Local managers describe
hotel industry as 'overbuilt 7
Page3
Mattox urges court to uphold
videotaped testimony law
— Page 4
Baseball players turn down
owners' newest proposals
— Page 6
i
The Battalion
Vol. 80 No. 183 USPS 045360 6 pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday August 1, 1985'
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?s couldrX WASHINGTON — Acting on in-
ill teamsti e ll*g ence information supplied by
NCAA im ^ n > tec l States, the Salvadoran
ialtobeas lrmec l forces have successf ully retal-
only thinj ‘ alec * t° r ^ ie J une ^ murders of
reevearsis cans ’ D e f ense Secretary Caspar W
Wi
says Marines’ deaths avenged
UI Jj Four Marines and two other Ameri-
Defense Secretary Casj—
einberger said Wednesday.
A senior h'entagon official, who
inv ® J S p 0 ke on condition that he not be
1 high in;
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eked isn'i:
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t theprosji
ayers coib|
lind, ween
^school *i identified, later disclosed that the
he said I Salvadorans had killed 21 guerrillas
IH i IIid and captured nine others believed to
111 c 51 ! be members of the organization that
killed the Americans.
The government of El Salvador
“with our assistance has taken care
of — in one way or another, taken
prisoner or killed ... a number of
the people who participated in that
killing,” Weinberger said during an
interview with the Mutual Broad
casting System.
The secretary provided no fur
ther elaboration. Fred S. Hoffman,
the Pentagon’s acting chief spokes
man, later explained that Wein
berger “did not mean to suggest the
actual triggermen had been cap
tured or killed.”
While declining to provide details,
Hoffman Said the retaliation came in
the form of successful attacks inside
El Salvador on a particular guerrilla
group. U.S. military personnel did
not participate in the attacks, he
added.
“The situation is that the Salvado
ran government forces recently in
flicted a major defeat on the guer
rilla organization which planned and
carried out the murders of the Ma
rines; a major defeat on the organi
zation. The nature of our assistance
to the Salvadorans was in the form
of intelligence.”
The senior Pentagon official dis
closed, however, that the attacks by
the Salvadorans had been mounted
over a period of several weeks
against a group known as the Cen
tral American Revolutionary Work
ers’ Party.
“They were one of the groups that
claimed credit for the attack and we
believe they were the ones responsi
ble,” the official said. He added the
Salvadorans had reported to Wash
ington that they had “killed 21 and
captured nine members of the
group, including two top leaders.”
The first successful strike against
the guerrilla organization was con
ducted about two weeks alter the
June 19 murders, the official said.
The retaliatory efforts were not dis
closed before now because the Salva
dorans wanted to be sure they had
done everything possible to catch the
group’s members, he added.
In San Salvador, U.S. Embassy
spokesman Jim Williams said he had
“no knowledge” of the action de
scribed by Weinberger “but would
check on it.”
Maj. Carlos A. Aviles, spokesman
for the Salvadoran military high
command, said he also had no infor
mation on the matter.
But a Salvadoran army officer.
who asked not to be identified for se
curity reasons, said troops had re
cently attacked a suspected encam-
pent of the Central American
Revolutionary Workers’ Party.
Weinberger’s disclosure rep
resented the first confirmation the
United States had moved to retaliate
the murders of the Americans. The
New York Times reported last week
the Reagan administration had con
sidered mounting an air strike on a
Nicaraguan base where some of the
gunmen were believed to have
trained, but decided instead to issue
one final warning to the Nicaraguan
government.
TDC to build
■
new unit at
Palestine
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care if maj
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Associated Press
DALLAS — The Texas Board of
Corrections, scurrying to meet a
:ourt order to ease inmate over
crowding, decided Wednesday to
build a $60 million maximum-secu
rity prison at a site near Palestine.
The Texas Department of Cor
rections’ Ellis Unit in Huntsville was
chosen as a secondary site, but board
i need tod) chairman Robert Gunn said, “. . . un
less there’s an earthquake, it’s going
to be at Coffield.”
Coffield is a TDC prison unit just
outside Palestine, an East Texas city
of about 16,000 that is southeast of
Dallas.
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The new unit, to be built on 300
acres of donated land, will house
2,250 inmates, employ more than
K le and have an annual pay
out $14 million. Construc
tion is to begin in December and be
completed by September 1987.
Gunn, speaking after the closed
meeting Wednesday, said he voted
against the Coffield site because he
thought the one in Huntsville would
cost less to maintain and be easier to
staff.
But Lindsley Waters said mem
bers opted for Palestine because it
would be cheaper to build there and
because labor and utilities would be
less expensive than in the Houston
area.
“In the Dallas area, construction
costs are 4 to 6 percent lower than in
the Houston area,” he said, which
makes a difference of about $2.4
and $3.6 million in the project.
“After considering all recommen-
dations, we were fully satisfied that
our decision for the number one lo
cation would be Coffield,” he said af
ter the 7-1 vote.
Officials are hoping the unit,
whose funding was approved in the
1985 Legislature, will ease the over
crowding that the TDC is under
court order to reduce.
Palestine beat out Odessa, Nava-
sota, Gatesville and Huntsville in the
site selection process. Officials from
the five cities came to Huntsville in
July with slide shows and brochures
to try to lure the TDC into their
communities.
House, Senate
pass bill to aid
Contra rebels
Duck!
One member of this couple seems to be con
templating flying off to find a cooler spot.
Photo by GREG BAILEY
The pair are temporary residents of Central
Park in College Station.
Change may stop jams
Streets to go one way
By BRIAN PEARSON
Staff Writer
People accustomed to driving on
the south side of the Texas A&M
campus might experience some con
fusion Aug. 12 when three two-way
streets will be made into one-way
streets.
Bob Wiatt, director of the Univer
sity Police Department, said Asbury
and Spence streets will become one
way streets for people coming onto
campus while Ireland Street will be
come a one-way street for those
going off the campus.
Wiatt said the new traffic flow
should relieve the “bottlenecks” that
occur when drivers attempt to turn
left onto University Drive from these
streets.
“They’re trying to turn left and it
becomes a humungusjam,” he said.
Wiatt said the changes have been
discussed for years now but that
University officials finally decided
“to bite the bullet to find out if it
works.”
Wiatt said motorists should see
the “readable” and “impressive”
signs, but he says he still expects
some traffic problems to occur.
“There’s always a possiblility that
if people don’t look at the signs and
if they go by habit, they could smash
right into each other,” tie said.
“We expect some people to have
their heads in the clouds,” he said.
Wiatt said although the streets will
be monitored by University police
officers, motorists who take a wrong
turn will not be given a ticket at this
time.
“We’re not going to ticket the first
guy who makes a wrong turn,” he
said.
Wiatt said it’s uncertain when the
University police will begin to ticket
drivers making wrong turns onto the
streets.
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Con
gress gave final approval Wednes
day to a foreign aid bill, drafted
sanctions against South Africa, and
worked on still another 1986 budget
compromise in a flurry of activity as
the House and Senate rushed to
ward an August vacation.
Both the House and Senate
worked into the evening on money
matters, with the House voting to ef
fectively abolish the Synthetic Fuels
Corn, and snarling consideration of
a bill that would start $27 million in
aid to the Contra rebels in Nicara-
£ ua -
The rush of activity is designed to
clear the way for both houses to ad
journ for their month-long break
starting at the end of the week.
On the budget, Senate Budget
Committee Chairman Sen. Pete Do-
menici, R-N.M., reported “substan
tial headway” in private bargaining
as negotiators tried to salvage a defi
cit-reduction package of spending
cuts for Congress to consider this
week.
The House passed a supplemental
money bill to provide nearly $14 bil
lion for this fiscal year, including
funds for controversial water pro
jects and for aid to the Contra rebels
fighting the Sandinista regime in Ni
caragua.
The controversy over the bill was
not, ironically, over renewing direct
U.S. aid to the Contras, which had
been the topic of a major Hill fight
earlier this year.
The bill would start the flow of
$27 million in aid with the Central
Intelligence Agency and the Penta
gon barred from a role in handing
out the money.
Instead, several proposed water
projects sparked the fight, which led
the House to amend the conference
report.
That change stalled Senate con
sideration of the measure on
Wednesday night, but leaders said
they hoped to bring it up on Thurs
day.
If the Senate does not agree with
the House changes, the measure will
go back to the conference commit
tee.
Before taking up the supplemen
tal, the House approved 262-161 a
two-year, $25.4 billion foreign aid
authorization bill.
It was the first time in four years
Congress has managed to pass such
a bill and get it to President Reagan
for his signature.
The bill authorizes $12.7 billion
for each of the next two years in aid
to other countries, including $3 bil
lion for Israel for each year and a
one-time $1.5 billion shot of emer
gency economic aid.
Egypt would get $2.1 billion in
each year, plus $500 million in emer
gency aid.
The bill also included the contin
uation of the $27 million in Contra
aid past the Sept. 30 closing date in
the supplemental bill.
Congress also worked on what to
do about South Africa, as a confer
ence committee took up the differ
ing Senate and House versions of
bills aiming economic sanctions at
the country because of its policy of
racial segregation.
House and Senate conferees
agreed on an immediate ban on the
U.S. sale of South African gold coins
as part of a package of economic
sanctions aimed at pressuring Preto
ria to end its policy of racial segrega
tion.
The compromise also would pro
hibit the export of U.S. nuclear tech
nology to South Africa, as well as the
sale of computer materials used to
enforce the racial policy of apart
heid.
New bank loans also would be bar
red, but American firms would be
permitted to make new investments
in South Africa.
Leaders in both houses said they
would press for a final vote on the
compromise before Congress begins
a month-long recess on Friday, al
though conservatives, including Sen.
Jesse Helms, R-N.C., have raised the
possibility of a filibuster in the Sen
ate.
White-winged dove
season cancelled
Associated Press
AUSTIN — The Texas Parks
and Wildlife Commission on
Wednesday cancelled the white
winged dove hunting season this
year, meaning the loss of millions
of dollars to Rio Grande Valley
businesses.
In the past, the two weekends
in September have been a festive
and social outing as well as sport
for up to 45,000 hunters from
throughout Texas and beyond.
Frequently, the hunting sched
ule called for shooting in the day
time and celebrating at night in
the Mexican border towns.
Ron George, the state agency’s
white-winged dove program
leader, recommended the
cancellation, saying poor nesting
conditions have caused the lowest
bird population in more than 20
years.
“The 1985 breeding census in
dicates 361,000 white-wings are
nesting in the valley this year,”
George said. “This represents the
lowest count since 1953, the last
year the season was closed.”
George said citrus orchards,
which provide about 50 percent
of the white-wing nesting habitat
in the Valley during a normal
year, have suffered a 54 percent
decline since the record Decem
ber 1983 freeze.
George said many birds tried
to nest in surrounding brush.
Heavy rains and winds in June
and early July washed away the
nests and the eggs.
Seat belt law beneficial, official says
By CINDY IRVING
Reporter
Beginning Sept. 1, Texas citizens will be re
quired to wear a seat belt at all times under the
new seat belt law.
Sgt; Fred C. Forsthoff of the Department of
Public Safety says the new law will require only
front-seat passengers in cars or trucks weighing
up to 1,500 lbs. to wear a seat belt.
He says after the law goes into effect, there will
be a 90-day period without penalties. During this
time police may issue a verbal or written warning
to people not wearing seat belts.
“We’re hoping that a voluntary compliance
will be received by citizens,” Forsthoff says. “We
hope citizens will wear the seat belts because they
are good for you, not just because it is a law.”
Forstoff says for passengers 15 years or older,
the responsiblity for buckling up does not lie with
the driver. The passengers themselves will be
ticketed.
The driver will be ticketed in cases where
front-seat passengers from the ages of four to 15
are not riding with a seat belt.
All children under the age of four must ride in
a car seat.
The penalty for not wearing a seat belt will be
a fine of $25-$50 plus court costs, Forstoff says.
Since conditions can vary with the fine de
pending on the situation, Forsthoff says it will be
up to the judge’s discretion to set a fine reasona
ble to each case.
Forsthoff says people may be exempt from the
seat belt law if they have a physician’s statement
giving medical reasons they are unable to wear a
seat belt. And he says they are also exempt if they
can present a physician’s statement within 10
days after they received a ticket.
Forsthoff also says employees of the United
States Postal Service are exempt while perform
ing their duties.
Nancy Hatfield, a traffic accident manager
with the Texas Transportation Institute, says she
is very much in favor of the seat belt law.
“I think wearing safety belts will become more
of a habit and people will realize the benefits
from them,” she says.
However, Hatfield says that some people will
be bitterly opposed to the law because wearing
seat belts is a matter of personal preference.
Forsthoff says he believes the new law will be
an advantage.
“I believe our fatality rate in Brazos County
will be reduced,” he says.
Elmer E. Schneider Jr., chief of police of the
University Police Department, says enforcement
of the seat belt law on campus w ill be no different
from the state enforcement.
He says there are a lot of misconceptions about
many laws on campus.
“The campus is no different than the city,”
Schneider says. “The law applies statewide and it
applies to everyone.”
Hatfield says, “I see the only major drawback
of the seat belt law will be the enforcement.”
She predicts fatal and serious injuries will be
reduced by 60 percent or more with the enforce
ment of the new law.
Forsthoff says, “There is nothing to lose by
wearing a seat belt, you can only gain.”