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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 1987)
Texas m m 1 • The Battalion .82 Mo.l 16 GSPS 045360 12 pages College Station, Texas Wednesday, March 11,1987 The to raise c indictme: indictme; traent r ded the. j laying tk; | aiiissedl) ih a crit type Jit anducte ient sen sat 1(AP)- is erne ran-ton';, r Contra d ■e orgad er Carl] ginalsod s indiu'-| 182 ms eatment ral woum lied Cott y were ticer Mas accordirr 1 by I# ormer politka!’ id the ;e forte relatic® Interri; niatioi: n are aa e inde| igressiora| i the L'i e aliegeil Contras, evenue Chai lements ‘sorry’ or his actions lin SMU scandal AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Bill Clem ents, saying Southern Methodist University is wracked by agony over pay-for-players football scandal, apologized Tuesday for his role in Continuing the payments. “To those rightfully upset and an- ry about the decision, 1 am truly Sorry,” Clements said. “We made a (mistake at SMU. I made a mistake at SMU." Clements, a former SMU student [and twice chairman of the school’s board of governors, made his com- pnents at a news conference. He renewed his call for other school officials involved to come for- (ward and promised to cooperate red it rating [lowered on exas’ bonds AUSTIN (AP) — Moody’s Inves- r Service lowered its credit rating pn Texas’ general obligation bonds "rom Aaa to Aa, the first time it has alien below the top rating in a quar- :er-century, the company said Tues day. Moody’s cited the state’s troubled conomy for its action. “The strongest and singlemost actor is the economic shock that’s happened to Texas over the last year and the magnitude of the finan- ;ial problems,” said Claire Cohen, an nalyst with Moody’s. The oil-price drop since Novem ber 1985 has created state govern- tent budget deficits and sent the exas jobless rate soaring. Cohen aid Moody’s believes the state is in bra long-range shakenp. “The economy seems to us to be [making a fundamental change in “’exas and seems likely to have an ef- :t for a long time,” she said. State Comptroller Bob Bullock said a reduction in bond ratings can ause borrowing costs on newly is- debt to rise one-half to one per- jcentage point a year. Moody’s said Texas has enjoyed a Aaa bond rating since 1962. The Aa rating is in the firm’s second-highest category, and only 11 states cur- , „_rentTy have been assigned the Aaa ICtllH Jrating, she said. The Aaa rating is followed by Aa- 1, Aa, A-l, A, Baa-1, Baa, Ba-1, Ba, B-l, B, Caa, Ca and C, the firm said. Bullock spokesman Tony Profitt said the state’s rating remains solid: “Aa is still high-quality bonds. There’s no question about that.” pment Kume® wrtin uotedi lannells from Audits ll 01 all the rmestio govern' ice, said een loo d the da t to auilt still n® I. Vail ived and ■ered. lan fot i line l iced a pi ight, to | nbyfl Britisk d a pand had kft riesli ►iegof .s obtain its whs with a Methodist Church investiga tion of the affair. Last week, Clements touched off a wave of new investigations at SMU by saying he and some other school governors and administrators knew in 1984 or 1985 of booster payments to football players. He said they de cided to continue some payments while trying to “phase out” that sys tem. Payments eventually were re duced from 26 players to three, he said. The NCAA has banned SMU from playing football this year and limited its 1988 season to seven road games for rules violations which oc curred while the school already was on a probation handed down in Au gust 1985. Clements said Tuesday that continuing the payments was a mis take and that the school has suffered a tragedy because of it. “The decision to phase out the system of payments to SMU players was wrong,” he said. “In hindsight, it is clear we were wrong. SMU is the victim of a system we should have stopped immediately. “It is a tragedy what has hap pened. ... SMU is a great institution, and I am distressed that it is going through such agony.” Clements again refused a request from the current SMU Board of Governors to “name names” of oth ers involved in the continued pay ment decision. But he predicted those people eventually will speak up, even though some board mem- bers have disputed his allegations. “These are people that occupy those positions on the board and have for some time,” Clements said. “They are really part of the problem at this point and not part of the solu tion. They’re going to have to make this decision for themselves. I think that in due course they will.” The governor noted that one other SMU board member, Dallas banker Robert H. Stewart III, had confirmed his story. Clements said he never made a payment himself or raised money for such payments. He voiced support for a bill now in the Legislature that would penal ize college boosters for making such payments, and he called on the NCAA to strip athletic elgibility from players who violate the rules. Clements said he brought the af fair to light last week because he be lieved it was necessary to get SMU moving in the right direction. “It is critical . . . that the truth pre vail,” he said. “Once all the facts are out, SMU then will move forward.” In Control Dr. Robert Tribble, head of the A&M physics department, sits at a control board while working on an experiment at the Cyclotron Insti- Photo by Tracy Staton tute. The control board for the cyclotron fills a room at the institute, which is located at the corner of Spence Street and University Drive. Official: Don’t grant immunity in Iran affair yet WASHINGTON (AP) — Law rence E. Walsh, the independent counsel investigating the Iran-Con tra affair, asked Congress on Tues day to wait at least 90 days before granting limited immunity to key witnesses. He vowed to challenge in court any attempt to act sooner. “The danger is substantial,” Walsh said, that his probe would be compromised by any effort to move quickly to grant immunity to former National Security Adviser John M. Poindexter or his fired aide, Lt. Col. Oliver North. Key lawmakers in the House and Senate have said in recent days they hoped to move quickly to grant lim ited immunity from prosecution to Poindexter and North. But Walsh said if Congress moves before 90 days, “we would then have to do whatever we could to get our selves as much time as possible to perfect our case” against anyone who might be indicted. Walsh said he would deliver a sim ilar message when he met with the Senate investigating committee Wednesday. Under federal law, Walsh would be able to delay a grant of immunity for roughly 30 days. Any court chal lenge by him would create a conflict with congressional investigators that both sides have sought to avoid. Earlier Tuesday, Senate commit tee chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Ha- waii, said the panel should not wait until July to arrange immunity to force testimony by North and Poin dexter and perhaps others. “If you want the full story, there’s no question” that immunity will have to be granted to key figures, he said. Leaders of the House panel were also meeting Tuesday with their Senate counterparts, in part to deal with disagreements over when to bring up the immunity issue for the investigation’s central figures. Walsh said his request for a delay covered any grant of immunity to re tired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard Secord, who, according to investiga tors played a arms sale. key role in the Iran The independent counsel said that he was not sure all loose ends in the investigation could be tied up in 90 days but that the time period rep resented “a fair balance” between his need to develop evidence and the need of Congress and the public to resolve unanswered questions. Walsh said he also had discussed with congressional investigators the possibility of granting immunity to other, lower-level witnesses, but that no names had been cleared so far be yond an initial list of three, including North’s secretary, Fawn Hall. MSC Council asks for aid in acquiring computer system Lichard •y was of theft 55, I-ioloiH' 1 J of kfc , 74, ini r’s Chin 1 y und f 1 ones f -eau»i l riest ® - whet <iple( [ seven* rlateof —entlv ions oo r, Katnut her sureO 1 ■I have - hist Student leaders express objections New finals policy draws criticism By Christi Daugherty Staff Writer “1 think this is one of the most asinine things to happen at this University in the last five years.” Jim Cleary’s voice reflects the frustration accompanying two years of bucking both the Faculty Senate and the Texas A&M ad ministration on the issue of senior finals. Senior finals Part two of a two-part series Cleary is the Student Govern ment representative on the Fac ulty Senate and former vice presi dent of the Student Senate Academic Affairs Committee. He said he did everything within his power to prevent the current plan of common finals from be ing chosen, but to no avail. Cleary considers the finals situ ation an example of the severely diminished political clout of A&M’s Student Government. “Everyone got the short stick on this one,” Cleary said. “There are better alternatives.” Cleary, like many Student Gov ernment members, said the Fac ulty Senate exerted a dispropor tionate amount of influence over A&M President Frank Vandiver in this case, and he thinks the wishes of the students were vir tually ignored. Jerry Dingmore is chairman of the Student Senate’s Academic Affairs Committee, which has been studying the senior finals is sue. He also was the student rep resentative on the Academic Cal endar Subcommittee last year. Dingmore said the administra tion handled the whole situation badly by ignoring protocol and never attempting to disguise the fact that the students’ wishes were being steamrolled. Calendar Subcommittee mem bers never heard from Vandiver after releasing their findings, which conflicted with the ideas of the Faculty Senate, Dingmore said, and Student Senate mem bers working on the issue couldn’t get an audience with the president. The letter in which Vandiver revealed his decision on senior fi nals was addressed to Dr. Sam Black, speaker of the Faculty Sen ate, and Dingmore considered that insulting. “When you’re working on something this big you need to consult with the committee ap pointed to study it, and Vandiver didn’t,” he said. “The president made the only decision I think he could, based on the process he took. “He chose to ignore the Cal endar Subcommittee and sur round himself with (Provost Don ald) McDonald, (Associate Provost Dr. Jerry) Gaston, and Black. “As I sit here today, I wonder if he ever knew the subcommittee existed.” Dingmore said that after at tending Faculty Senate meetings where the senior finals issue was discussed, he felt most senators were uninformed about the issue and had already made their minds up without studying avail able information. “They said the staggered finals plan suggested by the subcommit tee gave the students everything they wanted,” he said. “If it was what the students wanted, there would have been no finals. “I was sitting there talking to the Faculty Senate about a report 99 percent of them didn’t bother to read.” Dr. Jon Bond, an associate pro fessor of political science, was one of the Faculty Senate members most strongly in favor of senior “If it (staggered finals plan) was what the stu dents wanted, there would have been no finals. ” — Jerry Dingmore, Stu dent Senate’s Academic Affairs Committee chair man finals. He said the Senate didn’t exert any undue influence over the president. “We showed President Van diver the problems we had with the Calendar plan and he said, ‘Yeah, you’re right, that’s unwor kable,’ ” Bond said. “The stu dents’ views were not ignored. The Faculty Senate talked to them, and the Calendar Commit tee had a student member. “But playing a role doesn’t al ways mean you’re going to get your way.” Bond said he’s not completely satisfied with the finals plan, but he considers it an acceptable com promise, and better than the pre vious situation. “What was irritating about se nior exemptions was that here was a rule, justified largely on the basis of tradition, that said you can’t make decisions about your classes,” Bond said. “The issue of commencement is important, but the ceremony is a symbol of what’s gone on for four years. “It seems a perversion of prio rities to put more emphasis on commencement itself than the education.” Bond said the Calendar Sub committee didn’t study the idea of staggered finals thoroughly enough to know that it’s more than a minor inconvenience, es pecially for professors who have 20 to 30 graduating seniors in one class. Black agreed, saying the sub committee limited itself by trying to protect tradition, and there fore didn’t study all conceivable options. “They were acting under cer tain assumptions that some things had to be preserved,” Black said. “We didn’t act under such as sumptions.” Faculty reaction to the plan has been mixed, he said, with some • See Finals, page 12 By Carolyn Garcia Staff Writer If the MSC Council gets its way, the Memorial Student Center will be the proud owner of a new $200,000 state-of-the-art computer system to help the organization in a variety of ways. After extensive studies into need, productivity and accessibility, the MSC has found what it is looking for — if it can just find the money to get it. The council submitted a proposal to Student Government requesting the needed amount. Council Presi dent Bobby Bisor said. The money, if granted, will come from student service fee reserves, he said. The proposal was sent by the Stu dent Senate to Vice President for Student Services John Koldus for approval, Bisor said. Koldus will re view the request and consider whether the reserve fund can handle the expenditure. The need for a new system has arisen from several factors, the first being the existing needs of the MSC, including the operating needs of fi nancial services. Bisor said financial services, which operates as a banking system for more than 500 student organiza tions, would greatly benefit from the new system. “It prevents organizations from writing hot checks to local business es,” Bisor said. “Our relationship with these businesses is very impor tant and it is imperative that we don’t abuse it in any way.” Office automation is another area in need of an upgrade, said James Randolph, senior associate director of the MSC. “Word processing and desk-top publishing is very important to us — not to mention a whole set of data base activities,” Randolph said. The new computer system would allow a more efficient system to maintain records of those who con tribute money to the MSC. As part of the MSC expansion plan, Randolph said, the council is planning a computer lab, which will accommodate 24 computers and printers for use by student organiza tions. The lab would make it easier for organizations to prepare mem orandums, projects and reports. Should Student Government move back into the MSC, Randolph said, there is a possibility that the two organizations could share the com puter system. The MSC currently uses three computer systems. Randolph said the systems used by the MSC have ei- “We’re overloaded. We lit erally have to take things off the computer to use it. ” — James Randolph, MSC Senior Associate Director ther reached capacity or are no longer serviceable because they are just too old. “We’re overloaded,” he said. “We literally have to take things off the computer to use it. “The Balcones system is five years old. That is a long time in the com puter world. We can no longer get service agreements on this system and parts are getting very hard to come by. We will continue using this system as long as we can. When we can no longer get parts, we will just have to surplus it.” When the council set out to inves tigate its computer possiblities, it called in a campus computer special ist and an independent firm to ex amine the situation. The investigation resulted in two decisions, the first being that the MSC must find a software package to best serve its needs, and the sec ond, to follow up with a hardware choice to accommodate that pack age.The choice was a IBM PC com patible Wang computer. “We are at the point now where we can either update and modernize or just limp along,” Randolph said.