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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 1986)
I The Battalion tol. 82 No. 189 USPS 045360 6 pages College Station, Texas Wednesday, August 6, 1986 fiate jects cuts igjn Reagan's ofeDI budget ■WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Tuesday narrowly re- jeated attempts to cut deeply into ’resident Reagan’s budget re- jucst for “Star Wars” anti-missile research, but still was ready to ti|i' the White House less than it ranted for the controversial pro- [ifim. Jfhe Senate first voted 50-49 to all a proposal to reduce spending for the controversial program to o.2 billion in the fiscal year start- ■ Oct. 1. That would have been ■ increase after inflation of only t iercent. Later, the Senate rejected, also iO-49, another plan to provide npaifi iflipj.aG billion for Star Wars, a 15 jrcent increase. These were the first major de- |n|ions as both the House and nate worked their way through Irallel bills authorizing defense ending for the fiscal year start- feOct. 1. TBut shortly after those votes, le Senate was sidetracked from tht defense bill by a partisan [uabble over a proposal to im- se sanctions against the white- led South African government. The sanctions were approved week by the Foreign Relations mmittee, and Senate Minority ader Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., dSen. Edward M. Kennedy, D- ass., offered the package late esday as an amendment to the ntagon budget bill. That angered Senate Majority ader Bob Dole, R-Kan., who :used Democrats of breaking a ntlemen’s agreement under ich the sanctions package, and e unrelated issue of aid to Nica- Bgua’s Contra guerrillas, would ffctve been considered at a later ipares: Dole said backers of the sanc- (bns package had “sneaked in” ktid offered the amendment. He then offered the Contra aid pack age as another amendment to the [defense bill. I Since both the sanctions and Contra issues were likely to be de bated for hours, the issue side- lacked the Senate from immedi ate consideration of the defense bill I Members of both parties cau- |tiised off the floor, but were un able to agree on a way out of the snarled situation. Finally, legis- ■tive leaders gave up for the n ght and recessed the Senate to ly to untangle the snarl before the Senate convenes Wednesday. South Africa retaliates against sanctions PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — The government said Tuesday it will impose controls on goods bound for landlocked Zambia and Zimbabwe because of the international sanc tions campaign against apartheid. Most trade of the two black-ruled countries passes through South Af rica. “Now they must put their money where their mouth is,” Foreign Min ister R.F. Botha said. Zambia and Zimbabwe support punitive economic measures against South Africa, and their leaders pushed strongly for them at this week’s Commonwealth meeting in London. Botha told a news conference South Africa would put a levy on all imports passing through its terri tory, citing Zambia and Zimbabwe as the first targets. If the security situation deterio rates, Botha said, “there will be more strict border regulations.” More than half of southern Afri ca’s trade passes through South Afri can ports, the foreign minister said. The government used meticulous border inspections in January, dra matically delaying shipments, to put pressure on a hostile government in Lesotho. A military council more friendly to its powerful neighbor re placed that government in a coup. South Africa’s currency, the rand, fell in value from 39 cents to 38.40 cents Tuesday after the Common wealth summit in London at which Zambia, Zimbabwe and four other countries agreed on tough sanctions. Britain, the seventh nation involved, endorsed only limited measures. Helen Suzman, an opposition member of Parliament and veteran anti-apartheid activist, told a rally in Johannesburg that sanctions would cause the government to become more defiant. “Liberation is not around the cor ner,” she said. “Whites put the gov ernment in power and it is up to whites to get them out.” In another development, the United Democratic Front said unrest will continue in black schools unless the government addresses the black community’s grievances. “The government’s heavy-handed response to the crisis in our schools is threatening to reduce black educa tion in South Africa from the sham bles it already is to a national disas ter,” said a statement by the UDF, the largest coalition against the apartheid system of race discrimina tion. “We have seen a dramatic increase in police and army presence on school grounds. . . . They are pre pared to turn our schools into a bat tlefield,” it said. The government announced Fri day that a license system will be es tablished to control South Africa’s imports from Zimbabwe, which total 200 million rand ($80 million) a year. Justice Dept, probes possible leak to Chile WASHINGTON (AP) —The Jus tice Department is investigating an aide to Sen. Jesse Helms to deter mine whether the aide leaked secret information to the Chilean govern ment, administration officials said Tuesday. The State Department and CIA say they have evidence that Christo pher Manion, brother of federal ap peals court judge Daniel Manion, disclosed information that had been received in a classified briefing, according to the officials. Manion is a Senate Foreign Rela tions Committee staffer hired on Helms’ recommendation and works for the senator on the panel’s sub committee on Western Hemisphere Affairs. Helms is chairman of the subcommittee. The investigation being con ducted by the FBI is focusing on Manion, the sources confirmed. The alleged leak involved U.S. ability to monitor internal commu nications of the Chilean armed forces, through which officials had reportedly learned details of the July 6 burning death of a Chilean-born U.S. resident at an anti-government demonstration, according to the of ficials. Claude Allen, a spokesman for the Senate Foreign Relations Com mittee, referred all questions to the Justice Department. Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., meanwhile, said today he had talked to Helms about the mat ter. Helms, R-N.C., was angered by the allegations that he or his staff gave the government of Chile infor mation about the covert U.S. intelli gence-gathering operation. Helms said Monday the accusations were made maliciously by Elliott Abrams, assistant secretary of state for Latin American affairs. The allegations, publicly disclosed Sunday in the New York Times, have prompted the Senate Intelli gence Committee to ask Attorney General Edwin Meesp to open an in vestigation into potential violations and to report back. Authorities catch brothers who escaped from prison SUGAR LAND (AP) — Authorities late Monday apprehended two brothers who escaped some 15 hours earlier from a pest control squad at the Texas Department of Correc tions Central Unit. Chris Franklin Masterson, 18, and his 25-year-old brother, James Ivan Masterson, were found walking in north Harris County, said Jerry Ri ley, a spokesman for the Harris County SherifFs Department. The brothers, who are serving time for aggravated robbery convic tions from Harris County, surren dered without a struggle, saying they were tired of the chase, officials said. Authorities began looking for the pair in north Harris County Monday afternoon after they received re ports the two were there, Riley said. The brothers were discovered missing at 6:30 a.m. Monday by guards watching a pest control squad outside the unit, TDC spokes man David Nunnelee said. The younger brother, who is not part of the pest control squad, ap parently used a squad members’s name to get outside the unit. He usually works in the prison soap fac tory, Nunnelee said. < > - * - > * ..... j , -4 > . ‘\ ' . V-. ! > ; . I T ■—■ > —osaasp An ‘A’ For Effort Texas A&M Girls’ Volleyball Camp coach Chris Zogata encourages a camper to “dive and roll” during practice Tuesday. This year’s camp began Photo by Anthony S. Casper Sunday and ends Thursday with a mini-tourna ment. It is being attended by 78 girls between the ages of 13 and 18. eport: Fire school landfill may be leaking toxic wastes By Olivier Uyttebrouck Staff Writer [Texas Water Commission reports eteal that toxic wastes could be caking from the landfill and drain- tanks at the Brayton Fire Train- nl School, which is situated directly |>ve an important water aquifer. iTexas Water Commission records iftjbw that a clay base below the inage tanks may not be sufficient o| prevent leaking of toxic wastes Wried in the land fill. IK 1982 Water Commission report l®ermined that groundwater con- tination might still be possible de spite a 44-inch thick layer of clay un der the landfill. “Although the major water sands in the area generally are deeper than about 90 feet and appear to be pro tected by adequate thicknesses of clay ■ - once allowed to seep into the subsurface, (wastes) could even tually migrate into a major water sand,” the report notes. These water sands under the drainage ponds constitute the Yegua aquifer, the principal water-bearing aquifer in the area, the report says. The aquifer provides water for seven recorded wells within two miles of the fire school. Based on these findings, the com mission recomended that the school be required to line its drainage ponds with an added two-foot-thick layer of clay before the state ap proved the school’s permit to dis charge wastewater. John Donovan, field manager of the fireman’s school, said the school added the clay when the pond sys tem was upgraded in 1982. However, the toxic waste landfill located only 100 yards from the drainage ponds was not brought up to the same standards. The landfill, which contains PCBs, toluene and benzene, was constructed in 1981 af ter a 1979 spill focused attention on toxic wastes at the school. Whether chemicals actually are leaking from the landfill is hard to say because the fire school is not re quired to monitor groundwater. Enforcement action taken by the Texas Department of Water Re sources in 1981 did not require the school to monitor groundwater around the landfill. Even today the state does not require groundwater monitoring at the site, Don Wyrick, water commission district represen tative, says. “Why there was no requirement for monitoring the groundwater and submitting a report as other compa nies in the state of Texas are re quired to do, I don’t know,” he said. Max Woodfin, environmental coordinator of the Texas Water Commission, said the state does not know if contamination has taken place. “We have no way of knowing if there has been additional groundwa ter contamination,” he said. Today the water commission re- urricane specialist redicts four this year mi JfiOUSTON (AP) — A weather ^lyKrialist who accurately predicted J number of hurricanes, last year s four such storms will form this ures ; /Villiam M. Gray, an atmospheric :ntist at Colorado State Univer sity predicts four hurricanes, three topical storms and 10 hurricane g.g days will develop this season. Ia hurricane day is any part of a cja\ in which a tropical cyclone is es- ated to have hurricane force "iids. J3ne hurricane, a tropical storm and hurricane days already have aetn recorded this season, which nits from June 1 through Nov. 30. AS, tatistically, the period from Aug. 1 Jo Oct. 31 is the most active part of the hurricane season. A tropical storm is upgraded to hurricane sta tus when sustained winds reach 74 mph. Last year, Gray predicted seven hurricanes and three tropical storms would occur. As it turned out, he overshot his prediction only by one tropical storm. Despite the accuracy of his 1985 predictions, Gray said that devel opment of tropical storms and hurri canes undoubtedly is related to un discovered factors. The scientist bases his forecasts on four known factors that affect hurri cane activity — El Nino, the weather phenomenon w here sea surface tem peratures in the eastern half of the Pacific Ocean occasionally rise; stratospheric equatorial winds; sea level pressures in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico; and tropos pheric winds over the Caribbean in spring and early summer. Nominee neutral on abortion Scalia hearings begin WASHINGTON (AP) — An tonin Scalia, President Reagan’s nominee to the Supreme Court, said Tuesday he has no precon ceived agenda to overturn past high-court rulings, including abortion rights. “I assure you I have no agenda,” Scalia told the Senate Judiciary Committee as it began its confirmation hearings on his selection. “My only agenda is to be a good judge. It’s not a pro grammatic matter.” The low-key questioning of Scalia and opening statements by the 18 committee members were in marked contrast to last week’s rancorous hearings on Reagan’s proposed elevation of William H. Rehnquist to be chief justice. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D- Mass., asked Scalia, a conservative federal appeals court judge, if he would vote to overturn the Su preme Court’s 1973 ruling legal izing abortions. Kennedy said there are “some reports” that Sca- lia’s supposed opposition to abor tion was “a consideration” in his nomination by Reagan. Scalia declined to say whether he believes abortion rights are protected by the Constitution on grounds he might have to con front the issue,if confirmed and the high court decides to re-ex amine the question. But the nominee said he re spects court precedents and added that “no one arguing that case should think” he has made up his mind already. The opening hours of the hearings were so free of con frontation that Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, the ranking Demo crat on the panel, said things were too dull. Biden quoted from speeches Scalia has given in which the judge portrayed himself as play ing the devil’s advocate, taking controversial positions to provoke lively discussion. “I’m trying to avoid that here,” Scalia said. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who has been a staunch defender of Reagan court nominees, told Sca lia he was “doing fine.” Practically the only disparaging words were from Kennedy, who said Scalia is insensitive to wom en’s rights. quires that toxic landfills have a min imum of four monitoring wells. The fire school has a monitoring well but there are no records of tests being taken. Milton Radke, associate director for programs at the Texas Engi neering Extension Service, said the school was allowed to build the land fill on-site because the clay soil un derlying the landill was believed to be a fairly impervious base. But a 1984 test by a Dallas com pany under contract with the water See Waste, page 6 Murdered girl, 11, left plea for help FORT WORTH (AP) — An 11- year-old girl who had left a hidden note begging for help was strangled by an assailant in her bedroom, the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office said Tuesday. Vanessa Villa, who police say may also have been sexually assaulted, died in her home Sunday night while her mother briefly visited a relative’s house. A note found Monday morning by family members in a dictionary read: “Mama, take me from this place. I’m scared.” The girl may have been pre viously accosted and threatened with death if she told about it, family members said. But they said they have no idea who is responsible, or when she wrote the note.