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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 1990)
f The Battalion J STATE & LOCAL & Tuesday, Jujy 17,1990 ) What’s Up Tuesday NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS: will have a general discussion at 8:30 p.m. Call the C.D.P.E at 845-0280 for more information. STAGECENTER COMMUNITY THEATRE: will have auditions from 7 to 9 p.m. at 3715 East 29th in Bryan. Call 846-0287 for more information. Wednesday ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: will have a general meeting at noon. Call the C.D.P.E. at 845-0280 for more information. TEXAS ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION COALITION: will have a speaker at 7 p.m. in 118 Civil Engineering Building. Call Charlie at 822-3577 for more infor mation. Items for What’s Up should be submitted to The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, no later than three business days before the desired run date. We only publish the name and phone number of the contact if you ask us to do so. What's Up is a Battalion service that lists non-profit events and activities. Submissions are run on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no guarantee an entry will run. If you have questions, call the newsroom at 845-3315. Former students donate is memorabilia to center By ELIZABETH TISCH Of The Battalion Staff to rying; togei Texas A&M former students are rolling up their sleeves to search their attics and closets for Aggie memorabilia to donate to the new $3 million Corps of Cadets Center. The center will be under con struction in the fall. Former cadet George Morgan Crook, Class of ’20, from Paris, Texas, is contributing a little bit of A&M’s history 54 years after his own death. According to an interview with the Paris News, Dr. J. Craig Ste phens, a cousin of the Crook family, discovered the A&M memorabilia in the house of Crook’s sister, Thelma Crook Johnson, after her death in 1989. Stephens told the Paris newspaper that Crook was obviously an out standing cadet judging from his uni forms which indicated his position on the Corps Staff and the Ross Vol unteers. Among the uniforms, Stephens found Crook’s World War 1-vmtage "regular” cadet uniform, complete with hat, cadet rank, ROTC em blems and a crossed-rifle insignia which was a sign of membership in the infantry. Also, a pennant used at the A&M vs. University of Texas football game in 1917 was found with the rest of the historical items. The pennant, which read “A.M.C. — 7, t.u. — 0,” symbolizes an impor tant year to Aggies. According to re cords, 1917 was the year no one scored against A&M’s football team. The winter issue of First Call, a publication from the Corps of Ca dets Development Council, states the center will enable the Corps “to pre sent its history and visually illustrate its programs and role in student life while preserving one of the tradi tions begun by the Corps — welcom ing visitors to the campus.” The memorabilia will be displayed in the largest room in the center, called the Hall of Honor. The hall also will be where heroes will be honored and A&M’s history is featured. Court hears plan for school funding “I If Texas had the will, there are untapped sources of revenue that could be applied to public education.” Craig Foster, Equity Center director AUSTIN (AP) — Texas has a way to equalize education funding be tween rich and poor school districts without going broke. What the state needs is the will to do it, an advocate for poor school districts testified Monday. “If Texas had the will, there are untapped sources of revenue that could be applied to public educa tion,” Craig Foster, director of the Equity Center, said as the court hear ing on the state’s new school funding plan began its second week. “And they could do it without breaking the bank.” Foster, whose Austin-based group represents about 200 poor school districts, said legislators missed an opportunity to bolster the education budget when they allowed several so-called temporary tax increases to expire. The taxes, which raised $571 mil lion, included an increase in the business franchise tax, an insurance surcharge and professional fees. They were passed in 1987 to help bridge a multi-billion dollar state budget deficit. All had lapsed by last January. The legislative plan passed in June would raise about $528 million for the 1990-91 school year. It in cludes increases in the state sales and cigarette taxes and other state fees. Poor districts say the latest plan perpetuates the same system that led the Texas Supreme Court to rule the school finance system unconstitu tional last year. The new law doesn’t limit the amount of money school districts can raise from local property taxes. Poor districts argue that wealthy dis tricts can therefore continue to raise more money through property taxes than poor districts can. Public schools are financed by state funding, local property taxes and some federal aid. State District Judge Scott McCown, who is presiding over the hearing, said he hopes to decide if the Legislature’s plan meets the Su preme Court mandate by Sept. 1. In an out-of-court development, Texas Education Commissioner W.N. Kirby said the new state fund ing plan could fall $100 million short if local school districts statewide raise taxes, which would then recquire the state to pay a higher matching share to local districts. Because state funds are limited, some districts, probably wealthy ones, would not get the state funding they’re entitled to, he warned. Assistant State Attorney General Kevin O’Hanlon asked Foster if he would rather the Legislature allocate money to education than for health programs that serve critically ill chil dren. Coast Guard licensing proposal angers commercial shrimpers CORPUS CHRISTI (AP) — Congress may disagree, but Rockport shrimper George Polinard says he has no need of a license to navigate his boat through Texas bays and the Gulf of Mexico. “There’s an awful lot of people who were born and raised on the waters,” Polinard said. “They could oper ate at night without fathom meters or compasses and never have any problems.” In 1988 Congress passed the Commercial Fishing In dustry Vessel Safety Act, ordering the Coast Guard to draft safety regulations for commercial fishing vessels. The Coast Guard is accepting public comments on the licensing and safety proposals until Aug. 20. Polinard said he believes it makes sense to license rec reational boaters or those who transport passengers for hire, but that it doesn’t make sense to license shrimpers and other commercial fishermen. “We know what we’re doing on that water better than anybody,” he said. Coast Guard statistics, however, show that the com mercial fishing industry outranks either mining or quarrying as the most dangerous industries in the United States. There were 37 deaths per 100,000 workers in the commercial fishing industry in 1988, compared to nearly 34 deaths per 100,000 in the mining and quarry ing industries, according to U.S. Department of Com merce statistics. All industries combined had an average of 5 deaths per 100,000 in 1988. “The good new's is the death rate is going down,” Lt. Cmdr. Bruce Pickard of the Coast Guard said. “The bad news is that the number of vessels lost is going up.” In response, Congress passed the Commercial Fish ing Industry Vessel Safety Act, requiring the Coast Guard to draft safety regulations for commercial fish ing vessels, including shrifnp boats. The act also calls for the Coast Guard to submit a plan to Congress for the licensing of commercial fishing boat operators. Only Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey and Florida have licensing programs for recreational vessels; no states require licenses for operators of commercial fish ing vessels. “Right now there are no for going out on the water, major difference between licensing a vessel and licens ing an operator. You register your car. Does that mean you know how to drive?’ Wilma Anderson, who owns shrimp boats in Aransas Pass, said she does not believe new licensing require ments will create that much of a hardship for area shrimpers. She said shrimpers with vessels of a certain tonnage have already been licensed, and that many other boat captains have taken safety courses. The president of the Texas Shrimp Association said he is worried about overkill by the federal government. Harris Lasseigne said he favors a mandatory two-day safety training session for shrimp boat operators, but objects to the flurry of new regulations. “We’re getting oombarded left and right,” he said. “First, you don’t have any regulations at all and then all of a sudden you have a lot of regulations.” The proposed safety regulations, published April 19 in the Federal Register, include requirements that ves sels be equipped with readily accessible fire extinguish ers, life preservers, immersion suits, visual distress sig nals and survival craft. The regulations also require individuals in the commercial*fishing industry to report every injury or illness to their supervisors within seven days, and for vessel owners, agents and masters to re port all job-related deaths to the Coast Guard. The new safety regulations may become effective as early as 1991, Coast Guard Cmdr. Mike Rosecrans said. For the 110,000 commercial fishing industry vessels in the United States, the capital costs resulting from the proposed regulations is estimated at $71.6 million, the Coast Guard said. professional requirements ” Pickard said. “There’s a Beach erosion causes worry for officials GALVESTON (AP) — Beachf ront development may be good for the economies of Texas Gulf Coast cities, but state officials are worried there may be no beach to develop. A study from the University of Texas shows that almost half of Texas’ shoreline and 56 percent of the vegetation line retreated between 1974 and 1982. State of ficials are beginning to take note of the erosion. The General Land Office, which was made responsible last year for coastal management, is conducting a series of workshops and hearings and expects to an nounce its recommendations on preserving threatened beaches in September. Land office officials at a recent hearing in Corpus Christi sug gested the developers be required to build farther from the water. Other measures under consider ation would require beachfront developers to shore up their property with sand. * “The beach is going,” A.R. “Babe” Schwartz, 63, a former state senator who has lived in Gal veston all his life, said. “Regard less of what they say, it’s going.” The General Land Office is es pecially concerned about Galves ton’s West Beach. ;h the;; J Pastors call on Richards to stop q support for repeal of sodomy law and :he OOF :yed, ely imsdj n e SAN ANTONIO (AP) —- A group of San Antonio pastors called on Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ann Richards to withdraw herpub- lic support for repeal of the Texas statute outlawing homosexual activ ity. Asked about the law last week, Richards said she doesn’t believe the government should be interfering in Texan’s private lives “on any issue you can name.” Twenty-three clergymen from many denominations and churches signed a petition which criticizes Richards for accepting campaign contributions from groups that pro mote homosexual rights. “What we do not want is a public stand by a politician to have (the so domy law) repealed,” Gilbert Perez, pastor of the Temple of Praise Church, told the San Antonio Ex press-News. “We think repeal of the Texas so domy law is a bad public policy posi tion for Ann Richards to take,” Perez said, “and a position that deeply disturbs us as ministers of the gospel.” Richards campaign manager Glenn Smith said Richards hasn’t changed her stance about keeping the government’s say in peoples’ pri vate lives to a minimum. Perez said that the group wasn’t endorsing Republican gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams. He also said none of the pastors are con nected with the Williams campaign. Billy Hobbs, associate pastor of Alamo City Baptist Church, said the pastors also don’t endorse a lifestyle in which it is acceptable to solicit a prostitute as a young man. The jab was aimed at Williams, who has said he solicited prostitutes while he was a teen-ager and while in college. In other political news, Richards on Saturday won the endorsement of the 5,000-member Texas Confer ence of Police Officers and Sheriffs. “In the Richards administration, those men and women on the front line will have a friend in the gover nor’s office,” Richards said. 8 Driver’s race with TSOI, AMARILLO (AP) — Any driver’s decision to try to beat an oncoming train at an intersection is “sheer stu pidity,” an Amarillo police investigator said Monday in the wake of a train-car collision that killed two girls and critically injured one man. Police said Monday they still hadn’t determined who was driving the car that went around crossarms at a rail- —' road crossing during the weekend. The accident just before midnight Saturday killed Debbie Bright, 15, of Amarillo and Christy Michelle Moore, 13, also of Am- I arillo. I A 24-year-old man, Cicolay Phanthourath of Am arillo, was in critical condition Monday at Northwest Texas Hospital, suffering from “multiple trauma all over the body,” a nursing supervisor, who asked not to | be identified, said. Witnesses told police the driver of the 1986 silver train ends in death Mercedes apparently drove around the crossarms to beat a Santa Fe Railway train through the intersection. “It’s just sheer stupidity,” investigator Mike Weath erly said. “The crossing arms are down for a reason. It’s no big surprise there is a train coming.” He could not say if one of Phanthourath or one of the girls had been driving. “You can’t draw any kind of conclusion because you can’t tell with drivers these days. But we will figure it out shortly.” Weatherly said he did not know if any of the victims had been drinking before the accident. Police said Santa Fe Railway employees tested the cross arms after the accident and said tney were work ing. The cross arms were not damaged. Astronaut candidates Man sought stay optimistic despite for assaulting NASA’s recent troubles P oliee offlcer See NASA Study/Page 4 SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) — Several new astronauts said Mon day they were confident the space agency will overcome its recent rash of problems and resume flying space shuttles. The astronaut candidate class of 1990 reported to work for the first time Monday — the same day the Bush administration ordered a re view by outside experts of the na tion’s long-term space goals. But the news didn’t dampen the spirits of the 23 astronaut candi dates, who were chosen earlier this year from nearly 2,000 applicants. They talked briefly with reporters on their first day at work. “They’ll fix the shuttles. I don’t have any doubts about that at all,” Marine Corp. Maj. Terrence Wil- cutt, one of seven pilot candidates, said. Dr. David Wolf, a mission special ist candidate, added, “It’s very prudent to shut down the shuttle system until they fully understand the problem.” After undergoing a year of train ing and evaluation, the 23 candi dates will become full-fledged astro nauts. It probably will take at least two more years after that before any of them get a shuttle flight assign ment. Besides the seven pilots, the 1990 class includes 16 mission specialists. Eleven of the 23 are civilians and 12 are military pilots. Of the five women selected, three are military officers, including the first woman to be named as a pilot candidate. The class also includes El len Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman to be selected. “It’s been a big day,” Air Force Maj. Eileen Collins, who will be NA SA’s first female shuttle commander if all goes according to plan, said. Despite the problems facing NASA, Collins said she, too, is opti mistic about NASA’s future. She also was not dismayed to hear the Bush administration had called for the outside review of NASA. “If our president feels it’s some thing that needs to be done, it needs to be done,” she said. NASA has endured a spate of re cent embarrassments, including troubles with the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope and hydrogen leaks that have grounded the space shuttle fleet. But several of the candidates said problems with sophisticated ma chines are not unusual. “There are high points and low points in any airplane or weapon sys tem,” Collins said. “You learn to get through the bad times.” Navy Capt. Dan Brandenstein, head of the astronaut corps, said he was confident that the NASA leaders in Washington will get the agency through the current crisis. “I don’t really think it was needed,” he said of the call for the outside review. F.E. Sherwood Brazos County Crime Stoppers is seeking information about a 31- year-old black male wanted for as sault of a peace officer and motion to revoke. Floyd Earl Sherwood is described by the Brazos County Sheriffs De partment as a 6-foot-1 black male weighing about 200 pounds. Sherwood is 31 years old and has black hair and brown eyes. If you call Crime Stoppers and your information leads to his arrest, Crime Stoppers will pay you $250. When you call 775-TIPS, you will be given a special coded number to rotect your identity, so you won’t ave to testify in court. Crime Stoppers also pays for in formation on any felony crime or the location of any wanted fugitive. A FULL SERVICE SALON 209 Dominik College Station, TX (409) 696-3003 We fix $6 00 haircuts ■cut herei DEFENSIVE DRIVING CLASS July 20, 21, 1990 (6-10 p.m. & 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.) STATE APPROVED DRIVING SAFETY COURSE Register at University Plus (MSC Basement) Call 845-1631 for more Information on these or other classes D&M EDUCATION ENTERPRISES cut here ID ALLAS ^ IGITAL CORPORATION A TRIPAC COMPANY The Leading Supplier of high per formance mass storage solutions for personal and mini computers. We offer 300MB to 2 Gig hard drives, optical drives, 8MM DAT, Vz” 9 track tape drive, printers, and scanners for DEC, DOS, SUN, and UNIX. KARL SEIBERT ^ (713)469-7151 IMMIGRATION WORK VISAS LABOR CERTIHCATIONS PERMANENT RESIDENCE ALL OTHER IMMIGRATION MATTERS BARBARA HINES, pc Attorney at Law Board Certified Immigration and Nationality Law Texas Board of Legal Specialization 1005 E. 40th (512) 452-0201 AUSTIN, TX 78751 i