A&M researchers seek to raise
interest in shark as seafood
— Page 4
A&M has two players named
to AII-SWC basketball teams
— Page 7
L
Texas A&M
Battalion
il. 83 No. 110 LISPS 075360 12 pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, March 4, 1986
SANCHU
rug tests
offices
pported
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m raisedi
te.
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utes later. I
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Col.
ASHINGTON — Drug traf-
ng is organized crime’s most lu-
jive enterprise and constitutes a
nal emergency that should be
with workplace drug testing and
essive intervention by the U.S.
ary, a presidential panel con-
ofTan"ai| dedMonda y-
: )00 strorj W a re P orl to ^ res ' dent Reagan,
mio Lopet
ict
ie| Commission on Organized
line said the U.S. dru^ problem
■become a threat to national secu-
ty and justifies drastic measures
t as drug testing in the work-
said, ‘Wei
> did it bat
lough evi
reasonable
d.
to the en-
sidents.
Ie who are
in the mi-
look them
n the eye
he study says government con-
ts should not be awarded to com
ics that fail to implement drug
ing programs.
it a news briefing, the commis-
’s deputy director, Rodney B.
th, stopped short of saying that
working Americans should un-
go drug testing, but added, “We
saying to every employer in the
ion that ‘you should consider the
ungtoflo ability of drug testing.’ ”
.. Smith acknowledged that the tests
e not 100 percent accurate and
at there was concern among com-
ision members about employees
airly losing their jobs as a result.
But he said drug testing technol-
can be improved and that losing
b unfairly “is one small issue in a
ichlarger issue.
Photo byJOANIE PATE
What’s The Scoop?
Denise Johnson, a sophomore economics major dips ice cream to
make a shake at a local ice cream parlor.
Astronaut angry flaw
in booster concealed
Associated Press
SPACE CENTER, Houston —
NASA’s astronaut corps was not in
formed that engineers had been
concerned for more than two years
about the shuttle’s solid rocket boost
ers, and a senior shuttle commander
said Monday he was “angry” about
that.
Astronaut Henry Hartsfield, one
of four astronauts who broke a
month-long silence to talk to report
ers Monday, said he learned about a
problem with seals on the solid
rocket boosters only after Chal
lenger blew up on Jan. 28.
“I was angry about it,” he said.
“Still am.”
Hartsfield and three colleagues —
Vance Brand, Gordon Fullerton and
Joe Engle — all veteran shuttle com
manders, said they were never made
aware of any parts of the shuttle
called “criticality 1,” whose failure
would have resulted in a cata
strophic loss.
Fullerton said the astronauts
didn’t have the time to examine each
system aboard the complex shuttle.
He explained that “there’s an im
plied trust (in the engineers) in fly
ing on the shuttle.”
None of the four would agree that
there was a flaw in NASA’s launch
decision process, as has been
charged by the presidential commis
sion investigating Challenger’s acci
dent.
Hartsfield said he felt it was too
early to say the system was flawed,
but added that he was concerned
about reports that critical engi
neering concerns about the solid
rocket boosters never reached the
top levels of NASA.
“If it did happen that way, I am
troubled,” he said.
Hartsfield said he felt NASA was
under no extraordinary pressure to
launch any of the shuttle missions
and said that before one of his
flights he was given a choice of pro
ceeding despite a computer problem
or waiting for the problem to be
fixed. He decided to delay the flight
and said there was no pressure to
change his decision.
Brand said he believes the astro
naut corps should have been advised
about the engineering concerns in-
See 4 astronauts, page 12
NASA considers return
to throwaway rockets
WASHINGTON — With only
three space shuttles remaining
and customers lined up for the
next decade, NASA is thinking
about returning to the throwaway
rockets the shuttle had rendered
nearly obsolete.
In the meantime, acting NASA
administrator William Graham
has ordered modifications on the
shuttle Discovery to enable it to
carry space probes that use pow
erful Centaur rockets to reach
distant planets. Two such space
craft were to have been launched
in May; one to orbit the sun, and
the other to explore the planet
Jupiter.
The Ulysses spacecraft to the
sun was to have been launched
from Challenger. The Jupiter
probe, called Galileo, was to have
been aboard Atlantis, which also
had been modified to accommo
date the Centaur rocket.
NASA said, “Schedulers have
been instructed to evaluate alter
native approaches based on 12-or
18-month delays before resump
tion of space shuttle flights.”
It. added that special attention
is being paid to payloads involv
ing national security and those
with specific scientific deadlines,
such as the Ulysses and Galileo
missions, which can only be
launched when Earth and Jupiter
are in proper position.
tote senators told year-end debt may reach $600 million
IS
i sign-
^pril 4 '
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utdoor
and aS
ind i n '
and an
palsy
Associated Press
AUSTIN — Facing a $1.3 billion budget
jrtfall, House lawmakers decided Mon-
j to lay off some staff members while
tators heard predictions the state may be
ced to write up to $600 million in hot
ecks by year’s end.
Treasurer Ann Richards told a rare cau-
s of Senate members, called to discuss the
price dilemma, “Right now, money is
ing out faster than is coming in.
“By mid-December, we will have paid out
nost$2 billion more than the state’s Gen
ii Revenue Fund has in the Treasury,
lis puts the state into a serious financial
men.”
If oil prices — and oil tax revenues — re
am at lower than anticipated levels, state
vernment may find itself asking banks to
mor checks for which funds won’t be im-
ediately available, Richards said.
While up to $1.4 billion could be trans-
rred from other state funds to help cover
e checks, she said, several hundred mil-
m still might remain outstanding.
“We are working on short-term, tempo-
ry solutions designed to get us through
itical periods of a few days’ duration,” she
id. “Should these measures fail to cover
“We are working on short
term, temporary solutions de
signed to get us through critical
periods....”
Ann Richards, state treasurer.
the state’s obligations, the Treasury would
have to enter into some variation on an old-
style arrangement used in the past which
calls for the state banks to honor hot war
rants.”
Earlier in the day, the House Adminis
tration Committee voted to slash House
spending by nearly $7 million over the next
18 months and lay off 8 percent of the
House permanent staff.
Committee chairman Mike Millsap said
the action is designed both to help the state
cope with the projected $1.3 billion short
fall and to warn state agencies to pare their
own budgets.
“Failure to undertake similar measures
across state government may only presage a
cut in more basic services,” Millsap said.
The cuts totaled 19 percent of the House
administrative budget. Gov. Mark White
has asked all state agencies to reduce spend
ing by 13 percent through Aug. 31, 1987.
Such cuts are necessary, officials say, to
absorb revenue losses brought about by the
severe plunge in oil prices over the last two
months that led Comptroller Bob Bullock
to reduce the state’s income estimate by
$1.3 billion.
Millsap, D-Fort Worth, said the House
reductions will save $6.89 million.
“All of the (cuts) involved difficult
choices, and none of them were arrived at
without serious thought and careful plan
ning,” he said.
Some key cuts include:
• Laying off 8 percent of the 166-mem
ber permanent House staff.
• Freezing House hiring and limiting re
placement of employees lost through attri
tion to one out of four.
• Eliminating funding for legislative
caucuses and the House Study Group, the
independent research organization that has
provided analysis of legislation and other is
sues beefore lawmakers. Several study
group employees also would be let go.
• Postponing the 3 percent employee
pay raise scheduled for Sept. 1.
“I think whistling in the dark is
what we’re doing if we don’t do
something right away. ”
Sen. John Traeger, D-Seguin.
• Restricting travel by lawmakers and
staffs.
Millsap indicated that Monday’s spend
ing cuts might not be the last.
“This is not the last time we’re going to
meet to take action,” he said.
The committee’s decision to elimiate
funds for the House Study Group brought
protest from Rep. Ernestine Glossbrenner,
D-Alice, chairman of the study group.
Glossbrenner said she hoped “the com
mittee was not using the fiscal crisis as an
excuse to take control of the independent
research group.”
In the Senate, that chamber’s administra
tion committee approved a 13 percent
spending cut — but no layoffs in its perma
nent staff.
However, Sen. Roy Blake, D-Nacog-
doches, committee chairman, said the plan
to save some $2.88 million would include a
hiring freeze and elimination of the
planned 3 percent employee raise.
Gov. White has insisted that state agen
cies can eliminate the potential budget defi
cit through spending cuts, and he has re
fused to call a special legislative session to
deal with the problem.
However, Sen. John Traeger, D-Seguin,
said Monday that failure to call a special ses
sion could have dire consequences next
year if oil prices continue to drop.
“I guarantee you that if that deficit con
tinues to mount, by the time they meet next
year we’re going to be in stark terror as far
as meeting the state budget,” Traeger said.
“They better do something now and get
some money coming in,” he said. “There
isn’t any short cut or magic.”
Traeger said a special session should be
called and the sales tax raised to 5 percent
from the current T'/s percent to raise the
needed money.
“It’s whether you want to gut up now and
anticipate it or wait until you get into a big
hole,” he said. “I think whistling in the dark
is what we’re doing if we don’t do some
thing right away.”
Reagan seeks jump
in Contras’ funding
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President
Reagan called on Congress Mon
day to support $100 million in as
sistance to anti-communist rebels
in Nicaragua, saying those who
resist will he held “fully account
able by history.”
Reagan said that if the Sandi-
nista government achieves final
victory, it would “open up the
possibility of Soviet military bases
on America’s doorstep, threaten
the security of the Panama Canal
and inaugurate a vast migration
march to the United States by
hundreds of thousands of refu
gees.”
Reagan said that if Congress
rejects his request for $70 million
in direct military assistance and
S30 million in non-lethal humani
tarian aid, it would mean “consol
idation of a privileged sanctuary
for terrorists and subversives just
two days’ driving time from Har
lingen,”
U.S. assistance to the Contras
now is limited to $27 million in
non-lethal aid, which expires at
the end of March.
Rep. Dave McCurdy, D-Okla.,
a key moderate on the House In
telligence Committee who sup
ported humanitarian aid for the
Contras last year, said Monday he
will oppose the administration’s
new request.
McCurdy said nearly all the
House members who could be ex
pected to go either way, will likely
vote against the proposal. He
added, however, that he believes
a compromise package probably
will emerge from the Congress
after the current request is de
feated.
McCurdy said the administra
tion is seeking a disproportionate
amount of money for the Contras
compared with the economic de
velopment funding it is request
ing for Nicaragua’s democratic
neighbors.
Opposition to confirm presidency
Aquino gains Loyalist support
Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines — Leaders
of Ferdinand E. Marcos’ political
party pledged Monday to cooperate
with Corazon Aquino and to have
her presidency confirmed by the Na
tional Assembly, in which they hold
two-thirds of the seats.
The nation’s central bank said it
was taking legal action to recover
documents and money Marcos took
with him last Wednesday when he
fled the country he had ruled for 20
years.
Demonstrations were reported in
two Manila suburbs and a province
north of the capital against Aquino’s
decision to replace some local offi
cials before their terms expire.
In another development, guerril
las of the communist New People’s
Army killed 15 policemen and four
civilians in an ambush in the Bicol
region of southern Luzon Island,
the Philippine Constabulary said.
At least 23 people have been
killed in rebel attacks that began at
the weekend.
After a daylong caucus of the
Marcos party, the New Society
Movement, its leaders said they rec
ognized the legitimacy of Aquino’s
government and were ready to have
the National Assembly confirm “this
fact that cannot be denied.”
The National Assembly proclama
tion that Marcos had defeated
Aquino in the Feb. 7 presidential
election led to a military rebellion
and civil uprising that forced the 68-
year-old former president to flee.
Charges of fraud came from inde
pendent observers, the nation’s Ro
man Catholic bishops and foreign
governments, including that of the
United States.
Bias Ople, who was labor minister
under Marcos, said: “If Mrs. Aquino
seeks constitutional legitimacy, then
she’s entitled to that. We ... genui
nely welcome that.”
The caucus also drafted a resolu
tion asking Aquino to stop dismiss
ing pro-Marcos mayors and provin
cial governors whose terms expire
June 30.
She and Local Government Min
ister Aquilino Pimentel have been
criticized, even by some supporters,
for canceling local elections sched
uled for May and replacing incum
bent officials before their terms ex
pire.
Jose Fernandez, director of the
central bank, said government law
yers were applying in Hawaii for a
court order stopping further
movement of a planeload of posses
sions Marcos took along when the
U.S. Air Force flew his entourage to
Hawaii.
Fernandez did not mention Mar
cos by name, but said he had orders
to “recover assets that have been de
livered (to Hawaii) which we con
sider to be in clear violation of exist
ing central bank regulations.”
Fernandez did not say what Mar
cos took with him besides money,
but news reports from Washington
have quoted U.S. officials as saying
the cargo included boxes of docu
ments believed to contain informa
tion about his business dealings.
They also were quoted as saying
Marcos took the equivalent of $1.1
million in Philippine currency.
Taking national currency out of
the country without central bank ap
proval is illegal, and Fernandez said
there was no such authorization.
Communist insurgents had been
relatively inactive since the election.
Vice President Salvador Laurel
had predicted most of them would
lay down their arms when a new gov
ernment took over.
Aquino said when she was sworn
in that some rebel commanders told
her they were prepared to surrender
to her.
Col. Jovencio Sales, Philippine
Constabulary chief of staff in Albay
province, said that in addition to
those killed, 10 policemen and seven
civilians were wounded in Monday’s
ambush of a military truck.