Mondale considers
female running mate
See page 3
Soviet Foreign Minister
attacks U.S. policy
See page 5
Top seeds advance
at Wimbledon
See page 7
Texas ASM V •
The Battalion
Serving the University community
Vol. 79 No. 166 CISPS 0453690 8 Pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, July 3, 1984
Photo by PETER ROCHA
Pego Ferguson, manager of the U.S. Fireworks of America,
Inc. fireworks stand, shows a customer some of the stand’s
selection of firecrackers. The stand, located at Highway 60
near FM 2818, is one of many open in the area for the Fourth
of July.
July Fourth
B-CS, Texas A&M plan celebrations
By KARI FLUEGEL
Staff Writer
Rocket’s red glare and bombs bur
sting in air will only be part of the
festivities around the Bryan-College
Station as area residents celebrate
the 208th observance of Indepen
dence Day.
Among the area festivities are a
fireworks show at Tiger Field, a pic
nic at Wofford Cain Pool and a 12-
hour Music Fest.
More than 10,000 spectators are
expected to attend the celebration
and fireworks show at Tiger Field,
sponsored for the 12 th year by the
College Station Noon Lions Club in
cooperation with the city of College
Station and the College Station In
dependent School District.
Concession stands will open at
5:30 p.m. with cold drinks, popcorn,
ice cream, hot dogs, balloons and
watermelon available.
Games, including sack races,
three-legged races, egg tosses and
tug-of-wars, will begin at 7 p.m.
Winners will receive slices of water
melon.
Music will be provided through
out the evening by KORA-KTAM.
Area Boy Scouts from Troop 1,861
will present the colors as 9 p.m. as
trumpeter and A&M Consolidated
band director Carl Idlebird leads the
crowd in the national anthem. The
fireworks will begin about 9:20 p.m.
The Lion’s Club has ordered
more spectacular aerial fireworks
this year, Danny Stribling, Lion’s
Club Fourth of July committee
chairman, said.
“We expect this to be the very best
show ever,” he said.
The Fourth of July also will be cel
ebrated at Wofford Cain Pool on the
Texas A&M University campus
from noon until 5:30 p.m. More
than 800 people are expected to at
tend, Eric Hunter, assistant director
of the Inlramurals Department,
said.
The pool will be open to the entire
community. Admission will be $1 for
those without a pool pass.
Four Hams on Rye will provide
the live music throughout the af
ternoon. Other activities will include
water games, such as inner-tube
races and water volleyball, at 2 and 3
p.m. and a fashion show at 4 p.m.
“It’ll be a day in the sun with mu
sic,” Hunter said.
The fifth annual program is spon
sored by the MSC Basement, MSC
Grave and the Intramural Depart
ment.
A 12-hour Music Fest in Central
Park in College Station will also be
included in July 4th festivities.
See JULY 4, page 3
Fireworks illegal in B-CS
By PAM BARNES
Reporter
Little Johnny saved his money for
weeks to buy fireworks for the
Fourth of July picnic at his grand
mother’s farm. The day before the
picnic his mom drove him outside
the city limits where several firework
stands line the roads. After carefully
picking out his holiday fun, he and
his mom headed home — back into
the city. Just as they pulled off the
highway the fire marshall stopped
them and took away little Johnny’s
fireworks.
Johnny isn’t real, but the problem
is. It’s against the law to use or even
posses fireworks in the College Sta
tion (and Bryan) city limits.
Fines for this crime run from $10
to $1,000, depending on the situa
tion, says Harry Davis, College Sta
tion fire marshal.
“We’ll confiscate the fireworks if
someone is just popping them at ho
me,” Davis says. “But if the person is
being negligent or dangerously mis
using the fireworks we’ll issue them
a citation or, if necessary, have them
put in jail.”
Davis says he feels guilty some
times for taking away some of the
fun and traditions of July Fourth,
but “the law is the law.”
Jerry Redman, who works at the
fireworks stand on Highway 2154,
Welborn Road, says the fireworks
law is good because it will keep peo
ple out of trouble, but he says it’s too
bad that it affects those who aren’t
misusing the fireworks.
“Fireworks are only dangerous if
you use them wrong,” Redman says.
“You can have all the safety laws in
the world but there are still going to
be people who gel in trouble.”
Redman says he warns people not
to carry the fireworks back into the
city.
“We tell them, but most every
body knows,” Redman says. “The
fire marshal drives by or sits down
the road and he’ll stop you if you
bring them into the city.
“We had a little kid buy his fire-
See FIREWORKS, page 3
Food
safety
simple
By SARAH OATES
Staff Writer
July 4 means fireworks, flags,
going on picnics and, quite often,
getting sick from food poisoning.
However, common sense pre
cautions can reduce the chances
of this happening, says a Texas
A&M University Food Technol
ogy Specialist.
One of the most common
forms of food poisoning is caused
by a strain of staphylococcus bac
teria that contaminates the food.
The bacteria grows on the food,
poisoning it. The poison is eaten
with the food and results in vary
ing degrees of illness cltaracter-
ked by vomiting, diarrhea and
stomach cramps.
“It’s different with different
people,” says AJ Wagner.
For most people, Wagner says,
staphylococcal food poisoning is a
miserable 24-hour virus. Certain
oilier types of food poisoning,
such as botulism, can last for
weeks. He said that babies and
the elderly are likely to lie more
affected by food poisoning than
other age groups because they
have less immunity to it.
Mayonnaise often is spuriously
blamed in cases of food poison
ing, but contrary to popular be
lief, its acidity actually can help
retard bacteria growth on food.
The bacteria enter the food
from die hands of the person
preparing it. Mayonnaise-based
foods, such as potato or egg salad,
are easily contaminated because
See FOOD, page 3
Reagan undaunted by Soviet arms talks rebuff
United Press International
WASHINGTON — President
Reagan said Monday the United
States will pursue its proposal for
talks with the Soviet Union on space
weapons and nuclear arms despite a
refusal by the Kremlin to link the
two issues.
Undaunted by a rebuff from Mos
cow, Reagan reaffirmed his desire
that a meeting in Vienna — pro
posed last week by the Soviets —take
place despite a sharp disagreement
over the scope of the agenda.
“We stand by what we proposed
yesterday and we are in communica
tion with them,” Reagan said during
a Rose Garden photo session. Aides
said he was referring to his offer Fri
day to discuss nuclear arms control
as well as space weapons.
His comments did nothing to cut
through ambiguity shrouding the
position U.S. officials staked out in
the 48 hours after being presented
with a Soviet invitation for talks on
preventing “the militarization of
outer space.”
White House spokesman Larry
Speakes said the United States is de
termined to use any such talks to ex
plore how negotiations might be re
vived on medium- and long-range
nuclear weapons, suspended after a
Soviet walkout last fall.
Administration officials, however,
would not say whether the United
States would go to Vienna if faced
with a flat refusal by Moscow to dis
cuss anything except anti-satellite
technology and other space-based
weapons systems.
“There will be discussions on the
three subjects (space weapons, me
dium-range nuclear missiles and
strategic arms) as far as the United
States is concerned,” Speakes said.
“We don’t consider it a pre-condi
tion, we don’t consider it an impedi
ment — any of the above. But I can’t
predict what would happen.”
Speakes said the administration is
“pursuing discussions in diplomatic
channels to arrange a September
meeting.”
Having denied Soviet assertions
that Reagan jeopardized the talks by
ladening them with unacceptable
conditions, he turned away further
questions by citing a need for quiet
diplomacy.
“We have nothing more to add to
what has been said publicly,” he said.
Reagan explained his position
Sunday to Soviet Ambassador Anat
oly Dobrynin during 50 minutes of
barbeque diplomacy at a White
House party for foreign diplomats.
He said Dobrynin, slated to fly to
Moscow later this week, will “have a
message” for the Soviet leadership.
Second session may be necessary
House rejects Senate’s tax plan
Tax bill doesn’t contain
tuition hike for colleges
Texas residents attending state
colleges and - universities don’t
have to worry about increased tu
ition costs — at least for now.
The tax bill passed by the
House of Representatives last
weekend overlooked the issue of
resident tuition rates.
An amendment to the educa
tion tax bill by Rep. Wilhelmina
Delco, D-Austin, deleted the pro
vision calling for an immediate
increase in resident tuition rates
from $4 to $7 per credit hour.
Non-resident and international
students weren’t so fortunate,
though. Their tuition will in
crease from $40 to $46 per credit
hour for the 1985-86 school year.
United Press International
AUSTIN — The fate of a $4.8 bil
lion tax bill hinged on last-ditch pri
vate negotiations Monday night by
House and Senate members locked
in a war of wills with just 24 hours
remaining in the special legislative
session.
Although the House took a take-
it-or-leave-it stance late Monday by
rejecting Senate changes in a House-
approved tax measure and refusing
to appoint a conference committee
to iron out conflicts, key legislative
leaders met privately into the night
in an attempt to salvage the tax bill.
The House’s refusal to concur in
Senate changes — which center on
the replacement of a House-ap
proved tax on advertising and repair
services with a quarter-cent sales tax
hike — put the measure back in the
hands of the Senate, which must'
agree to reopen debate on the bill
when it reconvenes Tuesday morn
ing to keep the tax plan alive.
If the private negotiations, con
ducted with input from Gov. Mark
White, fail to produce a version ac
ceptable to both houses by midnight
Tuesday, the tax bill would die.
In that event, White has indicated
he will call lawmakers back for a sec
ond special session in hopes of pass
ing a new bill to finance education
reforms and highway im
provements.
Rep. Stan Schlueter, author of the
House tax plan, tried to persuade
members to suspend House rules to
enable a conference committee to
work out conflicts in the bill before
the Tuesday midnight session dead
line. But members voted 87-56
against the rules suspension.
The major difference between the
Senate and House tax bills centered
on the issue of taxing the purchase
of advertising and any increase in
the state’s 4 percent sales tax.
House members have adamantly
supported the tax on advertising
and opposed any increase in the
sales tax.
The Senate plan sponsored by
Sen. Grant Jones, D-Abilene, would
raise approximately the same
amount of money as the House plan.
But the Senate flatly rejected the tax
on advertising, an issue that sparked
heated debate when the House
passed its tax bill Saturday.
White was present for adoption of
the Senate tax plan, but refused any
comment on the measure before
leaving the Senate floor.
Major provisons of the tax bill
adopted by the House and or the
Senate were:
• Raise the state’s 4 percent sales
tax a Wcent under the Senate plan.
• Raise the gasoline tax from 5 to
10 cents.
• Increase the sales and rental tax
on autos from 4 percent to 5 per
cent.
• Raise motor vehicle registration
fees by $12.50 in 1985, another
$6.25 in 1986 and another $6.25 in
1986.
• Hike cigarette taxes by I-cent
per pack in 1984 and another cent in
1985. Cigarettes, snuff and other to
bacco products also would be subject
to sales taxes.
• Increase taxes on beer, ale, malt
liquor and wine by 20 percent; raise
the tax on liquor from $2 to $2.40
per gallon.
• Put computer software, home
fertilizer, foreign aircraft sales, ad
vertising, amusement services, mo
tor vehicle parking and storage, ca
ble television service and repairs of
tangible personal property under
the sales tax.
In Today’s Battalion
Local
• The Eternal Flame is being renovated this summer by a
graduate (if the class which donated it. See story page 4.
State
• Texas A&M students at Galveston convert a drug
smuggling boat into a marine research vessel. 5iee story
page 6.
National
• The Supreme Court ruled the government cannot
ban public TV and radio stations from editorializing. See
story page 6.
World
• A South Korean freighter set aflame by two Iraqi
missiles in the Persian Gulf appeared to be sinking Mon
day. See story page 5.