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The Battalion
Vol. 80 Mo. 130 GSPS 045360 16 pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, April 11,1985
Decision delayed in Cuadra case
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By MICHAEL CRAWFORD
Staff Writer
■County Court-at-Law Judge (Jaro-
hri Ruffino Wednesday postponed a
■cision on a motion requesting a
ness trial for former Texas A&M Ca
det Gabriel Cuadra.
■Cuadra was found guilty Jan. 31
of tampering with evidence during
an investigation into the August
death of sophomore Cadet Bruce
Goodrich.
■Cuadra's defense attorney, Hank
Painejr., originally based his request
for a new trial on the closing argu
ments presented in Cuadra’s earlier
trial during which Brazos County
Attorney Jim Kuboviak twice re
ferred to punishment when the jury
was asked to determine only guilt or
innocence. Paine later amended his
new trial request to include the sub
mission of what he said were recons
tructed exercise lists.
Cuadra destroyed the original
exercise lists which outlined the
exercises Goodrich performed on
the night of his death.
Paine asked Ruffino to accept the
reconstructed lists as new evidence,
but she refused after hearing argu
ments from Kuboviak. The county
attorney, who had possession of the
reconstructed lists during the trial,
said the lists were rtot new evidence
and domot prove that Cuadra is in
nocent. Their absence did not affect
the outcome of the trial, he said.
“It has absolutely no value what
soever,” Kuboviak said. “We have no
duty to disclose it if it lacks materiali
ty”
Paine disputed Kuboviak’s
statements, hinting that the prosecu
tion had intentionally “lost” the lists
to sway the jury.
But Kuboviak produced affidavits
from five of the six jurors indicating
the submission of the lists would not
have influenced their decision. One
juror said there should be a new
trial, but Kuboviak said that the
opinion of the other five jurors
should outweigh the opinion of one
j uro, \
Objections were raised by Paine
who said the affidavits did not indi
cate the jurors had studied the
amended motion for a new trial, just
the original request. Kuboviak said
he was notified of the amendment to
the request Tuesday and had not
had time to obtain new affidavits.
Ruffino accepted the affidavits as
evidence, but said she would not
make her ruling until a later date.
Paine asked Ruffino to have her de
cision made by May 4, to which Ruf-
fxno curtly said she would make her
decision as soon as possible.
After the Jan. 31 verdict, Ruffino
sentenced Cuadra to a probated
one-year jail sentence an
bated $500 fine.
pro-
Gabriel Cuadra
'orld-class' university
Eller states his goals
il days
By SARAH OATES
Staff Writer
■ The Texas A&M Board of Re
gents is still one man short, while
f newly elected Regent Chairman Da
vid Eller sets his goal for “a world-
class university.”
■ Gov. Mark White has yet to
Aobse an appointee to fill the posi
tion left vacant two weeks ago after
ihe resignation of former regents
ijiairman H.R. “Bum” Bright, rep
resentatives from the governor’s of
fice said Tuesday.
■ Don Mauro, a Bryan real estate
developer who was considered ear
lier this year to fill one of three va
cant positions on the board, is again
Being considered to fill the open po
sition, said Bruce Stock well, deputy
assistant for appointments for
White’s office.
■ Stockwell said he could not com
ment on the number of candidates
or who they are.
David Eller
“There are many people under
consideration,” he said. “There al
ways are for something like this.”-
Bright resigned March 26 after
the regents elected Eller, a Houston
businessman, to replace him as
chairman. Bright said he resigned
because White had insisted on
Bright’s support if he runs for re-
election. Bright also objected to the
election of Joe Reynolds as vice
chairman of the board, saying Rey
nolds had too many ties to White.
In a phone interview with The
Battalion Tuesday, Eller said his
main goal as chairman is “to
strengthen the University System so
we can become a world-class univer
sity.”
Eller said he will continue to r*m-
A&M like a business — as Bright did
— with an emphasis on seeking
f reater efficiency and tightening the
ystem’s budget in accordance with
proposed stale cutbacks.
“if you don’t have to live within a
budget, it’s human nature to become
complacerit,” Eller said. “You build
See ELLER, page 14
LS. now talking ‘meeting,’
not summit with Gorbachev
Associated Press
I SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — In
an abrupt shift, the White House
said Wednesday that President Rea
gan is ready now for a get-ac
quainted “meeting’’ with Soviet
leader Mikhail Gorbachev, but that a
problem-solving “summit” would re
quire more preparation and must of-
Her the promise of success.
For weeks, top administration of
ficials have used the terms “summit”
and “meeting” interchangeably.
Robert C. McFarlane, Reagan's
|national security adviser, sought to
aut an end to that practice as he
briefed reporters at. a hotel 25 miles
■from the vacationing president's
-ranch.
The administration’s sudden in
sistence on a distinction between the
two terms clearly was an attempt to
dampen expectations of real im
provement in U.S.-Soviet relations
flowing from a Reagan-Gorbachev
conference.
Reading a written statement be
fore television cameras, McFarlane
said: “The president has stressed
that he would welcome a meeting
with the general secretary. W’e
would also welcome a summit at the
proper time and as the culmination
of an extended dialogue which has
produced tangible accomplishment.
“There is no predicting how long
this process could take,” he said. “It
could be this year.”
McFarlane said Reagan was ready
for a get-acquainted meeting with
Gorbachev on short notice but
played down the likelihood that it
would occur in the near future.
“The president believes that the
climate of the relationship is such as
to justify a meeting now and for the
foreseeable future, absent any dra
matic change in Soviet attitudes,” the
national security adviser said.
He said there would not have to
be a specific agenda for a meetng.
A senior administration official,
speaking on condition he not be
identified, said a Reagan-Gorbachev
meeting in New York would be likely
See U.S., page 14
Flower Child
Photo by ANTHONY S. CASPER
Brittany Arceneaux, 6, enjoys the arrival of
the bluebonnets along Highway 21 west of
College Station. The state flower flourishes
along state roads every April.
Medical authorities OK seat belt bill
By KIRSTEN DIETZ
Staff Writer
■ Area emergency medical person
nel approve of the proposed re
quired safety belt legislation and
agree that it would help reduce the
severity and number of injuries in
automobile accidents.
The proposed legislation would
require front-seat occupants of pas
senger cars to wear safety belts. It
would not apply to off-road vehicles
and trucks.
The Senate has approved the leg
islation. The House version of the
bill has been referred to subcommit
tee.
Sen. Kent Caperton. D-Bryan,
voted against the bill, saying that
each person should make his or her
own decision to wear a safety belt.
Millie Patterson, head nurse of St.
Joseph Hospital’s emergency room,
says the law is long overdue.
“There’s no argument not to use
them (safety belts),” she says.
Patterson says she has heard some
people argue that safety belts are
dangerous.
But she says that most people who
die in automobile accidents are
thrown from the car or hit the wind
shield.
Assistant Chief Bill Schaer, emer
gency medical services supervisor
Safety education program
promoting seat belt usage
The Safety Education Program
at Texas A&M is currently con
ducting a seat belt experiment at
selected staff parking lots on cam
pus. The goal of the program is
to increase the awareness, knowl
edge and use of seat belts by em
ployees of Texas A&M.
According to Texas safety offi
cials, 98 percent of the persons
killed in traffic accidents in the
state during the past two years
were unbelted at the time of the
crash. Dr. B. J. Campbell of the
University of North Carolina has
shown that belted front seat occu
pants are 60 percent to 65 per
cent less likely to die in a crash
than are unbelted occupants.
The A&M program employs
three methods to increase the
rate of seat belt usage. T he three
methods will be compared for ef
fectiveness at the conclusion of
the program. The methods uti
lized are incentives, educational
materials and a combination of
incentives and educational
materials. Each method is con
ducted at a separate parking lot.
The incentives consist of cou
pons for goods or services, gift
certificates and/or cash. Incen
tives are distributed to those driv
ers observed wearing seat belts
when entering the parking lot.
The incentives were contrib
uted by local businesses.
The program is supported by a
gram from the Texas Safety As
sociation and the Texas Depart
ment of Highways and Public
Transportation.
for College Station, and Lt. Charles
Nichols, emergency medical services
coordinator for Bryan, both say the
law would reduce the seriousness of
passenger injuries.
Schaer says the law’s greatest ef
fect would be a reduction in the
number of facial and head injuries.
Nichols says, “Anything that re
duces injuries just tickles us to
death.‘‘
Carolyn Wilson, director of nurs
ing at Humana Hospital, says she
doesn’t know if the law would cut
down on the number of motor vehi
cle accident victims brought to the
hospital.
The emergency room staff has no
way of knowing whether or not the
victim was wearing a safety belt at
the time of the accident, she says.
“But I think there is a lot of docu
mented evidence that seat belts re
duce trauma,” Wilson says.
According to the Texas Medical
Association, 12,000 to 15,000 lives
could be saved if all car passengers
used safety belts at all times. And the
chances of surviving a crash also
would increase more than 50 per
cent.
T he association says 60 percent of
all Texans do not use safety belts. *
Mike McNeill, chief of ambulance
operations at 'Texas A&M. said he
favors the proposed legislation.
But he says the legislation proba
bly wouldn’t affect A&M emergency
medical technicians because they re
spond only to accidents on campus.
“But 1 think it should make a sig-
niiicant difference in areas with a lot
of high speed roads and highways,”
he says.
If passed, the law would take ef
fect Sept. 1. But fines, ranging from
$25 to $50, would not be assessed
until after a three-month grace pe
riod ending Dec. 1.
Painstaking steps
required to obtain
deposit refunds
By JAY BLINDERMAN
Reporter
Remember that $140 security
deposit you put up last year for
electricity? Or the money you
gave to secure your apartment
lease?
Well, it’s almost time to get it
back.
Every year students pay depos
its in the fall and can get all or ,
part of them back in the spring.
In most cases, a student only
has to request the return of a de
posit and supply a forwarding ad
dress. Then the wait starts. The
deposit should be returned from
two to six weeks.
But some deposits are not re
turned in full.
The College Station utility
company subtracts the student’s
last bill from the deposit, and then
returns the difference, said Linda
Piwonka, a College Station utility
executive.
Bryan utilities uses the same
method.
GTE? tries to return all deposits
within 30 days, said a phone mart
representative. But if all you re
ceive is a bill, don’t be too
alarmed. When a deposit is due,
the student should receive it
within 15 days after the final bill
is sent.
Since the phone company does
not collect deposits from every
one, not everyone is entitled to
the refund.
People who have established
credit with GTE are not required
to pay a deposit when the phone
is connected.
To establish credit with GTE,
students must have had accounts
for at least nine months and must
have paid their bills on time.
A little more effort must be
taken to receive an apartment se
curity deposit in full.
See DEPOSITS, page 14