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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 10, 1991)
1991 <as is n the ligher ? fol- show 3t the : of 46 it un- rd for erage ■ed to 03; state nt at tional state i and tional >3,500 state >2,800 ed a s for lators >ming s rec- s that lillion ing to drcfoery Club Aggie archers on forget with club sport Page 3 In an age in which international harmony is the focus, such prejudicial, racial hatred [as displayed by the KKK] is as abominable and as despicable as it could ever be.” - editorial page 5 Graduate internship opportunities available for minorities in toxicology page 2 The Battalion Vol. 90 No. 166 USPS 045360 6 Pages College Station, Texas "Serving Texas A&M since 1893" Wednesday, July 10, 1991 ich as i, the ffairs, Df po- iff, as me to begin :urric- 1 iT) li TE sney :o a ii TE sney 10 is 5)9 99 99 Not >mcr. '1 ee . I I I I I _ J TCA adjusts rates for complaining cable TV subscribers By Susan Maguire The Battalion TCA Cable TV will grant across-the- board rate adjustments for subscribers who receive complete basic cable pack ages, the manager of the company's area branch said. Randy Rogers said the adjustment ill show up on subscribers' August 11s. "The rate will be determined after the new program is added, which will probably be this week," he said. "It's taking longer than we've hoped, but we're still very hopeful it will be this week." Rogers stated earlier in the week that local cable consumers could receive a 2- cents-a-day rate reduction if they called TCA's office in Bryan to complain about MTV's cancellation. Rogers specifically stated that no re funds will be given unless the cus tomer calls the cable company's office. Rogers said TCA is still trying to ne gotiate for the VH-1 music channel and did not know what channel would re place MTV if negotiations for VH-1 fell through. Very few subscribers have called in about a rate reduction or a cancellation of their cable, Rogers said. He also said no Bryan or College Station city offi cials have contacted TCA about a rate reduction. TCA's franchise agreements with the cities states that dropping a station counts as a price increase subject to re view by the cities. Rogers said because dropping MTV is not a long-term cancellation, both city councils will probably not get in volved. Officials with both city councils could not be reached for comment. Viacom, the company who owns MTV, also owns Nickelodeon. Viacom had insisted that the carriage of Nicke lodeon be connected with the contin uation of MTV. TCA has been granted a temporary restraining order allowing it to con tinue carriage of Nickelodeon after the contract with Viacom expired on June 30 at midnight. A hearing to decide whether an in junction will be granted to TCA was scheduled Monday at the district court in Tyler. Rogers said the injunction was post poned and he did not know if a new date has been set. BLUE LIGHT SECURITY A&M adds phones for emergencies By Karen Praslicka The Battalion An increased number of blue lights across campus is a result ot an increase in awareness of public safety, not campus crime, a University Police De partment officer said. It. Bert Kretzschmar, super visor of UPD's Crime Preven tion Unit and member of A&M's Security Awareness Committee, said the emergency phones identified by the blue tight on top are more like "e- mergency/convenience" phones because they have two main purposes. One purpose is to be able to quickly contact UPD in case of an emergency. To use the phone, a person opens the waterproof box and presses a large red button which connects the caller to the UPD dispatcher. The phone does not nave a hand-held re ceiver. Instead, the person talks into a speaker in the box. Kretzschmar said it is not nec essary for the caller to say any thing. "If a person is in an emer gency and doesn't have time to talk, we'll still get a readout in the office of wnich phone the call came from," he said. "UPD will respond — there's no guesswork." Kretzschmar said the light in creases the phone's visibilty, es pecially at night. "At night you can see it (the light) from a distance, and it's up on a pole in case of obsta cles," he said. "If you're in a parking lot, how can you see it with a car in front of you?" The second purpose of the phones is to provide anyone on campus with easier access not only to UPD, but other services. The phones have a regular phone touchpad which allows them to be used to make local calls. Kretzschmar said the phone's time limit is three min utes, after which the phones will automatically cut off. "The phones are timed so they're not abused," he said. Kretzschmar said anyone can use the phones "in situations that aren't emergencies but you still need help." The phones are especially SCOTT D. WEAVER/The Battalion Cathy Goedeke uses one of the emergency phones equipped with a blue light for added visibility. useful at night to call the shuttle the phones will also be used by "We're taking personal safety bus service for a ride home or to anyone on campus to report into account.'” call for help in case of car fail- suspicious activity. The first seven phones in ure, he said. "We want to educate stu- stalled across campus and those Kretzschmar said he hopes dents to report things," he said. See University/Page 6 Opponents rally, fight deficit plan A&M community, local politicians protest budget cuts proposed by state comptroller By Mack Harrison The Battalion Texas A&M officials, employ ees, area politicians and friends of the University rallied Tuesday evening at the College Station Hilton to fight recommendations that could lead to a $53.6 million cut in the University budget. Ross Margraves, chairman of the Texas A&M University Sys tem Board of Regents, said he is ready to fight the budget cuts. "I'm mad as hell, and I hope you are, too," he told the crowd. The funding changes, part of a deficit-reduction plan proposed by Comptroller John Sharp, are a result of the Texas Performance Review (TPR). Margraves said a common misconception in Austin is that higher education is overfunded. "A&M can educate Sharp's of fice as to what the needs of the University are," he said. "Con tact anybody you know in state government." State Rep. Steve Ogden (R- Bryan) said the scramble to cut the budget is unneccessary. "Can we fund higher educa tion under current revenue?" he asked. "I say the answer is yes." Dr. Ed Hiler, deputy chan cellor for A&M's academic pro gram planning and research, said Sharp's plan will hurt the University worse than any pre vious action. "A major cutback could cause absolute devastation to higher education," Hiler said. "House Bill 10 made it clear we are in trouble." HB 10 mandated a 1.5 percent budget cutback in all state agen cies earlier this year. The result ing $3.2 million shortfall caused A&M to cancel classes and elimi nate student worker positions. University President William Mobley said A&M is presently operating at 1985 spending lev els. Accounting for increased en- priations actually shrank from $3,500 to $2,800 per student. "We've either become more ef ficient or less effective, probably both," Mobley said. "We're doing more with less." Dr. Ed Davis, deputy chan cellor for finance and administra tion, said he has been working with state officials, but it is not an easy job. "We've been on a roller coaster ride since January 1991," he said. "I've spent time with Sharp explaining our position. "We just want him to see the consequences of (the budget re duction plan)." The recommendations include increasing tuition to cover 25 ’Tin mad as hell, and I hope you are, too.” - Ross Margraves, Board of Regents chairman percent of education costs and giving 75 percent of that revenue to the State Treasury. This money will be used to fund other state programs, such as roads, prisons and welfare. "The action is to shift the bur den (of the state) to students and their parents," Hiler said. "We provide for other state agencies by diminishing the quality and accessability of higher educa tion." Mobley said the state has a re sponsibility to its schools. He said he opposes taking the funds gained from tuition increases and giving them to other state agencies. "The state is a direct benefi ciary of higher education and should not back away from it," he said. "Is it fair to tax students See Cutbacks/Page 6 Former CIA official pleads guilty, reveals cover-up WASHINGTON (AP) — A re tired CIA official pleaded guilty to two crimes Tuesday in the Iran-Contra affair and alleged that the spy agency from the top °n down had covered up knowl edge of Oliver North's diversion ofmoney to the Contras. Prosecutors said Alan D. Piers, fetired chief of the CIA's Central American Task Force, was coop erating in their investigation of whether Piers' CIA colleagues end aides to then-Vice President George Bush had lied in denying knowledge of the diversion and of North's secret network to sup ply guns to the Nicaraguan re- Fiers admitted in federal court that he had withheld informa tion from Congress about the ac tivities of Reagan White House aide North and the diversion of Iran arms sale money. The crimes are misdemeanors, each carrying a maximum one- year jail term and a $200,000 fine. U.S. District Court Judge Aubrey Robinson did not set a sentencing date. According to Iran-Contra prosecutors. Piers has told them that he and at least three other top CIA officials besides Director William Casey knew about the diversion by mid-1986. North testified to Congress and at his own criminal trial that Casey alone among CIA officials knew of the diversion. Piers did not implicate Robert Gates, Bush's nominee to head the CIA, in knowledge of the di version, the scheme that dam aged the Reagan administration after it was publicly disclosed on Nov. 25, 1986. But the fact that so many top CIA people apparently knew about it is certain to raise trou blesome questions for Gates next week when the Senate Intelli gence Committee considers his nomination. Gates was the agen cy's deputy director in 1986. North was convicted on three felony counts of aiding and abet ting an obstruction of Congress, destroying National Security Council documents and accept ing an illegal gratuity. The con victions were set aside by an ap peals court and Walsh is trying to have them reinstated. According to a government statement read in court Tuesday, Fiers and Bush aide Donald Gregg were among those pre sent for a discussion of North's network at an Aug. 12, 1986, meeting in Gregg's office. Fiers and Gregg have both tes tified about the meeting but have said they could recall few details. Fiers has now told prosecutors that Ambassador to El Salvador Edwin Corr reported in some de tail about the contributions to the North network by Felix Ro driguez, a longtime friend of Gregg's. Gregg is now Bush's ambassa dor to South Korea.