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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 1986)
Tl£ xa ^f M D _ The Battalion oil 82 No. 211 GSPS 045360 10 pages College Station, Texas Thursday, September 18, 1986 enote confirms Rehnquist, 65-33 SHINGTON (AP) — The nate, after three months of divi- \THm LIKE teU OF^.tepebate over William H. Rehnqu- I THE Wflntegrity and commitment to j riglus, confirmed him as die Hi’s 16th chief justice Wednes- ewMioN. By a 65-33 vote, the Senate ap- :d President Reagan’s elevation Bhnquist, the Supreme Court’s 1 politically conservative mem- ir nearly 15 years. He replaces ig Chief Justice Warren E. Tie Senate then immediately con- |Hd, by a 98-0 vote, the nomi- j^»i of Antonin Scalia, a federal Hds court judge, to fill the Su- •eiD' Court vacancy created by jjrgt r’s departure. i Oily two of the Senate’s 53 Re- Hrans, Lowell Weicker of Con- Hut and Charles Mathias of Maryland, voted against the Rehn quist nomination. Sixteen of the Senate’s 47 Demo crats voted for the nomination. Sens. Jake Garn, R-Utah, and Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., did not participate in either vote. Earlier, Republicans were success ful in curtailing the debate in a 68-31 procedural vote, paving the way to the final vote hours later. Rehnquist, in a brief encounter with reporters Wednesday evening, was asked if he thought the advise- and-consent process had been ardu ous. “From my point of view, it has,” he replied. As chief justice, Rehnquist would serve as the nation’s top judge and the “first among equals” on the Su preme Court. As the speech-making wound down Wednesday, Sen. Charles Ma thias of Maryland became the sec ond Republican to announce his op position to Rehnquist. “I can no longer cast my vote in favor of his confirmation,” said Ma thias, who previously supported the nomination. “I am sufficiently trou bled by the real possibility that he acted improperly in failing to (dis qualify) himself’ in a 1972 Supreme Court decision upholding a domestic wiretapping program Rehnquist helped establish as a government lawyer. Mathias’ vote bolstered Demo cratic claims that opposition to Rehnquist was not based purely on partisan politics. Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, D- Ohio, previously had rebutted Re publican claims that opponents of Rehnquist’s nomination were trying to remake the 1984 presidential elec tions. He noted that the Senate ap proved Reagan’s only other Su preme Court nomination, that of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in 1981, by a 99-0 vote. Despite heated hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Rehnquist’s nomination was sent on to the Senate last month by a 13-5 vote of the panel. Democrats attacked him as insen sitive toward minorities and women and contended that he has a too-nar- row view of individual rights. They disclosed that the deed of Rehnquist’s summer home in Greensboro, Vt., contains a restric tive covenant barring its sale to Jews. Rehnquist said he had been told about the legally unenforceable re striction by his Vermont lawyer when he bought the home in 1974, but had forgotten about it. He is tak ing legal action to have the restric tion deleted. Also disclosed at the hearings was the fact that as a lawyer in Phoenix, Ariz., two decades ago, Rehnquist owned a home with a deed bearing a similar clause barring its sale to non whites. He said he had not known about it. Rehnquist’s brother-in-law, Har old D. Cornell of San Diego, says Rehnquist, unethically, failed to tell him about the terms of a $25,000 family trust. Rehnquist has refused to comment on the allegations. Five people swore under oath that Rehnquist played an active role in harassing and intimidating black and Hispanic voters as a Republican Party official in Phoenix in the early 1960s. As he had during his 1971 confirmation hearings, Rehnquist swore under oath he could remem ber no such incidents. As they had in 1971, Rehnquist’s opponents said a 1952 memoran dum he wrote as a Supreme Court law clerk supporting racial segrega tion reflected his own view. Rehnqu ist again testified that the memo did not represent his personal beliefs. A 1970 memo was made public in which Rehnquist, then a Justice De partment lawyer, responded to a Nixon White House request and ad vocated a constitutional amendment to allow continued racial segregation of school districts through neighbor hood school plans. Another unearthed memo written by Rehnquist as a government law yer opposed the Equal Rights Amendment. v in Moslemwi the letter wot en in a telei asks: “Why ninute by i st Daniloffbui ne minute in 't do anything# *e Americans.’’ released bv It! .14, 1985. At that the other .•( uted il 1/Shi s in kuwaitijai U.S. orders expulsion of Soviet diplomats \GT0N (API and the General p., after month have agreedc#*J -year contract totaling $4.5 itract, announci n a brief Is for General orth, Texas,di' OF-lfis by May itract reflectsthBlMembers of the Texas A&M Polo Club, from left, 40 fighting Fat HRogerio Nobrega, Sheri Kurz, Jenny Sharrock, year duringlkl^fcavid Hughes and Billy McCaskill get their first om fiscal WASHINGTON (AP) — The Reagan administration ordered the expulsion of 25 United Nations- based Soviet diplomats Wednesday, but said the action was unrelated to the spy charges Moscow has filed against American journalist Nicholas Daniloff. State Department spokesman Bernard Kalb said the expulsion was a follow-up to a U.S. decision an nounced six months ago, to force cutbacks in the Soviets’ United Na tions presence. The administration has main tained that the Soviet staff at the United Nations is disproportionately large and engages in spy activities. For its part, the Soviets have in sisted that the required reductions violate the obligations the United States has undertaken as host coun try for the United Nations. The names of the personnel af fected by the order were turned over to Soviet officials by the U.S. ambas sador to the United Nations, Vernon’ Walters. The 25 were given until Oct. 1 to leave the country. The Soviet U.N. Mission immedi ately signaled that it will resist the the order. “I think there will be a protest,” Valentin G. Karymov, a senior coun selor at the Soviet mission, told a re porter by telephone. The diplomat, however, said the U.S. note first would be studied by Moscow before a formal response is made. An informed source who does not work for the government, but who specializes in intelligence matters, said it was understood that most if not all of the 25 Soviets worked for the two principal Soviet intelligence agencies, the KGB and the GRU. The source insisted on anonymity. Roy Godson, professor of govern ment at Georgetown University, called the expulsion “an unprece dented and historic step in Soviet- American relations.” “For the first time ever, the United States has dealt the Soviet es pionage apparatus in the United States, particularly in New York, a devastating blow,” Godson said. “It will take Moscow years to recover.” Last March, the Reagan adminis tration announced that the Soviets would be required to reduce their U.N. staff by from 275 to 170 over a two-year period in increments of roughly 25 every six months. The Soviet delegation is more than twice the size of the next largest delegation. Of the 105 to be sent home, a small number would be attached to the staffs of two Soviet republics, Ukrainia and Byelorussia. All 25 af fected by Wednesday’s announce ment, however, represent Moscow’s delegation. But Kalb refused to say whether any had engaged in spying. Since March, the spokesman said, “the Soviet mission has rebuffed re peated U.S. requests that it cooper ate in implementing the necessary reduction by advising us which posi tions would be eliminated to achieve the ceilings established.” mains of A&M graduate identified in Laos etter times ahead’ for Texas farmers r-year buy, lb -year procured ■ as authorized‘ ,i; e 1985 in a M' action expetsfc Force andG# MATHIS (AP) — Relatives of a e nation's seco-ftx;is A&M graduate who had been ■ contractor,OTissiug in Laos since 1972 say they ; the deal ever jere sad but comforted to get offi- ;t multi-yearp'J^Bconfirmation that his remains ic, coveringllitfH been identified by the govern- 1982 to fiscal tent. 0 planes at a 'Bwe can quit worrying and quit 2.6 billion. TlHdering,” said Alice Ramsower. eves it saved ‘When you have a child gone, you monthatdeal ivant to know what happened. I’m Force saidtodi'mglad. But now it will be final and e roughly JSoF fiamvill be a comfort.” ling itself noi'J >f 720 planes DJ seriod. ice previousM gs result from ■ral Dynamics I 11 ® e productionb# „ „ . . ne operation § By Connie Kenjura jm Reporter Hexas is experiencing its toughest ^^^^^^ptancial times since the 1930s, but B y eai P rom ' ses to be a better Hk Bfor Texas farms, a Texas A&M konmnist says. : Di Carl Anderson, in ;i recent I jftvsletiei In mi the I ex,is Agriewl I pi Extension Service, said Texas B receipts for 1986 are expected He considerably less than those in JjSfcW f985, even with the increase in live- I 7 prices during the last half of If Hear. Huring hard times, he said, the ^ lurvivai of the farm will depend on Hit is rim. Bl’imes are lean for Texas agricul- jgfj ure, but they have been lean befo- re," Anderson said. “This is one time t think those who manage a farm business, and not just a farm, will do 11,” plough Texas agriculture is gling financially, it would be h worse off without the aid of rnment programs, Anderson overnment programs are a !ty net for the farm income,” he “The government programs able for farmers are letting the An Army laboratory positively identified the remains of Air Force Lt. Col. Irving B. Ramsower II, Class of ’57, the Pentagon announced Tuesday. His remains were among 14 bod ies recovered during the excavation of an airplane crash site in Laos last February. Ramsower earned a degree in ge ology at. Texas A&M and was a member of the Corps of Cadets. The family was told in 1972 that Ramsower was believed to have been aboard a plane that crashed over Laos. In 1978, the Air Force de clared Ramsower dead. Relatives said they still held out for confirmation. “It just wore on and on,” said cousin Earl Ramsower. “You always hoped, but it didn’t happen this time.” Earl Ramsower said his cousin, an Eagle Scout and high school quar terback was a quiet man who was well liked in his hometown of Ma this, a small South Texas farming community where his mother, Alice, still lives. Ramsower entered basic training in Valdosta, Ga. He met and mar ried his wife, Jutta, while he was sta tioned in Germany for four years. The couple later moved to Florida. A military funeral was pending at Arlington National Cemetery in Ar lington, Va. Nation's largest farm lender may run out of funds in '87 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Farm Credit System, the nation’s largest farm lender, is likely to run out of money early next year and will have to come to Congress for a financial bailout, congressio nal investigators said Wednesday. The General Accounting Of fice, in testimony released by Rep. Ed Jones, D-Tenn., esti mated the system’s losses this year will hit a record $2.9 billion, eclipsing losses in 1985 of $2.7 billion. William J. Anderson, GAO as sistant comptroller general, ad vised lawmakers to begin plan ning now for how the financial crisis will be handled. “We cannot be certain about the precise time at which the sys tem’s surplus will be effectively exhausted,” Anderson said in a testimony prepared for a hearing today before Jones’ Agriculture credit subcommittee. He said the system believes it will lose only $1.7 billion this year rather than the GAO’s higher figure. farmers stabilize and adjust their re sources out of agriculture.” Anderson said part of the de crease in cash receipts will be made up by increased government pay ments to the farmer. He said Texas agriculture would show little or no income in 1986 if it were not for gov ernment payments to the crop sec tor. The main reason receipts will be far below 1985 levels is the weakness of overall prices of the major crops, Anderson said. He said there is a large weakness in the current mar ket for wheat, corn, grain and cot ton. Low cotton prices are one of the main concerns for Texas, Anderson said. The cotton industry is the state’s top industry, making up 10 percent of the state’s total cash rec eipts, he said. He added that cotton prices are low because of adverse weather con ditions. Delayed crops resulted when the season started out too dry, then became too wet, he said. The world market price for cotton now is 20 cents a pound, compared to 55 cents a pound last year, Ander son said. He said crop prices have contin ued to fall while livestock prices reg istered gains over 1985 levels. At midyear farmers got more for hogs, cattle, broilers and eggs but less for corn, oranges and wheat, he said. The cattle industry makes up 40 percent of Texas agriculture, An derson said. Beef prices have finally begun to steady and even rally, he said, because farmers decreased the number of cattle to balance with de mand. Pork has a low profile in Texas, but the prices have increased due to a decline in supply, Anderson said. Anderson said producers should concentrate on building their busi nesses around financial and price risk management. Farmers who have a strong farming plan are sur viving and holding together during the depressed times, he said. 5 killed as bomb demolishes store in French capital PARIS (AP) — Terrorists struck the French capital Wednesday for the fifth time in 10 days, demolishing a clothing store with a bomb thrown from a car. Five people were killed and 58 injured, authorities said. Three people were killed and more than 100 injured in the pre vious bombings, which prompted the government to adopt tough anti-terrorist measures. Two groups seeking to free three im prisoned Middle Easterners have issued conflicting claims of re sponsibility for those attacks. One woman passer-by was blown apart by Wednesday’s blast in central Paris, and a witness said another victim was lifted several yards into the air. “It is an incred ible sight, many women, children, blood everywhere,” said a witness who refused to give his name. The bomb was tossed from a black BMW carrying two musta chioed men, one of whom rolled down the window and tossed the bomb at the Tati clothing and textile store in the Montparnasse district, said Laurent Davenas, an assistant state prosecutor. Windows were blown out at several businesses. The sidewalk in front of the Tati store was cov ered with glass, debris and bleed ing victims, many crying out for help. Police cleared a plaza, the Place du 18 Juin, and used it as a helicopter landing pad to evac uate those with the gravest inju ries. A spokesman for the public hospital authority said 19 of those injured in the 5:25 p.m. bombing were in serious condition. “The most seriously wounded were treated on the sidewalk in front of Tati,” one witness said. “I saw people dying.” “It was horrible,” another wit ness said. “A young woman, her legs cut, had half of her face torn off. All you could see tvas bleed ing bodies.” Premier Jacques Chirac called an emergency meeting of his top security ministers immediately af ter the attack. The attack was the bloodiest since the recent wave of bomb ings began Sept. 8. Earlier explo sions hit a city hall post office, a cafeteria in suburban La Defense, the Pub Renault on the Champs- Elysees Avenue and police head quarters in central Paris. Groups calling themselves the Committee for Solidarity with Arab and Middle East Political Prisoners and the Partisans of Rights and Freedom have issued conflicting claims of responsibil ity for the earlier bombings and threatened new attacks unless Georges Ibrahim Abdallah and two other jailed Middle Eastern ers are freed. In Beirut, an Arabic statement signed by the Committee for Sol- diarity threatened to launch at tacks in the United States. The two-page statement, deliv ered Wednesday to the indepen dent newspaper An-Nahar, said, “We shall meet soon in your great states. We shall get acquainted with great states, your cities, your skyscrapers, your Statue of Lib erty.” French police said Wednesday that Abdallah’s brother, Robert, was a prime suspect in the cafete ria bombing, and 200,000 posters were being distributed with his picture and that of another brother, Maurice. Authorities of fered a reward of one million francs — $150,000 — for infor mation leading to their arrest. The two brothers convened a news conference in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, denying involvement in the bombings and saying they had not been in France in two years. Their statement was made just before the Wednesday attack. Georges, the suspected leader of a group called the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions, is serving a four-year prison term for possession of arms and false papers.