The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 01, 1992, Image 1
The Battalion Vol. 92 No. 24 (12 pages) “Serving Texas A&M Since 1893” Thursday, October 1, 1992 Bush loyalists protect family leave bill veto THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - President Bush's loyalists in the House said Wednesday they had enough votes to sustain his veto of the family leave bill. Con gress also con fronted the White House on China policy as it pushed to resolve final is sues standing in the way of adjournment. “We had plenty of votes before and we should have plenty this time," said Rep. Bill Goodling, R- Pa., who was leading opposition to the family leave bill. "I'm pre dicting victory." Democrats acknowledged they had picked up only a few more votes in several days of lobbying, seemingly leaving them short of the two-thirds majority needed to override Bush's 32nd veto and en act the bill into law. "I wish things looked better," said Rep. Patricia Schroeder, D- Colo., a sponsor of the family leave bill. "We may get some changes. We've been trying hard." The House, meanwhile, voted overwhelmingly as expected to override another Bush veto of a bill that would slap conditions on renewal next year of China's trade status with the United States. Most Favored Nation status, en joyed by China and most other U.S. trading partners, imparts the lowest available tariffs on a coun try's exports to America. The vote was 345-74, well over the two-thirds needed. Bush ve toed a similar measure previously, and attempts to override fell short in the Senate. A similar outcome was expected this time. The veto battles were among the major bills to be acted upon before the 102nd Congress adjourns early next week. The family leave bill would require businesses with 50 or more employees to give workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-pro tected leave, with full health bene fits, to care for a sick family mem ber or for the birth or adoption of a child. Bush vetoed a similar family leave bill in 1990 and the latest bill in September. He contended the measure would be costly to busi ness and proposed instead giving a tax credit to businesses that al low their workers time off. The Senate voted 68-31 last week to override Bush. He so far has a perfect record of making his vetoes stick. But the Senate vote marked the first time in his presi dency that body has voted to override. Democrats have been plaiming for the override vote for a year or more, and presidential nominee Bill Clinton has ham mered at Bush on the issue. But even so, it appeared that Democratic House leaders had not worked as strongly or effectively as they might have to gain the votes of their own members. House Speaker Thomas Foley urged an override but acknowl edged that even some Democratic committee and subcommittee chairmen, and some deputy De mocratic whips, were voting to sustain the president. Bush Judge runs for high court Woman vies to become first female justice in Texas By WILL HEALY Reporter of THE BATTALION Judge Rose Spector hopes to be the first woman elected to the Texas Supreme Court in its 150-year history. Having a woman on the court will bring a different perspective, she said during her visit to Bryan on Wednesday. Spector, a Democrat, said the Clarence Thomas hearings have had an impact on women today. "I think it put in the forefront the lack of women in the decision making process," said Spector. The "year of the woman" has shown that more people need to be involved in the political Spector process, she said, and it is time for women to be included. Spector said the Texas Supreme Court has made conflicting decisions with regard to the public school system. The school year started with voters paying a tax that has been ruled unconstitutional and there is not a school finance system in place. The decisions on school finance are up to the legislature, Spector said. "What the court needs to do is to interpret the law in such a way that everyone knows what the law is," she said. Spector said privacy — including abortion — will be a major issue in the future. She acknowledges that abortion might come before the Texas Supreme Court, but declined to say how she may rule. "The whole issue of privacy is going to be before all of the supreme courts, Texas included," Spector said. "The whole duty of the Court is to look at an individual case, and I think it's inappropriate to gen eralize about what they may do in a particular case." Spector said she believes the bench should contin ue to be an elected position in Texas, because judges take election experiences with them into office. "Appointments are not non-political," said Spec- tor. "When you run for public office, you go around to Bryan, Austin, and a lot of other places in Texas, and you talk to people, and it's a very humbling ex perience." Specter's Republican opponent, Eugene Cook, was appointed by Gov. Bill Clements before he left office. "I do believe his lack of experience as a trial judge is demonstrated in some of the opinions," she said. She said that being a trial judge has given her "a degree of common sense with reality-based experi ences." Not having that experience leads to a "ivory tow er attitude," which prevents a judge from seeing how judicial decisions affect people's lives, she said. Spector received her law degree at St. Mary's Uni versity Law School, magna cum laude in 1965. She was first elected Judge of County Court of Law No. 5 in 1974, and was among the first women elected to county-wide public office in Bexar County. She is serving her 18th year as a trial judge, currently on the 131st District Court. RANDYNICHOLS/The Battalion Sophomore Joel Simmons tries to block a spike by Eric Montgomery, a freshman mathematics major. Simmons and Montgomery, friends from Hart Hall, play several games of volleyball on Wednesday afternoons. The continuing mild weather adds to their volleyball fever. Student Senate approves agenda By MEREDITH HARRISON News Editor for THE BATTALION The Student Senate ap proved its 1992-1993 agenda Wednesday, which included the goal of bettering student re lations by increasing student feedback on campus issues. Brian Walker, speaker of the Student Senate, said the top pri ority of the Senate is to get stu dent input on the issue of priva tization of some campus food services. Walker said student feed back would help the Senate de cide how to represent the stu dent body on the issue. "We are planning to get out on campus and really listen to the student body on this issue," he said. "It's important for us to know how they feel about cam pus caterers moving onto the campus." The Senate set the goal of improving relations between the senators and the student body and getting more student input on important issues around campus. Promoting better relations between the colleges and their representatives will also be stressed this year. Walker said. "We are really stressing bet ter student relations," Walker said. "We need to get out on campus and get to know our constituents in the hopes of im proving relations and getting things done for the student body." Other issues include adding an extra day of vacation to the Thanksgiving holiday, an extra reading day during final exams and an on-campus day care sys tem for children of A&M facul ty and staff. Walker said another priority this year will be obtaining ap proval for installing electric door openers for handicapped students. Although the Student Senate just passed this year's agenda, the group has also been work ing on other projects it previ ously approved. Presently the Senate is work ing with Parking Transit and Traffic Services to gain ap proval to build awnings over all campus bus stops. The Senate is also working to complete repairs on a sidewalk located near the Kleberg build ing. "The Student Senate plans to take charge of things on cam pus that need to be handled and make sure that the students get the best benefits," Walker said. Congress finds tax bill's benefits THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - Come elec tions or high deficits, members of Congress are going to use the tax law to help a constituent or push a pet project. So, the latest tax bill helps shoe makers in Maine, loggers in Oregon and the thoroughbred industry in Kentucky. Not all the amendments tacked onto the bill are so narrow. One would ease the financial burdens of the dying; one would allow military officers more tax-free combat pay. Another would allow students to avoid tax on the portion of their scholarships that pays for room, board and travel. The amendments are worthless unless the catchall bill to which they are attached becomes law. A committee of senior tax writ ers will try Thursday to write a compromise between the $19.6 bil lion bill passed by the House and the $36.6 billion Senate version. A central issue is a section of the Senate bill that would pay for some tax reductions and spending pro grams by making permanent a tem porary tax increase on the well-to- do. President Bush has promised a veto if the increase stays. That means negotiators will have to pare some tax breaks or find some other inoffensive revenue source if the bill is to become law. Because tax bills are seldom sub ject to amendment on the House floor, most of the provisions were added in the Senate. All are subject to being dumped in the search for a compromise. Owner rounds up signatures Privatization petition targets College Station businesses By MACK HARRISON Reporter of THE BATTALION A Northgate restaurant owner is taking a petition to establishments throughout College Station to voice against the privatization of Sbisa Underground at Texas A&M. Danny Dodd, owner of Spanky's Good Grub & Pub on Northgate, said he decided to take the peti tion to establishments outside the Northgate area be cause privatization would have a detrimental effect on all businesses in the community. He said 12 Northgate businesses have signed the petition. "We're going to hit all the local restaurants in Col lege Station that aren't part of a big chain," Dodd said. The petition reads: "We, the undersigned, submit this petition in protest of the Texas A&M decision to allow private food vendors on campus. The process of selection did not include an opportunity for local businesses to participate in bidding for available locations. The damage to the closed process used by A&M was un fair to the local community. We request that A&M reconsider its decision and meet with local mer chants to discuss options." However, not all merchants share these senti ments. Pierre Dube, manager of Freebird's World Burrito on University Drive, said he doesn't have enough information on the privatization to draw a conclusion just yet. Dube said he believes the University has the right to compete with local businesses, as it does now. He said food sales at Sbisa Underground have always affected Northgate merchants. "Is it (privatization) going to affect local business es?" Dube asked. "They're already selling food there." Advance Democratic forum aims at college campuses The Aggie Democrats in vite the public to watch Gov. Bill Clinton and Sen. A1 Gore during a nationally simulcasted young people's forum on Thursday, C>ct. 1. from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in Room 212 of the Memorial Student Center. The program is co-hosted by Rock the Vote, a non partisan organization regis tering young voters, and "Rockline," a nationally- syndicated FM call-in show that will broadcast the event to over 150 stations around the country. The forum will be held at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and campuses na tionwide will be linked live via video satellite. Viewers will be able to call in questions during the program. The broadcast is part of the Clinton-Gore student campaign's "last chance weekend," an effort to regis ter young voters before reg istration deadlines in many states next week.