Vol. 82 Mo. 183 GSPS 045360 6 pages College Station, Texas Friday, July 25, 1986
I"— — ' . ' ' 1
Firefighters battle a blaze that destroyed eight units late Thursday af
ternoon at the Tahoe Apartments at 3535 Plainsman Lane in Bryan.
Bryan Deputy Fire Chief Jim Bland said six firefighters were treated
for smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion from the fire but all six
were released Thursday night. Bland said the fire marshal’s office is
Photo by Jill Kami
investigating the blaze but that as of this morning the fire’s cause has
not been determined and no damage estimate has been made. Apart
ment manager Sandy Dennison said the fire apparently began in an
apartment where repairmen were welding a leaking pipe under a
bathroom sink.
Reagan to seek
increased tests
for ‘Star Wars’
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi
dent Reagan, trying to clear a way
for his “Star Wars” program, is pre
paring to ask Soviet leader Mikhail
S. Gorbachev to agree to expanded
testing of anti-missile technology in
space, administration officials said
Thursday.
At the same time, Reagan has ten
tatively decided to assure Gorbachev
that the United States would not de
ploy the proposed shield against nu
clear attack for five to seven years,
said the officials, who demanded an
onymity.
The Soviet leader, who has con
demned the U.S. Strategic Defense
Initiative as a potential expansion of
the superpower arms race, proposed
in a letter to Reagan on June 23 that
deployment be delayed for 15 to 20
years.
In exchange, officials said, Gorba
chev offered to negotiate cutbacks of
more than 50 percent in U.S. and
Soviet long-range bombers, subma
rines and nuclear missiles.
The president, after consulting
with his advisers, decided to reject
the overture and to counter with the
five- to seven-year pledge. He also
will urge Gorbachev to accelerate the
pace of Geneva negotiations and be
willing to accept cutbacks of less than
50 percent as a first step to the larger
reductions both leader seek.
Three U.S. envoys sent to consult
with allied governments in Western
Europe and Asia were due back
shortly. The officials stressed their
reports would be weighed before a
final decision was made.
The proposal for expanded test
ing is designed to go beyond the lab
oratory in determining if mobile
sensors and chemical lasers capable
of tracking and destroying attacking
missiles could be effective in a space-
based defense system.
This would require a major con
cession from Gorbachev, who has
condemned Reagan’s space initiative
while conceding that at least some of
the U.S. research can neither be de
tected nor stopped.
Reagan’s “new approach” on test
ing is designed to advance an active
and ambitious program while stop
ping short of deploying the exotic
technology, an official said.
A U.S. pledge to put off deploy
ment for five to seven years amounts
to a guarantee the United States
would observe the 1972 Anti-Ballis
tic Missile Treaty at least that long.
Either side now can withdraw from
the agreement with six months’ no
tice.
The practical effect of Reagan’s
proposal was not clear because Air
Force Lt. Gen. James A. Abraham-
son, director of the Strategic De
fense Initiative, said it would take at
least a decade to deploy a space-
based system. Abrahamson told CBS
News that deployment could begin
only after the mid-1990s.
lilt
: fexos government faces estimated $3.5 billion deficit
*, H AUSTIN (AP) — Texas state gov-
Hrnment plunged further into the li
med Bancial hole Thursday, as Comptrol-
out ler Bob Bullock estimated it now
ned faces a deficit of $3.52 billion,
vor-11 “Although there might be a slim
■ 2.1 pihance of improving economic con-
■itions, there is a much greater pos-
tola- sibility that our economic downturn
lets, will worsen beyond what we cur-
csil tently expect, driving the shortfall
|fven higher,” Bullock said.
As the bad news piled up, key leg-
^Iflative leaders appeared no closer to
■greement on a solution to the crisis.
I House Speaker Gib Lewis, D-Fort
Worth, again voiced opposition to a
ax increase.
“The House will continue to ex
amine alternative spending cuts and
is not interested in any new tax pro
posals,” Lewis said.
“I believe the majority of Texans
feel we are taking the right approach
and will not tolerate an increase in
their existing tax burden given the
depressed nature of our present
economy,” Lewis said.
Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, meanwhile,
told state senators, business leaders
and reporters that a combination of
spending cuts and tax hikes is the
“responsible” answer.
By imposing spending cuts, roll
ing back the 3 percent pay raise pre
viously given state employees.
Hobby mapped out about $650 mil
lion in possible cuts.
“There are $650 million in reduc
tions we can make here,” Hobby
said. “We will continue to look at all
the options. But much beyond that
point and we trifie with the future of
this state.
“It is my hope that the Legislature
will meet this crisis with a combina
tion of spending reductions and rev
enue increases,” he said.'
Gov. Mark White has called a spe
cial session of the Legislature for
Aug. 6 to try to cope with the mush
rooming deficit.
White said that in light of Bul
lock’s latest deficit estimate, “It is ob
vious that we must continue to slash
state spending.” He did not suggest
where such cuts should be made.
White also issued an executive or
der tightening his previously or
dered state hiring freeze.
Hobby insisted that the state will
suffer unless the upcoming special
session addresses the full deficit.
Hobby will tour several Texas cit
ies next week, seeking support for
the combination cut-and-tax plan.
He said he isn’t worried about public
reaction three months from the gen
eral election, where he faces Repub
lican David Davidson.
The 1985 Legislature passed a
budget totaling $37.16 billion for the
1986-87 fiscal years.
But Bullock said the worldwide oil
price tumble, soaring Texas unem
ployment and other economic woes
mean the state likely will take in only
$33.63 billion by Aug. 31, 1987, the
end of the budget period.
“Rising unemployment and the
accelerating decline of our state
economy have once again forced a
reduction in the (revenue) estimate,”
Bullock said.
“Given the continuing instability
in world oil markets and the fast
changing nature of our economic sit
uation, I must emphasize that any
revenue estimate is a moving target,”
he added.
The biggest losers were the oil
production, natural gas and sales
taxes.
Sales tax collections are projected
to fall $1.35 billion short of the origi
nal estimate, Bullock said. The oil
production levy will fall $428 million
short and the natural gas tax will
bring in $632 million less than ex
pected.
According to the comptroller’s
analysis, virtually all indicators are
negative. That includes personal in
come, creation of new jobs, the un
employment rate, oil prices and re
tail sales.
aveiw
light*
Joes
irce,
a sped
iasbtf :
Marble dispute slows work
Alumni center hits snag
By Michael Shriro
Reporter
An aesthetic dispute over mar
ble columns on the uncompleted
$7 million Association of Former
Students Center may delay com
pletion of the building, the pro
ject director for the building’s ar
chitect says.
Howard Anderson Kurc says
the dispute between architect
CRS Sirrine and contractor H.B.
Zachry Co. centers around the
graining of marble slabs that will
cover the structural columns of
the building.
The building’s design calls for
the grain of the marble on the
columns to match the horizontal
grain of other marble on the
building. But when Zachry began
installing the column marble, it
was found to have been cut with a
vertical grain.
Kurc says it was the responsi-
blity of Zachry’s marble subcon
tractor, Lucia, to make sure the
grain matched.
Skip Stevens, building district
manager for Zachry, says aes
thetic decisions, such as marble
grain, are made at the construc
tion site because it’s hard to visu
alize details.
Bob Boyce, consulting ar
chitect for the former students as
sociation, says these disputes are
normal.
“There are myriad aesthetic
and design considerations in a
building of this refinement that
architects evaluate,” he says.
Kurc says the contractors could
use the marble without matching
it, could cut the marble slabs and
reorient them so the grain runs
horizontally or order new marble
from Italy.
Whatever the final decision,
Boyce says the association will not
have to pay for fixing the prob
lem.
Whitworth found guilty
of spying for Soviets
SAN FRANGISGO (AP) — Re
tired Navy radioman Jerry Whit
worth was found guilty Thursday of
espionage for supplying commu
nications secrets to convicted spy
John Walker, who later sold them to
the Soviet Union.
The secrets given to the Soviets by
the four-member Walker spy ring
severely damaged the Navy’s inter
nal communications network and
will take years and millions of dollars
to repair, government officials have
said.
The seven espionage convictions
each carry a potential sentence of
life in prison. The jury said it was
unable to reach a verdict on an
eighth espionage charge that he took
a contingency plan covering activ
ities in the Middle East.
He also was convicted of four
counts of income tax evasion on the
$332,000 Walker paid him for the
secrets. Those charges are punisha
ble by 17 years in prison.
An Aug. 28 hearing was set for
sentencing, although U.S. District
Court Judge John Vukasin said he
was prepared to impose sentence im
mediately because virtually every as
pect of Whitworth’s life was docu
mented during the trial and he felt
well-acquainted with “his career, his
personality, his beliefs.”
The jury received the case July 11
and announced the verdicts on its
ninth day of deliberations.
After the verdict, defense attor
ney James Larson refused to say
whether he would appeal.
Poorly planned test’ caused meltdown
I MOSCOW' (AP) — The experi-
jnent that caused the Chernobyl nu-
Iglear disaster was a poorly planned
Ittempt to test whether a turbine
generator could keep operating af
ter a reactor shutdown, a Soviet offi-
. cial said Thursday.
I In a statement Saturday, the Com-
■lunist Party’s ruling Politburo said
the accident at the Ukranian power
[{plant occurred while improperly su
pervised experiments were being
■onducted and blamed gross neg-
Bgence for the disaster.
I The comments at a news confer
ence Thursday by Foreign Ministry
■pokesman Gennady Gerasimov
were the first explanation of why
workers were experimenting on the
Khernobyl plant’s No. 4 reactor in
■he early hours of April 26.
I Press reports have said it was shut
Blown for maintenance.
I An explosion and fire in the reac
tor spewed a huge cloud of radiation
that spread over Europe and grad
ually worked its w 7 ay around the
world.
Gerasimov said he could not give
details of the experiment, but a de
scription would be included in a re
port covering “hundreds of pages”
to be presented by September to the
International Atomic Energy
Agency, a U.N. organization with
headquarters in Vienna.
He said the report also would be
made available in Moscow.
An English translation of Gerasi
mov’s remarks provided by the min
istry quoted him as saying: “When
you shut the station, the generator is
still working. . . . The experiment
(was) ... if there is an accident, could
the generator provide energy for the
station for 40 to 45 minutes?”
When The Associated Press tele
phoned with another query about
the accident, however, Gerasimov
insisted he had said 40 to 45 seconds.
He told the AP the turbine gener
ators that produce electricity at
Chernobyl apparently continue to
function for a few seconds after a re
actor stops working.
Gerasimov said the purpose of the
experiment was to test how long the
electricity-generating turbine could
keep going after a reactor shutdown
before a backup power supply at the
plant went into operation automat
ically.
Asked whether poor preparation
of the experiment caused the acci
dent at Chernobyl, he said “Yes.”
“The point is not that the experi
ment was conducted,” he said at the
news conference. “The point is that
it was conducted without the nec
essary precautions.”
He said the experiment was
“purely technical” and denied what
he called suggestions in the Western
media that it had a military purpose.
A spokesman for the U.N. agency
in Vienna said he would have no
comment on possible causes of the
accident until an official Soviet re
port was received.
Phemi Speis, head of the U.S.
team reviewing the Chernobyl acci
dent, said in Washington that, not
ing Gerasimov’s statement about the
lack of necessary precautions, “It is
possible that, because they were run
ning at low power, the plant’s emer
gency core cooling system was not
hooked up.”
Speis said the emergency core
cooling system serves as a backup for
circulating water through the reac
tor’s core if and when there is a
break in the steam cycle.
Gerasimov denied what he said
were reports in the United States
that Deputy Premier Boris Shcher
bina had been dismissed as head of
the commission investigating the ac
cident.
On July 3, Tass identified another
deputy premier, Vladimir Gusev, as
head of the commission.
The ministry spokesman said Gu
sev heads an operational body under
the commission that is working at
Chernobyl to clean up after the di
saster.
Official reports say the accident
has claimed 28 lives, stricken 203
people with radiation sickness,
caused evacuation of 100,000 area
residents and contaminated about
400 square miles of land.
Peres says
2-day summit
moved Mideast
closer to peace
JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime
Minister Shimon Peres said
Thursday his two-day summit
with King Hassan II of Morocco
moved the Middle East a step
closer to peace despite dis
agreement on key issues.
He called the meeting a “first
rate” achievement because it
brought contacts between Israelis
and Arabs into the open, and pre
dicted that it would encourage fu
ture dialogue.
The Moroccan monarch, in
contrast, made no optimistic com
ments during a nationally tele
vised speech to his people
Wednesday night. He said no
progress was made toward peace,
adding: “We did not meet to ne
gotiate or to find a solution, but
to explore the possibilities.”
Hassan, a pro-Western moder
ate, is only the second Arab head
of state to meet publicly with an
Israeli prime minister. President
Anwar Sadat of Egypt signed a
peace treaty with Israel in March
1979 and was assassinated in Oc
tober 1981.
Secretary of State George P.
Shultz sent Peres a telegram
praising the prime minister for
“unwavering determination to
pursue the search for peace.” He
added: “Today, you and King
Hassan made history.”
State Department spokesman
Bernard Kalb said: “The United
States believes that this was a
valuable and historic effort. No
one ever suggested that making
peace in the Middle East would
be easy, nor did the United States
expect any dramatic break
through at this session or that all
problems could be resolved in
two days of meetings.”