Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 25, 1988)
5 P^piw Texas A&/V\«p% m m m # The Battalion Vol. 87 Mo. 1 19 (ASPS 045360 12 Pages College Station, Texas Friday, March 25, 1988 Article: Reagan aide may take A&M post By Karen Kroesche and Richard Williams Senior staff writers A national news magazine re ported this week that Janies C. Miller Ill, director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget who once taught at Texas a\&M, is a “leading candidate” for the presi dency of A&M. But neither the head of the A&M presidential search committee nor a high-level OMB official would con firm the report, which ran in the “Washington Whispers” section of the March 28 issue of U.S. News & World Report. The article speculated that Miller may leave his post to return to aca demia. “He has been telling friends that he wants to return to the private sec tor as soon as politically possible and that he feels a position like the Aggie presidency would be just the right niche for him,” the article said. Dr. Thomas R. Saving, head of A&M’s economics department, said the time indeed may be right for Miller to take over a post like the A&M presidency. As director of the OMB, Miller serves on the president’s cabinet, and Saving said cabinet members James C. Miller III usually are replaced when a new president takes office because each president likes to choose his own top advisers. The magazine said Miller’s influ ence has been “waning at the White house since last October’s stock-mar ket crash,” but a high-level official at the OMB called that part of the arti cle “a gross misrepresentation of what the facts are.” “1 can tell you for a fact that Jim’s iiv charge of the president’s budget and that’s the single most important policy document of the White Hou se,” the spokesman said. “He’s down here every single day on the point for the president’s policy.” The spokesman would not verify that Miller is a candidate but said that he knows Miller would be hon ored to be considered for A&M’s presidency because Miller has “a great affection” for the University. Saving said Miller has turned down offers to be considered for the presidency of other universities but might accept an offer from A&M. “This is the kind of a job that someone who has his kind of experi ence would be interested in,” Saving said. “And they would be interested in him.” Dr. Edward Hiler, head of A&M’s presidential search committee, said he does not know whether the com mittee has received a resume from Miller. But he said that if the U.S. News article is accurate, it probably has. The committee must receive a resume in order for an individual to be considered. Miller served as an associate pro fessor of economics at A&M from 1972 to 1974. Since then he has served on the staff of the Council of Economic Advisers and as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. order Patrol saves aliens om probable train death North, Poindexter plead innocent to Iran charges ■ARLINGEN (AP) — Border Patrol agents said jlnirsday thev probabh averted tragedy b\ pulling loie than 40 dehydrated illegal aliens from a sealed Joxcar during a sweep of northbound train traffic this ■veek. IliThe vveeklong operation netted the apprehensions of 170 illegal aliens, the seizure of 120 pounds of mat i- •tiatuiand information on three smuggling rings. Tpiut Monday night, the train sweeps may have saved some lives when a group of 40 aliens was pulled from a realed boxcar about six miles north of Harlingen, said ISilvestre Reyes, chief of the Bordet Patrol's Mc Allen Htor. u “They had been perspiring so heavily that the care board was disintegrating,” Reyes said. “We feel that ; least some of them would not have made it to Houston.” The aliens had been crouched atop a cushion of car dboard boxes inside the boxcar loaded with Houston- bound automobile parts for six to eight hours, Reyes said. Although temperatures along the border have been quite cool at night, reaching the 50s, Reyes said the tem perature inside the airtight boxcar had already reached 90 degrees by the time agents opened it. I he aliens had probably been in the boxcar for about seven hours, and with the number of bodies crowded into the car, the air supply could have run short. itudents to elect representatives lo Student Government next week By Drew Leder Staff Writer Boudents will head to campus poll ing sites Wednesday to elect Student Gounntnent representatives for the 19B8-89 school year. All Student Government positions are up for iralis except those requiring a spe cific appointment by the student bodv president. ■Nlore than 100 positions in the Student Government will be filled in the March 30 general election. A runoff election will be held Apt il 4 to decide races in which no candi date receives a majority vote. Positions to be filled include: Student body president. Senior and junior yell leaders. • Student Senate chairmen. • 88 Student Senate seats. Class Officers for ( lasses of ’89, ’9(i and ’91. H* Residence Hall Association of fices. ■•Off-Campus Aggies offices. ■Although the race for student bod\ president typically attracts sev eral candidates— nine students vied toi the job last semester — onlv two Stnes will be on the ballot this se mester. Brian Banner," a junior Weedi communication major from Hurst, and Jay Hays, a senior agt i- cultural education major from Wolfe City, e the candidates run ning for election. Banner holds the pO'iaon of vice president of admin- y istration of the Student Government and Hays is speaker ol the Student yJHnatefor the 1987-88 term. ^■Candidates for each of the four Senate committee's chairmanships — academic affairs, finance, exter- tBI affairs and student services — 'Hllbe running unopposed. .■Campaigning for t he election offi- Hidly began March 20 and, thus far, 2He only campaign violations to be fjHported regard flyers placed in res- rfJfboms and in classrooms. These Academic af- Student serv- areas are off-limits to campaigning. In total, more than 200 students will be listed on the ballot. Candidates for selected positions are: Student body president: • |ay Hays. • Brian Banner. Senate Chairmen: • Michael Kelley fairs. • Christi Choat - ices. • Mike I.iste — Finance. • Jody Mather — External af fairs. Senior yell leaders: • Rick Hamilton. • fared Hurta. • Mike Prothro. • Guy Schweppe. • Ronnie Bolton. • Scott Hart. • Teddy Peinado. • Steve Keathley. • Pirn Blythe. Junior yell leaders: • jud Chappell. • Gary Moore. • Ed Allied. • Steve Coan. • Brent Brown. • Patrick Schulte. • Waylan Cain. Class of ’89 President: • Denise Arledge. Class of ’90 President: • Jimi St earn barge. • Tracy Hammerstein. • Kathrine Smith. • Dan Gattis. Class of’91 President: • Steve Miller. • Mike Saxe. • Ben Mach. • Ashley Bracken. • Tracey Butler. • Henry Peacock. Residence Hall Association Presi dent: • Trey Jacobson. Off-Campus Aggies President: • Laurie Lustfield. WASHINGTON (AP) — Former national security aides Oliver L, North and fohn M Poindexter and two businessmen pleaded innocent Phursday to charges they ran the Iran-Contra affair as a vast criminal conspiracy and defrauded the gov ernment of $17 million. One by one, the defendants were called before U.S. District Judge Gerhard Gesell at their arraignment, and asked by courtroom clerk Bar bara Montgomery, “How do you wish to plead?” “Not guilty,” replied Poindexter, President Ronald Reagan’s former national security adviser; and North, a top assistant to Poindexter. “Not guilty, your honor,” re sponded retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord and Albert Ha kim, who controlled the money and procured the arms for the once-se- cret Iran-Contra operation. All four defendants were released on their personal recognizance and told to report weekly by telephone to a pre-trial agency. Although crimi nal defendants are often asked to surrender their passports, Gesell said he would not impose that condi tion. Dressed in conservative business suits, the four men made their first appearance in court since a federal grand jury, convened by Indepen dent Counsel Lawrence E. Walsh 14 months ago, handed down a 23- count indictment March 16. North, retiring as a Marine lieu tenant colonel May 1, and Poin dexter, a retired Navy rear admiral, embraced before the judge entered the crowded courtroom. The defendants are charged with conspiring to defraud the United States “by deceitfully . . . organizing, directing and concealing” a program of support for the Nicaraguan Con tras rebels at a time such assistance was banned. The indictment also said the defendants “knowingly did embezzle, steal and convert to their own use” part of the proceeds gener ated by the sale of weapons to Iran. Although no exact figure was specified in the theft count, it was re ported elsewhere in the indictment that the arms sales generated pro ceeds of some $30 million while the government was paid only $12.2 mil lion for the weapons. Gesell set no trial date but said he would hold an early hearing to de termine whether evidence gathered by Walsh is free of taint and there fore admissible. All the defendants except Secord testified before Congress under a grant of immunity from prosecu tion, preventing Walsh from using any of that testimony. Walsh has said FBI agents as signed to his staff made sure that he wasn’t exposed to any news stories involving the hearings or later devel opments. As he obtained his inde pendent evidence, he filed it under seal with the court. Walsh has the burden of proving that his evidence was not tainted. Gesell ordered written motions on the taint cjuestion to be filed by April 7, and set a preliminary proceeding for April 12. A full hearing would likely be held later in April, lie said. Walsh pointed out he has hired retired federal judge Herbert Stern to argue such motions, and said he was ready to move ahead. Gesell told the lawyers he would not allow a civil suit arising from the Iran-Contra affair, in which Secord and Hakim are defendants, to inter fere with the criminal case. The civil trial had been set to begin June 27. Outside the courtroom, a crowd of demonstrators gathered to show support for the defendants. Sen. Steven Symrns, R-Idaho, called on Reagan to issue “an immediate par don” of North and Poindexter. As Poindexter stood by silently, attorney Richard Beckler said, “We are going to vigorously contest this case with all our strength and might.” B-CS economy rises despite unemployment By Jeff Pollard Staff Writer Although the unemployment rate in the Bryan-College Station area went up a tenth of a percent ast month, it’s clear the local economy has improved over the past year. The local unemployment rate, as reported Tuesday by the 1 exas Employment Commission, went up last month from 5.4 percent in January to 5.5 percent in Feb ruary. The statewide rate over that same period was 8.7 percent. But the 1988 numbers rank Bryan-College Station as having the lowest unemployment rate among the 27 standard metropol itan statistical areas in Texas. Closest competition came from Lubbock (6.4 percent), San An gelo (6.4 percent) and Dallas (6.7 percent). At the other end of the spec trum, the McAllen-Edinburg area reported a 20.2 percent unem ployment rate and Laredo re ported a rate of 17.5 percent. Compared to the numbers from February 1987, it is clear that the economy is showing some signs of life. Bryan-College Station Labor Force 4.7% 95.3% 94.5% 5.5% Feb. 1987 H Employed Feb. 1988 ■ Unemployed The work force in Brvan-Col- lege Station increased by 200 peo ple and the number of unem ployed has gone down by 400. These two factors led to an in crease in the number of people employed in the area (from 53,100 to 53,700) and a reduction in the unemployment rate (from 6.2 percent to 5.5 percent). Walt Baker, area director of the TEC office in Bryan, savs Graphic by Susan C. Akin these numbers reflect a healthy turn in the local economy and steady growth that some areas are not yet showing. “We’ve seen a very appropriate adjustment to over-building dur ing the oil boom,” Baker said. “As the economy builds, we will see a very comfortable dove-tailing re flecting a paced and steady growth.” Baker said the commission ex pects the unemployment rate to increase sometime in May and to peak in July. This is a regular occurrence, he said, with students who are free for the summer being added to the labor force. “The increase is predictable, but not harmful,” Baker said. “There are a lot of young people back in the community who, along with high school students, are looking for jobs. “This is just a temporary effect. The rate will go back down in Au gust and September when school starts. If the economy keeps mak ing the progress that it is, we may see the numbers drop below 5 (percent) by the end of the year.” Although students do have a negative effect over the summer months. Baker cited Texas A&M as one of the biggest factors in lo cal employment. He said 40 per cent of the non-agricultural jobs in Bryan-College Station are gov ernmental, including those at Texas A&M, which is the largest employer in the area. “In addition,” Baker said, “the members of the student body are all consumers. They support a tremendous number of jobs in the areas retailing and food servi ce.”