has been valuable both as a symbol and as the man who is — at least in theory — in charge of state government; re electing him would assure Republi cans that they can capture and hold onto state government, Ward said. “The fact that a Republican gov- See REPUBLICAN Page 14 Governor William Clements, Rep. Clements is a resident of Dallas and was the founder (1947) of SEDCO, Inc., one of the world’s largest offshore drilling companies. Cle ments served as U.S. deputy secretary of defense from 1973-77. In 1978, he was elected governor, the first Repub lican to hold the office in 105 years. Clements says one of the most se rious long range problems in Texas is a potential water shortage. He also says it is important to improve public education and to intensify efforts to reduce the drug problem in Texas. Mark White, Dem. White, Texas attorney general and former Texas secretary of state, is an Austin resident and a former mem ber of the Texas National Guard. In addition to his present term as attor ney general, White served for three years as assistant attorney general. White says that his first priority is improvement of public education. He says the decline in the quality of Texas’ public education is due to a lack of financial support. White also says he wants to reduce electric bills by eliminating the fuel adjustment charge. Both candidates have said they are running on their records. Conse quently, both have attacked each other’s performance in office. Also running are David Hutzelman (Libertarian) and Bob Poteet (Citizens’ Party). GOP sweeps up in mock election by Connie Edelmon Battalion Reporter If the results of the MSC Political Forum mock election are good pre dictors, the Republicans will be riding high after Tuesday’s general election. In Thursday’s mock vote, the Re publicans won every office in which they have a candidate running. The mock election was held in con junction with Political Awareness Day, and 753 people voted. Jay Simmons, special events coor dinator for Political Forum, said that if the turnout is low in the general elections Tuesday, the Republicans probably will be winners again. But if the turnout is large, he said, the Democrats will have a better chance of victory. The Libertarian party also had a relatively good showing in the mock election. In the race for state senator, Libertarian Don Stallman received 17.7 percent of the votes. And Liber tarian Ron Hard earned 15.5 percent in the U.S. Representative race. Political Forum held the election to determine general group opinion and to remind people to vote in the Nov. 2 general elections. Republican Gov. William P. Cle ments Jr. won 60.4 percent of the votes in the gubernatorial race, with Democratic candidate Mark White collecting 31.4 percent of the votes. Republican Jim Collins received 51.8 percent of the votes for U.S. senator, while Democrat Lloyd Bent sen was close behind with 43.8 per cent. In the lieutenant governor race, 52.6 percent of the votes went to Re publican George W. Strake Jr. and 44.3 percent went to Democrat Bill Hobby. In a close race, Republican Bill Meier won with 51.1 percent of the votes for attorney general over Democrat Jim Mattox, who captured 48.6 percent of the ballots. photo by Rose Marie Delano The giant armadillo didn’t get this railcar, car- morning at the Wellborn Drive-University rying Miller Lite beer, which was headed for Drive overpass, spilling eight thousand cases. Houston when it derailed early Saturday Train derails, cargo is spilled by Jennifer Carr and Robert McGlohon Battalion Staff Eight thousand cases of Miller Lite beer were dumped on University Drive at the Wellborn overpass when a Missouri-Pacific train derailed early Saturday morning. Department of Public Safety spokesman Sam Saxon said four cars and the caboose left the tracks at 12:15 a.m. No one was injured in the accident. The dangling railroad car was pulled back onto the tracks, but not before its contents were spilled onto University Drive. The street was closed until 3 p.m. Saturday while several off-duty College Station police officers assisted in the clean-up. Jake Cangelose, Brazos county civil defense director, said in an earlier in terview that train derailments are al ways a possibility. Several years ago a train derailed in Bryan carrying vinyl chloride. But because the train was traveling so slowly the cars were not punctured and damage was slight. Trains are limited to traveling 10 mph while in the Bryan-College Sta tion area. In the event of an accident, Cange lose said, the fire department deals with the accident while the police de partment handles crowd control. If the derailment involves toxic chemic als, the Emergency Response Team is called in to handle the situation. ERT consists of the fire and police chiefs of Bryan and College Station, the Texas A&M police chief, the county sheriff, the local director of public safety and civil defense dire ctors in the area. College Station fire chief Douglas Landua said that chemists from the University, mayors and city managers from both cities and the railroad emergency team could be called in to help in an emergency. Fire and police departments in the surrounding areas also would be cal led to help if a derailed train car was carrying chemicals, he said. Thomas R. Parsons, director of security and traffic at Texas A&M University said the University is well prepared for an emergency and would have no problems getting the word out if an evacuation was neces sary. inside Around town 4 Classified 10 National 9 Opinions f 2 Sports 15 State 6 What’s up 15 forecast Today’s Forecast: High in the low 80s, low in the high 60s. Partly cloudy today with a 20 percent chance of rain. almanac Today is Monday, Nov. 1, the 305th day of 1982 with 60 to follow. Today is All Saints Day. The moon is full. The morning stars are Mercury, Venus and Saturn. The evening stars are Mars and Jupiter. Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. J.W. Packard, American inven tor, manufacturer and philan thropist, was born Nov. 1, 1863. On this date in history: In 1864, the U.S. Post Office De partment introduced the money order.