Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 22, 1986)
Tuesdav. April 22, 1986/The Battalion/Page 3 State and Local Sail Langham of 1*1 Kappa Alpha (left) l)oxes with Sail Armstrong of Beta Theta 1*1 at the Brazos Cotmtv Pavilion. Armstrong won the light heavy weight division of Sigma Phi Epsilon’s 10th annual Fight Night. The fraternity donated $500 to Bra zos Beautiful. I ; poch can really pull her weight ummsii /irate. l)U Rf“ ive lii.l el ns if ‘s ouini SAK AN FONIO (AP) — Ms. Pis- Ifate, an 18-month-old pit bull Tier, likes to pull her own weight iiifiti more. i The 41 -pound dog owns the title lt"St[ongest Dog in the World,” an noil she won after pulling 3,450 uikIn of dead weight. Since Feb- aryj when she won the title, she I' In oken her own record and lied 1,100 pounds, j'raee," as the terrier is ( ailed, has uled fallen dead trees off Robin Duerler s propertv, die dog’s owner and trainer. She has pulled a 2,900 pound four-passenger Bonzana air plane f rom a hangar to a runway. Petee began training to pull weights when she was six months old. Duerler said she started the training !>v having the pooch lug plastic bleach bottles filled with sand at mind the yard. Duerler said she decided to get into dog pulling because she thinks pit bull terriers have an undeserved bad repiitation. "We were all sitting around one dav and thought we should utilize all the intelligence, ability, heart and courage that has been bred into these dogs... for lighting and use it to pull." I he same rationale was the basis for forming the South Central Pull- dog Association about six years ago, she said. Some 75 to 130 dogs now compete in regional competition. Female contractor still lives in fear of union extortionists By Mary Ann Harvey SuitT Writer Ann Blackwell, one of the few fe male contractors in America, said she can never forget the four most horrifying years of her life in which she lived in constant fear and carried a pistol in her purse almost every where she went. The 41-year-old mother of two dealt with a gang of union thugs who once controlled Local 406-Lake Charles of the International Union of Operating Engineers in Loui siana. Blackwell was at Texas A&M Wednesday to speak to construction science students and to tell her story. She was born in New London, Conn, and moved to Texas with her family at the age of two. Her father, Len Malinowsky, was a shipyard worker when he started his own con struction company in 1964. At 18, Blackwell married a young Navy officer and they had two chil dren. The marriage ended in di vorce in 1975. Two years later, Blackwell formed her own company, Maco Construc tion Corp. Her company flourished — building roads, parks and indus trial facilities. Blackwell’s problems with Local 406 began in 1981. Her father’s company won a contract from Par- sons-Gilbane, the prime contractor on a U.S. Department of Energy construction project at the U.S. gov ernment’s Strategic Petroleum Re serve facility at West Hackberry in Louisiana. When her father’s gen eral superintendent suffered a heart attack, Malinowsky asked his daugh ter to fill in. She agreed that her company would oversee the job. It was on this job that Blackwell came up against union thugs who threatened to murder her superin tendent, sabotage her equipment and extort thousands of dollars. Blackwell said the man behind these threats was Willard Carlock. Carlock ran Local 406 and was known for his powerful influences over the industry. She said most peo ple found it hard to believe he would ever go to jail because he had been Ann Blackwell tried and acquitted so many times before. However, Blackwell would not give up the fight against Carlock and his men, although she seemed to be all alone at times. She had contacted executives of Parsons-Gilbane, and DOF. personnel in New Orleans and Washington, hoping to trigger a full- scale investigation, but got nowhere. In Mav 1983 she received a mes sage that a powerful figure in Loui siana’s labor circles wanted to talk with her. The message, Blackwell re calls, referred to the man as the “Godfather.” She met him in Lake Charles. Fhe man told Blackwell he knew all about her and that she liked to fight. He threatened her and told her not to “snitch.” Blackwell contin ued her battle. She finally got help from Rep. John D. Dingell (I)., Mich.), chair man of the House Energy and Com merce Committee and Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R., Utah), chairman of the L’.S. Senate Labor and Human Re sources Committee. Blackwell was asked to testify about her ordeal. Al lhough she had been warned against it, she testified. "I made up my mind 1 was either going to have to live the rest of my life in fear of those people or stand up to them,” she said. "I was most shocked when the in dictments were finallv handed down in 1985 to find out that approxi- mately a dozen contractors at the same site had all been extorted. The difference was, I was the only one that stood up and objected to it." Now that Willard Carlock and some of the main conspirators are in prison. Blackwell says she rests somewhat easier, although she still carries her pistol with her. “I'm not afraid anymore,” Black- well said. "In the first place I’ve got a great deal of faith and I’m also a rea list.” Blackwell said she is aware that she ll never quite be able to live like she did before. ‘Til always have to watch mv back just a little — be a little cautious,” she said. “But 1 don’t intend to live in fear." White's politics keep him out of meeting WASHINGTON (AP) — A White House aide said Monday that Texas Gov. Mark White was not among the three governors invited to discuss oil prices with President Reagan because White has taken a “political approach” to the issue. Democrats, meanwhile, ac cused the White House of “play ing politics" by excluding White f rom the Tuesday meeting. White and other governors had sought a meeting with Rea gan to discuss an oil import fee to stabilize oil prices which have dropped by as much as two-thirds from last year’s level due to an OPEC-induced glut on the world market. Reagan, who opposes an im port fee, agreed last week to meet, but White was not invited. tiles r jo0‘ The Hi® lion iiiain* i Coiifcic" orial Botf . bliKii irinU^' 'iif’iff 14 Td/M Veii'fi”’ DIM t* 1 Staff XERURBAJV drink specials. u wN' Gva 7SCV« t>eet 5p.">--<=' OSe Y)os equ' s \}eer Tecate & Corona 00 w 5:00 p.nv. ’ti\ cYose Dr. Will McVourday Professor of Cable Savings 101 ■P- " Two things all good Aggies should know " 1, STAND IN LINE LESS SAVE $17*50 If you’re pre-leasing an apartment or house for fall semester SIGN UP NOW FOR CABLE TV AND SAVE TIME AND MONEY (.haii- Pill w ...flltf 0 [ oiicy ii/ii' 111 l \l,lll0’ 1 IjMV'Ij Mid l 1 ^ niiii"' 111 " 1 Wniiif" mii'H'i hi n' :i1 lull Ilf ,1 .in. 505 University Dr. 846-8741 The INTERURB AN 66 an aggie tradition” Introducing McCaVs Aggie Pack Our Aggie Pack allows you to sign up weeks or even months early for cable TV. You won't have to stand in long lines and you'll get priority installation when you return. Best of all you'll save $17.50 on installation (a regular $35 value). Call or come by our business office now. This offer is sood for a limited time. 846-2229 3609 Texas Ave • Bryan