A
Battalion
[Vol. 87 No. 78 (JSPS 045360 14 Pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, January 21, 1988
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Sign on the dotted line
Photo by Shelly Schluter
Speech communications majors Elizabeth Ed
mondson, a junior and chairman of the Hospitality
committee, and sophomore Yvette Schrock, fash
ion chairman of the Hospitality committee, tell
fod Klubnik, a senior mechanical engineering
major, about upcoming events.
Reagan solicits
more Contra aid
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi
dent Reagan said Wednesday that
Congress will commit “one of Amer
ica’s most tragic mistakes” if it re
fuses to give more money to Nicar-
guan rebels.
House Speaker Jim Wright, D-
Texas, accused Reagan of pursuing
a military victory and the overthrow
of the Sandinista regime.
There was a sharpening of rhe
toric on both sides as supporters and
opponents of rebel aid tried to
marshal forces for a showdown vote
next month that will sustain the Con
tra force or effectively put it out of
business.
The White House angrily re
butted charges that the administra
tion was trying to sabotage the peace
process in Central America.
“The Democrats, Chris Dodd and
others, they want a surrender,” pres
idential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater
said. “They think surrender is the
best way to achieve peace. We dis
agree.”
Dodd, a Democratic senator from
Connecticut and opponent of Con
tra aid, had said the administration
“ought to at least see whether or not
that peace process can succeed” be
fore pressing for more Contra aid.
Replying to Fitzwater’s statement,
Dodd said, “These smear tactics are
only further evidence of how des
perate the people in the White
House are to keep their failed policy
alive.”
Reagan will submit a new aid re
quest late this month, probably on
Jan. 26. A Republican congressional
source said he would seek upwards
of $100 million. The House will vote
on the request Feb. 3.
If the House approves the re-
a uest, it will go to the Senate the next
ay. If it is rejected in either house,
both sides agree it would be the end
of the line for the Contras.
“We’re at a critical juncture,” Rea
gan said. “If Congress votes down
aid this time, the decision may well
be irrevocable, and if that happens
it’s my .great fear that we will have
abandoned all hope for democracy
in Nicaragua and peace in Central
America.”
Speaking to an audience of Con
tra-aid supporters invited to the East
Room address, Reagan said, “this is
the moment of truth, the make or
break vote on the freedom fighters.” 1
Goswick undergoes
tests after dizzy spell
By Mark Gee
Staff Writer
University Health Center Director
Claude B. Goswick Jr. is in stable
condition in the coronary care unit
at St. Joseph Hospital and Health
Center after suffering snycopy at
3:45 Wednesday afternoon, said Ed
ith Hill, a hospital spokesman.
Goswick’s son, Ben Goswick, said
his father is undergoing an evalua
tion by Dr. Gordon Mitchell, a Bryan
cardiolgist, because of the dizzy
spell.
“It is suspected that it was only a
dizzy spell,” Ben Goswick said, “but
more tests will have to be run to de
termine exactly what happened.”
Goswick had the dizzy spell while
at the health center. The Texas
A&rM Emergency Care Team, which
Goswick directs, attended him at the
scene and transported him to the
hospital, said Steven McDonald,
chief of Emergency Medical Serv
ices.
Goswick, director of the health
center for 14 years, has expanded
the facility to meet student needs
while keeping costs low. For a $15
student health service fee, students
get medical treatment, laboratory
tests, X-rays and 10 days of in-pa
tient care. The Health Center also
offers prescription medication.
The outpatient clinic is open from
8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
When he began as director in
1973, there were 20,000 students;
now he is responsible for 39,000. In
his 14 years as director he has estab
lished an ambulance service, an en
dowment for health center excel
lence and an orthopedic clinic.
The health center reduced stu
dent’s waiting time by reorganizing
treatment areas and adding a treat
ment room in 1987.
Goswick, who keeps close contact
with students said in an earlier Bat
talion interview that he likes for stu
dents to feel comfortable in the
health center.
“A little too much like home when
students put their dirty feet up on
the chairs, but we try to overlook
that,” he said.
art faces questions about campaign contributions
ling
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trk
iGary Hart pledged Wednesday he
would “comply with the campaign laws”
amid allegations of improper contributions
to his Democratic presidential campaigns.
Bin New Hampshire Hart faced questions
on a new controversy as his rivals prepared
foi a minority-sponsored debate Wednes
day night in Iowa, where the Feb. 8 cau
cuses will provide the first formal test for
the Democrats.
Hfive of the candidates were participating
in the debate, while Hart and Tennessee
Sen. Albert Gore Jr. skipped it.
The questions for Hart in New Hamp
shire concerned a report that Stuart Karl,
marketer of Jane Fonda workout and Play
boy videos, had improperly bankrolled
campaign expenses in Hart’s 1984 presi
dential bid and again in 1986 and 1987.
For Hart, who has been trying to over
come questions about his personal life by
stressing high moral standards in his public
life, the disclosures were seen as a new blow
in Iowa.
The Miami Herald, whose disclosure of
his relationship with model Donna Rice
prompted Hart to withdraw from the race
for seven months, said Karl has chauf-
feured Hart in Lear jets and helicopters,
paid a monthly salary of $3,000 to Hart
aide Dennis Walto, and covered 1984 cam
paign expenses such as car rentals and
printing costs.
Hart said, “We will comply with all the
laws and regulations. (I will) hold myself
responsible for whatever happened and
not shift any blame to anyone else.” But at
the same time, he said, “Obviously a candi
date cannot know every detail” of his cam
paign.
Late Wednesday, Hart campaign man
ager Susan Casey defended Karl’s role with
the campaign but concluded, “The issue of
impropriety goes beyond simply a legal
question. Any contributions or any ar
rangements that appear to violate even the
spirit of the law are unacceptable.”
Casey said Karl billed the Hart campaign
for $96,000 in services, a debt that is under
settlement review by the FEC for 10 cents
on the dollar.
Federal Election Commission spokes
man Sharon Snyder declined to say
whether the agency is investigating.
She said individuals are limited to
$1,000 contributions to a presidential can
didate, and corporations are barred from
making any contributions. The law bars as
signing an employee to work on a candi
date’s behalf for more than an hour a week
unless that work is reported as a contribu
tion.
Alt
,Officials explore claims of forgeries on candidates’ petitions
■AUSTIN (AP) — The Harris
^ ^^Bunty district attorney’s office in
, - Houston says it is investigating possi-
ble misdemeanor offenses in con
nection with forgeries on petitions
submitted by Republican presi
dential candidates in Texas.
6-e
the same time, the Austin
American-Statesman reported
^Wednesday that an unnamed fed
eral source said the FBI’s investiga
tion into the case hasn’t uncovered
evidence of serious federal offenses.
In Houston, assistant Harris
County prosecutor Casey O’Brien
said the petition inquiry has focused
on misdemeanor forgery law.
“We are looking at forgery, and
the appropriate statute is a statute
that makes forgery a misdemeanor,”
O’Brien said. “I don’t see how a fel
ony forgery statute could apply.”
Since Jan. 8, news reports have
detailed forgeries on petitions sub
mitted by some GOP presidential
hopefuls to qualify for the March 8
Texas primary election ballot.
The Republican Party on Monday
announced that despite the forger
ies, all six presidential candidates
could receive national convention
delegates if they win them in the pri
mary. Flarlier, GOP Chairman
George Strake said any candidate
who failed to submit 5,000 valid sig
natures would be barred from re
ceiving delegates.
Questions were raised about some
signatures submitted by Alexander
Haig, Kansas Sen. Robert Dole, New
York Rep. Jack Kemp and former
Delaware Gov. Pete du Pont. The
GOP certified petitions from Vice
President George Bush and former
television evangelist Pat Robertson.
Attorney General Jim Mattox and
the FBI have been trying to deter
mine if potential offenses were com
mitted and whether those would be
state or federal violations. Mattox’s
office has not yet made that deter
mination, Mattox spokesman Ron
Dusek said Wednesday.
In other political news:
• Bush’s campaign announced
that the vice president had been en
dorsed by Republican Congressman
Steve Bartlett of Dallas. Bartlett is
the seventh of the 10 Texas GOP
congressmen to back Bush.
• Democratic Sen. Lloyd Bent-
sen, speaking in Beaumont, called
for a bipartisan summit on energy
this year to “pull together elements
of an effective national energy pol
icy.”
Bentsen, who is seeking re-elec
tion, said he hoped the summit
could be held in Texas.
^Proposal to end dispute about railroad
7p*generates no commitments for funds
Op.
By Tracy Staton
Senior Staff Writer
OP
8
Although the traditional adversa
ries in the railroad crisis seem recep-
flijtive to compromise, no monetary
commitments or plan approvals
have been made.
■The most recent proposal has
( |fbeen a plan to lower the railroad
tracks and Wellborn Road into a 26-
foot trench. The plan has received
.compliments from College Station
JjCity Council members and is fa
vored by the Texas Department of
Highways and Public Transporta
tion.
^■The plan that appears to have
most support right now is a plan
to trench the railroad through
campus,” U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R-
Tex.) said Monday. “We are trying
to work with all the folks involved to
come up with a plan all parties agree
op and a way to fund it.”
■‘We met with them (University
‘‘We are willing to consider and study anything but
can’t say without specifics what our opinion would be. ”
Jim Johnson, Southern Pacific spokesman
and railroad officials) prior to start
ing a fact-finding investigation and
gave them until the end of this
month to work it out themselves,”
said Booker T. Morriss, counsel to
Railroad Commissioner John Sharp,
in a telephone interview from Aus
tin. “If it is apparent that the situa
tion remains at the end of this time,
the commission will get involved.”
Jim Johnson, public relations
manager for Southern Pacific, said
the railroad is willing to discuss any
project, but has no firm opinion
about the situaton.
“We are willing to consider and
—study anything but can’t say without
specifics what our opinion would
be,” Johnson said. “We can’t rule
anything out, but that’s as far as we
can go without figures and timetab
les.”
The railroad has no objection to
the attempts to resolve the situation,
he said.
“We don’t want to make the city or
University think we’re trying to de
bate or arm wrestle,” he said. “We’re
not trying to be unreceptive. We
want to be receptive, but it’s got to be
reasonable. This has to be a mutual
thing.”
But the proposal has its detrac
tors.
“It won’t be solved in my mind un
til the railroad is moved, but I don’t —
know if that will ever be accompli
shed,” said William McKenzie, a
member of the Texas A&M Board
of Regents. “We are hoping it can be
accomplished.”
The depressed-track proposal will
be presented to the Board of Re
gents during its January meeting
Monday and Tuesday, probably
during a closed session, Board of Re
gents secretary Bill Presnal said
Wednesday.
“The main thing we are con
cerned about now is whether we are
down to this being the only alternati
ve,” Presnal said. “I think the Board
will be concerned about that. We
also want to know how it is viewed by
those who have been sitting in on the
meetings about this situaton.”
Beyond the immediate problem
of deciding on a renovation strategy
is the queston of funding. Barton
proposed a three-way split of costs
See Railroad, page 14
A&M researchers vie
for share of $60 million
in state research funds
By Jeff Pollard
Staff Writer
The battle among Texas col
leges and universities has esca
lated, again. This time, though,
it’s not a football game to decide
the national championship or a
baseball game for the Southwest
Conference title. This battle is be
ing fought in the field of high-
tech research, and at stake is $60
million in funding supplied by
the state of Texas.
The Texas Legislature allo
cated the $60 million last year for
research in such areas as aero
nautics, computer sciences,
oceanography, agriculture, phys
ics, biotechnology, information
sciences and telecommunications.
Researchers at Texas A&M
hope to receive some of this
money, which will be awarded in
May in the form of project grants.
The Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board, authorized
to distribute the funds for re
search at Texas institutions, set
up two programs to handle the
selection process.
The Advanced Research Pro
gram is responsible for about $20
million to be made available only
to state-sponsored institutions
(colleges, universities, health cen
ters and technical institutes). The
Advanced Technology Program
will distribute the other $40 mil
lion for research at any school,
public or private, in Texas.
The first stage of the selection
process ended Jan. 5 when letters
of intent for both programs were
See Funds, page 14