The Battalion
ol. 82 No. 187 USPS 045360 6 pages
College Station, Texas
Friday, August 1, 1986
4% cut would give little chance for ‘survival’
University News Service
r S e! AUSTIN — Funding cuts of the magni-
T id4 proposed most recently by the Legis-
tivt Budget Board would give the Texas
' &M University System “little opportunity
0,1 Srlurvival” in its current scope and would
e * : ipb out its unique ability to help improve
tn teState’s economy. As many as 20,000 stu-
ents could be turned away at the system’s
ls Hu| universities, including 18,000 at Texas
^ i&M.
T1 at was the message delivered to Gov.
‘Mfjlark White Thursday by top system offi-
tals responding to the governor’s request
ure ii lin assessment of cuts of 34 percent for
1 n<>! of the parts of the statewide teaching,
rm esearch and public service system — and
-u :ven more for two of its agencies.
In striving to determine the level of cuts
ieeded to allow the state to meet its pro
ne ected $3.5 billion shortfall, the Budget
I Hd has set a target of 34 percent.
If the Level III (34 percent) funding rec
ommendations were put into effect for the
fiscal year beginning Sept. 1, 1986, the sys
tem would be forced to terminate 4,000 em
ployees, system Chancellor Perry Adkisson
and Board of Regents Chairman David El
ler said. They said they would do every
thing possible to protect the faculties, so a
large percentage of the cuts would have to
be among staff, administrative and mainte
nance personnel.
y
Adkisson and Eller agreed that in
looking at the magnitude of the problem in
one perspective, all eight research and serv
ice agencies within the system and Texas
A&M at Galveston could be closed down.
Even with this the system would be more
than $1 million short in achieving Level III
funding cuts. They added that such action
would cut 4,500 employees and affect every
county in the state.
Under that scenario the following would
be closed:
• Texas Agricultural Experiment Sta
tion
• Texas Agricultural Extension Service
• Texas Engineering Experiment Sta
tion
• Texas Engineering Extension Service
• Texas Transportation Institute
• Texas Forest Service
• Rodent and Predatory Animal Control
Service
• Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic
Laboratory.
Level III cuts for the system would total
$92.1 million (37.2 percent), which is more
severe than the Budget Board projections
because the proposal targets the Texas Ag
ricultural Extension Service for a 47 per
cent cut and total elimination of the Rodent
and Predatory Animal Control Service.
In a report presented to the White, Ad
kisson and Eller said that figure translates
into a loss of about one of every three peo
ple whose salaries are funded by state ap
propriations.
A&M alone would be forced to cut 1,800
employees, they noted. Even under Level II
funding — the 13 percent reduction origi
nally proposed by White — the personnel
loss to the University only would be about
600, they added.
Almost all additional cuts — at any level
— will have to involve termination of per
sonnel, they emphasized, because major
cuts in other areas were made earlier this
year when White initially requested budget
reductions.
Earlier this month, system officials an
nounced a “Commitment to Texas” pro
gram in which more than $53 million in the
system’s “excellence fund” would be redi
rected from previously targeted programs
to ones that have a higher priority in help
ing the state diversify the economy. The re
gents emphasized at the time, however, that
the institution could sustain its “Commit
ment to Texas” program only if regular
state funding continued at a level at least
equal to the current support.
“Funding cuts of these proportions (34
percent) make it impossible to survive, let
alone maintain the commitment to quality
education which is the threshold of the fu
ture of the State of Texas,” the system offi
cials said in their report and supporting
documents.
Summarily, the officials said A&M:
“Would suffer for at least a generation and
most likely beyond that . . . effect on the re
maining faculty’s morale would be disas
trous . . . devastating effect on the Universi
ty’s educational and research programs
which, in turn, will impede the state’s ability
to shake off its present woes.”
Flying High
ill T
Despite the hot weather, Joel Griffin, Ali Mills and Michael Burnett
take advantage of free time during their summer vacation by practic-
Photo by Janet Swartz
ing skateboard stunts at The Grove. The trio is from College Station
and they said they often skateboard on campus.
Deed restriction
found on second
Rehnquist home
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
confirmation hearing for Chief Jus
tice-designate William H. Rehnquist
erupted into partisan quarreling
Thursday after Democrats disclosed
that the deed for the nominee’s for
mer home in Phoenix, Ariz., in
cluded language to bar non-whites
from owning the property.
It was the second disclosure in two
days of a restrictive covenant in a
Rehnquist-owned property, as lib
eral Democratic senators continued
to portray the conservative nominee
as an extremist who is insensitive to
civil rights.
On Tuesday, Democrats pointed
out that Rehnquist’s vacation home
in Greensboro, Vt. contained a
clause barring Jews from owning the
property.
Asked by Sen. Edward M. Ken
nedy, D-Mass., if he had read the
Phoenix deed, Rehnquist said: “I
simply can’t answer whether I read
through the deed or not. One relies
on a title company. While very of
fensive, it (the covenant) has no legal
effect.”
Rehnquist said he was not aware
of the restrictions in either deed un
til several days ago.
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, a
staunch Rehnquist supporter,
turned red-faced at the latest disclo
sure. His voice rising, Hatch said,
“This is the biggest red herring in
the whole hearing. It’s ridiculous.”
Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum, D-
Ohio, a Rehnquist critic, said, “I
don’t know that it’s ridiculous at all.”
Windfall profits tax abolished in Senate
i B1
(WASHINGTON (AP) — The
Uenate voted Thursday night to
; ibolish the windfall profits tax first
companies
iosed on oil companies during
iarter administration in reaction
oHigh prices.
S' P * ie Senate approved by voice
455 f f )te ^e proposal by Sen. Don
440 Hkjdes, R-Okla., which was an
43/ intlndment to a pending bill raising
helceiling on the national debt. The
Kal was passed after opponents
}s Stlikl by 51-47 to table, or kill, the
intend mem.
The levy, which is actually on oil
produced and not on profits, takes
effect only when oil prices are above
1979 levels. The tax has not been
collecting any money during the re
cent price decline, and President
Reagan has asked for its repeal.
Nickles and other oil-state sen
ators said it should be repealed to
save oil producers and the govern
ment from unnecessary bookkeep-
ing.
“This is an important step toward
responding to the depression in the
energy industry. If there ever were
any windfall profits they do not exist
today since there are no profits,”
said Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas.
“This is a burdensome tax, which
has hurt every consumer and every
energy producer,” Gramm said. “It
collects no revenue today and im
poses a very heavy paperwork bur
den on oil producers and on the gov
ernment.
“This is an important step toward
establishing an energy policy which
can revitalize the energy industry
and benefit all our citizens. It’s a
small first step but its a begininng.”
In Austin, Gov. Mark White said,
“The Arabs beat ’em to it. The Saudi
Arabians repealed the windfall prof
its tax when they flooded the market
with oil and dropped the price below
$22 a barrel.”
Oil slates have been hard-hit by
the price drop, and many oil pro
ducers have been shutting down
Kennedy said it was important to the
issue of Rehnquist’s sensitivity to
civil rights matters.
The restrictive language for the
Palmcroft subdivision in Phoenix
was written in 1928. Rehnquist
owned his home there from 1961 to
1969.
The language said that for 99
years, property in the subdivision
could not be “sold, transferred or
leased” to someone “not of the white
nor Caucasian race.”
Rehnquist repeated to senators a
promise he made Wednesday to re
move the anti-Semitic language
from the Vermont deed, which ap
plies not to a subdivision but to his
specific property.
their wells because they’ve become
unprofitable, law makers said.
Sen. Frank H. Murkowski, R-
Alaska, said Congress should try to
help “an industry that is as American
as traditional apple pie.”
Sen. Dale Bumpers, D-Ark., said
if American wells continued to shut
down, the nation would be vulnera
ble to future price hikes by the Orga
nization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries.
World Court
resolution
vetoed by U.S.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) —
The United States on Thursday
vetoed a Security Council resolu
tion calling for it to comply with a
World Court order to stop aiding
Nicaraguan rebels.
The vote was 11-1 for the reso
lution, with Thailand, Britain and
France abstaining. The negative
vote of the United States, one of
five permanent members of the
council, killed the measure.
U.S. Ambassador Vernon Wal
ters said the resolution “painted
an inaccurate picture of the true
situation in Central America” and
would not have contributed to
peace in the area.
Sir John Thompson of Britain
abstained, saying the resolution
gave the impression that the Cen
tral American problem was be
tween Nicaragua and the United
States and die! not deal with Nica
ragua’s failure to live up to re
gional commitments.
Jenco
^delivers
Message
ylifoNDON (AP) — The Rev. Law-
race Martin Jenco, freed after
Hrly 19 months of captivity in Leb-
l uNeei)' ln l n > conveyed a secret message
rairsday from his Moslem kiclnap-
3AGji 3ers to the archbishop of Can-
erbury, Robert Runcie.
)REIGl The Roman Catholic priest later
D a surprise reunion with another
Oriner American hostage, Presbyte-
(JpQn'an minister Benjamin Weir.
; COL". Jenco, who was visibly ailing, told
iFF VOU'i news conference that his captors
?URCU; a ve him a Bible, and that he
)ENTID iraved, “God, I’m no Job.” The Old
’hUfS^ra ament te ^ s l ^ e stor y °f t * ie tfib-
Jlions lob faced as a test of his
Sun.A ali.
// : The contents of the message were
^ioI disclosed, but Jenco said it was
^^Hsame one he gave Pope John
TP^'aul II on Wednesday at the Vati-
an.
Cities show record water use
Heat wave death toll at 2
(AP) — Record-high tempera
tures throughout sun-scorched
Texas caused at least two deaths
and contributed to a third while
electricity and water usage surged
with the heat.
Steve Tisdale, 41, died of heat
stroke, the Dallas County Medical
Examiners office ruled Wednes
day. Tisdale, whose high alcohol
intoxication level was a secondary
cause of death, was found
unconscious beside a road in
northwest Dallas, authorities said.
Texas Department of Correc
tions officials said Adolfo Banda,
30, collapsed while working in a
field squad of 14 inmates outside
the TDC Pack I unit in Navasota
and was pronounced dead
Wednesday afternoon, depart
ment spokesman Charles Brown
said.
In San Antonio, preliminary
autopsy results show an elderly
low-income housing resident died
of a liver disease with the heat as a
contributing factor, Bexar
County medical examiner’s office
said in a statement.
Alfonso Perez, 75, was found
Tuesday in his subsidized apart
ment that was without air condi
tioning, the San Antonio Light
reported.
At least 30 Texas cities re
corded highs above the 100-de
gree mark Wednesday, and fore
casters had little hope for the
state cooling off as they say it will
be at least Sunday or Monday be
fore a front reaches with enough
power to drop temperatures by
even a few degrees.
Meanwhile, many areas in the
state are using record amounts of
water and electricity.
Consistently high tempera
tures, ranging above 100 degrees,
and increasing population forced
the city of Irving to buy 3 million
gallons of water a day until Sept.
30 from Dallas to avert a critical
shortage in the supply, city offi
cials said.
On Tuesday, water consump
tion reached an all-time high of
55 million gallons. That’s 10 mil
lion more than last year’s daily
peak.
In Houston, power consump
tion hit a record of 1 1,325 ki
lowatts during a one-hour period
Wednesday, city officials said.
A stubborn high pressure cen
ter hovering above the area is re
sponsible for the heat wave, the
weather service said.
As air conditioners hummed,
Texas Utilities in Dallas set a new
all-time peak demand at 5 p.m.
Wednesday of 16,537,000 ki
lowatts or about 4 percent higher
than last year’s peak, said spokes
man Dick Ramsey.
Jury asked to set aside
$10 billion settlement
HOUSTON (AP) — Attorneys for
Texaco Inc. on Thursday asked a
state appeals court to set aside a mul-
tibillion-dollar judgment a jury last
year ordered Texaco to pay to rival
Pennzoil Co. for wrongfully inter
fering with a planned Pennzoil-
Getty Oil Co. merger.
“There’s not a shred of evidence
in the record to say that Texaco
knew (of any contract between Pen
nzoil and Getty),” attorney Richard
Keeton said in arguments before the
1st Court of Appeals. “There was no
contract and Texaco had no knowl
edge even if there was.”
Pennzoil’s lead attorney, Joe Ja-
mail, however, attacked the Texaco
arguments., accusing the nation’s
third-largest oil company of using a
media campaign made up of myths
about the trial judgment.
“It’s another plea to another court
for more sympathy,” Jamail said of
Thursday’s argument. “They’re still
playing their game of mirrors.
“I think what these (Texaco) law
yers are telling us is how they would
have liked to have the case tried.”
The court adjourned Thursday
afternoon following more than four
hours of arguments. No immediate
ruling was issued from the panel of
Justices James F. Warren, Jack
Smith and Sam Bass.
In November, a Houston jury
found Texaco wrongfully interfered
in the planned Pennzoil-Getty
merger in 1984 and ordered Texaco
to pay $10.53 billion in damages to
Pennzoil. The judgment is the larg
est in U.S. history.
Jamail insisted Getty and Pennzoil
had an agreement and Texaco was
aware of it.
“It is as brazen an interference
with another contract as I have ever
seen,” another Pennzoil attorney, Si
mon Rifkind, told the three-judge
panel.
Keeton contended that Getty rep
resentatives encouraged Texaco to
get involved.