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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 1994)
September lvcs us unpaid Japanese But no specifit is given, osal that has beet vernment circles tion of a private funi ments to individuals >r forced laborers anc ontributors would i nies that used sh the war. of compensation fm ilaves has been ince last summet ivernment admitti time that as man) isian women, mostlj d been forced to pm Japanese soldiers brothels. Loose rces. Deutch told re training would be nmediately. illegal trade migh Campus Tobin Boenig ready to serve as speaker of student senate. Opinion JAY ROBBINS: Political selfishness and public ignorance . have perverted the health care plan into a typical mess of red tape. Page 9 Sports Trent Driver looks forward to taking the field during Saturday's game in Baton Rouge. Page 5 FRIDAY September 2, 1994 T ot. ] VoT. 101, No. 5 (10 pages) “Serving Texas A&Msince 1893" _ Jriefs Economic relief likely for N. Ireland encies group to ve endangered bird IOUSTON (AP) — A giant forest- (ucts company has joined forces three federal and state agencies escue the endangered . red- ;aded woodpecker, lhampion International Corp. hed an agreement Wednesday to w the government agencies to age 2,000 acres of the company’s y Col. William Nt ierland in East Texas. :ommander of thf )fficials said the agreement is the of its kind in this area and one of a few in the entire country. al “observer group ized to monitor! Deutch and Talbot; ? could guess hoi|)ats soized to otect turtles igh (>st imated tha: K .,,., wroi ._.. T _ mn „ff„ o il jALVEST0N - Texas AP — Coast ,000 gallons of fu U d gnd federa , mar v in e ; f j sh eries g carried across thi ,j a | s dave se j ze( j th e catches of two lean border, mostlj imping vessels for violations of rn sector. ulations meant to protect turtles cost of the missk iped in shrimpers' nets.- d at S 1.1 million !|A catch of 3,828 pounds of shrimp seized by the National Marine heries Service Thursday from a tore "is" scheduledl3 rah ' Texas * based shrimping boat tore is scneauiea. lhe Ga | veston Bay Entrance nnel. NMFS agents found that the grids ment at Ft. Lewii|f the Turtle Excluder Devices ^tailed in the boat were at an roper angle, making escape icult for any trapped turtles. The fisheries service sold the it’s catch to a Galveston fish house $18,160.55. The captain was lued a citation. ichardson takes a ot from Bush EDGARTOWN, Mass. (AP) — The United States is holding out the possi bility of increased economic aid for Northern Ireland to help cement the cease-fire the Irish Republican Army is offering after 25 years of violent resis tance to British rule. The Clinton administration has made no promises and the specific outline of an aid package remained unclear Wednesday. But the Irish Republic is dispatching Deputy Prime Minister Dick Spring to Martha’s Vineyard, President Clinton’s va cation island off Cape Cod, to discuss on Friday the prospects for peace and for an aid package to help keep it glued together. “I think we’re looking for ways to cer tainly facilitate and encourage the peace process ... including facilitating economic development,” White House Press Secre tary Dee Dee Myers said. Clinton to discuss aid package with deputy prime minister in hopes to secure cease-fire contingent of next week. They d Battalion, 9th Ib e to be joined nd Argentine troo| tember. nd! or pur is: HOCKLEY, Texas (AP) — Republi- ;ah gubernatorial candidate George W. Ish took a shot at his opponent’s Ime policies today, then grabbed a Hotgun and took some real shots at qves as the state dove hunting season ^yan. Using a borrowed 20-gauge shot- jdn, Bush fired off seven shots at yes during a more than hour-long it in a field northwest of Houston. He me. Before picking up the weapon be- [e sunrise, Bush took aim at incum- |nt Gov. Ann Richards, saying she mid apologize to voters for signing a penal code he contends actually luces prison time. ental facility shut wn for violations ndation ater) 696-7313 ou -4818 rr Specials 5179.95 $99.00 louse $99.00 lo believe it) $109.95 $149.95 0 3.1) AUSTIN (AP) — A facility for the ntally retarded will shut down lowing investigations that turned numerous problems, a state icial says. The Cresthaven Nursing Center been cited by the Texas partment of Human Services for ving life-threatening conditions, idents left unattended in dangerous ations, and lack of staff. In May, DHS took over operation the facility for two weeks. In June, facility failed to pass its annual ite inspection. Tony Venza, deputy mmissioner of DHS, said esthaven officials notified the state they decided to cease operation, hey threw in the towel,” he told the stin American-Statesman. sxas county named ast-populated /Vhat's Up White House aides said that while no commitments have been made, it was like ly Clinton will approve an aid package. Myers noted the United States already contributes $20 million a year to the In ternational Fund for Ireland for projects on both sides of the north-south border that divides Ireland. And she said that while there were no plans for a summit with the nations and parties involved, “I certainly wouldn’t rule it out at some point in the future.” Clinton caused a stir in Britain when he pledged during the 1992 presidential campaign to send a peace envoy to Ire land. The British government has resist ed outside involvement in what it consid ers an internal matter. Clinton on Wednesday placed calls of congratulations to Irish and British lead ers, talking to them at the beginning and at the end of an early-morning family bi cycle ride along the ocean shores of Martha’s Vineyard. He first called Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds and then British Prime Minister John Major. He made both calls from one of the vans of his accom panying motorcade. “The IRA’s decision to join the political process can mark the beginning of a new era that holds the promise of peace,” Clin ton said in a statement. From Clinton on down, administration officials repeatedly used the word “per manent” to describe their view that the cease-fire offered by the IRA did nearly everything that could be done in words to encourage an end to the carnage that has marked a quarter century of civil strife in Northern Ireland. “I urge the IRA and all who have sup ported it to fulfill the promise of today’s announcement to end the use and sup port of violence,” Clinton said. In discussing developments, the White House gladly claimed credit for expand ing diplomatic contacts with both coun tries and approving temporary visas for IRA leaders to come to the United States for discussions. WASHINGTON (AP) — West Texas’ ving County, home to more oil wells n people, is the nation’s least-popu- id county. That’s according to the .1994 County City Data Book, which the Census reau unveils today. Loving County, named after a one- le trail boss, provides plenty of elbow om for its 141 residents, some of 10m tend the county’s 1,022 oil wells. Joining Loving in the nation’s least- pulated category are King County in irthwest Texas, with 339 inhabitants; A&M president names interim vice president, provost Texas A&M FYesident Ray Bowen named Dr. J. Charles Lee as interim executive vice president and provost. Lee, associate vice chancellor and executive associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, will replace Dr. A. Benton Co- canougher, who has served in the interim position since last August. “I am honored to have this opportunity to serve the University,” Lee said, “and look forward to working with President Bowen and our faculty, staff and students in moving the University ahead.” Bowen selected Lee after receiving recommendations from a search committee and then consulting with other faculty, staff and administrators across campus. A search committee will now start looking for a permanent re placement. “Dr. Lee brings to this position a wealth of experience that will make him a valuable member of the University administration,” Bowen said. “He has pledged to be an advocate for faculty members all across the University and to represent their interests while seiz ing in this interim position.” Lee has served for the last 11 years in a variety of administrative positions at Texas A&M and within the A&M System. He joined the University in 1983 as head of the Department of Forest Science. Cocanougher resigned as senior vice president and provost Aug. 5 and has returned to his former position as dean of the College of Business Administration. Measures taken to collect money for student loans WASHINGTON (AP) — Defaults on student loans are declining as indebted graduates scramble to “do what’s right” and the govern ment uses new tools to dig into their wages and tax refunds in case they don’t. Taxpayers are expected to spend $2 billion this year paying off uncollected student loans, down from a peak of $3.6 billion in 1991, Education Secretary Richard Riley said Thursday. “After years of rising defaults, it’s going the other way,” he said. The proportion of loans in default dropped to 15 percent in 1992 — the latest year for which figures are available — from a high of 22.4 percent two years earlier. “What it demonstrates is that the country is not made up of a bunch of people trying to con the federal government,” said Leo Ko- mfeld, deputy assistant education secretary. “The large majority of people are trying to do what’s right.” As usual, federally backed loans for students of beauty, hair and cosmetology schools were among the hardest to recover. The government took it biggest gamble in Nevada, where three gaming schools joined a long list of other institutions to drive up the state’s default rate on student loans to 34 percent, by far the coun try’s highest. Louisiana (23.1 percent), Connecticut (22.3), Alaska (21.1), Flori da (20.9) and California (20.1) were the other states where more than one in five student loans was in default. Blake Griggs/THE Battalion Step off on Hullabaloo Members of the Fighting Texas Aggie Band Thursday for this Saturday’s game against drum corps practice their halftime routine on LSU in Baton Rouge, LA. Texas study shows smoking regulations hard to enforce d Kenedy County in South Texas, "ampus 2 Classified 4 )pinion 9 ports 5 bons 7 Veather 10 10 ATLANTA (AP) — Cigarette vending machines are frequently located where children, especially young adolescents, can easily buy their products, a Texas study found. Of 116 vending machines surveyed, 59 machines, or 51 percent, were in ar eas considered easily available to chil dren, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. That’s more than double the nation wide estimate, 22.5 percent, by the in dustry group National Automatic Mer chandising Association. The head of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, Michael Eriksen, said the study reinforces how simple it is for children to buy cigarettes from vending machines. “Any kid can buy cigarettes if they want to from vending machines as long as it’s not broken,” Eriksen said. Vending machines, which the in dustry group says account for about 1 percent of cigarette sales, must be Vending machines cause problems by making cigarettes readily accessible to children registered in Texas, but the owners do not have to inform the state of their locations. Health officials found most of the machines surveyed in the Arlington, Texas, area in gas stations, motel lob bies, restaurants, food stores and recre ational sites. “We hit every vending machine in 22 contiguous ZIP codes,” CDC epidemiol ogist Jane Harmon said. A Texas law prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to minors imposes a maximum fine of $500 on merchants who sell tobacco products to children. About 3 million teen-agers are smok ers and they consume nearly 1 billion packs a year. Fifty-three percent of adult smokers were daily smokers by age 18. Teen-agers, particularly those ages 12-15, depend on vending machines for cigarettes because store owners are more likely to refuse them, health offi cials said. “Kids aren’t stupid. They use vending machines when they have to to avoid getting caught,” Eriksen said. The Texas Department of Health last September paired adults with youths ages 15-17 to enter sites where cigarette vending machines were con sidered easily accessible to children. The teen-agers bought cigarettes at 41 of 42 sites. One youth was prevented from buy ing cigarettes from a vending machine that was electronically locked by the owner of an Arlington store. That com munity requires such locks on all ciga rette vending machines. Teen-agers bought 35 of the packs of cigarettes, or 83 percent, in restau rants. Fifty-nine percent, or 24 packs, were bought within a half-mile of a school. None of the business owners chal lenged the teen-agers making the pur chases, according to the study. The Tobacco Education and Child Protection Act, introduced in Congress last November, would ban cigarette vending machines from places accessi ble to children. The legislation is still in subcom mittee. Tobacco companies spend $4.6 billion a year in advertising and promotions, but insist they do not target children. They support campaigns to discour age'children from smoking, most no tably spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to print placards warning teen-agers that buying cigarettes is il legal.