Sharpshooter
Pool shark and comedian Jack White performed in the MSC lobby
Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. White has performed as a guest on
“The Tonight Show,” “The Ed Sullivan Show” as well as “Wide World
of Sports.” White has also been a performer in the White House. The
MSC Recreation Committee asked White to perform at Texas A&M
University.
Reagan signs
bill to revive
budget cuts
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi- statements earlier Tuesday before
dent Reagan on Tuesday signed leg- an audience of international finan-
islation reviving the Gramm-Rud- ciers critical of the huge U.S. deficit,
man budget-balancing law and . There, he praised the bill as “a sig-
vowed that “the big spenders in Con- nal that America is not backing
gress will have a fight on their down from its responsibilities.”
hands.” In a speech to a joint meeting of
In a Rose Garden ceremony, Rea- the World Bank and the Interna-
gan put his signature to a bill that tional Monetary Fund, the president
would require $23 billion in deficit called for a cooperative effort
reductions in the fiscal year that be- among the world’s financial powers
gins Thursday and a balanced bud- to help Third World nations solve
get by fiscal 1993. It would cut mili- their debt crisis. But he said he can
tary and domestic programs across- not lecture others without dealing
the-board if its goals are not met. first with America’s problems.
“It is imperative that the United
The president complained bitterly States consistently reduce its federal
about the legislation, saying Con- deficit spending,” Reagan said, tak-
gress was seeking to raise taxes or ing note of the Gramm-Rudman bill,
cut the Pentagon budget to comply “It should be seen as a signal that
with it. He had no choice but to sign America is not backing down from
it, he said, because it included an ur- its responsibilities,” he said. Then he
gently needed increase in the na- called on Japan and West Germany
tional debt limit. “to find the political gumption to
“I will not allow the American stimulate their economies without
people to be blackmailed into higher reigniting the fires of inflation.”
taxes,” Reagan said, repeating his Reagan’s support helped the orig-
call to trim “pork-barrel spending” inal Gramm-Rudman bill become
that he said was at the root of the law in 1985. At that time, it included
deficits. the automatic spending cuts later
“The big spenders in Congress thrown out by the Supreme Court,
will have a fight on their hands,” he The president’s enthusiasm for
said, adding that those who expect the law has cooled since the Demo-
him to agree to tax hikes or defense crats took control of the Senate this
cuts were “nuts.” year. He said Democrats were trying
Reagan’s harsh words at the cere- to use it to force him to accept a tax
mony contrasted sharply with his increase or cuts in military spending.
'ithout any que S .
physician.”
iMO clients can
a Physician the.
estricted to th-l
oose and
me, he <
mavgj
The Battalion
said.
|ol
ractIce the
to medicine.'!
ura ge each I
83 No. 22 CISPS 045360 10 pages
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, September 30, 1987
ose his
own per
yUHi / /I I Jp# m
; - ' V
i ini
i
. Has
Lmi
Photo by Shelly Schluter
\&M police consider giving tickets by computer
By Melissa Kennedy
Reporter
The Texas A&M University Police De-
rtment is looking at a new system to
mputerize campus parking-ticket distri-
tion, but budget limitations have
ished consideration of the plan back un-
at least next year, said Bob Wiatt, direc-
r of security and traffic.
The plan, already in use at the Univer-
y of Texas, Baylor University and
mthern Methodist University, would
iplement the use of computer technol
ogy in ticket allocation. The officer on pa
trol is equipped with a hand-held, battery-
powered unit weighing from two to five
pounds.
When an officer finds an illegally
parked car, the description and license
number of the car are keyed into the unit.
The units are capable of creating a file of
license numbers with an excessive number
of unpaid tickets. If the keyed license
number matches one in the file, a towing
message might be programmed to appear.
In other cases, the information is re
corded on a tape and a copy of the ticket is
produced from the hand unit itself, or
from an attached unit, and is placed on the
windshield. At the end of a shift, the offi
cer transfers the cassette recording of tick
ets from his hand unit to the main com
puter at the station.
Wiatt said University Police issues more
than 110,000 tickets annually. He said he
would like to employ the computer system
and that A&M will eventually be using it.
“I think this is the technology of the fu
ture,” he said.
However, Wiatt believes it is not within
UPD’s operating budget this year to imple
ment the computer ticket system. He antic
ipates that conditions next year will be bet
ter for such an expenditure and he hopes
that the cost of the system will go down.
The cost of a hand unit is about $2,600,
and it would cost more than $50,000 to
equip A&M’s police department with the
main computer and hand units for all
parking-patrol officers.
Because of a stricture on state budget
expenditures for capital expenses, the sys
tem cost would have to come out of the po
lice department’s operating budget; Wiatt
said.
UPD’s operating budget, which exceeds
$2.5 million annually, is generated from
parking fines and permit sales. It is used to
support University Police personnel sala
ries, intracampus shuttle-bus operation
and maintenance, a van for the hand
icapped that runs off campus and the
night van service to the parking lots west
of Wellborn Road.
“The state will not pay for anything to
do with parking,” Wiatt said.
Voters have until Saturday to register
to vote in November general election
By Carolyn Kelbly
Reporter
Texas A&M students and other
frazos County ypters have until Sat-
jjirday to register to vote in Novem-
Ir’sgeneral election, which will de
cide 25 state Constitutional
endments and two referenda, in-
ding the controversial item that
uld legalize pari-mutuel betting in
jexas.
I Brazos County voter registration
Irds for the Nov. 3 election must be
■stmarked by Saturday, and regis-
Ired voters will also be able to vote
I the March 8 “Super Tuesday”
Itesidential primary election.
I Voters failing to register by Satur-
m, however, can still register for
e March primary election until
ib.7.
To register, a voter must be 18 by
ov. 3, a U.S. citizen and a Texas
sident. Anyone with a felony con-
rtion is ineligible.
November’s general election has
e largest number of proposed
amendments to the Texas Constitu
tion in state history. The two refer
enda are Referendum SB 15, the
controversial pari-mutuel horse rac
ing and dog racing issue, and SB 86,
which would make the Texas Board
of Education members appointed
rather than elected.
Rep. Richard Smith, R-Bryan,
said the primary election in the
spring includes the presidential con
tenders, congressional candidates
and candidates for state and local
positions.
“Since the elections occur on
Tuesday during the school year, it is
very important that students regis
ter,” Smith said. “And the most con
venient way to vote at A&M is to reg
ister in Brazos County.”
Smith says it is important the reg
istration card be completed correctly
before it is mailed or the registration
will be invalid.
Kent Martin, Smith’s spokesman,
says the permanent residence ad
dress on the card should be the vot
er’s actual address in Bryan-College
Station, not a post office box. The
Brazos County registrar must know
where the voter physically lives to
place him in a voting precinct.
Although the telephone number
is optional, he says it is very impor
tant for the registrar to be able td get
in contact with the voter in case
there are any registration complica
tions.
Martin says on-campus students
can obtain the card tonight from ta
bles set up outside Sbisa Dining Hall
and the Commons Dining Hall. Reg
istration cards will also be available
Thursday afternoon in the main hall
of the MSC.
Off-campus students should have
received a registration card along
with Smith’s newsletter through the
mail. If they have failed to receive
these items, they can call Rep.
Smith’s Bryan office, Martin says.
The newsletter and registration
cards also were made available to the
Corps of Cadets through the com
pany commanders.
Students who register will be able
to vote near or on the A&M campus.
County Clerk Frank Boriskie said
the campus is divided into three vot
ing precincts:
• Precinct 20 is located in the
MSC. The student ballot box serves
south side dormitories.
• Precinct 21 is located at the
Hensel Park Apartment Special
Building. This location serves mar
ried student housing.
• Precinct 35 is located at the
A&M Presbyterian Church at 301
Church Ave. This location serves the
northside dormitories.
Off-campus students will vote in
their respective precincts.
For more information about reg
istration and voter eligibility stu
dents can call the Brazos County
Tax Assessor-Collector’s office at
361-4490 or 361-4492.
itudy questions use of campaign donations
WASHINGTON (AP) — A study of campaign
[nancial records shows contributions to Texas
ongressmen have gone to pay for such items as
aby-sitting fees, a luxury automobile, car tele
bone and meals at Washington restaurants.
The congressmen, however, defend their use
fthe funds as outlined in a Harte-Hanks’ Wash-
igton bureau study of Texas lawmakers’ cam-
aign pending records from 1985 through the
rsthalfof this year.
Among other things, the San Antonio-based
edia company’s study shows that:
• Rep. Marvin Death used campaign contribu-
ans to buy a new Lincoln Continental for
16,818 two years ago.
The luxury car is the Waco Democrat’s only
ijlicle in Washington and he since has spent at
ast $2,500 in campaign funds for a car tele-
bone, insurance, repairs, tires and gasoline.
Although he uses the car for personal as well
as work-related purposes, Death believes it was
proper to pay for it with election money since he
considers his life in Washington as “political” in
essence, Doug Canatsey, his chief aide. said.
• Rep. Steve Bartlett spent $1,690 in cam
paign funds for baby sitters in two years.
The Dallas Republican, who has three young
children, used election money for baby-sitting
fees only when he and his wife were away on
overnight or extended campaign trips, Bartlett
aide Mary Jane Maddox said.
As for the contributors to the congressmen’s
funds, a spokesman for a campaign contribution
watchdog group said political action committees
for large interest groups often are ambivalent
about how their money is spent.
Congress Watch director Craig McDonald
said, “They are looking for influence, so they
don’t care if a congressman buys a Cadillac or
pays his attorney. The more enjoyment he gets
out of the contribution, the better for the PAC.”
But individual contributors and smaller PACs
generally don’t want campaign contributions to
go for personal or quasi-political expenses, Mc
Donald said.
“They would consider that a waste of their
money,” he said. Congressional ethics commit
tees rarely investigate campaign spending prac
tices, a Common Cause spokesman said.
Marci Frosh of the self-styled citizens’ lobby
said, “Members can just go on and violate ethics
and rules and no one will do anything about it.”
Federal law and congressional rules say that
campaign funds may be used for any “bonafide
campaign or political” expense, but that defi
nition has been broadly interpreted by ethics
panels.
U.S. escorts tanker
as British sweep
for Iranian mines
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) —
U.S. warships on Tuesday es
corted a Kuwaiti tanker toward a
major Persian Gulf shipping
channel where British mine
sweepers were searching for ex
plosives believed planted by Iran.
U.S. officials said the Navy
would respond strongly if Iran
continued “intensified” war activ
ities that they said increased after
U.S. helicopters attacked an Ira
nian minelayer.
“We’re not looking at routine
operations,” said one U.S. source
who spoke on condition of ano
nymity. But he said the Navy’s
gulf-based resources were al
ready seriously strained.
Iraq said its warplanes attacked
a ship off Iran and bombed a
weapons and ammunition factory
in the suburbs of Tehran, a large
power plant near the Iran-Soviet
border and an oil pumping sta
tion in the south.
Iran’s official Islamic Republic
News Agency said a number of
people were killed in the raids
and in Iraqi shelling of the south
ern cities of Khorramshahr and
Abadan. It said Iranian artillery
shelled the southern Iraqi port
city of Basra in retaliation.
The United States began to es
cort 11 Kuwaiti tankers through
the gulf in July to protect them
from attack by Iran, which con
siders Kuwait an ally of Iraq in
the 7-year-old Iran-Iraq war. Ku
wait insists it is neutral.
On Sept. 21, the Navy attacked
and captured the landing craft
Iran Ajr and said it was caught in
the act of laying mines. Iran said
it was not carrying any military
cargo and vowed revenge.
Defense Secretary Caspar
Weinberger, back in Washington
after a trip to the gulf, said Tues
day that the United States would
not hesitate to attack any Iranian
vessel sowing mines.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said
similar statements by Weinberger
on Friday in Bahrain were “hos
tile and provocative.”
Pentagon spokesman Fred
Hoffman said the 10th convoy
left Kuwait on Monday and was
steaming “uneventfully” south
through the central gulf. He said
the guided-missile frigate USS
Hawes was escorting the 46,723-
ton tanker Gas Prince.
“Three possible mines were
sighted Sunday by the Navy de
stroyer Kidd and its anti-subma
rine helicopter about 15 miles
north of Dubai,” Hoffman said.
“But ... we have no concrete evi
dence that there are any mines
there. So based on present infor
mation, reports of extensive new
mine fields in the southern Per
sian Gulf are . .. overdrawn.”
But he said tankers in the re
gion were being warned away
from the area as a precaution.
A U.S. source who spoke on
condition of anonymity said the
convoy’s trip through the gulf,
normally two to three days, could
take longer because of the mine
threat.
Traffic was being diverted or
not moving at all through the
area Tuesday as captains heeded
warnings issued by the Navy.
The British mine sweepers
Brecon, Bicester and Hurworth
were searching for explosives and
were accompanied by the frigate
Andromeda and the Ardebil, a
support vessel, witnesses spH