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— Page 13
The Battalion
Serving the University community
Vol. 81 No. 11 GSPS 045360 14 pages
College Station, Texas
Monday, September 16, 1985
lush visits
Texas town
for GOP rally
Associated Press
iHEBBRONVILLE — Vice Presi-
idtiit Bush and a corps of Republican
(fficials courting Hispanic voters
jrame to this rural South Texas com-
■unity to issue a partisan message
|— the GOP is the party of the peo-
: pic.
■ Bush was invited to Hebbronville
■y Tony Salinas, the local GOP
■fiairman and a personal friend of
Itlie vice president,
I “Vice president and Mrs. Bush mi
Btsa es su casa (my house is your
house), but by the same token I hope
u don’t make me the same offer
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cause I’ll take you up on that" Sali-
las said at the event on Saturday.
1 Bush said he was glad to he deep
it the Lone Star State.
I “I guess the thing that unites us
■)day, transcending parties or politi-
lal idealogy, is this question of fam-
lyand patriotism and love of family
find these are the reasons I feel so at
■ome here in South Texas because
nhose values . . . are what South
Texas are all about,” he said.
Salinas, the publisher of the Jim
llogg County Enterprise, sent out
thousands of invitations throughout
outh Texas and about 2,000 people
ihowed up at his ranch outside of
;own.
Marching bands, drill teams and
epublican officials also were part of
he ceremonies.
Also attending the event were
[J.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas and
Texas GOP chairman George
Strake. They were joined by U.S.
Rep. Tom Loeffier, R-Hunt, and
former congressman Kent Hance, a
Democrat-turned-Republican.
Loeffier and Hance are making
plans to run for the GOP gubernato
rial nomination next year.
Loeffier said the Republican con-
tigent traveled to Heobronville to
prove a point.
“It means that the Republican
Party is the people’s party, that we
really care and that we have brought
better times for all Texans than ever
before,” Loeffier said.
Gramm, who introduced Bush,
also is a converted Republican, who
chastised his old party for not doing
enough for the people.
“We knew the problem was the
government, not America and so in
the time honored tradition of de
mocracy we changed the govern
ment ... we elected Ronald Reagan
and George Bush and under their
leadership we’ve brought the infla
tion rate to a standstill,” Gramm
said.
Bush talked about the struggles of
migrant farmworkers, education
and foreign policy.
"I believe in strong good relations
with our neighbors . . . it’s absolutely
certain, absolutely essential to our
foreign policy, that we continue to
keep these good relations and make
them even better,” he said about the
U.S.-Mexico relationship.
Photo by KYLE HA WKINS
Putting on the Ritz
Larry Lovelace and Bobby Oubre of Walton Hall, get dressed quickly
iu the ‘Get Up Late for School’ competition Saturclay afternoon. The
contest was part of the first Glements Hall Olympics. About $250 was
raised in the games with 20 percent of the funds going to purchase
Thanksgiving turkeys for needy members of the community.
Freight train derails,
spills acid into river
Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO — A Southern
Pacific freight train derailed on a
trestle, spilling up to 200,000 gallons
of sulfuric acid into a river, causing
fish to “disintegrate” and forcing the
evacuation of about 300 people and
closing a school, officials said Sun
day.
No serious injuries were reported,
and officials said the spill had been
contained by earthen dams.
Art Henson, superintendent of
the San Antonio division of the
Southern Pacific Transportation
Co., said Sunday afternoon that
work crews using 10 vacuum trucks
had removed about 25,000 gallons
of acid from the immediate derail
ment area on the Medina River
south of San Antonio.
But he said the evacuation would
continue until at least 8 a.m. today,
forcing the closing of Southwest
High School in southwest Bexar
County. The school is about a quar
ter of a mile from the spill.
An official with the Environmen
tal Protection Agency, said the spill
would not threaten deep water wells
that draw from the Edwards
Aquifer. But he said it could affect
shallow water wells near the river-
banks.
In addition, the Texas Depart
ment of Water Resources issued a
warning against irrigation from the
river downstream.
An EPA on-the-scene coordina
tor, Pat Hammack, said the accident
had produced a “major fish kill.”
He said some of the fish “disinte
grated” from the hot and highly ex
plosive acid, and it sheared small
trees as it ran into the river.
Henson said almost 1,000 tons of
lime are being added to the water to
neutralize it and that the PH level of
the water had returned “more to
ward normal” by Sunday afternoon.
Several people who complained of
skin irritation from the acid’s fumes
were treated by emergency medical
workers, said Bexar County sheriffs
Sgt. Ray Gerlach.
Bexar County Fire Marshal Carl
Mixon said evacuations were or
dered within one mile of the acci
dent.
Railroad officials said they didn’t
know exactly how many of the 21
acid-laden tankers had ruptured. In
all, 29 of the 100 train cars derailed,
officials said.
The acid leaked for about six
hours after the accident, which oc
curred about 11 p.m. Saturday, offi
cials said.
George Stevens, an investigator
with the Bexar County fire marshal’s
office, said that officials said a load
may have shifted on one of the flat-
beci cars, possibly causing the derail
ment.
The first train car that derailed
was a flatbed carrying wood, South
ern Pacific officials said.
The Medina flows into the Guada
lupe River, the source of water for
the town of Port Lavaca, more than
100 miles southeast of the spill,
Francis said.
But there was no danger to the
town’s 11,000 residents because the
river water is tested and treated be
fore it enters the water supply, he
said.
Skip Francis, district manager of
the Texas Water Commission, said
the accident site is not over the Ed
wards Aquifer, which provides
drinking water to San Antonio and
four neighboring counties.
Reagan to submit plan
to toughen trade policy
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President
Reagan plans to present a new,
somewhat tougher trade policy next
week that administration strategists
hope will help head off stronger
protectionist legislation now before
Congress."
A senior administration official,
speaking on condition he not be
identified, said Reagan would call
for new legislation and administra
tive action to “give us more discretio
nary clout” in dealing with unfair
trade practices.
But the source said the legislation
was unlikely to be ready for submis
sion to Congress when Reagan an
nounces his plan, now scheduled for
Sept. 23.
White House Chief of Staff Don
ald T. Regan said at week’s end he
hopes to have a hill “as quickly as
possible.” But he added: “It’s impos
sible to tell how you get down to
crafting it. There are a lot of players,
and you have to talk to a lot of peo
ple.”
The House Ways and Means
Committee is scheduled to vote
Thursday on a bill limiting textile
imports, despite strong administra
tion opposition.
“We don’t want to see quotas,” Re-
f an said. “We don’t want to see any
5 percent tariff coming.”
One official, speaking privately,
compared White House strategy to
that used last week when Reagan an
nounced limited executive actions
that blocked a congressional attempt
to invoke sanctions against racially
separated South Africa.
Beryl Sprinkel, chairman of Rea
gan’s Council of Economic Advisers,
See Reagan, page 10
Sprint takes ’86 fuel mileage race with 60 mpg
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A model of
the Chevrolet Sprint won the gov
ernment’s top fuel mileage rating
for 1986 cars and is the first auto to
score 60 miles per gallon on the
highway, the Environmental Protec
tion Agency said Sunday.
The Sprint ER, a Japanese-built
minicar tnat dethroned the Honda
Civic Coupe HF from the top spot it
held for the last two years, gets 55
S in city driving, according to an-
test results released by the EPA.
The Civic HF last year was rated
at 49 mpg in the city, 54 mpg on the
highway. This year, the best Civic
HF got ratings of 52 mpg and 57
mpg.
The Sprint’s city rating of 55 mpg
is the first time the 50 mpg mark has
been passed since the EPA applied
new defiation factors to the ratings
for 1985 models.
A Honda had achieved 51 mpg on
the city test in the 1984 model year.
The Sprint is built in Japan by Su
zuki Motors Corp., a General Motors
affiliate. It was sold only on the West
Coast in the 1985 model year, but
CM plans to offer it across the coun
try in the new model year.
The California list was dropped
because new cars now being sold in
that state contain the same pollution-
control systems found in cars sold
elsewhere, said Greg Dana, policy
analyst in EPA’s air pollution divi
sion.
Cars sold in California have to
meet different pollution standards,
in some respects more strict than the
rest of the country. Several years
ago, this usually meant similar mod
els would get 3 mpg or 4 mpg less
than cars sold elsewhere.
As usual, the top 10 fuel misers
were dominated by foreign cars with
small engines. The only U.S.-made
model in that group this year is a
diesel-powered Ford Escort FS, with
an engine built in Japan. It is rated
at 41 mpg in the city and 49 mpg on
the highway. The Escort FS is
ranked ninth, or fifth if ties are
accorded the same rank.
are diesel-powered — a Chevrolet
Chevette, a Volkswagen Golf, Ford
Escort sedans and wagons and their
Lincoln-Mercury twins, the Lynx,
and the Ford Tempo and its Lin
coln-Mercury twin, the T opaz.
The top gasoline-powered do
mestic model is the Wisconsin-built
Renault Alliance-Encore line, which
scored 35 mpg in the city and 44
mpg on the highway.
As usual, the worst mileages were
recorded by large luxury cars whose
buyers generally can afford the spe
cial “gas-guzzler” tax. That tax has
been gradually increasing and
reaches its final form for 1986, ini
tially a $500 penalty for each mile
per gallon the car is short of the un
deflated rating of 22.5 mpg.
Legislature broke constitutional law
A&M Faculty Senate plans lawsuit
By MARYBETH ROHSNER
Staff Writer
Texas A&M Faculty Senate members Friday
affirmed plans to sue the state on the premise
that the Texas Legislature has broken constitu
tional law by eliminating accrued sick leave for
approximately 1,700 members of A&M’s faculty.
Faculty Senate secretary Jerry Gaston said that
although a lawsuit has not yet been filed, attor
neys are now researching the possibility of suing
the state for passing an ex post facto law and de
nying due process of law.
“We intend to pursue (the case) instantly,”
Gaston said. “There are no indications that it
won’t go to court... this isn’t a scare tactic.”
Sen. John McDermott, proponent of an emer
gency resolution that suggested the Faculty Sen
ate take legal action, said he wanted to see the law
rescinded quickly.
“We want to send a signal to the Legislature
that we’re tired of being crapped on,” McDer
mott said. “They’ve violated our contracts, and
we can’t wait two years until the next session.”
Senate Speaker Jaan Laane said the group is
approaching the case with caution. An ad hoc
committee was formed to handle the issue.
“We’re mad, but we’re not going to make fools
of ourselves,” Laane said.
The legislation the senate is protesting was rec
ommended by the State Auditor’s Office and was
E assed as a rider to a 600-page appropriations
ill. Until the law went into effect September 1,
faculty members accrued one day of sick leave
E er month. However, the law eliminates sick
rave for all faculty that have hine-month or 10‘/a
month contracts. Those faculty members now
are required to have colleagues teach their classes
on a temporary basis and if that becomes imprac
tical because of long-term illness, emergency sick
leave may be granted by the administration. In
addition, professors who had accrued sick leave
before Sept. 1 are not allowed to use their sick
leave credit unless they are moved to 12-month
status.
Richard Robertson of the Auditor’s Office said
the rider vyas added because of problems of
keeping records of faculty absences. Gaston,
however, said that the Legislature had no legal
right to pass the law because the faculty received
their contracts in March before the law was
passed and the provision took away sick leave
benefits without due process of law.
Before taking the state to court, however, the
Faculty Senate must tackle the problem of find
ing funds to pay law fees and other expenses. Be
cause the lawsuit will be filed against the state
and Texas A&M is a state institution, University
funds cannot be used. The lawsuit must be filed
nploye
A&M employees as a whole, Laane said.
“This will be a concerted effort of groups
around the state,” he said.
Laane said the sick leave issue will be the main
topic of discussion at the next meeting of the
Council of Faculty Government Organizations,
which includes representatives from faculty sen
ates across the state.
University of Houston Faculty Senate Chair
man and law professor Stephen Huber said the
changes may bring about serious problems in re
cruiting at Flouston.
“It’s appalling that we don’t get sick leave,”
Huber said. “It’s the future of our universities.
What do you tell prospective faculty? . . . ‘Oh, by
the way, there’s no sick leave here.’ This will kill
recruiting.”
Huber added that the issue is turning into “a
highly visible political issue” and that teachers
and other state employees are “natural allies” for
the faculty groups.
Both Huber and Laane said that their adminis
trative staff have been supportive. Texas A&M
Provost Gordon Eaton said during last week’s
Faculty Senate meeting that President Frank
Vandiver would work with the faculty in grant
ing emergency sick leaves on a “case-by-case” ba-
Student killed in fall
from dorm window
By BRIAN PEARSON
Staff Writer
A Texas A&M student died
Sunday morning from massive
iitternal and head injuries suf
fered from a fall out of a campus
dorm room.
Travis Douglas Scribner, 18,
fell out of his dorm window on
the fourth floor of Walton Hall at
4:15 a.m. Saturday.
“Our investigation reveals that
it was an accident,” said Bob
Wiatt, director of Security and
Traffic.
Wiatt said Scribner, a fresh
man general studies major from
Forney, had been to a dorm
mixer and another party Friday
night. Before going to bed
around 3 a.m., Scribner visited
with friends in his dorm, Wiatt
said.
“At about 4:15 (a.m.), some
body in that dormitory (Walton)
heard the sound of a body strik
ing the ground, looked out the
window, saw him (Scribner) and
called us,” Wiatt said.
Wiatt said there are theories
but no definite conclusions about
how Scribner fell out of the win
dow. Scribner’s roommate was
out of town at the time.
“He had been drinking,
according to witnesses, but he was
not intoxicated,” Wiatt said.
Greg Phelps, a resident adviser
at Walton, said, “The detective on
the scene thinks that for some
reason he (Scribner) was leaning
out of the window or was in a
sleepwalking kind of state.”
Phelps said Scribner’s bed was
placed next to the window. He
said Scribner might have wanted
to get some fresh air, opened the
screen, leaned out, lost his bal
ance and fell.
Scribner was taken to St. Jo
seph Hospital by a University am
bulance where he died at 11:25
a.m. Sunday, about 31 hours af
ter the fall.
Funeral services will be held
Tuesday at Parson’s Foske Fune
ral Home in Olton.