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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 3, 1986)
1 The Battalion >1 82 No. 171 GSPS 045360 6 pages College Station, Texas Thursday, July 3, 1986 ouble ^ rease. have I* in receml 'y of cuiJ r y becausf 1 no im.1 ry's hup | dy stands ady for bekend estivities 't at What, it is not will Ijn,, ieptembe: to revivij f the year L NEW YORK (AP) — New York — - gateway for generations of ^Hgrants, is ready to salute Lady whose towering beacon will ^Blighted today to set off an exu- —rant four-day birthday bash as co- isal as the statue itself. Millions of visitors, drawn by the ite-in-a-lifetime event, were gath- |ng in the city as the harbor came ve Wednesday with graceful tall H, imposing naval vessels and ■1 pleasure craft. ne harbor will be the center of tention during the four-day cele- ation featuring fireworks, street irs and a parade of tall ships. But e statue will be the star attraction presidents and tourists gather to lebrate the monument’s centen- >IQ fallen t your ed and pe and nst ad it on I ' Christ first to i Latin tend ■onight the statue will be bathed light in a ceremonial unveiling af- m $66 million restoration project obser- B^ady Liberty’s new torch will be qU ■ But in the shadow of the statue in il land Ipy a bout 50 of the | p " ty s homeless spent a rainy e pqqj. Bnesday in soggy cardboard )xts to draw attention to their ■hey were joined by the Rev. |B Jackson, who said they were ■g excluded by the celebration, Bre tickets to the opening ceremo- JB featuring President Reagan and Resident Francois Mitterand of Bice go for $ 10,000. Bhe city’s convention and visitors |ireau said that 2,000 hotel rooms pre still available and that many of fe visitors would probably stay with Bily or friends. As for the city’s 7.1 jillion residents, some undoubtedly pre leaving to avoid the masses, but .hers would stick it out, a spokeswo- lan said. In New York Harbor, tall ships em around the world were joined fednesday by the battleship USS >wa, which will carry Reagan down I Hudson River in an interna- bnal naval review Friday. The 22 ill ships and their escorts will pa- ite up the Hudson • Bhe harbor was jammed with bats, including small pleasure craft, nd as many as 60,000 were ex- Kted, said Coast Guard Petty Offi- frRandy Midgett. leduled 1 statue sick off 1 cele- attract inished n indi- 800 on 16.29 nterest better d im- profits ipetites Total Loss A car belonging to Cleveland Clark of 415 College Main in (College Station caught fire at about 7:15 Wednesday evening at the intersection of College Main and Church streets. Clark, who said he bought the car Wednesday morning and insured it Photo by Tom Ownbey that afternoon, said he was driving when he heard a popping noise from the engine and saw flames. College Station firemen extinguished the blaze. Clark and a passenger in the car were unhurt but the car was a total loss. High court OKs race-conscious hiring choices Festivities set throughout state Texans ready for July 4th an Stacey tion on k lanes dmenl lawful lot de- From wailin’ Willies to fireworks frenzies, a human chair and the end of the Wagon Train trail, the Lone Star State will celebrate the nation’s 210th birthday in Texas-sized style. More than 80 performers and 30,000 fans will descend on Austin Friday for Willie Nelson’s mobile Farm Aid II concert, an 18-hour marathon that after two moves has settled at Manor Downs east of the city. In Fort Worth, meanwhile, the Texas Sesquicentennial Wagon train has rumbled into town on the last leg of its 3,000-mile journey that began six months ago in Sulphur Springs. The wagon train camped at its city stockyards terminus along with Texas’ answer to the Statue of Lib erty — the Goddess of Liberty, which perched atop the Austin Capi tol dome for nearly a century until ill health forced her down. In Houston, more than 10,000 people are expected to gather in Sam Houston Park in their attempt to set a world record for the largest human chair. Participants will form a giant circle, each sitting on the lap of the person behind him, in their effort to out-sit the current record of 10,323 as listed in the “Guinness Book of World Records.” As with dozens of other cele brations, that event accompanies an Independence Day picnic and fire works display. Soaring liability insurance rates, however, have fizzled fireworks shows in some Texas cities such as Hereford and Abilene. They even threatened the annual spectacular at Dallas’ Fair Park, but officials there say the show will go on and join more than 50 in the Dallas area. WASHINGTON (AP) —- The Su preme Court reaffirmed race-con scious hiring and promotional pref erences Wednesday, parting company with Reagan administra tion officials who insist that person nel decisions generally must be made on a colorblind basis. The court’s rulings in two dis putes, one by a 6-3 margin and the other by a 5-4 vote, represented a major victory for civil rights groups and women’s organizations which have pushed affirmative action pro grams in recent years. At the NAACP convention in Bal timore, Executive Director Benja min Hooks hailed the rulings as “a tremendous victory” and “a signifi cant rebuke” to the administration. But at the Justice Department, At torney General Edwin Meese said he wasn’t disheartened. “We will continue to hold to the moral position that the court itself in each of these cases has re-established as the ultimate goal that we would have a colorblind society and that we would not have racial preferences,” he said. “That is the preferred posi tion of this administration and the one we will continue to urge.” The Supreme Court rejected the administration’s argument that affir mative action should be limited to actual victims of past bias to avoid “reverse discrimination” against the innocent, primarily white people. Justice William J. Brennan said, “We reject this argument and hold that (federal law) does not prohibit a court from ordering, in appropriate circumstances, affirmative race-con scious relief as a remedy for past dis crimination. “Specifically, we hold that such re lief may be appropriate where an employer or a labor union has en gaged in persistent or egregious dis crimination, or where necessary to dissipate the lingering effects of per vasive discrimination.” In one of the cases, the justices ap proved by a 6-3 vote a plan that re serves about half the promotions in Cleveland’s fire department for qualified minority candidates. In the other, the court ruled 5-4 that a union representing sheet metal workers in New York and New Jersey must double its non-white membership to 29.3 percent by Au gust 1987. The union, formerly all- white, had been found guilty of ra cial discrimination. As in past rulings on affirmative action, the court was fragmented. The two cases yielded nine written opinions authored by five justices. But in each case, seven justices re jected the administration’s narrow view of permissible affirmative ac tion. Bill McEwen, a spokesman for the National Association of Manufactur ers, praised the rulings. “We’re pleased that the Supreme Court has reinforced the concept of affirma tive action and has recognized its va lue as a tool to help eradicate the present effects of past discrimina tion,” he said. Ralph Neas, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said, “These decisions un derscore the nation’s bipartisan com mitment to affirmative action goals. The Supreme Court has repudiated the (administration’s) attempt to gut affirmative action.” In the sheet metal workers case, federal courts ordered the union to expand its non-white membershij noting that it refused to admit blacl until 1969 and had an “egregious” history of discrimination. Dissenting in both cases Wednes day were Justice Byron R. White; Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, who is about to retire, and Justice William H. Rehnquist. nds jair if Photo by Tom Ownbey If good catchers have to know how to get hit by the ball, this player at the Texas A&M baseball camp should be great. The camp, at which A&M coaches teach baseball basics to junior high and high school students, is attended by about 250 players a summer. die as thousands strike to protest Chilean military rule State will file charges against 780 detainees JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) — The government said Wednesday criminal charges rang ing from murder to assault will be filed against 780 people detained under the three-week-old state of emergency. The detainees who face charges will have access to lawyers, Bureau for Information spokeswoman Ro- nelle Henning told a news confer ence. If convicted, they could get lengthyjail terms. The bureau refuses to say how many people are being held incom municado and without charge under the nationwide emergency imposed June 12. South African and foreign mon itoring groups estimate the number of detainees at 1,800 to more than 3,000. The prisoners are known to include trade union leaders, priests, journalists and anti-apartheid activ ists. White opposition Progressive Federal Party legislator Ken Andrew said he suspected the charges would amount merely “to a smear story put out to justify the repressive actions of the authorities.” Under the state of emergency, the Bureau for Information is the only source of official information. Emer gency restrictions prohibit the media from reporting statements that the government considers subversive and bar reporting on the activities of security forces. The regulations also ban the naming of detainees. Despite a spate of bombings the government blames on the African National Congress and threats of disruptive action to protest deten tions of labor union leaders, officials sounded confident the crackdown has quelled 22 months of black un rest. “Although the radical element may be regrouping, the state of emergency is having the desired ef fect of restoring peace in the coun try,” Henning said. “The African National Congress is out of touch.. . . The people of South Africa will in deed share power but it will be done through negotiation.” Two of the eight people wounded in the latest bombing — an explosion Wednesday at a downtown Johan nesburg bus stop — remained hospi talized, including a 2-week-old baby cut by flying glass. It was the 10th bombing in South African cities since the emergency was declared. Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu condemned the bombings as terror ism. He said many blacks suspect the attacks — which have killed or wounded primarily whites — were the work of right-wing white ex tremists, while whites blame the out lawed ANC. “The problems of our country cannot be solved by the violence of injustice, oppression and exploita tion, nor by that of those who seek to overthrow such a repressive system,” Tutu said in a statement. “There is much goodwill still left — can’t we get together and talk? Can’t those recognized as authentic leaders and representatives of all our people get together and talk?” The nation’s biggest labor feder ation, whose president is among hundreds of trade union members reportedly jailed without charge, is sued a July 10 deadline for their re lease. It also demanded an end to harassment of shop stewards and workers. Also Wednesday, the government began issuing new identity cards to blacks — the first that do not denote ‘Dangerous’ armed man still at large ROYSE CITY (AP) — An armed man who shot at a Royse City police officer, stole and then wrecked a squad car and ab ducted two fishermen was being sought Wednesday by authorities. The suspect wore a flak jacket, had a pistol tucked in a side holster and carried a shotgun during the three-hour rampage Tuesday morning, Dallas police spokesman Bob Shaw said. The man was considered ex tremely dangerous. The two fishermen — Harold Buchanan and Kelly Mortensen of Garland — were eastbound on Interstate 30 east of Dallas when they stopped to help a man trapped in a burning, overturned police patrol car near Caddo Mills. The man said he was an under cover narcotics officer but was ac tually being sought for assault on the Royse City police officer, au thorities said. Buchanan and Mortensen drove the man around for nearly two hours before dropping him off at an east Dallas motel, police said. Royse City Police Chief Garry Jordan said the string of events began about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday. Officer Gary Sawyer, while on pa trol, tried to pull over a sedan re ported stolen Monday in Gar land. The driver tried to escape, and Sawyer chased the car until both men drove into a ditch and got out of their cars. “The suspect pulled a 6-inch revolver, large caliber, and fired on shot at point-blank range, rup turing (Sawyer’s) eardrum but missing the officer,” Jordon said. SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Tens thousands of shopkeepers, truck- s and bus drivers stayed home Wednesday to protest military rule, ||ing the government to ban op- ttition radio broadcasts and charge Strike leaders with state security olations. Police said three slum residents ^Cte killed by gunfire, six others ere wounded and 120 demonstra- rs were arrested in one of the larg- t protests against the regime of iwtfjjj :n. Augusto Pinochet, who seized S^S | l ,Vv er in a bloody September 1973 The illegal protest failed to shut factories, mines, ports, banks, petro leum production or government of fices, and directly affected only small independent businesses. But the shortage of buses in San tiago and Concepcion, the two larg est urban areas, forced thousands of commuters to find alternate ways to work and then go home early. There were no home deliveries of milk and bottled heating gas, a winter staple in the Southern Hemisphere. Most downtown businesses opened in Santiago during the morning but closed for good at lunchtime. Waitresses wearing gas masks served tables in a cafe near the Plaza de Armas as riot police nearby fired tear gas and water can nons to scatter hundreds of demon strators from the city center. Leaders of the work stoppage called it a successful first shot in their battle to drive Pinochet from the presidency he seized from Marx ist President Salvador Allende. They said the strike would continue today. Juan Luis Gonzalez, president of the two-month-old Civic Assembly that called the strike, said, “Many Chileans, in spite of their fear of re prisals, are demonstrating peace fully their desire for a return to de mocracy. This is the beginning of the beginning in our campaign of civil disobedience.” But his words were banned in Chile by a military decree limiting newscasts on four opposition radio networks — Cooperativa, Chilena, Santiago and Carrera — to govern ment statements. Chilean newspa pers agreed voluntarily to the censorship. In the first government statement, the Interior Ministry charged Gonzalez and 16 other as sembly directors with violating the national securigy code by calling ille gal meetings, inciting disorder, par alyzing economic activity and plot ting against the government. A government suit asked a judge to investigate the charges and order the 17 opposition leaders arrested. Each faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. Gonzalez said, “If we are sum moned, we will go to court to make our case. We know we are right.” According to estimates by assem bly leaders and independent checks, about half Santiago’s 250,000 shop- workers and 85 percent of its 9,000 bus drivers stayed home. Pinochet, 70, made no comment on the strike and none of his min isters came forward to assess its polit ical or economic impact. The general sent solders to patrol volatile working class districts. His police arrested two leaders of the truckers federation, the head of a teachers union and a university stu dent leader who backed the protest.