The Battalion
Vol. 82 No. 68 GSPS 075360 16 pages
College Station, Texas
Friday, December 6,1985
Senior Citizens Anfii
5 Mon-Fri Matinees
First show except Hdi
Cancer center
Iwamped with
anxious callers
Associated Press
■ WASHINGTON — News of a
promising new cancer treatment at
tfic National Cancer Institute
ptumpted a Hood of calls to the fed
eral center Thursday from people
(asperate for a cure.
■ “What they're saying is, our
(Bother, our brother, our sister is dy-
iig at this very moment," said Carol
iwise, the institute’s chief of public
i|ji(|uiries. "We have nothing to lose,
we want to be a candidate.”
■ Paul Van Nevel, the institute’s as-
|||buate director for communications,
said,“Our 800 (telephone) numbers
iiic jammed this morning.”
I The callers want information
lout a new treatment, called adop
ts e immunotherapy, that turns or
dinary white blood cells into “killer
ills” that attack malignant tumors.
The treatment was announced
Wednesday in an article in the New
England Journal of Medicine.
1 In 11 of 25 patients with advanced
cancer, doctors were able to shrink
tumors by at least 50 percent and, in
one case, apparently eradicate the
disease.
1 Officials cautioned that the treat
ment is still highly experimental,
1 carries toxic side effects and is also
very expensive. It is available only at
the cancer institute in Bethesda,
d., a Washington suburb.
“This is really the first step," said
Dr. Steven Rosenberg, director of
the research project. “But it demon
strates that it is possible to manipu
late the immune system and make a
vgriety of cancers in a variety of loca
tions disappear.”
Rosenberg also cautioned that the
program “can only
;nt patients a month,
i hundred inquiries a
Experimental
‘Ifeat about eij
GiMinCiiifr We get severa
Hjust as previous “breakthroughs”
l in the search for a cancer cure have
spawned a huge public response, so
has this one.
I “What we’re looking at are people
searching for every possible cure For
their loved ones,” Case said. “People
are willing to go anywhere. They
say, T have money, I’ll do anything
to buy my way into this.’ ”.
-2457
OWTIMES FOR TODAY
peopl
cancer society’s Lehmann said. “It
ay get their hopes up unrealisti-
Keep Brazos County Beautiful
Photo by ANTHONY S. CASPER
St. Joseph 4-H members Jason Bienski, 15, (left)
and Billv Bonifazi, 12, combine efforts to beautify
Brazos County by planting wildflower seeds along
Highway 6 north of Bryan Thursday. The 4-Hers
joined with Brazos Beautiful and the State Depart
ment of Highways and Public Transportation.
Opposition
moy support
widow Aquino
Texaco Inc.
Arguments continue in Getty Oil Co. dispute
try-
).53 bil-
The procedure uses interleukin-2,
a natural hormone of the immune
system, to transform ordinary white
Bood cells into cancer warriors.
These cells are treated outside the
body and then injected into the pa
tient, where they attack cancerous
tumors throughout the body.
■ To some of the 462,000 people
that the American Cancer Society
savs will die of cancer this year, the
therapy signals hope, however slim.
■ “We’re encouraged by any new
ufeakthrough, any new treatment
that looks promising. But we don’t
today51 want to give people false f
hope,” the
Associated Press
HOUSTON — Texaco Inc.
ing to invalidate a record
lion judgment, argued Thursday
that Pennzoil Co. was not entitled to
a penny but should get no more than
$500 million in its failed attempt to
take over Getty Oil Co.
Visiting State District Judge Solo
mon Casseb Jr. must decide whether
to accept, reverse or reduce the
award, tne highest civil judgment in
U.S. history. The hearing was to
continue Friday, and it was uncer
tain whether Casseb would rule
from the bench immediately upon
conclusion or take the matter under
advisement.
A jury ruled Nov. 19 that Texaco
illegally persuaded Getty Oil to
break a previous merger agreement
with Pennzoil. Texaco purchased
Getty Oil for $10.1 billion early last
year.
Jurors recommended Texaco pay
Pennzoil $7.53 billion in actual dam
ages and $3 billion in punitive dam
ages.
Pennzoil attorney Joe Jamail, ref
erring to recent comments by Tex
aco that the award threatens its exis
tence, asked that the Houston-based
company be given the entire amount
“based on the evidence and not
propaganda.”
“They didn’t like what the jury
did, so now they’ve launched a me
dia blitz, a propaganda campaign to
try to strike fear in the nation’s judi
cial system,” Jamail said.
“It justice depends on the amount
of damages, then we’re doomed,” Ja
mail said.
But Texaco attorneys argued that
the “astronomical” judgment, if
upheld, would hamper American
free enterprise and destroy the na
tion’s third-largest oil company.
“When you nave big, public com
panies being sold, you should have
as much competition as possible,”
Texaco attorney David Boies said.
“But some may not want to compete
because some jury may conclude
that despite all the evidence, all the
. research, the assurances, will find a
red it easing holiday shopping
Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines — The
long-divided political opposition ap
peared Thursday to be uniting be-
nind the presidential candidacy of
Corazon Aquino, the widow of assas
sinated opposition leader Benigno
Anuino.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court
agreed to hear nine separate peti
tions appealing for cancellation of
the Feb. 7 special election called by
President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
Marcos indicated he might agree
to participate in a nationally tele
vised debate requested by Mrs.
Aquino: “My conversations with la
dies have always been pleasant, and I
presume 1 will survive this encoun
ter,” he said.
Aquino blames Marcos for the
Aug. 21, 1983, assassination of her
husnand and for the acquittal Mon
day of 26 men accused of complicity
in the killing.
Until Aquino was gunned down at
Manila airport when he returned
from three years of self-exile in the
United States, many thought he
might be able to defeat Marcos in an
election.
Most observers said if more than
one opposition candidate split the
anti-Marcos vote in the election
scheduled for February, Marcos’ vic
tory would be assured.
Presidential aspirant Salvador H.
Laurel said he and Aquino will
jointly announce the name of the
single opposition candidate Sunday.
‘AVe will make a very important
announcement as to who will be the
official candidate of the united op
position ... to topple this unwanted
and repugnant regime,” Laurel said.
Aquino, expressing surprise at
Laurel’s statement, declined to say if
she would join him. “Let’s wait until
Sunday,” she said.
But Aquino said she would only
run for the presidency. She said ear
lier she had offered the vice presi
dency to Laurel.
“I have been perceived as the uni
fier, and many have indicated they
would only give way to me,” she said,
referring to other presidential aspi
rants who now support her. “I don’t
think it would solve anything in this
country for me to run as (a candi
date for) vice president.”
Aquino said Wednesday she did
not expect it would be easy to oppose
Marcos in an election. She also said
that she would try to solve a growing
communist insurgency by negotia
tion “so that all of this fighting and
killing will stop.” The government
says an average of 10 people are
killed each day from fighting.
Aquino said she eventually wants
to remove U.S. bases from the Phil
ippines, but she said no other for
eign power should be allowed to
have bases in the islands.
contract and impose a heavy
judgment.”
“Whatever size Texaco is or is not,
an amount like that is not just large,
it is not just massive,” added Texaco
attorney Richard Keaton. “It is dan
gerous and irrational and not sup
ported by the law.”
Texaco argued Pennzoil is enti
tled to “damages of zero” but in
sisted the maximum award should
be about $500 million, the differ
ence between the $112.50 a share
price Pennzoil offered for Getty
stock and the $128 a share Texaco
paid.
If the judge upholds the $10.53
billion award, Texaco can seek an
other jury trial and appeal the ver
dict.
But Texas law requires that if de
fendants appeal a damage
judgment, they must post a bond in
cash or liquid assets equal to an
award, plus attorneys’ fees and inter
est.
Texaco’s appeal bond would total
See Testimony, page 12
By PAGE PATTON
Reporter
People sometimes have a ten
dency to overindulge during the hol
iday season in food, drink — and
credit.
■“Before you start charging
^ Christmas items, it’s a good idea to
cast tin eye on your budget,” says Dr.
?;i Marjorie Smitn, a family economics
“specialist with the Texas Agricultu
ral Extension Service.
■“See how much you can afford to
spend, and then decide on how
much you want to spend,” she says.
Man c! iv) "Smith says that if people can
—-'j charge less than 20 percent of their
IOW TIMES FORTOO^m^^iy take-home pay, they can
stay out of danger witn consumer
credit.
JJ*;“People tend to look at one pur-
'‘■fctse independently and say ‘I can
afford that,’ and they run over the
20 percent,” she adds.
■Another hint Smith gives consum
ers is to establish an emergency
fund.
■“The emergency fund should be
equal to three months living expen-
1-8300
E JOURNEY OF
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845-2611
ses,” Smith says, “and this should be
established before you commit your
self any further.”
She adds that with the emergency
fund people can pay any unexpected
charges that come up, and they can
anticipate during the year the sum
they will need for Christmas gifts.
Smith reminds consumers that
they don’t have to buy the most ex
pensive gifts, and they can make
some presents.
“There is a lot of influence on
people today from advertising and
society for them to buy material
goods,” Smith says. “It has not been
determined whether you buy more
if you have a credit card, but it may
influence when you buy something."
If people have no money when
entering a store, but see something
they want, it is easier to buy it on
credit than wait until the money is
available, she says.
“Credit cards have definitely
made impulse buying easier,” Smitn
says. “And society has the attitude of
if I buy it now, I’ll be so much hap
pier.’”
Dan Hagan, operating vice presi
dent of Foley’s in College Station,
says 70 percent of the purchases
made at Foley’s are made with
credit.
According to Clark Petty, opera
tional manager of Dillard’s in Col
lege Station, Dillard’s also has 70
percent of its purchases made on
credit.
Hagan adds that the average
transaction at Foley’s is between $35
and $40.
Smith recommends that, when
shopping around town, make sure
carbons are torn up or destroyed.
“This is an easy safeguard people
can do to protect themselves,” she
says.
Smith also suggests that consum
ers watch their large purchases
made on credit.
“With most cards you can pay a
minimum balance,” she says. “If you
have a large total, you end up paying
interest for awhile before you
offthe
Smith
helpful and convenient, but adds
that it’s easy to get in debt or other
difficulties if proper records are not
kept.
“It’s a better habit to try to save
money and pay cash for things,”
Smith says. “It will at least save on in
terest charges.”
NASA's Beggs claims
he'd do it all again
Associated Press
SPACE CENTER — NASA
Administrator James M. Beggs,
on the first day of a leave of ab
sence, told agency employees
Thursday that federal fraud
charges against him “are baseless”
and tnat he expects to be cleared.
“There is nothing that I did in
the case involved that I would not
do again if I had to do it over
again,” Beggs said in a closed-cir
cuit television appearance
beamed to all centers of the Na
tional Aeronautics and Space Ad
ministration.
Beggs, who was executive vice
president of General Dynamics
Corp. before he took the top post
at NASA, was indicted Monday
with the company and three of its
officials on charges they de
frauded the government in a
weapons contract.
Tne indictment alleges that
General Dynamics tried to hide
cost overruns on the Army’s Set.
York anti-aircraft gun project by
shifting expenses from a non-re-
imbursable category to one in
which the government would
have to pay.
“These charges relate to things
that happened in General Dy
namics six and seven years ago,”
Beggs said on the closed-circuit
appearance. He said he has re
viewed the charges and believes
“we acted in an entirely ethical,
legal and moral sense.”
“The charges, therefore, are
baseless,” he added. “They are
outrageous, ridiculous and I feel
confident that once this is
brought to trial that I’ll be com
pletely exonerated of the
charges.”
Beggs contended that suits
against defense contractors are
creating a climate that will blight
the work of NASA and of the de
fense community.
“The very adversarial
relationship that is being created
by the suits against the contrac
tors, the very bad kind of
statements that are being made in
the press, and elsewhere, is going
to make our job in the future
much more difficult,” he said.
“Not just here, but in the Defense
Department as well.”
In what he called “a message
for the press,” Beggs said, “I
surely hope that when I am exon
erated, they will pay the same at
tention to that story that they
have paid to this story.”
Beggs said he has full confi
dence in William R. Graham, who
will be acting administrator while
Beggs takes a leave of absence.
ke said Philip E. Culbertson,
an associate administrator in
charge of the space station devel
opment, will assume the additio
nal title of general manager to as
sist Graham.
Clayton Act revisions proposed
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President
Reagan’s Cabinet has recommended
an overhaul of one of the nation’s
basic antitrust laws — the Clayton
Act — to ease standards on cor
porate mergers, particuarly for im
port-injured industries, administra
tion officials said Thursday.
Under the proposal, firms able to
demonstrate neavy losses from over
seas competition could apply for an
exemption of up to five years from
merger-restricting provisions of the
st tor awhile betore you pay 71-vear-old act, tlie officials said,
e major part of the principal.” the package of proposed amend-
ith says she thinks credit is me nts, initiated by Commerce Secre
tary Malcolm Baldrige, also would
relax standards on mergers in gen
eral, as well as sharply scale back pe
nalties for some antitrust violations.
Baldridge claimed the current law
— which bans certain proposed
mergers in advance — hinders U.S.
firms in foreign competition.
He said the thrust of the proposed
changes would be to allow mergers
that would increase an industry’s
competitiveness.
Baldrige said that under current
law, the government has only two
options for dealing with an industry
that pleads injury from imports: give
it assistance in the form of tariffs or
quotas, or turn down its petition.
The package before the president
is a slightly toned down version of an
earlier Baldrige proposal which
would have flatly repealed the sec
tion of the Clayton Act — section
seven — requiring advance Justice
Department review and approval of
mergers.
The final version, endorsed by At
torney General Edwin Meese III,
will be submitted to Congress as a
legislative package with tne Justice
Department’s blessings if approved
by the president, said Mark Shee
han, a Justice Department spokes
man.
The proposed revisions would not
exempt inaustries from price-fixing
provisions of antitrust law, accorci-
ing to B.J. Cooper, a Baldrige aide.