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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 1989)
[The Battalion iony WEATHER FORECAST for FRIDAY: Arctic cold arrives. Partly cloudy, windy and very cold. Slight chance of showers. HIGH:45 LOW-.29 Vol. 88 No. 89 USPS 045360 14 pages College Station, Texas Thursday, February 2,1989 iously scheduled}] he public, ssion sounded unb hear in theopens^ i i vthing persuasive Senator: UT board nominees will be rejected s an old trial lawyer, vat I heard has tofj| \ en the high motive) >n, D-Ill. < )\ver was married jo to Dixon. Senator rower on t le more alcohol tit able to add anytliii Sen. Fete Wilson,|j t t'd to approve lotto and there was nom tli’s remarks woti| issiles miff at ^iilai use of sucli;i sing usually gets ('.outoumanossak ied h\ the higgttys- nd the General going to lead mv, look at a beautiful I he counttvskfe?" >s said defenseadvti h line to develop,ta ng tends to look I posing pretty wottiet c rockets doesn’t im >king to buy militan ('.outoumanos is tn * LI.S. military buyet ense hardware shop ()()-SS()() rocketsare, an other, morehijji , such as the Stingen. ce to hire a majorsu o sing and dance,k <. that way,” Count nd shooting off rod i isn’t really approp AUSTIN (AP) — A black senator said Wednesday he has the votes to reject Gov. Bill Clements’ three recent University of Texas regent nominees, which would make the nine-member board all-white and all male. “The issue is how can the University of Texas stand alone in this state as a white, male bastion?” said Sen. Craig Washington, D-Houston. “It has no right to be that. "The UT board belongs to all those peo ple of the state of Texas — an institution that you as a taxpayer and I as a taxpayer lermaid Singing" at 7 ve officers meeting al i Celebration of Black SC. T'iSO p.m. in510Rud- Blocker. I n. in 510 Rudder, ve auditions for the C. program applications ter. tholic single's happy :Bon the quad, ng at 8:30 p.m. in 501 C.D.P.E. at 845-0280 the C.D.P.E. at 845- p.m. at Mr. Gatti'sal ratio party chairman, 507 Rudder. the film The Desert s Library. ion for cancer aware- tn Cancer Society ol- n 342 Zachry. ee babysitting for fac- MSC. meet at 8:30 p.m. in aak at 10 a.m. in 114 JiGras at Texas AM ing Tomato. I0NAL WEEK COM- ilent show from 7-10 ship drive at 7 p.m. in l:30 p.m. at St. Marys C.D.P.E. at 845-0280 i. Call the C.D.P.E. al the C.D.P.E. at 845- aptam's meeting at 5 rchery doubles and a r applications are due | 216 Reed McDonalC late. We only publist odoso. What's Up is . Submissions are rut in entry will run. If you have to support, and I think a majority of the people of the state of Texas are dissatis fied with those nominees.” he said. Washington spoke with reporters the day after the Senate Nominations Committee questioned for three hours regent nomi nees Robert Cruikshank of Houston, Tom Loeffler of Mason and Chester Upham Jr. of Mineral Wells. Most of the criticism was directed at Clements’ failure to name a woman or mi norities, not at the qualifications of the three nominees. Committee chairman Chet Edwards, D- Duncanville, postponed a vote on the nomi nees so committee members and other sen ators could read a transcript of the hearing. Edwards also said he was writing Clements for a list of women and minorities that the governor has appointed to boards and com missions. Washington said, however, he thought Clements had done “an excellent job in other appointments. I don’t have any quar rel at all. “In fact, this governor has the best re cord of any governor ever in appointing women and minorities to boards and agen cies,” he said. “But there is nothing differ ent, there is nothing special about the Uni versity of Texas board of regents that puts it beyond the pale of the average citizen.” Washington said he had 14 votes to block the nominees. Senate confirmation requires two-thirds approval of those senators pre sent, or 21 votes, if all 31 members answer the roll call. “It doesn’t have anything to do with any of the individuals or their qualifications, they are eminently qualified,” Washington said. “My issue is, if we confirm these three people, we will go back 27 years — 27 years ago was the last time that the University of Texas board was all white male,” Washing ton said. “We’re not going to go back 27 years, we’re going to go forward 27 years. “I think it’s time for us to take a stand as a body,” he said. “You don’t have to be a rich, white male to serve on the University of Texas board, and I’m going to prove that on the floor of the Senate.” Texas congressmen want chance to vote on salary increase WASHINGTON (AP) — Only a handful of Texas congressmen would support raising their salaries by $45,000 if House Speaker Jim Wright brings the sizzling hot pro posal to a vote. Most of their colleagues from the Lone Star State, however, say they want a chance to vote on the 50 per cent pay raise and, want to vote it down. Although the heat may be white hot, Reps. Marvin Leath of Waco, Charlie Wilson of Lufkin, Mickey Leland of Houston and Jack Brooks of Beaumont say they support the raise. Wright, a Fort Worth Democrat, had planned to allow the increase to become law Feb. 8 without a vote in the House. But now he says mem bers can have a vote if that’s what they tell him they want in a confi dential survey circulated this week. The speaker said he expected members to tell him what they al ready communicated privately: They want the raise without a vote, even if the Senate defeats the pay hike as expected this week. Both houses of Congress must vote it down to keep the raise from taking effect. “I think we’ll get a vote on the pay raise,” Rep. Jack Fields, a Humble Republican, predicted Wednesday, while calling the whole process “con voluted and deceptive.” In answering Wright’s survey, Fields wrote: “My constituents are outraged not only with the excessive amount of the pay raise but also the process by which it is being imple mented!” Other Texas congressmen also are frustrated with the process and the size of the raise. A presidential commission recommended the in crease and former president Ronald Reagan put his stamp of approval on it before leaving office. “It’s just a little zinger from the president to Congress that he left us with,” Rep. Ralph Hall, a Rockwall Democrat, said. “It’s just an albatross around the neck of Congress as we Comptroller predicts 90,000 new jobs in ’89 AUSTIN (AP) — The state’s economy is rebounding toward health and a measure of that re covery is that 90,000 new jobs should be created in 1989, Com- troller Boh Bullock’s office re ported Wednesday. Such a jobs gain would set a re cord of 6.7 million Texans gain fully employed by year’s end, the comptroller said. “Texas has weathered the oil- bust years well,” Bullock said. “We’ve regained most of the ground we lost, and the state's outlook continues to improve.” The latest edition of “Fiscal Notes,” published by the comp troller’s office, reported that since the recession’s low point in spring 1987, the state has gained 176,000 jobs and recovered 80 percent of the jobs lost during the bleak 1986-87 period. Unemployment has fallen nearly three percentage points, to about 7 percent by the end of 1988. “Assuming the U.S. economy remains healthy and oil prices are relatively stable in the current range, Texas’ economic growth will continue through 1989,” the publication said. “By the end of the year, recovery will turn into expansion as statewide employ ment surpasses its late-1985 peak.” start with a new president.” Hall said the commission’s recom mendation has caused “more an imosity and more acrimony from the people who elected us to those of us who are elected.” Congress is not only wrestling with the pay raise but is considering a ban on honoraria — the fees mem bers of Congress receive for speak ing to special interest groups — and closing a loophole that allows mem bers of Congress in office before Jan. 8, 1980, to convert stockpiled campaign funds to personal use when they retire. Eleven Texas House members would lose their right to convert thousands of left over campaign funds if the loophole is closed. Rep. Bill Archer, a Houston Re publican, has the greatest surplus in campaign funds in his war chest among the 11 — $637,810 — and fa vors doing away with the loophole. According to Federal Election Commission records, other “grand fathered” Texans and their totals: Leath, $486,033; Brooks, $439,347; Rep. Martin Frost of Dal las, $252,418; Rep. Kika de la Garza of Mission, $174,778; Rep. Charles Stenholm of Stamford, $146,801; Rep. Jake Pickle of Austin, $140,496; Wilson, $94,837; Wright, $83,843; Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez of San Antonio, $15,346; and Leland, $13,916. Sens. Phil Gramm and Lloyd Bentsen also are covered by the grandfather loophole. However, Bentsen, a Democrat who was just re-elected, ended his campaign with a debt of $11,718, FEC records indi cated, and Gramm, a Republican who has $1.94 million, is up for re- election next year. Lining up against a pay raise that would boost their salaries from $89,500 to $135,000 are both sen ators, Democratic Reps. Pickle, Sten holm, Hall, de la Garza, Frost, John Bryant of Dallas, Michael Andrews of Houston, Jim Chapman of Sul- pher Springs, Greg Laughlin of West Columbia, Albert Bustamante of San Antonio and Bill Sarpalius of Amarillo, and Republican Reps. Fields, Archer, Dick Armey of Cop per Canyon, Lamar Smith of San Antonio, Joe Barton of Ennis, Larry Combest of Lubbock, Steve Bartlett of Dallas and Tom DeLay of Sugar Land. Wright personally supports a 30 percent pay raise tied to a repeal of honoraria, a spokesman said. Now, how did that get there? Walter Higgle, construction superintendent from Spaw Glass Construction, stands next to a tree on the 8th floor of the new Photo by Mike C. Mulvey petroleum engineering building. The tree, which was put up by the workers, stands as a symbol of the building’s completion. Alaskan cold front spreads ‘big chill’ over large portion of lower-48 states Associated Press The Alaska-born blast of cold air that struck like a hammer blow to the balmy Lower 48 pushed southward and eastward Wednesday, stretching the big chill from the Pacific to Okla homa to the Great Lakes. “February is going to be quite different from January,” said Bob Snider, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Ann Arbor, Mich. Midwesterners who chuckled at the weather in Alaska over the weekend while polishing their golf clubs saw the winter storm come in with a vengeance. Folks in the normally rainy Pacific Northwest coped with a rare snowfall, and East erners counted the waning hours of springlike weather as the cold front moved their way. As the cold pushed into the country Wednes day, temperatures fell 18 degrees in one hour at Ardmore, Okla., the National Weather Service said. Russell, Kan., which shared the nation’s high of 84 degrees Tuesday afternoon, had read ings in the lower teens a day later and wind chills in the 30-below-zero range. Not counting Alaska, Cut Bank, Mont., was the nation’s icebox at midday Wednesday, with a reading of 31 below zero, and temperatures in the state were forecast to dip below 40 below by Thursday morning. Electric power in Great Falls, a city of 57,000, and several smaller towns in north-central Montana was knocked out for nearly an hour Wednesday morning when the Black Eagle hydroelectric dam broke down. “We don’t know what caused it,” said Cort Freeman, Montana Power Co. spokesman. “There’s a lot of things that can happen in weather like this.” Slocum intends to renew A&M’s integrity Editor’s Note: The following is the first in a series of two stories on changes in the Athletic Department since the resig nation of Jackie Sherrill in December. Today’s story will focus on Head Foot ball Coach R.C. Slocum. By Stephen Masters SENIOR STAFF WRITER After a tough year both on and off the field, Texas A&M’s football program is taking a new direction — one of “inte grity first, winning second.” Leading the way is Head Coach R.C. Slocum. Slocum was named coach on Dec. 12 by University President William Mob ley, after Jackie Sherrill resigned his po sition as football coach and athletic di rector. Slocum has been an assistant coach at A&M for 16 years. Mobley named John David Crow athletic direc tor. At the Dec. 13 press conference an nouncing Sherrill’s replacements, Slo cum made clear that integrity, not the Cotton Bowl, is the goal of the A&M football program. “We’re not kidding about the direction we’re going,” he said. “We’re serious about it. I hope we can speak to other people across the country and without R.C. Slocum Photo by Jay Janner blinking an eye, tell them exactly what we’re going to be about at Texas A&M.” But if actions speak louder than words, Slocum’s directions have been a bullhorn. Assistant coaches George Pugh and Joe Avezzano and Strength and Con ditioning Coach Keith Kephart were re leased from their duties in December. Fhigh and Avezzano allegedly lied to NCAA Infractions Committee investiga tors. Kephart was mentioned in a Sports Illustrated article in connection to ram pant use of steroids while he was a strength coach at the University of South Carolina. Slocum also asked for a clause to be put in his contract calling for his auto matic dismissal if anyone on his staff in tentionally violates NCAA rules. Since his hiring and the Athletic Department dismissals, other changes have been made by President Mobley and himself, Slocum said. “President Mobley has hired Larry Dixon as a full-time compliance officer,” he said. “He will answer only tq John David Crow and (Vice President for Fi nance and Administration) Robert Smith. “We have installed a chain of com mand and a system of checks and bal- ' ances. He (Dixon) oversees and monitors everything we do. He has access to all of our records and he reports only to Robert Smith. “Dr. Mobley has sent a letter to all alumni asking them not to contact re cruits or players. At all speaking en gagements I attend, I tell both Aggies and friends that we need their support, but we need their support in an appropri ate manner.” Slocum also has taken steps to prevent illegal contacts with players, he said. “Beginning this fall, we will close off the locker room to alumni after all ball games,” he said. “Parents will be al lowed in, and recruits will be allowed in with a name tag. But there will be no alumni. It’s a violation for an alumnus to even/talk to a recruit. “I’m not saying there was a problem before, but we just don’t want to create a situation where there could be a prob lem. We’re cutting it off before it be comes a problem. ” One problem Slocum must deal with is this year’s recruiting. A&M was guar anteed to be slow out of the blocks when the NCAA handed down its penalties in September, putting the Aggies on a two- year probation, cutting the University’s scholarships from 25 to 20 and banning A&M from post-season play in 1988. The Aggies also were limited to seven assistant coaches who could recruit pro spective student-athletes. Just as the clamor was dying down af ter the penalties, a story in the Dallas Morning News quoting former player George Smith emerged. The November story opened A&M up to the possibility of the NCAA’s “death penalty,” even though Smith said he had lied in inter views with the Morning News. Sherrill resigned at the end of the fall semester. Last week A&M reported the findings of its internal investigation to the NCAA. The investigation found that Sherrill paid money to Smith, but it un covered no evidence that it was “hush money,” as Smith originally said. The result of the past five months’ rol ler-coaster ride has been a crippling of A&M’s recruiting efforts. National sign ing day is Wednesday and A&M has eight non-binding commitments; but the University didn’t receive its first until mid-January. “All the hoopla in December didn’t help us much,” he said. “We were thrown in with (the University of) Okla homa, (the University of) Houston and Oklahoma State (University). We’ve spent most of our time trying to defend ourselves.” But Slocum said A&M is not alone in its recruiting problems. “No doubt it’s a conference-wide problem,” he said. “After our and UH’s problems (with the NCAA), the South west Conference has a serious problem.” With those problems in mind, he said, all nine of the conference’s football coaches got together to produce a video tape for recruits, spelling out that the SWC is committed to abiding by NCAA rules. Other problems facing Slocum and the See Slocum/Page 5