Texas A&M m m m •
The Battalion
5
Vol. 87 No. 184 6 Pages
College Station, Texas
Friday, July 29, 1988
House panel approves
landmark banking bill
ASHINGTON (AP)
— The
bill
fpst comprehensive banking
JndbujB ce ^ G rea t Depression cleared a
j^^inouse committee Thursday after
3| ^ 16 1 • grueling hours of debate, but it
® es an uncertain future with little
lvea| t-Be left in Congress’ legislative
lasts • ^
he bill, approved by the House
Banking Committee on a 30-20 vote,
itjbWiJBjats b anks broad new securities
Hwers but restricts their ability to
ontOnM-gr rea i estate and insurance and
1 imposes new obligations on them to
D ° 21 serve the poor.
bill now is headed for the
!m ’ W House Energy and Commerce Com-
mittee, where the chairman, Rep.
orail Jolm D. Dingell, D-Mich., is known
:nt y° : to be skeptical of letting banks into
the securities business.
■Depending on how long House
Speaker Jim Wright, D-Texas, al-
lov s for Dingell’s review, the power
ful Michigan Democrat could kill the
bill through delay, or exact conces
sions by threatening delay.
■Congress is preparing to leave
b Wo town for its summer recess on Aug.
M umlr§2 and won’t be back until Sept. 6.
InstoMien, it plans only a month-long
imng•■sion before adjourning for the
fall election campaign.
■“There’s a real question whether
oolfs this bill is going to pass the House.
( It’s a very controversial bill and
:'re fjl
there just isn’t much time,” said Ed
ward Yingling, chief lobbyist for the
American Bankers Association, the
industry’s largest trade group.
Aides to Dingell, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, said Wright
has not yet decided on a deadline for
the Energy and Commerce Commit
tee, but they indicated that Dingell is
not inclined to act quickly.
The hodgepodge of compromises
struck to get it through has created
some odd political coalitions. The
banking industry and the securities
industry, normally bitter opponents,
are both opposing it for different
reasons. Consumer groups are sup
porting it, along with the real estate
and insurance industries.
But, the alignment could change
— with banks on one side and all of
the other groups on the other — if
Dingell, as expected, tightens the re
strictions on how banks are per
mitted to exercise the new securities
activities.
The bill would, if enacted, rep
resent the first crack in the barrier
between investment and commercial
banking that was erected as part of
the reforms stemming from the
1929 stock market crash. It allows
bank holding companies to under
write virtually every type of security
except corporate stock.
Other sections require banks:
ramm to address
OP Convention
:h
rs:
■WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen.
■il Gramm said Thursday he will
pare the stage with Senate Minority
Leader Bob Dole during a prime-
tinu address to the Republican Na
tional Convention.
■Gramm has already begun work
on his “major address” to the con
vention next month in New Orleans,
and said he and Dole would be com-
panng the OOP’s position on a wide
range of issues with the Democratic
line.
vtTllB'The primary focus will be on the
Ijyi'diflerences between the two parties
and the two candidates. We will
draw those distinctions,” the Texas
senator said. “It’s a good opportu
nity to present my vision and George
Bush’s vision for America’s future,
for the future of the country.”
■The two are scheduled to speak
Wednesday, Aug. 17, Gramm said
following a fund-raising breakfast
for Texas Supreme Court Chief Jus
tice Tom Phillips.
Gramm, a member of the Senate
Armed Services Committee, said he
would speak on the economy and
defense issues, while Dole would talk
about agriculture, foreign policy and
domestic matters.
Dole, whose name has been men
tioned as a possible running mate
for Vice President Bush, the all-but-
certain Republican nominee, at
tended the Phillips fund-raiser
briefly and said he would support
the 38-year-old Texan’s first
statewide race.
“This is not an ordinary race for
an ordinary position,” Phillips said.
If it were, “I would not be here. Two
members of the U.S. Senate would
not be here.”
Phillips is limiting campaign con
tributions to $5,000 a person or po
litical action committee in his race
against Justice Ted Z. Robertson, in
the wake of sharp criticism over the
practice of attorneys giving huge
sums to the justices who hear their
cases.
• To serve poor people by pro
viding low-cost “lifeline” checking
services for accounts between $25
and $1,000.
• To offer special accounts for
the cashing of government checks
such as Social Security and welfare
checks, with a cashing charge of no
more than $2.
• To have a good record of serv
ing poor communities in their lend
ing area before getting permission
from the Federal Reserve Board to
exercise new powers.
• To cease further expansion
into the real estate business for two
years.
• To stay out of insurance under
writing and to limit the number of
additional institutions that can sell
insurance underwritten by other
companies.
Bush’s suite
in Houston
rented out
HOUSTON (AP) — Someone
has rented the luxury hotel suite
that Vice President George Bush
sometimes calls home for the du
ration of the presidential cam
paign, the hotel’s management
said.
The suite at The Houstonian
Hotel has been rented for 100
days by someone connected with
Bush, according to the hotel.
But Bush staff members and
local GOP officials said they don’t
know who will be picking up the
tab for the $264-a-night suite,
Bush’s legal residence in Texas.
“The campaign has not leased
the suite and the vice president’s
staff has not leased the suite,”
said Mark Sanders, a spokesman
for Bush’s staff in Austin.
Louis Lanzino, general man
ager of the Houstonian, con
firmed the suite was booked, but
he would not say who had rented
it.
Houstonian Rob Mosbacher
Jr., son of Rob Mosbacher, a key
fund-raiser for Bush, said he’s
heard GOP officials were dis
gruntled about the attention the
hotel residence has been getting.
“There’s probably something
to be said for the room being kept
available for the balance of the
campaign,” he said. “I think it’s a
major-league distraction and I
admit the Democrats regard it as
a kind of a slowball-pitch way to
make fun of the vice president.”
Feel the heat
Firefighters put out an oil fire during a free dem
onstration Wednesday. Firefighters from all over
Photo by Scott D. Weaver
the world have been attending the annual two-
week training sessions, which ended yesterday.
Toy maker agrees to damages
AUSTIN (AP) — A Pennsylvania
toy manufacturer has agreed to pay
$7.5 million to the parents of an
Austin boy who was hit by a car while
riding a dark-colored tricycle that
his parents claimed was unsafe be
cause the motorist couldn’t see it.
Hedstrom Industries of Bedford,
Pa., agreed to the settlement with
James and Joyce Smith, whose son
George suffered brain damage in
the 1983 accident. The boy, now 9, is
partially paralyzed.
The Smiths alleged in a 1984 law
suit that the company was at fault be
cause the tricycle their son rode into
the street wasn’t easily visible.
The child was struck about 4 p.m.
outside his home while crossing the
street on the, trike from a shaded
area. The driver of the car wasn’t
charged.
Black officer joins Texas Rangers
I AUSTIN (AP) — The ranks of
the elite Texas Rangers will be
joined in September by a black
lawman believed to be the first
black to serve in the 165-year his
tory of the storied force, the De
partment of Public Safety an
nounced Thursday.
I “I feel pretty good,” said Lee
■oy Young Jr., a 14-year DPS vet-
■ran who currently is an investi-
■ator assigned to the criminal in-
■elligence service in San Antonio.
“It’s been an ambition of mine for
many years.”
Young, 41, will be stationed in
Garland when he becomes a
Ranger, said DPS spokesman Da
vid Wells.
The DPS has been dogged by
charges of racial discrimination in
recent years.
The National Association for
the Advancement of Colored
People has threatened to sue the
department, charging that black
officers have been passed over
for promotion and discriminated
against in other ways. Michael
Scott, a black state trooper from
Houston, last year publicly voiced
disappointment when he wasn’t
selected for the Rangers.
Gary Bledsoe, president of the
Austin NAACP branch said, “I’m
happy for Mr. Young. This is a
step in right direction for him
and his career. I’m disappointed
for Michael Scott, because he
really is the person who brought
all this to bear.”
Ranger hopes to help minorities
I SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Lee Roy Young Jr., most
likely the first black to become a part of the legendary
and once-feared Texas Rangers, said Thursday he
hopes his appointment will encourage other minorities
in law enforcement careers.
I “This is something that I decided I wanted to strive
to be years ago as a boy and on Sept. 1, I will receive
personal satisfication on what I’ve done,” said Young,
whose ancestors were black Seminole Indian scouts.
“But I also think this will mean that the doors of oppor
tunity will be open for other people.”
S Young, 41, who has been with the Texas Department
of Public Safety for 14 years, will join the Texas Rang
ers Co. B in Garland on Sept. 1.
| A ham radio enthusiast who has a bachelor’s degree
in sociology from the University of Texas at Austin and
is fluent in Spanish, Young said he wanted to be a law
Officer since his days growing up in the tiny town of
Brackettville about 30 miles east of Del Rio.
I “I was just interested in assisting people and trying to
make our state and country a better place to live and
this is just something I can do in the attempt to achieve
that,” he said.
I Young, who transfered from a highway patrol
trooper in Del Rio to criminal intelligence investigator
in San Antonio in mid-January, has gained the respect
of his colleagues.
I “He is a true professional, as all our investigators
are,” said Capt. Dennis Stone, head of the intelligence
unit.
I “Everybody that I know of that knows Lee Roy has
the same idea about him. He’s a professional and gets
the job done efficiently,” said Sgt. Dyrle Maples, head
of the Del Rio DPS unit and Young’s former supervisor.
“He was very easy to supervise. He was a hard worker
and you knew he would take care of the job that had to
be done,” Maples said.
Young was born Jan. 8, 1947, in Del Rio to parents
who worked at Laughlin Air Force Base. His parents di
vorced when Young was a child and his mother remar
ried.
Young was raised by his grandmother, who lived in
Brackettville, a small border community where Mexi-
can-Americans, black Seminole Indians and whites inte
grated smoothly. Young played Little League baseball
for a few years, but was more interested in radios and
communications equipment.
After his stepfather died, he moved to Del Rio with
his mother, Abby Nunley. He then joined the Navy, dis
charged as a petty officer, 2nd class, after seven years
touring the world. He worked as an Amistad Dam park
ranger upon his return to Del Rio.
He began taking classes at small colleges before his
application to join the DPS came through in 1973. He
got his first DPS job in Austin, where he also finished
his undergraduate degree. Young’s other assisgnments
have been in Bryan and Eagle Pass.
Young and his mother said he never suffered racial
discrimination because people along the border treated
each other with respect.
“We raised him to be honest and fair with everybody
and to treat everybody like you would like to be
treated,” his mother said. “We never thought him there
was any difference in race, creed or color.”
“It appears there would be a
policy in the department saying
we’re going to start promoting a
few people because we have to,
but we’re going to promote peo
ple who don’t complain or stand
up for their rights, people who
play by the rules of the game,”
Bledsoe said.
Young and three white DPS of
ficers will join the 94-man Rang
ers unit in August and Septem
ber.
Ranger candidates first have to
take a written test. High scorers
undergo an oral interview before
a board of six DPS supervisors,
including at least two minority su
pervisors. Only top scorers are
considered for the Rangers, offi
cials said.
A DPS officer also must have at
least eight years of law enforce
ment experience to be eligible to
be a Ranger, and at least 60 hours
of college or the equivalent edu
cation.
Wells said the reason there
hasn’t been a black Ranger before
now is that Young was the first
black to reach the required level
in the testing procedures.
“They’re all treated the same
on the testing procedures.
There’s no difference,” he said.
“We only have 94 Texas Rang
ers for the whole state of Texas.
It’s not unusual for 100 DPS offi
cers to apply for one opening, or
two or three (openings),” Wells
said.
Col. Leo Gossett, DPS director,
said he is “proud” that Young will
be a Ranger.
Gossett said,“There’s a certain
mystique about the Texas Rang
ers. It’s a highly sought-after job
in the department, and many
people have to apply many times
— most do — before they’re suc
cessful. The competition is keen.”
“I feel like we got a real fair set
tlement out of it,” the boy’s father
said. “What I was concerned about
was his future. He’s still got some
brahi damage, and ! wanted to make
sure he’s provided for in case I’m
not around,” Smith said.
The boy has needed about
$80,000 in medical care since the ac
cident, his father said. Additional
eye and ear surgery also is necessary.
David Nagle, the Smiths’ lawyer
said the settlement, entered
Wednesday in state district court in
Travis County, means the child will
receive escalating monthly payments
from the company until he is 72.
Jack Latson, an Austin attorney
representing Hedstrom, said the set
tlement didn’t mean the company
accepted responsibility for the acci
dent.
“I think this is a statement by
Hedstrom that they were simply
afraid to try a case in Texas, even
when they believed they didn’t owe”
damages, Latson said.
“Part of the settlement is (that)
Hedstrom admits no responsibility.
But a decision was made, as a practi
cal matter, to settle the case rather
than risk a Travis County jury ren
dering an award out of sympathy,”
he said.
Latson said 1987 changes in
Texas tort laws place the bulk of re
sponsibility for personal injury on
product manufacturers.
“If George Smith’s parents were
99 percent at fault for letting him
ride the tricycle out in the street, and
if a jury believed the dark, color of
the tricycle was 1 percent the cause
for the accident, then the tricycle
manufacturer would have to pay for
100 percent of the damages,” Latson
said.
He said the box containing the tri
cycle tells parents not to let children
ride in the street.
Nagle said his clients accepted the
settlement because Travis County
juries have been unsympathetic in
personal injury cases.
Iraq asks Council
to guarantee treaty
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Iraq de
manded a formal peace treaty with
Iran, not just a cease-fire, and asked
the U.N. Security Council on Thurs
day to guarantee its enforcement.
In New York, the Iranian U.N.
Mission said: “The policy of Iraq is to
put obstacles in the way of the secre
tary-general’s peace efforts.
“This whole Iraqi exercise is
planned to sabotage the efforts upon
which the international community
is looking with hope.”
Both sides reported fighting at Es-
lamabad, 60 miles inside Iran. Iraq,
which says it has withdrawn from
Iranian territory, describes the in
vaders as Iranian rebels.
Iran claims the invading troop are
Iraqi troops.
Iraqi television said Saadun Ham-
adi, the acting foreign minister,
summoned the ambassadors of the
five permanent Security Council
members — United States, Soviet
Union, China, Britain and France —
and insisted on a formal peace
treaty.
“This is the only way to secure a
peaceful settlement” of the 8-year-
old war, he was quoted as saying.
He added, however, that “Iraq is
for an early, immediate cease-fire as
a means to end the war within the
framework of a comprehensive
peace settlement.”
U.N. negotiations are being con
ducted under Security Council Reso
lution 598, the year-old proposal
Iran says it will accept.
It provides for a cease-fire fol
lowed by withdrawal to recognized
borders, prisoner exchange, peace
negotiations and an investigation of
which side started the war.
Javier Perez de Cuellar, the U.N.
secretary-general, said in New York
that Iran responded positively to his
proposals for implementing the res
olution and was awaiting Iraq’s reac
tion.
He has met with the foreign min
isters of the two countries, Ali Akbar
Velayati and Tariq Aziz. Hamadi is
Iraq’s acting foreign minister while
Aziz is in New York.
Perez de Cuellar also said he
hopes Iran will consider “at some
stage” holding direct talks with Iraq,
which insists on them.
He said talks at the United Na
tions were suspended for “reflec
tion” Thursday.
Iraqi television quoted Hamadi as
telling the ambassadors: “Lasting
and comprehensive peace is the only
way Iran will not change its position
in the future.
“The peace treaty should be guar
anteed by the Security Council mem
ber states.
“A cease-fire would not end the
state of war and instability in the re-
gion.”
Hamadi also restated Iraq’s posi
tion that it “has no ambitions in Ira
nian territory.”