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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 1984)
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I | ive supi ime i | it,” ■d any the oi s done U/ado Pruitt, ’hilai I once de Lon| to play d of pet mad." geles aiders akland a I if the for a h# in pete and Lai s made Soap operas on campus See At Ease Young leads Coogs past Aggies, 87-65 See page 15 The Battalion Serving the University community College Station, Texas House Democrats soften Marine withdrawal stance United Press International WASHINGTON — House Demo crats, hoping to defuse charges they are playing politics with foreign affairs, Thursday moved to tone down a resolution calling for the prompt removal of U.S. Marines from Lebanon. Rep. Steven Solarz, D-N.Y., said Democrats on the Foreign Affairs Committee planned to rewrite the re solution to take out “gratuitous” parti san criticism of the administration and make it clear that U.S. air and naval forces should remain in the area to support the Beirut government. But he said the “bottom line” would still be a call for President Reagan to promptly withdraw the Marines “from the soil of Lebanon.” Undersecretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger went before the commit tee earlier in an effort to head off the resolution, but members planned to meet Friday to vote on the measure so it can be taken to the full House next week. Solarz said the Democrats do not want the withdrawal resolution to be seen “as a particularly partisan en deavor,” and do not intend that the United States abandon the govern ment of Lebanese leader Amin Gemayel. Administration officials and Re publicans on the panel have charged the Democrats with “playing politics” and warned the withdrawal demand only encourages Syria and other fac tions opposed to the Lebanese gov ernment. The Foreign Affairs Committee met Thursday afternoon to hear administration testimony on the re solution. Solarz said committee Democrats would meet after the hear ing to make the changes in the resolu tion. Rep. William Broomfield, R-Mich., ranking Republican on the commit tee, said earlier he will offer an alter native when the resolution comes to the floor in hopes of restoring biparti san agreement on U.S. policy in Lebanon. Meanwhile, O’Neill’s chief spokes man accused the White House of branding Democrats traitors. He noted that presidential spokesman Larry Speakes had declared that efforts to persuade the president to withdraw the Marines from Lebanon “aid and abet” Syria and “others bent on a destructive role in the Middle East.” “Aiding and abetting is legal lan guage for being a traitor; it wasn’t an accident,” said O’Neill aide Christ opher Matthews. “The White House is engaging in a new form of McCarthyism,” he said. “Charlie McCarthyism. You don’t blame the dummy. You blame the ventriloquist.” Speakes was not apologetic. “I’m terribly sorry that the speaker is up set, but that’s the way the game is play ed,” he said. Asked if he was calling Democrats traitors, Speakes replied with a big smile: ”oh, no, of course not.” Eagleburger told the House com mittee a U.S. pullout from Lebanon would be “a major victory” for ter rorism. “We may bring our boys home to safety now, but we run an enormous risk of encouraging escalating crises which may, down the road, compel us to send our boys out again in even more dangerous circumstances,” he said. He could not promise immediate positive results if the United States pursues its objectives in Lebanon, “but I can assure you that failure to pursue them — cutting and running, if you will — will do enormous harm.” Senate passes tough crime bill I^QQ^j Pig up Photo by ERIC EVAN LEE \ Chris Osborne of College Station washes the second floor windows of Sterling C. Evans Library Thursday with a brush and a long pole. Though the rest of campus was hit by occasional showers, Osborne, a Texas A&M employee, was able to work ‘under cover’ of the building. United Press International WASHINGTON — The Senate overwhelmingly approved a sweeping crime bill Thursday that reverses the insanity defense, making acquittal more difficult for defendants like presidential assailant John W. Hinc kley Jr. The 91-1 vote to pass the crime package, which also abolishes parole for federal crimes, followed defeat of an amendment that stymied Senate action all week. Sen. Charles Mathias, R-Md., cast the lone dissenting vote. By a vote of 51-41, the Senate kil led the amendment by Sens. Howard Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, and Dale Bumpers, D-Ark., forbidding federal workers from taping conversations without permission. The amendment was prompted by the revelation that U.S. Information Agency chief Charles Wick taped tele phone calls without informing those on the other end of the line. Among those recorded were White House Chief of Staff James Baker and for mer President Jimmy Carter. Republicans charged the amend ment was aimed at embarrassing Wick and his close friend. President Reagan, and warned it was drafted so hastily it would interfere with intelli gence-gathering and criminal investi gations. Bumpers shrugged off the pleas to withdraw the amendment so hearings on the subject could be held. “George Orwell is surely smiling from ear to ear. Big Brother is watch ing,” Bumpers said, urging colleagues to safeguard Americans’ privacy. Broad support for the crime bill was won by separating out controver sial issues such as the death penalty and the exclusionary rule for later consideration. The crime legislation, the first ma jor bill of the year, would narrow the insanity defense in the wake of the furor that arose when Hinckley was acquitted by reason of insanity on charges of trying to assassinate Reagan, and abolish parole for feder al crimes. The measure would require defen dants who plead insanity as a defense to prove with “clear and convincing evidence” they did not know what they were doing at the time of the crime. The burden is now on the pro secution to prove the defendant sane beyond a reasonable doubt. watch s razf* gtol nils. It? ge edip ied in h ommissioner says EDB isn’t ‘immediate threat’ United Press International by RiM is long® AUSTIN — Texas’ health commis- 58 yarhwner told a skeptical Senate subcom- [tte a n mittee Thursday that he has not ban- , ](jfji tied EDB-tainted foods because he coinpl'floes not believe residues of the can- a Heisifllp-causing pesticide are an “immedi- playtiiiate threat.” mv I’mfl "l do not believe the situation rep- r n i revnts any sort of an emergency in terms of public health,” said Dr. Robert Bernstein. “If I did, I would have acted.” Bernstein, told members of the Senate Subcommittee on Public , Health that because the problem with * EDB residues in food only surfaced in the past two months, he felt it was prudent to wait for federal guide lines. But committee Chairman Sen. Carlos Truan, D-Corpus Christi, said he thought it was a “copout” for Texas to wait for the federal Environmental Protection Agency to set minimum exposure standards. “I don’t think that kind of copout will wash with members of our com mittee or the people of Texas,” he said. “I yield to no member of the Texas Senate on the low esteem in which I hold the EPA under the Reagan administration.” The committee summoned associ ate state health Commissioner Jerome Greenberg after learning of a news paper article in which he was quoted as saying, “one good war will kill more people than 30 years of exposure to dioxin, EDB and all the other chemic als yon can name.” Greenberg told the committee he was speaking for himself and not the Health Department when he made the comment. He said he did not in tend to make light of the EDB debate. But Sen. Chet Edwards, D- Duncanville, told Greenberg his com ments were a “poor reflection on the Department of Health and the state of Texas.” “I feel very strongly that it was an extremely irresponsible statement to make,” Edwards added. At least four states, including Flor ida, California, Massachusetts and Hawaii, have acted to protect consum ers from products contaminated with EDB. EDB, ethylene dibromide, has been widely used as a fumigant on grain and citrus and as an additive to leaded gasoline since the late 1940s. It has been found to cause cancer in laboratory animals and is suspected of causing cancer in humans. Traces of the pesticide have shown up in a variety of food products in Texas. But Bernstein said he thought it was “premature” for states to act on their own to control tainted food pro ducts. “EDB has been around for 50 years,” he said. “Whyjump the gun?” Bernstein said the state will act im mediately once EPA sets standards, which will apparently be Friday. “I think that makes a lot more sense than 50 states going off on their own,” he said. “I think the farmers and groc ers will pay more attention to it (EPA sanctions).” Assistant Texas Agriculture Com missioner Ron White said the EPA will apparently will set limitations on EDB on a three-tier level — raw grain, intermediate products on grocery shelves and ready-to-eat products. State Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower told the committee that if his agency had the power it would have ordered the removal of some foods from Texas supermarket shelves. “Yes, we would have followed the Florida standards and removed them,” he said. Hightower said he had been told that EDB’s cancer-causing properties were a thousand times more powerful than saccharin, which carries a warn ing label. But Bernstein said, “You’re com paring risks in different leagues.” Bernstein said cigarettes “are a thousand times more potent” that EDB, adding there is only evidence that laboratory animals fed large doses of EDB have contracted cancer. The amount of EDB given rats and mice, he said, would be the equivalent of a 150-pound human eating six to 12 tons of contaminated raw grain each day. Earlier, a coalition of environmen tal and consumer groups asked Bern stein in a formal petition to immedi ately ban all foods tainted with any level of EDB. Six more weeks of winter In Today’s Battalion Vunxsutawney Phil sees shadow United Press International j PUNSUTAWNEY, Pa. — Groun dhog Punxsulawney Phil had a quiet Hay after predicting six more weeks of winter Thursday but the folks in town made the most of the event that makes everyone in Punxsulawney a celeb rity.” Phil emerged from his burrow and saw a “thin, gray shadow over his right shoulder” at 7:20 a.m., said James Means, president of the Punxsutaw- ■ey Groundhog Club which sponsors • Phil's annual prediction. I The shadow sighting means six more weeks of winter for the nation, l! Phil had not seen his shadow, it ould have meant an early spring was On the way, Means said. I An added attraction to the predic tion this year was a groundhog wed- ling between Phil and Philomena, a rlgroundhog from the Philadelphia Phil’s third wife apparently didn’t Phil emerged from his burrow and saw a “thin, gray shadow over his right shoulder”at 7:20 a.m., said James Means, president of the Punxsulawney Groun dhog Club which sponsors Phils annual prediction. appreciate the attention from some 900 groundhog watchers on hand for the festivities. She bit one of Means’ hands as he held her during the wed ding. The only medical attention he required was a Band-Aid. Club secretary William Null said the newlyweds would spend the win ter honeymooning at a groundhog zoo in Punxsulawney. Some people said they hoped for a baby from the match, but Null said, “That’s between the two groun dhogs.” Julie Roberts, who works for a Phi ladelphia radio station that broadcast the event live, carried the bride down the aisle. “Usually all a bridesmaid has to worry about is dropping the bouquet, but I had to worry about dropping the bride,” she said. Following Phil’s show, a breakfast was held at the Punxsulawney Coun try Club and a Groundhog King and Queen were crowned. And a banquet was scheduled for Thursday night to honor town resi dents who have promoted Punx- sutawney and Phil when they have moved to new cities. Elaine Light, whose late husband, Sam, was president for 24 years of the Groundhog Club, said the day means “a tremendous amount of fun.” “It makes everyone in Punxsutaw- ney a celebrity,” she said. Ms. Roberts mother, Peggy Roberts, of Punxsulawney, said she enjoys the hullabaloo. “As a kid I used to be embarrassed by all this but now it’s a lot of fun,” she said. The Groundhog Club claims Phil’s forecast is the only “official” one, but other animals across the country put forth their own predictions. A prairie dog in Lander, Wyo., saw its shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter, as did groundhogs in Upshur County and Athens, W.Va. and Indianapolis. A rabbit in Irvington, Ky., looked at a thermometer and predicted five more weeks of winter. Groundhogs in Sun Prairie, Wis., and Lilburn, Ga., did not see their shadows and challenged Phil’s predic tion by calling for an early spring. Local -TOT.. • Former Texas A&Jd track star Jimmy Howard is work ing towards a spot on the U.S. Olympic track team. See story page 15. • Quarterback John Mazur i§ hoping to pitch for the Texas Aggie baseball team this season. See story page 15. • The annual All-Nite Fair will be turned into the All-Nite Scare. See page 4. State • Residents of nude apartment complex in Houston study their options. See page 3. National • Senators are angry over President Reagan’s refusal to pass an acid rain clean-up bill. See story page 10.