he Battalion ''/y/S'/y ///^ WEATHER TOMORROW’S FORECAST: Cloudy with a high chance of rain HIGH: 56 LOW: 38 ewish j minatejew! Vol.89 No.98 USPS 045360 12 Pages internatiom conservaiio! w to presen, ;e laborers, place the htj or strengthti e, ;ts they m ave I'als yk said iv climate all lolen said, ninent dangf iseum direcitj already has in in plac(| nuls. College Station, Texas Tuesday, February 20,1990 zech leader Ians to meet, isit with Bush ICO. re it's (lie ^ide intlif uahua/Pa- known to ■WASHINGTON (AP) — Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright who Went from prison to the presidency of Czechoslovakia inside of eight months, will meet with President Bush on Tuesday, the first of East ern Europe’s new democratic lead- to visit the White House. Havel was arriving here Monday gening after stops in Iceland and Hanada on a Western trip that comes pnspicuously a week before his first ip to Moscow. The Czech Parliament elected Ha- Bd president Dec. 29, a few weeks ■ter a peaceful revolution led to the oi ter of Communist Party chief Mi- kh Jakes and his hard-line govern- Bent. B Now the country, under Havel’s [ckietaker government, is preparing for June 8 parliamentary elections at will be its first free balloting in ore than 40 years. Havel has said he is coining West lot to look for charity but invest- ment in a country that already main- Bins a standard of living well above Bat of Poland, its neighbor to the nprth. “Czechoslovakia is not looking for J.S. aid. They are not in the same onomic dire straits that ... Poland has been in,†a senior Bush adminis tration official said. Secretary of State James A. Baker III, in a brief visit to Prague Feb. 6, already signaled support for giving Czechoslovakia most-favored-nation trade status and allowing it to rejoin the International Monetary Fund. It was a founding member of the IMF, but was evicted after the 1948 com munist takeover. And, if Congress approves, Czechoslovakia would share in a pool of $300 million in new aid the Bush administration has requested for the emerging democracies in Eastern Em ope. The United States has already an nounced plans to reopen its consul ate shuttered for more than four de cades in Bratislava in the Slovak region of Czechoslovakia. The administration also expects to expand exchanges and possibly dis patch Peace Corps volunteers to Czechoslovakia, the official who briefed White House reporters on the Havel visit said. The new Czech government is prodding the Soviets to remove their 73,500 troops as quickly as possible. Striking Kroger employees stand outside the College Station Photo by Fredrick D.Joe store Monday night. The strike began Sunday. >hth Wd rid. Out interprets to answei l will t into Cop here wel lains urges reform )f education, prisons r BILL HETHCOCK I The Battalion Staff ms IA crisis in education and a need DclCk threT reform in the criminal justice sys- pem are the two biggest problems iBexas faces today, Republican gu- . « wBrnatorial candidate Jack Rains 01 the jI'Bid Monday in a speech sponsored i ml aim l A gg ies for Rains - umauiO' k R a j ns proposed raising teachers’ ■laries, putting more state money ( workshop; l t0 core curriculum and allowing Khool districts and teachers more ock cliirte xograms ai;| mtsanoppor pxibility to try new programs that encourage students to stay in school. He also called for an end to state mandated educational programs paid for by local funds, and a cut back in funds spent on administra tive overhead. “We must allocate growth in state revenues to education,†Rains said. “We’ve increased educational fund ing by 50 percent in the last five years, but we haven’t seen a good re turn on our investment in education yet. We need to make sure the money that goes into education is See Rains/Page 11 ) fellowship I Ini versifies launch balloons |n memory of youth fatalities g* Fee" )y DAPHNE MILLER If The Battalion Staff LAs part of Texas Designated Iriver Day, the Texas A&M Desig- pted Driver Program will launch 50:1 balloons in front of the Law rence Sullivan Ross statue Wednes- fy at noon. The balloons will represent the 1)3 people between the ages of 17 nd 24 who were killed in alcohol-re lated accidents in 1988 in Texas. I Ten other Texas colleges and uni versities will host simultaneous bal-* $25/11 Toon launches. They are Amarillo College, Austin College, East Texas State University, St. Mary’s Univer sity, Southern Methodist University, Tarleton State University, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech University, University of Dallas and University of North Texas. A&M President William H. Mob ley has been invited to speak during the event. Lynda Sorrell, A&M program coordinator, said the balloon launch See Driver/Page 11 Kroger employees at local stores strike for more benefits in contract Monday, the first full day of a strike over wages and Benefits at 73 Southeast Texas Kroger stores. “Alt the stores are ojpen> H Car men Pate, consumer affairs man- S I r for Kroger in Houston, said. Up-re using our own employees; and many . nonunion workers, managers* hiring temporary fi|lp and bringing in employees from other areas to keep our stores Workers began the strike Sun- day ’when talks Between the eora~' •ood and Commercial Workers Union broke down. The union contract expired at midnight Sat urday. Meat cutters are rep resented by UFCW Local 408. The walkout affects about 7.000 clerks, rheat chtters>>«&sh- ternoon in Houston. "They are talking at this time and we are willing ip conhnue negotiating,*?: By STACY E. ALLEN Of The Battalion Staff Strikers wearing signs and en couraging customers not to shop at Kroger stores were at both Kroger locations in Bryan and College Sta tion Monday. Kroger employees are striking in hopes of obtaining a more lucrative employment contract. Seventy-three Kroger stores from Beaumont to Nacogdoches are in volved in the strike, which officially started Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in Hous ton. Members of Local 455 of the AFL-CIO Retail Clerks Association and Local 408 of the Meat Cutters Union have been striking in Bryan- College Station since 9:30 p.m. Sun day. A three-year contract for Kroger workers expired Saturday at mid night after a week of negotiations. According to the Houston Chroni cle, a 12 percent wage increase is be ing asked for by Kroger employees. College Station Kroger strikers said Kroger employees took a wage reduction of $2.30 per hour over the past three years due to what Kroger management referred to as eco nomic circumstances of the time. According to a flier given out by strikers, Kroger employees made more money in June 1983 than they make today. Albert Morales, frozen food man ager and striker in College Station, said the strikers are asking for what Kroger took from them in the past three years. “We can’t make a decent living on what they pay us today,†Morales said. Alvin Burch, fellow striker and grocery clerk, said he estimates that almost 100 percent of the full-time workers and 50 percent of the part- time workers have walked out of the College Station Kroger. College Station Kroger Manager Larry Medearis said he did not know how many employees were striking. Burch said most of the employees still working are Texas A&M stu dents. “The people left are mainly stu dents, because they don’t realize what Kroger is doing to them,†Burch said. “Their salaries will al ways stay at $3.50 per hour with no benefits unless we do something.†Vann Fernandez, a sophomore in dustrial engineering major at A&M, is one of the few students striking. “The reason I’m going on strike is to help future students,†Fernandez said. “I may not be here in a few years, but I want the student that takes my job to make enough money to go to school.†John Humphreys, ajunior techni cal design major at A&M, agreed. “Not all students can have their parents pay for their education,†Humphreys said. “We are trying to help ourselves as well as future stu dents.†Although the strike has not re sulted in a decrease in customers, Medearis said, the hours at the two locations in Bryan-College Station have been shortened until the strike is settled. Kroger stores are normally open 24 hours a day, but new hours are from 7 a.m. to midnight. Strikers said a meeting is sched uled Tuesday in Houston between the union and Kroger management, and they expect an agreement to be reached. Burch said he doesn’t think the strike will last long because Kroger’s sales are hurting. “The president of Kroger made $4 million last year,†Burch said. “What we are asking for would amount to $3 million per year. We don’t think that is unfair.†Photo by Fredrick D.Joe Howard Fisher, a University employee, waits ev- erinary Medicine for his ride. He carpools with ery day at 2:30 p.m. in front of the College of Vet- eight others from Hearne. Rep. gubernatorial candidate speaks out at political forum Candidatesfor governor missforum at A &M By JULIE MYERS Of The Battalion Staff Six candidates were scheduled to speak at the Gubernatorial Candi- clates’ Forum sponsored by Political Forum Monday, but only one ar rived to participate in the debate. Democratic gubernatorial candi dates Theresa Hearn-Haynes, Earl Holmes and Ray Rachel were con tracted to speak at 5 p.m. Hearn- Haynes and Rachel cancelled their appearances over the weekend. Republican gubernatorial candi dates Edward Cude, W.N. Otwell and Royce X. Owens were scheduled to speak at 8 p.m. Only Owens came on time. David Karr, Political Forum pro gram director and sophomore radi See Candidates/Page 11 By JULIE MYERS Of The Battalion Staff Being rich isn’t necessary to be governor of Texas but it sure would help in getting elected, a Republican gubernatorial candidate said Mon day. Royce X. Owens, a former per sonnel director at Texas A&M, “T I his drug war is gonna take a licking and keep on ticking.†— Royce X. Owens, gubernatorial candidate spoke at the Gubernatorial Candi- dates’ Forum sponsored by the MSC Political Forum. Owens said 119 agencies are fight ing drugs and $8 billion is being sunk into the drug war. He said there should be an alternative to the present policy. “This drug war is gonna take a licking and keep on ticking,†Owens said. In addition, Owens said he would not rule out any type of new ta\ as a source of new revenue. “If the need for new revenues E roves absolutely inescapable, raise :vies on the money people spend, rather than from taxes on money earned,†Owens said. Owens said he would lower the drop-out rate by mandating that em ployers who hire high school drop outs pay them less than minimum wage. He also supports a woman’s right to abortion, lower insurance rates, a state bonus for Vietnam Vets, cam paign reform, rural hospitals, and garbage recycling. “My definition of patriotism is shown by striving constantly to make one’s own country the best, where true freedom and justice exist,†he said. Owens is currently a janitor at Tye Elementary School in Merkel, Texas.