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WEATHER
FORECAST for SATURDAY:
A 30 percent chance of rain in the
morning with clearing skies by af
ternoon..
HIGH:63
LOW:45
College Station, Texas
igh failure rate expected on entrance exams
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t at the commiti AUSTIN ( A p) _ Forty-five per-
or conempi|J nt 0 f-F exas s t Uf l e nts are expected
. . , Bwfail the reading section of the col-
un S.,° „?"jge freshman skills test and 46 per-
•ast sat . .. ,‘^Eit are estimated to fail the math
> v\it i re mifM rt j on unc j er a standard approved
ook ;s a true boo*. , the Hiher Education
tof it happened:* ordin ^ tin g B()ard h
in t happen toi* ^j ore t j ian half of minorities are
eople nou dieted to fail those sections of the
ftest, which will have a 70 percent
ssing score under a plan approved
^ an ' mous ^ * n a P re l* n ii nar y board
The cut-off score was chosen over
[rotests from the Mexican American
t his home foriMegal Defense and Educational
their banking Bund, which has sued the state con-
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Soviet gunners
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Afghanistan
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-2611
.ink found
between MS,
AIDS virus
WASHINGT ON (AP) — A ge-
netii test of cells in the blood of
patients with multiple sclerosis
suggests that the crippling disease
a closely associated with a virus
that is similar to the AIDS virus,
researchers report.
E. Prem Kumar Reddy, a re-
searcher at Wistar Institute in
Philadelphia, said the genetic
Study of blood samples from six
multiple sclerosis patients pro
vides “direct proof’ that the hu
man T-lymphotropit: virus, or
HTLV-I, is involved in the MS
disease process.
"This test for the first time
show's that if you do sensitive
enough assays you can find
HTLV in MS patients,’' Reddy
said in an interview. The same
tests on 20 healthy people, he
said; detected the virus m only
one.
A report on the study will be
mblished Friday in the journal of
dence.
“We want to send a message to the
students that we expect them to try
hard on the test, that it is not an easy
test and that they should prepare for
M W e do not want a
score so low that students
who need remediation are
passed on ... into college-
level courses.”
—Kenneth Ashworth,
education commissioner
it,” said Higher Education Commis
sioner Kenneth Ashworth. The test
will include sections on reading,
writing and mathematics.
“We do not want a score so low
that students who do need remedia
tion are passed on through the sys
tem into college-level courses,” Ash
worth said.
The test is required for freshman
and transfer students entering pub
lic colleges in fall 1989, although a
person who has earned at least three
semester credit hours of college-
level work before then is exempt
from taking it.
Students must pass the test before
taking upper-level college courses.
Those found to have deficiencies
must take non-credit remedial
courses.
There will be 36 multiple-choice
questions in reading and math and
35 questions in writing, plus an es
say, on the test to be given for the
first time March 4.
In figures presented on the Texas
Academic Skills Program test, 55
percent of all students are predicted
to pass the reading section. Twenty-
eight percent of blacks, 41 percent
of Hispanics and 61 percent of
whites would pass.
On the mathematics section, 54
percent of all students are estimated
to pass. Twenty-six percent of blacks
would pass, 37 percent of Hispanics
and 61 percent of whites.
Scoring for the 300-600 word es
say would be combined with perfor
mance on multiple-choice questions
on the writing section.
Because the essay requires a dif
ferent grading approach, an esti
mate was not available of those who
would pass the entire writing por
tion, said Ron Swanson, associate
TASP program director at the Coor
dinating Board.
The board can review the passing
standards after the first test, Ash
worth said. The exam will serve as a
substitute for the current test given
to education majors, and any eligible
student can take it.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) —
Soviet gunners wiped out Afghan
llages and shelled a mountain tun
killing hundreds of civilians
ong the key highway carrying Red
Army soldiers home from Afghani-
n, Western diplomats said Thurs-
y
In Washington, meanwhile, Sec
tary of State James A. Baker III
dered the closing of the U.S. Em-
ssy in Kabul, the Afghan capital,
cause of turmoil from the Soviet
oop withdrawal.
Western diplomats in Islamabad
boted Afghan sources and a witness
saying the Soviets and Afghan
tvernrnent troops committed a
ajor atrocity” in shelling both
indsofthe 10-mile Salang Tunnel.
I The tunnel, part of the crucial Sa-
|mg Highway that connects Kabul to
e Soviet Union, cuts through the
indu Kush mountains about 60
[tiles north ofthe capital.
The diplomats, who spoke on con-
|ition of anonymity, quoted a report
om Kabul as saying: “After shel-
itg the north and south ends of the
lang tunnel, Soviet and Afghan
tillery obliterated all dwellings and
llages south of the tunnel.”
In Washington, State Department
kesman Charles E. Redman said,
here are eyewitnesses who say no
Iwellings remain and hundreds of
mhawswere killed.”
A dispatch from Kabul received
one Western embassy quoted re-
orts of witnesses seeing “Soviet
nks rolling over dead bodies of vic-
ms ” along the highway, which runs
foi 250 miles between Kabul and the
oviet border.
It said the report of all houses be-
g destroyed came from three
3urces, including a diplomat who
efends the Afghan government.
Afghan media and military offi-
iers had reported 377 guerrillas
ere killed Tuesday along the Sa
ng Highway, where the insurgents
ave attacked many food and fuel
:onvoys trying to reach Kabul.
Heavy snows also have blocked
■arts of the road, and Kabul has suf
fered severe food and fuel shortages
s the end of the Soviet military
withdrawal approaches.
Moslem guerrillas have fought
jince a Communist coup in April
[978, and Soviet soldiers joined the
attle in December 1979. Last May,
he Red Army began withdrawing
nder a U.N.-mediated agreement
nd all Soviet military forces are to
gone by Feb. 15.
From tfi/s angle?
Don Wilkins of Madisonville, visiting the MSC on a field trip with his
church group Thursday, takes a sideways approach to interpreting
Photo by Kathy Haveman
Frances Bagley’s wood sculpture titled, “The First Crusade.” The
sculpture is part of an exhibit at the MSC Gallery.
“If we find . . . that the test has
failed more students than we can
provide remediation for, then we
can decide at that time whether to
reduce the passing score for this
year,” he said.
MALDEF lawyer Al Kauffman
said there is a need to help students
with deficient skills. But he urged
the board to set lower cut-off scores,
at least at first.
He said the standard should be set
so not more than 20 percent of any
ethnic group would fail, which
would translate to requiring students
to pass 10 to 15 questions on each
section.
Sakharov says
Gorbachev
will be ousted
PARIS (AP) — Soviet President
Mikhail S. Gorbachev probably will
be ousted because he has failed to
seek popular support in direct elec
tions, Andrei D. Sakharov and his
wife were quoted as saying in an in
terview published Thursday.
“The conservatives will overthow
Gorbachev or at least impose their
views on him,” the conservative
French daily Le Figaro quoted Sak
harov, the dean of the Soviet human
rights movement, as saying.
Le Figaro said the six-hour inter
view with Sakharov and his wife, Ye
lena Bonner, also a prominent rights
activist, was conducted over three
consecutive evenings at their Mos
cow home.
The newspaper quoted Bonner as
saying, “The only real defense for a
chief of state is direct election. Why
is Gorbachev afraid? We would elect
him. Our country has no other
leader.
“I think he will be overthrown
soon,” she was quoted as saying. “I
would not bet 10 rubles on Gorba
chev.”
Bonner said that if Gorbachev is
ousted, “so will (be) all those who be
lieved in perestroika,” his program
to restructure Soviet society and its
economy, the paper reported.
Sakharov, who won the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1975, said the West
must continue to pressure the Soviet
Union on rights issues, at least until
an international human rights con
ference that is scheduled in Moscow
in 1991.
He said the meeting, which ini
tially was opposed by Britain and the
United States, “should only take
place if the (human rights) situation
in the Soviet Union is truly satisfac
tory,”
Four local men considered for A&M Board
By Stephen Masters
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
At least 51 candidates are being considered to fill the
two positions on the Texas A&M Board of Regents that
will be vacated Feb. 1, including four local nominees,
according to a list published in the Bryan-College Sta
tion Eagle this week.
The six-year terms of Board Chairman David G. El
ler and Dr. John B. Coleman, both of Houston, will ex
pire Feb. 1. Both were appointed in 1983 by Democrat
Mark White and are not expected to be re-appointed by
Gov. Bill Clements, who is a Republican.
James Huffines, Clements’ appointments secretary,
has been quoted as saying the appointees will be Repub
licans and supporters of the governor. But he said the
appointments may not necessarily come from the list of
candidates.
Clements was criticized earlier this month for ap
pointing acquaintances to the University of Texas
Board of Regents. Critics also charged that at least one
Hispanic should have been appointed to represent the
interests of the Pan American University System. U.T.’s
Board of Regents last year voted to merge with the Pan
Am System.
A&M’s regents voted in November to merge with the
University System of South Texas. There are no His
panics on the A&M Board, but the names of two appear
on the list: San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros and
Hector Guiterrez of El Paso. Cisneros served briefly as a
regent from 1986 to 1987 to complete an unexpired
term.
State Sen. Kent Caperton (D-Bryan) has suggested
appointing a local candidate, but Huffines said Clem
ents has not committed to any such qualification.
The loQal candidates named are M. Bookman Peters,
Class of’59, Dr. Richard H. Harrison HI, Class of’47,
Phil Adams, Class of ’50, and Frank G. Anderson Jr.,
Class of’50.
Five current and former regents have been renomi
nated: Eller, Coleman, Cisneros, William McKenzie of
Dallas and Wayne Showers of McAllen.
McKenzie and Showers were appointed in 1987. Mc
Kenzie is considered the top choice to replace Eller as
chairman.
Also nominated is Fred McClure, Class of ’76. Mc
Clure was A&M’s first black student-body president. He
was recently selected as President George Bush’s legis
lative assistant.
The list also names four women as candidates: Mau-
rine Brown of The Woodlands, Elizabeth Grist of San
Antonio, Donna Reed of Dallas and Lynda Stansbury of
Dallas.
Other nominees include Richard Wainerdi, presi
dent of the Texas Medical Association and associate
member of A&M’s Association of Former Students,
Michel T. Halbouty, Class of ’30, and Arno Krebs Jr.,
Class of’64.
Applicants, Nominees
The following is a list of appli
cants and nominees for the two posi
tions on the Texas A&M Board of
Regents being vacated Feb. 1. The
list does not necessarily reflect the
preferences of Gov. Bill Clements.
• Phil Adams, College Station.
• Robert Allen, Houston.
• Frank Anderson, Bryan.
• Gabe Anderson, Bovina.
• Mike W. Baggett, Dallas.
• Earl Bradley, Eastland.
• Maurine Brown, The Woodlands.
• Henry Cisneros, San Antonio.
• John Clark, Livingston.
• John Coleman, Houston.
• James Cook, Amarillo.
• David Eller, Houston.
• Jack Fritts, Austin.
• Preston Geren Jr., Fort Worth.
• Elizabeth Grist of San Antonio.
• Hector Gutierrez, El Paso.
• Michel Halbouty, Houston.
• Andrew Hansen, Lubbock.
• Richard Harrison, no city listed.
• Bill Hippie, Galveston.
• Roy Huffington, Houston.
• Arno Krebs Jr., Houston.
• Amos Landry Jr., Beaumont.
•John Lindsey, no city listed.
• Jack Little, Houston.
• Ross Margraves, Houston.
• Fred McClure, Washington D.C.
• William McKenzie, Dallas.
•Joe Moore, Austin.
• Michael O’Conner, Victoria.
• Robert Parker, Paris.
• Bookman Peters, Bryan.
• Lonnie Pilgrim, Pittsburg.
• Gerald Puckett, Fort Stockton.
• Carl Raba, San Antonio.
• Donna Reed, Dallas.
• Edwin Ruhman, Kenedy.
• Charles Scruggs, no city listed.
• Hughs Seewald, Amarillo.
• Sam Seymour, Columbus.
• Sam Shepard, no city listed.
• Wayne Showers, McAllen.
• Lynda Stansbury, Dallas.
• Charlie Truitt, Pittsburg.
• Jack Tumlinson, Cameron.
• Richard Wainerdi, no city listed.
• Walter Wilkerson, Conroe.
• George Willeford Jr., Austin.
• Charles Wiseman, San Antonio.
• James Witherspoon, Hereford.
House plans strategies to roll back proposed raises
WASHINGTON (AP) — House
opponents of a proposed 50 percent
congressional pay raise said Thurs
day they can’t stop the increase and
are focusing on long-range efforts to
roll it back and to change the system
of automatic salary hikes.
Rep. Thomas J. Tauke, R-Iovva, a
leading opponent of the raise, said
he will try to organize a meeting of
opponents next week that will as
sume the raise will become law Feb.
8.
Under a special procedure not
used for other legislation, the con
gressional pay raise would become
law unless both the Senate and the
House vote to stop it.
The Senate is virtually certain to
reject the increase in a vote prom
ised by its leaders. But in the House,
Rep. Tony Coelho, D-Calif., the ma
jority whip, has said there wouldn’t
be a vote, and Rep. Dick Cheney, R-
Wyo., the minority whip, advised
Republicans that no legislative busi
ness is expected by the deadline.
“We cannot budge the speaker,”
Former President Reagan recom
mended to Congress that rank-and-
file lawmakers’ salaries be increased
from $89,500 to $135,000. Federal
judges and top executive branch of
ficials also would get 50 percent in
creases.
Any long-range strategy would fo
cus on finding a legislative mech
anism to bring the pay raise issue to
the House lloor.
Tauke said the Senate could pro
vide such a vehicle by passing legis
lation introduced Wednesday. The
bill, anticipating the raise would be
come law, would rescind the increase
entirely for the executive and legis
lative branches. It would require re
corded votes for any future pay
raises.
“We recognize the pay raise is not
going to be stopped. So we have to
look at alternative strategies. We
have to find a method to get a roll
back.”
said Rep. Robert C. Smith, R-N.H.,
who has organized a House letter
writing drive to demand Speaker
Jim Wright, D-Texas, schedule a
vote. Thirty-nine House members,
33 of them Republicans, have signed
the letter.
Tauke said, “Next week, we’ll
have a meeting of members here to
develop • long-range strategy after
the pay raise goes into effect, as it
apparently will.