TheBattalion
Vol. 82 No. 148 GSPS 045360 14 pages
College Station, Texas
Friday, May 1, 1987
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Wet Behind The Ears
Aaron McDonough does the backstroke during
the A&M swim team’s Thursday practice. McDon-
Photo by Bill Hughes
ough is a member of the men’s 400-yard freestyle
relay team which qualified for the NCAA finals.
Reagan assures veto
of trade retaliations
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi
dent Reagan promised Prime Min
ister Yasuhiro Nakasone on Thurs
day he would veto legislation
requiring trade retaliation against
Japan, but he refused to lift sanc
tions already in place without evi
dence Tokyo has stopped unfair
sales practices.
In a move that pleased U.S. offi
cials, Nakasone told Reagan he had
directed the Bank of Japan and the
Finance Ministry to lower short-term
interest rates.
Presidential spokesman Marlin
Fitzwater said lower interest rates
would stimulate economic growth in
Japan, providing “a major opportu
nity for increasing markets for U.S.
goods, for increasing the buying
power of Japan.”
Vice President George Bush said,
“Anything that stimulates markets
abroad is good news for American
workers and American products.”
Reagan and Nakasone met at the
White House against the back
ground of the sharpest trade friction
between the two countries since
World War II, fueled largely by
America’s huge trade deficit with Ja
pan, which totaled $58.6 billion last
year.
The meeting came one day after
the House approved legislation that
would trigger trade retaliation
against countries, such as Japan, that
maintain large trade surpluses with
the United States.
Reagan told Nakasone he would
veto the measure if it reached the
White House, and noted that its nar
row margin of approval — just four
votes — insured that the veto would
be upheld.
At welcoming ceremonies on the
South Lawn, under a brilliant sun,
Reagan told Nakasone that “even
the closest of friends have differ
ences” and “we must address the
current unsustainable trade bal
ance.”
He said the trade deficit with Ja
pan “has spawned calls for protectio
nism that would undo the shining
economic accomplishments we’ve
achieved together.”
The president said “the answer is
not in restrictions but in increased
opportunities” and called for Japan
to open its markets more to trade
and commerce.
In response, Nakasone said, “I am
deeply concerned the serious fric
tions on the trade and economic is
sues are on the rise between our two
countries. We should not allow such
a situation to undermine the
friendship and mutual trust between
our two countries.”
Nakasone urged Reagan to lift
$300 million in sanctions imposed
on Japanese products in retaliation
for the alleged violation of a 1986
agreement not to sell computer
chips at unfairly low prices.
The two leaders are to meet again
Friday.
House approves trade bill,
ignores Reagan veto threat
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
House on Thursday approved, 290-
137, a sweeping trade bill with stiff
retaliatory features, defying a presi
dential veto threat and forecasts that
the Senate would wipe out its most
stringent provisions.
“Although you may not like parts
of the bill, let’s move it along, let’s
get it into the process,” Speaker Jim
Wright, D-Texas, urged before the
House acted.
“Surely the other body (the Sen
ate) will make modifications,” he
said.
Rep. John J. Duncan, R-Tenn.,
declared before the 900-page mea
sure won approval he doubted that
“anybody in this House today be
lieves this bill will go through the
Senate and be signed by the presi
dent in its present form.
“I hope all of you realize that this
bill isn’t going anywhere.”
The vote for the measure rep
resented two thirds of the 435-seat
House, the margin needed to over
ride a presidential veto.
On the roll call, 247 Democrats
and 43 Republicans voted for the
measure, while six Democrats and
13 1 Republicans voted against it.
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro
Nakasone, who met earlier with
President Reagan, visited senators
shortly after the House acted.
The Senate Finance Committee,
which is drafting its own trade legis
lation, may take up a punitive provi
sion similar to one sponsored by
Rep. Richard A. Gephardt, D-Mo.,
and adopted by the House on
Wednesday by a four-vote margin.
New tuition plan
for state colleges
gets House support
AUSTIN (AP) — The House ad
vanced a bill from Speaker Gib Le
wis 1 hursday that would allow state
colleges to double their tuition with
out legislative approval.
The provision, part of a compre
hensive bill resulting from the Select
Committee on Higher Education
study, was opposed by lawmakers
•‘'■ho said it could make tuition too
spensive for many Texans.
Also Thursday, the House voted
entative approval to a select com-
nittee recommendation for a re-
uired basic skills test for college stu-
ents. Students would have to pass
he test before they could take ju-
lior-level courses.
Senate bill
lo censure
physicians
for abortions
AUSTIN (AP) — Physicians who
icrform abortions during the third
rimester of a woman’s pregnancy
mild lose their medical licenses un-
!er a bill that a Senate committee ap-
iroved Thursday.
Sen. Ted Lyon called the bill a vic-
pry for anti-abortion groups, de-
pite its variations from his original
iill.
“Carrying this bill was like wres-
ling with an 800-pound gorilla,”
.yon, D-Rockwall, told the Senate
^ommiptee on Health and Human
Services. “Every time I grabbed hold
K of it, it has thrown me up against the
E wall.”
The original bill made it a felony
for physicians to perform abortions
on a fetus capable of living outside
its mother’s womb except when nec
essary to preserve the mental or
I physical health of the mother.
But an amendment offered by
Sen. Hugh Parmer dropped the
I criminal penalties. The amendment
also would allow doctors whose med-
I ical licenses are challenged to defend
1 themselves by proving the abortion
was performed before the third tri
mester.
Lyon said that latter provision of
the amendment violates the U.S.
constituion because it defines viabil-
1 ity ofa fetus.
In a rare move, Lewis came down
from his podium to present his bill,
which won preliminary approval in a
98-10 non-record vote. The bill faces
another House vote which could
send it to the Senate.
Under the bill, state university
boards could set tuitions up to twice
the minimum set by lawmakers. Tu
ition could not be set below the mini
mum. State college tuition is now
$16 per semester hour. Lawmakers
in 1985 set a schedule that will bring
the minimum up to $24 an hour in
1993.
Rep. Eddie Cavazos, D-Corpus
Christi, was among House members
who complained that tuition should
remain a legislative decision.
“If we think that higher education
is wasting money, and then we give
them the authority to raise tuition,
it’s like telling your teen-age son,
‘Look you’re spending too much
money so I’m going to raise your al
lowance,’ ” Cavazos said.
House Higher Education Com
mittee Chairwoman Wilhelmina
Delco, D-Austin, defended the pro
posed system as the best way to han
dle the differing costs at state uni
versities. Gov. Bill Clements said he
likes the idea.
“Having this as a more flexible sit
uation for the administration and
for the systems of higher education
on tuition, I think, is a step in the
right direction,” he said.
Rep. A1 Luna, D-Houston, said
the new system would make it diffi
cult for poor students, including
many minority students, to afford
college. Delco said they would be
helped by a program in which 20
percent of any tuition increase
would be put into a special fund to
help poor students.
A Cavazos amendment that would
have kept lawmakers in charge of
setting tuitions was killed in a 79-41
vote. Lewis said letting college
boards set tuition would “get it out
of the political arena where many
times the emotion overrides what
should take place.”
Lewis said the change would not
spark increased tuition if the bill is
approved and goes into effect in
September.
“I hope you all don’t headline the
story with tuition increase because
that is a small, small element of what
we did here today, and you probably
will see absolutely no increase at all
on college tuitions,” he told news re
porters.
Official: Reagan not involved in fund fraud
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Reagan
had no part in conservative fund-raiser Carl R.
ChannelTs conspiracy to defraud the govern
ment in raising weapons money for the Contra
rebels, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater
said Thursday.
“In the legal view of the White House, the
president is not a part of this conspiracy,” F’itzwa-
ter told reporters.
Channel!, who pleaded guilty to a single con
spiracy charge on Wednesday, set up meetings
between Reagan and supporters of ChannelTs
tax-exempt foundation at the White House in
1985 and 1986, but Reagan believed he was
thanking the supporters for purchasing commer
cials for the Contra cause, the spokesman said.
Fitzwater said several such meetings occurred.
He said he could not immediately provide an ex
act number.
Channel! pleaded guilty to conspiracy to de
fraud the government of taxes on $2 million in
contributions for military aid to the Nicaraguan
rebels. He cited former White House aide Lt.
Col. Oliver North as a fellow conspirator.
In the first criminal charge brought in the
Iran-Contra affair, the fund-raiser agreed to co
operate with independent counsel Lawrence
Walsh’s investigation.
Channell did not implicate Reagan in the ille
gal activities.
Congressional Iran-Contra investigators have
said one crucial aim of their probe is to learn
whatever they can about possible presidential in
volvement, but they declined comment Wednes
day when asked if Channell was expected to tes
tify during public hearings that begin next
Tuesday.
Fitzwater, citing a statement Reagan made at a
March 19 news conference, said, “It was his un
derstanding the money was being raised for ad
vertisement purposes.”
At the news conference, Reagan had been
asked about a North memorandum, quoted in
the report of the presidentially-appointed Tower
board, saying: “The president obviously knows
why he has been meeting with several select peo
ple to thank them for their ‘support for democ
racy’ in Central America.”
North was fired and National Security Adviser
John Poindexter resigned last November after
disclosure of plans to divert profits from the se
cret Iran arms sales to the rebels battling the gov
ernment of Nicaragua.
Reagan also was asked at the news conference
if he knew about solicitation of money from pri
vate sources for the Contras.
“I knew that there were many people privately
giving money to things of that kind,” the presi
dent responded. “But when I met with them, I
met with them to thank them because they had
raised money to put spot ads on television in fa
vor of the Contras in an effort to try and influ
ence Congress to continue giving aid. And I
thought that was worth a thanks.”
New A&M political alliance created
Group formed for black students
By Kysa L. Anderson
Reporter
A newly formed Texas A&M
organization — the Black Student
Alliance — plans to be the politi
cal voice for A&M’s black stu
dents by speaking out on issues
affecting them.
Kevin Johnson, a senior envi
ronmental design and construc
tion science major, is the creator
of the alliance.
Black students do not have an
avenue to turn down when faced
with problems at A&M, he says,
so the BSA will provide that ave
nue.
“One of the goals of BSA is to
magnify the black student voice
on issues and policies relevant to
blacks at TAMU,” Johnson says.
“At the present time, BSA will
only be able to take political
stands on campus issues.
“As far as national issues —
those will come later on down the
road. I don’t think BSA is big
enough to deal with national is
sues yet.”
But Keith Kenebrew, 1987-88
National Society of Black Engi
neers president, has his reserva
tions about the BSA being a polit
ical voice for A&M’s black
students.
“The BSA is in such a prelimi
nary state that it’s hard to deter
mine its political effectiveness,”
Kenebrew says. “However, my
fear is that BSA won’t evolve into
a political organization, but I
hope it will.”
Kenebrew believes it is impor
tant for everyone to have a politi
cal voice.
“Black or Hispanic — no mat
ter who you are — you need a po
litical organization and a political
backing,” he says. “Political back
ing is important because every
thing is political. Hopefully, BSA
can teach students to survive poli
tics.”
Because black students rep
resent such a small percentage of.
A&M’s population, Kenebrew
says, it is difficult for them to
have a political voice.
“You learn politics by being in
volved with politics,” Kenebrew
says. “BSA is a way to learn poli
tics.”
Kenebrew will preside on the
BSA’s board of excellence, or di
rectors, which will have represen
tatives from each black organiza
tion at A&M.
Terris Burton, 1987-88 Alpha
Phi Alpha fraternity president,
also believes A&M’s black stu
dents should have an organiza
tion’s political backing. Burton,
who represents Alpha Phi Alpha
on the BSA board, says an exam
ple of a BSA political activity
would be to put pressure on
A&M’s Board of Regents to fi
nancially divest from South Af
rica.
“Because BSA is a combination
of the majority of blacks on cam
pus, it can voice the overall opin
ion of blacks,” Burton says.
Also, Burton would like the
BSA to put pressure on The Bat
talion to publish more stories
about black students.
“I hope BSA can have some
impact on campus media,” Bur
ton says. “There needs to be more
coverage about black activities in
the newspaper. There are always
articles about the recruitment of
black students to A&M, but there
aren’t many articles about what
blacks are doing here at A&M.”
Johnson, a former MSC Black
Awareness Committee chairman,
says there has been an organiza
tion similiar to the BSA at A&M
— the Black Organizations Asso
ciation —which was formed un
der the BAG. But because BAG is
part of the Memorial Student
Center, he says, it is not per
mitted to take political stands on
issues.
Although politics will be a ma
jor function of the BSA, John
son’s primary motive is to prevent
conflict between events con
ducted by black organizations.
Because black students are the
major supporters of black organi
zations’ activities at A&M, con
flicting events would create fac
tionalism, he says.
“One of BSA’s purposes is to
be a coordinating body of partici
pating black organizations and to
provide unity and support for
each organization and its activ
ities.”
Members of the BSA will sub
mit calendar dates of their orga
nization’s event. If two organiza
tions have an event planned for
the same day, Johnson says, they
will need to compromise as to
which activity will happen that
day. The BSA will be a mediator
if any problems occur between
the organizations’ conflicting
dates, Johnson says.
Johnson says the BSA will send
a monthly newsletter to each
black student at A&M and to his
parents. The newsletter will re
port events among black students
at A&M for that month.
“BSA will serve as an informa
tion source for students, parents
and participating organizations
about issues and social events on
campus,” Johnson says. “I feel
that this aspect of BSA will have a
major impact on the students’ so
cial life. It will make them more
aware of what’s going on around
campus.”
Burton says the success of the
BSA depends on student partici
pation and on how well the BSA
functions.
“One of the goals of BSA is to magnify the black stu
dent voice on issues and policies. ”
— Kevin Johnson, Black Student Alliance creator