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Aggie scouting group
Enrollment in club dropping
Page3
Texas major (eaguers
Rangers, Astros make nc
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Texas A&M ■ % m m 1 •
The Battalion
: Vol. 80 No. 104 USPS 045360 10 pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, February 26, 1985
-cadets plead guilty to hazing charges
eansauo
By DAINAH BULLARD
Suit {Writer
Criminally negligent homicide
harges were dismissed and punish-
nents for hazing were handed down
;o three former Texas A&M stu-
Jents during a trial Monday af-
lernoon. A hazing charge against a
h no ERlBourth former student was dis-
nissed.
Jason Miles, Louis Kant her 111
nd Anthony D’Alessandro, all ju-
[tiors in the Corps of C^adets,
leaded guilty to charges of hazing
fore County Court-at-Law Judge
larolyn Ruffmo.
I The defendants’ statements were
lie result of plea bargaining be-
pteen county attorney Jim Kuboviak
Ind defense attorney W.W. Vance.
ield and
,12-11.
•ortuiiities
they made
I.
enient was!
The four former cadets were in-
iicted on their respective charges
ept. 28 by a Brazos County Grand
ury. The indictments followed a
wo-day grand jury investigation
nto the circumstances surrounding
he Aug. 30 death of Bruce Dean
Goodrich, 20, a transfer student
Trotn Webster, N.Y.
\-dinkbask J Goodrich collapsed and later died
nfaheat stroke after participating in
i I 2:30 a.m. exercise session con-
HighwayCi Butted by the three junior members
to plav M his outfit.
" Ags retii I Ruffmo ruled that each of the
iturdav | three defendant |jay a $250 fine for
lazing and $70 in court costs. Each
key said.'
out there,
h. They're
natch up »i
19 team
n’t have asfi
)ur kids m
JT ,
father ol
idviceto
throw i”
the tour -
ament is
nent the
register
officii
larch 5'
:ksup t0
defendant also was required to do
nate 100 hours of community service
to be completed by June 1 for retri
bution. She placed the defendants
on probation for 90 days with de
ferred adjudication.
Under deferred adjudication, the
defendant pleads guilty and the
judge grants probation, but doesn’t
determine guilt. If the defendant
successfully completes probation,
the charges are removed from his
record. If the defendant violates
probation, the judge may rule on
guilt and the full range of punish
ments for the hazing charge may be
invoked.
The full range of punishments for
hazing includes a $25 to $250 fine
and 10 days to three months in jail.
Ruffmo dismissed the charges of
negligent homicide against the three
men.
In a brief trial following the 30-
minute trial for Miles, Fancher and
D’Alessandro, Ruffino also dis-
nvissed the charge of hazing against
Gabriel Cuadra.
A six-woman jury found Cuadra
guilty Jan. 31 of tampering with evi
dence. Ruffmo later gave Cuadra
one year of probation and a $500
fine, which he will not have to pay if
he meets the terms of his probation.
Cuadra was not present at the trial
Monday, but was represented by at
torney Henry Paine.
Kuboviak had requested that each
Former cadets (1 to r) An
thony D’Allessandro, Jason
Miles and Louis Fancher
defendant be assessed a $250 fine,
charged $70 in court costs and
placed on probation for 90 days. He
recommended that each defendant
be required to donate $750 to the
Bruce Goodrich Scholarship Fund at
A&M and give 100 hours of commu
nity service in their home counties
for retribution.
Courtesy of UPI
leave the courthouse after
criminally negligent homi
cide charges were dismissed.
Kuboviak also requested that the
charges of criminally negligent hom
icide against Miles, Fancher and
D’Alessandro be dismissed.
Ruffino did not require the de
fendants to make donations to the
Bruce Goodrich Scholarship Fund.
“If you wish to make a donation to
the University., that is your choice
and your choice alone,” she said.
After the trials, Kuboviak said he
made his plea bargain offer after
considering the evidence and the
wishes of Ward Goodrich, Bruce’s
father.
“I made the decision based on evi
dence and what I thought would be
the appropriate charge in this case,”
Kuboviak said. “I also honored the
wishes of Ward Goodrich.”
Kuboviak said Goodrich wanted
his son’s death to deter future
hazing at A&M. Kuboviak said he
spoke with Goodrich several times in
person and over the telephone since
the grand jury decision in Septem
ber.
“The truth came out,” Kuboviak
said. “T hat was essentially what we
were looking for. We wanted the
>arties involved to admit responsibi-
lity. All we wanted to do was see jus
tice done.”
Bob
Wiatt, director of security
and traffic at A&M, agreed with Ku-
boviak’s statements.
“I think it’s a very fair decision,”
Wiatt said of the outcome of the plea
bargaining. “There’s no reason for
keeping wounds open. There has
been accounting from these young
men.”
However, the parents of some of
the former cadets did not think jus
tice was served.
“It’s not justice, it’s politics,” Lyyn
Fancher said.
Fancher said her son, Louis
Fancher III, and the other de
fendants were used as scapegoats for
Goodrich’s death.
“They’re scapegoats for 108 years
of tradition,” she said. “If I sacri
ficed my son’s life in front of you, it
wouldn’t bring Bruce back. It’s very
sad.”
Louis Fancher Jr. said he didn’t
like the idea of plea bargaining, but
believed his son and the other de
fendants had little choice.
“Once you survey the risk of
continuing this thing, the boys made
an intelligent decision,” he said.
“There was an absolute lack of sup
port from the Association of Former
Students and the University, When
things like that are stacked up
against you, you have to decide how
much more you want to risk.
“I’m satisfied. I think they made
the right choice.”
Irene Miles, mother of Jason
Miles, said she was satisfied with the
results of the trial, too.
“They will have no criminal re
cord now, after they finish their
community work and probation,”
she said. “This is one of the biggest
assets. Who wants a criminal record?
They’re not criminals. They’ll make
good citizens.”
ramm
to head
committee
| Senator asks
1 restricted trade
to combat drugs
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Texas Sen.
Phil Gramm said Monday that the
United States should consider cut
ting trade relations with countries
that tolerate or allow drug snug
gling-
Gramm, a Republican from Col
lege Station, said he has been named
Senate chairman of the U.S. dele
gation to the U.S.-Mexico Interpar
liamentary Group.
Relations between the United
States and Mexico have been
strained recently by the disappear
ance in Mexico of a U.S. narcotics
tgent and the U.S. response of
lengthy searches at border check
points, bringing traffic to a stands-
1.
Border traffic is now back to nor
mal, Gramm said.
Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Texas,
illed Monday for the State Depart
ment to warn Americans about re
ported violence against Americans
south of the border.
At a news conference, Gramm
said he Could make no judgment
about whether such a warning
should be issued without more facts.
He said he supported dropping
foreign aid to countries that do not
cooperate in drug enforcement but
was now considering a proposal to
broaden the sanctions to include “ac
cess to American markets.”
“What happens in a country like
Colombia is that drug trafficking is
so profitable that it becomes a pri
mary source of income that rivals
foreign trade,” Gramm said. “And
unless the costs are very high to the
government for not complying with
oor efforts ... they're under intense
pressure internally to look the other
way.”
Despite the drug enforcement dis
pute, Gramm said that as a member
of the Interparliamentary Group,
which meets later this year in Wash
ington, then again in Mexico City,
that he would propose a free trade
zone with Mexico and eventually
Central America.
Long-term economic efforts such
as trade zones would help stem ille
gal immigration into the United
States, Gramm said.
GOP leader offers
new budget plan
It's a Bird, Ifs a Plane...
Photo by PETER ROCHA
No, it’s a plastic “bat” kite caught in the
Century Tree in front of Bolton Hall. Mon
day’s warm, clear weather provided an ex
cellent opportunity for kite flyers.
Students happy with change
New library hours set
Even though new library hours
have been in effect only since Sun
day, many students have indicated
they are happy with them, Tom Ur
ban, vice president of academic af
fairs, said Monday.
Library hours are now Sunday, 9
a.m. to 3 a.m.; Monday through
Thursday, 7 a.m. to 3 a.m.; Friday 7
a.m. to midnight; and Saturday 9
a.m. to midnight.
Urban said, he was unable to visit
the library Sunday night to see how
many people were taking advantage
of the new hours. Nancy Kent of li
brary circulation said the number
could not be determined.
The extended hours are a result
of a $I,700 gift from the Student
Senate.
At its Feb. 13 meeting, the senate
voted to take the money from the
Student Service Fee Reserve Ac
count and give it to the library.
“The Student Government felt
this was a worthwhile project, so we
decided to fund it this year,” Urban
said.
The Student Government polled
students last semester to discover
what library hours students would
use.
Associated Press
AUSTIN — Texas GOP Chair
man George Strake offered a solu
tion to the state budget crunch Mon
day by offering a $ l billion package
that includes something borrowed
and something new.
Strake borrowed $376 million in
cost-saving ideas proposed by Demo
cratic Comptroller Bob Bullock and
Republican Sen. John Leedom of
Dallas.
But the heart of his package is a
10 percent across-the-board cut in
state agency administrative spend-
■ng-
“I think it is time to try a new ap
proach which everyone seems afraid
of but that is fundamental to reduc
ing the size and operation of state
government,” Strake said at a Capi
tol news conference. “I call for belt
tightening, budget-cutting or econ
omy in government.”
Texas lawmakers face a projected
revenue shortage of $733 million.
Several ways to raise the money have
been offered — including Gov.
Mark White’s call for a 21 percent
cut in higher education spending
coupled with a college tuition and
state fee hikes.
Strake said a 10 percent cut in
“bureaucratic overburden” would
save $649 million in 1986-87. That,
combined with the $376 million
worth of Bullock and Leedom ideas,
would more than cover the budget
crunch.
The 10 percent cut would turn
around a decade of “spending tax
payers’ money with reckless aban
don,” Strake said.
“And now it’s time to pay the
piper,” he added.
The administrative cost cuts
would not cover state prisons and
mental health facilities nor recent in
creases for highways and education,
according to the former secretary of
state.
Strake said he is “certain’* that the
other state agencies could survive a
10 percent cut in administrative
spending.
As has become his custom, Strake
found blame for White, a Democrat.
The GOP chairman said White
pushed last year’s $4.6 billion tax
hike “despite warnings of falling
world oil prices that cast a pall over
revenue predictions.”
Strake also said White has in
creased his staff by 50 percent.
White was in Washington on Mon
day for a National Governors Asso
ciation meeting, but his office re
leased figures that show he now has
202 employees, 20 fewer than autho
rized by the Legislature and only two
more than the most employed by Bill
Clements, White’s Republican pre
decessor.
The Strake proposal includes
$144 million in recommended cost
saving ideas forwarded by Leedom,
whose state money management rec
ommendations included possible
sale of some state land.
The Bullock proposals could save
$232 million. But Bullock himself
does not believe all his ideas are po
litically feasible.
“A lot of them, as a practical mat
ter, I don’t think will ever pass, not
during my tenure in office,” Bullock
said Monday.
He also said his list of cost-saving
ideas met with unsurprising lack of
interest from agency heads. Only
three agencies sent for details of the
suggestions he released late last year.
Overall, the comptroller said
Strake has hit on the best way to cut
spending — across-the-board cuts
that do not pit one agency against
another.
“That’s the only way ever to get
meaningful reduction in Texas gov
ernment,” he said.
Bullock said .Strake visited him
last month to discuss budget-cutting.
Reagan asks nation’s governors for help
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President
Reagan asked the nation’s governors
Monday to help him reduce huge
federal budget deficits, but he
spurned their requests that he con
sider trimming Pentagon spending
and .Social Security and increasing
taxes.
The governors also disputed Rea
gan’s implication that the states are
running budget surpluses that will
allow them to take over many fed
eral programs the president wants to
cut.
“It’s clear from the president this
morning that Social Security, the de-
fense budget (and) revenue (are) all
off the table,” said Kansas Gov. John
Carlin, chairman of the National
Governors’ Association.
Carlin, a Democrat, spoke follow
ing a half-hour White House session
between Reagan and his top aides
and the governors, who are holding
their winter meeting in Washington.
During the meeting Reagan de
fended his proposals for about $50
billion in spending reductions next
year, many of which would cut back
or eliminate federal aid programs
and subsidies that state and local
governments have long cherished.
“I hope you can understand that
these tough calls have to he made
now at the federal level,” Reagan
said.
“These proposals are rooted both
in economic necessity and common
sense. There’s simply no justifica
tion, for example, for the federal
government, which is running a def
icit, to be borrowing money to be
spent by state and local govern
ments, some of which are now run
ning surpluses.”
Following Reagan’s remarks, re
porters were ushered out of the
White House East Room, where the
president and governors had a ques-
tion-and-answer session.