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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 1984)
Mistrial declared in child murder case Tien See page 6 ieadc est is ant '• l hesQ Hher cajj iarassiagj| 'tomniiiin la Ppensn 'gel" Ms| a patlerHi id there'sij assmenii' laron l. lice forlij misjudgi ’), he ii as ana 12th Man tryouts held Wednesday See page 17 TKe Battalion Serving the University community /ol 78 No. 88 GSPS 0453110 18 pages College Station, Texas Thursday, February 2, 1984 st att discusses policies press I By ROBIN BLACK Stuff writer Jrjiere are only iwo people in the iked Slates who have the power to ■the country — Ronald Reagan d jpse Jackson — former Secretary tin Interior James Watt told an lienee in Rudder Auditorium sdnesday night. Jackson, he said, has the wrong ■sophy for this country — but is vehheless a leader. Wjatt said he believes the Democra- party will ignore their true leader ■nominate some “plastic figure” e Walter Mondale. Watt, who is “enjoying the private :tot . ’ will be a part-time consultant President Ronald Reagan’s re- :ction committee. He said he will be doing a lot of caking on Reagan's behalf and me fund-raising for the Republican irty. Watt said he will not run for any ected position or accept any (pointed government post. ■he former interior secretary de filed his pro-development actions the 45-minute speech co-sponsored ' MSC Great Issues and Political (turn, and claimed he was not tre ed fairly by the media. ©lie national press, he said, was Tectively manipulated by anti- owth opponents to put out stories at questioned his policies. Walt claimed that almost all infor- ation relayed by the press was in curate or even untrue. “If I had read everything in the press, I wouldn’t like Jim Watt, either,” he said at the press confer ence before the speech. In that press conference, Watt used a series of graphs to compare his accomplishments with those of the Carter era. His figures showed that during his term of office, overall federal land acquisition increased and funding for endangered species recovery plans and national part improvement in creased substantially. All of these programs, Watt said, were cut drastically under the Carter administration. Watt complained that there was no objection by Congress or environ mentalists to the Carter policies to cut programs, but he “got screamed at by the government” for his proposals. He related his policies to the ideas of Andrew Jackson — he said the land belongs to the people and the people should have access to the land. The changes in interior depart ment policy concerning the manage ment of federal lands have caused a struggle, he said. It is not a struggle between the Republicans and the Democrats, but a struggle between the haves and the have-nots. Watt said the development of fed eral lands for the benefit of the people is a battle between the priveleged and progress. See WATT page 12 Former Secretary of the Interior James Watt illustrates purchases of federal park and wildlife lands in a press conference Photo by JOHN MAKELY held Wednesday night. Watt’s presentation was sponsored by MSC Great Issues and Political Forum. Classes continue despite flu By LORRAINE CHRISTIAN Reporter Classes will not be suspended be cause of the current flu outbreak. Dr. John Koldus, vice president for stu dent services, said Wednesday. Koldus commented in response to a rumor that classes would be halted if as many as 5 percent more of the stu dent body went to the health center with flu symptoms. Koldus said he can’t foresee any percentage of ill students that would call for class suspension. No Universi ty regulations call for class suspension because of illness, he said. Dr. Claude Goswick, director of health services, said that about 40 per cent of the student body has been in the center during the past 10 days with upper respiratory problems. In the past seven working days, 4,000 students have gone to the center. The flu still has not yet peaked, Goswick said. More students are com ing in every day, he said. Goswick said he has no record of the number of ill faculty members. He said that although at times it seems as if all the students in the Uni versity have come to the Health Gen- ter, many other students are home sick. Those students, he said, prob ably have diagnosed themselves. He recommends the use of deconges tants, cough syrups and aspirin. He also said rest is very important. Goswick said that despite the large number of ill students there is no reason to cancel classes. The flu virus, although at epidemic levels, is rela tively short-lived, he said. eagan urges Congress to secure budget United Press International ASHINGTON — President |elgan, urging Congress to secure a Y springtime of hope for America,” refeosed Wednesday a $925.5 billion iecuon-year budget that contains re- ord-high military spending and a \ rejected $180.4 billion deficit. / ilrhe fiscal 1985 budget includes no iajor tax increases or spending cuts. »ut it calls for a 13 percent “real” acrease in military spending that /oliId make it the largest defense 'udget since World War II, surpas- ing even the peak of the Korean or l.tflfifnam wars if measured in constant lollars, a Congressional Budget )ffice analyst said. ■The proposal for fiscal 1985, —-''vhich begins Oct. 1, proposes only $5 lilfion in spending cuts in federal be- ^^lefn and social-welfare programs — a pRraciion of the cuts Reagan sought in lisjpast budgets — and $7.9 billion in fior tax increases, esides benefit and social-welfare programs, certain non-defense domestic programs are cut and others are increased so that generally it works out to an aggregate spending freeze — about a wash. Democrats immediately de nounced the spending blueprint for failing to dress the issue of massive budget deficits that many fear will keep intrest rates high and send the economic recovery into a tailspin. Reagan had promised in his 1980 campaign to try to balance the budget by 1984. “The budget is, simply put, an elec tion-year document which dodges the serious issues that would help insure a strong and viable economy for the country’s future,” Sen. Lawton Chiles, senior Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee. “It is a stay-the-course budget that leaves us $180 billion in the red each year —• certainly not an agenda for action in reducing mounting deficits,” he said in a Democratic analysis. Senate Republican leader Howard Baker called the deficit figures in the new budget “hairraising projections,” but said it was “a good budget.” revious Reagan budgets, non-defense spending associated with national security, such as foreign aid, nuclear research and the space program, are increased, Slight cuts are recom mended in education, legal services, jobs programs, mass transit and eco nomic development grants to states and cities. The budget includes $150 million to begin designing a permanent, man ned space station that Reagan hopes to get into orbit by the early 1990s, and it provides $2.5 billion over four years in economic aid to Gentral America based on the Kissinger Com mission’s recommendations. For the first time, the proposed budget also sets aside money — $1.8 billion — to launch Reagan’s ambi tious goal to erect a nuclear defengive shield over the United States by the year 2000, possibly with Star Wars like beam weapons. Of the $7.9 billion in new tax in come, $3.9 billion would be achieved by requiring employees to pay Social Security and income taxes on em ployer-paid health insurance pre miums that exceed a certain level and $4 billion would come from closing tax loopholes. The budget proposes $305 billion for the military in spending authority — the right to enter into long-term contracts and spend money over sev eral years. That is a $46.8 billion in crease over this year, or a 13 percent “real” increase after accounting for inflation. In addition, Reagan is seeking another $7.8 billion for development and production of nuclear weapons — raising the national defense total to $313 billion. Last year’s nuclear milit ary budget was $6.7 billion. The budget projects total federal spending of $925.5 billion and re ceipts of $745.1 for a deficit of $180.4 billion — even if all of Reagan’s spending cuts and tax hikes are enacted into law. “The long winter of transition from the misguided policies of the past is now yielding to a new spring time of hope for America,” Reagan said in his budget message. “Bold, vigorous fiscal policy action is essen tial to keep the recovery on track. “I call urgently upon the Congress to take the actions proposed in this budget,” the president said, to secure “a prosperous, non-inflationary fu ture. That prospect must not be sacri ficed to an expedient ducking the issues. “Let us seize the high ground and secure, for ourselves and our posteri- ta' bright and prosperous future,” he said. Congress rejected Reagan’s past two budgets and his new one is lely to meet the same fate. Republican leaders have said non-defense domestic prog rams have been cut enough and last year they gave Reagan only half his proposed 10 percent increase in milit ary spending. The new' spending plan projects deficits of $183.4 billion this year, $180.4 billion in 1985, $177.1 billion in 1986, $180.5 billion in 1987, $152 billion in 1988 and $123.4 billion ouse Democrats urge Reagan for a withdrawal of Marines In Today’s Battalion United Press International I WASHINGTON — House democratic leaders, in a move to in crease pressure on President ^ ©eagan for a withdrawal of U.S. A marines from Lebanon, is backing a vj resolution calling for the troops’ ■Prompt and orderly” withdrawal. pjl The resolution, drafted for a r ' ' ’tieeting of the House Democratic .’caucus today, sets no deadline, but 'douse Speaker Thomas O’Neill said ■uesday the language means with- ■rawal should be “immediate or light away.” The non-binding resolution says the president should, within 30 days passage, explain to Congress how ihe withdrawal is being accom plished or why it is not being done, T Neill said. The measure was hammered out jn a two-hour meeting Tuesday jlvening in O’Neill's office. O’Neill laid aftethe effort should not be seen as a U.S. move to “cut and run,” noting other proposals set specific deadlines for the U.S. withdrawal. “We think that would be wrong,” O’Neill said. “It could possibly en danger the lives of the Marines over there. That is the one thing we do not to do. What we want to do is bring those boys home as quickly and as safely as we possibly can. And w'e think we’re doing it in the best way.” The meeting followed renewed fighting Monday in Beirut where the U.S. forces suffered their 259th casualty since the Marines were sent into Lebanon as part of a multina tional force in September 1982. O’Neill indicated Reagan may not be able to count on the Republi can-controlled Senate to block the move to reduce the 18-month au thorization Congress voted last fall. “There’s a crack in the Republi can side in the Senate, and I antici pate that when this vote comes to the floor, I’d have to say yes that I’d expect bipartisan support,” O’Neill said. A source in the Democratic leadership said the resolution was made “much tougher” during the meeting than the proposal they be gan with. “This is a way to hold the presi dent’s feet to the fire, without trying to be making tactical ground deci sions,” the source said. “This is a clear way to set policy and at the same time avoid getting into the in tricacies of ground troop manage ment.” The resolution was worked out by O’Neill’s ad hoc monitoring group that includes himself, Fore ign Affairs Committee Chairman Dante Fascell; Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., chairman of the Middle East subcommittee; assistant Democratic leader Bill Alexander, D-Ark.; and Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., among others. The Democratic caucus does not need to take a formal position on the resolution in order for it to be brought to the floor for action. O’Neill said he does not expect the measure to be brought up for action by the full House until after Con gress returns from its Feb. 21 Washington’s birthday recess. O’Neill said the proposal had been reviewed in great detail, and it was decided a resolution “calling for the prompt and orderly withdrawal of our Marines in the multinational force in Lebanon will be presented to the Democratic caucus.” Local • There are still no suspects in the rape of a Texas A&M student last week. See story page 3. State • Policewoman survives shootout wearing a bullet-proof vest. See story page 5. • An infant will have a bone-marrow transplant in Hous ton to save his life. See story page 8. • The Dallas Mavericks lose to the New York Nicks in Dallas. See story page 18. National • Trends show lung cancer may now be the leading cause of cancer death in women. See story page 10.