Texas A&MWVfe mm
The Battalion
Vol. 88 No. 2 20 Pages In 2 Sections
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, August 24, 1988
Reagan shells Democrats at bill-signing
Dukakis slams Bush’s ideas on budget freeze
Democrat Michael Dukakis ridiculed Republi
can George Bush’s call for a flexible budget
freeze on Tuesday, likening the proposal to “a
melting ice cube.” Embattled GOP vice presi
dential nominee Dan Quayle labeled reports
about him “just one bum rap after another.”
Campaigning in Seattle, Bush sounded impa
tient with continued questioning about Quayle.
“I’m appalled you could ask that,” the vice presi
dent snapped when asked about a report that
Quayle had once propositioned lobbyist Paula
Parkinson.
The 41-year-old Indiana senator called the re
port “an absolute, flat-out falsehood.”
Bush campaign manager Lee Atwater said
Quayle was “here to stay” and denied there ever
was serious discussion of dropping him from the
ticket.
A new Gallup poll said Bush was leading Du
kakis by a margin of 48 percent to 44 percent
among registered voters. However, the survey
had a 3 percent margin of error, meaning that ei
ther figure could be off by that much. Gallup
contacted 1,000 likely voters last weekend imme
diately following the Republican National Con
vention.
Dukakis continued to brush aside poll results
as having little meaning at this point in the race.
“I got a bounce (from the Democratic conven
tion),” he said. “They got a bounce. I think you’ll
see lots of bounces.”
President Reagan described the Republican
ticket as “our winning team” and called the Dem
ocrats “third-stringers with a weak defense, a for
eign policy of errors, curveball campaign prom
ises, a set of policies to be named later and
billions of dollasrs in higher taxes.”
At a fund-raising luncheon in Irvine, Calif.,
for Republican Sen. Pete Wilson, Reagan said
Dukakis was following a campaign of “covert lib
eralism” trying to conceal his true beliefs.
Dukakis responded: “I think it will be the
American people who decide who belongs in the
major leagues and who belongs in the bush
leagues.”
IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — President
Reagan wooed blue-collar and con
servative votes for Vice President
George Bush on Tuesday, signing a
landmark trade bill and deriding the
Democratic presidential ticket as
"third-stringers” playing a “curve-
ball campaign.”
In two Southern' California ap
pearances — a bill signing ceremony
on a pier in Long Beach and a GOP
fundraiser in conservative Orange
County — the president touted the
economic advances of his term and
roclaimed Bush the man to carry
is legacy forward.
He did not mention the record
$170 billion trade deficit in 1987
that helped propel this version of
the measure through Congress, nor
its primary sponsor, Sen. Lloyd
Bentsen of Texas, who is paired with
Democratic presidential candidate
Michael Dukakis against Bush and
Quayle.
“We’re here to sign a piece of leg
islation that will help our economy
continue to grow and compete,”
Reagan told hundreds of dock work
ers and politicians as he spoke be
fore a huge container ship in Long
Beach, one of the world’s 10 busiest
computerized cargo ports.
The bill he signed — so thick he
joked he couldn’t pick it up — is seen
as a landmark bipartisan attempt to
deal with the nation’s trade woes.
The signing climaxed months of
negotiations between the adminis
tration and Congress over the bill,
which Reagan vetoed when it was
first sent to him because it contained
a provision requiring 60-day notice
to employees of plant closings and
layoffs.
Congress, however, then passed
the advance notice provision as a
separate bill, and the president — at
Bush’s urging and trying to mini
mize its importance as a Democratic
election-year issue — then let it be
come law without his signature.
Bentsen, touring a St. Louis cloth
ing factory, said Reagan had to be
dragged “kicking and screaming”
into signing the trade bill.
“The president could have signed
that bill many months ago,” when it
contained the plant-closing provi
sion, said Bentsen, who is chairman
of the Senate Finance Committee.
While Reagan has said the revised
bill “more closely reflects” his and
Bush’s open trade views, he noted
there are things he doesn’t like about
the bill, such as its call for import
fees and a requirement that the exec
utive branch negotiate with foreign
countries on specific trade topics.
The bill is designed to battle the
trade deficit by streamlining ma
chinery for imposing import curbs,
which would retaliate against inter
national trade violations.
It expands job training for work
ers left unemployed by import com
petition and strengthens the admin
istration’s hand in the current round
of world trade talks.
It also repeals the windfall profits
tax on oil and imposes sanctions
against two foreign companies
linked to sale of submarine-silencing
equipment to the Soviet Union.
In remarks prepared for a $500-a
plate luncheon in Irvine to boost the
re-election campaign of Sen. Pete
Wilson, R-Calif, Reagan held to his
theme of crediting Bush with help
ing paint the economy’s rosy glow.
“Vice President Bush and I . . .
have given America the longest
peacetime expansion on record, the
country has created over 17.5 mil
lion new jobs, inflation is low and
employment is at an all time high,”
he told the 800 to 900 Republican
loyalists.
Tammy Moore, a freshman psychology major Dorms were officially opened Monday for stu-
from El Paso, moves into her room at Mosher Hall. dents.
Cardenas case defendant
will stand fitness hearing
BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) — A man
found unfit to stand trial for two
misdemeanor charges faces a hear
ing next week to determine whether
he can be tried for the murder of
former A&M student Audrey Car
denas.
Rodney Woidtke of Bakersfield,
Calif, was charged Aug. 16 with
first-degree murder in Cardenas’
death.
He is accused of beating Ms. Car
denas to death with a length of pipe
onjune 19, the last day she was seen
alive.
Woidtke faces another hearing
Aug. 31, to determine his fitness to
stand trial on the murder charges.
He has been in custody since June
26, the day Cardenas’ body was dis
covered in a dry creek bed on the
Belleville Township High School
East campus.
On June 29 he was charged with
obstructing a peace officer, and he
was charged the following day with
attempted escape. He was being held
Monday in lieu of $ 17,500 bail.
Associate Judge James Radcliffe
said Monday that Woidtke, 27, has
been diagnosed as a paranoid schi
zophrenic.
The judge ordered medical treat
ment for the accused as recom
mended in an Aug. 3 psychological
evaluation by court-appointed psy
chologist Dr. Daniel Cuneo.
Cuneo’s report concluded that
Woidtke could not assist in his own
defense or understand the nature of
the court proceedings against him.
But it said the possibility exists
that Woidtke could be fit to stand
trial within a year if he undergoes
drug therapy to treat his illness.
The report’s conclusions were
based on Woidtke’s medical history
and his interviews with Cuneo and
with Illinois Department of Mental
Health forensic psychiatrists.
Radcliffe ordered a re-evaluation
of Woidtke after three months of
treatment.
The evidence against Woidtke in
the Cardenas slaying could be pre
sented to a grand jury as early as Fri
day, Assistant State’s Attorney Pat
rick Curran told Radcliffe.
Assistant Public Defender Brian
Trentmen, who represents Woidtke,
said his client would remain at the
St. Clair County Jail until after the
fitness hearing.
Woidtke then will be moved to a
mental health center for treatment.
Cardenas, a Belleville News-Dem
ocrat reporter intern, was reported
missing June 20 when she didn’t
show up for work.
Parking garage lights
blow fuse on campus
By Juliette Rizzo
Staff Writer
The first attempt to turn on the lights in the new
Texas A&M parking garage T uesday turned off lights
across campus.
Ed Koslowski, associate director of maintenance and
modification, said a power failure occurred at approxi
mately 1:59 p.m. when wires connecting to a high volt
age cable system were short-circuited.
“When electricity was run through wires to the cables
the wires short-circuited because they were not con
nected properly,” he said.
In order to return power to the campus, he said a
generator had to be restored.
Kozlowski said main buildings such as Rudder Tower
and the Beutal Health Center had their power restored
immediately.
“Brazos Electric Company supplies A&M with just
enough electricity to restore power to important build
ings such as the Health Center,” he said.
The campus-wide power outage made it difficult for
returning students to move in and pay their fees.
A1 Bormann,assistant director of student financial
‘'When electricity was run through
wires to the cables the wires short-cir
cuited because they were not con
nected properly. Brazos Electric Com
pany supplies A&M with just enough
electricity to restore power to impor
tant buildings such as the Health Cen
ter. ”
Ed Koslowski,
associate director of maintenance
aid, said student funding provided by the Office of Stu
dent Financial Aid in the Pavilion was delayed.
“During the blackout, we still offered a lot of counsel
ing, but we could not call up student data on the com
puters nor could funds be transferred to student ac
counts,” he said.
Power was restored to campus at 5:45 p.m.
Some Polish strikes end
despite heating debates
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Some
workers ended their strikes Tues
day, but 125 miners barricaded
themselves in an underground shaft
and vowed to stay until they won
higher pay and recognition of the
banned Solidarity trade union.
The government said it wouldn’t
negotiate “under the ‘pistol’ of a
strike,” and took measures to end
Poland’s worst wave of labor unrest
since the 1981 imposition of martial
law.
Government spokesman Jerzy Ur
ban said at least 49 people have been
detained by police nationwide in
connection with the strikes, which
began Aug. 16 and at their height af
fected about 100,000 workers at 20
sites.
On Monday night, Interior Min
ister Czeslaw Kiszczak said troops
would be sent to secure major indus
trial plants to prevent anarchy, al
though none were in evidence at the
plants Tuesday. An 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
curfew was imposed in Jastrzebie in
Katowice Province, the site of many
of the mine strikes.
Four columns of army and police
vehicles left Krakow for Katowice,
witnesses said. Two of the convoys
consisted of more than 70 vehicles,
including four trucks with water
cannons and 10 truckloads of armed
soldiers, the witnesses said.
On the road in Oswiecim, near the
entrance to the coal-rich Silesia re
gion, army roadblocks stopped cars
and searched them.
Miners from the 30 Years of Peo
ple’s Poland Mine near Jastrzebie
pledged they “will stay there until
the end of their lives, until all the de
mands are met,” said Wojciech
Maziarski, a Solidarity spokesman in
Warsaw.
Striking dockworkers in Szczecin
said they feared police were getting
ready to move in on them Tuesday
night. Police broke up strikes at two
Szczecin streetcar depots and one
bus depot on Monday night.
“The situation here is very simple
now: we are expecting an assault at
any moment, because movements of
police vehicles have been spotted
outside our perimeter,” said Edward
Rodziewicz, chairman of the Inter
factory Strike Committee at the Bal
tic port.
At the 30 Years of People’s Poland
mine, workers went down into the
shaft, 580 yards underground,
about noon Tuesday, according to
the Inter-mine Strike Committee in
Jastrzebie.
“They have decided to stay under
ground until the start of negotia
tions,” said a communique issued by
the committee. “Their health is in
danger.”
Mine strike leaders said they were
not discouraged by the government
actions and would continue their
strike.
“We have to continue to fight the
red bourgeoisie in the party,” said
Romuald Bozko, a worker at the
Moszczenice mine who was inter
viewed at a church in Jastrzebie.
Solidarity leader Lech Walesa ap
pealed again for dialogue with au
thorities to end the strikes, but Ur
ban dismissed the possibility of
negotiations while strikes continued.
“There will be no political talks
under the ‘pistol’ of a strike,” Urban
told a Warsaw news conference. The
strikers have been demanding in
creased wages and recognition of
Solidarity, which was outlawed in
1981.
Urban announced that a special
parliament commission will meet
Aug. 31 to review the government’s
economic policies.
Navy reprimands captain for failing to rescue refugees
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
Navy has accused the captain of the
USS Dubuque of dereliction of duty
for failing to rescue a boatload of
Vietnamese refugees who claim they
later resorted to cannibalism to sur
vive.
Pentagon sources said Tuesday it
appears there were sufficient indica
tions of hardship aboard the refugee
boat when it crossed paths with the
Dubuque that the Navy warship
should have taken aboard the survi
vors.
Capt. Alexander C. Balian, 48, of
Los Angeles has been charged with
two counts of violating lawful orders
under a section of the Uniform
Code of Military Justice that calls for
“non-judicial punishment proceed
ings,” said Cmdr. David Dillon, a Pa
cific Fleet spokesman in San Diego,
Calif.
As a result, instead of court-mar
tial proceedings, the 48-year-old
Navy captain will appear at a closed
“admiral’s mast” on Wednesday af
ternoon before Vice Adm. George
W. Davis Jr., the head of all surface
ships in the Pacific Fleet, the spokes
man added.
Davis will serve as the lone judge
or authority in considering the evi
dence. The admiral could take a va
riety of disciplinary actions, includ
ing stripping Balian of his command
permanently, ordering a fine or issu
ing a letter of reprimand or censure.
Balian was temporarily relieved of
his command of the Dubuque on
Aug. 13 while on patrol in the Per
sian Gulf. Davis is scheduled to re
tire on Saturday, suggesting he will
make a decision quickly.
Balian was charged with violating
a general Navy regulation “by
wrongfully failing to render appro
priate assistance to Vietnamese refu
gees found on the South China Sea
on June 9, 1988, in danger of being
lost.”
The second count accuses him of
violating standing operational or
ders for the Pacific Fleet “which re
quire a commanding officer to aid
and rescue refugees encountered at
sea in life-endangering circum
stances.”
That charge alleges Balian “was
derelict in the performance of those
duties in that he negligently failed to
investigate sufficiently and render
appropriate assistance ... as it was
his duty to do.”
The Dubuque, an amphibious
landing ship, encountered the boat
load of Vietnamese refugees while
steaming to duty in the Persian Gulf.
According to the Navy, the Dubuque
provided the refugees several hun
dred pounds of food and water and
navigational aids but did not take
them aboard because “the refugee
craft was judged seaworthy” by Ba
lian.
Navy regulations and orders spec
ify that warships should “be alert for
refugees on the high seas” and “if
encountered, ships are to extend hu
manitarian assistance as needed.”
“In the case of an unseaworthy
vessel, adverse weather or other spe
cial circumstances, the refugees may
be embarked and transported to the
Navy ship’s next port of call.”
The boat people were eventually
rescued off the coast of the Phil
ippines and taken to a refugee camp
there, where reports of murder and
cannibalism began to surface. Both
the Navy and the United Nations
High Commission on Refugees have
been investigating those reports.
According to Robert Cooper, the
Manila representative of the U.N.
commission, 52 refugees survived 37
days at sea but 58 people died dur
ing the crossing. The refugees began
their journey on May 22 from the
Mekong Delta town of Ben Tre
aboard a 35-foot wooden boat. Its
engine failed two or three days later.
it