State/Local
The Battalion Monday, Oct. 24, 1988 Page 3
ormer speaker accused in land
■ HOUSTON (AP) — Former Texas
House Speaker Gus Mutscher — con
victed of conspiracy in 1972 in the
[harpstown Bank scandal — is accused
culling at least $700,000 from inves
ts in a real-estate scheme, the Houston
'hronicle reported in a copyright story
jSunday.
■ The money was mainly gathered from
■Drmer clients of late Houston developer
I J.R. McConnell who were recruited by
; McConnell’s one-time top saleswoman,
■iohini Divecha. Divecha later worked
pforiarenco Investments of Texas Inc. of
Houston, the newspaper said.
Forty-two investors in Jarenco have
sued the company, Mutscher, Jarenco
President Robert Patrick Renner and Di
vecha in state district court, seeking re
turn of their money, plus at least $1 mil
lion in punitive damages.
Federal investigators would not dis
cuss the case, but documents obtained by
the Chronicle show the FBI is probing
Jarenco’s and Mutscher’s roles in inves
tor losses exceeding $1.2 million.
Mutscher, 55, who has been Washing
ton County Judge since he finished four
years probation in 1976, conceded that
from January to September 1986 he was
paid $733,000 by Jarenco and Renner.
Renner also paid him $500,000 for eight
acres of land in Brenham in July 1985.
Mutscher said he thought the $733,000
was a loan.
“This is a situation I really don’t de
serve,” Mutscher said. “Mr. Renner
came to Brenham to buy my property,
but failed to close on the contract. ’ ’
The investors claim in their lawsuit
that Mutscher knew or should have
known where the money came from and
that they relied on his name and reputa
tion when they invested.
Mutscher said he never knew that a fi
nancial statement he gave to Renner was
being shown to Jarenco investors with
the promise that Mutscher would person
ally guarantee the return of their money,
with interest, if they would buy syndi
cated shares in the property.
“As to the present allegations, I was
never an investor in Jarenco, nor did I
ever have any joint interest investments
with Mr. Renner, nor was I to retain any
interest in the sale of my property,” he
said.
Renner disappeared from Houston in
early 1987 after his finances collapsed.
State corporation records show Ja-
uniors promote spirit, unity, events
uring Class of ’90 Awareness Week
By Sharon Maberry
Staff Writer
Jlhe Class of ’90 Council will promote
lirit and unity during Class of ’90
Awareness Week. Activities are planned
fijrthis week to make juniors more aware
of the Class of ’90 Council and the
|ents they are involved in around cam-
Js.
■Class of ’90 Awareness Chairman Me-
Ida Palmer said that class councils
n|ver before have designated a week to
^mote class involvement.
(‘This is the first time that anyone has
lie this,” Palmer said. “A lot of people
are apathetic. By the time they get to
|ir junior year, they’re looking to grad-
The last thing they want is a bunch
ofceople telling them to get involved.
WWejust want them to know that there
is a class council. We’re trying some
jnev. things to get people motiviated be-
iause we’re going to be seniors next
Activities for the week include dollar
movies on Tuesday, happy hour at Dirty
iJuan's on Wednesday, dancing at the
lexas Hall of Fame on Thursday, happy
ihour at Gizmo’s on Friday and a Class of
’90 yell practice sometime during the
iweek, Palmer said. Also, juniors can get
iaipecial deal at DoubleDave’s Pizza-
Iks throughout the week.
ralmer said that the Class of ’90
uncil does not expect the awareness
week to cause a drastic change in the
Hnber of juniors involved in class ac-
tlities.
“We’re not looking at this awareness
week with hundreds and hundreds of
people showing up to all the activities,”
she said. “We’re not being idealistic,
we’re being realistic.
“We want to gradually begin with (in
creasing participation in) committees
we’ve formed. It should be kind of like a
domino effect. We’re not meaning that
every single junior should be on a com
mittee, but we want to change the way of
thinking from, ‘Oh, it’s just a class activ
ity,’ to ‘Oh, that sounds like fun.’ ”
Palmer said that Class of ’90 President
Katherine Smith generated a lot of par
ticipation in the class ball last year as
class ball chairman.
Smith said the good turnout was
achieved by a lot of planning and hard
work. She combined the Class of ’90
Ball with the Class of ’89 Ball, which
had never been done before.
“We combined the sophomore and ju
nior class balls to enable us to spend
more money on them,” Smith said. “We
started PR three weeks ahead of time.
We put flyers up all over campus and slid
cards under the doors of all sophomores
and juniors living on campus. We also
paid for radio ads and we talked to differ
ent groups like sororities and fraternities
and the Corps.”
Serkin, Kim brought music alive
By Staci Finch
Entertainment Writer
Beethoven is touted as one of the best classical music art
ists. So it was only fitting that two of today’s best classical
music performers played Beethoven sonatas in their perfor
mance at Rudder Auditorium Saturday night.
Pianist Peter Serkin and violinist Young Uck Kim brought a
breathtaking performance of Beethoven sonatas to Texas
A&M. The two renowned musicians delighted the 1,500 audi
ence members as they brought the centuries old music alive.
The best part of the show was the control the musicians
brought to the music. The tempo slowed, pulsed and raced,
but never was out of the reach of the performers.
The two musicians have performed together before, and
this was evident in the harmony of the two instruments. The
piano and violin exchanged melodies, complemented each
other and blended together, all in perfect timing. Serkin and
Kim were extraordinary as they displayed a range of musical
emotions without ever missing a beat. If you couldn’t tell
from the passion in the music that these two performers loved
what they were doing, you could tell by looking at their faces,
which reflected the emotions created by their fingers.
Peter Serkin began lessons in music more than 30 years
ago, and in 1958 entered the Curtis Institute of Music in Phila
delphia. His first public performance was in the summer of
1959 at the Marlboro Music Festival, followed by a New York
debut that fall. Since then, Serkin has appeared with many
symphony orchestras, including those of Boston, New York
and the London Symphony and Philharmonia. His talents
were honored in 1983 when he was the first pianist to be
awarded the Premio Accademia Musicale Chigiana Siena, an
international prize in recognition of outstanding musical
achievement.
Young Uck Kim also attended the Curtis Institute of Music,
and studied under violin legend Ivan Galamian. He performs
regularly on three continents, and also works on special pro
jects. One of those was the premeire of the Hans Vogt Violin
Concerto in 1983, a piece that was written for Kim, and one
on which he collaborated. He has appeared with most of the
major American symphonies, as well as at numerous festivals.
scheme
renco was formed in 1982 by Renner,
39, who had just moved to Houston from
Wichita, Kan., with his bride, Jan Iris.
Records on file in Harris County show
Renner built and bought strip centers and
other properties on money borrowed
from banks and individuals.
Renner allegedly would multiply in
vestors’ cash by borrowing against it. He
would buy certificates of deposit, then
pledge them as collateral for a larger
bank loan, according to lawsuits by
banks that seized those investments after
Renner defaulted on notes.
Mutscher and Renner signed a con
tract in July 1985 for the sale of 146
acres in Brenham for $14.4 million and
Mutscher’s Coachlight Inn East, a motel,
for $3.2 million, Mutscher’s attorney,
William Ehlert, said.
A purported copy of that contract
shows Renner was given until January
1986 to find a buyer for the properties,
for which he would earn a 5 percent
commission. Renner immediately
bought eight acres of the land for
$784,000, paying Mutscher $500,000
cash borrowed from the Washington
County State Bank in Brenham and sign
ing a promissory note to Mutscher for the
balance.
Renner had problems finding a buyer,
and was granted extensions until Feb
ruary 1987, Ehlert said. The motel was
dropped from the deal, and the price for
the remaining acreage was lowered to
$11.5 million.
The bank has since repossessed the
eight acres after Renner failed to pay
back the loan.
UH taking
steps toward
excellence
HOUSTON (AP) — After years of
trying to upgrade its reputation with
tougher admission standards and re
search breakthroughs, the University of
Houston is taking steps up the academic
ladder.
As recently as 10 years ago, the uni
versity produced good graduates but was
not in the collegiate big league. A large
gift from a corporation back then was a
relatively measly $10,000, and total re
search grants were under $15 million.
But toughened admission standards
and the research of faculty members like
superconductivity whiz Paul C.W. Chu
have helped changed things at the
30,300-student university.
Some achievements include a technol
ogy transfer pact with E.I. du Pont de
Nemours & Co., growth of the school
honors program and the increase of re
search awards to faculty members,
which has soared to $40.5 million in
1988, up from about $13 million in
1983.
“Students clearly don’t come here be
cause we’re a party school,” university
President Dick Van Horn told faulty
members last week during a UH Faculty
Excellence Day created by Houston
Mayor Kathy Whitmire.
“It’s the quality of our faculty that at
tracts the students,” Van Horn said.
Construction Report
Houston and Hogg Streets, near
Sbisa Dining Hall, will be closed for
two to three weeks beginning today
while modules for a new residence
hall are delivered.
The modules were scheduled for
delivery on Oct. 20, but suppliers
were delayed by problems in transit,
Tom Williams, director of Parking,
Transit and Traffic, said.
“It’s probably better this way, any
way,” Williams said. “We like to
have those streets open during foot
ball game weekends,”
Williams said the original delivery
date wets ahead of schedule, so he
does not foresee delays in the rest of
the project’s schedule. The residence
hall should be ready for occupancy by
Fall 1989.
Keith Chapman, manager of con
struction, said his main concern was
the inconvenience caused by blocking
the streets.
“When Hogg street got blocked off
last week, we had the University Po
lice help us guide traffic,” Chapman
said. “Not to mention the inconve
nience for the students, who were
wondering what was going on since
nothing got delivered.”
Williams said the modified shuttle
bus routes will run until construction
is complete, regardless of delays.
it:; I
mtrl
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but
&
Presents
The MSC MBA/Law Committee
presents
The MBA/Law Symposium
Tuesday October 25, 198§
G.
urn
MOVED TO
^IlDDER AUDITORIUM
"Destined for Success"
Nov. 9, Wednesday
Representatives from:
Harvard & Chicago Business & Law Schools
Georgetown, Notre Dame & Cornell Law Schools
Wharton Business School
Business & Law Schools in Texas
10am-4pm, 1st floor hallway, MSC
Nov. 12, Saturday
Business & Law professionals will speak
on career developmentissues
9:30am-5:30pm, 211 MSC
Register in MSC Hallway, Blocker & Stu
dent Programs Office. TO am - 3 pm, Oct.
31-riov. 11. $5 in advance/$8 at the door.