The Battalion
il. 83 No. 28 CJSPS 045360 12 pages
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, October 8, 1986
7 injured
Houston
explosion
DEER PARK (AP) — A fire and
wo explosions rocked a barge in the
-louston Ship Channel early Tues-
lay, injuring seven men and forcing
ifficials to close a mile-long stretch
»fthe waterway. One man blown off
tanker was reported missing.
The fire began at 4 a.m. after the
irst explosion and burned through
he afternoon, U.S. Coast Guard of-
icials said. They said they were let-
ingthe fire burn itself out.
Barge Hollywood 3003 was carry-
ng methyl tertiary butyl ether, a gas-
iline additive that creates an intense
lame, Coast Guard Ensign Lia De-
lettencourt said.
Fire broke out while the product
vas being transferred to another
targe, said Stephen Miles, president
" Intercontinental Terminals Co.
The other barge did not catch fire,
ie said.
“The fire is no longer progres
ing, but it’s still burning,” said Coast
Juard spokesman Richard Nichols.
It’s under control, but it’s not extin-
uished.”
Nichols said the fire was con-
ained on the barge and surround-
ng water. The barge was partially
ubmerged in the water, he said.
Witnesses said the explosions oc-
urred just before 4 a.m. and then at
a.m. during the fire. The cause of
ic initial explosion had not been
letermined.
Several hatches blew off tanks on
re barge later in the morning prob-
bly because of heat from the blaze,
bast Guard spokesman Mark Ken
edy said. The barge has 10 tanks.
Snips surrounded the burning
arge, spewing water, and a circling
elicopter looked for the missing
nan who authorities said was
nocked off a nearby Panamanian
anker.
Another worker on the vessel
nmped into the water when the fire
tarted and was rescued uninjured,
fficials said.
A crew member injured on the
urning barge was in guarded con-
ition Tuesday at Hermann Hospi-
al in Houston, said spokeswoman
usan Edwards. Paul Simpson, 22,
uffered burns over 75 percent of
is body, said a hospital clerk who
eclinecl to give her name.
Four firefighters from Interconti-
lental Terminals who helped fight
he blaze also were injured, Debet-
encourt said. They suffered first-
ind second-degree burns and were
satisfactory condition at Humana
lospital Southmore, hospital
pokesman Walter Leleux said.
isai
i
at
il
■
■ : ■
■ ■ : II.St
; , -
Hi
t> ‘•t, -
-mm;:
Photo by Mark Gee
Picture Perfect
Mark Johnson, a senior philosophy major from College Station,
hangs a picture Tuesday for the “Spanish Heritage in Texas” ex
hibit. The exhibit will be open for public viewing Friday through
Oct. 28 in the Rudder Exhioit Hall.
Yell practice conflict
prompts complaints
Plan in works to end Corps-civilian friction
By Jo Ann Able
Staff Writer
A plan is in the works to prevent
further conflicts between the Corps
and civilians running across Kyle
Field at midnight yell practice, Dr.
Malon Southerland, interim com
mandant of the Corps of Cadets,
said Tuesday.
He said he’s working with the yell
leaders and the Corps to address
complaints stemming from Corps
actions during Friday’s yell practice.
Several people received minor in
juries in a scuffle that broke out
when they tried to run across the
field and cadets tried to stop them.
“It’s just simply something that’s
gotten out of hand,” Southerland
said. “People have decided for what
ever reasons that it’s a game to
charge out on the field, and once
that happens, other individuals
think it’s their responsibility to stop
them, and it gives each party a rea
son to have a wrestling match.”
Andy Vann, a junior English ma
jor, said he was among about 15 peo
ple, including about six girls, who
tried to cross the field. He said he
was tackled by two cadets.
“Two C.T.’s jumped on top of me
and started hitting me in the head
with their helmets and started
punching me,” Vann said. “I never
fought back. I never said a single
thing.”
Vann said one cadet tried unsuc
cessfully to carry him off the field.
He said he then stood up and tried
to walk off the field.
“One of them grabbed my feet
and the other one grabbed the up
per part of my body,” he said, “and
they ran me off the field and one of
them kept hitting me in the head
with his helmet, over and over
again.”
Vann said one of the girls in the
group was told by cadets, “Get off
the field, you slut.”
A few of the girls were tackled
and one was hit with a helmet, Vann
said.
“T he main reason I did it (ran on
the field) is I wanted to see how far
the Corps would go to keep up a tra
dition,” Vann said. “As far as I’m
concerned, tradition is a fine part of
this institution, but the fanaticism I
saw out there and the violence that
resulted is scary.”
Jeff Newberry, a sophomore En-
? jish major, said he also ran onto the
ield.
“We knew what we were getting
into, and we knew senseless violence
was going to be the reaction,” New
berry said.
He said the purpose of his actions
was to get a reaction from the crowd
and make them question the violence
that he knew would result.
“We certainly weren’t the most in
telligent rebels in the world,” New
berry said.
Newberry said he was tackled by
at least five cadets who beat him in
the head, kicked him in the gut and
called him names.
He said he suffered bruises, turf
burns, a few lumps on his head and
had his shirt torn off.
Another participant in the run,
David Kohel, a junior biochemistry
major, said he regrets that his ac
tions are being viewed as provoking
the Corps.
“People need to use more sponta
neity and imagination,” Kohel said.
“Sometimes tradition limits our per
spective of what we do, and I think a
lot of times people are oblivious to
alternative actions.
“I ran out on the field and had
quite a few people condone the
C.T. s’ violence.”
He said he was tackled, had his
shirt ripped off and was hit in the
mouth.
He said he doesn’t believe anyone
expected the outcome to be as vio
lent as it actually was.
“I don’t want to make it sound like
we went out there to cause violence,”
Kohel said.
Marty Holmes, head yell leader,
said there wouldn’t be a problem if
everyone was “true to each other as
Aggies can be” like it says in “The
Spirit of Aggieland.”
“First of all, we wouldn’t be beat
ing up on them like that,” Holmes
said. “And at the same time they (ci
vilians) wouldn’t be trying to run out
there.
“When they run out there, they
know what’s fixing to happen. It’s
not like they’re innocent bystanders
or something. They’re egging it on
themselves.”
Southerland said students need to
be aware they shouldn’t go out on
the field, but if it does happen, the
cadets shouldn’t overreact.
Southerland said, “It’s just some
thing that cannot be allowed to con
tinue because somebody’s going to
get hurt.”
Air crashes may be linked to covert CIA mission
The Coast Guard closed the
itretch of the channel for safety pre-
autions, Debettencourt said. At
east one boat was moved out of the
irea, she said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. congress
man on Tuesday called for a House probe
into two air crashes that occurred within the
past week in Texas and Nicaragua to deter
mine if they were part of a covert CIA opera
tion aimed at toppling the Sandinista govern
ment.
Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez, D-San Antonio,
charged that a civilian cargo plane that
crashed at a Texas military base was on a se
cret CIA mission carrying weapons to Ameri
can-backed rebels in Nicaragua.
A smaller plane that reportedly crashed in
side Nicaragua near the Honduran border
was also on a CIA-backed mission, Gonzalez
said at a late afternoon news conference.
In letters to Rep. Les Aspin, D-Wis., chair
man of the House Committee on Armed
Services, and Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind.,
chairman of the House Intelligence Commit
tee, Gonzalez asked for an investigation into
whether the CIA was linked with the crashes.
“Under the authorization granted to the
CIA in 1947 there is nothing to allow them to
operate as a paramilitary operation,” Gonza
lez said.
He also said pilots were being hired to fly
aircraft for civilian aviation companies con
tracted by the CIA to carry out missions in
support of covert operations based in Hondu
ras for the Nicaraguan Contra rebel forces.
Those civilian air transport companies are
not being regulated by the federal govern
ment nor by the military, which results in
many aircraft being flown that are not airwor
thy, Gonzalez said.
“You have these aircraft operating in a twi
light zone, that not only continue to menace
the military bases, but the citizens and com
munities living in the vacinity,” Gonzalez said.
In a related development, Gonzalez said
that the CIA is offering $25,000 to Spanish
speaking Texans for a year’s duty in Central
America through the Texas Employment
Commission and the Veteran’s Service Offi
cer.
“It’s all tied together,” he said.
“In San Antonio, the Texas Employment
Commission, through its veteran service offi
cer, is attempting to recruit 1,000 Chicanes,
Spanish-speaking, for unaccompanied tours
for one year in Central America,” Gonzalez
said at a news conference.
“(They want people) who have a back
ground of experience in small arms and com
munications,” he said.
Asked if he was saying mercenaries are be
ing recruited, he,earlier replied, “That’s what
it amounts to.”
Gene Brieger, supervisor of placement
field services for the TEC in San Antonio,
said Tuesday that the agency received an or
der from Central Texas College in Killeen
and is trying to fill it.
He said in a government contract, compa
nies are required to list jobs with state employ
ment agencies.
“They’re required by federal orders to
place orders with us,” Brieger said. “Receiv
ing this is not any big deal.”
He said the order asks for 1,000 people to
be trained in different subjects for jobs in
Central and South America.
The pay is $25,000 per year for one year,
including food and lodging, Brieger said.
“Obviously (Gonzalez) has information we
don’t have,” Brieger said.
He said he did not know where the college
got its order.
Alvin Orenstein, deputy chancellor at Cen
tral Texas College in Killeen, did not return
phone calls to the AP on Tuesday.
The plane that crashed early Saturday at
Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio was
owned by Southern Air Transport, a Miami-
based company which Gonzalez said has a his
tory of CIA involvement.
Officials say American downed
n plane crash is military adviser
MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) —
An American who survived when
Sandinista soldiers shot down a
rgo plane said Tuesday he is an
aviation specialist who boarded the
T123 in El Salvador, and was cap-
ured in the jungle a day after the
)lane crashed.
Nicaraguan officials claim that
Eugene Hasenfus, 45, of Marinette,
iVis., is an American military adviser
ming in El Salvador and the trans-
>ort shot down Sunday in southern
icaragua was carrying weapons
and ammunition to U.S.-backed
lontra rebels fighting the leftist
Sandinistas.
Sandinista army Lt. Col. Roberto
alderon said in Managua that Ha-
ienfus and two Americans who died
)n the plane carried identification
issociating them with the U.S. mili
tary advisory group in El Salvador.
However, officials in Washington
denied any connection between Ha
senfus and the U.S. government. A
Contra official in Tegucigalpa, Hon
duras, also denied that it had any
thing to do with the plane.
Hasenfus was allowed to speak to
local journalists briefly in San Car
los, a port on Lake Nicaragua near
the crash site. He said the plane be
gan its journey in Miami, picked him
up in El Salvador, then took a Nica
raguan aboard in Honduras and en
tered Nicaraguan air space from
Costa Rica at a site known as La
Noca on the San Juan River.
Hasenfus said the Nicaraguan was
one of three men killed in the crash.
Nicaraguan army officers who ac
companied Hasenfus said the other
two men killed were Americans they
identified as Wallace Blaine Sawger
Jr. and Bill Cooper. Their home
towns were not available.
Calderon, chief of the military dis
trict where the plane was shot down,
quoted Hasenfus as saying Sunday’s
flight had been his fourth Contra
supply flight since July.
Calderon said Hasenfus’job in the
flight was to kick bundles of supplies
out of the plane. The C-123 is an
older-model aircraft that was used
widely during the Vietnam War.
Calderon said Hasenfus carried a
card issued by the Salvadoran air
force, authorizing him to enter re
stricted areas of Ilopango Air Force
Base in southern El Salvador.
Calderon claimed documents
found in the downed transport
plane and on the victims’ bodies
identified Cooper and Sawger as
members of the U.S. military advi
sory group in El Salvador.
Another captured document had
been issued to Cooper by a company
called Southern Air Transport, Cal
deron said. That company, which re
portedly has flown supplies to the
Contras, said Tuesday it knew noth
ing about Hasenfus or the flight.
Sandinista officials said the plane
was shot down with a Soviet-made
surface-to-air missile at a spot 35
miles north of Costa Rica and 91
miles southeast of Managua.
The Defense Ministry said the
downed plane carried 50,000
rounds of ammunition for Soviet-
made AK-47 rifles, rocket-propelled
grenades, dozens of automatic rifles,
jungle boots and other military sup
plies.
Runoffs will be held
on all freshman offices
By Rodney Rather
Staff Writer
Tuesday’s freshman elections
attracted 1,090 voters to the polls
and elected eight student sen
ators but left all five class offices
unresolved.
According to election returns
reported Tuesday night by elec
tion co-comrhissioners D.B.
Thomas and Derek Blakeley, no
candidate for any office received
the majority vote necessary to se
cure a victory.
Run-off elections will be held
Monday between the two candi
dates receiving the most votes for
each office.
The presidential run-off will
be between Mike Lister and Dan
Gattis. Lister, a business major
from Dallas, netted 19.7 percent
of the votes while Gattis, an agri
cultural economics major from
Friendswood, drew 11.5 percent.
The run-off for vice president
will be between Rachel Powitzk,
who emerged from Tuesday’s
election with 27.6 percent of the
votes, and Michael Aspina, who
tallied 15.6 percent.
In the run-off for treasurer,
Jennifer Saute will face David
Gribble. Saute accumulated 31.9
percent of the votes and Gribble
piled 21.6 percent.
The race for secretary will be
between Sharon Brunner, who
received 33.1 percent of the
votes, and Jeff Brennan, who got
27.1 percent.
The run-off for social secretary
will be between Kathleen Erode
and Clay Harris. Erode finished
Tuesday’s election with 39.2 per
cent of the vote while Harris at
tracted 18.4 percent.
ounty jail expands but more space needed
By Olivier Uyttebrouck
Staff Writer
Most businesses in downtown
Bryan have seen better days, but one
blace in town has more customers
|han it can handle — the Brazos
Countyjail.
Business is booming at the jail. So
nuch so that the county has more
|han doubled its jail capacity with $4
nillion in new construction and ren
ovations in the past two years, says
It. Ron Huddleston, jail administra
tor for the Brazos County Sheriffs
Department. Even so, about 30 in
mates still are sleeping on the floors,
he says.
Billy E. Beard, Brazos County
commissioner, says county commi-
sioners are finalizing plans to build a
minimum security jail about a mile
west of Bryan as a more lasting solu
tion to the overcrowding problem. It
could house 96 inmates, he said.
If the jail is built as Beard has
planned it, the $500,000 facility will
be situated on a 32-acre tract of land
along Still Creek, and inmates will
raise animals and cultivate gardens
and a hay field on the land, he says.
But for at least the next year, the
sheriffs department will have to
make do with the present jail located
on the second floor of the Brazos
County Courthouse.
Huddleston says when the 112-in
mate addition to the old jail was fin
ished last year, all of the 70 or 80 in
mates were moved into it, so
renovations could begin on the 50-
year-old portion of the jail.
But in the past year, he says, the
inmate population has risen to 135.
And on weekends, when judges and
bail-bondsmen are hard to come by,
the population swells to about 150,
he says.
Renovations of the old jail should
be finished in the next 30 days, cre
ating room for 60 additional in
mates, he says. But even this relief
may be short-lived and the county
may soon have to start paying to
have its inmates jailed in other coun
ties, at a cost of about $50 per day,
per person, he says.
Huddleston cites two reasons for
the growing inmate population: A
growing number of arrests and a de
cline in the number of suspended
sentences and probation sentences.
With more room in the jail, judges
are more inclined to sentence crimi
nals to jail terms and give them
longer sentences rather than release
them on probation, Huddleston
says. Today, about 35 inmates are
“doing time” in the county jail —
serving sentences a year or longer —
about four times the number a year
ago, he says.
The cost of feeding the growing
inmate population is expected to be
about one-third more for 1986 than
for 1985, rising from about
$100,000 to $150,000, Huddleston
estimates.