. 82 Mo. 173 GSRS 045360 6 pages College Station, Texas Wednesday, July 9, 1986
I
isponse
'orable for
d facility
By Sondra Pickard
Reporter
fle Texas A&M University
item has received a favorable
ponse from Texas Medical
ntei officials after requesting
it i $30 million medical re-
irch facility be built on four
esofthe Houston complex.
Ijthough a medical center
tkesman could not say specif-
lly when the land would be
■ available, the executive
Biittee of the Texas Medical
nter Board of Directors has au-
irized TMC President Richard
■ainerdi to enter into dis-
ssions with Board of Regent’s
airman David Eller.
Activities at the proposed fa-
ity will include research in bi-
echnology, biomedical engi-
\iis- ■ng, comparative veterinary
$1.4 ■cine and human nutrition,
■ told The Houston Post.
■er said TAMUS is already a
■s Medical Center member
ethe Bution and that A&M and
\gri- her system agencies have coop-
hgl>- ated with several institutions
rank H in the Texas Medical Cen-
festi- r.in the past.
A possible location for the
tilding is at the site of the Sham-
■ Hilton Hotel, a 22-acre lot
irciused by the medical center
Byear for $14.9 million. The
ikon Hotels Corp. contributed
e remaining $31.1 million value
Bie property as a gift to the
helical center.
chart Although Eller told The Post a
|| go to Bon of the Shamrock site ap-
ax, for :?rs to be favorable, system of fi-
■ are looking at other possible
ec j thfBions in the 525-acre medical
nter.
Bithin the next 45 to 60 days
ie A&M will make a request for
specific site, Eller said,
raid for With money from the
ate's Permanent University
und and matching grants, Eller
lid construction of the building
)fild begin within two years of
Bland being transferred for
niversity use.
Tolentino faces charges in failed revolt
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Ar
turo Tolentino faces criminal
charges by the government plus a
bill for $500,000 from his luxury
“headquarters” hotel, which sup
porters ransacked during the 40
hours he claimed to be acting presi
dent.
Justice Minister Neptali Gonzales
said Tuesday that President Corazon
Aquino told him to file charges
against Tolentino, who was Ferdi
nand E. Marcos’ vice presidential
running mate in the disputed Feb. 7
election and stayed behind when
Marcos fled to Hawaiian exile.
Gonzales, interviewed after a
meeting with Tolentino and military
men who joined the rebellion, did
not say what was discussed or what
charges were being considered.
Aquino said Sunday that Tolen
tino, 75, was guilty of sedition but
she has not spoken publicly since of
possible charges. “We don’t want to
make a martyr out of him,” she said
in a statement released Tuesday.
Defense Minister Juan Ponce En
tile told the few dozen officers and
soldiers who saw the rebellion
through to the end and surrendered
that the government will honor its
pledge not to punish them.
Gen. Fidel Ramos, the armed
forces chief who joined Enrile in
leading the military-civilian uprising
that drove Marcos from the presi
dency after 20 years in power, led
the men in 30 pushups in an appar
ent show of camaraderie.
Gen. Jose Maria Zumel, military
leader of the rebellion, said: “It’s al
ways nice to be back with our com
rades in arms.”
Marcos denied any role in the ac
tion by Tolentino, who claimed he
declared himself president on Mar
cos’ orders. Marcos has said several
times that Tolentino is the legitimate
Philippine president in his absence.
“I asked them to stop this matter
of Tolentino asserting authority.”
Marcos said in an interview with
NBG television.
The now-disbanded National As
sembly, which Marcos controlled,
declared that he defeated Aquino in
the Feb. 7 election, which was widely
denounced as fraudulent both here
and abroad. He took the oath of of
fice before fleeing the country, but
Tolentino was not sworn in as vice
president.
Tolentino abandoned his revolt
long before it officially ended at
dawn Tuesday. He made no
statements or public appearances af
ter Monday night.
Hundreds of Marcos and Tolen
tino supporters left the hotel ran
sacked and littered.
Virtually all the hotel’s 300 guests
left when the rebellion began, and
all its facilities were shut down.
Hotel manager Frans Shultzman
said, “Heartbreaking, that’s what I
would call it.” He estimated Tolenti-
no’s bill at about $500,000.
Zulu grudge fight
leaves 31 dead;
strikes continue
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
(AP) — Zulu warriors from two rival
villages in the Valley of 1,000 Hills
battled with bush knives, spears and
guns made of pipes in a grudge fight
that left 31 of them dead, police said
Tuesday.
In Durban, the Natal province su
preme court agreed to hold a full
hearing next Monday on a legal
challenge of the June 12 decree im
posing a nationwide state of emer
gency. It was filed last Friday by the
predominantly black Metal and Al
lied Workers Union.
Strikes, work slowdowns and sit-
downs involving more than 11,000
gold, coal and diamond miners con
tinued to protest the arrests of union
leaders for. what the the white au
thorities say is political activity that
violates emergency regulations.
The Zulu battle occurred Sunday
night in the valley 25 miles north of
Durban, an Indian Ocean port, but
police said news of it did not reach
them until Tuesday.
Gapt. Winston Heunis of the Na
tal provincial police said it appeared
the followers of Chief Gwala at
tacked a group led by Chief Ngcobo
from a nearby village, killing six men
in retaliation for an attack about a
year ago.
Ngcobo’s men counterattacked,
shooting and hacking to death 25
men in Gwala’s village, he said.
Heunis said police did not know
when or why the feud began.
Tribal fighting is not counted in
the daily tally of deaths from anti
apartheid unrest, which has taken
more than 2,000 lives in 22 months.
Officially, the death toll from un
rest under the emergency stands at
127.
The government Bureau for In
formation said at its daily briefing
that a police officer patrolling the
black Soweto township near Johan
nesburg Monday night killed a black
man after being fired upon.
Metal and Allied Workers Union
officials made their case to the Natal
Supxeme Court Tuesday, arguing
that the definition of prohibited
“subversive statements” is too vague.
Union organizer Bernard Fana-
roff also contended that the emer
gency regulations were invalid be
cause President P.W. Botha issued
them before proclaiming the state of
emergency.
Among the regulations are rules
forbidding journalists to quote the
vaguely defined “subversive
statements,” report the activities of
security forces without official per
mission or reveal names of people
jailed without charge.
Lessons Learned
Will, an inmate at the TDG’s Wynne Unit at Hunt
sville, tells a Texas A&M journalism class about his
experiences before and during his present jail
term. Will, who is serving a ten-year sentence for
delivery of a controlled substance, is a participant
in the TDG’s community education program. In
mates in the program discuss losing control and
the negative effect it’s had on their lives.
iouston stores pull Accent seasoning after cyanide threat
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HOUSTON (AP) — Houston
ires began removing about
1,000 containers of Accent flavor
Ificer Tuesday after officials re-
■ an anonymous threat that six
iunce units had been poisoned
llyanide, authorities said.
All we want to do is get them off
shelves,” said Anthony White-
Bdirector of the Houston inves
tigations office of the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration. “Then, we’ll
try sorting through to see if there’s
anything to it (the threat).”
No illnesses had been reported as
FDA officials began investigating
with FBI and state officials and no
cyanide had been found, he said.
Officials limited the product re
moval to Houston as an anonymous
letter writer said he had tampered
with the containers only in that met
ropolitan area, Whitehead said.
The producer, Pet Inc. of St.
Louis, decided to withdraw the fla
voring from about 3,300 stores after
receiving the letter postmarked July
3 with a Houston zip code, Whiter
head said.
The company asked consumers in
Fort Bend, Harris, Montgomery,
Waller and Liberty counties who
bought the product after June 25 to
return it where bought for a refund.
Grocers and distributors in the
Houston area have been advised by
Pet Inc. to withdraw the product
from sale and hold it pending in
structions from the company re
garding its disposal.
In a telephone interview with The
Associated Press, Pet spokesman Les
Landes said the company chose the
June 25 sale date as a refund dead
line because of the July 3 postmark.
“We figured that that was an ap
propriate buffer or safeguard,” he
said. “As a safeguard we decided to
include five counties in the area.”
No illness has been reported and
iconomic pinch hits local governments
WSTIN (AP) — While most at-
tion has been focused on the state
merriment’s money woes recently,
oil-fueled economic downturn
) is putting the squeeze on local
/ejnments that lack options for
idudng new revenue, officials
Alst-cutting measures that state
milkers are beginning to consider
cope with the $2.3 billion budget
irtlall already have been taken by
nfTexas cities, officials say.
% workers are losing their jobs
in Houston. Workers are seeing pay-
checks shrink in Dallas. In Austin,
where sales tax revenues and fees
are flattening from the post-boom
slowdown, the city has cut $12.3 mil
lion from its current budget.
A special session of the Texas
Legislature appears likely to deal
with the state’s budget crisis. Law
makers have said they will consider
both spending cuts and tax in
creases.
But what could provide relief for
the state could spell trouble for local
governments.
“Some of the things the state does,
if they no longer do it, the cities will
have to pick up the costs,” said Jared
Hazleton, president of the Texas Re
search League, a non-profit research
group that studies state and local fi
nance.
“If the state cuts back on aid to lo
cal schools, that means more local
taxes in more districts. If the state
puts prisoners back into county jails,
that raises the cost of county govern
ment,” Hazleton said.
Rep. Stan Schlueter, D-Killeen,
chairman of the tax-writing House
Ways and Means Committee, said,
“Local governments are really in
worse shapie than the state because
they have less avenues in which to
work.”
“I have recognized for a long time
they have severe problems, and if
the Legislature allows the pressure
to be placed on property taxes, then
we are going to have some revolts
that will make Proposition 13 look
like a cakewalk,” he said, referring to
the California initiative which rolled
back property tax rates.
The state sales tax rate currently
stands at 4'/h percent. Cities are al
lowed to add an extra penny.
If the Legislature raised the rate
to 5 percent, it wouldn’t help cities.
But if the state taxes currently
exempted merchandise and services,
cities would reap some additional
money.
Live Ed’
Dallas show to raise funds for Mr. Ed fan club
DALLAS (AP) — It’s straight
dm The Horse’s Mouth, a suc
cor to Live Aid, Edheads and
inock, a paean to Wilburrr and
ie| world’s only equivocating
H|ne.
It’s “Live Ed,” of course, of
)uise — a benefit bash slated for
hursday night that’s designed to
?lp resuscitate the finances of
lepiling Mr. Ed Fan Club.
The Mr. Ed Fan Club plum-
lejed into debt in the summer
P>” says club founder James
ujnett, who gladly admits he’d
ever seen the old “Mr. Ed” tele-
sion series before founding the
ub in 1974.
But he hopes Live Ed will stir
Ifjsupport for the club with the
help of Alan Young, who played
Mr. Ed’s sidekick, Wilbur. (The
name always came out sounding
like “Wilburrr” when Mr. Ed —
using the voice of Allan “Rocky”
Lane — said it.)
Young, who now lives outside
Los Angeles and does voice-overs
for Disney movies and the car
toon show “Smurfs,” says he isn’t
planning anything particular to
dazzle his fans.
“I don’t have any act that I do,”
Young said. “I used to ride Ed,
but he’s dead. So that leaves me
standing alone."
With Wilbur at the reins at a
nightclub in Dallas’ Loew's Anat-
ole hotel, Mr. Ed fans will gather
at $10 a head to listen to Texas
and California bands extol the
virtues of the talking horse who
died in 1972.
Besides showing videos of the
black-and-white situation comedy
that ran from 1961 to 1965, the
27-year-old Burnett will offer a
special backwards rendition of
the Mr. Ed theme song at mid
night.
“That’s in response to those
priests in Ohio w'ho yelled about
the song being satanic when
played backwards,” Burnett said.
“They’ve run out of rock and roll
groups, so now they’re attacking
children’s shows.
“We’re expecting a sellout, and
capacity is 700 people,” Burnett
says of his Live Ed.
900 Midland students
offered scholarships
MIDLAND (AP) — About 900
high school graduates in this West
Texas citv have been offered the
chance to attend a year of commu
nity college on a scholarship, offi
cials said Tuesday.’
The scholarships, offered by the
Abell-Hanger Foundation of Mid
land, are available for every high
school graduate in Midland County
to attend Midland College.
The gift could total up to
$600,000 if all of the approximately
900 students who graduated from
the three Midland County high
schools this year take advantage of
the scholarships.
Eligible are students from Mid
land High School, Midland Lee
High School and Greenwood High
School.
School officials said the gift is es
pecially appropriate because of eco
nomic w'oes that have hit the Per
mian Basin following the collaspe of
oil prices.
Dr. Jess H. Parrish, Midland Col
lege president, said, “This is a mar
velous gift to the community in a
time of economic hardship for many
associated with, or affected by, the
slowdown in the petroleum industry
during the past year.”
Officials w'ith the foundation are
offering to pay tuition, fees, and
books up to a total of $325 per se
mester. The program will be contin
ued in the spring semester of 1987.
He said he expects half of the eli
gible students w'ill accept the schol
arships.
no cyanide has been discovered,
Landes and Whitehead agreed.
The design of the Accent package
would allow someone to tamper with
the product and return it to a store
shelf undetected, Landes said. He
said the company had already
started redesigning the package
when the anonymous letter arrived.
State ‘won’t
enforce’
sodomy law
AUSTIN (AP) — Although the
U.S. Supreme Court has upheld
Texas’ anti-sodomy statute, law
enforcement officials probably
will not actively enforce the ban,
says Attorney General Jim Mat
tox.
He said Tuesday that there
never has been a sodomy pros
ecution under that law'.
“I don’t think we’re going to
use the resources of the state in
actual prosecution," Mattox said.
The high court on Monday
upheld a low'er appeals court rul
ing that kept the anti-sodomy law
on the books. The law makes it a
misdemeanor offense for persons
of the same sex to engage in spec
ified sex acts.
U.S. District Judge Jerry Buch-
meyer of Dallas had ruled the law
was unconstitutional. Mattox de
cided not to appeal on behalf of
the state.
But Potter County District At
torney Danny Hill appealed, and
the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap
peals and the Supreme Court
overturned Buchmeyer’s deci
sion.
Mattox refused Tuesday to say
whether he thinks the law is
needed.
“The Legislature is the one
that is going to have to make a de
cision on it,” he said. “I don’t
think it’s in the state’s best interest
for me to be answering that ques
tion.”