The Battalion
| Vol. 1 No. 188 6 Pages
tudy gauges
IDS in military
BaTLANTA (AP) — The largest
testing program yet in a specific
loup of Americans has found that
jusi more than one in 1,000 active-
dlty military personnel have been
exposed to the AIDS virus, lower
thtin among the general population,
officials said Thursday,
d BThe U-S. Centers for Disease Con-
s trol said 2,232 of 1,752,191 people
B act i ve duty on April 24 had tested
positive for antibodies to the virus
which causes AIDS, a rate of 1.3 per
11)00.
t HThe Defense Department began
il weening for AIDS exposure in Jan-
t Bry 1986.
j B^he active-duty personnel AIDS
. Hfection rate “probably underrepre
sents the . . . prevalence in the civil-
§an population for three reasons,”
the CDC said.
I. ■ Those reasons are: homosexual
> men and injectable drug abusers are,
P [bfccause of rules, less common
| s among military personnel than in
He general population; hemophilia
n B ; hms are not eligible for military
I Hrvice; and military recruits who
Hst positive for AIDS infections are
— not enlisted.
Federal health officials have esti-
lated that 1.5 million Americans
le infected with the AIDS virus;
that would be roughly five times the
*'B te among active-duty military per
sonnel.
Despite the differing infection
rates for the two groups, the military
data “can be used for monitoring
levels and trends of . . . infection in
the United States,” the Atlanta-based
CDC said in its weekly report.
For example, the agency noted,
blacks in the military were 3.6 times
as likely as whites to test positive for
AIDS antibodies, and Hispanics
were 2.5 times as likely.
The Defense Department plans to
to test all active-duty personnel for
AIDS infections at least every year or
two, the CDC said. “Therefore, the
incidence of new . . . infection can be
measured directly.”
“This is the closest to a general
E opulation in which it will be possi-
le to actually measure the rate of
new infections,” said Dr. Tim Don-
dero, a CDC AIDS specialist.
A September 1987 report showed
seven new infections for every
10,000 Army personnel during a
year, the CDC said.
The Pentagon reported earlier
this year that in testing nearly 4 mil
lion people since October 1985 —
both recruits and active-duty person
nel — roughly 1.5 positive AIDS test
results were found in every 1,000
people tested. That figure includes
recruits who tested positive and then
were not enlisted.
College Station, Texas
Friday, August 5, 1988
Winners all
Mark Watson, with raised arms, celebrates a victory in the State
Aquatic Special Olympics at Kyle Field Thursday. Also placing were
Photo by Sam B. Myers
(left to right) Larry Smith, Larry Dickerson and Elton Simmons. The
Olympic events will continue through Saturday at Downs Natatorium.
valve delays shuttle tests
Delay disappoints personne
SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) — Employees at the
Johnson Space Center expressed disappointment
Thursday after NASA aborted the test firing of the
Space Shuttle Discovery’s engines at Cape Canaveral,
Fla.
But the employees, who have seen five such post
ponements in two weeks, $aid they would rather see the
extra precautions than face another explosion like the
one that destroyed the Challenger more than 2 years
ago. The test is considered crucial for qualifying Discov
ery for the first shuttle flight since the Challenger disas
ter.
“Although we were disappointed today’s test did not
go full term, we were impressed with the professional
manner in which the launch team responded to the sit
uation,” said Navy Capt. Rick Hauck, one of five astro
nauts slated to fly Discovery on the first post-Chal-
lenger mission who was watching the test firing.
“We are looking forward to learning the plan for re
solving the problem, recognizing that such delays can
occur. We maintain high confidence we’ll get a good
mission off in the near future,” he said.
Engineers hoped to ready the shuttle for another at
tempt on Sunday, but one official said the delay could
be as much as a week. The delay threatened to further
push back Discovery’s launch, planned for late Septem
ber.
Hugh Harris, launch control center commentator,
said the shuttle’s master computer “did not see that the
engine bleed valve had fully closed” and automatically
sent a shutdown signal.
Engineers were trying to determine if there was a
faulty valve or if the sensor had given an incorrect read-
ing, he said. The bleed valve vents excess gases.
open,
Joseph Lombardo, the main engine program
ager saidif the engines had fired with the valve
excess pressure might have built up in the fuel line and
caused a rupture that could had led to an explosion.
For 21 teachers attending a workshop at the Johnson
Space Center, the test firing was to be the finale of their
two-week program.
“I was really disappointed, so I can understad how
they feel,” said Sandra A. Dyson, a science teacher from
Kennebec, S.D., who along with the other teachers at
tending the NASA Education Workshop for Math and
Science Teachers got up at 5 a.m. to witness the test.
“It was going to be our finale and being on the inside
it would have been thrilling,” she said about watching
the testing from the media center at JSC.
For the past two weeks, the teachers from six states,
have been saturated with information about the space
program and all were looking forward to applying their
new knowledge to the test firing.
“Gradually, in about a week we’ve been able to know
what would be going on,” Dyson said. “We knew that
something happened because we learned about five
computers and how it takes so many to say ‘Now, shut
down.’ We didn’t know all the particulars, only that it
was shut down.”
Roger Kassebaum, regional coordinator of the teach
ers’ program, said the aborted firing was a letdown but
said it was good so many precautions were being taken.
“We can’t afford another accident,” Kassenbaum
said. “NASA has to be very careful this time. They’re
going to be watched like a hawk and that’s good so we
can save lives and not have another Challenger disas
ter.”
Jury convicts Biaggi
in Wedtech Scandal
ISM
■ CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP)
-f-A computer spotted a valve prob-
rjlem and scrubbed NASA’s test firing
:lkl Oi Sp ace shuttle Discovery’s engines
in the final second Thursday, deal
ing another setback to America’s 2-
sai‘ year effort to return to space,
f,” ■ Engineers said it will be three to
Kven days before they can try the
test again. The postponement was
the fifth in two weeks and made it al-
B»st certain that Discovery’s flight
■ill be delayed from late September
into October.
B “That’s why we have llight read
iness firings, to work the bugs out of
Bfiipment before we launch,” said
James Fletcher, the administrator of
Bie National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
B No American has been launched
into space since the shuttle Chal
lenger exploded 73 seconds after
■toff Jan. 28, 1986, killing seven
J crew members.
| The problem Thursday either was
a valve that didn’t close as fast as it
was supposed to or a sensor that
gave a wrong reading of the valve’s
open-closed position.
■ “We don’t know whether it was a
Raulty indication or really a malfunc
tion in the valve,” said Joseph A.
Lombardo, engine program director
Igt NASA’s propulsion facility in Mis
sissippi.
H Engineers were looking at the
possibility that the sensor might have
peen affected by long exposure to
the extreme cold of the liquid hydro
gen fuel. The tanks were loaded for
TO hours, four hours longer than
normal, so that special tests could be
run on the fuel system.
B To remain liquid, hydrogen must
be kept at 423 degrees below zero.
| Boyce Mix, engine manager at
NASA’s Mississippi engine test fa
cility, said historically some sensors
are more temperature-sensitive than
others.
H As the tanks were being drained,
he said, the valve was tested and it
worked sluggishly the first time but
normally after it warmed up.
The computer, which controls all
operations in the final 31 seconds of
a launch countdown, received an in
dication that the valve still was par
tially open, which would allow high-
pressure gases to enter areas unable
to accommodate them, possibly caus
ing a rupture and explosion. The
computer reacted as it was supposed
to.
“The actual start commands to the
engine were never given,” Lom
bardo said.
If the sensor is at fault, Lombardo
said, a change in computer com
mands might be a way around the
problem.
John J. Talone, who manages
scheduling for Discovery said swap
ping out the sensor and the valve
could take three days to a week.
“We just don’t have all the an
swers this early,” Lombardo said.
The valve operated perfectly in
earlier tests but “sluggishness is what
we determined today,” he said.
During the test, the shuttle is se
cured to the pad by bolts three
inches in diameter and three feet
long. The two solid booster rockets
that flank the orbiter and the huge
fuel tank are not fired in the test.
NEW YORK (AP) — Rep. Mario
Biaggi, a one-time hero cop, and
four other people were convicted
Thursday of racketeering for turn
ing the now-defunct defense con
tractor Wedtech Corp. into an enter
prise that paid out millions in bribes
to public officials.
“We’re obviously disappointed,
and we’re going to appeal,” Biaggi,
70, said outside the courtroom. His
attorney, James LaRossa, said Biaggi
would make a full statement at a
news conference Friday.
The verdicts came in the fifth day
of the jury’s deliberations.
Biaggi, a city police officer from
1942 to 1965 and at one time the
most decorated policeman in the
country, was convicted of all but one
of the 16 counts against him, includ
ing conspiracy, extortion, tax eva
sion and receiving bribes. He was ac
quitted of one count of mail fraud.
Also convicted of racketeering
were former Bronx Borough Presi
dent Stanley Simon, 58; Wedtech
founder John Marietta, 58, of Scar-
sdale; Peter Neglia, 40, of Armonk;
and Biaggi’s former law partner,
Bernard Ehrlich, 59, of Bedford.
Biaggi’s eldest son, Richard, 39, of
Fort Lee, N.J., was acquitted of rack
eteering charges but convicted of
bribe receiving, mail fraud and tax
charges.
Mario Biaggi faces up to 20 years
in prison on the racketeering counts,
which are the most serious charges.
He previously was sentenced to 30
months in prison for his 1987 con
viction in Brooklyn for obstructing
justice and taking an illegal gratuity.
Biaggi, sitting closest to the jurors,
never looked at them during the ver
dict. After his conviction on the first
count, he spoke quietly to his attor
ney. He then removed his glasses,
rubbed his eyes and shook his head.
Later, Biaggi went to the building
nurses’s office and his private physi
cian was called to examine him. He
later left the building by a side en
trance to avoid photographers.
The staff of the House Ethics
Committee recommended earlier
this year that the New York Demo
crat be expelled for the 1987 convic
tion, but the committee put off ac
tion until he could defend himself.
House Ethics Committee spokes
man John Davison said Thursday he
could not comment on the new con
viction or its possible impact on the
committee’s schedule, although he
noted that the committee was to
meet Tuesday on pending business.
Biaggi was convicted of extorting
$50,000 in cash and stock once
worth more than $3 million from
Wedtech in exchange for his politi
cal clout. He also was convicted of
filing false financial disclosure
statements and income tax returns
to cover up his illegal profits.
A seventh defendant, Ronald
Betso, 40, of Brooklyn, a former city
police officer, was acquitted on all
counts.
U.S. District Judge Constance
Baker Motley scheduled sentencing
for Nov. 18. All six of the convicted
defendants remained free on bail.
Prosecutors also sought forfeiture
of ill-gotten gains by the defendants
convicted of racketeering. After
huddling with defense lawyers, they
agreed that Biaggi and Ehrlich
would have to pay $350,000 each; Si
mon $25,000 and Marietta, who was
convicted of numerous tax evasion
and bribery charges, $11.7 million.
Neglia did not have to forfeit any
money.
The trial, which began March 11,
generated nearly 20,000 pages of
transcript over four months of testi
mony from over 130 witnesses and a
week of closing arguments.
Bush: Dukakis military, foreign policies lacking
Associated Press
George Bush and his GOP allies painted
Democrat Michael Dukakis as weak on mili
tary and foreign policy Thursday while Du
kakis campaigned in the South, seeking
votes where Ronald Reagan won in 1980
and 1984 and where Jesse Jackson did well
in this year’s Democratic primaries.
I Prominent Democrats and Dukakis’ doc
tor, meantime, suggested that political mo
tivations were behind a rumor that Dukakis
had been treated for mental problems — a
rumor both Dukakis and the doctor denied.
1 And the Bush campaign received its
strongest “No, thank you” yet from a man
frequently mentioned as a prospective run
ning mate, California Gov. George Deuk-
mejian.
B Bush, in Corpus Christi, Texas, told a
group of Hispanic veterans that Dukakis’
positions were “a rejection of America’s role
as a world leader and a repudiation of the
Truman doctrine and the vision of John
Kennedy.”
Dukakis’ opposition to new nuclear
weapons such as the MX missile were part
of a policy for “unilateral disarmament,”
Bush told the G.I. Forum.
President Reagan lent Bush a helping
hand earlier this week by vetoing a defense
bill passed by the Democratic-controlled
Congress. Although the bill provided an
agreed-upon $299.5 billion for the Penta
gon, Reagan said it was too restrictive, espe
cially on his “Star Wars” missile defense
program.
Republicans in the Senate Thursday
were pushing for more money for arms to
the Contras, at least in part to embarrass
Dukakis. The Massachusetts governor’s
running mate, Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-
Texas, disagrees with Dukakis on that issue
and usually supports Contra aid.
Dukakis, in Philadelphia, Miss., repeated
his theme of making the military spend its
money more wisely. And he told reporters
it was “nonsense” for Bush to suggest he fa
vored disarmament.
“The fact of the matter is we have a mas
sive survivable nuclear deterrent right now,
12,000 strategic nuclear warheads,” he said.
“What we don’t have is the kind of strong
conventional defense capability we must
have, and that is going to be my top priority
as president.”
Asked whether he still supports a nuclear
freeze, Dukakis said, “Sure, and a compre
hensive test ban treaty.”
Dukakis spoke to a mostly white audience
estimated at more than 6,000 at the Ne
shoba County Fair, where eight years ago
Reagan launched his campaign as the Re
publican presidential nominee.
Elsewhere, Democrats expressed anger
about a rumor that Dukakis had problems
with mental depression in the 1970s, first
following the death of his brother and then
with his 1978 primary defeat for re-election
as governor.
“I think there’s something significant
about what the Republicans have done
here, the fact that they would use Lyndon
LaRouche to get this thing started, the fact
that they would get negative, that they
would get so irrelevant so early,” said New
York Gov. Mario Cuomo.
At the Democratic National Convention
in Atlanta two weeks ago, supporters of La
Rouche, a political extremist and fringe
presidential candidate, distributed fliers
suggesting Dukakis was unstable.
Dukakis’ doctor for the past 17 years,
Gerald R. Plotkin, said, “I would have to as
sume that the rumors are political. I don’t
know whether the term is dirty tricks, but I
think certainly the allegations . . . have no
basis in fact.”
The issue became widely publicized
Wednesday after Reagan called Dukakis
“an invalid” during a news briefing. Reagan
later said he was trying to make a joke but
“it didn’t work.”
Bush told reporters Thursday that he
“would thoroughly disapprove of it” if any
one from his campaign was involved in the
rumor-making.
His chief of staff, Craig Fuller, said that
on Wednesday campaign manager Lee At
water “admonished everybody to stay out of
this story, stay out of the rumor business.”
Fuller also confirmed that Treasury Sec
retary James A. Baker III would leave his
post and become campaign chief before the
Aug. 15 start of the Republican convention
in New Orleans.