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WEATHER
FORECAST for WEDNESDAY:
Partly cloudy and continued warm
HIGH:74
LOW:50
. 88 No. 87 USPS 045360 10 pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, January 31,1989
lements proposes $39 mi llion education plan
Gov. Bill Clements sub-
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^vvd but a million proposal to state law-
the delifi(B a ^ ers Monday that would reward public
ci the old Spools for making academic gains, reduc-
t lae tunes of ®8 th e dropout rate and curbing drug and
■cohol abuse.
1 “Now is clearly the time to enhance our
Kucational system so that all our children
lave the opportunity to prosper,” Clements
pd before 3,500 people attending the
(exas School Administrators Mid-winter
lonference. “Certainly no goal is more pre-
I0US.”
Later, Clements told reporters the $39
tillion annual cost of his proposed package
an be raised without increasing taxes.
“I think that we’ll have ample funds,” he
aid. “There are considerable sums avail-
ble by rearranging how we spend those
onies.” Clements said that issuing bonds
lor prison construction could free up some
lunds for his proposed package.
I The governor’s Texas Educational Excel
lence Award System — also called the
EXAS Plan — would give financial awards
to schools showing improvement in drug
and dropout prevention and to schools
where students improve their academic
performance.
Another part of Clements’ proposal is a
recommended change in the performance-
based accreditation system now used by the
Texas Education Agency. The new process
would allow the TEA to concentrate on
school districts that need help the most,
Clements said.
But House Speaker Gib Lewis, .D-Fort
Worth, said Clements’ plan will not provide
enough if it doesn’t address the main issue
confronting lawmakers — a funding in
equity between poor and wealthy school dis
tricts.
“It’s not going to be enough to do what
you really need to do as far as equalization,”
he said.
Clements’ education package comes at a
time when the state is being challenged in a
lawsuit brought by poor school districts.
The suit alleges that the $ 11 billion school
finance system is unconstitutional because it
doesn’t ensure that each school district has
the same ability to obtain money to educate
students.
The 3rd Court of Appeals reversed a dis
trict judge’s ruling that the system was in
deed unconstitutional, and the matter is
now before the Texas Supreme Court.
In his remarks, Clements said, “By re
warding measurable gain in all these areas,
we can ensure that all our schools — re
gardless of wealth — can participate fully.”
Clements even cited an example of “suc
cess stories” from the Edgewood Indepen
dent School District, which is the lead plain
tiff in the suit by poor districts against the
state.
“In San Antonio, educators and the pri
vate sector have joined forces in a full-scale
battle to keep ‘at-risk’ students at Edgewood
High School in class,” Clements said.
But Clements told reporters his propo
sals are not a response to the lawsuit.
Clements also proposed kicking off a
public awareness campaign to try to keep
children in school. He said he also will ap
point a dropout prevention coordinator
from his office’s budget.
The proposal also includes rewarding
dropouts who re-enter high school and
earn their diplomas by providing them with
a tuition credit or privately donated cash
award for college. The proposal also calls
for a financial incentive program for high
school students who complete courses in
physics and calculus.
Clements said investing in education will
help the state save money in the long run.
He said illiteracy costs the state more than
$17 billion per year in lost income and tax
revenue, unemployment insurance, adult
revenue and the increased cost of welfare
and crime.
“The correlation between a life of crime
and illiteracy is all too real,” he said. “In
deed, nearly 90 percent of all inmates in
Texas prisons failed to complete high
school.”
Clements said Sen. Carl Parker, D-Port
Arthur, would carry his proposals in the
Senate, and Rep. Kent Grusendorf, R-Ar-
lington, would sponsor the House legis
lation.
Prior to his speech, Clements received
the final report of the Select Committee on
Education, which has recommended a
longer school year and a state-funded $100
million annual school construction fund
program. The 15-member committee also
has made proposals that would require state
funding increases ranging from $329 mil
lion to $632 million to achieve funding equ
ity in the school system.In related action,
state Rep. Alex Moreno Jr., D-Edinburg,
filed a bill mandating the abolition of school
districts that have less than 500 students
and more than three times the state average
property wealth per child.
“Some school districts in this state exist
only as tax havens to shelter mineral hold
ings and other wealth from paying their
fair share of taxes,” Moreno said.
Moreno said the bill would reduce the
disparity between poor and wealthy dis
tricts, which is at issue in the Edgewood law
suit.
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AUSTIN (AP) — In the wake of
ecent schoolyard shootings, state
ep. Henry Cuellar said Monday he
introducing legislation requiring
Ihe death penalty in Texas for peo-
le convicted of killing a student or
chool employee on school premises.
Although none of the recent inci-
ents occurred in Texas, Cuellar, a
emocrat from Laredo, said he be-
ieves the law would help prevent at-
acks on schoolchildren.
“As of today, we have been lucky a
exas school has not become a tar-
t range,” Cuellar said.
Earlier this month, Patrick Ed-
ard Purdy, 26, entered the
grounds of an elementary school in
[Stockton, Calif., where he opened
fire with a Chinese-made semi-auto
matic AK-47 assault rifle on hun
dreds of children that were playing
in the schoolyard.
He fired from 106 to 110 shots,
killing five youngsters and wound-
presi ng 30 others, including a teacher.
THe then turned a pistol on himself
and died from a single shot to the
bead.
Nine days later, four students
were wounded — none critically —
when struck by gunfire outside a
Washington, D.C. high school.
Two people who were not stu
dents at the high school were subse
quently arrested on assault charges
lin the incident, which followed a
Jquarrel in the school cafeteria.
I On Sept. 26, 1988, a lone gunman
I walked into Oakland Elementary
Y DOUBlI I School in Greenwood, S.C., and
r DATE' Tllfi 0 P enec l fi re with a handgun in a
crowded cafeteria and a classroom.
Two 8-year-old girls died and nine
other people, including two teach
ers, were wounded.
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The gunman, whom family mem
bers say had a history of mental
problems, was charged with two
counts of murder, along with other
Idar/Hahidbo J J^ e j s awa iting a trial date.
■ES: Rarticips Cuellar said he began researching
leatimet05M such a bill before the Stockton inci-
ion. DIVISIO dent
Women S ‘ ^ “The senseless slaying of a student
Jividualsenl! dn an environment dedicated to the
:ecwillshOOl®P eacetul pursuit of knowledge and
srknth a:., J the advancement of society must re-
Jgsult in the highest price,” Cuellar
f bows areaf sa id
Serve equipil| Currently, state law allows for the
TION' Class! death penalty when a person is con
victed of murder of a police officer
or firefighter on official duty, or in
tentional murder during the com
mission of a burglary, robbery, ag
gravated sexual assault or arson.
Texas law also carries the death
penalty for persons convicted of
murder for hire; murder while es
caping a penal institution; murder
of a prison inmate by another in
mate; and multiple murders.
Paintin’ the town
A painter takes advantage of the dry day to
work on the underside and roof of Rudder
Photo by Mike C. Mulvey
Tower Monday as part of the building’s clean
up and outside renovation.
U.S. Embassy staff
makes final plans
to exit Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Ma
rine guards lowered the flag for the
last time Monday, and the U.S. Em
bassy staff prepared to depart be
fore the Red Army leaves Kabul’s
fate to Afghan soldiers and Moslem
guerrillas who wait in the hills.
“As we say goodbye, we say, ‘God
bless the United States,’ ” said
Charge d’Affaires John D. Glass-
man, the ranking American diplo
mat still in Kabul, at the solemn cere
mony.
“Today we leave at a moment that
is both happy and sad — pleased
that the people of Afghanistan are
going to oe relieved of their suffer
ing, but we know their struggle is not
over.
“The people of the United States
are with th£m,” Classman said, rais
ing the folded flag above his head in
a salute. “We will be back when the
conflict is over.”
Marine guards brought down the
Stars and Stripes, gently folded the
flag and handed it to Classman, who
walked to a small slab of marble on
the other side of the compound that
honors Adolph Dubs, the former
U.S. ambassador.
Dubs was kidnapped, then killed
along with his abductors when sol
diers tried to rescue him Feb. 14,
1979. U.S. officials still do not know
the motive.
Soviet soldiers entered Afghani
stan’s civil war nine years ago and
are to be gone by Feb. 15 under a
United N a t i o n s - m e d i a t e d
agreement. Moslem insurgents, who
get most of their support from the
United States and Pakistan, were not
parties to the agreement and predict
victory soon after the Red Army is
gone.
Yuri Maslyukov, Soviet deputy
premier, arrived to meet with Najib
just after Soviet Defense Minister
Dmitri Yazov ended a three-day visit
to Kabul. A Western diplomat in Is
lamabad, Pakistan, said the visits
were meant to “boost the sagging
morale of the communist govern
ment.”
Embassy officials would not say
when the American staff of two dip
lomats, four Marine guards and five
others would leave on a chartered
flight to New Delhi, India. The Ka
bul airport was closed Monday be
cause of a three-inch snowfall.
The State Department said last
week the embassy would be dosed
because of fears that Afghanistan’s
conscript army could not protect
foreign diplomats after the Soviets
leave.
The departure of the embassy
staff will leave 10 Americans in Af
ghanistan, all missionaries.
Canada withdraws from war games
after plane crash kills eight soldiers
skilled.
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FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — Canada pulled
out of joint cold-weather military exercises Mon
day, the morning after eight soldiers were killed
in the crash of a C-130 transport plane trying to
land in icy fog at 50 degrees below zero.
The four-engine Hercules was carrying eight
crewmen and 10 paratroopers from Edmonton,
Alberta, to participate in Brim Frost ’89 when it
crashed Sunday night at the end of the runway at
Fort Wainwright, U.S. Army Maj. Sherrel Mock
said..
Three men were in serious condition, one was
listed as stable and six others were being held for
observation at the base’s Bartlett Army Commu
nity Hospital, Mock said Monday.
“We don’t know if the cold weather had any
thing to do with it,” Mock said. “Teams are out
there right now, going through the wreckage.
“The investigation is still in its early stages.
They’re wondering if it was the weather or some
thing mechanical.”
A 450-man Canadian paratroop force was to
support the U.S. Army’s 1st Brigade, 6th Infan
try Division (Light), in a major land battle that
was the centerpiece of the Brim Frost ground
exercises near Fairbanks.
But after the crash, Canadian officials
canceled their forces’ participation and recalled
their remaining aircraft and soldiers, Mock said.
“They canceled because of the equipment they
lost (in the crash),” Mock said. “The aircraft was
bringing in equipment ranging from snow ma
chines to cold weather gear.”
Military planners call Brim Frost “the premier
cold weather training exercise in the free world.”
But temperatures plunging to more than 60 be
low zero during the past two weeks have been too
much of a test.
The bitter cold has caused metal fatigue and
rubber fatigue in trucks and aircraft, stalling
equipment and generally slowing maneuvers,
Mock said.
“But we’ve been able to land aircraft,” he said.
“Another Canadian C-130 had landed an hour
earlier,” he said. “The third aircraft in the flight
was diverted to the Fairbanks airport because the
runway was blocked.”
The plane’s last contact with the control tower
was at 6:47 p.m. There were no distress calls
from the crew before the crash. Mock said.
Legislators call for new open-container law
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AUSTIN (AP) — State lawmakers
filed bills Monday banning open al
coholic beverages for passengers
and drivers, with exceptions for
those in mobile homes and limou
sines and for clergy carrying alcohol
for religious purposes.
The new bills, sponsored by Rep.
Bill Blackwood, R-Mesquite, and
Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo,
would strengthen 1987 laws against
open alcohol containers, which re
quired law officers to see a driver
drinking before issuing a citation.
The proposed legislation would
make it a misdemeanor for the
driver or any passenger to have an
open alcoholic beverage, including
an unmarked or disguised one, in
side the passenger compartment of a
vehicle.
The 1987 bills, which Zaffirini
helped carry, were “simply a first
step,” she said in a news conference
with Blackwood and representatives
of the Texas Department of Public
Safety and Mothers Against Drunk
Driving.
“We said we would be back this
time, and indeed, we are,” Zaffirini
said.
Also present to support the bills
were representatives of the Texas
Commission on Alcohol and Drug
Abuse and the Combined Law En
forcement Associations of Texas.
Blackwood said the 1987 law al
most was impossible to enforce be
cause officers had to witness a viola
tion and drivers could too easily
“I
I’m not talking about
prohibition. I’m talking
about public safety.”
— Bill Blackwood,
state representative,
disguise alcoholic beverages or could
hand one to a passenger if pulled
over.
Under the proposed bills, a driver
would be cited if he or anyone else in
the vehicle, including someone in
the back seat, is caught with an open
alcoholic beverage.
Open alcohol containers would
have to go in the trunk, Zaffirini
said, except in mobile homes and
limousines. The only other excep
tion would be for clergymen carry
ing wine for religious ceremonies.
“Em not talking about prohibi
tion,” Blackwood said. “I’m talking
about public safety.”
About two-thirds of the states
have restrictions on drinking while
driving, and 23 have complete bans
on open containers, similar to the
bills proposed here, said Milo Kirk,
legislative liaison for MADD.
“Drinking and driving must be
separated in the interest of public
safety,” Kirk said
She said a 1984 DPS survey of fa
tal crashes on Texas highways
showed 12 percent involved open
containers of alcohol.
A MADD survey last summer of
100,000 people across the state
showed widespread support for a
complete ban on alcoholic beverage
containers in vehicles, Kirk said.
Bills for complete bans on open
containers passed the Senate in 1985
and 1987, but never made it through
the House.
Silver Taps
ceremony
to honor 3
The solemn sound of buglers
playing “Taps” and the sharp
ring of gunfire will be heard on
campus tonight as three Texas
A&M students who died during
the past month are hon
ored in a Silver Taps
ceremony
at 10:30 in
front of the
Academic Build
ing.
The deceased
students being hon
ored are:
• Gina Renaye Cure,
18, a freshman in busi
ness administration
from Fort Worth who
died Dec. 21.
• Terry Dean Devilbiss
Jr., 24, a graduate student
in chemistry from Del
,Valle who died Jan. 23.
• Mark Nazmi Ta-
dros, 19, a sophomore in business
administration from Houston
who died Jan. 19.
Dating back almost a century,
the stately tradition of Silver Taps
usually is practiced on the first
Tuesday of each month from
September through April, when
necessary. Because of the
Christmas holidays, this month’s
ceremony was rescheduled for to
day. The names of the deceased
students are posted at the base of
the flag pole in fr6nt of the Aca
demic Building, and the flag is
flown at half-staff the day of the
ceremony.
Lights will be extinguished and
the campus hushed as Aggies pay
final tribute to fellow Aggies.
The Ross Volunteer Firing
Squad begins the ceremony
marching in slow cadence toward
the statue of Lawrence Sullivan
Ross. Shortly after, three volleys
are fired in a 21-gun salute and
six buglers play a special arrange
ment of “Taps” three times — to
the north, south and west.