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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 25, 1985)
TDC may have to release about 140 women inmates — Page 3 White: Justice Department is trying to 'chill' voter turnout — Page 5 Texas A&M football old, new gets microscope treatment — Page 6 The Battalion Photo by GREG BAILEY Hollywood Squares? Construction workers prepare a side of the Physics building for it’s windows. Work began on the new facility in March 1984 and is scheduled to be completed around the middle of January 1986. College Station, Texas Thursday July 25, 1985 White House says response against terrorism will vary Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Reagan administration said Wednesday its response to terrorists and govern ments that support them “will be proportionate to the losses in curred,” but it gave no indication it is contemplating any imminent action to avenge recent attacks on Ameri cans in El Salvador and elsewhere. In yet another warning similar to those issued in the wake of terrorist incidents in the Middle East and Central America, presidential spokesman Larry Speakes said, “The United States will not tolerate terror ist actions against our citizens. We will be prepared to take steps. “We have outlined in firm tones our policy on attacking terrorist cen ters or those responsible for terrorist attacks,” Speakes told reporters at a White House briefing. “That policy remains. The governments responsi ble understand that. We will take ap propriate action. “The level of our response,” he added, “will be proportionate to the losses incurred. Those that perpe trate such incidents, or governments that support state-sponsored terror ism, are on notice.” Asked if his use of the term “pro portionate response” indicates the United States would avenge “an eye for an eye, a life for a life,” Speakes said, “We’ll make those judgments at the time.” Asked when the United States might act, he replied, “Wait and see.” The administration has been warning of its intention to retaliate against terrorism since President Reagan took office in January 1981, when he pledged “swift and effective retribution” against those who vio late international standards of be havior. Similar “notices” to terrorists have been posted in the wake of the re cent hijacking of TWA Flight 847 and the murder of one of its passen- ers, the sidewalk cafe murders in an Salvador and a rash of terrorist bombings that followed around the world. Speakes refused to respond di rectly to a New York Times report that the administration considered attacking a Nicaraguan training base in retaliation for the murder of six Americans in El Salvador last month. But its publication prompted him to issue the latest warning. In a report similar to others pub lished earlier elsewhere, the Times J juoted unidentified State and De- ense Department officials as saying a plan was discussed at senior levels in the White House to launch an air strike against a Nicaraguan base where American officials believed one or more of the gunmen were trained. Union head won't be prosecuted Justice Department drops suit Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Justice Department, against the wishes of its field prosecutors and Labor Depart ment union investigators, has de cided not to seek the indictment of Teamsters president Jackie Presser, government sources say. Terry Eastland, the top spokes man for Attorney General Edwin Meese III, refused to confirm or deny that the department had de cided against asking a grand jury in Cleveland to indict Presser in con nection with the panel’s investigation of an alleged “ghost payroll” scheme at Teamster Local 507 there. But federal law enforcement sources, who agreed to discuss the politically sensitive case involving President Reagan’s lone major union supporter only on the grounds they remain unidentified, said prosecu tors in the field had been told there would be no attempt to indict Presser. About six months ago, the Justice Department’s field prosecutors had recommended to officials in Wash ington that Presser’s indictment be into sought. Presser, 58, who continues as sec retary-treasurer of his hometown Cleveland local as well as president of the 1.8 million-member interna tional labor union, said Wednesday: “Thank God that it’s over. I’m happy with the outcome.” A senior department official, allegations that people were paid for no-show jobs at the union local. Presser had steadfastly that he was guilty of any doing. In November 1983, Allen Fried man, Presser’s uncle, was sentenced in the case to three years in prison on a conviction of embezzling denied wrong- “You’ll have to ask the Justice Department why” Presser won't be prosecuted. — an unidentified Labor Depart ment source, who was dissatisfied that Teamsters presi dent Jackie Presser was not being prosecuted. without confirming that the case had been dropped, did say Wednesday that Attorney General Edwin Meese III, who had close ties to Presser during his years as a key White House aide to President Reagan, had taken himself out of any deci sion-making in the case. For nearly three years, the grand jury in Cleveland had been looking $165,000 in salaries from Local 507. Ray Maria, deputy inspector gen eral at the Labor Department who supervises that agency’s Office of Labor Racketeering, said, “The De partment of Labor has no investiga tion pending at this time.” He declined to go beyond that statement. But a law enforcement source said the only scenario in which the Labor Department would have no probe pending against Presser would be one in which the Justice Department had decided against asking for his indictment. The Labor Department’s racke teering office shares responsibility with the Justice Department for in vestigating union corruption. Investigators with the Cleveland office of the Labor Department unit had been involved in the investiga tion of Local 507 from the outset. But a department source said the agency’s role is now over and that its investigators “will not spend 10 sec onds on this case.” This source, expressing anger over the decision, said “you’ll have to ask the Justice Department why” Presser will not be prosecuted. David Margolis, a highly regarded Justice Department career attorney who heads the criminal division’s or ganized crime section and supervises the strike forces around the country, said Wednesday: Construction on schedule for Clayton Williams, Jr. Center < By BRIAN PEARSON Stuf f Writer Construction on a proposed $7 jmillion building, which will benefit tudents, faculty and former stu- ents is on schedule, an Association jof Former Students representative said Wednesday. Randy Matson, executive director of the association, said the 59,000- square-foot Clayton Williams Jr. Center is still expected to be com pleted in September 1986. “It will be a very functional build ing not only for former students — but for faculty, staff and students to use,” Matson said. Located at the corner of Jersey Street and Houston Street, the cen ter will be the office for the 35-mem ber staff of the former students’ as sociation. Matson said there are about 120,000 former students. The proposed center is marked in the 1984-85 Campus Directory’s map of the University campus. Matson said the building will pro vide a meeting place after games, and rooms can be reserved for grad uation ceremonies and other Uni versity activities. “We’ll have the capability of hav ing banquets, receptions and those types of things for former students and people on campus,” Matson said. Matson said the semicircular- shaped center will be designed to represent the beliefs that Texas A&M stands for. “We wanted something that rep resents the strength and tradition that the association and A&M has, so the building committee felt like the semicircular-shaped building with Roman architecture and big col umns would exemplify that,” Mat- son said. “The white marble will make it very attractive.” Sections of the aerobics track and the flying disc golf course have been altered because of the five-acre con struction site. He said current alternate routes of the track, which loop around the Floral Test Gardens, have been es tablished to keep joggers from run ning on adjacent streets, but “90 per cent” still insist on running along Jersey Street. “It’s crazy, but that’s what they want to do,” he said. An improved version of the aero bics track is expected to he com pleted by Aug. 5, Matson said. He said some sections of the track will be temporary until the building is fin ished. “I think the track will be better than the old one once it’s finished,” he said. Matson said the location for the center was chosen so that it would be close to the Memorial Student Cen ter and Kyle Field. “It was by far the best location on campus,” he said. Matson said the money for the center was donated by former stu dents. When the employees of the asso ciation move into their new building, the association’s current offices in the MSC will be used by the Texas A&M Development Foundation, he said. Some Texas teachers ready for March tests White House President's lobbyist climbing adminstrotive ladder Associated Press WASHINGTON — Suddenly lie seems to be the third most powerful man in the White House. But outside Washington, few even recognize his name. W. Dennis Thomas was a White House lobbyist who had worked at the Treasury Depart ment when Donald T. Regan headed that agency. W’hen Regan took over as White House chief of staff earlier this year, Thomas was regarded by some as a likely candidate for promotion. But in May, the 41-year-old former congressional aide jumped ship. He left the relative obscurity of his job as one of the president’s men on Capitol Hill to accept a lucrative partnership in the inter national accounting firm of l ouche Ross. The scuttlebutt was that he would be making $200,000 a year plus assorted fringe benefits and bonuses while handling govern ment relations for the firm, which had been looking for someone to fill that job for nearly two years. A colleague, Cindy Cipriani, said that Thomas “was very well respected in a position of lead ership and high visibility” at Touche Ross. “People work for years and years to become a partner, and partners rarely come from the outside,” she said. David A. Brody, a longtime Washington lobbyist, recalled that he ran into Thomas on the street shortly after the former White House aide left govern ment. “For once I’ve got time on my hands,” Brody remembers Thomas saying. But the new executive lasted only 2'4> months in his first-ever non-government post. On July 15, the day doctors dis covered President Reagan had colon cancer, the White House press office distributed a routine personnel announcement to re porters gathered at Bethesda Na val Hospital, where Reagan was a patient. “The president announced to day his intention to appoint W. Dennis Thomas as assistant to the president,” the statement said. Most presidential aides have two titles, one showing rank, the other describing one’s job. But Thomas has only one title — and that one is misleading. Although he is assistant to the president, his real function is to serve as a key aide and adviser to Chief of Staff Regan, who brought him back into the White House at about one-third of what he reportedly was making at Touche Ross. “He’s not deputy chief of staff yet, but I bet he will be,” said one White House aide, describing Thomas’ new role on condition he not be identified. Hiring Thomas also consti tuted an indirect admission that the staff structure Regan estab lished last winter just wasn’t working very well. The chief of staff, a former Wall Street executive who brought several bright young un derlings with him from Treasury, found himself inundated by de tails and no one to whom he could comfortably delegate au thority. Thomas, one official said, is Regan’s idea of the person he needs for more pragmatic advice. And Brody called Thomas “a bright, capable young pragmatist. He’s not an ideologue. He’ll bring valuable insight to that job.” Associated Press AUS TIN — No Texas teacher in his or her “right mind” wants to take the required competency test but the Association of Texas Professional Educators will not challenge the tests, the group’s president said Tuesday. “The test is going to show us there are good teachers in the state of Texas.” said Sue McGarvey, a Hallsville High School teacher. “We need to stop talking about going to court, take the tests and get it behind us.” The Texas State Teachers Asso ciation, the state’s largest teacher group, has threatened to go to court to challenge the competency test sys tem. All Texas teachers will take the test next March. Teachers must pass the test to remain in the classroom. The test is a result of HB 72, the 1984 education reform act. McGarvey said, “No teacher in his or her right mind wants to take that test, but it is here. Our association will obey the law.” ATPE has 42;000 members, mak ing it the second largest of the four major teacher groups in Texas. “We will support the competency test although we do not believe that it is a true evaluation of a teacher’s teaching ability,” she added. “Stu dents must abide by no-pass, no-play and the exit-level test. How can we give tests to our students when we ourselves refuse to take them?” ATPE favors a teacher appraisal system based on classroom perfor mance. Teachers who fare poorly on those evaluations should be required to take an exam, according to Mc Garvey. ATPE will help teachers prepare both for the Subject matter in the test and stress caused by such exams. The group’s leaders met here this week. “Teachers need help with the frustration and emotional pressure of taking the test,” McGarvey said. “It’s like an aggravation,” she said of most teachers reaction to the exam. “Of course it’s insulting. “And of course there’s a chance I would fail the test. I don’t intend to.”