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Human Services budget cut
protest draws 150 in Austin
— Page 3
Special counsel appointed
in investigation of Deaver
— Page 4
A&M softball team drops
title game in World Series
— Page 5
The Battalion
Serving the University community
Vol. 83 No. 155 USPS 075360 6 pages
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, May 28, 1986
ftoviets
^to let 117
Tpmigrate
| ■ WASHINGTON (AP) — In the
biggest exodus of its kind in three
A At decades, the Sov iet Union pledged
U1M <>|x-ii i lie g.ites n i I I 7 < d its < n i/< n--
# wi Vrarning to join their families in the
^Hnited States, the State Department
announced Tuesday.
i time;iW The Reagan administration
darkne pi dsed the decision as a “significant
uill fall | step" and said the move would settle
3(i of 12(i divided-family cases the
t. R-K, Bnited States has been pressing
extendu Kremlin leaders to resolve.
I hew- ■ State Department spokesman
ixtra Mt|Hharles E. Redman said t hat word of
tie decision was given to the United
hathev States Monday in the closing hours
toaddilol an otherwise unproductive hu-
d he pit man right s conference in Bern, Swit-
likeh .Zetland.
HousevB He said the Soviets provided a list
be held o 1 names'of people to be allowed to
ween lk| emigrate and who are expected to
r^Bave the country after completing
^Btperwork that often takes several
weeks.
..c.H Redman did not disclose the
iu// t- names on the list, but lie said the
i^Bate Department was in the process
'jQU ol trying to notify their families in
' the United States.
B In addition to those on the list, the
V/VW^Boviets have promised to settle two
i^Bher cases, one involving the spouse
A a f »l a U.S. citizen and one involving a
1 '‘ i ' person with dual nationality.
!i ■ These names have not been given
- tQ U.S. authorities, he said.
“The U.S. government and the
II °'“ American people welcome this de-
1986-87 budget
down $4 million
from this year
s distrt
ie thro
A Draining Experience
Photo by Tom Own bey
See Soviets, page 6
Pipes are used to drain the Texas Instruments lake the Texas A&M Water Ski Team, is being filled in
near the East Bypass. The lake, which was used by and the area around it developed into housing.
eagcm orders subs destroyed
D
/
I WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi
dent Reagan ordered the destruc
tion of two nuclear submarines
Buesday, keeping the United States
within the limits of the SALT II
aims agreement, but served notice
he will not be bound by the treaty in
future military decisions.
I He coupled his announcement
with a request for Congress to ap
prove full funding of the “Star
Wars” missile defense program and
authorization for 50 additional MX
missiles, which would increase the
Brsenal of the 10-warhead weapons
tb 100.
I Reagan’s statement marked the
first time the United States asserted
a readiness to break out from the
ceilings imposed by the 1979 Strate
gic Arms Limitation Treaty, signed
By former President Carter and the
late Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezh
nev but never ratified by the Senate.
However, Reagan suggested he
might stay within the SALT limits if
the Soviets take “constructive steps”
to correct alleged arms violations
and negotiate seriously on a new
arms treaty.
Reagan’s announcement was im
mediately criticized by Senate Major
ity Leader Bob Dole of Kansas, a po
tential contender for the GOP
presidential nomination. “I am con
cerned that the decision sends the
wrong signal to the Kremlin,” Dole
said.
“We cannot continue to abide by
an agreement — an unratified
agreement, at that — which the Sovi
ets are so blatantly violating,” Dole
said in a statement.
However, Senate Minority Leader
Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., said, “De
spite the rhetoric in the announce
ment regarding future SALT II
compliance, the important thing is
that the U.S. today remains in com
pliance.”
Sen. Albert Gore, D-Tenn., said,
“I congratulate the president,” but
said the decision is “both good news
and bad news.”
It is good news, Gore told a news
conference, because “the treaty is in
our best interests” but it is bad news
“because it leaves arms control hang
ing by a thread.”
Reagan’s decision means that two
Poseidon submarines, each armed
with 16 multiple-warhead missiles,
will be retired this summer as a new
Trident submarine, the USS Ne
vada, joins the U.S. nuclear fleet.
If the two Poseidons remained in
action, the United States would ex
ceed by 22 missiles a 1,200 limit on
long-range nuclear missiles with
multiple warheads.
Reagan said he was retiring the
aging Poseidons because it would be
uneconomical to keep them in ac
tion, and not because of the SALT
treaty.
While saying the United States
“will remain technically in obser
vance” of the SALT treaty, Reagan
accused the Soviets of numerous vio
lations of the agreement and de
clared:
“Given this situation, I have deter
mined that, in the future, the United
States must base decisions regarding
its strategic force structure on the
nature and magnitude of the threat
posed by Soviet strategic forces, and
not on standards contained in the
See Submarines, page 6
University News Service
For the first time in at least two
decades, The Texas A&M Univer
sity System will be operating on com
bined budgets lower than the pre
vious year.
The 1986-87 budgets approved
Tuesday by the Board of Regents
for the 12 parts of the statewide tea
ching, research and public service
institution total $684,993,922,
nearly $4 million less than the cur
rent year’s level of expeditures.
Additionally, the new budgets,
which go into effect Sept. 1, are sub
ject to further reductions. Gov.
Mark White recently called for cost
cutting measures in light of the
state’s Fiscal plight resulting from de
pressed oil prices. The regents
agreed to strive for savings totaling
$37 million, or about 7 percent of
the amount appropriated for the
two-year period that began last fall.
White had requested 13 percent
cuts for state agencies, but the board
— much like the governing boards
for other institutions of higher edu
cation — said reductions of only
about half that amount could be
made without adversely affecting its
basic mission of providing high-
quality education, research and ex
tension services.
Regents Chairman David G. Eller
and Chancellor Arthur G. Hansen,
in a March letter to the governor,
noted, “These savings are proffered
in the knowledge that implementa
tion of this plan inevitably will trans
fer an additional Financial burden to
the next biennium, which will re
quire substantially higher appro
priations for fiscal year 1988 and fis
cal year 1989 that would have
otherwise been required.
State appropriations comprise a
major portion of the funds that
make up the system parts’ operating
budgets, Hansen said in explaining
the fiscal proposals presented Tues
day. Other sources include funds
generated locally through a variety
of means and research grants and
contracts.
“Even taking into consideration
all of our sources, this is definitely a
lean budget — one that leaves no
area unscrutinized for fat,” Hansen
said.
He pointed out the cuts would
have been even deeper except for
the legislatively mandated 3 percent
salary increases for non-teaching
personnel and the regents’ concur
rence in providing merit increases
averaging 3 percent for faculty
members.
While six of the system parts will
'our old
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vvo sp* :
itness admits lying
lin Texas rancher’s trial
Engineer succeeds Eaton
McDonald is new provost
KERRY IDLE (AP) — A former
[cook at a Hill Country ranch ad-
nitted Tuesday he lied during his
Itestimony about the circumstances
surrounding his return to the 3,500-
lacre spread in 1984.
Under cross examination by de-
Sfense attorney Richard “Racehorse”
[Haynes, Pete Johnson said he called
[the Ellebracht ranch and asked for a
|ride back.
Johnson testified last week he had
[left the ranch, where he had been a
[worker, and traveled to Tucson,
triz. Then he decided to ride his bi
cycle to Florida, but he had a Hat tire
|in Fort Stockton, Texas.
Johnson said he managed to hitch
[a ride to Segovia, Texas, and then
Valter Wesley Ellebracht Jr. and an-
Jother ranchhand picked him up
Ithere.
Last week, Johnson testified he
[did not call the Ellebracht ranch and
|ask for a ride back. But Tuesday, he
changed his testimony.
“You deliberately lied to the jury
lidn’t you?” Haynes asked.
“Yes,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s testimony came in the
state's organized crime case against
Ellebracht; his father, Walter Wesley
Ellebracht Sr.; and former ranch
worker Carlton Robert Caldwell.
The defendants are accused of
conspiracy to commit aggravated
kidnapping and to kill Alabama
drifter Anthony Warren Bates.
The prosecution contends Bates,
like other hitchhikers, was lured to
the Ellebrachts’ ranch wdth the
promise of work and then forced to
stay. The state also claims Bates was
tortured to death with a cattle prod
before his body was drenched in gas
oline and burned.
In other testimony, Johnson said
he left the ranch “because I didn’t
like the place. Tm glad I got off it,
too. I was afraid of everything that
went on at the ranch.”
But under cross examination,
Johnson admitted he was never
afraid of the elder Ellebracht.
“The two of you were friends,
weren’t you?” Haynes asked.
Johnson said, “Off and on, yes.”
University News Service
Dr. Donald McDonald, head of
the Civil Engineering Department at
Texas A&M University, will be the
university’s new provost and vice
president for academic affairs, an
nounced President Frank E. Y r an-
diver.
McDonald succeeds Dr. Gordon
Eaton, who is leaving Texas A&M
June 30 to assume the presidency at
Iowa State University.
“Dr. McDonald has all the creden
tials for this very important apo-
pointment, and he has the adminis
trative experience,” Vandiver said.
“The position is a crucial one at this
university, and we are very fortunate
to have him accept the challenge. I
look forward to working with him.”
Eaton joined in commending his
successor.
. “Dr. McDonald is an excellent
choice, an engineer of broad govern
ment, industrial and university ex
perience who holds high academic
standards,” Eaton said. “Given the
obvious importance of engineering
Donald McDonald
to the future of the economy of
Texas and with the retirement of
Chancellor Hansen, McDonald’s ap
pointment assures the presence of
an engineer in the university’s upper
level decision-making process.”
McDonald said he was “highly
pleased to be nominated by a group
of people I greatly admire,” refer
ring to the search committee that
submitted recommendations to Pres
ident Vandiver, to whom he also ex
pressed gratitude “for the confi
dence that he has shown by selecting
me.”
“Texas A&M has been good to me
since I joined the faculty 13 years
ago, and I hope to make a significant
contribution to the university in re
turn,” he added.
He served as interim dean of engi
neering and associate deputy chan
cellor for engineering during reor
ganization of the engineering
programs of Texas A&M and the
Texas A&M University System in
1983.
McDonald, 55, joined the Texas
A&M engineering faculty in 1973,
coming from the Lockheed Missile
and Space Co. of Huntsville, Ala. A
native of Montgomery, Ala., he
earned a bachelor’s degree in civil
engineering from Auburn Univer
sity and a master’s and Ph.D. from
the University of Illinois.
He served on the civil engineering
faculty at North Carolina State Uni
versity from 1962 to 1967. His re
search specialties are in the areas of
structural dynamics, engineering
management and engineering sys
tems.
by experiencing reduced funding
levels, a like number — primarily the
agricultural agencies — will have
modest increases, with the mandated
salary increases accounting for the
gains in most cases.
The largest decreases were sus
tained by Texas A&M and Prairie
View A&M. A&M will have an oper
ating budget of $403,256,863, a
drop of approximately $3.8 million.
Prairie View A&M will have an oper
ating budget of $49,006,454, a de
crease of about $5.5 million — but
system officials emphasized that
Prairie View’s budget last year in
cluded special one-time funding for
several specific campus projects.
Texas A&M University at Galveston
will receive $8,163,525, down about
$25,000.
Tarleton State University will re
ceive $20,192,674, up more than
$300,000.
Budgets for other parts of the Sys
tem include:
• Texas Agricultural Experiment
Station —$80,092,987
• Texas Agricultural Extension
Service — $51,173,136
• Texas Engineering Experiment
Station — $22,749,584'
• Texas Transportation Institute
—$10,240,176
• Texas Engineering Extension
Service — $ 16,728,289
• Texas Forest Service —
$11,505,341
• Rodent and Predatory Animal
Control —$2,266,590
• TAMUS offices and depart
ments — $9,618,246
See Regents,page 6
Four in ten
may leave
teaching
AUSTIN (AP) — Two research
ers checking on teachers’ morale and
possible financial problems say they
can only echo what they have been
saying for the past six years — “there
is a crisis in education.”
Professor David Henderson of
Sam Houston State University and
Karen Henderson, mathematics
coordinator for the Huntsville Inde
pendent School District, conducted
the survey among 525 teachers.
A total of 329 teachers, or 65 per
cent, returned the mail question
naire.
Four in 10 teachers —^41.7 per
cent — are considering leaving the
profession. Working conditions, not
money, was listed as the main rea
son.
Working conditions include
stress, burnout, paperwork and
hassles, and 68 percent of the teach
ers said that was why they were
thinking of quitting. This is up from
27 percent six years ago.
Only 17 percent listed money as
the reason for leaving, down from
46 percent in 1980. The average tea
cher salary rose from $14,113 in
1980 to $24,601 this year but almost
one-fourth — 22.6 percent —
“moonlight” to make extra money.
The report quoted the Educatio
nal Research Service as saying that
three-fourths of the 1,346 teachers it
surveyed would balk at recommend
ing teaching as a career.
“The researchers can only echo
the findings of the past six years.
Since 1980 the investigators have
stated that there is a crisis in educa
tion in Texas,” the report said.
“The one bright spot in the study
is the increase in teacher salaries,”
the report added. “The trend up
ward in salaries must be supple
mented by reduction in stress and
support for teachers from parents.”