The Battalion
Vol. 82 No. 153 GSPS 045360 12 pages
College Station, Texas
Friday, May 8, 1987
art ends campaign
or 1988 nomination
DENVER (AP) — Gary Hart, his
fijont-running presidential cam-
ptign crippled by questions about his
H'lsonal life, is withdrawing from
tin race for the 1988 Democratic
H>mination, a Hart campaign aide
■id Thursday.
■ “That’s the word,” said Rodger
|lcDaniel, Hart’s Wyoming cam
paign manager. “It’s prettv shocking
'on fHcts
ontinue
ver Hart
I Gary Hart and the Miami Herald
lisagree about whether he spent Fri
day night with a young woman, but
it s not (he only disparity which has
emerged in various accounts of the
■andidate’s weekend.
1 The Herald, in stories published
lunday and Monday, said Hart and
l)onna Rice did not emerge from his
Bouse until Saturday night. Hart,
(hce and Hart supporter William
B load hurst say they left the house
Saturday afternoon.
When he was interviewed by
Herald reporters Saturday, Hart
laid he could recall nothing about a
poat trip with a Miami woman. On
uesday, he offered a detailed recol
lection of the incident.
I Hart said he was invited by Broad-
Jmrst to join him and some friends,
Deluding Rice, for the cruise. Rice
said Hart invited her.
■ The Herald, in its first story on
Sunday, said it had “documented the
inovements of Hart and the uniden-
tilied woman from the time she left
yfiami on Friday afternoon.”
However, when Hart and others
said Rice had left before midnight
uiday via a back door, the Herald
bid that it had not had front and
pack doors under continuous sur-
yeillance, and had no one at all on
(he scene between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.
Saturday.
to me. I suspect it’s pretty shocking
to Gary Hart.”
McDaniel confirmed the word
from sources, who asked not to be
identified by name, that. Hart cam
paign manager Bill Dixon and other
aides were telephoning supporters
of the former senator with the stun
ning news that Hart would quit the
race.
Hart’s decision came five days af
ter publication of a newspaper story
that he had entertained a 29-year-
old model overnight in his Washing
ton townhouse. Both Hart and the
woman denied the story, but Hart's
standing in the polls has plummeted
in the past few days.
The Washington Post reported in
Friday’s editions that Hart’s decision
came after the paper presented his
staff with “documented evidence of
a recent liaison between Hart and a
Washington woman with whom he
has had a long-term relationship.”
The Post quoted a senior Hart
aide as saying the Post’s information
“accelerated the inevitable” withdra
wal of Hart from the race.
Hart, who mounted a surprisingly
strong bid for the 1984 presidential
nomination, has been the prohibitive
front-runner in the early maneuver
ing for 1988. His withdrawal would
create a political vacuum that the re
maining seven contenders would
rush to fill, and might prompt other
Democrats to enter the campaign as
well.
Officially, Halt’s campaign re
mained mum about his intentions,
except to announce that the 50-year-
old former senator would make an
announcement on Friday.
Even before word of Hart’s deci
sion spread, Democratic politicians
were saying his campaign was dead.
“The Hart candidacy in my opin
ion is history,” said Idaho Gov. Gecil
Andrus, who did not back Hart in
1984. “I say that based more on
questions that have been raised
about his judgment more than any
thing else.”
Hart officially announced his can
didacy on April 13, and has been
battling rumors about his personal
life and questions about his $1.3 mil
lion 1984 campaign debt from the
start.
The crippling blow came on Sun
day, when the Miami Herald re
ported that he had spent the night at
his Washington townhouse with Mi
ami model Donna Rice. Hart, Rice
and others denied the account, and
Hart attacked the newspaper.
At an extraordinary news confer
ence in New Hampshire on Wednes
day, Hart again denied having sex
‘‘The Hurt candidacy in
my opinion is history. I
say that based more on
questions that have been
raised about his judgment
more than anything else. ”
— Cecil Andrus, governor
of Idaho
with Rice, but he refused to answer
questions about whether he had ever
committed adultery.
He had scheduled a full day of
campaigning in New Hasmpshire
f o r I hu r s day, but a b r u p 11 y
cancelled all the events and flew to
Denver with his wife.
In a statement released earlier by
his staff in Groveton, N.H., Hart
said, “While running for president is
important, right now my family is
more important. . . . This campaign,
and the ideals and ideas it rep
resents, will continue and our cause
will succeed.”
Hart came to New Hampshire on
Wednesday, pursued by questions
about his relationship with Rice. Af
ter campaign events and the news
conference, Hart and his wife de
cided after midnight to fly to
Denver.
Earlier, in an interview with The
New York Times Magazine, Hart
had defied reporters to check up on
him.
“If anybody wants to put a tail on
me, go ahead,” he said. “They’d be
very bored.”
Hart has said he accepts the scru
tiny that comes with his candidacy,
but contends the Herald’s reporters
saw only part of his comings and
goings over the weekend, and drew
the wrong conclusions.
Hart and Rice have denied that
she stayed with him or that they had
a sexual relationship.
lements approves bill
nixing open containers
AUSTIN (AP) — Beginning Sept.
Si, Texans no longer will be able to
Irink a beer or any other alcoholic
beverage while driving.
Gov. Bill Clements, who says he
Inever has hoisted a drink while be-
Ihind the wheel, Thursday signed
into law a bill that prohibits drinking
|\vhile driving.
“I think it’s been long overdue,”
IClements said after putting his sig-
[nature on the legislation sponsored
Iby Sen. Bill Sarpalius, D-Amarillo.
“I’m delighted to see it go on the
[books,” he said.
Clements called the law, which
[does not extend to passengers in ve-
1 hides, a key highway safety measure
and said he believes it will reduce
highway fatalities.
“Alcohol and automobiles can be a
volatile combination,” he said. “The
combination has resulted in deaths,
wasted lives and destruction. There
is no argument against a measure
that seeks to end this unnecessary
misery. It will save lives.”
Current Texas law prohibits driv
ing while intoxicated, but does not
prohibit drinking while driving.
In a report to the Legislature writ
ten last year, the House Liquor Reg
ulation Committee said many states
have open-container bans.
Twenty-seven Texas municipali
ties have open-container ordinances.
Just GoirT For A Drive
Kathryn Caperton, left, daughter of Sen. Kent Ca
per ton, and her friend, Angela Mauro, take a ride
on the Rugged Buggie tide at the Brazos Valley
Photo by Robert W. Rizzo
Shrine Club carnival, Sen. Citpeftdb ^ wife. Kathy,
watches in the background. The carnival is cur
rently under way at the Townshire Center.
Limits in B-CS area unchanged
by 65 mph law for rural Interstates
but those came under question be
cause of an attorney general’s opin
ion that said the state’s alcoholic bev
erage code is the exclusive law on
transportation and possession of al
coholic beverages, the report said.
The bill signed Thursday was sup
ported by several groups, including
Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Clements said he wasn’t worried
about any negative public reaction to
his signature.
“1 think it’s the right bill,” he said.
Asked if he ever drank while driv
ing, the governor replied, “No, I
have not. I don’t think that’s really
pertinent to what we’re talking
about.”
By Doug Driskell
Staff Writer
Gov. Bill Clements signed a bill
Wednesday that will raise the Texas
rural Interstate speed limit to 65
mph, but Bryan-College Station
speed limits remain unchanged, said
a highway department official.
The closest interstate to Bryan-
College Station to be affected is In
terstate 45, said Nick Turnham,
public affairs officer for the Texas
Highway Department.
Only where Interstate Highway
45 runs through Walker, Madison,
Leon and Freestone counties will the
speed limit increase, Turnham said.
Bo McCarver, spokesman for the
Texas State Department of High
ways and Public Transportation,
said a rural interstate highway is one
that passes through an area with a
population of 50,000 people or less.
“This means the speed limit will
increase to 65 mph only on inter
states that run by rural areas,” he
said. “When an interstate such as 10
goes by Houston or San Antonio, the
speed limit will go down to 55.”
An Interstate highway is a high
way which crosses state borders and
is federally funded. All the roads
and highways in the Bryan-College
Station area are intrastate.
Quinn Brackett, a research spe
cialist for the Texas Transportation
Institute of Human Resources at
Texas A&M, said it is important to
emphasize what a rural interstate is.
“What we are going to see is an in
crease in accidents and law enforc-
ment agencies are going to have a
difficult time controlling speeders,”
he said. “People are going to assume
the speed limit is 65 on every road in
Texas because of this bill. What they
must realize is the speed limit of 55
still applies to highways such as 6, 21
and 290.”
At 12:01 a.m. Saturday, speed
limit signs on interstate highways
will be unveiled with the new limits
printed on them, McCarver said.
In Walker, Madison, Leon and
Freestone counties, where 1-45
passes, 37 new signs that have 65
mph printed on them will be erected
Friday, Turnham said. In addition
to the 37 new signs there will be 37
truck speed-limit signs posted over a
two month period. Trucks will only
be allowed to go 60 mph during the
day and 55 mph at night.
The new speed limit will affect ap
proximately 244,100 miles of inter
state Texas blacktop, according to a
report prepared by Jay Rosser,
Clements’ press secretary.
Universily police to remove
bikes left at semester's end
By Mary-Lynne Rice
Staff Writer
Students planning to store
theij bicycles in campus racks be
tween the spring and summer se
mesters may return to find their
bikes have been removed.
In accordance with a par
agraph added to the 1986-1987
University Rules and Regula
tions, bikes will be removed from
racks surrounding dormitories 10
days after the end of the spring
semester.
“The idea behind this policy is
that over the years, bikes have
continued to accumulate,” Uni
versity Police Department Chief
Elmer Schneider said. “They are
never registered, and they’re
abandoned and in a state of disre
pair.”
University Grounds Mainte
nance crews will assist the UPD in
collecting the bikes. Schneider
said the bicycle owners must bear
the costs incurred in removing
locks or chains, and the Univer
sity will take no responsibility for
any damage to the vehicles.
Impounded bicycles will be se
cured by the UPD and kept for
six months. If not claimed, they
will be put up for auction. Reve
nue from the sales will be trans
ferred to the MSG lost and found
account.
A master log of all bicycles
taken from the racks will be kept
by the UPD and bikes will be re
turned to students after they pro
vide registration information or a
sufficient description of their
property. A charge for handling
and storage may be assessed.
Removal of bikes from other
racks around campus will be
based on “a judgment call” on
whether the bike is abandoned,
Schneider said. “We would con
sider abandoned a bike with two
flat tires and a chain rusted into a
solid mass,” he said.
Bicycles may be brought back
to campus racks one week before
the beginning of the first summer
session.
Drunk drivers may face sobering aftermaths
By Staci Finch
Reporter
T he price for driving while intoxi
cated is sobering. It could lead to a
misdemeanor conviction for first
time offenders, but drivers arrested
for a third DWI will awaken from
Drinking and driving
Part two of a two-part series
their drunken haze to find them
selves charged with a felony carrying
a punishment that is more than just
a fine or a slap on the wrist.
Margaret Talk, an assistant district
attorney for the Brazos County, de
scribed how her office handles fel
ony DWIs.
“We really don’t have a set policy
on how to handle any certain cases in
this office,” Talk said. “However, the
general philosophy of the trial attor
neys on DWIs is these people should
not be allowed to pose a threat to the
community in the future.”
Talk said that, if necessary, the
district attorney’s office will send
these people to prison to keep them
off the streets as long as possible.
“However,” she said, “if we have
good reason to believe that some
type of chemical dependency pro
gram will help their drinking prob
lem, we will try that route.”
Talk said by the time drivers are
picked up for DWI a third time, they
usually have a drinking problem.
“We can’t use any convictions
older than 10 years,” she said. “So if
someone is convicted three times in
10 years for DWI, the chances are
that he has been driving drunk a lot
more times than he has gotten
caught. You can almost guarantee
there is a substance abuse problem
by the time we get him.”
Lalk said the major factor in de
ciding whether to send an offender
to prison or to grant probation de
pends on the offender’s record.
“If the probation office has dealt
with this person on a misdemeanor
level and has tried to get him into
programs and to realize he has a
problem, but it hasn’t worked, I’m
not going to try it again,” she said.
Another type of probation can be
used to show the offender the law
means business, she said.
“We can try what we call shock
probation,” she said. “If the of
fender has never been to the peni
tentiary, we send him for five to six
months, then take him out and put
him on probation for the rest of his
term, which includes a substance
abuse program.
“Prison life can be pretty frighten
ing, and the theory is that the of
fenders will be scared by their look
at prison life and will stay out of
trouble.”
Many people know they’re drunk
when they drive, Lalk said, but drive
anyway with hopes of not getting
caught.
“What we hope to get across by
punishment is the fact that you can
try to fool yourself, but if you get
caught, something bad is going to
happen to you,” she said.
Eddie Carmon, state trooper for
the Department of Public Safety in
Bryan-College Station, said when
spotting drunk drivers, the officers
look for drivers who do something
sober drivers normally don’t.
“If someone is driving down the
road and he crosses the line once or
twice, he would get our attention
and we would follow and watch
him,” Carmon said. “We might go
ahead and stop him, just to see what
was wrong. Many times people are
just tired or are not paying attention,
or maybe they’re older people who
drive really slow.
“We also look for people who
drive with their headlights on bright,
to compensate for impaired vision.
They may run a stop sign or a stop-
See DWI, page 12