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September 1, 1994 • Thursday
Property owners sue Bush
Suit charges gubernatorial
candidate of coercion
ARLINGTON (AP) — Prop
erty owners fighting for control
of land surrounding The Ball
park in Arlington have sued
Texas Rangers managing gen
eral partner George W. Bush,
other Rangers owners and the
ball club’s law firm accusing
them of conspiring to illegally
obtain the land.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in
Harris County district court, ac
cuses Bush and his Rangers
partners of coercing the city of
Arlington to condemn private
property for ventures benefiting
the Rangers.
Bush, the Republican candi
date for governor, has cam
paigned in part on landowners
rights. He owns 1.8 percent of
the Rangers.
Bush campaign spokesman
Reggie Bashur referred com
ments concerning the lawsuit to
Rangers officials.
Rangers president and limit
ed partner Tom Schieffer, who
also is named in the lawsuit,
said Wednesday he had not yet
seen the lawsuit, but dismissed
it as a political ploy.
“This is the silly season in
politics, and George is running
for governor. So I guess you kind
of have to expect things like this
because of his running for gover
nor,” Schieffer said.
“There certainly was no con
spiracy,” he said. “We don’t have
anything to be ashamed of. I
think we built the finest facility
in baseball, and 1 think people
would agree with that.”
Members of the Charles
Robert Mathes family accuse the
Rangers and the club’s law firm,
Jackson & Walker, of violating
fair business practices by con
spiring to obtain their property.
Jackson & Walker was repre
senting both the Rangers and
the Matheses when the city of
Arlington began proceedings to
acquire the land for the Rangers’
sports-entertainment complex,
the suit says.
The property owners contend
the firm and the Rangers
worked together to drive down
offers to buy the land and coerce
city officials to condemn the land
for private use.
Cities generally are autho
rized to condemn land only for a
public purpose.
“(The Rangers) wanted to
have a monopoly on that entire
location and the only way for
them to get the monopoly ... was
to use their political power to
change the law in Texas and use
their political power to coerce
the city to use this new law to
condemn all of their competitors
in the area,” said Glenn Sodd, a
Corsicana attorney representing
the landowners.
“They used the threat of leav
ing Arlington — a place we don’t
think they ever intended to
leave — to coerce city officials
into giving up S135 million in
taxpayer funds to induce them
to stay in Arlington,” Sodd said.
The lawsuit seeks an undis
closed amount of actual and
punitive damages.
Messages left Wednesday at
the public relations office of
Jackson & Walker were not re
turned. Jackson & Walker,
based in Dallas, has offices in
Houston.
Rangers limited partner Ger
ald Haddock, who worked at
Jackson & Walker from 1990 to
early 1994 and is named in the
lawsuit, said he had not yet
seen the lawsuit but that the
allegations appeared to be un
warranted.
“I’m not familiar with the cur
rent status of the proceedings,
but based on my knowledge of
the various transactions, the al
legations are without merit,”
Haddock said.
The condemnation involves
approximately 12 acres of land
located just east of the new
ballpark that the Rangers al
ready have developed for park
ing and other facilities. The
city of Arlington and the Ar
lington Sports Facilities Devel
opment Authority filed suit to
acquire the land in 1991.
The landowners filed a
counter claim in 1992 contend
ing the condemnation was illegal
because the land is for private
use. That claim is pending in a
Tarrant County court.
City and Rangers officials ar
gue that the complex will benefit
the public, although an agree
ment between the team and the
city allows the Rangers to keep
all revenues. Plans for the com
plex include a 12,500-seat am
phitheater, office buildings and
a “riverwalk” featuring shops
and restaurants.
Even though the city will own
the land, charging the Rangers
up to $3.5 million a year, the
agreement gives the team total
control over its use. The agree
ment also applies up to $1.5 mil
lion of each year’s rent to an
eventual purchase by the
Rangers in as few as 12 years.
Bush has made government
control of private land an issue
in the governor’s race, criticiz
ing Democratic Gov. Ann
Richards for changing her posi
tion on federal control of sever
al lakes in Texas. Richards ini
tially supported federal inter
vention, but has since said she
opposes such a move.
Richards spokesman Chuck
McDonald said Wednesday the
lawsuit shows Bush has been
hypocritical in what he says on
the campaign trail and how he
conducts his personal business.
“The irony here is really
overwhelming,” McDonald said.
“Here is the self-professed
champion of property rights be
ing sued over unfair condemna
tion practices.”
Bashur said there was a “day-
and-night difference” between
the issues surrounding the ball
park and federal control of pri
vate property.
“If Gov. Richards has a prob
lem with The Ballpark in Arling
ton, she should visit the resi
dents of that community and
state so in a loud and clear
voice,” he said.
State audits TSU
Findings include improperly
alterecf athletic transcripts
AUSTIN (AP) — A state audit
of Texas Southern University re
leased Wednesday said student
athletes’ transcripts were improp
erly altered apparently to make
them eligible for athletic events.
A review of 250 athlete tran
scripts revealed five that con
tained various improper alter
ations, the report said.
Among other findings, the
audit also said the Houston uni
versity had no plan to control
hundreds of thousands of dol
lars in athletic operating losses,
and that it hadn’t fully imple
mented all recommendations
from an earlier state probe into
its “Ocean of Soul'* band.
The band, known for its
showy dance routines, was dis
mantled for a time in the wake
of 1992 allegations that some
members stole $22,000 worth of
electronics during a trip to
Tokyo. It later was revealed
that one-fourth of the band
members weren’t students.
TSU’s response, which is in
cluded in the state auditor’s re
port, said the board of regents
has worked diligently over the
years to encourage university
management “to effect neces
sary changes in operations
while maintaining a stable
learning environment.”
The university named in
1993 a new president, Joann
Horton, who has made “sweep
ing changes,” and an internal
auditor was named this Febru
ary, TSU said.
The state audit evaluated uni
versity management control sys
tems in place as of this March.
The university recently an
nounces job cuts due to an antici
pated budget shortfall, and au
thorities have looked at its phar
macy program following allega
tions that students had been
cheating on state licensing tests.
The reported alteration of
student athletes’ transcripts
appears in a section of the au
ditor’s report that says the reg
istrar’s office hasn’t been prop
erly managed.
Allowing ineligible students
to participate in athletic events
would violate NCAA require
ments, the report noted.
Changing transcripts could
be a criminal offense because
state law forbids altering gov
ernment records, said Mark
Smock, who oversaw the audit.
The state auditor’s investiga
tion is continuing into who al
tered the records, Smock said.
He would not release the names
of the students whose records
were altered, and he wouldn’t
say whether the matter had
been referred to the Harris
County district attorney’s office.
District Attorney Johnny
Holmes said, “The report, if and
when we receive it, will be fol
lowed through on.”
Holmes said he would want
to look further into the law be
fore saying whether a university
would be classified as a govern
mental agency.
Carrie Thompson/THF Battauon
Book exhibit opens today
Steve Smith, Head of the Special Collections Library, careful
ly sets up a book exhibit in the J. Wayne Stark Gallery. The
exhibit opens Thursday, September 1 and will run through Oc
tober 16th. This particular book is an Ethiopian manuscript of
the Book of John, dating from the fifteenth century.
Sports
Injuries
For operative and
non- operative conditions
of the extremities.
•Therapeutic exercise to
restore range of motion
and restore strength in
the upper and lower
extremity musculature.
•Therapeutic massage for
pain control and muscle
relaxation.
Sports o Back
Clinic
2011 A. Villa Maria
Bryan, Texas 77802
(409) 776-2225
ADULT VIDEO
603 Texas Ave., College Station
Novelties, Gift Items, Books
Magazines, Movies, Arcade,
Theater, Movies $15 & up,
2 Day Movie Rentals
Aadiet ‘TVdetune
Open 24 Hours
^ 7 Days a Week. ^
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COUPON
On Routine Cleaning,
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(Regulady $76, With Coupon $44)
Payment must be made at time of service.
BRYAN COLLEGE STATION
Jim Arents, DOS Dan Lawson, DDS
Karen Arents, DDS Neal Kruger, DDS
1103 Villa Maria Texas Ave. at SW Pkwy.
268-1407 696-9578
CarePlus ^fit
Dental Centers
| Exp. 09-30-94 _ __ J
HURRY, BUT KEEP YOUR PANTS ON!
THIS 1$ THE LAST CHANCE
TO REGISTER YOUR
ORGANIZATION FOR
THE MSC OPEN HOUSE!
SPACE IS LIMITED!!
DEADLINE: Sept. 6,1994 at 5:00 P.M.
PRICE: $22 (For one table only)
HOW: Reserve a table from 8-5 with Nancy Adams in
the Student Programs Office, Rm 216 MSC.
a.c j.l
'-Tlr ro©vfl[B>i!(B> by Y®(ym umt-. 'Tfr
THE MSC PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE
^ Word's „ g
,/t4 ( ft V
AND WE WANT YOU TO WORK ON IT!
Rudder Theatre Complex
Needs Student Workers
For Stagehand and Spotlight Work
SOUND INTERESTING?
Come to Rudder Auditorium
Mon., Sept. 5, 7:00 pm
COME SIGN UP!
Nr Backstage Pass to the
mATT/mDE
GRAND OPENING
SEPTEMBER 2 nd
» qR£Arm&C • NO B.g.//
Ladies Over 21 - NO COVER
AWESOME Happy Hours: 7-10 p.m.
50# Drafts • $1.75 Pitchers • 75c Mixed Drinks
M 00 CHUGGERS ALL NIGHT
Open: Thursday, Friday and Saturday until 2 a.m.