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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 1988)
d/ IflEUI Wednesday, October 26,1988 The Battalion Page9 on ict eagan pays up debt to veterans y allowing them seat on Cabinet Jstafe) period ^ oatieidt ewhaiij e maitiiil iecisioiuJ rl' 1 eartyy [days ury. bout his si one cots idexpecti y free at® idiatels try in? to hstros. s of bv andrayfi f 1 ) it woo'ttrj at came-': WASHINGTON (AP) — Saying icrica’s debt to military men and men doesn’t end the day the uniform mes off. President Reagan signed leg ation Tuesday giving veterans a Cab inet-level voice for the first time. “I’m saying to all our veterans what I to new Cabinet members: Welcome ard!** said Reagan, the self-pro- imed enemy of an expanding federal government, who once suggested abo- Hhing the departments of Education and t Energy. ■Sitting under a sparkling autumnal sun in front of a columned building of the National War College at Fort McNair, tlf president signed into law the bill cre- jng the Department of Veterans Af- Jrs, effective March 15. [Spokesmen for veterans organizations applauded the elevation of veterans is- s in the councils of government, but ted that the legislation offers no in- gttases in compensation or im- vements in health care. Cooper T. Holt, executive director of the Washington office of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said he recalled the day federal agencies and merits being put on par with other Cabinet departments. There are some 27 million veterans “I’m saying to all our veterans what I say to new Cab inet members: Welcome aboard!’” — President Reagan — last Nov. 10 — that Reagan signaled he had accepted Cabinet-level status for veterans. “There were several of us over there at the White House, and we came pre pared to make a case,’’ Holt recalled in a telephone interview. “But when he came in, he apparently had decided against some of his advisers, and he said he wanted to do it. ” Supporters of the legislation had ar gued that the Veterans Administration al ready has the fifth-largest budget among and 49 million dependents or survivors, although only about 2.5 to 3 million of them rely on Veterans Administration services on a regular basis. The agency has a $30 billion budget, and it will dis burse $14 billion in income maintenance and $626 million for education and reha bilitation assistance this year. Reagan said the bill gives veterans what they have deserved so long — a seat at the table of our national affairs. Flanked by leaders of congressional committees on military affairs, and ac companied by Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci and Adm. William Crowe, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he said: “I’ve said before that America’s debt to those who would fight for her de fense doesn’t end the day the uniform comes off. For the security of our nation, it must not end.” The House and Senate, paying elec tion-year homage to veterans, had both given overwhelming approval to the bill. Among other things, it will place a secre tary of veterans affairs on the Cabinet, create the position of deputy secretary and as many as a half-dozen assistant secretaries. “I don’t expect that it is going to pro duce any miracles,” said H.F. “Sparky” Gierke, national commander of the American Legion. Gierke said that despite the creation of a larger agency, with another layer of high-ranking assistants, the measure would not consign veteran’s problems to a mammoth bureaucracy. Vain tiffs get 1 million c rom KKK ses :eo! ip ■ ATLANTA (AP) — Forty-nine civil rights activists who were pelted pth rocks and bottles when they rched into virtually all-white For syth County were awarded nearly $ i llion by a jury that found the Ku lux Klan responsible. ■ A verdict unsealed in U.S. District Sjourt on Tuesday also found 11 indi- Tduals responsible for attacking the activists, who marched into the unty north of Atlanta on Jan. 17, 1987, and were met by the counter- Jmonstrators, many of them KKK rubers or sympathizers. The jury reached its verdict Oct. 5, Of-:|but Judge Charles A. Moye Jr. or- ired it sealed to give those who Texas A::! brought the lawsuit time to decide down itsxBrether to join Atlanta City Coun- sablotivHman Hosea Williams, who wanted :ry Bernai;ito drop it. ...... . Williams, who helped organize the rch and was among those who Jed the lawsuit, urged toward the end of the trial that it be dropped be- se it would impoverish the fami lies of KKK members. iHe said Tuesday he would not take i the pt any money from the settlement. Aggies■“Irregardless of the court’s deci- lion, my decision not to accept one single penny of my white brothers’ and sisters’ possessions is a matter of inscience,” Williams said. “It is o stooping lower than the KKK and other white supremacists to take away from them their hard-earned tnhtcrial possessions, simply because they brutalized us in responding to the sicknesses of our capitalistic so- ategywtr lecameas g injumlEsi r ards ot I! t Alta pond, rs hard mu iralevicto; rave lo so's the posit , that wt’it won a® ne lasts® In a letter Williams sent his fellow irehers during the trial, he said he had “talked” to slain civil rights leader vlartin Luther King Jr. and King had told him “Jesus wanted him icd not to sue the Klan. ” 16-13 si® want to tai You try iwr about iu!i' longest®iip|State Rep. J.E. “Billy” McKin- ; ney, who had opposed Williams’ ef fort to drop the lawsuit, said Wil- jliams’ “religion and communication Iwith the dead should not interfere (With our constitutional rights and jus tice.” Wage, benefit hikes drive up payroll costs WASHINGTON (AP) — Wages in the past 12 months have risen an average 3.9 percent, while private employer costs for benefits have soared 6.7 percent — more than double the pre vious year — largely becausee of increases in Social Security taxes, the government said Tuesday. The combined effect of the pay raises and higher benefit costs have sent total employer costs up 4.7 percent in the 12 months ending Oct. 1, compared with a 3.4 percent rise in the previous 12-month period, the Labor Department said. Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, has risen by 4.2 percent over the past 12 months, the government reported last week. The steep increase in benefit costs resulted primarily from a rise last January in employers’ Social Security tax rate from 7.15 percent to 7.51 percent, the Labor Department said. It also cited large increases in health insurance costs and lump-sum bonus payments from profit-sharing arrangements, which are now calculated by the government as a benefit rather than a wage. In the 12 months ending October a year ago, benefits costs rose only 3.1 percent, but they went up 6.7 percent in 12 months ending Oct. 1. Non-union employees continued to get larger percentage pay raises than union members — a trend begun in 1983 -—ex cept for blue-collar workers in manufacturing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said wage rates among union members rose an average 2.9 percent in the past 12 months, compared with 3.9 percent for non-union workers. In the previous 12-month period, union wages rose an average 1.7 percent, compared with 3.8 percent for non-union em ployees. “This pattern reversed when limited to blue-collar workers in manufacturing,” the bureau said, with wage increases in the past year averaging 3.2 percent for union members and 2.8 percent for non-union workers. For the first time, the government also is comparing total compensation increases between union and non-union work ers to account for the lump-sum arrangements. With those benefits included, employer costs rose the same 4.5 percent among union and non-union employees, the bu reau said. John Zalusky, an economist for the AFL-CIO, called the statistics ‘‘refreshing.’’ “They’re beginning to show in fact what is really going on out there in the world,” he said, “but there still is a good way .to go.” For example, Zalusky cited the last round of steel-industry contracts in which the union conceded pay cuts to companies then operating at losses in exchange for a share of future prof its or stock transfers if no profits occurred. “The statistics are now picking up the profit distributions but not the stock transfers for what essentially is a debt owed workers,” he said. “In the future I expect them to start put ting in the value of stock ownership plans and in the distant future retraining funds, such as those negotiated with the auto companies. ’ ’ Despite the disparity in percentage wage increases in recent years, unionized workers continue to make about 35 percent more than non-union workers — an average gap of $123 a week in 1987 compared with a gap of $119 in 1986 — accord ing to government data. Rescuers work to recover Manila shipwreck survivors MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Res cuers said Tuesday they had found only 15 survivors from the 500 people on a ship sunk by Typhoon Ruby, which hit shore with 140 mph winds that flattened thousands of homes and took at least 97 lives. Darkness and bad weather forced an overnight suspension of the search for survivors of the Dona Marilyn, which re placed the Dona Paz on the Sulpicio Lines run between Manila and Tacloban. The Dona Paz sank last Dec. 20 after a collision off Mindoro Island and more than 3,000 people perished. More than 100,000 Filipinos were made homeless by Ruby, which was re ported in the South China Sea late Tues day, heading west with top winds of about 100 mph. In suburban Manila, U.S. and Phil ippine helicopters rescued hundreds of people stranded on rooftops and in trees by the flooding Marikina River. Coast Guard officials said the 2,845- ton passenger liner sank Monday in the Visayas Sea about 300 miles southeast of Manila. It was carrying 451 passengers and 60 crew members from Manila to Tacloban on Leyte Island when it radioed a distress call, Sulpicio Lines general manager Carlos Go said. Lt. Rey Esguerra of the coast guard station in Cebu said rescuers had found 11 survivors on Maripipi Island and an other small island, and four people were found alive in the water. Officials reported 25 people missing because of Typhoon Ruby at Cagayan de Oro, a coastal city on Mindanao Island, and 15 unaccounted for after a crowded bus plunged into a swollen river Monday in Antique province. Floods on Luzon and other islands caused landslides and washed away bridges. ran a cmciS i last wed, cries ia tel on Bowl tel ■ the season ■cnee j» ie oppose lypherssiil ghtofpip ;op rankftl ; said. : overlook; s set up m) THE WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL STUDIES CENTER STUDY IN OXFORD, ENGLAND Academic Program Several colleges of Oxford University have invited The Washington International Studies Center (WISC) to recommend qualified students to study for one year or for one or two terms. Lower Junior status is required, and graduate study is available. Students are directly enrolled in their colleges and receive transcripts from their Oxford college; this is NOT a program conducted by a U.S. college in Oxford. Oxford colleges are accredited by the U.S. Dept, of Education to accept students with Guaranteed Student Loans. Multi-national student housing and social activities are offered, and cultural tours are conducted by WISC. A special summer session is directed by WISC. INTERN IN WASHINGTON, D.C. Pre-professional Program The Washington International Studies Center offers summer internships with Congress, with the White House, with the media and with think tanks. Government and Journalism courses are taught by senior-level government officials, who are also scholars, and by experienced journalists. All college students with a 3.0 GPAor above are eligible. For further information, please write or call: WrtSC The Washington International Studies Center 214 Massachusetts Ave., N.E. Suite 230 Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 547-3275 Lunch Buffet (11-2 Daily) Dinner Buffet (5-8pm Daily) Gourmet Chinese Food, 18 items All you can eat with Ice Tea Pacific Garden Chinese Restaurant Between Chimney Hill Bowl & The Hilton Dine in only, with coupon One coupon per person per visit Not good with any other coupon Valid Oct. 26-Nov. 1 College Republicans Aggie G.O.P Presents Candidates For Railroad Commission and State Board of Education Tues. Oct 25 8:30 p.m. Rudder 601 For information call David Shelton 696-2664 Pfea -Hut. DELIVERY 693-9392 ■ 99 * JKl M* jtLi Medium One Item Expires November 11,1988 Please mention coupon when ordering. One coupon per party, per visit at participating Pizza Hut locations. Not valid with any other Pizza Hut offer. 1/200 cash value. Limited delivery where available. PIZZA SALE! 99 0 PERSONAL PAN PIZZA* Pizza Tfutl READY IN 5 MINUTES.GUARANTEED- Just For One • Just For Lunch Guaranteed 11:30 AM-ltOO PM. Personal Pan Pizza available ’til 4 PM 5-minute guarantee applies to our 2 selections on orders of S or less per table. 3 of less per carryout customer. r95* Personal I Pan Pepperoni I I Limit one per coupon coupon wt>«n ordering. On* ooi>* “ ' pen per pereon per visit Pereonef Pene 11 _ Mrvwl baMroan 1Mon.-ftl. at parUdpaSna Pizza Hut* reatovuranta Otar expiree 10-30 Cash redemption value 1/20 cent. Not valid In combination with any other Pizza Hut® offer. 5- mlnute guarantee applies 1130 AM to 1XX) PM to our two selections on orders of 5 or less per ta ble or 3 or less per carryout customer. Cl963 Pizza Hut, Inc. Personal I Pan Pepperoni Umit one per coupon Preeent coupon when crdertrvv One coupon I ger pereon per v4ail Personal Pane eerved Pin r per eon per s e Ween 11 am~4pm. Men Frf. at parti doe tag " — r expiree ItXX) Pina Mott reeteorente. Offer « I I I “ — ~~~ /“— — — — I / C1983 Pizza Hut, Inc. ■01983 Pizza Hut. Inc. I Cash rederrptlon value 1/20 cent. Not valid In combi nation with any other Pizza Hut® offer. 5- I minute guarantee apples 11 30 AM to 10O PM to our two selections on orders of 5 or less per ta ble or 3 or less per carryout customer. 01983 ~ 102 University Good at both Locations oS < University 501 University EO/AA