The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 04, 1984, Image 1

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    3ill Pr»; ;
3r Stj,
e resi^
order to
1 exas Ajf
Go?. Ua;
i to caij
)ntofiu«
)uldy 05
set til
■ngA^
? He
theAfe
te knewj
dlffereiKj
Hy 45,OJ;
Executive of the Year
discusses success
Defensive driving
helps your record
Tae kwon do is not
Japanese karate
See page 5
See page 8
See page 9
^^1_ rexasA&M mm
The Battalion
Serving the University community
Vol. 80 No.26 CISPS 045360 12 pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, October 4, 1984
Editorii
ed tin
re Special
)y tit
attack o:
tudents,
acultj
e Studeil
i sed
Judge jailed
for tax dodge
Thot burninQ d©sir0 photo ty wayne l.grabein
Students from Davis-Gary Hall show their Aggie spirit dur- men not only shaved their yellowpot’s and brownpot’s heads,
ing the bonfire cutting class Wednesday afternoon at the they also shaved the hair off their crewchiefs’ heads. Nine
Grove. Traditionally, a dorm’s yellowpot has his hair shaved Davis-Gary freshmen and sophomores then had their heads
into block T’s before bonfire. This year Davis-Gary’s fresh- shaved as well to complete their message.
United Press International
RENO, Nev. — U.S. District
Judge Harry Claiborne was sen
tenced Wednesday to two years in
prison for income tax evasion, be
coming the first federal judge ever
ordered to jail for a crime com
mitted while sitting on the bench.
Claiborne, 67, also was fined
$10,000.
The sentence was handed down by
visiting federal Judge Walter Hof
fman of Virginia, who Tuesday den
ied motions for a new trial or mo
tions to overturn the conviction.
Chief defense counsel Oscar Good
man filed notice of appeal within
minutes after the sentence was
handed down. Claiborne has said he
intends to appeal the case all the way
to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Hoff man recommended that Clai
borne be allowed to serve his sen
tence at Maxwell Air Force Base,
Ala.
“The evidence, in my opinion, was
overwhelming as to your guilt,” Hof
fman told Claiborne. “It’s a sorry
day for you, Mr. Claiborne, but it’s
an even sorrier day for the judiciary.
“I cannot permit a colleague of
mine to be considered for probation.
I realize your career may be shat
tered but that is of your own mak-
ing.”
In an impassioned but unapolo-
getic speech to Hoffman, Claiborne
denied ever deliberately defrauding
the Internal Revenue Service.
Claiborne noted that the charges
on which he was convicted have
nothing to do with his position as a
judge and a public official.
“I defy any man to say that I was
in any way indiscreet with my re
sponsibilities as a judge and what
ever happens to me is not going to
change that,” Claiborne said.
Claiborne was convicted Aug. 10
on two counts of failing to report
$106,000 in income he received
from legal fees earned while a de
fense attorney but received after he
became a judge. He blamed his tax
preparers and said he signed blank
tax returns.
Claiborne was originally indicted
on seven charges, including accept
ing $85,000 in bribes from former
brothel owner Joe Conforte. After
the first trial in April, the jury was
unable to reach a verdict and a new
trial date was set.
In the interim, the Justice Depart
ment dismissed the four most se
rious charges involving bribery and
obstructing justice. At a second trial,
Claiborne was also acquitted of a
third charge of filing a false ethics
report in which he did not list a
$75,000 loan.
Claiborne repeated his charges
that the government went after him
because of his sympathy for the little
man, who he said cannot stand up
against the limitless power and
money of the federal government.
“They indicted me for wrongs I
did not commit,” he said.
Settlement pending for 1979 lawsuit involving discrimination against women
g of thi
e when
lot vote,
e (Dm)
i see tte
rnmenl
ning tif
a-Colle(:
Editorii
i’s face i
.tics at fi
level.'
ty officii
Aarcli 11
tday’fo!
anvenies
;ies fro®
lientfot
ounfairlj
is.
have a
i that we
l arouil
i Smitt
is are on
in-tblf
fight. If
,ne
sgisterte
leisOd
; on Nov.
and tie
; set tlie
te Aggies
i tons!
iwi
a
res.
to
jnce,
por
L
at
ai|? n
Former A&M Band members push court trial
By ROBIN BLACK
Senior Stall' Writer
The signature of a Houston attor
ney is about all that stands between
women and membership in the
Fightin’Texas Aggie Band.
The pending signature of Carol
Nelkin, the attorney repesenting
Melanie Zentgraf in a 1979 sex dis
crimination lawsuit against against
Texas A&M, will validate a set
tlement agreed upon by Nelkin and
the state attorney general’s office.
However, no one seems to know ex
actly when Nelkin will sign the
agreement. She could not be
reached for comment.
The attorney general’s office is
representing A&M in the case.
The settlement allows that the
University encourage women to par
ticipate in Corps activities such as the
band, the Fish Drill Team, Ross Vol
unteers, Parsons’ Mounted Cavalry,
Rudder’s Rangers and the Color
Guards.
Zentgraf filed the lawsuit in May
1979 after she was denied mem
bership in the band because she was
a female.
The U.S. Justice Department in
tervened in the case on Zentgrafs
behalf the following December as co
plaintiff. The Justice Department’s
intervention kept the case from actu
ally going to trial so that an out-of-
court settlement could be nego
tiated.
Although the 5-year-old case
seems to be winding to an end, some
former band members are doing
their best to stop the settlement and
send the case to the courts.
The Texas Aggie Band Associa
tion has filed petitions with U.S. Dis
trict Judge Ross Sterling that protest
the settlement. It will be Sterling’s
decision whether the former band
members have any standing in the
case.
The petitions were filed because
the former band members fear the
settlement might lead to co-educa-
tional housing within the Corps.
If Sterling accepts the petitions,
the settlement will be blocked and a
hearing date for the case will be set,
probably sometime in February
1985.
However, Elna Christopher, a
spokesman for Mattox, said the at
torney general’s office does not see
the group as having any standing in
the case.
Christopher said the attorney
general also would fight any attempt
to block the settlement.
The argument that co-ed housing
might be a result of the agreement is
ill-founded, she said.
“The decree specifically says that
the University’s housing policies are
to be upheld — no changes made.”
she said. “I don’t know where they
came up with their argument. I
guess they made it up.”
When the settlement goes into ef
fect, she said, the University will
have to keep close track of women’s
involvement in Corps’ activities.
Reports to the state would have to
be filed by the University for the
first few years — at least until 1988
— telling how many women are en
rolled at the University, how many
Corps members there are and how
many of those are female, and how
many females are involved in the
other Corps activities such as the
band.
House ethics to study
Ferraro’s disclosure
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The House
ethics committee has been called to
meet Friday, following Rep. Ger
aldine Ferraro’s filing of six years of
amended financial disclosure
statements, a committee spokeswo
man said Wednesday.
The spokeswoman said ethics
committee members were told only
that the meeting concerned “pen
ding business.”
The ethics panel is investigating a
complaint by the conservative Wash
ington Legal Foundation, charging
that Ferraro, the Democratic vice
presidential candidate, violated
ethics law by omitting information
from her financial disclosure re
ports.
Ferraro amended the reports late
Monday, but stuck to her position
that she is not required to disclose
detailed information about her hus
band’s real estate development firm,
P. Zaccaro Inc.
Ferraro said the amended reports
correct “sloppy errors” of a family
accountant, uncovered by a team of
new accountants.
Her campaign aides say there is
no merit to the legal foundation’s
complaint.
With Congress likely to adjourn
within the week, the ethics commit
tee is unlikely to be able to reach a
determination on the complaint. In
1985, when Ferraro leaves the
House, the committee loses jurisdic
tion in the dispute.
Capitol Hill sources said Ferraro’s
lawyers met with the ethics commit
tee in mid-September to determine
how much extra information would
be necessary.
In some of the corrections on the
amended reports, Ferraro:
• Reported she was reimbursed
by the Angelli Foundation for a trip
to Rome in 1980 to attend a meeting,
a receipt not previously disclosed.
• Restated her 1982 holdings in
Dreyfus Liquid fund as between
$15,000 and $50,000, instead of less
than $5,000.
• Disclosed she purchased a New
York public housing bond valued
between $15,000 and $50,000 in
1982 and gave it to her mother.
• Identified her one-third own
ership in the P. Zaccaro Co., the firm
operated by her husband, John Zac
caro, who owns two-thirds of the
company.
• Reported she received a divi
dend worth $1,000 or less in 1982
from the P. Zaccaro Co.
Corps leader admits system’s flaws
By PATRICIA FLINT
Staff Writer
Physical discipline is the quick
est way to discipline and often the
most effective, Corps Com
mander Chuck Rollins said
Wednesday during Sully’s Sym
posium. A lot of the significance
of what is done wrong is lost
when the punishment is delayed,
as in building up demerits, he
said.
Sponsored by sophomore
honor society Lambda Sigma, the
symposium features a talk by a
student body leader, followed by
questions. The goal of Sully’s
Symposium is to improve com
munication between student lead
ers and the student body through
a direct exchange of ideas.
Rollins prefaced his speech
saying that he wanted to stay
away from the issues because he is
getting tired of discussing them.
His talk focused on the attributes
of the Corps of Cadets, but as
might be expected, the questions
all centered around the death of
Cadet Bruce Goodrich and the
effect it has had on the Corps.
An obvious opener was: with
whom does fault lie in the death
of Goodrich?
“I definitely feel it’s the sys
tem,” Rollins said. “I don’t feel it’s
the individuals’ faults at all. They
did the same things I did a few
years ago.
“That’s where it’s been kind of
ironic. I know I’ve seen worse.”
But the cadets themselves are
responsible for the system, he
said. Rollins said that leadership
being in the hands of the cadets is
one of the things that makes
A&M great.
“It’s ultimately our responsibi
lity,” he said. “We’ve got to police
ourselves.”
Will the Goodrich incident
change anything?
“I think so,” he said. “I don’t
see how it can’t.” But, he said,
“It’s not going to kill us.”
“There’s still going to be viola
tions,” said the senior, but, “the
number of occurrences of hazing
has dropped since I was a fresh
man.”
The punitive physical training
policy stipulates the form of pun
ishment acceptable. Twenty
push-ups is the maximum physi
cal punishment allowed since
Goodrich’s death.
“There’s a certain amount of
harassment that has to go on in
the Corps because of our structu
re,” Rollins said in reference to
the chain of command inherent
in the Corps.
But when abuses of the system
occur, he said many cadets, espe
cially freshmen and sophomores,
are afraid to go through the chain
of command for help.
“We’re not perfect by any
means,” Rollins said. “We’re not
even close.”
If a parent was to question
Rollins about a child going into
the Corps, Rollins said he would
not tell that person that his son is
not going to do push-ups, or be
subjected to a superior-subordi
nate relationship. He said he
would talk about the good things
about being in the Corps.
Military officers and business
men that were cadets are able to
handle pressure better than most
other people, Rollins said.
“I don’t believe that,” a man
shouted from the audience. “I
don’t think you’re any different
than anybody else.”
Rollins said that it is difficult to
understand unless you go to the
University.
“I’m from this University,” he
said. “Class of ’60.”
“The Corps only wants to exist,
only wants to survive,” Rollins
said.
“Then why don’t you follow
your policies that you set down?”
the man asked. “Then you
Corps Commander Chuck
Rollins.
wouldn’t lose people.
“I’m a University leader,” Roll
ins said. “I’m a leader of the
Corps of Cadets.” He said he is
going to. stick by his people.
A woman from the audience
who has been in the U.S. Army
asked if being in the Corps under
the duress of the physical activity
makes someone a better person.
Four or five cadets, practically
in unison, said yes.
See SULLY, page 6