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/ol. 82 No. 172 GSRS 045360 8 pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, July 2, 1987
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By Yvonne DeGraw
Staff Writer
Three members of the Texas
A&M Board of Regents who
toured the Ramada Inn of Col
lege Station Wednesday decided
not to decide on a recommenda
tion concerning the purchase of
the hotel.
“We’re just considering our op
tions now,” said Doug DeCluitt,
chairman of the regents’ Special
Committee to Make Any Further
Recommendations on the Ra
mada Inn Property.
The next Board meeting is
scheduled for Aug. 23 and 24.
For over three nours, the com
mittee and numerous A&M offi
cials discussed the possibility of
turning the hotel into a dormi
tory in a session that was closed to
the public.
Regents Royce Wisenbaker,
John Mobley and DeCluitt toured
two campus dorms — Mosher
Hall and Underwood Hall — and
the inn after the session.
The Ramada Inn was offered
in a closed-bid sale by the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation
on June 9.
FDIC spokesman Victor Rob
ert said two bids were made in the
original auction, but neither has
been accepted. Because no accep
table offers were made at the auc
tion, the FDIC can accept other
bids.
| Currently, it is working with
| “more than four offers,” Robert
said. The FDIC has not been con
tacted by University officials, he
said, but he had heard about the
Regents’ meeting and was curious
about the results.
The Ramada’s current owner is
the FDIC, which acquired the ho
tel when it closed Unitedbank-
Houston on April 30. United-
bank had purchased it just three
weeks before in a foreclosure sale
brought on when Joe Ferreri, the
original owner, declared bank
ruptcy.
Ray Eckart, general manager
of the Ramada, says the tower has
“That’s the assumption.
In a distressed market it
costs less to aquire prop
erty than to build an
equivalent structure. ”
— Doug DeCluitt, Board
special committee
chairman
304 rentable rooms, 20 two-bed-
room apartments on the unfi
nished floors and"a 5,000-square-
foot penthouse. He says several
offices also could be converted to
rooms.
The three regents visited the
penthouse, one of the two unfi
nished floors, a furnished room
and the cafeteria and kitchens at
the Ramada. Earlier, they toured
comparable facilities in the Com
mons.
DeCluitt said the committee
was including qualitative aspects
in its economic analysis.
“You have to compare quality
as well as cost,” he said.
He said they were basing their
analysis on the assumption that, if
bought, the Ramada would be re
ady for occupation by Fall 1988.
It would be a matter of a few
months and a seven-digit invest
ment to renovate the structure,
he said.
The committee has received
several estimates of the cost of
turning the hotel into a dormi
tory but would not disclose any
numbers.
DeCluitt said it is generally less
expensive to purchase a building
than to buila it when the eco
nomic situation is declining.
“That’s the assumption,” he
said. “In a distressed market it
costs less to aquire property than
to build an equivalent structure.”
He said the committee was
even considering aspects like
what to do with the swimming
pool.
“Don’t presume the swimming
pool will stay here,” he said.
Dr. John Koldus, vice presi
dent for student services, said
A&M will have 440 fewer dorm
rooms next fall because of Corps
dorm renovations. With an esti
mated 2,500 more students next
year, this will place even greater
demands on a housing depart
ment that must turn away many
students each year.
Reactions during the tour of
the Ramada were mixed.
“It certainly has a lot to offer,”
remarked one member of the ret
inue.
The tour was a bit hurried be
cause the air conditioning was
turned off on the unused floors.
Wisenbaker recalled that a for
mer employee left to work on the
air conditioning system of the
original building 24 years ago.
“I think it (the hotel) is a bit like
I am,” he said. “It’s getting old.”
Photo by Robert W. Rizzo
Members of the Texas A&M Board of Regents peer out a window on the 17th story during their visit
to the Ramada Inn in College Station.
w Reagan nominates Bark to join Supreme Court justices
| WASHINGTON (AP) — President Rea-
i sinde■Man picked Robert H. Bork, a staunchly
1 on Hail;f onserval i ve appeals court judge, for a Su-
Moses’sicftreme Court seat Wednesday, risking a
I Moses: bruising showdown with the Democratic-
lW f r0D1 : ijuled Senate over his confirmation.
j If seated, Bork could be instrumental in
^ r U no!{ helping alter some of the court’s landmark
double decisions, such as a woman’s right to an
_ r (jjj • abortion and the principle of affirmative
ngledinfi ction -
Ids whoii 1 Announcing Bork’s selection, Reagan
out B ra i se d him as “a premier constitutional au-
thority” and said, “His outstanding intellect
o right. }|
rry Brow
and unrivaled scholary credentials are re
flected in his thoughtful examination of the
broad, fundamental issues of our times.”
of hardline conservatives to succeed Justice
Lewis F. Powell, 79, who announced last
Friday he was leaving the bench because of
health problems and nis age.
Bork is best known nationally for carry
ing out then-President Nixon’s order in
1973 to fire Watergate special prosecutor
Archibald Cox after two higher officials re
fused. At the time, he was Nixon’s solicitor
general.
Reagan called on the Senate to confirm
Bork before the court’s new term in Octo
ber, but Democrats served notice they
wanted to examine his qualifications thor
oughly. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., a mem
ber of the Judiciary Committee, said, “The
Senate is going to carry out its constitu
tional role . . . with probably more scrutiny
than anything this decade.”
Leahy said he could not envision Bork
being confirmed before Congress’ August
recess. He said that with Bork on the na
tion’s highest court, “his vote would deter
mine that abortions would not be legal to
day.”
“I think we have to take a look at that,”
he said.
Bork once said that the Supreme Court’s
1973 decision legalizing abortion was “a
classic instance” of the court imposing its
morality on local jurisdictions. He said
abortion should be a matter of local control.
Privately, White House officials said they
expected a tough fight in getting Bork’s
nomination through the Judiciary Commit
tee, and then expected a filibuster from op
ponents on the Senate floor.
The Supreme Court is in recess until Oc
tober.
In addition to opposing abortion, Bork
has complained that Supreme Court deci
sions have extended constitutional protec
tions and federal authority far beyond their
proper bounds.
In a 1982 speech, he sharply criticized
high court decisions on abortion, sexual
freedom, and many types of free express
ion.
igner foxes in Texas
may cause increased
unemployment level
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By Greg Sellers
Reporter
The Texas economy has been
suffering for the past few years,
and according to numerous re
ports, increasing taxes would
have a negative effect on employ
ment for Texans.
The Committee for Economic
Recovery, which consists of 85 or
ganizations and groups, opposes
the proposed tax hike and on
Monday urged Gov. Bill Clem
ents, Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby,
Speaker of the House Gib Lewis
and all senators and representa
tives to implement budget cuts
proposed by the Texas Conserva
tive Coalition.
Citing results from numerous
studies on taxes and unemploy
ment, group spokesman Richard
Ford said in a report that the re-
N I suits indicate that increasing taxes
| will mean a decrease in jobs for
Texans.
One of the studies was done by
the Texas A&M Center for Edu
cation and Research in Free En
terprise, and although it dealt
primarily with income tax, it did
point out that increasing taxes
was not the appropriate solution
to combat Texas’ high unemploy
ment. The center’s director, Dr.
Svetozar Pejovich, says he feels
that the real problem lies in tax
reform.
“The issue is not whether to
raise or lower taxes, but to come
up with a feasible tax reform
measure,” Pejovich says.
The correlation between
higher taxes and fewer jobs is
“not that simple,” he says, al
though one of the center’s re
ports does indicate that higher in
come taxes have a negative effect
on the work force.
Over the last four years, sales
taxes in Texas have risen 31 per
cent and gas taxes have tripled,
according to a report compiled by
Ford.
Hobby and the Senate cur
rently want taxes increased by an
other $6 billion, which, according
to the committee, would delay
Texas’ economic recovery and
leave far too many Texans unem
ployed.
The Texas Conservative Coali
tion pointed out that increases for
mental health, the prison system
and higher education would not
be affected if its money-saving
and non-tax revenue ideas are
followed.
Ford’s report says, over the
past 10 years, California and Mas-
sachussetts have had to cut taxes
in order to foster their economic
recoveries.
, The committee has asked each
senator and representative to sign
a “no tax increase” pledge and re
turn it within a weeK..
The committee also urges citi
zens to contact their representa
tives to emphasize the need for
those elected officals to sign the
pledge.
Democratic hopefuls offer criticism
of Reagan in early campaign debate
HOUSTON (AP) — Seven Demo
cratic presidential contenders cho
rused criticism of President Reagan
and vied for political standing in a
wide open race for their party’s
nomination as they met Wednesday
night in an extraordinarily early
campaign debate.
Debating six months before the
dawning of the 1988 election year,
the seven blasted Reaganomics and
the administration’s defense policies
as they took turns offering them
selves as providers of “better lead
ership.”
The debate was an expanded,
two-hour version of commentator
William F. Buckley’s “Firing Line,”
and was televised live over the Public
Broadcasting Service. It took place
in the Wortham Center before an
audience so partisan that the Rev.
Jesse Jackson earned loud applause
when he noted, “President Reagan
will be gone in 18 months as a matter
of law.”
Buckley asked the first question —
which portrait would each candidate
remove from its perch in the White
House Cabinet Room.
Jackson, answering first, said he
would deny Herbert Hoover his
place and substitute a portrait of
Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas. “A
great president,” he deemed him,
the Vietnam War notwithstanding.
Jackson’s six rivals answered the
same question in turn, and thus the
first debate of the 1988 campaign cy
cle was underway.
From the opening moments, Jack-
son and the six other contenders
took turns at what Buckley charac
terized as “Reagan bashing.”
“I think we have really sold our
future in the last seven years,” said
Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., in
comments echoed by the six other
contenders for next year’s Demo
cratic presidential nomination.
Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware ac-'
cused Reagan of failing to confront
the difficulties posed by the AIDS
epidemic and of planning to “nucle-
arize the heavens” with his “star
wars” program, while Sen. Albert
Gore of Tennessee scored the presi
dent for permitting officials to shred
documents and steal public funds.
Sen. Paul Simon called Reagan’s
legacy grim.
“There is no question that this ad
ministration has moved in the wrong
direction,” he said.
Bruce Babbitt, the former gover
nor of Arizona, said that although
Reagan often speaks of eliminating
the federal deficit, “He’s never sub
mitted a balanced budget, even
within $100 billion.”
Massachusetts Gov. Michael Du
kakis said that under Reagan’s stew
ardship some Americans are doing
very well, but others such as farmers
and iron range workers in Minne
sota are doing poorly. “We need star
schools, not star wars,” he said.
The Democratic debate was the
earliest of many that will be staged
by television networks, newspapers
and other organizations. A “Firing
Line” program for Republican presi
dential hopefuls is planned for Sep
tember from Los Angeles.
Cargo plane crashes, kills 5 at Air Force base
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — A C-
130 cargo plane performing a tank
dropping maneuver crashed and
burned on a dirt runway Wednes
day, killing five servicemen but stop
ping 100 yards short of bleachers
filled with spectators.
Four of six Air Force crewmen on
the plane were killed, as well as an
Army soldier on the ground, said
Capt. Brian Irving of Pope Air Force
Base, where the four-engine turbo
prop was based.
Irving said three crewmen were
taken by helicopter to Womack
Community Hospital at Fort Bragg.
Sgt. Lori Cogan of the Fort Bragg
Public Affairs Office later said one
of those crewmen had died. The two
surviving crewmen were being trans-
fered to Brooke Army Medical Cen
ter at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
Irving said the soldier killed on
the ground was one of two men in a
military vehicle hit by the plane after
it skidded 1,000 yards down a dirt
runaway and into some trees. He
said he did not know what happened
to the second man.
The plane was displaying a tech
nique in which a parachute is used to
pull a tank or other vehicle out the
rear cargo door while the plane is
only a few feet off the ground, offi-
pe
ludir
formed in front of a crowd including
families of 82nd Airborne Division
troopers, was part of a military exer
cise open to the public.
Irving said he did not know how
many spectators were in the bleach
ers, which were designed for 5,200
people.
Capt. Donald Sensing of the pub
lic information office at Pope Air
Force Base, where the plane is
based, said landing gear always is ex
tended for the maneuver and it was
not unusual for the wheels to hit the
ground.
“We really saw what it didn’t do,”
Sensing said. “T he aircraft should
have gained altitude, but it did not.
Then, the aircraft went out of sight
and the next thing we saw was a ball
of fire.”
Irving said, “There was a mal
function. Where the malfunction
was, or what caused it, I really
couldn’t speculate. Something just
went wrong.”
The plane’s tail section was nearly
three-fourths of a mile from where
the tank was dropped on the run
way. Debris was scattered down the
runway, with the plane’s tailgate
only a few hundred feet from the
tank.