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.”