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Texas A&M
The Battalion
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Jason Parker, a sophomore physical educa
tion major from Rogers, practices field goals at
Kyle Field Monday. Parker will be trying to
“walk on” as a place kicker this spring.
Photo by Jay Janner
College Station, Texas Tuesday, March 7,1989!
U.S.S.R. proposes reduction
of troops, weapons in Europe
VIENNA, Austria (AP) — The
Soviet Union proposed huge reduc
tions in troops and armor and rec
ommended Monday that the War
saw Pact and NATO negotiate to
eliminate all battlefield nuclear
weapons from Europe.
Foreign Minister Eduard A. She-
varndadze’s proposals went far be
yond the reductions NATO plans to
suggest at conventional arms talks
that begin Thursday.
In a later speech. Secretary of
State James A. Baker III told 35 for
eign ministers gathered in a baroque
palace that the West’s goal, at least
initially, is to reduce the Warsaw
Pact’s current advantage in conven
tional forces.
Estimates vary but give the Soviet-
led alliance at least a 2-1 advantage
in tanks.
“The Warsaw Pact’s conventional
military preponderance, especially
in the spearheads of attack, is what
makes an invasion possible,” Baker
said.
He urged Soviet President Mik
hail S. Gorbachev to implement the
new thinking” that guides economic
.md political reform in the Soviet
Union by renouncing the Brezhnev
Doctrine “beyond any shadow of a
doubt.”
That doctrine permits military in
tervention in a Soviet bloc country in
the event of a liberal insurrection.
The late President Leonid 1. Brezh
nev enunciated it after the Red army
crushed the liberal “Prague Spring”
of 1968 in Czechoslovakia.
“Those in the East should be free
of the fear that armed Soviet inter
vention, justified by the Brezhnev
Doctrine, would be used again to
deny them choice,” Baker said.
He also said Australia would orga
nize a conference to prevent the
spread of chemical weapons and the
Bush administration was exploring
ways to speed the removal of U.S.
chemical weapons from West Ger
many.
“Unilateral action is nor enou^li "
Baker added. “The Soviet Union has
enormous stocks of chemical weap
ons threatening Europe. We there
fore call on the Soviets to join us, to
accelerate the destruction of their
enormous stockpile of these fright
ening weapons.”
In Bonn, Chancellor Helmut
Kohl said, “I welcome this intention
to explore ways for the early re
moval of chemical weapons from the
Federal Republic.”
Kohl’s chief spokesman, Fried-
helm Ost, said earlier Baker had
telephoned the chancellor Sunday
night and told him the aging U.S.
chemical weapons would be with
drawn by 1992.
Shevardnadze countered a
NATO proposal to retire at least
25,000 Warsaw' Pact tanks, then re
duce armor, artillery and personnel
carriers on both sides by 5 percent to
10 percent, with a three-phase plan
for radical cuts.
The foreign minister’s arms re
duction program that went far be
yond NATO’s by adding missiles,
combat aircraft and soldiers.
“Let me ask what kind of reduc
tions are these if they do not affect
the main component of armed
forces — their personnel?” he said.
“And surely airplanes and helicopt
ers can be used for a surprise at
tack.”
In the Soviet second phase,
500,000 men on each side would be
demobilized.
According to the Union of Con
cerned Scientists, a private U.S. re
search group, the Warsaw Pact has
3.09 million soldiers and NATO
more than 2.13 million. NATO
spends about $300 billion a year to
defend Western Europe, where
326,000 Americans are stationed.
As Shevardnadze explained it, the
Soviet plan's progression would be:
• First phase, two to three years —
Eliminate the imbalance in troops
and arms, cutting 10 percent to 15
percent from the current lowest
jiumbers. . ..... ; .
• Second, also two to three years —
Reduce forces by another 25 percent
and withdraw battlefield nuclear
weapons to a safe distance from “the
line of contact” between the military
alliances. That would make much of
West Germany, along with East Ger
many and Czechoslovakia a nuclear-
free zone.
• Third: Convert remaining forces
to “a strictly defensive character.”
While the reductions are made,
Shevardnadze said, negotiations
AUSTIN (AP) — The Texas Sen
ate on Monday approved a bill that
would make improper recruiting a
criminal offense after a heated de
bate erupted on proposals to weaken
the penalty for those convicted of
trying to bribe a student-athlete to
attend a certain school.
Sen. Chet Brooks, D-Pasadena,
pushed for an amendment to de
crease the penalty from a third-de
gree felony to a class A misdemea
nor for improper payments of less
than $750.
The bill carries misdemeanor
charges for a student who solicits or
accepts money or gifts in exchange
for attending a college and partici
pating in intercollegiate athletics
there.
Brooks said a third-degree felony
charge, which carries a sentence of
up to 10 years in prison and a fine of
up to $5,000, was too stiff for some
one who committed a minor infrac
tion.
should be conducted on eliminating
tactical nuclear weapons in Europe.
His proposal conflicts with the 40-
year-old U.S. policy of deterring the
Soviets with with a mix of weaponry
incuding battlefield nuclear arms,
which have a maximum range of 300
miles.
Kohl wants to delay modernizing
U.S. Lance missiles in West Ger
many for up to three years, with the
support of Norway and officials of
other West European governments.
Sen. Bob Glasgow, the bill’s spon
sor, said the amendment “guts the
bill.” X class A misdemeanor is pun
ishable by a maximum of one year in
jail and a $1,000 fine.
The tougher penalty is needed to
send a message to college recruiters
and alumni nationwide, Glasgow
said. “It’s a notice that we’re giving
to every other school: ‘We’re trying
to clean up our business in Texas,
don’t you come in and mess up our
business,”’ he said.
Prosecutors would not pursue as
rigorously a misdemeanor violation,
Glasgow said. “You reduce that to a
misdemeanor, and I don’t think
there is a county attorney in Texas
that’s going to spend the time and
trouble ... to convict someone of
this offense.”
Brooks’ amendment failed, 18-12,
but he tried another amendment
that would have called for disclosure
See Recruit/Page 8
Senate approves bill
to make violations
in recruiting illegal
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Some insurance rates
will decline,Mattox says
Battalion file photo
By Holly Beeson
REPORTER
Texans can expect a decrease in
property and casualty insurance
rates, Texas Attorney General Jim
Mattox said Monday in the College
Station City Council chambers.
“We want to see a total change in
how the property and casualty insur
ance industry sets its rates,” Mattox
said, ’’and an elimination in allowing
them (firms in the industry) to come
before the board and present all the
rates at the same time.”
The property and casualty insur
ance industry is exempt from anti
trust laws, which enables firms in the
industry to establish their desired
profit levels. They then present their
recommendation as a group to the
Texas State Board of Insurance.
They are presenting it in a way
that makes the least efficient com
pany able to stay in business, Mattox
Dates set
for spring
graduation
May graduates will put on their
caps and gowns to cross the stage
on the following dates:
FRIDAY, MAY 12 at 2 p.m.
• College of Liberal Arts
• College of Geosciences
• Graduate students
FRIDAY, MAY 12 at 7:30 p.m.
• College of Agriculture
• College of Business
• College of Science
• College of Veterinary Medi
cine
SATURDAY, MAY 13 at 9 a.m.
• College of Architecture and
Environmental Design
• College of Education
• College of Engineering
SATURDAY, TUNE 3 at 2:30
p.m.
• College of Medicine
AH local hotels are booked for
May 12 and 13, but some still
have vacancies for June 3.
said, which means the companies
that are more efficient and more
profitable get rich.
“I call for the total repeal of all the
antitrust protections this industry
has because it needs to get back on a
more competitive basis,” Mattox
said.
It is a myth that state insurance is
competitive and regulated, he said.
“It’s not,” Mattox said. “The
Texas State Board of Insurance has
left this industry largely unregu
lated, and we’re trying to change
that.”
The board is under a major siege,
and Mattox is a leading the attack.
“It has been a badly mismanaged
agency,” he said. “As of last week,
nearly all the members have re
signed or their terms have expired.”
Mattox said he is hopeful the gov
ernor will appoint a new board made
up of consumer-oriented members.
“We need individuals who will try
to get a handle on these spiraling in
surance policies,” he said.
The office of the attorney general
has made recommendations to the
Legislature asking it to consider
changing the policy by which rates
are determined.
“We asked for a total restructur
ing of how rates are written in Tex
as,” Mattox said. “We asked them to
take the first steps toward regula
tion.”
Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox
The attorney general urged the
public to let the Legislature know
they’re fed up with the insurance in
dustry’s actions and demand total re
form in the process.
“If we do that, I think we’ll see
changes within the industry,” he
said.
Mattox also discussed im
provements in overall child-support
collections, but said several problems
still exist.
The Bryan child-support office
has increased collections this year by
46 percent, he said. The: statewide
average is 37 percent.
“We are still woefully unstaffed
and have far too many cases to hand
le,” he said.
Nearly 3,600 cases are being han
dled at the Bryan office, and about
30 percent of these cases are on
wage garnishment.
“We think that in the long run,
taking the money out of paychecks
will become the normal way to pay
child support,” he said.
Faculty Senate tries to improve
academics of student-athletes
By Kelly S. Brown
STAFF WRITER
The Faculty Senate approve 1 . i .relation Monday
committing themselves to strengthening the academic
standards and progress of scholarship student-athletes.
The resolution came after the Academics Affairs
Committee released a report on the assessment of ath
letes and their academic performance. Statistics from
the registrar show that student-athletes’ academic per
formance in terms of graduation rate is below that of
the overall student population.
Dr. Samuel Gillespie, a senator and chairman of the
Academic Affairs Committee, said the NCAA has no
grade-point ratio requirements. The NCAA requires
that each institution set eligibility requirements for an
athlete, rather than setting a standard itself.
“Along the line, someone has to start setting the stan
dards,” Gillespie said.
“The Athletic Department does not admit or grad
uate students nor do they give an athlete an undeserved
grade to keep him in school,” Gillespie said. “The re
sponsibility of these athletes belongs to professors,
deans, faculty members and staff of A&M.”
The Academic Affairs Committee is claiming part of
that responsibility by setting University guidelines to
help strengthen the academic standards of athletes.
The five-part resolution states that because the Uni
versity actively recruits, admits or supports through
scholarships some students who are deficient in the
skills necessary to be academically competitive at A&M,
it must provide a program to assist these students in
making a bridge between submarginal and successful
academic performance.
Under the resolution the University administration
will initiate a remediation program to accommodate all
admitted students deficient in academic skills, while col
lege deans are to closely monitor scholarship athletes
performing below acceptable academic guidelines and
uniformly enforce college standards.
According to the resolution, the Unmersitv Athletic
See Senate/Page 8
Attorney General
stresses importance
of water to Texas
By Sherri Roberts
STAFF WRITER
Texas Attorney General Jim Mat
tox said water, along with transpor
tation, energy and an educated pop
ulation, is the key to the long-term
development of Texas.
Mattox, who has announced a
possible bid for the governor’s office
in 1990, praised the Texas Water
Utilities Association for its research
and development efforts within the
water industry and urged it to con
tinue seeking answers to Texas’ wa
ter problems in a speech at Texas
A&M on Monday.
“You need to do the best that you
can to educate the uneducated,” he
said. “When we’re in the legislative
process, most of those people (legis
lators) are asked to be experts on ev
erything in the world — and most of
us know very little about those issues
that you (the water industry) are
about.”
Noting that Monday was the anni
versary of the Alamo’s fall in 1836,
Mattox compared the history of the
water industry with that of the siege,
saying victory is sometimes found in
defeat.
“You all have a history of ups and
downs,” he said. “You are asked to
do things with very little resources,
and are always struggling to get
more resources to try to solve the
problems you’ve got.”
Mattox said he considers himself a
strong environmentalist who, as the
attorney general since 1973, has
played a role in drafting legislation
to protect the environment. The
state has filed more than 1,500 law
suits against polluters, he said.
“We (the office of the attorney
general) have helped draft legis
lation that will control that kind of
irrational adult that takes away our
rural areas,” he said. “We want to
continue to work for you.”
Mattox said he defends the state
of Texas in the lawsuits it files and
those filed against it.
“The attorney general’s office is
the trial law firm for the state of
Texas,” he said. “It’s our (Mattox
and the 400 lawyers who work for
him) responsibility to watch over
court actions.
Mattox also operates the nine-
member Opinions Committee,
which helps various public officials
interpret laws.
In addition to handling consumer
protection actions regarding such is
sues as deceptive advertising and
business practices, Mattox’s office is
responsible for enforcing the collec
tion of child support in Texas. Child
support collections have increased
by 430 percent since the office began
managing that function in 1983.
Silver Taps
ceremony
to honor 1
The solemn sound of buglers
playing “Taps” and the sharp
ring of gunfire will be heard on
campus tonight as one Texas
A&M student who died during
^^the past month is honored
a Silver Taps cere-
mony at
front of the
Academic Build-
!^ip|BS The deceased
student being honored
;Jp§r • Valerie Kay Hurta,
MW 26, a junior in marketing
"ff from Houston , who
Dating back almost a
century, the stately tra
dition of Silver Taps is practiced
on the first Tuesday of each
month from September through
April, when necessary. The
names of the deceased students
are posted at the base of the flag
pole in front of the Academic
Building, and the flag is flown at
half-staff the day of the cere
mony.
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.