Experts advise how to save
money on utility expenses
— Page 3
A&M tries to forget NCAA snub
in time for first-round of NIT
— Page 8
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Texas A&M ■ % m m V •
The Battalion
'o . 83 No. 117 GSPS 075360 12 pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, March 13, 1986
leach Dance
(pdetsin Squadron 5 play Hacky Sack Wednesday
J the Quadrangle during the Corps of Cadets
Photo by MICHAEL SANCHEZ
beach day. Everyone in the Corp was encouraged
to dress and act as if they were at the beach.
Reagan sends Habib
to Central America
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President
Reagan, trying to bolster his case for
military aid for Nicaraguan rebels,
sent special envoy Philip Habib to
Central America on Wednesday and
said critics who claim the United
States is not interested in a nego
tiated settlement “are making ridicu
lous noises.”
There was renewed talk about
compromise between the White
House and Congress on the $100
million package Reagan has pro
posed, but administration officials
said privately the president had not
heard any proposals he deemed ac
ceptable.
Reagan, himself, said he was not
trying to signal a willingness to com
promise but would listen to any of
fer. He did not rule out the possibil
ity of delaying delivery of aid for up
to 75 days, to give negotiations a
chance.
“We’re continuing to talk about all
possibilities like that,” Reagan said.
Yet, presidential spokesman
Larry Speakes said, “We’re not inter
ested in anything short of getting the
president’s package approved, with
out restrictions.”
Habib’s mission drew fire from
Nicaraguan President Daniel Or
tega.
“He (Reagan) is trying to impress
on international public opinion that
he is interested in a negotiated solu
tion, but what he really wants to do is
complement his policy of war and
terrorism against Nicaragua,” Or
tega said in Managua.
Habib’s three-nation itinerary
does not include a stop in Nicaragua.
“You don’t go where you’re not in
vited,” Reagan said.
The Nicaraguan embassy in
Washington, however, said Habib
was welcome in Managua “if the ad
ministration honestly wants to nego
tiate.”
Reagan said Habib has the au
thority to visit Nicaragua for talks
with the Sandinista regime “if any-
See President, page 7
MB proposes cuts in research funds
By MONA L. PALMER
Stall Writer
fhe federal Office of Manage-
Jnt and Budget has proposed to
educe the amount of money univer-
lies can claim as administrative
Its of federally sponsored re-
arch.
bon Bugh, director of systems
inklysis and special projects, said
Itixas A&M’s administrative cost
Sobsists of general, department,
[sponsored project and student ad-
limstrations.
The cost is included in the over-
1, or indirect cost, of research,
bid.
Effective April 1, the sum of these
our administrative costs can’t ex-
26 percent of the project’s total
earch cost, he said.
Bugh said the revision is a two-
year phase-in ceiling that ultimately
will result in a 20 percent cap by
April 1, 1987.
“The idea here is to save the fed
eral government money,” Bugh said.
“They believe this will save them
$200 million annually.”
Currently, A&M charges 38 per
cent of its total project cost to over
head, and the administrative portion
is less than 20 percent, he said.
Jo Ann Treat, president of A&M’s
research foundation, said the revi
sion won’t affect A&M this year or
next year and said the University’s
administrative costs are lower be
cause A&M isn’t as bureaucratic as
cither institutions.
Treat said the difficulty in the re
vision is in the precedent it sets.
“This is one rather large step in
the direction of putting caps on cost
elements — some of those (caps)
may hurt us,” she said.
Treat said the 26 percent cap also
doesn’t consider variations in uni
versities.
Duwayne Anderson, associate
provost for research, said the revi
sion is complex and easily misunder
stood. Several universities will com-
plain on the basis of
misunderstanding, he said.
But many universities also are
complaining about the process and
the fact that the revision came as an
order and intrudes upon university
affairs, he said.
Mike Lytle, special assistant to the
chancellor for federal relations, said
universities usually have a say on the
revisions and give input before the
proposals are released.
But this time the proposal came as
a shock to the universities and the
OMB gave universities 30 days to
comment on the change, he said.
Lytle said the OMB can act on the
comments or choose not to.
A congressional hearing is sched
uled for Thursday to discuss the
OMB’s revision, he said. The hear
ing won’t change the revision, but it
will show congressional interest in
the issue, Lytle said.
“It’s a review, oversight and in
quiry into the problem,” he said.
Treat said the OMB disregarded
congressional orders that requires it
See OMB proposes, pa£e 7
Proposed Contra aid
troubles Latin America
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY — While Pres
ident Reagan pushes for approval
of $100 million in aid to Nicara
gua’s Contra rebels, Latin Ameri
can nations concerned about es
calating violence in the region are
voicing increasing support for
diplomatic solutions.
Even in South America, where
four nations are giving renewed
vigor to the lagging Contadora
peace effort, there is concern that
violence could trickle down to af
fect all.
Argentine Foreign Minister
Dante Caputo said last week that
South American nations would be
naive to think they could remain
unaffected by a spreading con
flict in Central America.
“An outbreak of war would
produce a rarification of hemi
spheric relations, something
which we don’t want,” Caputo
said. “This is also going to pro
duce a strong polarization of pub
lic opinion; we are going to see
Argentines against Argentines.”
Mexico, Colombia, Panama
and Venezuela formed the Con
tadora group in January 1983,
taking the name from the Pana
manian resort island where the
first meeting was held. They ar
gue that, although no concrete
results have been achieved, the
threat of a generalized war in
Central America has been
averted during the negotiations.
The effort appeared to
founder by late last year, but re
vived at a January meeting in
Caraballeda, Venezuela, attended
also by the South American sup
port group of Argentina, Brazil,
Uruguay and Peru.
In a document titled “Carabal
leda Message for Peace and De
mocracy,” the ministers said the
Contadora group offers the only
hope to overcome “the arms race,
foreign intervention and the poli
tics of force” in Central America.
In a recent interview with the
Washington Post, Colombian
President Belisario Betancur said,
“An initiative such as that which
Reagan has taken to ask for $100
million from Congress is mis
taken. I know that the American
government knows that Latin
America has its own language,
and that language is expressed
through Contadora.”
ources say NASA brought more remains, debris ashore
n
Associated Press
[APE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The sal-
: ship USS Preserver steamed into port
idnesday night and what sources said
vere more remains of Challenger’s astro-
nlits were loaded into three ambulances
md driven to a hospital.
B\lso aboard were parts of the flight deck.
Jit astronaut’s personal effects and two
mused space suits, as well as other debris
rom the shattered shuttle’s cabin, the
ources said.
■The big vessel clocked at Port (Canaveral
lithe Navy’s Trident submarine dock, a se-
:ure area across a channel away from the
al.lic. It had not been expected to return
jlhore until Thursday.
The remains were transferred to a hospi
tal at nearby Patrick Air Force Base, where
other body parts were taken after being re
covered Saturday.
Meanwhile, the county medical examiner
reported Wednesday that NASA had pre
vented a legal dispute over the astronauts’
bodies by agreeing to let his staff observe
the autopsies.
The flight deck was where Challenger’s
pilot, co-pilot and two of the five other as
tronauts sat during the shuttle’s brief flight.
The spacesuits recovered were aboard in
case of an emergency space walk.
The crew member’s personal effects
were recovered inside a storage locker.
A four-man search submarine, mean
while, located a piece of solid rocket booster
that a Navy spokeswoman said could be
from the segment of the right booster be
lieved responsible for the shuttle explosion.
The 4-foot-by-5-foot piece of debris
from the rear part of a rocket, weighing
400 to 500 pounds, is believed to contain
propellant and part of the external tank at
tachment ring, Lt. Cmdr. Deborah Bur
nette said.
Sources had said the medical examiner’s
office might seek a court order unless the
National Aeronautics and Space Adminis
tration and Air Force turned over the re
mains in accordance with state law, which
requires the local medical examiner to con
duct an autopsy on any person who is slain
or dies by accident.
The statutes apply even if deaths occur
on federal property, or, as in the case of the
Challenger accident, they occur away from
any jurisdiction but are brought into one.
Some remains of the astronauts killed
when Challenger exploded 73 seconds after
launch on Jan. 28 were brought ashore se
cretly Saturday night and were taken to
nearby Patrick Air Force Base for examina
tion by forensic experts, sources said.
Dr. Laudie McHenry, chief medical ex
aminer for Brevard County, said Wednes
day: “Since the discovery of the Challenger
capsule with its human remains, there has
been essentially a blackout of communica
tions between NASA, the Air Force and this
office. Two days ago, a conference between
representatives of Patrick Air Force Base
Hospital, the Armed Forces Institute of Pa
thology and the Brevard County medical
examiner gave lip service to a coordinated,
multiagency investigation, with favorable
comments by all present.
“As of 10 a.m. today, March 12, tele
phone communication from NASA indi
cates that representatives of the Brevard
County medical examiner may be present
at the investigations to be performed.”
The statement added, “There are no
planned lawsuits or court hearings concern
ing this investigation.”
Still and television photos were taken of
the newly found booster part and will be
brought to shore for development and
analysis.
See related story, page 5
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loder soys insurance
industry crisis phony
Associated Press
AUSTIN — The insurance in-
ustry has manufactured a phony
isisas the launch pad for a push
|)r new laws that could mean
ligher profits, Ralph Nader said
Wednesday.
I “Through a well-orchestrated
jampaign, the insurance lobby is
I'ying to hoodwink the public,
ie media and the Legislature
to believing that the only way
tat the industry can continue to
insure risks is to limit our basic
ghts to hold wrongdoers re-
fconsible for the harm they
puse,’' Nader said.
An industry spokesman said
the crisis that has caused increas-
ig premiums is real, not man-
factured. Rick Gentry said
judges and juries have been ap
proving higher awards in liability
and personal injury cases.
“We do know there are some
funny things going on out there,”
said Gentry, of the Insurance In
formation Institute.
He said the Nader claims are
based on a fear that “there is
some kind of boogey man out
there.”
“No one in our industry has
any desire to inhibit people from
being compensated. Our com
plaint is things are out of bal
ance,” Gentry said.
The Southwestern Insurance
I n f o rmation Service said
Wednesday the insurance crunch
is a result of “a civil justice system
bordering on a lottery mentality.”
list not a consumers' guide'
Hospitals’ death rates reported
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The govern
ment on Wednesday put out a list of
some 270 hospitals reporting unusu
ally high or low death rates among
Medicare patients, but warned
would-be patients against using it as
a consumers’ guide to hospitals.
The list immediately generated
debate over whether it smears repu
table institutions, provides valuable
new information for consumers, or
repudiates hospitals with high death
rates.
The Health Care Financing Ad
ministration, which runs Medicare,
released the statistical tables along
with a host of precautionary
statements that the numbers them
selves “have no intrinsic meaning”
and, therefore, are unreliable for
judging a person’s chances of success
in a hospital.
That assessment was shared by in
dustry representatives, some of
whom called the report unfair, mis
leading and meaningless.
Jack Owen, executive vice presi
dent of the American Hospital Asso
ciation, said, “It really is of no value
to the consumer. You can’t tell from
the list whether a hospital is good or
bad. . . . Our concern is that it will
frighten cause apprehension
among the elderly.”
But others said breakdowns of the
mortality figures to show death rates
for specific operations, such as coro
nary bypass surgery, will provide im
portant guidance for patients facing
surgery and trying to choose a hospi
tal — guidance that never before has
been made available.
Sidney M. Wolfe, of the Public
Citizen Health Research Group, said
“What it does is allow people to
make choices they were shut out
from making in the past.”
The data were compiled as part of
routine reviews of the care given pa
tients under Medicare, the govern
ment health insurance program for
the elderly or disabled. The hospi
tals were picked by a computer as
“outliers,” hospitals whose death
rates fell well outside the projected
range.
Some shortcomings in the data
were immediately apparent.
One Nevada institution, for exam
ple, was cited because it had a death
rate of 87.6 percent, while the gov
ernment’s computer said its pro
jected death rate based on diagnoses
should have been 22.5 percent.
But the institution is the Adelson
Hospice of Las Vegas. A hospice
treats only terminally ill patients and
the government’s computer is not
programmed to take that into ac
count.
Owen, of the AHA, said inner-city
hospitals also may be unfairly por
trayed. Terminally ill patients in
wealth communities may choose to
hire nurses and go home for their
last days, he said, lowering the hospi
tal’s death rate; poor patients in in
ner-city hospitals don’t have that op
tion and will die in the hospital.