Thomas
iul Irwin
M OlU
tet
;es
inseling, and
Parmer’s bill
ii mi tree to the
I awaits a com-
y Parmer and
i, D-McAUen,
iing trust fund
sing Agency to
:e-income peo
ple affordable
i Whitmire, D-
larold Dutton,
allow county
to set up com
ess.
‘SJOB
for
Stu-
389 to
Wednesday, April 26,1989
The Battalion
Page 5
Equine exhibition benefits A&M
Research endowment gets proceeds from Houston horseshow
By Sharon Maberry
STAFF WRITER
A Texas A&M equine research fund will bene
fit from Horseman magazine’s Expo89 Thursday
through Sunday in Houston.
Horseman magazine will sponsor an exhibi
tion of different horse breeds with proceeds
going to the N.W. “Dick” Freeman Equine Re
search Fund for Texas A&M equine research.
The Freeman research fund honors a man
who was a good friend of A&M, said Dr. Gary
Potter, an animal science professor.
“Dick Freeman was president of the Houston
Livestock Show and Rodeo and chairman of the
board of Tenneco,” Potter said. “He was active in
the horsebreeding industry and a strong sup
porter of the horse program at A&M. He affec
tionately referred to his ranch in Brenham as the
A&M annex.
“In his honor, the N.W. ‘Dick’ Freeman Fund
was established for contributing money to a per
manent endowment for equine research (at
A&M^ ”
David T. Gaines, editor and publisher of
Horseman magazine, wanted to donate proceeds
of Horseman Expo89 to A&M. Potter said he
suggested the money go to the N.W. “Dick” Free
man Fund.
Horseman Expo89 will feature an exhibition
of about 30 horse breeds, ranging from minia
ture ponies to draft horses, at the Houston As-
troarena.
Expo89 brings together the broadest possible
representation of horse breeds and horse
manship styles and disciplines.
“It will be similar to a competitive horse show.
but it’s strictly for exhibition,” Gaines said.
“There will be no winners or losers.”
Apart from the exhibition, there will be a trade
show in which industry experts answer questions
about equine topics including breeding, showing,
training and riding, Gaines said.
Horseman Expo89 also will feature clinics and
seminars addressing equine topics including
broodmare and stallion management, parasite
control, lameness, training and selling of horses
and equine nutrition, Gaines said. A&M profes
sors will lead several seminars.
Gaines said he thinks Expo89 will be successful
cpc
and has tentative dates at the Astroarena for five
years.
Expo89 tickets, available at Ticketron, are $5
for adults and $3 for children under 12.
Paper says Sears
may relocate
group to Dallas
DALLAS (AP) — Dallas is one
of three or four cities that Sears,
Roebuck and Co., the nation’s
largest retailer, has selected in
narrowing possible relocation
sites for its merchandising group,
according to a newspaper report.
Although Charlotte, N.C., has
emerged as the leading con
tender, Chicago-based Sears now
has a “short list” of possible sites,
the Dallas Times Herald reported
Tuesday.
The move would involve 6,700
of the group’s 8,000 employees,
sources told the paper. But Sears
spokesman Gordon Jones told
the Associated Press Tuesday that
the company would have no com
ment on the relocation or when it
might take place.
“We have no deadline,” Jones
said.
Sears officials are expected to
visit Dallas within the next two
weeks to look at the area and
meet with economic development
officials, the newspaper said.
“All of us are operating on
feelings, but we believe that we
are definitely on the list,” said
Scott Eubanks, who heads Dallas
Partnership, an economic devel
opment agency. “The big un
known is Illinois, and I don’t want
to sell them short.”
Since October, when Sears an
nounced it wanted to build a cam
pus-style headquardfefS complex
forks merchandising group, Chi-
cago-area officials have been
working to keep the company in
the city where it grew up.
The merchandising division
now has headquarters in the 1 10-
story Sears Tower in downtown
Chicago. In making the an
nouncement, the company said it
would look at other cities but pre
ferred to stay in the Chicago area.
Sears is selling the 15-year-old
tower, but the company has said
its corporate headquarters will re
main there after the merchandise
group is gone.
The merchandise group,
which oversees the retailer’s
stores and catalog operations, ac
counts for more than half of the
company’s size.
Sears also owns Allstate Insur
ance, Dean Witter Financial Serv
ices and Coldwell Banker Real Es
tate, none of which is being
relocated.
Eubanks said he expects the
company to make a decision in
the next few weeks. “I think it’s
real close,” he said.
Leaders say legislature to start
budget negotiations Thursday
AUSTIN (AP) — Legislative lead
ers Tuesday said they expected
House and Senate budget negotia
tors to start work Thursday on a
1990-91 spending plan for state gov
ernment that will total more than
$46 billion.
The House gave final approval to
its $46.5 billion budget Tuesday, but
the Senate refused to accept the
House version.
Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby appointed the
five senators who will serve on the
House-Senate conference commit
tee, with that delegation headed by
Senate Finance Committee Chair
man Kent Caperton, D-Bryan. The
Senate’s budget totaled $46.75 bil
lion.
Hobby said the negotiators had
agreed on a May 15 deadline to re
solve the differences.
House Speaker Gib Lewis said he
would appoint the five House nego
tiators later.
“It’ll take a week or so, I’d say,”
Lewis said of the negotiations.
“There are some differences. Not
any major differences, I don’t
think.”
The 1990-91 budget should be
about 10 percent higher than cur-
Author says Nazis killed
in Texas during WWII
VICTORIA (AP) — Nazi soldiers
beat, tortured and ‘just outright
murdered” folks in places like Whar
ton, Ganado and Palacios during
World War II, said Victoria author
Richard P. Walker.
But the victims of the crimes com
mitted by Hitler’s Finest weren’t
Texans, they were non-Nazi Ger
man soldiers.
The Germans — Nazi and non-
Nazi alike — were captured by Al
lied Forces on battlefields in Europe
and Africa and brought to Texas for
imprisonment in the 70 or so POW
camps scattered across the state
from 1942 through 1946.
Walker, a member of the Social
Sciences Department at Victoria Col
lege who holds a Ph.D. from the
University of North Texas, said the
Nazis, who totaled about 10 percent
of the 75,000-prisoner population,
used terror to intimidate non-Nazis
into obeying Nazi commands.
“The Nazis wanted to manipulate
the non-Nazis to try to convert them
to Nazism,” said Walker, whose arti
cle “The Swastika and the Lone Star
State: Nazi Activity in Texas POW
Camps” appears in the current issue
of the magazine, Military History of
the Southwest.
“When I started doing research
on this I was flabbergasted at the
small number of adults who lived
here at that time who’d ever heard
of this,” Walker said. “For the most
part the public didn’t even know that
kind of stuff was going on, because
the Army clamped a real tight se
crecy lid on it.”
The secrecy lid was so tight, in
fact, that Walker had to pass back
ground investigations by the Army
and the FBI before he was allowed
Couple faces July trial
for alleged mail fraud
BEAUMONT (AP) — A federal
magistrate set a July trial for a Vir
ginia couple linked to mailings of
more than 26 million fraudulent ad
vertisements in an alleged scheme to
lure people to time-share resorts
with false promises of valuable
prizes.
David Allen Hagen, 30, and his
wife, Annette Louise DeFusco, 27,
both of Great Falls, Va., were ar
raigned Monday on charges of con
spiracy and mail fraud charges listed
in an eight-count indictment.
The couple pleaded innocent to
the charges before U.S. Magistrate
Michael Bradford.
Bradford allowed the couple to
remain free on $50,000 bond each.
U.S. Magistrate Harry McKee of
Tyler set the bonds April 14 after
the couple surrendered to federal
authorities in Tyler.
At the time, McKee asked Hagen
to surrender his expired passport,
which Hagen did Monday.
Bradford scheduled jury selection
in the trial before U.S. District Judge
Richard Schell for July 17.
The indictment accuses the cou
ple of conspiring with Freedom Fi
nancial Corp., a Dallas resort com
pany.
The couple and Freedom Finan
cial conspired to mail more than 26
million fraudulent advertisements in
a six-state area, the indictment
states.
U.S. Attorney Bob Wortham said
the couple conducted business un
der a variety of names and received
money for each person who re
sponded to the mailings by visiting a
Freedom Financial time-share con
dominium, authorities said.
The indictment lists 20 incidents
in which authorities said residents in
Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mis
souri, Arkansas and Kansas were
misled into visiting Freedom Finan
cial time-share resorts.
In each case, the letters guar
anteed a new car along with either
$10,000 cash, gold bullion or a 45-
inch screen color television, the in
dictment states.
Wortham said people visiting one
of the seven resorts in Texas and
Missouri instead received such gifts
as commemorative books about the
Olympics . or redemption certif
icates.
The certificates required people
to pay shipping and handling
charges that cost as much as the re
tail value of the prize, Wortham
said.
In October, Freedom Financial
Corp. pleaded guilty to conspiracy
and mail fraud and paid a $1.5 mil
lion fine.
The company also mailed about
2,000 restitution checks of $50 each
to area residents who complained
about the advertisements.
to conduct research on the deeply
classified subject of Texas prison
camps.
After the authorities granted him
a top secret clearance in 1976, he
went to Washington to conduct his
research at the National Archives,
the Library of Congress and the
Pentagon.
“After I got up there and they
found out I was serious about doing
some research, they gave me access
to virtually anything they had,”
Walker said.
He found that the U.S. Army was
aware of N&zi activities in the camps,
but was never able to prevent Nazi
groups, which included members of
the notorious Gestapo secret police,
from exerting control over other
prisoners.
The Nazis set up a clandestine
communications network that
reached from camp to camp — and
even all the way back to Germany —
which they used to direct beatings,
intimidation and murders of non-
Nazis, he said.
“There was quite a bit of that that
went on the entire time,” Walker
said. “The Nazis would do things
like control all the reading material
and sometimes the work schedules,
and often they led the rest of the
POWs on strikes and gave the Amer
ican authorities a hard time,” Walker
said.
He tells a tale of the murder of
one non-Nazi POW who had been
born in New York, but moved to
Germany and joined the German
army after becoming influenced by
an American pro-Nazi group.
The New York Nazi was captured
in North Africa and sent to a POW
camp in Huntsville, where he be
came a collaborator with the Ameri
can forces.
“The Nazis found out he was a
collaborator,” Walker said. “A group
of them, about 10, sneaked into his
compound and beat him to death.”
When the man began screaming,
American guards ran to rescue him,
but other Nazis, numbering about
50, blocked the guards’ way. Walker
said. There was an altercation be
tween the guards and the Nazis.
“It started off being just clubs,
then the Nazis broke and ran as if
they were trying to escape, so the
guards shot about four of them,”
Walker said.
The New York Nazi died of his
wounds two days later, Walker said.
Walker also tells of a German pris
oner who made a speech in the bar
racks in which he questioned Hitler’s
ability to lead.
The Nazis warned the orator that
they were going to “get” his parents
back in Germany, Walker said.
“Sure enough, about six months
later, he received word from Ger
many that his parents and his little
sister had been brutalized and perse
cuted by Nazis,” Walker said.
When the prisoner found out that
his family had suffered because of
his barracks harangue, he com
mitted suicide, Walker said.
Walker found no evidence that ei
ther the Nazis or the Gestapo had
any impact on the civilian popula
tion in Texas.
“(Their activity) seemingly was
confined among themselves and
their fellow prisoners,” said Walker.
rent spending, but leaders said it
would contain no tax hike. “We will
do it without a tax increase. There’s
no question about that,” Lewis said.
The pace and smoothness of this
year’s budget work stands in sharp
contrast to the 1987 budget battle, in
which the Legislature failed during
its 140-day regular session to write a
spending plan. The budget finally
was finished in a July special session.
Rep. Jim Rudd, chairman of the
Appropriations Committee which
drafted the House budget, predicted
that negotiations with the Senate will
be different than in 1987, when the
Legislature faced a mammoth bud
get deficit and eventually passed a
$5.7 billion tax increase to pay for it.
The major differences in the
House and Senate proposals involve-
prisons, education, health and hu
man services and restoration of the
state Capitol, Rudd said.
The House proposal spends $108
million to build more than 4,000
new prison beds, while the Senate
recommendation calls for issuing
bonds to finance the added prison
capacity.
In higher education, the Senate
calls for a 7 percent faculty pay raise
for each year of the biennium, while
the House proposal recommends a
3.4 percent raise for each year.
The House spending plan in
cludes about $140 million to restore
the state Capitol and build a four-
story underground annex, while the
Senate wants to issue bonds for the
project. Senators have endorsed an
increase of nearly $ 1 billion in health
and human services; the House, a
$690 million increase.
Austin banker
to be sentenced
in June for fraud
AUSTIN (AP) — One-time mil
lionaire banker Ruben Johnson will
be sentenced in June after a federal
court jury convicted him of 13
counts of bank fraud.
Johnson, 59, faces up to five years
in prison and a fine of up to
$250,000 on each count.
The jury in U.S. District Judge
James Nowlin’s court took about an
hour Monday before convicting
Johnson, who oversaw the rapid rise
and eventual failure of United Bank
of Texas. He was convicted on
charges involving kickbacks from
contracting work on the bank’s
downtown Austin building.
“I’m surprised and I’m disap
pointed in the verdict,” Johnson
said. “I’m sorry of course, as to the
verdict.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim
Blankinship, who prosecuted the
case, said, “We’re very satisfied with
the verdict. I think the evidence was
real strong. It’s a demonstration by
the jury that bank fraud is not going
to be tolerated.”
The former chairman of the
board of United Bank of Texas
bought controlling interest in Uni
versity State Bank in 1974 and soon
became a major banking, devel
opment and political force in Austin.
He presided over the change of the
bank into United Bank of Texas,
which became the fifth-largest bank
in Austin, and moved the institution
hi 1981 to the 17-story United Bank
Tower, which he developed.
. Johnson was friend, contributor
and lender to a number of top Dem
ocratic state officeholders, and was
appointed by then-Gov. Mark White
to the State Finance Commission, a
post he later resigned.
The charges against Johnson al
leged he received a 15 percent fee
from a contractor for finish-out
work done for the lavishly decorated
bank in United Bank Tower, and for
work done at two other bank loca
tions.
Lawyers for Johnson contended
during closing arguments that John
son did not have the required “intent
to deceive” when he took the money,
and pointed out that he paid taxes
on the income
Weds. April 26th
THE EDGE
ALL NEW 1989 REVUE
TICKETRON including Dillards 1(800) 426-3094
21 & over w/i.d.
$1 b 00 Day
Every
Tuesday and Wednesday
*New Releases Included
over \
4,000 Videos to Choose From
Nintendo Games Also
It’S
4303 Texas Ave S.
846-7312
^ Conviser-Duffy-Miller
.e.
<o <<y
4>_o-
c <p- 'O <3?
cpa
■ review
GET THE CONVISER CONFIDENCE’
• Course Materials Include 5 Textbooks
• 3 Month Format
• Payment Plan Available/Major Credit Cards
• Exam Techniques Clinic
76% PASS RATE
□ Enclosed is $95. Enroll me at the TAMU Student (with cur
rent I.D) discount tuition of $695 (Reg. tuition is $955)
□ I would like more information about your course.
Name:
Address:
City/St/Zip:
Phone:
I plan to take the CUMay □November CPA Exam 19 —
1 -800-274-3926
A subsidiary of Harcourt Brace Jova-
novich. Also offering Bar/Bri, LSAT,
GMAT, MCAT & SAT
Mail To:
Conviser-Miller CPA Review
1111 Fannin, Suite 680
Houston, Tx. 77002
v
LADIES & LORDS
The Boss Says:
"Sell It All!"
One Week Only / April 24 - 30
END OF SEASON SALE
• Bridal Gowns
• Prom Dresses
• Dinner Dresses
• Cotton Dresses
20 - 50% OFF!
Everything Must Go!
Prices start as low as $34.95!
Special hours - 'til 8 p.m. weekdays
Saturdays 10-6 and Sundays 1-5
We Guarantee to Beat the
Jill Prices on Identical Merchandise! 111!
"Where looking good is stylishly affordable'
707 TEXAS AVENUE - COLLEGE STATION
764-8289