The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 21, 1988, Image 3

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    Monday, March 21, 1988/The Battalion/Page 3
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| State and Local
iBIand gets appointment, replaces
Jenkins as fire department chief
By Richard Williams
Senior Staff Writer
James Bland was appointed as the
new chief of the Bryan Fire Depart
ment Wednesday.
Bland, who had been second in
command, was appointed to the po
sition by City Manager Ernest Clark,
but the appointment will not be final
until approved by the City Council.
Bland, a 20-year department vet
eran, replaces Claude Jenkins III,
who resigned effective Feb. 12.
Jenkins had been placed on disci
plinary probation in December after
all 79 department Firefighters signed
a petition in October stating they
had no confidence in Jenkins’ ability
to manage the department.
Bland said the past is one problem
that should remain behind the de
partment.
“We’ve got some wounds that
we’ve got to heal, and I believe time
will heal them,” Bland said. “The
main thing Fve been preaching was
that the past is the past and there’s
nothing we can do to change it. All
we can do is work toward the future
and that’s where our hope is.”
After signing the petition, fire
fighters had said department morale
was at an all time low, but Bland said
that has changed.
“The moral is very high,” he said.
“Everybody in the department is
very happy a person was appointed
from within the department.”
Clark said the city did not accept
applications from individuals not
currently working with the depart
ment.
“We made a decision early on that
if there was somebody in the depart
ment that we could appoint chief it
would be better for the depart
ment,” Clark said.
Bland said the appointment of
someone from within the depart
ment was a move in the right direc
tion.
“I feel we have taken a tremen
dous step in healing the past and
working toward the future,” he said.
The department has everything it
needs to improve, Bland said.
“We have a bunch of very talented
and intelligent people working for
the fire department and these peo
ple want to move forward,” he said.
“They want to improve the depart
ment and they want to make it the
best it can possibly be. I think with
this attitude and with the proper
leadership . . . and the resources
provided by the city we can accompl
ish that.”
Clark said he will be working
more closely with the department
then he had in the past to help de
velop a standardized training pro
gram and to review the policy and
procedures manual of the depart
ment.
The petition signed by the fire
fighters complained about Jenkins’
use of department policy and the
lack of a “viable training program.”
Clark said he understands “where
they came from and the problems
they thought they had.”
“We tried to correct it,” he said.
Nine applications were submitted
for the position, but one applicant
withdrew before the selection was
made.
During his 20 years with the de
partment Bland has been operation-
draining chief, deputy chief in
charge of a shift, a lieutenant in
charge of an engine company, an ap
paratus operator and a driver.
Bush, Dukakis remain on top of pack
as counting of delegates continues
| (AP) — Massachusetts Gov. Mi-
ichael Dukakis remains the leader of
|the Democratic presidential pack as
Ithe dust settles on more delegate-
I counting in Kansas, Texas and
| South Dakota.
, Meanwhile, Puerto Rico was hold-
ling Republican and Democratic
I presidential primaries Sunday, with
I Vice President George Bush poised
I to sweep the winner-take-all GOP
I contest.
The Democratic race in Puerto
I Rico hinged far more on local issues
[than on tne candidates.
The U.S. commonwealth sends 14
Idelegates to the Republican National
[Convention and 53 delegates to the
^Democratic National Gonvention.
The Democratic delegation is ex
pected to go uncommitted and vote
as a bloc.
Bob Dole, fighting for the survival
of his Republican presidential bid,
was in Wisconsin campaigning for
the state’s April 5 primary. The Kan
sas senator, who has suffered a series
of crushing losses to Bush, has
pledged to keep his faltering cam
paign alive at least until that contest.
Dole made a visit to a veterans
hospital in Milwaukee on Sunday.
A poll published in the Milwaukee
Journal suggested Bush held a com
manding lead in Wisconsin. The sur
vey of likely Republican voters, with
a 6-point margin of error, said 69
percent backed Bush while 25 per
cent supported Dole. Pat Robertson
trailed with 6 percent.
On the Democratic side, Dukakis
led in Wisconsin with 38 percent,
with Jackson at 30 percent, the Jour
nal survey indicated. The other
three Democrats were closely clus
tered: Rep. Richard Gephardt, 1 1
percent; Sen. Paul Simon, 1 1 per
cent and Tennessee Sen. Albert
Gore Jr., 10 percent. The Demo
cratic survey had a margin of error
of 5 percentage points.
Dukakis, at a Boston breakfast on
Sunday, was upbeat after his victory
a day earlier in the Kansas Detno-
cratic caucuses, joking that he was
just a simple farm boy — from
Brooklyn.
Although he was edged out by Ge
phardt in delegates counted Satur
day in South Dakota and by Jackson
in Texas delegates counted the same
day, Dukakis remained ahead in na
tional delegates.
The South Dakota totals were in
line with last month’s primary, which
Gephardt won. Texas had already
allocated the bulk of its delegates on
Super Tuesday, with the Saturday
figures from county conventions
and caucuses.
The latest AP delegate count gave
Dukakis 575.5 delegates to 510.55
for Jackson and 362.8 for Gore. Si
mon had 171.5, Gephardt had 154
and 289.65 were uncommitted. To
nominate, 2,082 delegates are
needed.
Gore was in New York, where he
was making a country-club appear
ance in wealthy Westchester county
speaking to Jewish leaders in Brook
lyn.
Jackson and Robertson were both
in California on Sunday.
Police frustrated
by rise in attacks
against officers
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A se
ries of bloody attacks on law offi
cers statewide since the first of
the year has fostered increased
frustration among police and the
criminal justice system.
Three Dallas officers were
killed over a six-week period in
January and February, while 21
other officers were injured in as
saults.
San Antonio officials, mean
while, were shocked as six officers
were wounded by gunfire during
a 10-week period from December
to February.
“It’s a risky job. But nobody
signs on for stuff like this,” San
Antonio police Lt. Rudy Vernon
says. “There’s no question people
are getting more violent against
cops. Maybe with the badge and
gun, they should issue a bullseye
to wear.”
Police officials, unions, crimi
nologists and patrol officers are
confused by the rising violence
and are trying to pinpoint the
causes.
Overcrowded prisons, lax pa
roles, a failing economy, rising
crime rates, increased drug traf
ficking and a general decline in
the country’s moral fiber all are
cited as causes.
Michael McMains, a San Anto
nio Police Department psycholo-
ist, says the increased violence is
aving a definite impact on offi
cer morale.
“There’s a lot of anger and
fear,” he says. “Recently, I’ve
heard many more officers say
they will be much more careful
and a lot more suspicious on the
street.”
Doug Moore, a former officer
now teaching criminal justice at
Sam Houston State, says being a
police officer today is much more
difficult than it used to be.
“A lot of young officers are
dropping out, not because of the
boredom or even because of the
danger, but from the realization
that the people out there hate
them,” he says.
Law enforcement officers, like
Sgt. Harold Flammia, head of the
San Antonio Police Of ficers Asso
ciation, blame the increased at
tacks on a lax criminal justice sys
tem that imposes light sentences i
and paroles prisoners too soon.
“Right now there is no prison
system.” Flammia says. “The ap
peals court and the parole board
are sending them back into the
streets as quickly as we can get
them in. The criminals know
nothing will happen with them
when we arrest them. We’re los
ing the war.”
From 1980 to 1985, assaults
against law officers in Texas rose
14.4 percent, according to De
partment of Public Safety figures.
In 1986, 4,380 Texas law officers
were violently assaulted, a 21.1
percent increase over 1985.
In the United States, assaults
on law officers rose 30 percent
from 1976 to 1986, but fatalities
dropped 29 percent during that
time, according to the FBI.
But in 1987 there were 69 po
lice fatalities, the first national
jump in eight years.
Garole Eberhart, of the chiefs
office at the Dallas Police Depart
ment, says the situation places a
tough burden on police officers.
“They grieve for their fellow
policemen who died,” she says.
“Then they go right back to work
out on the streets.”
But Raymond Teske, of Sam
Houston State University’s crimi- 1
nal justice school, says the 36 per
cent increase in assaults on offi
cers is roughly equal to the 33
percent increase in the number of
aw officers in T exas from 1976
to 1986.
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MOVIES
THURSDAY
* Bad Dreams
Robocop
A Clockwork Orange
FRIDAY
Heavy Metal
Fire and Ice
Wizards
SATURDAY
The Running Man
AggieCon 19
March 24-27 1988
The Largest Annual Science Fiction
Predator
Terminator
& Fantasy Convention in the Southwest
Guest of Honor: Joe Haldeman
Artist Guest of Honor:
Bob Eggleton
Special Guest: Katherine Kurtz
Toastmaster:
Kerry O'Quinn
STUFF
* Special Sneak Preview- Only 600 tickets
available. Those who buy Aggieon passes
automatically get tickets to the preview. All
other tickets will be given out beginning at 5
TAMU Student Prices:
Full Con $10.00
One Day
$5.00
Special Event Prices:
Banquet $10.00
Quest $4.00
Tickets Available through Ticketron
For More Information, write:
MSC Cepheid Variable
Memorial Student Center
Texas A&M University
Box J-l
College Station, TX 77844
Or call (409) 845-1515
Non-Student Prices:
Full Con
One Day
DEALERS ROOM
Find all the books, comics, games and
memorobilia you need (or don't need)
in our large and spacious showroom of
SF collectibles.
COMIC ARTISTS
Scott McCullar-creator ofWARPED
seen daily in the Battalion
Ben Dunn-creator and artist of the
comic book Ninja High School.
Tom Tenney-illustrator of Robotech.
EVENTS
Masquerade Ball
Art Show and Auction
Quest - live role-playing game
Beat the Klingons trivia game
Banquet
Demonstrations by the SCA
...and much more
$14.00
$6.00
JJU
nr