Page 12
The Battalion
Thursday, January 23,ji
m
Lewis cuts deal with prosecutors Texas steers closer
AUSTIN (AP) - House
Speaker Gib Lewis pleaded no
contest Wednesday to two misde
meanor ethics
offenses in an
agreement with
prosecu tors
who dropped
earlier charges
that had
dogged Lewis
for more than a
Speaker's political accounts
approach $1M, paper says
AUSTIN (AP) — Retiring House Speaker Gib Lewis has about
Gib Lewis
year.
State Dis
trict Judge Bob
Perkins found
Lewis, D-Fort
Worth, guilty on two counts of
failing to reveal in public financial
disclosure statements his interest
in a Tarrant County investment
company. He fined Lewis $1,000
on each count.
Under the plea bargain agree
ment, Travis County District At
torney Ronnie Earle dropped the
earlier indictments just days be
fore the case was set to go to trial.
On those earlier misdemeanor
charges, Lewis faced a maximum
punishment of 18 months in jail
and $3,000 in fines.
The 15-minute hearing ended
a legal struggle that started Dec.
Pg J
$1 million accumulated in three political accounts and supporters
still are soliciting donations for him, the Austin American-States-
man reportedWednesday.
In response, Lewis said, "I hope those numbers are right. I will
continue to use the money as I have. We will continue using it for
officeholder expense. My plan has always been if there is a surplus
... set up a scholarship fund."
Officials said more than $421,000 of the total could be frozen
because Lewis is no longer a speaker candidate, the American-
Statesman reported. The money is in a fund which Lewis set up 11
years ago in order to run for speaker.
But state law might allow Lewis to convert hundreds of thou
sands of dollars from his other accounts to personal use, the news
paper reported,
Lewis spokesman John Bender said Wednesday that the speak
er's staff had not had a chance to verify the numbers.
28, 1990 when Lewis, one of the
most powerful political figures in
Texas, was indicted by a grand
jury investigating alleged corrup
tion at the Capitol.
Since then, Lewis, who has
been speaker a record nine years,
announced he would not seek re-
election.
"It's just good to get any bad
situation behind you," said Lewis
after paying the fines. "We knew
we would be vindicated."
"I don't think any of us won.
My reputation was damaged. I
think what has happened to me
has been wrong, wrong, wrong,"
he said.
Earle said, "The only clear
winner in this situation is the pub
lic."
Both sides contended they
would have won the case had it
gone to trial, and both sides
claimed they got what they want
ed.
Earle said he agreed to the plea
bargain because Lewis had decid
ed to retire as speaker of the 150-
member House. Perkins also not
ed Lewis' decision to step down
when he described the plea bar
gain as a "fair verdict."
However, Lewis' attorney,
Tim Evans of Fort Worth, said
Lewis' decision not to seek re-elec
tion had nothing to do with the
plea bargain.
"We were anxious to try this
case because we felt like a jury
would find him not guilty. But
when the district attorney says
we'll drop the cases and you don't
have to go to trial, we'll take him
up on it," Evans said.
Earle said the plea bargain
ended an investigation into Lewis,
but that a probe into the influence
of lobbyists on lawmakers contin
ues.
Igp
to high-speed train
AUSTIN (AP) - The Texas
High-Speed Rail Authority vot
ed 6-1 Wednesday to accept a
franchise agreement with Texas
TGV that could result in a bullet
train system connecting the
state's major cities by the turn
of the century.
The commission, in creating
The Texas High-Speed Rail Cor
poration, established a number
of milestones that must be met
for the project to become a reali
ty-
Among the checkpoints the
rail builders must meet include
having proof of $170 million in
financial commitments by Dec.
31, 1992. The corporation also
must prove to the authority that
it has enough money to begin
building the system by Dec. 31,
1994. That total is estimated to
be about $5 billion.
Construction of the system
must begin by May 27,1997 and
the first route — connecting
Houston, Dallas, Dallas-Fort
Worth Airport and Fort Worth
— must begin by Dec. 31,1998.
One year from that date,#
train must include service]
San Antonio and Austin.
Representatives from Bry®
College Station and Wac
asked the corporation to i
er adding stations in their citiel
Board members met I
more than eight hours -
eluding five hours spent in el
ecutive session — before aj
cepting the 50-year agreementT
More than 200 citizens wh
feared their rural homes ait
communities would be a
by the train attended the meeij
ing.
One of the first de,
under the franchise agreemei
is for Texas TGV to repay I
state start-up costs for the Higi
Speed Rail Authority, and foil
feasibility study.
"We are a long way frotj
bringing high speed rail
Texas," said Texas Railroa;!
Commissioner Lena Guerreni
the authority's chairpersoEl
"Too many issues are uncleai."
’Jane Roe’ still fighting to keep abortion legal
EL PASO (AP) — The woman who
helped legalize abortion in the United
States said Tuesday she'll keep fighting to
keep abortion legal.
"Many pro-choice supporters feel that
the (Supreme) court is now ready to modify
Roe vs. Wade. In fact, a Pennsylvania statue
has been brought before the court for con
sideration," said Norma McCorvey, who
was known as Jane Roe in the Roe vs. Wade
"However, I am here in El Paso to tell
you that Jane Roe is not about to stop fight
ing to keep abortion safe and legal," she
said in a neyvs conference. "And even if the
court modifies the Roe decision, it remains
an important symbol that women have the
morality and the intelligence to control their
own bodies."
Earlier Tuesday, the Supreme Court had
agreed to review a Pennsylvania law that
imposes waiting periods and other restric
tions on abortions.
The Pennsylvania case will be argued in
April with a decision expected by July.
"The abortion issue is not about morali
ty. It is about control, plain and simple,"
McCorvey said. "Does a woman have the
right, or not?"
She said she doesn't believe the court
will overturn Roe vs. Wade.
"It's one of the first steps that many oth
er states have already taken," she said.
McCorvey's challenge of the 1969 Texas
abortion law led to the Supreme Court's
1973 decision legalizing abortion nation
wide. The 7-2 decision was based ofi a
woman's constitutional right to privacy.
About 20 demonstrators protested out
side of McCorvey's El Paso news confer-
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Continued from Page 2
about 200 patients with sinus
factions, minor bronchitis ani
variety of other illnesses, Budr
said.
The Piedras Negras group
visited a jail where they hadn
previous contacts with sevei
men on past trips.
Jennifer Best, a junior from
ton Rouge, said that she chan}
as a person because of the trip.
"It was truly a life-changi;
experience," she said. "As
suit of the trip I now have Cl
in my heart."
Best said that her grot
formed family groups within
large group and really got
know each other well. They
assigned two names from the c
er groups to pray for during
week.
"We sang at night and haii
pinata for a birthday," she sai
"One night we had a Bible sta;
on the topic of concentrating
the person of Jesus Christ."
Best said when the trip %
over she wasn't re’Sdy to leavel
friends she had made.
"I just wanted to get bad
school so I could be with thts
people again," she said."
them all so much."
Businesses
give money
to University
Continued from Page 2
with a $150,000 gift thatwillb
used to support an exceptional
dividual to teach and research
the field of transportation.
In addition, an equal gift
$150,000 was funded through If
Endowed Faculty Scholars Pr(
gram, named for Kelleher's
and will be used in the area
ranch management.
ARCO Chemical donate
$35,000 that will be used by th
College of Engineering to develo;
a Machine Diagnostics Laborator
for the Mechanical Engineerin'
Technology Program. Earlier
the year ARCO made a $5,000 gt
to the college.
Dr. Swaminadham Midtiin
program coordinator of
submitted the application.
The funds were released toth
college through ARCO's Univen
sity and College Grant Prograi
and will be used to match fundi
for a proposal to the National So
ence Foundation for developin}
an Instrumentation Laborator)
for Machinery Diagnostics and
Condition Monitoring.
Larren Elliott, assistant profes
sor of the College of Engineering
received a PoWrMaster variabl'
speed drive recently from IDlt
Controls. The gift — a very ad
vanced type of motor — willfo
utilized by the Industrial Distri
bution Department for students
enrolled in the factory automation
course. Elliott said the drive'
most common application is to
vary speed according to need in
order to be more energy efficient
"The speed drive is a chanco
to give students hands-on experi
ence," he said. "It shows student'
real world applications of the the
ory they have learned in lecture.”
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