The Battalion
Vol. 87 No. 43 GSPS 045360 14 pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, October 29, 1987
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‘best costumes’ at the MSC Hospitality’s Halloween
party for the children of Texas A&M faculty and
staff. The bumble bee won first prize,, the bunny
was second, and the barmaid took third. Carter is a
senior management major.
Bush defends stand
on taxes, weapons
HOUSTON (AP) — Front-run
ner George Bush, saying he knows
how to “land the plane in a storm,”
fended off fire from all sides
Wednesday night as the six 1988
GOP presidential contenders argued
arms control and taxes in a conten
tious campaign debate.
“It’s fine when you’re outside, car
ping, criticizing your president,” the
vice president said in stern rebuttal.
“It’s very different when you’re in
there having to make the tough call.”
Bush was a frequent target but not
the only one as the Republican rivals
vied for advantage by attacking each
other for two hours in their first na
tionally televised debate.
Former Secretary of State Alexan
der Haig waved his finger close to
Bush’s face as the two argued about
a prospective treaty to ban interme
diate weapons.
Haig opposes the treaty, but Bush
said, “Al, you supported it in the
spring of 1982, I have read a speech
you gave on it.”
Haig shot back: “If you recall I
fought it like the bloody death. I
never heard a wimp out of you, not a
word.”
Former Delaware Gov. Pete du
Pont attacked Bush sharply several
times.
“The question is in a Bush presi
dency where would he lead Ameri
ca,” he said to scattered boos from
the audience. “So far we haven’t
seen any vision, any principle, any
policy. We really haven’t had it
spelled out very successfully” he said
to scattered boos from the audience.
Senate Republican Leader Bob
Dole said after one heated moment-
,“This debate’s starting to liven up a
little bit. I thought it was going to die
on the vine.”
There was little chance of that,
even though the attacks began,
slowly.
Rep. Jack Kemp assailed Bush in a
veiled fashion, pointing out that as a
New York congressman, he sup
ported Reagan in the 1980 cam
paign. That was an unspoken refer
ence to Bush’s own losing candidacy
in 1980.
The sixth contender, former tele
vision evangelist Pat Robertson,
damned Bush with the faintest of
praise.
He called Bush “as fine a vice
president as we have had in this cen
tury and I would love to have him as
vice president with me.” Robertson
made the same statement earlier
about Dole. But Bush showed he was
able to give as well as take. At one
point he attacked du Pont’s proposal
for finding a private sector substi
tute for Social Security.
“I think it is a nutty idea to fool
around with the Social Security Sys
tem,” Bush said. “It may be a new
idea, but it’s a dumb one, too.”
Kemp attacked that idea, as well.
“Frankly Pete, we don’t know exactly
which libertarian or market oriented
solution you’re going to come up
with next,” Kemp said.
Said Bush in his own defense a
few moments before the debate
ended:
“You need somebody in that hot
seat with a cool hand on the stick.
I’ve been co-pilot for seven years,
and I know how to land the plane in
a storm.” Bush had agreed reluc
tantly to share the stage in the spe
cial segment of PBS’ “Firing Line”
hosted by William F. Buckley.
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By Carolyn Kelbly
Reporter
I The Lone Star State is off to the
feces Nov. 3 when Texans vote on
the controversial pari-mutuel horse
»cing and dog racing issue.
I For the past 50 years, pari-mutuel
pyagering has always been illegal in
Te xas, except for a brief period dur-
ilg the Depression. On the final day
oi the Legislature’s 1933 session,
d; mutuel betting on horses was
proved to help the struggling
onomy. But four years later, in
37, Gov. James Allred called a
ecial session to consider only the
ri-mutuel issue, and the horse wa
ring was again made illegal.
Texas is normally not an initiative
referendum state, but the pari
mutuel bill is an exception. On Sept.
24, 1986, the pari-mutuel bill be-
dame law without then-Gov. Mark
White’s signature.
■ White had said he would not veto
ahorse racing bill if it had three pro
visions: a statewide referendum to
allow racing, a local county option
election, and a strong anti-crime
proposal.
■ The bill White allowed to become
law — which is up for Texas voters’
approval next week — fills these re
quirements. It gives Texans the de
ciding vote at both state and county
levels on pari-mutuel betting.
■ “I believe other Texans should
have the right to make up their own
minds just as I have,” White said in a
November 1986 San Angelo Stan
dard Trmes article.
■ The pari-mutuel proposal will ap-
{•em below the proposed constitu
tional amendments on the ballot and
it reads:
Debate presents opposing views of betting
By Doug Driskell
Staff Writer
The economic issues of parimu
tuel betting were a chief concern of
both the pro and con side in a debate
on this controversial issue sponsored
by the MSC Political Forum Wednes
day night in the MSC.
‘T he state comptroller has said
that after five years, if all promises
and all expectations are met, we
would produce $110 million dollars
a year in revenue to the state,” said
Weston Ware, a representative of
Texans Who Care, who oppose the
referendum. “This amount is a very
small amount in comparison to the
total budget of Texas.”
The amount would represent one
tenth of one percent of the total
budget of Texas. This is only if all of
the expectations are met, he em
phasized.
Graphic by Susan C. Akin
Jeff Steen, a representitive for the
Texas Horse Racing Association,
said this amount may seem small but
in comparison with other revenue by
the state, it is quite large.
“Hotel and motel taxes in the state
account for $35 million dollars,” he
said. “We are talking $110 million
dollars. Tax revenue from tele
phone is $65 million, and I don’t
think we are going to do away with
those things.”
Ware cited a race track in Bir
mingham, Ala. as losing money in its
first year of operations.
The Birmingham Turf Club was
set up in 1986 for the sum of $84
million, he said.
“It has lost eight or nine million
dollars in its first nine months,”
Ware said. “The city of Birmingham
has now invested in the installation
of roads and such. And the city has
had to set aside its own notes so it
will not go bankrupt!”
Steen said the tax revenue from
the tracks will come in approxi
mately three years. But, Texans will
see some money immediately if the
referendum passes Tuesday, he
said.
“Economic benifits will start next
Wednesday,” he said. “If this passes
you are going to see Texas breeders,
owners, traders and people in agri
culture beginning to change their
game plan. They are going to bring
their horse racing blood-stock home,
purchase land, build farms, begin to
do their business back home. This is
going to be a growing new industry
in Texas.”
Parimutual betting is far from an
industry, Ware said.
“It is not an industry, but a busi
ness,” he said. “It does not produce a
product. And what you will find is it
will be a good business investment
for people who own horses, who
have ranches or who are veternari-
ans. Many of the horse owners are
doctors and lawers and other profes
sionals who happen to get a little ex
tra money.”
Both agreed voter turnout may be
low Nov. 3, but those who do turn
out should cast an educated vote on
each issue.
“The legalization of pari-mutuel
wagering under the Texas Racing
Act on a county-by-county local op
tion basis.”
As Texas is trying to pull out of an
economic slump and at the same
time deal with the effects of the
fickle stock market, Texas voters
have in their hands a decision that
can make or break the state’s horse
industry.
A 1985 study by the Department
of Agriculture measured the poten
tial impact of horse racing on the
Texas farm economy. Before the
1933 legalization of horse racing,
there were 13 breeding farms in
Texas, but after the legalization, the
number of breeding farms increased
to 265, showing a definite effect on
the industry.
The Texas Department of Agri
culture estimates that horse racing
would bring $1.25 billion a year to
the Texas economy besides provid-
ingjobs for 10,981 people.
Campbell says the money the state
government would get from the race
track betting is only a small percent
age of the money the horse racing
industry will produce.
“The market value is estimated by
the multi-million dollar animals, in
surance, advertising, transportation,
employment, agriculture, real estate,
and construction the industry gener
ates,” he says.
A 1985 study by the Peat, Mar
wick, Mitchell & Co. accounting firm
says the passage of pari-mutuel
horse racing would bring a total di
rect economic contribution of
$562,762,000 during the first two
years. This estimation, which is ex
pressed in 1985 dollars, takes into
account real estate purchases and
construction and improvement of
facilities.
But the opposition disagrees with
these economic projections.
“In state after state, once pari-mu
tuel gambling is legalized, the un
happy truth is that horse and dog
racing brings in less than one per
cent of any state’s revenue,” said
Gary McNeil, legislative assistant to
the Christian Life Commission. “All
Texas is looking for is an economic
developement to take us into the
21st century. Texans should con
sider a more prestigous industry like
the growing demand for high tech
nology and not the pari-mutuel in
dustry.”
However, a Dallas-based anti
gambling group predicts legalized
gambling will attract crime, a Hous
ton Chronicle article said.
“This is a very, very poor bill to
turn loose on the people of Texas,”
said Sue Cox, director of the Anti-
Crime Council of Texas.
In a Dallas Morning News article,
Cox said the bill should be declared
illegal, because Texas law does not
address the idea of the referendum.
The referendum puts legal issues
before the state’s voters, instead of
handling the issues in the Legis
lature, which is the way Texas has
traditionally operated.
But the pari-mutuel bill contains a
provision making it a law if the
courts declare a referendum illegal,
so fighting the bill in court would be
futile, Cox said.
Other law enforcement officials
say gambling will attract crime. The
Christian Life Commission put to
gether an information sheet quoting
various officials knowledgeable
about legalized gambling and its
relationship with organized crime.
“Anytime organized crime sees an
opportunity to put a fix on some-
See Horse racing, page 13
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'eagan: Summit should not be
'recondition for progress on talks
WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) — Pres-
it}ent Reagan, in a blunt message for
the Kremlin, said Wednesday he is
rfeady to intensify negotiations but
that a superpower summit should
net be “a precondition for progress”
op arms talks and other differences.
Adopting a wait-and-see attitude
out talks with Soviet leader Mik-
ha l Gorbachev, Reagan said, “When
tie general secretary is ready to visit
th( United States, I and the Ameri-
■n people will welcome him.”
■ The president’s statement, in a
speech at the U.S. Military Academy,
appeared to be a sharp rebuff to
Gorbachev’s sudden attempt last
week to hold off on a summit until
Reagan agreed to restrictions on his
“liar Wars” missile defense plan.
■ Even before Reagan’s address,
Gorbachev appeared to have
changed strategy. In a sudden
about-face Tuesday, Soviet Foreign
Minister Eduard Shevardnadze ar
ranged to travel to Washington to
resume talks Friday with Reagan
and Secretary of State George
Shultz.
■ Reagan, accompanied by Defense
Secretary Caspar Weinberger, was
greeted by loud cheers and long ap
plause when he arrived at West
Point’s Washington Hall for lunch
with cadets before his address. The
roar grew even louder as he an
nounced an amnesty for disciplinary
action against the corps.
He delivered his remarks from
the poop deck, the same spot where
Gen. Douglas MacArthur delivered
his famous “duty, honor, country”
speech 25 years ago.
Reporting on Shultz’s meetings in
Moscow last week, the president said
“he had lively, sometimes heated dis
cussions” with Shevardnadze and
Gorbachev. “That was no surprise,”
Reagan said, given the broad range
of their talks.
Reagan renews invitation
for summit meeting in U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi
dent Reagan on Wednesday re
newed his offer to host the next su
perpower summit meeting in the
United States, but administration of
ficials said Soviet leader Mikhail S.
Gorbachev might prefer another
site.
Gorbachev’s reservations surfaced
as the White House and the Kremlin
announced that Soviet Foreign Min
ister Eduard A. Shevardnadze
would fly to Washington for talks
Friday with Reagan and Secretary of
State George P. Shultz.
He is expected to deliver a mes
sage from Gorbachev to Reagan,
who said in a speech at the U.S. Mili
tary Academy at West Point, N.Y.,
that it would be good for Gorbachev
to see this country for himself.
But two U.S. officials, requesting
anonymity, told The Associated
Press that the Soviet leader was re
luctant to have the summit in the
United States.
“He is concerned about being up
staged by the president on his own
turf,” one of the officials said. “They
also have said they are worried about
security.”
The official said the Soviets had
hinted that Dublin, Ireland, might
be a suitable summit site. “But,” he
added, “I wouldn’t be surprised if
they agreed to meet here.”
The first summit was in Geneva in
1985 and the last meeting was in
Reykjavik, Iceland in October 1986.
Stock market levity may cause
difficulty for future job seekers
By Tracy Staton
Staff Writer
The recent stock market volati
lity may make getting a job more
difficult, and Texas A&M grad
uates may soon be facing stiffer
hiring standards and lower start
ing salaries.
But Louis Van Pelt, director of
the Placement Center, says the ef
fects will be mostly long term.
The placement center is not suf
fering yet, and there is no need to
panic yet.
Although long-term effects
cannot yet be assessed, most fields
will be scrutinizing their potential
recruits more carefully than ever,
a Dallas placement agency vice
president said Wednesday.
“In more and more situations it
is going to take a good grade
point and good classes for a per
son to get into the type of busi
ness they want,” Bob Clarke of
Largent Parks & Partners, Inc.,
said in a telephone interview.
“The days of a person walking
into a bank as a credit trainee and
making $30,000 a year are gone.
“We’re making a major correc
tion now . . . people coming into
the marketplace are going to be
coming in at the $12,000 to
15,000 level.”
Clarke puts potential employ
ees into three categories — the
superstar, the consistent worker
and the marginal worker. The
“marginal worker” is in trouble,
but the “superstar” will still be
able to get a job, he says.
“Those superstars out there
with the 4.0 grade point ratio and
who are sitting on the dean’s list
and are involved in everything
and are strong business majors
are the people who are going to
get ahead,” he said.
These stiff criteria will be more
crucial to the investment banking
industry, which will be hit hardest
by the crunch. Donald Fraser, an
A&M finance professor, said the
field will contract and consolidate
as a result of the stock market
loss.
“(Investment banking) rises
and falls with the stock market,”
Fraser said. “When the market is
good, it prospers. When it’s bad,
the industry has trouble. If the
market stays down, you’ll see a lot
of consolidation and layoffs.”
Layoffs have already begun.
Salomon Inc. laid off 800 em
ployees and shut its municipal-fi
nance and commercial-paper de
partment, Newsweek stated in its
Oct. 26 issue. After a 5-year boom
in which investment banking
lured the best and brightest appli
cants, one week of chaos has
caused executives to re-examine
their hiring policies.
Imminent changes will affect
the “marginal worker” Clarke
mentioned.
“We’re seeing a ‘trimming-of-
the-fat’ — people who are not
meeting the criteria or not up to
the qualification level,” Clarke
said. “Your C people, or marginal
people, will be out of a job.”
Dr. Charles Maurice, an A&M
economics professor, agreed that
investment banking opportuni
ties will diminish, but he had a
more optimistic outlook for other
fields.
“I don’t think the investment
houses will be hiring investment
bankers, but that doesn’t mean
that there aren’t strong, strong
job possibiliteies for our grad
uates in other financial aspects,”
Maurice said. “The stock market
is only one part of the financial
job opportunities that people
See Jobs, page 13