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Thursday • June 29, 1995 STVS.TE NATION
California airports tighten security, stop
air mail after threat from Unabomber
□ The San Francisco Chronicle
received a letter stating that the
Unabomber planned to blow
up an airliner out of Los Ange
les International Airport.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities tight
ened airport security around the state and
stopped all air mail out of California on
Wednesday after the Unabomber threatened
to blow up a plane in a letter.
The letter — its authenticity confirmed by
the FBI — represents the first time the elusive
bomber has threatened a target in advance.
With the busy July Fourth weekend ap
proaching, the Federal Aviation Administra
tion warned passengers flying from Califor
nia airports to watch out for suspicious bags
or parcels and to expect security delays.
Long lines formed as ticket agents
checked passengers for photo IDs, and some
airlines waived fees for passengers wanting
to change their flights.
“We are taking it very seriously. ... We do
deem it to be a credible threat,” Ed Jones,
division manager of security for the FAA,
said at Los Angeles International Airport.
The letter, received Tuesday by the San
Francisco Chronicle, read: “WARNING. The
terrorist group FC, called unabomber by the
FBI, is planning to blow up an airliner out of
Los Angeles International Airport some time
during the next six days. To prove that the
writer of this letter knows something about
FC, the first two digits of their identifying
number are 55.”
The letter, postmarked San Francisco,
did not refer to any specific flight. And the
FBI said it was not clear when the six-day
period began.
The “55” is believed to refer to a nine-dig
it code number used in Unabomber letters in
the past. The code number has not been re
leased, but the “55” portion is not a secret.
FBI agent Jim Freeman said he is “100
percent” sure the letter is from the Un
abomber, the name the FBI has given to the
person who has killed three people and in
jured 23 with 16 package bombs since 1978.
Freeman said laboratory tests confirmed
the letter’s authenticity, but he would not
elaborate. In a statement, however, the FBI
said the letter had similar “language, con
tent and other characteristics of previous
letters known to have originated from the
Unabom suspect.”
In 1979, an altitude-triggered incendiary
bomb sent by the Unabomber partially deto
nated in the cargo hold during an American
Airlines flight, and 12 people suffered smoke
inhalation. The following year, a Unabomber
device injured Percy Woods, then president
of United Airlines.
The most recent victim of the Unabomber,
so-named because many of his bombs were
aimed at airlines and universities, was timber
industry lobbyist Gilbert Murray, killed in his
Sacramento office on April 24.
At both the Los Angeles airport and San
Francisco International Wednesday, photo
IDs were required for curbside baggage
check and at airline counters. In Los Ange
les, police also added officers and one bomb
sniffing dog near the United shuttle gate.
In addition, all mail out of Califor
nia airports is being held indefinitely,
said Postal Inspector Dennis Hag-
berg. Many of the Unabomber’s explo
sives have been mailed from North
ern California post offices, and the
FBI has said the Unabomber proba
bly lives near Sacramento.
There was no rush to cancel flights in
advance of the busy holiday weekend, air
line spokesmen said.
Lines got longer at San Francisco’s Unit
ed ticket counters as an employee checked
IDs against ticket names.
American Airlines, the biggest passen
ger carrier out of Los Angeles Internation
al, and No. 2 United waived re-ticketing
fees for passengers who want to change
their California flights.
The Air Transport Association urged
passengers in California to bring photo
identification to check-ins and to arrive at
least two hours early.
"We are taking it very seriously. We
do deem it to be a credible threat."
— Ed Jones
division manager of security for the FAA
House approves flag-burning amendment
□ The amendment must
be passed by the Senate
and ratified by three-
fourths of the states be
fore it can become part
of the Constitution.
1 WASHINGTON (AP) — In a
eature timed for the Foiirth of
uly holiday, the House over
whelmingly approved a consti
tutional amendment Wednes
day designed to protect Old
Glory from burning and other
forms of desecration.
The measure, which now goes
to the Senate, would permit
Congress or any state to enact
flag-protection laws of the type
the Supreme Court has struck
down in recent years as an in
fringement of free expression.
The 312-120 vote was 24
more than the two-thirds majori
ty needed and came after occa
sionally passionate debate about
the relative importance of the
flag and the constitutional free
doms it symbolizes.
One after another, lawmakers
trooped to the microphone and
professed their love for the flag,
then promptly disagreed over
the wisdom of the amendment.
The flag “carries great signifi
cance for me and for many veter
ans and for a large number of
citizens,” said Rep. Gerald
Solomon, the New York Republi
can whose insistence pushed the
measure to the floor.
But critics, most of them De
mocrats, said the amendment
would actually undermine
American freedoms.
“If we abandon the Bill of
Rights here, where will it
then find a home?” asked Rep.
James Greenwood, D-Pa.
In addition, critics said the
measure would create a
patchwork of laws, with each
state permitted to prohibit
acts of its own choosing. “It’s
unworkable; it’s unreason
able,” said Rep. John Bryant,
D-Tex., who said Republicans
had rushed the measure to the
floor in time for Congress’ up
coming Fourth of July break.
Rep. Garv Ackerman, D-N.Y.,
underscored the same point near
the end of the House debate. He
held up a variety of items
adorned with the stars and
stripes — pantyhose, suspenders,
pinwheels and slippers among
them — and said states would be
free under the amendment to
write laws outlawing these items.
A Democratic attempt to sub
stitute a measure giving Con
gress the authority to ban burn
ing, rending, trampling and soil
ing the flag was rejected, 369-63.
The Clinton administration
opposed the measure. Deputy
Attorney General Walter
Dellinger spoke against it earli
er this year, saying it was un
necessary “in the absence of any
meaningful evidence that the
flag is in danger of losing its
symbolic value.”
An earlier bid to approve a
constitutional amendment on
flag desecration failed in 1990,
but the election of a Republican
majority last fall gave advocates
a second chance.
An identical amendment is
pending in the Senate, where
prospects for passage there are
uncertain. “Right now, we are
very close to the 67 votes we
need,” said Senate Judiciary
Committee Chairman Orrin
Hatch, R-Utah.
But in a signal of the strug
gle ahead, Sen. Joseph Biden of
Delaware, the Judiciary Com
mittee’s senior Democrat, said
he opposed the measure as
drafted, in part because it
would permit each state to
write its own laws.
Passage of the amendment by
the Senate would send the mea
sure to the states. Ratification of
three-fourths of the states would
then be necessary to make it
part of the Constitution.
In the House, Solomon said
there was ample evidence of
public support, noting that all
states except Vermont had
asked for enactment of the
amendment before the House.
"If we abandon the Bill of
Rights here, where will it
then find a home?"
—James Greenwood
Representative, D-Pa.
Senate passes bill to stop
frivolous consumer lawsuits
□ The measure would
require that defen
dants in stockholders
suits pay damages
only in proportion to
their degree of guilt.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
Senate voted by a decisive mar
gin Wednesday to curb stock
holders’ suits against compa
nies and their accountants.
Backers said the bill is sorely
needed to stop frivolous law
suits, but consumer groups
called it an outrage, sure to sti
fle legitimate complaints.
The overwhelming 70-29
vote, with one member not vot
ing present, coupled with a 325-
99 House vote for a more expan
sive version in March, means
proponents may have sufficient
votes to override a possible
presidential veto.
White House aides have only
hinted at a veto. The bills now
go to a House-Senate conference
to resolve their differences.
Business interests who fa
vored the measure as well as
consumer groups and trial
lawyers who opposed it waged
extensive lobbying efforts on
Capitol Hill while eliciting pub
lic support for their positions
through expensive broadcast
and newspaper ads.
Proponents argued the mea
sure will help tame an out-of
control legal system that re
wards predatory plaintiffs’
lawyers for filing frivolous law
suits against businesses, partic
ularly high technology compa
nies and accounting firms.
Senate Banking Committee
Chairman Alfonse M. D’Amato,
R-N.Y., argued the measure
would reduce legal bills that
companies pay to fight class ac
tion shareholder lawsuits. Such
suits, he said, consume an aver
age of more than 1,000 hours in
management time and typically
cost a company about $690,000.
“These suits, which unneces
sarily interfere with and increase
the cost of raising capital, are of
ten based on nothing more than
a company’s announcement of
bad news, not evidence of fraud,”
D’Amato said.
Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md.,
reminded
colleagues
that by vot
ing for the
bill, “We are
ignoring the
advice of all
of the regu
lators.” Se
curities and
Exchange
Commission
Chairman
Arthur
Levitt Jr. and the North Amer
ican Securities Administrators
Association, or NASAA, a
coalition of state regulators,
both opposed significant parts
of the bill.
To fix the problem, the bill
would require that defendants
pay damages only in proportion
to their degree of guilt.
Under the current liability
system, defendants who played a
minor role — such as an account
ing firm that failed to detect
fraud — can be forced to pay the
entire settlement if the fraud’s
masterminds are bankrupt.
D'Amato
j Texas court
row inmate
;□ Ronald Chambers
I has been on death
row for 19 years for
the murder of a Texas
Tech student.
AUSTIN (AP) — The Texas
i Court of Criminal Appeals
; Wednesday upheld the death
j sentence of a man convicted
| three times for the 1975 beating
| death of a Texas Tech student.
Ronald Curtis "Buffalo”
; Chambers has been on death
| row 19 years for the murder
| of Mike McMahan, a 22-year-
| old Texas Tech engineering
: student. Only three inmates
| have been on death row
i longer than Chambers.
He has been tried three
times for McMahan’s murder.
All three times he was convict-
; ed and sentenced to die. How-
| ever, his conviction was over-
i turned twice on technicalities.
McMahan’s parents are
hoping Wednesday’s court de-
I: cision means the third convic
tion will stick.
I “It’s been a long 20 years,”
McMahan’s mother, 71-year-
old Bennie McMahan, said in
| an interview from her home
in Kennewick, Wash. "We
haven’t been able to let Mike
go in peace.”
In the early morning hours
| of April 11, 1975, Chambers
and three other men abducted
McMahan and his date, Deia
Sutton, as they left a Dallas
nightclub. The two were forced
i at gunpoint into their car,
robbed and taken to the levee
: on the Trinity River.
denies death
third appeal
There, Sutton was shot in
the back of the neck. McMahan
also was shot, but both were
still alive. When McMahan
called out to Sutton to see if |
she was all right. Chambers j
struck McMahan 10 to 20 j
times in the head with the bar
rel of a shotgun. He then shot
Sutton three times.
Sutton survived the attack,
but McMahan died from mul
tiple blows to the head, a
punctured lung and two gun- !
shot wounds. I
Chambers first was convict- j
ed in 1975, but the conviction j
was overturned by the Court of
Criminal Appeals because a |
state-appointed psychiatrist
improperly questioned him. j
He was re-tried in 1985 and
again convicted. The U.S. j
Supreme Court overturned j
that conviction, ruling it was I
racially discriminatory because j
prosecutors excluded three j
blacks from the jury.
His third trial was in 1992.
In his appeal of that convic
tion, Chambers claims 19
points of error, including that
there was insufficient evi
dence to prove he would be a
continuing threat to society.
However, the court said
“the calculated and coldblood- j
ed nature of the instant of- |
fense ... amounts to sufficient ;
evidence upon which a ratio
nal jury could conclude appel
lant would constitute a con
tinuing threat to society.”
Although Chambers still
can take his appeal to the fed
eral courts, McMahan and her
husband hope this latest deci- j
sion is a signal that the case
may soon come to a close.
Student Appreciation Night
Every Wednesday
Free Pool w/ college ID
7 pm-1 am
Happy Hour 4-7 pm M-F
$1.00 Draft
$1.25 Longnecks
$2.00 Chuggers
$1.75 Well
HOSPITALITY NIGHT
Every Sunday 7 p.m. - 1 a.m.
Free pool for restaurant, bar, hotel, & city employees
$1.75 Miller Lite or Icehouse Chuggers
|^WiniiJDixie^hoppin^^ente^Texas^Ave^^^^^764-866jJ
Don’t
Worry
when an accident or
sudden illness occurs
CarePlus is open when you
need them 7 days a week
with affordable medical
care.
CarePlus
Family Medical Center
2411 Texas Ave. and
Southwest Parkway
696-0683
10% A&M student discount
MSC Barber Shop
Serving All Aggies!
Cuts and Styles
Haircuts starting at $6.
Seven operators to serve you
Theresa - Marti - April
Jennifer - Mary
846-0629
Open Mon. - Fri. 8-5
Located in the basement of the Memorial Student Center
JUNIOR FULBRIGHT
If your a Graduate student (or a graduating Senior), a U.S.
citizen, and have a 3.5 cumulative GPR, you could spend a
year abroad in the country of your choice researching a
specific project. This opportunity is available only through
the JUNIOR FULBRIGHT Program.
Attend an informational meeting to be briefed on the application
process:
Friday, June 30 @ 2:00
154 Bizzell Hall West
Study Abroad Programs • 161 Bizzell Hall West • 845-0544
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
At Cavender's Boot City
1400 HARVEY RD. (NEXT TO POST OAK MALL) • 409-696-8800
AND
GUCSTS
OAB t CRIU
FM 1093 (Westheimer)
Next To Papa Blakely's Sportsplex
Call 342-8050
For More Information
$8 Advance • $10 Gate
Gates at 4 • Show at 8
V
£
I o
FM 1093
1
HOUSTON-KATY
6 minutes West of Hwy 6
6,000 SQ. FT. DECK • 2 LAKES • HORSESHOES • SHUFFLEBOARD • FOOD • DRINKS • POOL • VIDEO
Sunday, July 16-4 Bands - Only 5 Bucks!
PITBULL • J.E.R.K. • LIMOS • TOY SUBS
Outdoor Festival With Music, Food, Tattoos, Kool Klothes & More!