A
Ups and Downs
Tax Shortcuts
Baseball wins two of three
Men's tennis team remains
undefeated
Lady Aggies come up short
against Houston
Page 5
“This year it looks like I'll be
standing for the Libertarians.”
-Jason Loughman, Columnist
Mostly cloudy
Windy and warm
Highs in 70s
Lows in 60s
Accounting professor points
out tax options students may
have open to them
Page 2
Page 7
The Battalion
Vol. 91 No. 104 College Station, Texas
‘Serving Texas A&M since 1893"
8 Pages Monday, March 2, 1992
ROBERT REED/The Battalion
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton gives campaign speech in B-CS
By Jayme Blaschke
The Battalion
The Brazos Valley got a taste of big-time
politics Friday when Hillary Clinton, wife
of Democratic presidential hopeful Gov. Bill
Clinton of Arkansas, spoke to a packed
house at the Bryan-College Station Conven
tion and Visitor Bureau.
Clinton, on the last leg of a whirlwind
tour of east Texas, with stops remaining in
Waco and Fort Worth, ripped President
George Bush for ineffective leadership
while presenting her husband as the best
choice for America's future.
"For more than 12 years now. Presidents
Reagan and Bush have conducted an exper
iment which says the hard work of getting
and keeping jobs and education and all the
other central issues is not the w'ork of the
president — it is the work of a thousand
points of light," Clinton said. "That is not
adequate leadership for the challenges con
fronting us.
"What Bill brings to this race is not only
a record of accomplishment, but also one of
getting his own hands dirty trying to solve
these problems confronting the nation," she
said. "He has a plan on how we can deal
with these problems, if we are ready to do
so."
More than a decade of "trickle down"
economics has done nothing more than
make the rich richer and the poor poorer,
Clinton said. Her husband would offer a
major plan to revitalize America's economy,
something Bush has failed to do.
"The number one issue is the economy,
and Bill Clinton is the only candidate in ei
ther party who has a comprehensive eco
nomic strategy to end the short-term reces
sion, but more importantly, to lay the
groundwork for a long-term restructuring
of this economy," she said.
The Clinton plan would eliminate tax
credits for corporations relocating out of the
country, and replace them with credits for
creating new jobs within the United States,
she said. Providing job skills and training
and improving education also would be
major components of the economic plan.
The North American Free Trade Zone also
is a priority, not only because of the impact
it would have on Texas, but on the entire
nation, Clinton said. As president, the
Arkansas governor will support the Fast
Track free trade negotiations, but only if
certain conditions are met.
"He will not support a free trade agree
ment that does not have appropriate labor
safeguards, environmental safeguards, and
is not in America's best interest," she said.
"He could not support an agreement that
was not fair to American workers, Ameri
can products, and the American economy."
See Campaign/Page 4
1 1 * v
DARRIN HILUThe Battalion
Long live the king
< Jason Perez, center, an electrical engineering graduate student, Heimer, left, a junior marketing major from San Antonio, and a
l is crowned king of the Northgate Mardi Gras celebration by Teh local radio disc jockey. The event was held Saturday night.
Tenants criticize apartment pet policy
By Jennifer Matlack
Special To The Battalion
Tricia Eakins’ four-month-old kitten. Jaws,
may join the growing ranks of homeless ani
mals in College Station.
Polo Club Apartments does not allow resi
dents to keep pets. Eakins, like several other
Polo Club residents, received a $20 fine and a
notice for pet eviction last Wednesday.
Eakins, who has lived in Polo Club since
June 1991, found Jaws about three months ago.
"He had no home, so I took him in," Eakins
said. "If I can't find him a home by Sunday, I'll
be forced to give him to the animal shelter."
The notices were given to all residents of
Polo Club who were found in violation of their
leases. The contract clearly states, "absolutely
no pets," manager Russ Godwin said.
Some pet owners, when notified to get rid
of their pets, simply abandoned them. Some
abandoned cats are now living underneath the
apartment buildings.
Denise Fulfer, humane educator at the Bra
zos Animal Shelter, said the best thing resi
dents can do is find a home for their animals
through careful screening of potential
adopters.
"The last thing we want to recommend is
turning (pets) loose at their apartment door,"
she said.
See Polo Club/Page 4
Democrats
debate issues
Candidates curtail personal attacks,
focus discussion on health care, taxes
ATLANTA (AP) - Paul
Tsongas' economic policies drew
repeated fire from rivals Sunday
in a Democratic presidential de
bate that included spirited dis
agreements over health care but
far fewer personal attacks than the
wild free-for-all of the night be
fore.
The Georgia forum was the
first of two debates Sunday lead
ing into Tuesday's eight primaries
and caucuses.
Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton
opened fire on Tsongas early, con
trasting his plan for a middle-class
tax cut by raising taxes on the
wealthy with Tsongas' proposal to
raise taxes on the rich but use that
money for a capital-gains tax
break.
"The question is not whether
the middle class gets a tax cut,"
Clinton said. "It's whether you
want to give it to the middle class
or people who buy stocks."
Tsongas answered that busi
nesses needed help to repair the
economy. "We have to take our
money, the precious resources that
we have and put it into venture
capital," the former Massachusetts
senator said.
Former California Gov. Jerry
Brown, in another colorful debate
performance, poked fun at
Tsongas' theme that he's "no San
ta Claus” ready to offer politically
popular giveaways.
"I'd say your Santa Claus sack
is pretty empty," Brown said.
"Lollipops for business are no bet
ter than lollipops for the middle
class."
Brown renewed his call for a
universal flat tax, saying the cur
rent tax code was a "4,000-page
tax morass that feeds on the cor
ruption of selling loopholes for
campaign contributions."
Republican campaign ignites
amid flurry of accusations
WASHINGTON (AP) - The
sizzling battle within the Republi
can Party heated up Sunday with
one of President Bush's prominent
supporters accusing challenger
Patrick Buchanan of flirting with
fascism.
The charge by former Educa
tion Secretary William J. Bennett
came as Bush and Buchanan cam
paigned in Georgia for that state's
critical primary on Tuesday.
The campaign became more
vitriolic during the past week as
Buchanan accused the administra
tion of investing in pornography
and Bush called his challenger "a
disappointment to all Americans"
for opposing the Persian Gulf war.
Bush supporters insist the
president will be the party's nomi
nee and many of Buchanan's con
servative backers have conceded
he has little chance of wresting the
nomination from the incumbent.
But these conservatives see the
race as a battle for the future of the
Republican Party, with Buchanan
forcing Bush to move to the right
and then emerging as leader of a
resurgent conservative movement.
Bennett, appearing on ABC-
TV's "This Week with David
Brinkley," was asked whether he
See Buchanan/Page 4
Saudi king progresses
toward sharing power
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -
Saudi Arabia's absolute ruler.
King Fahd, took a tentative step
toward sharing power Sunday by
announcing the long-promised
creation of a 60-member advisory
council.
The Majlis al-Shura will have
no political power. Yet its creation
by royal decree marked a radical
step toward the possibility of plu
ralism in the Islamic kingdom
ruled by the Al-Saud family since
1932.
The country's monarchs halve
been promising political reforms
for three decades. Pressure for
change, though, accelerated after
Iraq invaded Kuwait in August
1990, leading to the deployment of
hundreds of thousands of non-
Muslim troops into this tradition
ally closed society.
Many Saudis now hope for a
written body of law, akin to a con
stitution, to adapt the country's le
gal system to 20th-century life. To
day, the country is still governed
by 7th-century sharia, or Islamic
religious laws.
Sunday, a royal decree broad
cast on state television said council
members will be named by the
king to a four-year term.
No date was given in the de
cree or in a statement by Fahd on
the official Saudi Press Agency for
the council's formation or first ses
sion.
Fahd said council members
would be Saudi nationals aged 30
or more, apparently to be drawn
from the kingdom's oil, religious
and academic communities. He
gave few other details.
He also said the council would
be complemented by a body of po
litical administrators similar to
provincial governors, but did not
elaborate.
A&M club flies high
American Helicopter Society takes students for ride
By Melody Dunne
The Battalion
If you're into vertical flight, the Texas
A&M chapter of the American Helicopter
Society is the organization that can really
get you off the ground.
About 30 people — mostly members of
the society — had the opportunity to ride
in a three-person helicopter at the AHS
spring picnic Saturday.
The group plans to have a helicopter
ride at least once a semester, in addition to
their planned speakers and tours.
Mike Birdsell, director of maintenance
at the Flight Mechanics Lab, piloted the 15-
minute flights from his house north of
Bryan.
Before the groups took rides, he ex
plained the technical side of flying heli
copters.
"The helicopter blades provide lift by
rotating 500 to 600 miles an hour," Birdsell
said.
Birdsell said pilots have to work four
different controls at once to keep a heli
copter in the air.
"I don't know what kind of guy ever
thought of this stuff (vertical flight)," he
said. "It's like balancing an egg on a
stick."
Birdsell warned riders not to think
something was wrong if the helicopter
shook or was louder than they expected
during the ride.
"Helicopters are one of the safest ma
chines around," he said. "They're safer
than a plane. I'm biased because I've
flown both."
Birdsell said pilots rely on charts and
depend on radios when they get off course,
but awareness of landmarks plays an im
portant part.
See Group/Page 4
DARRIN HILL/TheBattalion
Mike Birdsell, Director of Aerospace
Maintenance, discusses helicopters Saturday.