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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 7, 1988)
V Texas A&M ■ % m m W • The Battalion Vol. 87 No. 154 GSPS 045360 10 Pages College Station, Texas Tuesday, June 7, 1988 xplosions reported of strike l0 lon first day les I JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) — Bombs exploded on buses fggnd trains Monday, the beginning of tame iJn three-day strike by hundreds of nGenrJ)®tousands of black workers and stu- ch cylents in defiance of government neras dvP mer & enc y regulations. IS projJH Manpower Minister Pieter du Million to); alessis said the protest was illegal ™nd that workers who took part ight be fired. Many factories were closed, in ti Buding all seven major auto plants, but the mining industry said it was virtually unaffected, with only 9,000 et value of national ‘ dramatic Hut the m dollar i; ‘pressed« iean appe ign goods 't is creair ds are pm sold thn i the Unit on with - : ademark: of 550,000 blacks at major compa nies missing work. Mining earns 80 percent of South Africa’s foreign ex change. Police in the KwaZulu black homeland said a firebomb wounded five bus passengers. The homeland government, which opposes the strike, said nine were hurt. No injuries were reported in seve ral other bombings of buses and of railroad cars, tracks and stations. Scores of schools were empty in black townships around Johannes burg, Cape Town and Durban. Seve- Reagan claims treaty remains an uncertainty do not diati s cover adit service CO' the court; p i-S vote* WASH INCHON (AP) — Presi- may ext;.fl|ent Reagan said Monday that while s even iftrjjme Moscow summit produced “im- to a lawHortant additional strides” toward a Brategrc arms treaty, “we still don’t Hnow” when it can be achieved. ■ In a post-summit assessment of h' s (talks with Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Mikhail S. ■orbachev, Reagan acknowledged Hiat completion of the less-ambitious Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces, |or INF, treaty was “the event that leld perhaps the most immediate ■istoric importance.” Reagan looked rested and re- eshed after a quiet weekend at the hite House, and spokesman Mar lin Fitzwater said the president “feels i lery good, in fact, frisky.” | The 77-year-old chief executive |iad seemed fatigued at times last jk i^yeek, and he spoke in a hoarse voice a liiuring an address in London on Fri- P | a y. (he day after the summit ended. ^ | his speech Monday to the 4 World Gas (Conference, Reagan said * r'f- (tie significance of this (INF) treaty sf mi ig& &yJS! ZTv . $}$%! mm w 3? ADS, [REAL ’WEIGHIi RESUllS (C nterwhai go to sa| iur Classi- ihelpy^ big iot. can hardly be overstated.” “These missiles will not simply have been shuffled around on the map or placed in storage; they will have been destroyed,” he said. Although the two sides remained far apart on many matters involving a Strategic Arms Reduction, or START, treaty slashing up to 50 percent of the U.S. and Soviet stock piles of the most dangerous missiles in their arsenals, Reagan did say that he and Gorbachev had made pro gress. Gorbachev had voiced disappoint ment in Moscow that the talks did not move further, lamenting “missed opportunities.” Among other things, the two sides failed to narrow differences over the inclusion of sea-launched cruise mis siles in such a treaty. At the outset of his speech to the members of natural gas associations from some 45 countries, Reagan noted the presence of Soviet dele gates. Center plans dig at unexplored site in Alamo’s plaza SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Ar chaeologists hope to find out more about the famous Alamo battle when they begin excavating a previously unexplored site in the tourist-laden Alamo Plaza. The $20,000 excavation, ex pected to begin this week in a small area in the plaza’s center, is being funded by the city as pre liminary work for the plaza’s re vamping. The work will be done by pro fessional and student archaeolog ists from the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Center for Ar chaeological Research. “This is another piece of the puzzle we’re trying to put to gether to better understand what happened there,” the center’s Acting Director Jack Eaton said. Bulldozers are scheduled to be gin moving the top 30 inches of earth from the area before stu dents and archaeologists begin digging the area by hand, Eaton said. The excavation area — in be tween a gazebo and a cenotaph — has been documented as the site of the south wall of the Alamo complex and where the main wooden gate to the old mission quadrangle was located. Old maps also indicate the pos sibility that an acequia, or irriga tion ditch, and battle trenches could be uncovered in the excava tion, which will be funded through July 8. “We have three or four old maps,” Eaton said. “And would you believe all of them are differ ent? But if we find trenches, we’ll probably find artifacts in them.” Eaton said the maps indicate that the trenches were intricately designed to keep invaders away from the Alamo. He said that could mean that Mexican troops placed the trenches there during the Decem ber 1835 Battle of Bexar when the Mexican army had control of the Alamo. The archaeologist said Mexi can troops at the Battle of Bexar led by Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna’s brother-in-law, Gen. Martin Perfecto de Cos, in cluded military engineers who would understand the impor tance of building a trench to make it more difficult for the enemy to reach the Alamo. ral universities delayed final exams or canceled classes. Buses were stoned and there were reports of police gunfire in Gugu- letu township near Cape Town. Po lice and soldiers patrolled in greater numbers and stood guard at some train stations. A three-day strike would be the longest nationwide protest since an emergency was decreed June 12, 1986 to thwart a black revolt against apartheid, the policy of race discrim ination that reserves power for South Africa’s 5 million whites and denies the 26 million blacks a voice in national affairs. It is the most ambitious opposition effort since the banning in February of political activity by major anti apartheid groups and the largest black labor federation. Among the main targets were those prohibitions and proposed leg islation that would curtail the ability of labor unions to strike. Black union leaders had called for a “national protest” without specify ing a strike. They said they hoped to pressure business leaders into de manding the government ease re strictions on the anti-apartheid movement. “This expression of opposition is one of the few remaining avenues of peaceful and legitimate protest avail able to us,” said Jay Naidoo, head of the predominantly black Congress of South African Trade Unions, the nation’s largest labor group. If the labor congress is* barred from such protests, “then the new era of labor relations is doomed and industrial stability is seriously jeop ardized,” he said in a statement. Unions have accused employers of aiding an alleged government ef fort to weaken the black labor movement, which became legal only nine years ago. The strike is viewed as a test of strength for the unions and their allies. Employers normally have a “no work, no pay” policy in illegal strikes but have reacted more strongly this time. Some obtained court orders prohibiting calls for strikes at their plants. Others threatened to dismiss absentees or cancel union contracts. , , Up, up and away Roger W.W.W. Garrett, disc jockey at KORA, looks to the ground while KORA business re porter David Decker gives a thumbs up to the Photo by Jay Janner ‘Swizzle Stick’ chase crew as they launch from lola Monday. The broadcast was the first to be aired from a balloon over the Brazos Valley. Test: Basic skills aid minorities AUSTIN (AP) — Educators’ increased focus on basic skills is narrowing the achievement gap between Texas minority students and their class mates, educational leaders said. Recently released results of the Texas Educa tional Assessment of Minimum Skills test show that a growing percentage of black and Hispanic students are mastering math, reading and writ ing skills in the third, fifth, seventh and ninth grades. “We’ve got a lot farther to go, but actually the (achievement) gap has been closing for a period of several years,” Texas Education Commis sioner William Kirby said Sunday. Minority students improved in all categories in the four grades, except in the ninth-grade read ing category. Their improved scores helped raise statewide test results for the second consecutive year. Despite the gains in achievement, scores for both minority groups still lag behind those of white students. For example, 82 percent of white fifth-grade students mastered all TEAMS tests, while 60 per cent of the Hispanic and black students passed the test this year. In comparison, 68 percent of the white stu dents passed the reading, writing and math sec tions in 1986, compared to 43 percent of the His panic students and 42 percent of the black pupils. A number of factors are thought to have caused the improved student performance. “We want to attribute the increase to better- quality instruction,” said Marvin Veselka, the Texas Education Agency’s assistant commis sioner for assessment and evaluation. For example, in the 1985-86 school year, Texas for the first time implemented a statewide curriculum that told teachers not only what sub ject to teach but which “essential elements” to teach within the course. “In the past, teachers would teach the areas they liked the best,” said Bernice Hart, an Austin school board member and former educator. “Now you can’t just skim over something.” Veselka said the TEAMS test results provide teachers with information about each students’ academic strengths and weaknesses. Ms. Hart said teachers, armed with that diag nostic information, “are utilizing better methods of getting at the kids’ weaknesses.” Kirby said small class sizes mandated in kin dergarten through second grade by the 1984 ed ucational reforms may also be contributing to the higher scores of all third-grade students. He noted that some of the biggest achievement gains among Texas students have come at that grade level. For instance, 17 percent more black third- grade pupils mastered the math section of the TEAMS test this year than did in 1986. Twenty- one percent more Hispanic third graders mas tered basic writing skills in 1988 than in 1986. “The business of achievement is a lot more highly correlated to poverty than it is to race. Since minority kids disproportionately tend to be poor, that’s why disproportionately ... minority kids have trouble in school,” Kirby said. Indicted man claiming federal foul play DALLAS (AP) — A former bank chairman indicted along with a for mer Nixon aide on charges of laun dering nearly $1 million said Mon day the allegations are groundless and the result of a federal sting op eration gone bad. Jury selection began in U.S. Dis trict Judge Barefoot Sanders’ court in the trial of Connie C. Armstrong, former board chairman of Premier Bank of Dallas, Thomas Gene Crouch, a lawyer and a former aide to President Richard Nixon, and James R. Harrison, former Premier Bank chief executive officer. The three have been named in a 14-count indictment and charged with illegally funneling $955,000 they believed were drug profits through Premier and other local banks during a two-year undercover operation. All three men have pleaded inno cent. Armstrong said in an interview Monday that he was snared in a. fed- [Texas universities pay less despite gains lifie 261 i| AUSTIN (AP) — The gap is nar rowing, but Texas’ state university faculty members are still paid less plan their counterparts in other states, the Texas Higher Education iQordinat ing Board said Monday. The 1987-88 average salary for professors, associate professors, as sistant professors and instructors at Bexas state universities was $37,091, a 10.5 percent increase from the previous year. i; That moved Texas to within 4.1 ■ercent of the national average of lj38,669. In 1987-88, the average PVxas salary was 8.9 percent below the national average. “Adequate compensation is critical to our efforts to attract and retain outstanding faculty at Texas univer sities. The Legislature made a major effort last year to start to close the gap in faculty salaries. I am hopeful additional improvements will be pos sible,” said H.M. Daugherty Jr., chairman of the Higher Education Coordinating Board. The Texas average salary is 10.8 percent below the $41,568 average for the 10 most populous states other than Texas. Last year, the Texas average was 15.7 percent be low the 10-state average. Kenneth Ashworth, state higher education commissioner, said the comparison to the other large states is a crucial one. “The 70th Legislature appropri ated money for faculty salaries as part of a long-range strategy to bring our salaries in line with faculty salaries in the other key states that are our competitors economically and educationally,” he said. Ashworth said revised funding formulas recommended in January by the coordinating board “would accomplish this goal by 1991.” “If we can continue to move for ward, Texas will be able to maintain the educational system needed to support our economy,” he said. The coordinating board study re leased Monday showed California with the highest average salary — $47,220. New Jersey, with a $45,196 average, was second. Texas’ $37,091 average was also below the average salaries paid in Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Only Illinois, with a $35,687 aver age, trailed Texas among the most populous states. eral sting aimed at drug dealers after he cooperated with an undercover federal agent. “They knew and we knew we were working for the government. They knew and we knew there was no dope money involved,” Armstrong said. “They were trying to get dope dealers, but they never did do it.” Armstrong, 63, his wife Harriet and members of the Crouch family said they were unhappy about press reports of the trial. “Garbage,” Thomas Crouch’s fa ther, Lloyd Crouch, said of the pub licity around the case. Armstrong said he was disturbed that only the prosecution’s case was being presented in the newspapers. “It’s one side,” he said. Armstrong said he helped a fed eral agent who told him he was pos ing as a drug dealer. Crouch, Armstrong and Harrison are accused of depositing money at Premier and other banks between March 1986 and January 1988 in a conspiracy to violate federal cur rency transaction laws. Under federal law, all financial in stitutions must file reports on every transaction involving more than $10,000. The indictment alleges that Crouch and Armstrong created bo gus business accounts with local banks to launder money. The pair allegedly took a 6 percent laun dering fee and thousands of dollars for opening accounts under false names. Crouch, Armstrong and Harrison were arrested in January along with Joe Blanton of Tulsa, Okla., after federal officials revealed details of the undercover operation that began in Dallas and spread to Tulsa, At lanta, New Orleans, Miami, Balti more and Boston. About 40 people have been named in the money laundering scheme, which began with a federal informant posing as a Florida-based representative of drug dealers, au thorities said. All of those charged have pleaded innocent. Organized crime figures or their associates in New Orleans and Los Angeles were indicted as part of the crackdown, and documents show other mob ties are under investiga tion. The informant is expected to testify in the trial as a witness for the prosecution. Crouch is a former Dallas County Republican Party chairman who screened State and Justice Depart ment appointees for the Nixon Ad ministration in 1973. Judge Sanders said he expected the trial to last seven or eight days.