The Battalion
^ol. 87 No. 183 8 Pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, July 28, 1988
PD recovers missing Aggie rings
ith help from Crime Stoppers tip
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Dark, UPD Director Bob Wiatt
Photo by Jay fanner
Margaret Rudder examines her late husband’s Aggie ring that was
recovered in Smith Park Wednesday. Six other rings were found.
By Stephen Masters
Senior Staff Writer
A Crime Stoppers tip and old-
fashioned legwork resulted in the
recovery of seven Aggie rings
taken in a July 6 burglary at the
Clayton Williams Alumni Center,
the University Police director
said.
One of the stolen rings was do
nated by Gen. Earl Rudder, a for
mer president of Texas A&M.
An anonymous caller to Crime
Stoppers reported overhearing
two teens in a convenience store
saying
a pari
said.
After receiving the tip, UPD
criminal investigation detectives
Bert Kretzschmar, Will Scott and
John Phillips searched Smith
Park in College Station, near the
convenience store where the con
versation was overheard.
Tuesday’s search turned up a
purse stolen on the A&M cam
pus, Wiatt said, so the detectives’
suspicions that the park is a
dumping ground for stolen
goods were confirmed.
On Wednesday, Kretzschmar,
Scott and Phillips returned with
metal detectors and located the
rings in deep grass just off a path
following a search that lasted al
most three hours, Wiatt said.
Even though no park was
named by the caller, Wiatt said
Smith Park was suspected and
searched because it is near the
convenience store, and because
the UPD has had “problems” with
nearby Southgate Village Apart
ments.
Wiatt said although the rings
were found off campus, College
Station police have not been in
volved in the investigation.
Wiatt and the three detectives
Wednesday presented Earl Rud
der’s ring to Margaret Rudder,
although the ring will be re
turned to the collection in the
Glitsh library in Alumni Center,
Wiatt said.
No formal report has been
filed by the UPD, but Ray Martin,
facilities manager for the center,
told The Battalion after the theft
there were no signs of forced en
try. However, Martin said, a cus
todial worker reported hearing
glass breaking aroynd 6:30 a.m.
on July 7.
Martin said a party was held at
the center July 6 for incoming
freshmen and their parents, and
it was possible that someone
stayed in the center overnight
then took the rings and left.
Several clear, defined finger
prints were found on the case, he
said. Martin said earlier plans had
been made to fingerprint the cen
ter’s staff and all custodial and
food service workers who worked
in the building, but Martin was
unavailable Wednesday to con
firm whether any action was
taken.
In addition to Rudder’s ring,
other rings taken in the theft
were donated by James Moore,
Class of ’26, William R. Taylor,
Class of ’39, R.L. Fambro, Class
of ’47, James Uptmore, Class of
’53, Charles Jameler, Class of’65,
and Jere Swatzell, Class of’79. All
diamonds were removed except
part of the stone in Fambro’s
ring.
Ron Spies, the controller of the
Association of Former Students,
said no fund has been set up to
replace the diamonds, but he was
confident that donations would
more than meet the need.
“We aren’t sure how much it
will cost to replace the stones, but
Pm euro w ;ii tnve many dona
tions,” he said. “Most of the work
was done by jewelers and since
some of the rings are so old, they
were probably done before there
was any standard set up for cut
ting the stones. We’ll just have to
wait and see.” '
Martin said the alarm system
on the ring cases was not active at
the time of the burglary. Spies
said Wednesday no plans have
been made to install an alarm in
the near future.
“There just is no easy way to
hook one up without making it
obvious,” he said. “There is the
building security system that is
operational each night.”
Wiatt said he thinks the recov
ery of the rings is evidence that
the department does more than
issue parking citations.
“We’ve received a lot of heat in
the past weeks for ticketing too
much,” he said. “I think this
proves that we do a whole lot
more than that.”
Rudder thinks the UPD did a .
good job finding her late hus
band’s ring considering she
thought it was gone for good.
“I didn’t expect to ever see the
ring again, other than in a por
trait I had made,” she said. “I had
several rings stolen a few years
ago, including my wedding ring,
and I never saw them again, so I
figured it was the same kind of
situation.
“I don’t think he (Gen. Rud
der) ever took that ring off. He
wore it through World War II,
and when we got married he said
he didn’t need a wedding band
because he already had his ring.
“When they started collecting
the rings and asked Earl for his,
he told them, ‘There are two
things of mine you can’t have. My
ring and my wife, in that order.’”
More women
test positive
for AIDS virus
HOUSTON (AP) — A greater
percentage of women have tested
positive for the AIDS virus at a local
clinic this year than in 1987, and
some experts believe the increase
suggests that women aren’t taking
the deadly disease seriously.
In the first five months of 1988,
AIDS virus antibodies were found in
3.4 percent of women tested at the
Montrose clinic, nearly triple the 1.3
percent who tested positive last year.
Health officials said the increase
indicates a need for women to exer
cise greater care in their sexual prac
tices.
“If someone looks good enough
for you to take to bed, he looks good
enough for any of a number of oth
ers to have done so, male or female,”
said Dr. Richard Grimes, the clinic’s
chairman of the board.
Of the 25 women who tested posi
tive, 13 probably acquired the virus
from sexual partners who were ei
ther bisexual or used drugs, said
Grimes, who is also a member of the
faculty at the University of Texas
School of Public Health.
“Young women who are still going
to swinging singles bars have got to
start thinking twice about that,” Dr.
Robert Awe, director of the AIDS
clinic at Jefferson Davis Hospital,
said.
The increase among women is not
yet reflected in the cases reported by
the Houston Health Department.
Only 2 percent of the city’s 2,210
adult AIDS cases are women.
But Robert Falletti, acting direc
tor of the bureau of epidemiology,
said that does not mean the rate of
infection is not increasing because
the progression from exposure to
the virum to the actual disease can
take years.
Falletti said tests begun recently of
women in the city’s prenatal care
and family planning clinics will help
determine the extent of the prob
lem.
: state schools Group plans justice agencies reorganization
cal <t I o r retarded
t’ear-olc
. of ik
tensie:
he p-
capita]
unsatisfactory
out,
DALLAS (AP) — Eleven months
after the state averted massive court-
ordered fines by promising to im
prove conditions at schools for the
retarded, the number of deaths at
the facilities has risen, a newspaper
orted Wednesday.
’’he Dallas Morning News said in
acopyright story that 21 people have
died in area schools since the state
B found in contempt of court last
blishedHg- 13 and agreed to improve the
iful in jiMitions f° r nearly 8,000 retarded
■ firefiflexahs.
K sitiBfhe lawyer for plaintiffs in a 14-
1( j gear-old suit against the state has
re a t filed a motion to find the state in
j deaifHteinpt again, saying the facilities
f ir ey ire no safer now than they were be-
that o ^ ore the first citation,
indstol
hegwfln the three quarterly reports is-
;r that Jd since the settlement agreement
lunicasjas signed, 21 deaths were reported
Pjschools in Denton, Fort Worth
B Austin. This compares with 15
leatiis at the same three schools in
he nine months just before the
t iWeement.
Ill Lawyer David Ferleger’s motion
Bges that the state has failed to
.tomply with an April 15 deadline to
_ 1/lire a doctor specializing in disabili-
111
I ■ K^ ts an outrage,” Ferleger said.
Bey’ve had months to do some-
Rng, and conditions really haven’t
Ringed. People are still dying.”
iecretfBn addition to the deaths, the state
ReafB reported 37 confirmed cases of
tion i ibuse in the three schools since the
he ^Agreement was signed. This com-
1 tofjjgres with 40 cases confirmed in the
rstterfjine months just before the set-
adniiTement.
| And confirmed cases of neglect
e tooUHe from four to 20 in the same pe-
.nvir^dod, the newspaper reported,
virtualIfAn official of the Texas Depart-
ly p ri ment of Mental Health and Mental
il ind^Bardation said there is no reason
yplea'ior the state to be forced back into
gS. District Judge Barefoot Sand-
ompl' its’ court to reply to the motion filed
mtoi jy Ferleger on Tuesday,
dido"! “It’s unfortunate for the court to
es s p- : )e told we’re not doing what we said
ne^Bd do,” Jaylon Fincannon, deputy
r e i or retardation services, said. “We’ve
forked night and day for eight and
line months, and a lot of things have
wild mproved.”
idthdj
i) the f ’Bj e sa pi ir was inappropriate to
jpmpare deaths on a quarterly basis
, . Ntead of looking at them individu-
itotnliy.
n s al ' [
AUSTIN (AP) — A sweeping reorganiza
tion of the state’s criminal justice agencies, in
volving a major increase in drug-enforcement
operations, has been proposed by a group
studying law enforcement in Texas.
A legislative subcommittee headed by state
Sen. John Montford, D-Lubbock, has recom-
mentled that 10 state agencies be merged into
two superagencies — the Department of
Criminal Justice and the Department of Law
Enforcement.
It also suggested that the Texas Depart
ment of Public Safety hire 750 additional nar
cotics officers to beef up its efforts in the war
against drugs.
“If we have any hope of getting a handle
on the problems we face in our criminal jus
tice system, more emphasis must be placed
on, and more resources must be allocated for,
drug eradication,” the subcommittee con
cluded in a written report.
Records show that 70 percent of all crimes
committed in Texas are drug-related or
drug-influenced, the Austin American-
Statesman reported in a Wednesday story.
DPS has 191 narcotics officers and 1,554
highway patrol officers.
The subcommittee recommended the
agency hire, at a minimum, 500 new DPS nar
cotics officers and 250 additional Texas
Rangers for drug enforcement duty. The
Rangers are a branch of the DPS.
DPS figures show it would cost about $44.5
million to add the recommended number of
narcotics officers to the payroll in 1990, the
newspaper reported. The figure does not in
clude the cost of support services, such as sec
retaries, office space and utilities.
Montford said the subcommittee is not try
ing to belittle DPS traffic enforcement opera
tions, but members believe drug enforcement
must become the agency’s top priority. The
committee does not recommend a reduction
in patrol officers.
The subcommittee’s recommendations
about the proposed staff increases and
agency mergers have been forwarded to its
parent committee, the Special Committee on
the Organization of State Agencies. The spe
cial committee — which is examining ways
state agencies can be merged, reorganized or
eliminated — will issue recommendations to
the Legislature in January.
Col. Joe Milner, assistant director of DPS,
said it was too early in the process for his
agency to comment on the mergers. But he
said the DPS was “delighted” with the recom
mendation calling for more narcotics officers.
“With the number (of narcotics officers) we
have now, there are many, many requests for
investigations that we never get around to,”
he said. A dramatic increase in drug enforce
ment officers “would have a major impact on
the crime rate,” Milner said.
The Montford subcommittee called for the
creation of the Department of Law Enforce
ment, a superagency including the DPS,
Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s en
forcement division, Commission on Law En
forcement Officer Standards and Education,
Commission on Fire Protection Personnel
Standards and Education, and Private Inves
tigators and Private Security Agencies Board.
Another new agency, called the Depart
ment of Criminal Justice, also was proposed.
It would include the Department of Correc
tions, Board of Pardons and Paroles, Adult
Probation Commission, Commission on Jail
Standards and Criminal Justice Council.
Rep. Mark Stiles, D-Beaumont, sponsored
the legislation creating the study panel. He
said he will try to pass legislation mandating
the mergers during the 1989 legislative ses
sion .
Gulf conflict continues;
sessions useful to both
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Iranian rebels said
Wednesday they held two cities well inside Iran and had
killed or wounded thousands of Iranian soldiers. Iran
claimed Iraqi planes dropped chemical bombs on a pro
vincial capital.
Ali Riza Jafer Zada, spokesman for the Mujehedeen
Khalq rebels based in Iraq, also claimed its fighters shot
down two Iranian warplanes and a helicopter gunship
in the central sector of the 730-mile border warfront.
Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz of Iraq met in New York
with Javier Perez de Cuellar, the U.N. secretary-gen
eral, still insisting on direct negotiations with Iran for a
cease-fire in the 8-year-old war.
Perez de Cuellar also favors direct talks, but Iran has
refused since announcing July 18 that it would accept a
year-old U.N. peace resolution.
Aziz said before the meeting with Perez de Cuellar
that Iraq, which accepted the resolution soon after it
was passed, “shall not be stampeded into making a hasty
step.”
The secretary-general met Tuesday with Ali Akbar
Velayati, foreign minister of Iran. After talking with
Aziz, he said the sessions had been useful and both
countries “are interested in putting an end to the con
flict.”
Tehran’s media said Tuesday that Iranian soldiers
had regained Eslamabad and killed 1,100 rebels, but
did not mention the Mujahedeen Khalq on Wednesday.
Dispatches reported events on the southern front,
however, and said Iranian forces killed 1,500 enemy
soldiers in driving Iraqi units back across the border at
Khorramshahr.
On the central front, the rebels claimec to have
“crushed” an Iranian offensive and reoccupied Eslama
bad, 60 miles inside Iran. The National Liberation
Army claimed its soldiers had killed or wounded 30,000
Iranian soldiers in this week’s offensive.
Jafer Zada, the rebel spokesman, said Mujahedeen
Khalq fighters also controlled the nearby city of Ka-
rand.
None of the claims could be verified because foreign
reporters are allowed into battle areas only on rare
guided tours. Military analysts have been skeptical of
rebel casualty reports in the past.
Iraq said its jet fighters flew 205 sorties, including an
attack on a Hawk missile battery east of the Karun River
in southern Iran, and helicopter gunships flew 73 sor
ties.
A Baghdad military communique said 15 armed Ira
nian boats tried to approach an Iraqi naval ship and
three were sunk in the ensuing battle, but it did not say
where the encounter took place. Iraqi warships are not
known to have operated in the Persian Gulf for years.
Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency, mon
itored in Cyprus, said Iraqi warplanes dropped chemi
cal bombs near Bakhtaran, a provincial capital in the
central. It said civilians in the Chahar-Zebar district
were wounded but did not give figures.
The Iranians frequently accuse Iraq of using chemi
cal weapons, which are banned under the 1925 Geneva
Convention. Iraq has acknowledged their use, but
claims Iran introduced chemical weapons to the war.
Iraqi war communiques said anti-aircraft gunners
shot down an Iranian F-5 fighter in the south. Iran did
not comment on the claim, but said Iranian forces shot
down two Iraqi warplanes.
In its report on air operations, the Iraqi command
said all planes returned safely.
Tehran dispatches said Iranian gunships flew 120
sorties, helping push Iraqi troops back, and jet fighters
flew 13.
Iraq claimed to have captured 12,207 Iranian sol
diers since Iran announced acceptance of the cease-fire
resolution, part of its strategy to balance the numbers of
prisoners before peace talks.
That would bring the number held by Iraq to about
25,000, nearly double the previous figure given by the
International Committee of the Red Cross. The Red
Cross says Iran has about 50,000 prisoners.
Justice officials
say department
has no ‘malaise’
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two
acting Justice Department offi
cials on Wednesday insisted the
agency is running smoothly, with
no hint of the “deep malaise” por
trayed by two of their predeces
sors who quit in protest earlier
this year.
At their confirmation hearing
for permanent positions, Francis
A. Keating II and Edward S.G.
Dennis Jr. painted a rosy picture
of department operations under
outgoing Attorney General Ed
win Meese III.
Sen. Howell Heflin, D-Ala.,
who presided at the Senate Judi
ciary Committee session, warned
Keating and Dennis that “re
moval of clouds is essential.”
Since May, Keating has served
as acting associate attorney gen
eral, the department’s No. 3 posi
tion. A month later, Dennis took
over the top spot in the criminal
division on an acting basis. Presi
dent Reagan has nominated both
men to hold those jobs perma
nently for the remaining half-
year of his administration.
On Tuesday, former Deputy
Attorney General Arnold Burns
testified that when he resigned
March 29 a “deep malaise” had
set in at the department in the
face of Meese’s legal problems.
William E. Weld, who pre
ceded Dennis as criminal division
chief, told the committee that if
Meese were an ordinary citizen,
he probably would have been
prosecuted for taking gratuities
from E. Robert Wallach, a long
time friend of the attorney gen
eral.
Keating told the committee
that when he went to the depart
ment from a top Treasury De
partment position, “I was under
the impression there was a black
hole, that morale was shattered. I
found that was not the case. Mo
rale was not on the floor.
“I don’t think morale was as se
rious a problem as portrayed by
Mr. Burns and Mr. Weld, at least
since April. At this time I think
the department is functioning
well.”
“Have you seen an instance
where Meese acted improperly?”
asked Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-
Utah and a Meese supporter.
Keating: “All of my profes
sional associations with the attor
ney general have been correct
and proper.” He called Burns
and Weld “professionals, men of
integrity and decency,” who sim
ply had a different view of de
partment morale.