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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 12, 1985)
amtem mum mummmmm a Miami claims '85 CWS title; Hurricane hits storm by Horns — Page 6 Fleas bother residents of B-CS; Pests not for pet owners only — Page 3 mmuumummum 00 (ttimlJi ?er$ p-p- Te xa s A&M 1># The Battalion Serving the University community Vol. 79 No. 156 (JSPS 045360 8 pages College Station, Texas Wednesday, June 12, 1985 -dbe bills to aid i. md ft children ram nearby college nd you )n your salary 3 si >rma!j d e 3e. AssociaU’d Press AUSTIN — With the help of a 3- ear-old girl, Gov. Mark White igned into law Tuesday two bills to telp Texas communities fight child tbuse. “These two bills will safeguard the physical and emotional well-being of the children in Texas,” While said in It ceremony held in the shade of a tree on the playground of the Austin Community Nursery School. Christina Flores threw her arms uound the governor’s neck and [tugged tight. Later, at While’s urging, the little UhonousTy nm vow “Cnvisu” un- er White’s name at the bottom of a leasure estafilishing a C^hildren’s rust Fund. The state treasury trust fund will Bprovide grants to community groups “or child abuse and neglect preven- jtion programs. The fund will be financed through an increase in marriage li cense fees, from $7.50 to $25. The fund will get $12.50 out of each li cense and counties will get $5 for is suing the license. A new nine-member Council on Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention will be created to oversee the trust fund. “Texas child care workers con firmed almost 37,000 cases of child abuse or neglect in our state last year,” White said. “This is 37,000 too many.” The other bill signed authorizes criminal background checks for those who operate or work in day care centers. White said passage of the bill makes Texas eligible to re ceive $800,000 in federal funds to train day care employees. Optical illusions 1 hese cars appear to be parked under the Texas Wind Tunnel stretches 396 feet and attains a max- A&M Wind Tunnel near Easterwood Airport but imum diameter of 30 feet, actually are parked in a nearby parking area. The lexas boasts the most converts Democratic leaders switch to GOP Associated Press yic# iuter acer Sikes uisers WASHINGTON —Democratic cutlers have been switching parties m many states, and a gathering of the Republican converts at the White House showed Texas w'ith the larg est contingent. New GOP members were ap plauded Monday for their move in a day of festivities at the White House with Reagan calling their move “an act of courage and an act of con science." The officials received promises of future support f rom slate and party leaders who hope they will help sell their Democratic peers back home on switching parties before the 1986 elections. Representing about half of the current and former elected officials who have switched parties in Texas since 1980 were 20 Texans who flew to Washington for the day of brief ings, party leaders said. State Rep. Gary Thompson of Abilene, who announced Friday he was switching was one of the newest Republicans at the gathering. Rea gan, who joined the Republican Party in 1962, told the state and local officials that they had joined the party of the working man and woman. “Let the other party have the en trenched interests and the power brokers and special interest politics,” Reagan said. “We don’t have any of that.” Texas Republican chairman George Strake said of the day’s festi vities, “It’s a big recruiting tool. It helps for the future, knowing we’re treating the ones who have switched right.” Strake said a number of Demo cratic officials are considering be coming Republicans. He refused to identify them by name, but said that included four county or state district judges, two state representatives and a state senator. “Trying to get these people to switch is like trying to get a mustang into a corral,” Strake said. “Every time you get him near, if you make one little false move, he spooks away. It’s a touchy thing. It’s a traumatic thing for some of them to do,” Thompson speculated that many more Texas Democrats would be come Republicans during 1987 in anticipation of a heavy Republican turnout at the polls for the 1988 presidential election. Meanwhile, Democratic leaders denounced the switchers as traitors. Democratic national chairman Paul Kirk noted that the new Repub licans include potential GOP guber natorial candidates in Texas, Michi gan and Massachusetts, referring to former Rep. Kent Hance of Lub bock, Michigan Gounty Executive William Lucas and former Massa chusetts Gov. Edward King. “The Republican Party appar- entlv can’t find any qualified candi dates to run for governor next year in big states like Texas, Michigan and Massachusetts, where strong popular Democrats are in office,” Kirk said. Stanley chosen to lead Baptists for second year Associated Press DALLAS — A mammoth South ern Baptist Convention on Tuesday re-elected the Rev. Charles F. Stan ley as president, re-enforcing- the grip of the fundamentalist wing on the U.S.’ biggest Protestant body. The Atlanta pastor beat moder ate-backed challenger, the Rev. W. Winfred Moore, of Amarillo, by a vote of 24,453 to 19,795 at the de nomination’s largest meeting in his tory. Stanley’s election to his second consecutive one-year term rep resented 55.3 percent. Moore re ceived 44.7 percent. The outcome strengthened the hand of fundamentalists in seeking to curb what they call liberalizing trends about the Bible in the denom ination’s national agencies and insti tutions. It was the seventh successive year for fundamentalists to win the top office, and they gained increasing strength over the national units. Shortly afterward, the convention elected Moore as first vice president by acclamation. Prior to the written balloting at Stanley’s behest, the sea of people prayed in repentence for the bitter feuding between moderates and fundamentalists over denominatio nal directions. Fundamentalists have been charg ing that a “liberal tilt” about the Bi ble has tainted Baptist institutions. Moderates repudiate the charge, calling it camouflage for a bid for power in the denomination of 14.3 million members. Stanley, 52, is pastor of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta. He has been criticized for his church’s rela tively small contributions to the de nomination’s cooperative program. Moore, 65, pastor of Amarillo’s First Baptist Church for 25 years, has been head of Texas' Baptist con vention for the last two years. Navy alters plans because of spying Associated Press WASHINGTON — Navy officials said Tuesday an alleged spy ring un covered over the past three weeks gave the Soviet Union “very valuable information” that compromised cer tain communications codes and equipment as well as operating tac tics. They said the Navy has made changes to counteract the damage, and its vships and weapons, including submarines carrying nuclear mis siles, remain safe. Navy Secretary John F. Lehman and Adm. James D. Watkins, chief of naval operations, said the security breaches may help explain signifi cant strides made by the Soviets over the past decade in making their own submarines more difficult to find. Watkins and Lehman offered their first public assessment of the spy ring allegedly operated by re tired Navy officer John A. Walker Jr., as the Pentagon also announced a set ies of steps to tighten access to classified material. Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger ordered a 10 percent reduction in the number of security clearances for military personnel and civilians working for defense contractors. That number is estimated to be 4.3 million people. The 10 percent reduction will ap ply to the 900,000 Navy personnel with clearances, and Lehman said he had set a goal of a 50 percent reduc tion “as soon as feasible.” Commanders in the fleet will lose their ability to approve security clearances on their own, he said. Watkins said the Soviets “gained information that would let them bet ter understand what they observed” about U.S. tactics and operations, calling that “very valuable informa tion.” But he said that “much of the in formation is perishable.” In other related developments, Pamela K. Carroll, girlfriend of John Walker Jr., said she knew noth ing of Walker’s alleged spying and contended she was unfairly fired from her job as a Norfolk, Va., po licewoman because of her ties to him. She was dismissed Monday, eight days short of the end of her one-year probationary period. She said she has cooperated with authorities and testified before a federal grand jury. In West Dennis, Mass., Barbara Jov Crowley Walker said she is keep ing a prayer vigil for her only son, Michael Walker, who also has been charged with espionage in the case. ■ Quinlan dies after long coma state Associated Press MORRIS TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Karen Ann Quinlan, who lapsed into a coma a decade ago and prompted a historic right-to-die court decision, died Tuesday at age 31, a nursing home official said. Any further statement would have to be issued by the family, the nursing home said. Quinlan lapsed into a coma April 15, 1975, at her boyfriend’s birthday party. She had appar ently consumed several gin and tonic drinks on top of what doc tors said was a “therapeutic” amount of a mild tranquilizer and aspirin. The mixture was never firmly established as the cause of her condition. McCaw will not drop WGN from service By DARYN DEZENGOTITA Reporter Bryan-College Station residents need no longer be outraged. McCaw Cablevision will not drop Chicago independent channel WGN from its programming, a company official said Tuesday. “We depended heavily on an A.C. Nielsen survev which indicated viewership of WGN in Brazos County was approximately one per cent," Joseph DiBacco, McCaw regional vice president told reporters at a press conference. “This report, together with our own infor mal survey, indicated dropping WGN would be an acceptable alternative to an increase in the price of the Family Pac.” The decision to delete WGN and replace it with ('able Headline News was a move to lower expenses in order to offset the losses re sulting f rom the introduction of a $4 Basic ca ble service, one of four planned changes in the current service, DiBacco said. The Basic package would consist of five sta tions: Bryan’s KB TX (CBS), College Station’s KAMU, Dallas independent KTVT, Temple’s KCLN and the Electronic Program Guide. People who choose to downgrade their service from the current Family Pac to the Ba sic package in July would not have to pay the S25 installation fee. The Family Pac costs S12.50. For an additional S2 a month, Basic viewers could purchase the eight-channel Broadcast Pac. Customers who purchase this package also would have to pay a $250 installation fee for a custom-built filter. “McCaw is attempting to meet community needs by offering an economically priced Ba sic cable service,” DiBacco said. However, he said, after the original May 26 announcement, McCaw received about 150 calls while Bryan and College Station officials received around 30 calls and 10 letters. After reviewing these comments and hear ing the concerns of the two city councils, the company decided to leave WGN on cable channel 33, the same position it has occupied since the establishment of the Family Pac. Critics charge the new Basic package vio lates Section 7 of the College Station franchise ordinance because none of the five stations of fered are NBC affiliates. Section 7 states: “The Company currently furnishes and shall continue to furnish to users a minimum of 12 signals or channels. The minimum or basic selection 'will in clude at least one station from each of the ma jor networks (subject to availability) and all full power local stations, including the PBS station at Texas A&M.” In response, DiBacco said the city council only requires three networks if they are avail-, able. Due to unavoidable technical interference from local broadcast station KBTX, McCaw cannot add an NBC affiliate and remain in accordance with Federal Communications Commission regulations. McCaw will add CNN Headline Service which provides continuous news, updated and repeated every 30 minutes, 24 hours da ily. It will occupy the previously unused chan nel 15. DiBacco said that the first decision to drop WGN was made without consultation. “We did an informal survey,” he said. “And the Nielsen ratings are a nationally accredited service. With the number of subscribers we have, some complaints w'ere probable, but the amount of press coverage was disproportio nate. “The press overplayed it for their own ben- efit. We listened to the viewers and respond ed.” Although McCaw already has received calls about the SI2.50 Family Pac, the company will not start accepting orders for the service until June 17.