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A 78 No. 49 USPS 0453110 10 pages
Serving the University community
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, November 8, 1983
apitol blast
orewarned
x as Tect
IWhil e United Press International
» wi |,T VASHINGTON — An explosion
oneofii
ked the Senate side of the Capitol
^hisii ; Monday night minutes after a cal-
6.q VK to The Washington Post warned a
nb in the building would explode
xt ^ ause of U.S. military action in Gre-
la and Lebanon, Capitol Police
aylor, win
ib ai
orn
gametoi
d
7
1.
No one was injured in the blast,
igjress was not in session at the time
he explosion, about 11 p.m., and
re are generally few people in the
a late at night.
FBI officials who took charge of
case declined immediate com-
nt.
In a call to the Post at 10:55 p.m., a
e-recorded voice claiming to rep
ent the Armed Resistance Unit
l the Capitol had been bombed in
iport of all nations’ struggles
inst U.S. military aggression. The
er
U.
:r paid the action was in response
jlS. actions in Grenada and
A Post reporter immediately called
Capitol Police and was told, “Some
thing has just gone off. I have to go.”
The explosion went off in a main
second-floor corridor near Senate
Democratic leader Robert Byrd’s
office, about 30 feet from the Senate
chamber.
The Senate had been scheduled to
work very late on the defense approp
riations bill Monday, but because of
progress made during the day, the
session ended at 7:02 p.m.
Rep. Austin Murphy, D-Pa., who
was working in the House side of the
Capitol when the explosion went off,
said he arrived to find a door blown
off and some damaged woodwork
and furniture — damage he said
would be consistent with the effects of
“two to five sticks of dynamite.” He
did not see any fire.
“When I came through the rotunda
of the Capitol, I could smell the dis
tinct smell of explosive powder,” he
said. “There was still some haze on the
Senate side.
“The damage was considerable, but
it’s repairable,” said Murphy. “I was
worried there might be a statue
broken, some of them are really price
less” but there was not.
Murphy said he believed the explo
sion occurred in the corridor outside
the Mansfield room, which is named
after former Sen. Mike Mansfield and
is often used for receptions and Re
publican caucus meetings.
Police quickly sealed off the entire
Capitol and, with the help of dogs,
searched the building for evidence of
any bombs. About 15 fire trucks and
at least four ambulances rushed to the
scene.
The explosion came several weeks
after security in the Capitol was
beefed up because a man was found in
the House gallery with explosives
strapped to his waist. He was arrested,
and the explosives never went off.
Local elections
onducted today
by Elaine Engstrom
Battalion Staff
i plan to centralize Brazos County
y Condcds is one item on today’s election ~
ot. Eleven proposed constitutional
jndments also are on the ballot in
3 do ve slate elecLion -
e !e The last item on the ballot is a plan
eptralize the county roads system
L hire a county engineer to oversee
ies n ^maintenance and handle the
)i]|(i n ‘ Iget for the roads. Currently, each
icir So nt ^ commissioner handles part of
j ^ t county roads and each commis-
ler has a separate budget and op-
s sawaiLes independently.
i’tseenbe:“The local League of Women Vo-
learnedi' began a petition this summer to
on for the issue on today’s ballot,” said
ise.ltwai ; cinct 20 election judge Grant
y that lufirtzwelder.
wish w Polls opened at 7 a.m. and will stay
oreofteosn until 7 tonight. The on-campus
lhaveadlling place is Precinct 20 in room
f that s<4 of the Memorial Student Center,
ledge ttidents registered to vote who live
Ight tokthe south side of campus may vote
ond-platfPrecinct 20.
g. A&M Those registered students who live
30 in G Jihe north side of campus must vote
Precinct 35. The polling place for
ecinct 35 is the College Station
inicipal Builiding on Church
l^l^eet, one block east of Wellborn.
Other polling places for voters liv-
t le<ir Texas A&M University in-
de:
* Precinct 8 at South Knoll Elemen-
y School on Southwest Parkway be-
?en Langford and Lawyer streets.
§ Precinct 9 in the College Station
mm unity Center on 1300 Jersey
eet.
* Precinct 10 at the College Station
ice Station on Texas Avenue.
* Precinct 12 at Sul Ross Elemen-
School on Villa Maria and Park
way Terrace.
• Precinct 21 in the Hensel Park
Special Building.
• Precinct 34 in the College Station
Central Fire Station just off Texas
Avenue.
The underlying theme of almost all
the proposed constitutional amend
ments is government revenues, either
state or local.
The proposed amendments, in the
order they they will appear on the
ballot are:
• Amendment 1: Permits fewerjus-
tice of the peace and constable pre
cincts in counties with populations of
less than 30,000. Currently, every
county, regardless of size, must have
between four and eight precincts.
• Amendment 2: Changes the
urban homestead exemption in a
forced debt sale to a limitation based
on size rather than value. Exempted
homesteads which now may not ex
ceed $10,000 in value would be
changed to one acre or less in size.
“Urban homestead” includes business
property in some cases.
• Amendment 3: Authorizes the
Legislature to grant associations of
agricultural producers the power to
collect refundable assessments on
their product sales.
• Amendment 4: Provides for tem
porary succession to the office of state
senator or representative if an incum
bent is unable to carry out his duties in
the event of an enemy attack.
• Amendment 5: Allows use of the
$3 billion permanent school fund and
its income to guarantee bonds issued
by school districts.
• Amendment 6: Allows wages to
be withheld to pay court-ordered
child support. Current law prohibits
withholding of any wages to pay any
debts or bills.
• Amendment 7: Authorizes the
Veterans’ Land Board to issue $800
million in bonds to purchase addition
al land for veterans and to provide
home mortgage loans for veterans.
• Amendment 8: Allows local gov
ernments to exempt veterans’ and
fraternal organizations from paying
property taxes. Currently, only public
charities are exempted from property
taxes.
• Amendment 9: Allows probate
court judges to serve in other courts
where there is a backlog of cases. A
statewide assignment system would be
provided by the Legislature.
• Amendment 10: Allows cities re
placing or relocating sewer lines to
enter into agreements with private
property owners to connect the house
to the main sewer line. Payment for
the connection would extend over a
five-year period.
• Amendment 11: Changes the
Board of Pardons and Paroles from a
constituional agency to a statutory
agency and eliminates the Governor’s
power to revoke paroles.
Bonfire Work Continues
John Makely, Battalion staff
Cutting off the tops of uneven logs, Jeff
Wagnon, an Agriculture Economics student
from Richardson and Ian Carnegie, an E.
T. major from Spring , prepare the bonfire
for more logs. Push begins next Monday
and help is always needed.
Returned students
visit with president
United Press International
WASHINGTON — President
Reagan told hundreds of cheering,
flag-waving students just back from
Grenada Monday that he shares their
anger at skeptics who “belittled the
danger you were in” and questioned
the U.S.-led invasion.
Reagan scored the news media and
critics in Congress during a full-dress
welcome home ceremony on the
White House South Lawn for the stu
dents, whose safety he cited as one of
the reasons for the Oct. 25 invasion.
To enthusiastic cheers, Reagan
said skeptics who questioned his justi
fication for the action knew little of
the potential dangers in Grenada.
“It’s very easy for some snug know-
it-all in a plush, protected quarter to
say that you were in no danger,”
Reagan said. “I had wondered how
many of them would have changed
places with you.”
The ceremony reunited most of the
550 St. George’s University medical
students evacuated from Grenada
with 40 members of the U.S. invasion
force, and several of them said the
invasion made them proud to be
Americans.
Jeff Geller, a student from Wood
ridge, N.Y., said his unsympathetic
view of the military changed because
of the invasion. To Reagan and the
others present, he said, “We owe each
and every one of you a debt we can
never repay.”
ad
ires
)
756
ebook
inside
Around town 8
Classified 8
M)cal 3
>Jational 5
Opinions 2
[ports 0
State 4
What’s up 6
Varmer days and cooler nights,
^ardy cloudy with a high 77.
Voters decide on Proposition 4:
Appointing legislators after attack
by Karen Wallace
Battalion Staff
One of the proposed constitution
al amendments to be voted on Tues
day is Proposition 4, which specifies
the selection of an interim successor
for state legislators killed or injured
during an enemy attack.
State Sen. Kent Caperton said the
proponents of the proposition say it
is necessary to be prepared in the
case of a catastrophy caused by
enemy attack. Opponents say the
proposition is not necessary at this
point in time, he said.
“Em not absolutely convinced it is
necessary,” Caperton said.
“The proponents say it’s neces
sary because we need to make some
kind of contingent preparations in
the area in the event of a catas
trophe. I voted on it so the people
would have the opportunity to de
cide.”
The emergency successors would
be chosen from former state sena
tors or representatives living in the
district where the legislators had be
come unavailable.
The lieutenant governor and
Speaker of the House would chose
successors from from a list of seven
names submitted by the executive
director of the. Employees Retire
ment System.
The amendment also would allow
the governor to suspend certain
constitutional requirements in the
case of enemy attack.
For example, the governor would
have the right to suspend the consti
tutional requirement that the legisl
ature hold session in Austin.
The governor would be able to
say where the legislature would
meet, and would give the governor
the right to keep the time and place
of the meeting a secret, Caperton
said.
The proposed amendment would
also allow the House and Senate to
suspend constitutional rules gov
erning the actions of the legislature
for up to two years by concuring
with a proclamation by the governor
to that effect.
Proponents of the proposition say
it is a necessity because state govern
ment lacks crucial powers to re
spond to enemy attack or threat of
enemy attack. The authorities
would need an orderly plan for
bypassing the usual restrictions
which could become a hindrance
during an emergency.
Oponents to proposition say that
in the event of a nuclear attack the
government would most likely
assume total control of governmen
tal functions, making it unecessary.
Voters to decide whether school fund
ought to be used for bond guarantees
by Karen Wallace
Battalion Staff
Voters will get the chance Tues
day to decide whether Texas’ Per
manent School Fund will be used as
a guarantee for construction bonds
issued by local school districts.
Bryan School District Superin
tendent Dr. Wesley K. Summers
said the proposal would save the tax
payers money.
“It would save the taxpayers mil
lions of dollars over a period of
years,” Summers said.
The Permanent School Fund is a
perpetual trust fund made up of in
come from public lands that are con
stitutionally set aside for the support
of the state’s public schools.
There is no state program to
assist school districts with construc
tion costs, which are usually fi
nanced through the sale of school
district bonds.
“This would enable the state’s
Permenent School Fund to guaran
tee the money spent on construction
without using school funds,” Sum
mers said.
Summers said the proposition
would allow school districts to build
new buildings or make necessary re
pairs on old buildings without tak
ing any money out of the school dis
trict’s funds.
“This is something that is not
going to cost the taxpayers any
thing,” Summers said.
Proponents of the proposition say
a bond-guarantee program, by im
proving most school districts bond
ratings, would lower the interest
they must pay on bonds. Because of
the population growth in Texas,
many districts face increasing needs
for school construction.
Opponents of the proposition say
that if the state is going to use the
Permanent School Fund to guaran
tee school district bonds, it should
also be prepared to spend part of the
fund in the event of a default.
Although defaults have been rare,
the Texas economy is depressed in
some areas and defaults may be
come more common.