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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 1987)
MM m T exas A&M The =«> I Vol. 82 No. 181 (JSPS 045360 6 pages I College Station, Texas Friday, July 17, 1987 Poindexter: oal of plan as secrecy p roa c l i *|WASHINGTON — Former Na- iated tional Security Adviser John Poin- »xter testified Thursday that he ales' ^■lint Oliver North a “well done” note kecarepi ter a ide misled Congress about to alar|f| e secret Contra supply program, men f(j|id he said President Reagan made s haiifa mistake in firing North when the HA, '. affair became public, is reptl ] “Our objective here all along was dindrjto withhold information” from Con- jf Bess, said Poindexter in a second lationilBy °f testimony before the congres- , said jsional Iran-Contra committees. ConiJ“There’s no question about that.” untiljB The stocky rear admiral, dressed icforeB civilian clothes, defended again Hisarrajhis tearing up of a signed presi- Ivhireldential order — known as a “fmd- mam pig” — that authorized sending arms Admir to Iran in the expectation that it ^Bould result in release of American ^casio postages held in Lebanon. ;s-J “I simply didn’t want this docu- , Mient to see the light of day,” Poin- adfloJ dexter said. , adwd House committee counsel John le 2 v. Nields asked, “Admiral Poindexter, what made you believe that the pres ident of the United States would want you to destroy a finding in or der to save him from political em- arrassment?” Poindexter said, “I recognized hat it was politically embarrassing. I nought one of my jobs was to pro- |ect the president.” Asked whether the purpose was Iso to protect himself, Poindexter aid, “In no way.” mgs ail Reagan, queried by reporters at the beginning of a Cabinet session on the budget, repeatedly refused to comment on Poindexter’s testimony, saying, “I’m going to be making a statement when all these hearings are over, and then I will be ready to talk.” Spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said preparations were under way for a Reagan speech after the hearings. Poindexter said Wednesday he believed Reagan would have thought the diversion a good idea if he had been told. But Fitzwater said Thursday that Reagan “has said on past occasions that had he been told, he would not have allowed, and he should have been told.” On Capitol Hill, there were again frequent clashes between Richard Beckler, Poindexter’s attorney, and a Senate committee counsel, Arthur Liman. Responding to a Liman ques tion, Beckler said: “If counsel wants to know what the president knew and what he thought of when he signed that doc ument, then perhaps you ought to have the president come down here and answer that because we haven’t spoken to the president on this sub ject.” There were only about three hours of testimony because many on the committee journeyed to Phila delphia to celebrate the 2()()th anni versary of the constitutional com promise that created a two-house national legislature. Help! We’re Stuck Janet Perry, 5, peeks from behind the bars at left, as Grace Smith, 4, Diana Savage, 4, and Nichole Meyers, 4, join in the fun. The blond Photo by Sarah Cowan boy in the background is Zachary Braswell, 7. The children are play ing at A&M Methodist Day School, where they attend classes. er viap e sad it de sue -andd House OKs bill to put A&M System up for review By Yvonne DeGraw Reporter A bill that would put the Texas k&M University System — and most bther state university systems — up ifor regular review has been passed bv the Texas House. Rep. Patricia Hill, vice chairman of the sunset commission, intro- iuced the bill, which would put six university systems up for sunset re hew every 12 years. The review would be conducted ay the sunset commission, but unlike most agencies, the systems would not be abolished automatically if the commission fails to give its approval. “The bill does provide that noth ing can be abolished,” said Hill, R- Dallas. Legislators passed the bill in a non-record vote without debate Thursday morning. There was no debate before a preliminary vote Wednesday, either. The bill now goes to the Senate. Dr. William Mobley, deputy chan cellor for academic and resource de velopment, said A&rM’s administra tion is not opposed to the bill. “I think we would fare very well in a review of our system offices,” he said. “We don’t view with concern the fact that this might be enacted.” House Bill 2181, the work of the Select Committee on Higher Educa tion, describes the role of university system offices. Mobley said A&M’s current system matches what that law lays out. He speculated that the Legislature might be more interested in looking at the smaller systems the bill in cludes. In addition to A&M, the measure covers the University of Texas Sys tem, the Lamar University System, the University System of South Texas, the Texas State University System and the University of Hous ton System. The community college system is not covered by the bill. Hill said her bill was originally going to be added to H.B. 2181, but the committee did not want a lot of amendments. Speaker Gib Lewis is co-sponsoring her bill, she said. “There’s nothing wrong with hav ing at least a part of the agencies that spend 22 percent of the state budget looked at periodically,” she said. Until now, she said, higher educa tion was the only state agency that did not come up for review. The commission — made up of four state representatives, four sen ators and one member appointed by both the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the House — would first examine the systems in 1993. Hill said they will look at how well the central offices of each system are managed. This includes looking for- top-heavy administration and over lapping curriculum at nearby cam puses. They also will examine how systems and units within a system coordinate their activities. “I just bet that — with the possible exception of UT and A&M — there is very little sharing of information or coordination among the various university systems,” Hill said. “Anything we can do to spend that money more wisely is advanta geous,” she said. Mobley said A&M’s administra tion is small for the University’s size. “We are relatively lean on a na tional scale, as well as on a state scale, in terms of our operation,” he said. helicopter crashes in rescue mission; 6 servicemen killed SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — A U.S. military helicopter crashed in a squall and killed six American servicemen on a inission to aid a wounded U.S. military ad- per, the U.S. Embassy said Thursday. One of those killed in the crash Wednes day night was the deputy commander of fthe U.S. Military Group attached to the gU.S. Embassy in San Salvador, according to a Defense Department spokesman in Wash ington. One of the seven aboard survived. The crash brings to 12 the number of U.S. servicemen killed in El Salvador since the war between the U.S.-backed govern ment and leftist guerrillas began in 1979. The Huey UH-1H helicopter went down “because of bad weather” at 10:52 p.m., seven minutes after it left the capital, said Col. Ron Sconyers, director of public aff airs for the U.S. Southern Command in Pan ama. The servicemen were bound for the Sal vadoran military training center in La Union, 113 miles east of the capital, to pick up a U.S. trainer wounded in the neck in a gun accident and transport him to a mili tary hospital in San Miguel, 86 miles east of San Salvador, Sconyers said. The craft went down along a steep cliff along the side of Ilopango Lake, a volcanic crater filled with water about 10 miles east of San Salvador, he said. Robert Sims, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said the U.S. helicopter was try ing to return to the Ilapango Airport at the time of the crash. “The survivor of the crash climbed a hill and found a Salvadoran national who as sisted in his call for help,” Sims added. “U.S. and Salvadoran personnel were then dispatched to the crash site.” The crash survivor and the soldier wounded in La Union were in very serious condition at the military hospital in San Sal vador, the embassy said. Among the dead was Air Force Lt. Col. James M. Basile, 43, of Cheshire, Conn., the deputy commander of the U.S. Military Croup at the embassy, said Capt. Nancy La- Luntas, a Pentagon spokesman. Witnesses said the bodies were strewn along a grassy incline. U.S. military person nel and Salvadoran soldiers recovered the bodies and put them aboard U.S. helicopt ers. . ■ Marcos sued by Philippines for $22 billion MANILA, Philippines (AP) — I The government sued deposed President Ferdinand E. Marcos I and his family Thursday for I more than $22 billion, claiming I they plundered the treasury, be- I trayed the public trust and bra- I zenly abused power. Marcos fled the country he I ruled for two decades on Feb. 26, I 1986, driven out by a military-ci- I vilian uprising that put President I Corazon Aquino in power. Officials also said they refused I an offer by a Saudi Arabian busi- I nessman to invest $ 1 billion in the ■ Philippines if actions against Mar- I cos were dropped. Criminal charges are to be filed I next week against the former I president. The officials did not I specify the charges, which are ex- I pected to cover the same ground I as the civil action. The Presidential Commission I on Good Government filed the I civil suit in a special anti-graft I court. Aquino appointed the com- | mission and gave it the mission of fc finding the fortune Marcos is ac- ■ cused of stealing. Reaction mixed to Clements’ OK of $38.3 billion budget AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Bill Clem ents, whose no-new-taxes campaign promise melted under the heat of political reality, drew mixed reviews from fellow Republicans Thursday over his endorsement of a $38.3 bil lion state budget. Rep. Chip Staniswalis, R-Am- arillo, said, “I think we ought to have a shredding party of our own, Texas-sized, and put that bill in it.” Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Plano, said, “I think that he has gone back on what the people of the state of Texas want. He is not listening. I think had he stuck by his guns, we would have come back and done some real bud get reductions.” Rep. John Willy R-Angleton, said, “I’m disappointed that we haven’t addressed some of the cuts that could be made.” But Clements, who said the bud get is larger than he would have pre ferred, charged that House mem bers had their shot at cutting state spending and misfired. “They had their opportunity over about a four-day period over in the House to see what they could do with the budget,” Clements said. “And I would remind all of you they reduced it, what, $17 million? I’ve reduced it about $300 million.” Clements agreed Wednesday to the $38.3 billion 1988-89 state bud get — about a 4-percent increase Clements admits to changing his thoughts about replacing State Board of Education with old-style 27-member elected body AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Bill Clem ents, acknowledging he has reversed his thinking, Thursday said he fa vors keeping the State Board of Ed ucation as an appointed body. He blamed a judge’s ruling for his change of heart. Later in the day, the Senate gave approval to a bill that would allow tbe appointed system to continue if voters agree. “I haven’t, uh, I haven’t, uh, what shall I say about it? I have changed my mind,” Clements told a news conference. “I have changed my mind after lengthy discussions with Speaker (Lewis) and Lt. Gov. (Bill) Hobby.” Clements said the reason for his shift was the decision by State Dis trict Judge Harley Clark, who ruled that the state’s current system of funding for 1,100 local school dis tricts discriminates against property- poor districts. Clark’s decision, which state offi cials are appealing, ordered Texas to come up with a new way of funding that doesn’t discriminate. “I think we’re in jeopardy,” Clem ents said of Clark’s ruling. “I think that would be disturbing to the whole situation.” The Legislature, in passing the sweeping school reform law known as House Bill 72 in 1984, eliminated the old, 27-member elected State Board of Education. The law re placed that board with a 15-member panel appointed by the governor. But the law also called for elec tions to resume in 1988, with the elected board taking over in 1989. Clements, who throughout his 1986 campaign pledged to make cer tain the board would be elected again, Thursday said Clark’s ruling means it would be difficult to change formats. “I certainly do not want to restruc ture public education in the state of Texas during the next two years,” Clements said. “I think a big factor in that that will be helpful for conti nuity of purpose would be to retain ... an appointed board vs. an elected board.” over current spending — that law makers said would require tax in creases of greater than $5.5 billion. Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby and Speaker Gib Lewis, who worked out the agreement with Clements, are ex pected to be able to push the agreement through the Senate and House. The agreement still leaves a battle on the taxes needed to balance the budget. The House voted to raise the state sales tax from the current b'A per cent to 6 percent and apply it to in surance premiums, in addition to keeping the motor fuels tax at 15 cents per gallon instead of letting it revert to 10 cents Sept. 1. The Senate earlier this week passed a smorgasbord tax plan that would set a 6-percent sales tax rate and make a yariety of other changes. On Thursday, senators also OK’d the fuels tax hike, which would raise about $669 million. That bill was re turned to the House for action on minor amendments. Lewis said he planned a Monday vote on whatever compromise tax plan is written by a conference com mittee. The current special session ends Tuesday. Asked about the no-new-taxes promise that some observers say was a key in his 1986 defeat of incum bent Democratic Gov. Mark White, Clements said, “I sure did not see the deficit being carried over to the extent that it had been.” In January, Clements proposed a $36.9 billion budget he said could be balanced by keeping the 15-cent fuel tax and 5 VI percent sales tax. “I certainly did not anticipate an other $700 million hickey from Mr. Bullock,” he said, referring to State Comptroller Bob Bullock’s series of reduced revenue forecasts. Some House Republicans were sympathetic to Clements’ plight. “I think he has looked at it and made a decision based on what he feels is best for the state of Texas,” said Rep. Ed Kuempel, R-Seguin.