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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 1986)
l lie tsattalion College Station, Texas Tuesday, December 2, 1986 Star Tel announces chance for amnesty Offenders may settle bills for service misuse By Christi Daugherty Staff Writer Star Tel Inc. has announced a 15- day general amnesty period for all who have misused the service’s long distance access codes, including five Texas A&M football players who had been scheduled for arrest this week. Dr. Ed Stephenson, Star Tel’s chief executive officer, said that un til Dec. 15, anyone who has made il legal calls can turn themselves in, ei ther to Star Tel or to the University General Counsel, and receive am nesty by making full restitution for the calls made. A&M President Frank Vandiver issued a statement applauding Star Tel officials for their decision. The statement read, “We certainly do not condone action such as that alleged, and concur that the firm is entitled to restitution for any unau thorized use of its services. Our only concern all along was that some stu dents were apparently being tar geted as examples when, in fact, the problem is broad-based and cer tainly not limited to this campus or this community. “It is our understanding that the company has withdrawn its com plaints against those students and that no charges will be filed, and we are most appreciative of the com pany officials’ reconsideration of this matter. We are confident that all of our involved students will take this opportunity to clear their records on an individual basis and avoid such situations in the future. “We ardently encourage them to do so.” Stephenson said that all charges filed last week or planned for this week have been dropped, including those against the athletes, and all le gal action will be postponed until af ter the amnesty period. Stephenson insisted that the fact that those to be charged were ath letes had nothing to do with Star Tel’s decison. "No it didn’t, they just happened to be the ones that we could prove and file charges against,” he said. “In fact, we had several charges planned for today against non-ath letes, and they were also dropped.” He said that until Star Tel actually started prosecuting, his company was unaware of the number of peo ple committing the crime. “After investigating and realizing the number of people involved, and the number to be charged with a fel ony, which carries a prison sentence of from two to 10 years, we realized a lot of these people didn’t know the seriousness of their actions,” Ste phenson said. He said the company decided to take the action based on a similar amnesty plan used by cable compa nies last summer. “We didn’t want anyone to go to prison or to have a prison record if we can get our message across an other way,” he said. “But after Dec. 15, we are going to pursue and pros ecute anyone who hasn’t come for ward and made restitution.” Stephenson was unsure how the amnesty decision would affect the case of Archie Roberts, an A&M track athlete who was arrested two weeks ago and charged with theft of a service. “My personal opinion is that if we make amnesty available for some, we have to make it available for every body, and I think he (Roberts) falls under that,” he said. “But this will have to be a board decision, and we will have a board meeting next Mon day.” Ted Hajovsky, University general counsel, said that those in his office will be working with Star Tel by as sisting students who are unwilling to work directly with the long-distance service for some reason. Some students don’t want to vol unteer their names, or are unable to pay extremely high bills all at once, he said. In that case, the counsel can be of help. Hajovsky said - that after a period of discussions between the counsel and Star Tel, the service volunteered the joint program to the A&M legal service, with the idea that under such a plan more students might be willing to come forward. “My opinion is that Star Tel is not as interested in prosecuting students as they are in getting restitution for the calls,” Hajovsky said. He said that the amnesty is aimed at those who have made calls since Sept. 1, and that they must come for ward before the Dec. 15 deadline. “If nothing is done before that time, there’s nothing I can do for them,” he said. Bob Wiatt, director of security and University Police, said that Star Tel’s decision will not affect any cases the University Police Depart ment currently is working on. Although the company originally had issued complaints against the football players, Wiatt said, none had been arrested or charged. Reagan cuts operations of NSC pending review WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi dent Reagan ordered his National Security Council staff Monday not to conduct diplomatic, military or intel ligence operations while a review board investigates the agency’s role in the secret sale of arms to Iran and the diversion of profits to Nicara guan rebels. Saying that “I want all the facts to come out,” the president also said he would welcome appointment of a special prosecutor if recommended by the Justice Department to investi gate possible wrongdoing. Reagan reiterated that he had known nothing about the secret transfer of up to $30 million to the Nicaraguan rebels, known as Con tras. In a statement, Reagan said, “You can tell them flat-out that I had no knowledge whatsoever of it until (Attorney General) Ed Meese briefed me on it Monday afternoon (Nov. 24).” Meanwhile, the Senate Intelli gence Committee went behind closed doors to begin its own investi gation of the Iran-Contra affair. Drinking age appeal goes to high court ■WASHINGTON (AP) — The Su- Breme Court said Monday it will de- pi* whether states may be denied ionie federal highway money if they fail to adopt a minimum drinking of 21. ■The justices, in a multi-million ■llai dispute, will hear South Dako ta's challenge to a federal law apply ing financial pressure for a national alriuking age. ■Atissue in the drinking-age case is |h( constitutionality of a 1984 fed- pal law aimed at reducing drunken Mving by teen-agers, a major cause fcldeath among that age group. r ■The law requires the secretary of [Transportation to withhold part of jilt federal money otherwise avail- |ble (o a state for highway construc tion if the state permits “the pur- ■tse or public possession . . . of any Bcoholic beverage” by someone un- dei 21. ■Under the law, those states with a ■ininium drinking age under 21 lost 5 percent of the highway funds Otherwise clue for fiscal year 1987 pd 10 percent of such funds during ■ralyear 1988. ■South Dakota, which permits pec ■ 19 and 20 years old to purchas pd publicly possess beer containin TIow percentage of alcohol, sue Brretary of Transportation Elizt belli H. Dole shortly after the hr ■s passed by Congress and signe ;b|President Reagan. ■ Lower courts ruled against South |bakota, discounting its argument Pthai the 1984 law infringes coristitu- llionally endowed state power to set drinking ages. The lower courts said [-states remain free to set those ages — at the risk of losing federal high way money. GM buys out Perot’s EDS stock for $700 million DETROIT (AP) — General Mo tors Corp. on Monday agreed to buy back the stock of its largest share holder and most vocal cx itic, Electro nic Data Systems Corp. founder H. Ross Perot, and the feisty Texas bil lionaire agreed to xesign as chaix- man of the GM subsidiary. GM also said that EDS, which it bought two years ago for $2.5 bil lion, will be incorporated into a new group along with subsidiaries Hughes Aix craft Co., Delco Elect io nics and GM’s defense operatioxxs. The announcement by GM Chair man Roger Smith followed a GM board meeting in New York, where members voted to buy out Perot in exchange for his resignation as EDS chairman and as a director on GM’s board. GM’s board approved the pur- See related story, page 5 chase of all 12 million" GM Class E shares owned by Perot and three other top EDS executives — Morton H. Meyerson, J. Thomas Walter Jr. and William K. Gayden — for $33 a share, or $400 million. The board also agreed to pay contingencies, to taling $350 million, agreed upon when GM bought EDS. GM spokesman Cliff Merriott was unable to bxeak down the package but said Perot’s share came to $700 million. Merriott said Pexot and the three EDS executives agxeed neither to con)pete with GM for three years nor try to hire away EDS employees for 18 months. In a statement released after the board meeting, Smith said, “Perot’s entrepreneurial spirit and visionary ideas have been of tremendous ben efit to the company. “We have always agreed on the primary goal: to be the leader in our industry and the most technologi cally advanced company in the world.” But in recent months, Perot has become increasingly vocal in his crit icism of what he has said is GM’s sluggishness, inefficiency and top- heavy management. “We’ve got to nuke the GM sys tem,” Perot said recently. A committee member, Sen. Thomas Eagleton, D-Mo., said for mer national security adviser Robert McFax lane testified under oath dur ing the afternoon. Earlier, the panel’s incoming chairman, Sen. David Boren, D- Okla., told reporters, “I have not been surprised so far by what I’ve heard” from witnesses. White House spokesman Larry Speakes said the administration “has raised no objection” to key figures in the case testifying before Congress. However, he said information that constitutes advice to the piesident “could come under the claim of ex ecutive privilege” and might be with held. Budget cuts may affect TAEX in long run Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series on the ef fects of state budget cuts and Texas' slumping oil economy on the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. Part I is an overview of the current budget situation at TAEX. By Bob Grube Staff Writer The Texas Agricultural Exten sion Seiwice is the economic and mental health guardian angel of thousands of farm families across the state, but recent budget cuts have clipped its wings a little bit. While the TAEX’s $39.8 mil lion budget was cut by about 8 percent — about $3 million for the 1986-87 biennium — by the Texas Legislature, Ronald Jack- son, fiscal and management af fairs officer of the TAEX, says the budget cuts won’t affect the TAEX as visibly as they might af fect other state agencies. “The cuts for TAEX are much less dramatic than what people expected,” Jackson says. “When people think of budget cuts, they think of them in an industrial context, whexe 500 people get laid off. “In educational cuts, you lose programs and quality, not people. The effects of the cuts are seen five years down the road.” The TAEX is different from many state agencies in that it x e- ceives money from three sources: the federal government, the state and the Texas’ 254 counties. This multi-source funding gives the TAEX thx ee funding problems. The funds garnered fi'om the federal government and the state are non-restricted funds. The TAEX has direct control over these funds. The county funds, about $11 million, are not in cluded in the TAEX budget be cause the counties control tliem. Each state in the country has an extension service. The federal government allots a certain amount of funding for all 50 services and the monies are allo cated to the states on a formula basis. This formula considers the number of rural farms in the stare, the amount of crop produc tion in each state and the size of each state. These funds are kept in the U.S. Treasury and are disbursed when states submit vouchers to it. “We do not get a lump sum of money at the beginning of each fiscal year,” Jackson says. “We must draw it down on a letter of credit because the fed and the state have this inoney invested.” The TAEX has no control over the county funds and therefore, the budget cuts will affect this area of funding the most. Jackson says federal and state budget cuts directly affect the county funding because the coun ties don’t have surplus money to take up the slack caused by de creased federal and state funds. “County taxes are not able to cover everything,” Jackson says. “We (TAEX) axe not able to pick up the funding shortages. More is being expected of the counties with less money coming into them.” The added financial burden on the counties has forced many to either cut back services or cut out field agent positions. Jackson says Dallas County xe- cently had to cut $100,000 from its extension service budget and Bexar County had to lay off two field agents. Jackson says Gramm-Rudman cuts have affected only the fed eral funding in the TAEX bud get. He says Gramxn-Rudman cut federal funds by about 4.9 per cent last year, but he didn’t know what next year's cuts would be. “We are still up in the air about our actual, final amount from the federal government,” Jackson says, “because you raxely know until about five months into the fiscal year how much funding you will receive. “With the state, you know be fore the fiscal year starts.” Jackson says the TAEX also helped itself in January by adher ing to Gov. Mark White’s request to implement a hiring freeze. “We stopped filling vacant po sitions,” Jackson says. “When the Legislature cut our funds in the second special session, it allowed us to carry forward the amount we saved during the freeze. “This helped TAEX because normally, what is budgeted and not spent during a fiscal year goes back to the state treasury to be ap plied to other deficits. The car ryover funds reduced our state budget cuts from 10.5 percent to about 8 percent.” Jackson says the TAEX has a basic staffing pattern of assigning at least one agricultural agent and one home economic agent to each county. “This is the backbone of the TAEX because these agents have direct contact with the people who need help,” Jackson says. The field agents turn research See Budget, page 10