exas A&M
he Battalion
Tuesday, November 8, 1988
College Station, Texas
USPS 045360 12 Pages
Record number of Texans
expected to cast votes today
ill I
ms-
A pint low?
Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack
Michael Tenuta of the Wadley Blood Center checks Me- amount of blood she has given Monday. The blood drive
lissa Becktold, a junior helath education major, for the will continue throughout the week.
AUSTIN (AP) — After months of
campaigning, voters finally get their
chance to speak Tuesday, and Texas’
secretary of state is predicting a record
number will go to the polls to do so.
An early indication of voter interest
came in the number of absentee ballots
cast in advance.
Jim Warren, spokesman for Secretary
of State Jack Rains, described the absen
tee voting that ended Friday as “phe
nomenal,” and said more than 100,000
absentee ballots were cast in several
large counties.
Rains has forecast a total turnout of
5.98 million Texans, predicting voter
turnout will “shatter” previous records.
The presidential campaign had a
Texas accent — with Texan George
Bush heading the Republican slate and
Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen as running
mate to Democratic nominee Michael
Dukakis.
Between Labor Day and Election Day,
Bush made three trips to the state and
planned to spend Tuesday night in Hous
ton. Dukakis was in Texas nine days.
Bentsen, whose job was to carry
Texas for Dukakis, spent 26 days cam
paigning in his home state and planned to
spend Tuesday night in Austin awaiting
the returns. GOP vice presidential nomi
nee Dan Quayle was conspicuous by his
absence, making only a single two-day
trip to the state.
All opinion polls from late summer
until Sunday showed Bush ahead in
Texas, but Bentsen insisted Monday that
the race was winnable for the Democrats.
“It’s in your hands to win it,” he told a
crowd at a Dallas rally. “You can do it.”
The presidential contest isn’t the only
one being decided.
Bentsen also is on the ballot for re-
election to a fourth U.S. Senate term,
facing Amarillo Congressman Beau
Boulter. The Republican’s battle was
uphill all the way, and a final pre-elec
tion poll for the Dallas Morning News
and Houston Chronicle showed him trail
ing Bentsen 58 percent to 35 percent.
An unprecedented six seats on the
Texas Supreme Court are at stake. Both
Chief Justice Tom Phillips^ a Republi
can, and his Democratic opponent. Jus
tice Ted Z. Robertson, raised more than
$1.8 million to finance their bids.
Other statewide offices are up for
grabs as well.
Three seats on the state’s highest crim
inal court bench, the Court of Criminal
Appeals, will be filled.
Kent Hance, a former Democratic
congressman and U.S. Senate candidate
who sought the Republican gubernatorial
nomination in 1986 after switching par
ties, is running to keep the Railroad
Commission seat to which he was ap
pointed last year after Democrat Mack
Wallace resigned. His opponent is state
Rep. Clint Hackney.
Railroad Commission Chairman Jim
Nugent’s regular term is ending, and the
Democrat is seeking re-election against a
former state representative. Republican
Ed Emmett.
Fifteen seats in the Texas Senate and
all 150 seats in the Texas House are up
for election. GOP state Chairman Fred
Meyer predicted last week that his par
ty’s candidates might increase their 56-
seat House delegation to as many as 66.
The 15-member State Board of Educa
tion will be elected for the first time
since the school reform legislation of
1984 turned it, temporarily, into an ap
pointed body.
New York officials
hand out needles
to combat AIDS
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City
on Monday began a pilot program to
stem the spread of AIDS by providing
drug addicts new hypodermic needles in
exchange for their used ones.
Although the program, aimed at re
ducing needle sharing among addicts, is
intended to serve as many as 200 intrave
nous drug abusers, by early afternoon no
applicant had appeared at Health Depart
ment headquarters in lower Manhattan.
“Today, we’re going to have only a
handful,” Dr. Stephen Joseph, health
commissioner, said. “We’re going to
build slowly up over a period of weeks or
months, he predicted.
Under the $240,000 program, which
has drawn heated opposition from con
servatives and some minority group or
ganizations, addicts also will receive
counseling on AIDS and drugs. Another
200 addicts will receive only counseling;
over time, their rate of infection will be
compared with the infection rate of those
receiving needles.
The program is open only to addicts
over age 18 who have applied for drug
treatment and been denied immediate ad
mission to the city’s overcrowded pro
grams .
Anyone wishing to apply Monday had
to locate a small room down a first-floor
corridor marked “Employees Only.” No
sign announced the location of the room,
and applicants had to ask for directions
and pass several police officers to reach
the program’s office.
Applicants would be asked to fill out a
consent form, learn about the program
and take a blood test. They would re
ceive a kit including a condom, sterile
water and pamphlets about safe sex and
needle hygiene.
An addict who tries to get a new nee
dle without returning the old one will be
expelled from the program, Joseph said.
City officials say the program is be
lieved to be the first of its kind in the
United States, though similar programs
have operated in Europe. In Boston,
Mayor Raymond Flynn backed a similar
proposal, but it was rejected by the city
council earlier this year.
orps schedules
arch-in inquiry
By Stephen Masters
Senior Staff Writer
An investigation into Corps march-in
bolicy was scheduled to begin Monday
jtfter an accident involving four Parsons’
lounted Cavalry horses left three in-
lured before Saturday’s game, the unit’s
jadviser said.
1 Lt. Col. Ronald Westervelt, adviser
Northside
deliveries
completed
By Fiona Soltes
Staff Writer
Confusion caused by constant de
tours on Houston, Hogg and Asbury
streets is now over — delivery of the
northside residence hall modules is
complete.
Keith Chapman, manager of con
struction, said that completion of the
deliveries means that module delivery
to the south side of campus can be
gin. The large crane used in construc
tion was moved from the north to the
south side of campus late Friday
night. Deliveries will begin this
week.
‘We originally wanted to move the
crane early last Saturday morning,
hut we couldn’t be sure the streets
would be open for the game,” Chap
man said.
He said he expects delivery of
modules to the south side to run
through February, since four halls are
being constructed in that area.
“Of the 600 total modules to be de
livered, we've still got 480 to go,” he
said.
Tom Williams, director of Park
ing, Transit and Traffic, said that
Mosher Lane and Spence Street will
be closed to parking.
“These streets weren’t supposed to
|c open for parking at all this semes
ter,” Williams said. “We’ve been
saying we would close them for quite
awhile, and now is the time.”
Williams said shuttle buses will re
turn to their original routes as soon as
die construction site is completely
clear, but he said no problems with
the converted routes have been re
ported.
for the cavalry, said the investigation
would begin with regularly scheduled
meetings Monday and would likely con
tinue for three or four days.
The cavalry is an honorary unit of the
Texas A&M Corps of Cadets.
One or more of four horses pulling a
small trailer was “spooked” and the en
tire team ran from the Quadrangle. The
horses turned west onto Joe Routt Boule
vard and knocked over a street sign that
struck three bystanders.
A Humana Hospital official said Mon
day that George Rippy, 70, and his wife
Margaret, 69, were listed in serious but
stable condition.
Rippy suffered injuries to the chest,
spine and neck and his wife suffered
head injuries in the accident. Their 46-
year-old daughter, Carol Linton, was
listed in stable condition with injuries to
her neck and leg. All three were guests
from San Antonio.
First 3 amnesty applicants
made permanent residents
“Any time you have ani
mals involved, you have
the potential for this type
of problem. When one of
them gets nervous, they
all get nervous. When one
of them runs, they all
run.”
— Lt. Col. Ronald West
ervelt
Two members of the cavalry, Travis
Reynolds, a junior range science major,
and Loyd Smith, a sophomore general
studies major, were on the trailer when
the horses bolted. They suffered cuts and
bruises but declined medical treatment,
Bob Wiatt, University director of secu
rity, said.
Westervelt said there was a new horse
in the group at March-in, but could not
confirm whether the new horse was the
one which was “spooked.” The horse
was used during practice, which includes
the use of music to simulate the noise
level, but Westervelt said there is no way
to prepare the horses completely.
Westervelt said he had no knowledge
of any past accidents involving cavalry
horses, but said investigation is nec
essary to prevent future problems.
“We’re looking at this just like they
(the Federal Aviation Administration)
look into an airplane accident,” he said.
He said a decision on the March-in
policy would be made following the in
vestigation.
HOUSTON (AP) — Although only
three amnesty applicants showed up
Monday to obtain permanent residency
status, immigration officials here expect
thousands more to do the same in the
coming months.
Monday marked the first day that ap
plicants could be granted permanent resi
dency under the historic amnesty pro
gram. But only those illegal aliens who
signed up May 5, 1987 — the first day of
the program — were eligible to apply.
“This is a really significant time for
us,” said Ron Parra, district director for
the Immigration and Naturalization Serv
ice. “I think this program is extremely
far-reaching.”
More than 1.7 million people who en
tered the United States illegally before
1982 applied for amnesty nationwide by
the May 4 deadline. The Houston INS
office handled more applications than
any other single immigration office in
the United States — some 125,000.
Those who applied for amnesty must
wait 18 months after their original appli
cation before obtaining permanent resi
dency, meaning only the ones who sub
mitted their applications on the first day
were eligible to get permanent residency
Monday.
On May 5, 1987, 13 people applied
for amnesty in Houston and three of
those showed up Monday to get resi
dency status, including Stephen Buttery.
The 26-year-old French Guiana native
arrived illegally in the U.S. eight years
ago when he jumped off a cargo ship in
Jacksonville, Fla.
Scheduling
for exams
approved
A revised final examinations sched
ule, approved by A&M President Wil
liam H. Mobley, may be released early
next week.
Finals will be administered Dec. 9 and
Dec. 12-14. Exams will not be held after
dusk.
The previous schedule, which pro
posed that final examinations be given
Dec. 12-16, conflicted with the presenta
tion of diplomas at graduation and mili
tary commissioning schedules.
“It’s been a long IV2 years, but I
guess that’s all over with,” Buttery said
after he successfully answered questions
about the U.S. government while a
dozen reporters and cameramen
watched.
Legalized immigrants can apply for
permanent residency 18 months after
they first applied for amnesty and must
apply within one year or lose their legal
status.
Since many illegal aliens were reluc
tant to apply for amnesty at first and only
came foward as the deadline neared, INS
officials expect to be processing more
people in the coming months. On the last
day, 7,000 people applied at the Houston
office.
On the civics test given at the INS cen
ter, applicants must answer at least six of
the 10 questions correctly to pass. An
other requirement is that legalized aliens
have a knowledge of English.
Immigrants can either attend special
classes and present a certificate of com
pletion when they apply for permanent
residency, or they must pass the test on
the subjects given by INS clerks when
they apply.
Gramm, Bush Jr. make
quick pitch at airport
By Sherri Roberts
Staff Writer
George Bush Jr. and Sen. Phil
Gramm thanked an enthusiatic crowd
at Easterwood Airport for their sup
port of George Bush Sr. and asked
for continued efforts until the polls
close today to get him elected.
“Let’s not bring the ball this far
and then lose it on the goal line,”
Gramm told an group of about 200 in
a brief stop yesterday afternoon.
Bush claimed an early victory for
his father, noting, “This is really kind
of a sad moment for me. It’s the last
speech I’ll make before George Bush
becomes president — and what a fit
ting place to do it at — where he’ll re
ceive 70 percent of the vote. ”
Gramm, a former economics pro
fessor at Texas A&M, said he had
worked with the elder Bush for eight
years, and that the presidential candi
date was interested in A&M and its
needs.
“The fellow from Massachusetts
does not know where we are — but
then we know where he’s going —
back to Boston, Massachusetts,” he
said, receiving thunderous applause
from the audience.
Recalling Bush’s Odessa oil busi
ness and his experiences as a naval
aviator and vice president, Gramm
said Bush had succeeded in every
mission he had been given.
Americans, he said, will elect
Bush as president because they want
to move forward.
“Dukakis wants to take us back to
the policies of Jimmy Carter, and we
do not want to go,” he said.
Individuals in Nicaragua, Central
Europe and the Soviet Union, he
said, share the American dream. Un
til the dream comes true for these
countries, the work of U.S. govern
ment officials will not be finished, he
said.
The younger Bush said his father
was motivated not only by his politi
cal philosophy, but also by a love for
his family and for God.
Action, he said, rather than hollow
words, will characterize the Bush
presidency.
A&M Athletic Director Jackie
Sherrill, making a brief appearance at
the rally, presented Bush and Gramm
with Twelfth Man jerseys.
“I have (one here for President
George Bush,” he said. “He’s been
our Twelfth Man in Washington.
Sherrill drew a resounding
‘Howdy!’ from the crowd when he
noted, “One thing neither one of them
said was ‘Howdy.’ ”
A quartet of A&M students known
as “After Class” sang a barbershop
version of “God Bless the U.S.A.”
and led the audience in singing “God
Bless America” at the close of the
rally.