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exas A&M he Battalion WEATHER FORECAST for THURSDAY: Continued above normal tempera tures with partly cloudy skies. HIGH:82 LOW:56 - obeit Strailol. 88 No. 88 USPS 045360 10 pages c ;°p fcigf College Station, Texas Wednesday, February 1,1989 lnd 'hf N ‘ sch oolb«ii ! J he Asso. ‘■State fod). 421 ya^ m a caret. se cond i B or y behind 1 Hall. Baylor b e . aice'H am ;| ABILENE ( Ap ) — A military re- that |" aill B e b n g j et bound for Hawaii with 19 ^Iftople aboard crashed in a ball of Mines on takeof f Tuesday at Dyess ,l "' ! Mir Force Base, killing at least 17 ieople, the Air Force said. I The plane’s crew “never got it off fie ground,” witness Vernon right, 19, said. “The first thing 1 et crash leaves 17 t Dyess Air Force dead base aid. Ba >4or and, difornia); conference ^just going more com- 1 the othei el hke he | her" there, 'ad Goebel || Rw was just the mushroom of the poke.” Military dependents were among e 12 passengers on board, said yess spokesman Sgt. A1 Dostal, but did not know how many. The me had a crew of seven, he said. n Ut j ■ Skeet Jackson, whose back yard is MindsIfew hundred yards from where the ane crashed, also witnessed the c ri ™ash. “I heard the plane as it was CTiM!yming down,” he said. “Engines *ff t?”" backfiring and missing. It J’EAD'iW?. nl»h: 7 el: eH: 5. 12 ictice*: , April 6 missing. irved off to the left and crashed. Lnd then I saw the ball of smoke pd fire go up.” At least 17 were killed in the rash, Lt. Col. George Peck at Strate- ic Air Command Headquarters in )maha, Neb., said. Military of ficials said they were re ading the bodies as they were )und and searching for the two jrissing. “Any aircraft accident is bad, but te fact that there are as many fatali- ies (in this crash) makes it a partic- larly terrible one,” Maj. Dennis ierson at SAC, said. The KC-135A tanker plane, based i)t K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base near llarquette, Mich., was en route from )yess to Hickam Air Force Base in lawaii on a training mission, Dyess Airman 1st Class Beverly Foster, said. Some of those aboard were from Sawyer, base spokesman Sgt. Anita Bailey, said. “We’re trying to get in touch with the families now but it’s hard, be cause there’s some confusion,” she said. “We’re waiting for confirma tion that these people have been contacted.” The Air Force said the plane crashed at 12:10 p.m. near the south end of the Dyess runway, near U.S. highway 277 about six miles south west of Abilene. According to officials who asked not to be named, the initial reports fowarded to Air Force commanders at the Pentagon and at SAC sug gested the pilot of the ill-fated plane experienced some kind of problem I heard the plane as it was coming down. Engines were backfiring and missing. It curved off to the left and crashed. And then I saw the ball of smoke and fire go up.” — Skeet Jackson, witness during his take-off roll. “It was toward the end of the roll and he apparently had no choice but to press on,” said one source. “But he didn’t have the power to get up for some reason,” added an other. The sources said the plane was carrying close to a full load of fuel — what the Air Force calls a heavy load — totaling 155,000 pounds. The tanker was scheduled to fly direct from Dyess to Hawaii and while en route, to refuel some F-16 jet fight ers flying across the Pacific, the sources said. Grass fires sparked by the crash burned for more than an hour around the plane, which came to rest tilted at about a 45 degree angle with a charred wing tipped toward the sky. It was the second crash at Dyess in less than three months. A B-1B bomber crashed there Nov. 8., after its four-man crew safely bailed out. The maintenance record for the plane, powered by four Pratt Sc Whitney jet engines, was not yet available, Peck said. “Before this afternoon, we had 292 of these airplanes,” he said. “Now, we have 291.” The KC-135, dubbed the Strato- tanker, is thought of as the backbone of the Air Force’s refueling fleet. The aircraft, a military spin-off of the Boeing 707, normally takes a crew of four or five. It can carry a sizeable load of passengers even when carrying fuel. The military began using the first KC-135 As in 1956. The tankers have a range of 1,150 miles while carrying 120,000 pounds of transfer fuel. They cost $20.1 million. A KC-135 crashed Oct. 11, 1988, at Wurtsmith Air Base near Oscoda, Mich. Senators: Clements ignored minorities in regent choices AUSTIN (AP) — Senators com- rlained Tuesday at a committee rearing on Gov. Bill Clements’ three ecent University of Texas regent rominees that Clements had ig- rored minorities and women. Chairman Chet Edwards of the enate Nominations Committee lostponed a vote on confirming the rominees because, he said, some enators had a “very legitimate con- :ern” over the failure to recognize hose segments of the population. “I hope this will not be inter- ireted as any type of personal crit- cism of any of you,” Edwards, D- Juncanville, told Robert Cruik- hank of Houston, Tom Foeffler of Viason and Chester Upham Jr. of Mineral Wells. Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby may have de- irsed any possible opposition to Auikshank by recommending his Judge selects 7 for jury pool in North trial WASHINGTON (AP) — The judge in Oliver North’s Iran-Con tra trial chose seven people for possible jury duty during Tues day’s long opening day but said there could be problems with the “triabilitv of the case” because so many potential jurors had seen or read of North’s testimony in con gressional hearings. U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell said only 16 of the first 54 prospective jurors indicated on questionnaires that they weren’t exposed to North’s congressional appearances in which he supplied details about misleading Con gress and shredding documents. The former White House aide testified to House and Senate in vestigating committees in 1987 under a grant of limited immu nity from prosecution. North’s lawyers, who contend an impartial jury cannot be em paneled, objected as Gesell picked the first seven people for a pool from which the jurv even tually might be chosen. Selection will continue Wednesday. Defense lawyers also filed a motion asking that if a j ury can be empaneled, it should be secluded immediately to minimize the po tential for exposure to immu nized testimony and to protect North’s constitutional rights. Gesell also heard arguments on how exposure to North’s earlier testimony should affect qualifica tion or disqualification of other potential jurors. approval. “I can’t imagine a better- qualified nominee,” Hobby told the committee. The three appointed by the Re publican Clements, subject to Senate confirmation, would replace three active Democrats —Jess Hay of Dal las, Robert Baldwin III of Austin and Mario Yzaguirre of Brownsville, who were appointed by then-Gov. Mark White. Sen. Hector Uribe, D-Brownsville, noted the loss of Yzaguirre, a His panic, and said Clements’ appoint ments would make the regents a very select group. “By all appearances, it would be a very select club — of men,” Uribe said. “The impression that the gov ernor has given by the appointment of three white, Anglo-Saxon, Protes tant males is that perhaps individu als that belong to minorities have nothing to contribute to this state at the flagship university, the Univer sity of Texas.” Uribe asked what the regents would do to dispel that notion. Cruikshank said, “I think we would be terribly remiss to overlook any part of the population of the state of Texas, particularly when it comes to education. “I could not live with myself if I ever felt that I was doing something that prejudiced one individual as he or she attempted to gain an educa tion or attempted to move forward in our state in whatever that en deavor might be.” Sen. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D- Dallas, who is a black woman, said as the 21st century draws near there has yet to be a black appointed as a UT regent. On University of Texas campuses, she said, “(minority students) will tell you they feel isolated, unwanted, un welcomed and that they do not be- long. “I plead with the governor, who mever, to be sensitive to the future of this state. It will be led by a mi nority that is the majority,” she said. “The policies won’t continue to be made by all white males, because that is not the majority, and I can asure you that all of us would rather have an educated leadership than to have an overthrow of this govern ment,” she said. “I only warn you that equality of oppoprtunity will be the only avenue to a safe, productive, successful state as we would all like it to be,” Johnson said. “I would only say to the gover nor that somewhere a start has to come — the time is now, we’ve al most waited too long.” Johnson said her comments should not be taken as partisan or personal but rather as a concern about the future of Texas. Enjoy it while you can George Taylor and his 12:30 soccer class en joy the spring-like weather Monday at Kyle Field. Temperatures probably will not be as Photo by Fredrick D.Joe nice by the end of the week. A cold-weather system in Alaska is expected to reach Texas either Thursday or Friday. Clements: Lawmakers must provide equal school funding AUSTIN (AP) — Although an appellate court deci sion has upheld Texas’ public school financing system, the Legislature can’t “dodge the bullet” of providing equal funding to school districts, Gov. Bill Clements said Tuesday. But several lawmakers noted that the governor didn’t specify how such equity should be achieved. “I know the Legislature will carefully consider the entire issue of school finance and equity,” Clements said in his state of the state address to lawmakers. “The ap pellate court decision . . . reaffirms our responsibility to focus directly on the issue.” In the area of higher education, the governor en dorsed merging the University System of South Texas with Texas A&M University and combining Pan Ameri can University with the Universtiy of Texas System. Clements’ remarks drew applause and criticism from state lawmakers. Some praised his funding goals and others said he hadn’t gone far enough. “He did not give any kind of specifics on the school finance situation,” Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin, and vice chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said. Sen. Kent Caperton, D-Bryan, chair of the Senate Fi nance Committee, said the governor’s proposals weren’t clear enough. “To the extent that he’s laid out some specific ideas, it’s a good message,” Caperton said. In a speech that covered a wide range of topics, the governor also called for mandatory drug education be ginning at age 9, giving financial rewards to schools showing improved student performance and special programs designed to reduce dropout rates. Clements also backed Comptroller Bob Bullock’s idea to sell bonds to give poor school districts low-inter est loans for classroom construction. “I think he threw out topics and said this is the area we need to move f orward in,” Bullock said. House Speaker Gib Lewis said the 1984 education re form law might need some revision to give school dis tricts flexibility in classroom size, capital improvements and spending. Able bodies put parking burden on disabled By Juliette Rizzo STAFF WRITER “I’ll only be here a few minutes.” Or so they say. Minutes of added convenience for the able-bodied person who parks in a space reserved for the hand icapped are inconsiderately wasted minutes for the handicapped indi vidual who needs the space to access campus and attend classes. Dr. Charles Powell, director of handicapped student services, said people on campus need to be aware that handicapped spaces are solely for the disabled. As of June 1988, there were 150 handicapped spaces available, but a considerable amount of these spaces have been lost because of construc tion. “Many of the parking lots were wiped out and only a few hand icapped spaces, as well as regular spaces, were left,” Powell said. He said campus parking officials have been cooperative in trying to relocate the spaces. The spaces were replaced based on the needs of handicapped individuals in certain campus areas. O- “The campus was surveyed to find places easily accessible to the hand icapped,” Powell said. “We tried to find areas that are safe for vans, es pecially for those in wheelchairs who need to exit near curbs.” Handicapped spaces also were re served in the new parking garage near Blocker Building. Texas law re quires that for every 50 spaces there be one handicapped space, pre ferably located next to the building or near an elevator, he said. Powell said the the number of spaces on campus exceeds that num ber, providing the “right spaces for the right people,” but the wrong people are using the spaces illegally. “Illegal parking on campus is not so much a problem as is this,” he said about parking illegally in hand icapped spaces. Linda Lively, parking administra tor, said the problem would be less ened if people who weren’t sup- j posed to park in the spaces would abide by the law. “We only have enough spaces for permanently handicapped people and we could do with several more,” Lively said. “A lot of peole without legitimate handicaps attempt to park in the spaces.” During a four month period be ginning in September 1988, 121 tickets were written to owners of cars parked illegally in a space reserved for the handicapped. “That’s almost one per every handicapped space available,” Lively said. “Potentially, 121 handicapped students couldn’t find a place to park.” By law, a non-disabled person commits an offense by parking in a handicapped space and is automat ically subject to a $50 fine and an on site tow. “It’s almost not worth it, but peo ple still do it, Lively said.” Powell said the problem is frus trating to Handicapped Student Services and to the students who need the spaces. “The biggest problem stems from those students and faculty members who abuse the privilege of having a temporary handicapped permit,” he said. With medical verification of a mo bility problem, a temporary hand icapped permit may be issued to a person by the State Department of Highways and Public Transporta tion and then by the University. The permits, regardless of the nature of impairment, are issued for six months. “The abuse of the temporary per mit is a severe problem on campus,” Powell said. The law does not define the amount of time a person should be able to use the permit if the injury heals before the permit expires. “The law needs to be further defi ned,” he said. “Temporary permits have been issued for everything from sprained ankles to breast feed ing a baby. People with sprained an kles that may heel quickly, before the permit expires, misuse the privilege For the remainder of the time.” Others transfer the use of the per mit to friends. Powell said the law needs to be re evaluated so the permits will be is sued with discretion to insure per manently handicapped individuals their spaces. He has addressed the issue to the Texas State Legislature, but to no avail. . “The law needs to be changed be cause people do not realize their sel fishness is creating teriffic problems for those who desperately need the spaces,” he said. Lively said students on campus are guilty, but they are not the only ones. “Everyone needs to be more sensi tive to the handicapped,” she said. “They are doing real well to just get to school. When they find their spaces taken, their hands are tied. “Fellow students and faculty are suffering from their misuse.”