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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 26, 1985)
ras ions .-backed contras oi terrorizing the report says. ‘ hers and especially i n leers have often tortured, raped or is." >rt is based on 1 ties and schools andl i witnesses,SiegelsjitJ interview. He hasl* a four times, tnostj :tober. The Battalion igton, Bosco MatgH — Fo n rwto\ N 2 Vol. 80 No. 119 OSPS 045360 12 pages ie fiad no knowtaM s by relsel forces. ate Department ora m condition ofanJ administration hadp the new reprt,wliii^ n, but added that violations by indhidJ s fighting for a tlaf e in Nicaragua(do| >licy of those forte House group votes to close -Galveston idem Reagan said itizen in space Honk j.690 teachen natij for the space !■ d the findings ir, rt are largely conliraL, >nal gniups, indaS Associated Press “rican Health OpiKAUSTIN — The House Appro- ¥ ■aliens Committee, searching for a ■anced budget, voted Monday to shutdown Texas A&M University at M GaKeston and the University of Texas of the Permian Basin at IBrhe committee also approved a £ ►'■n/■>( AAreduction in private college grants OkJ\Jvv an( * a college funding package that ' |iuld force a tax hike. ■Houston Rep. Paul Colbert who Hide the motions to close the two State universilites, used the same ar- ■ments in both cases — the schools aren't needed. ■“They’ve never been able to main tain enrollment,” Colbert said of ly scheduled for i.UT-Permian Basin. “They just can’t ||tra< i people out there.” Bln a reference to A&M-Galves- ants will bescreent fin’s attempt to draw more students *tu ics in each suit he said, “It’s just flat out not doing it, rh state and l.$ : folks." initiate two candidM The committee approved the ram. NASA williBme plan for both colleges. No new acherandabackufistudents would be accepted in the fell and the colleges would be closed in 1987. Figuring in the money by selling the campuses, Col- Hit said the state could save $61 k M ■ /million by closing the two schools, k M M ■ Working late into the night the MM ■ Hmmittee passed the college fund- ■ Hg bill sponsored by Bay City Rep. ■ Tom Uher that would cut spending by 4 percent. The Legislative Budget Board — a House-Senate panel that commends a state budget — pro- osed a 26.5 percent cut. Committee members voted to go |ith Uher’s plan, minus a 3 percent !ut in spending for administrative perations and student services. _ Rep. Bill Hollowell, D-Grand Sa- V M j jine, said the 26.5 percent cut is * I 'i Heeded to balance the budget. “You’re voting on a tax bill here, on’t fool yourselves,” he told the Dmmittee. “Nobody is going to ave a magic wand. To think you’re oing to spend all this money and not pay for it just won’t wash.” I Uher replied, “I have said this is a ax session” and added that he could vote for a tax hike to protect higher education from major cuts. UT-Permian Basin opened in Donald! ■ ly AST EVER! R.NT.NC 1973 as an upper division school, of fering junior, senior and graduate courses. Its current annual budget is $7.9 million. The university wants $ 11.3 million for 1986. Colbert said UTPB has “wasted” state money on duck ponds and golf courses. UT System lobbyist Gerald Hill said the system would fight to keep UT-Permian Basin opened. “This is just round one,” he said. Round two could come as soon as Tuesday. After talking to some com mittee members, Hill said, “We have a reasonable chance for reconsidera tion" of the vote. The final appropriations bill will be written by a House-Senate con ference committee. The Odessa campus now has about 1,800 students. Colbert said it was projected to have enrollment of up to 7,000. Hill said, “A lot has to do with the general economy. For some years Midland-Odessa was a boom area. Then the oil and gas industry began to decline. The ou and gas industry will come back.” The committee also voted to cut $6 million a year from the state money spent to help students attend private colleges. The panel rejected one member’s effort to bar private colleges from requiring religious service atten dance by students who get state aid. Rep. Foster Whaley, D-Pampa, said stale money should not go toward religious activities. The state has helped pay private school tuition since 1971, under the theory that those colleges take some of the burden off state universities. The current annual funding for the Tuition Equalization Grant program is $20.8 million. Uher said $14.7 million a year for the tuition grants is “reasonable and safe.” The Legislative Budget Board recommended $18.7 million a year. About 25 Texas private schools — most of them with religious affilia tions — have students who get state aid to pay tuition. Twenty-four per cent of the students in Texas private colleges get the state tuition aid. IS ...845-782® .845-282® ,..845-282® Soviet sentry kills US. Army officer Associated Press HEIDELBERG, West Ger many — A Soviet sentry shot an unarmed U.S. Army officer who was on a legitimate mission in East Germany and left him to die without medical aid, U.S. officials said Monday. The Soviets said he was “caught red-handed” taking pictures in a restricted area. The shooting occurred Sunday in or near the East German town of Ludwigslust in the Schwerin district about 100 miles northwest of Berlin and about 30 miles from the West German border. President Reagan said Maj. Ar thur D. Nicholson, a liaison offi cer at a U.S. military mission in East Germany, “was doing noth ing except what we’re entitled to do” when the Russian soldier shot him. Asked whether the major was engaged in espionage, Rea gan said: “We challenge that.” ABC News and The New York Times quoted unidentified sources as saying Nicholson was observing Soviet tank sheds. The State Department declined com ment on those reports. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Burt said the officer was several hundred yards outside a restricted area when he was shot. The Soviet Embassy asserted that Nicholson and his driver were in a restricted zone and en tered it “despite the presence of clearly visible warning signs in Russian and German.” The Army said Nicholson, 37, of Redding, Conn., spoke fluent Russian. Nicholson wore a camouflage suit and carried a camera used to photograph combat equipment, the Soviet Embassy said. “The officer was caught red- handed by a Soviet sentry guard ing that equipment,” said the statement by embassy spokesman Vladimir Kulagin, issued in re sponse to press inquiries. “He did not comply with his orders and, after a warning shot, while at tempting to escape, he was killed.” Burt said Nicholson cried out helplessly to his driver, a sergeant named Schatz, but Soviet soldiers prevented the sergeant from us ing his first-aid kit to help him. Nicholson and Schatz were monitoring Soviet military activ ities, as permitted under a 1947 Allied occupation agreement, were 300 to 500 yards from any restricted area and “were not warned in any way before the shots were fired,” Burt said. Schatz was released later to American authorities in West Berlin. College Station, Texas Tuesday, March 26,1985 Bird's Eye View Photo by DEAN SAITO This bird found a perch of a different feather near the Kle berg Animal and Food Science Center. While people only can view the construction on west campus from behind a fence, this bird gets a close up of the activity by pausing on some support rods. The rods are used to reinforce concrete struc tures. 2,456-acre tract of land donated Regents accept Conoco’s gift By SARAH OATES and KIRSTEN DIETZ Staff Writers The Texas A&rM Board of Re- ents Monday accepted a gift of ,456 hcres of Brazoria County hind from Conoco, Inc. and approved es tablishment of a Center for the Study of Cell Surfaces. Constantine S. Nicandros, presi dent of worldwide petroleum opera tions, presented the land gift, which will be used by the A&M Engi neering Extension Set vice. The land fronts Chocolate Bayou and is about 21 miles south and slightly east of Alvin. Chairman H.R. “Bum” Bright said the mineral-rich land could be worth $50 million to $100 million in 50 years. “We want to tell you we indeed appreciate . . . one of the largest gifts we’ve ever received,” Bright said. “The Engineering Extension Service will work to make use of it for the cit izens of the state and the country. We will make good use of it.” The Center for the Study of Cell Surfaces will be the only one of its kind, said Dr. Garret Ihler, head of the Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, who will direct the center. Established by the College of Medicine, the center will be interde partmental and allow collaborative research between several preclinical departments in the college, between the preclinical and clinical campuses of tne colleges and between other departments in other colleges. “The center can direct research rather than just allow it to occur,” Ihler said. The center will require no additio nal state or University funds. Most research already is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and other granting agencies. Ihler said planning for the center began six to eight months ago. In other business, the board au thorized the sale of Permanent Uni versity Fund bonds as part of a com prehensive A&M System financing plan. “It appears that at some time this summer we’ll be selling PUT’ bonds,” Bright said, “and we want to prepare to issue those bonds.” The board also approved a re search agreement between the Texas Engineering Experiment Sta tion and the Water and Land Re sources Division of the Common wealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization of Australia. The groups are doing collabora tive research in applying engi neering principles to biological, eco logical and environmental problems. MSC Council OKs poem for publication By CATHIE ANDERSON Staff Writer . The Memorial Student Center Council ap proved publication of a poem that contains an obscenity in the new literary arts magazine, Lit mus, during its 6:30 meeting Monday night. Tracy Howard, vice president of cultural programs, made a motion that included appro val of the poem. And after a lengthy debate, Corey Courtney, executive vice president of administration, seconded the motion. The poem won approval by a vote of 6-5, with one member abstaining. William H. Mobley, dean of the College of Business, said he believed the poem was in poor taste, but he said he would approve its publication because he didn’t believe in the idea of censorship. Dennis Goehring, the representative from the Association of Former Students, said he be lieved the poem didn’t represent what Texas A&M stood for. And when Dr. Sylvia Grider, a faculty ad viser from the Department of English, said that censorship of this poem could cause the death of Litmus, Goehring asked if that wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Although Grider said she couldn’t answer that question, she said she believed censorship would not be the right avenue to take. “Since it’s already been chosen,” Grider said, “I’d say go with it. But the result may be drying up of the magazine because of funds. I think objection will come from outside the Univer sity community.” Grider said she wasn’t sure how former stu dents would react to the publication of the poem, but she was equally unsure of how cur rent students and the outside world would re act to censorship of the student magazine. Pat Wood, MSC president, said that obsceni ties had been used in productions brought to campus by the MSC and that this instance could be considered analogous since the liter ary magazine would be an MSC production. Paul Stewart, chairman of the Literary Arts Committee, said the poem had been approved by the committee’s faculty advisers and that two of the three advisers had liked it while the third hadn’t give an opinion. “If the University’s not ready for it (a liter ary arts magazine), then let it die a natural death,” Stewart said. “If you take away the drive for the students in the committee, then you take away the purpose for the students.” Jane Glendening, the committee’s MSC ad viser, said the committee’s integrity had been shown because the group had taken the poem before cultural programs study committee and the council before going ahead with publica tion. SG candidate accused of attempting to have Royall barred from election By JERRY OSLIN Staff Writer Brett Shine, a candidate for stu dent body president, and Jeff Dan- zinger, a Shine supporter, were be hind the attempt to have another presidential candidate disqualified from the election, a member of Shine’s campaign committee said Monday. Karl Brock and Terry Leeper, two Texas A&M students, signed and filed a complaint with the Student Government’s election commission Thursday accusing Sean Royall, a candidate for student body presi dent, of exceeding the limit for cam paign expenditures. The rules of the election commis sion forbid candidates from spend ing more than $300 on campaign materials. Brock told the Battalion that Shine asked him and Jeff Centilla, another Texas A&M student, Wednesday night if they would sign the complaint and give copies of it to the election commission and to the Battalion on Thursday morning. Shine could not be reached for comment late Monday night. According to Brock, Shine said he wanted Centilla to sign the com plaint because he was not associated with Shine’s candidacy, Brock said Shine told him he had evidence that Royall had exceeded the spending limit. The complaint contained copies of price estimates from three local printers that estimated Royall’s cam- See CANDIDATE, page 7