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.