)
Wednesday - July 16,195^
The Battalion
State officials
complain of
deportation
program
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
nation’s immigration agency is
falling short in identifying and
removing foreign-born prison
inmates who should be de
ported at the end of their sen
tences, state prison officials
told Congress Tuesday.
Appearing before the House
immigration subcommittee,
prison officials from Califor
nia, New York and Florida ex
pressed irritation at shortcom
ings in the Immigration and
Naturalization Service pro
gram designed to expedite re
moval of criminal aliens from
the United States.
The program is working well
in Texas, however, where state
officials have taken extra steps to
accommodate the INS, a Texas
prison administrator said.
The decade-old national
program, known as the Institu
tional Hearing Program, dis
patches immigration judges
and agents into federal and state
prisons for removal hearings be
fore the inmates are released.
The program covers non-immi
grants, here lawfully and unlaw
fully, who may be deportable as
a result of their crimes or status
as illegal immigrants.
When the process works prop
erly, INS is supposed to have de
portation papers in hand for de
portable criminal aliens at the
time their sentence is completed.
This allows for speedy deporta
tion rather than having to incar
cerate the inmate anew during
deportation hearings—or release
the person into the community.
But the General Accounting
Office said the immigration ser-
vice didn’t initiate IHP hearings
for nearly 6,000 of the 17,320 for
eign-born inmates released dur
ing the second half of 1995 from
federal prison or from one of five
state prison systems surveyed.
California, Texas, New York,
Florida and Arizona account
for more than 80 percent of the
foreign-born inmates in the
United States. The GAO review
covered the major states.
Roughly 80 percent of the
78,200 foreign-born prisoners
in state prisons and 24,470 in
federal prisons are removable
criminal aliens.
Yet only a third were being re
moved under IHP in 1995, said
immigration subcommittee
Chairman Lamar Smith, R-San
Antonio. “Thousands of crimi
nal aliens are released into
American communities,” he
said. “Many of these criminal
aliens have committed serious
offenses and continue to pose a
grave threat to public safety.”
For the second half of fiscal
1995, the most recent period
surveyed by GAO, 1,899 criminal
aliens were released into com
munities because INS had not
identified them as deportable.
Smith expressed hope that INS
will improve. “I don’t loiow what
in the world would prevent you
from going full speed with that
task,” he told an INS witness.
Clinton encourages Serbs
to avoid taking revenge
WASHINGTON (AP) — Worried
about the safety of NATO troops, Pres
ident Clinton warned Bosnian Serbs
on Tuesday that "it would be a grave
mistake” to seek revenge for the West
ern arrests of war crimes suspects.
Hoping the threat of force would
defuse tensions, administration offi
cials promised a potent response to at
tacks on U.S.-led alliance troops.
Western leaders are alarmed by
the angry reaction of Bosnian
Serbs to last week’s raid on sus
pected war criminals and the sen
tencing of another Bosnian Serb
on war crimes charges. Two explo
sions and death threats against
U.S. troops are suspected to be the
work of irate Bosnian Serbs.
Clinton said the 1995 Dayton
peace accords signed by Serbs
clearly stated that NATO troops
could arrest war crimes suspects —
and that suspects should be turned
over by local officials.
“They have clearly not complied
with that provision of the Dayton
agreement,” the president said at the
opening of a
meeting with De
mocratic and Re
publican con
gressional
leaders. “They’ve
made no effort to
help us get any of
those people.”
"And so... they
have no call to
take retaliatory
action, and it would be a grave mis
take to do so,” the president said.
He did not elaborate, but a White
House official speaking on condition
Clinton
of anonymity said the Bosnian lead
ership would be held responsible
and the United States would react
with a “swift, forceful response.”
The stern admonishment was de
signed to douse any smoldering vio
lent intentions of the Bosnian Serbs,
as well as put the American public on
notice that the risk for U.S. troops is
on the rise, officials said.
Asked if he was afraid of retaliato
ry action, the president told re
porters, “Tm concerned about it. Of
course I am.”
Clinton is weighing whether to
extend U.S. involvement in Bosnia
beyond the June 1998 deadline. He
is hearing criticism from all sides:
Many lawmakers object to widen
ing U.S. involvement; others argue
that Clinton has not done enough
to bring war criminals to justice.
A&M Student drom
on camping trip wi
friends near Austin
Amnaj “Ott” Phonephrachanh, a senior civil engineering
drowned while on a camping trip with friends at Inks Hike State Park,!# tal
Austin, Saturday around 3 p.rn. eia
Nhat Nguyen, Phonephruchanh's best 11 iend and a senior bid iw
gy major, said he and two other friends tried to resti dej
Phonephrachanh after he began struggling while swimmii Sul
Phonephrachanh went underand his friends could not findhimt irsl
cause of the muddy water, Nguyen said. irlil
Phonephrachanh was incoming president of Beta fau Omega fraten in
ty and president of the Asian American Student Association two years a; un
NguyensaidPhonephrachanhwasLnfluenti.il it lexasA&M. |
“He was a friend to everybody and everybody was a friend tohia isii
Nguyen said. “He affects a lot ofpeoples lives, especially in theAsiancoi erli
munity around here.” j
Funeral services will be at Chism-Smith Funeral Homeinlniii
Texas Saturday at 1 p.m. A web site has been set up
http://http.tamu.edu/-ott with additional information aboutftina
services and Phonephrachanh’s death.
Industry to increase
awareness of cybersmut
Software companies hope to avoid Internet v-chip
Campus Calendar
Wednesday
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hoping
to avoid a v-chip for the Internet,
the computer industry will an
nounce at the White House on
Wednesday it will provide greater
access to anti-smut software and
work to flag Internet sites that are
clean enough for kids.
Weeks after the Supreme Court
declared unconstitutional a law de
signed to keep cyberspace’s seedy
side away from children, the White
House is urging the computer in
dustry and parents groups to take
such voluntary steps to make the In
ternet safe for youngsters.
“We don’t need to reinvent the
wheel here and we don’t need a v-
chip for the Internet. We have tools
out there which are 100 percent
available,” said Jerry Berman of the
Center for Democracy and Technol
ogy, a group that works to protect
computer users’ civil liberties. They
just need to be more widely used
and understood, he said.
President Clinton and Vice
President A1 Gore, a computer
enthusiast, will be hosts for the
private meeting Wednesday.
^ ^ We don’t need
to reinvent the wheel
here and we don’t
need a v-chip for the
internet.
Jerry Berman
Center for Democracy
and Technology
About 30 to 40 people are ex
pected, including representatives
from America Online, Netscape
Communications Corp., the Na
tional Parent Teacher Association,
and electronic civil liberties groups.
The Writing Center (Dept, of English,
Texas A&M): The Writing Center in
249 Blocker will consult with anyTAMU
student who needs help with his or her
writing projects for Summer II. Hours
are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Come by or call 862-
4181 for more information.
Aggie Roadrunners: There will be a
daily run of 2-3 miles beginning at 7
p.m. in front of G. Rollie White. Run
ners of all levels are encouraged to
attend. For more information call
Hank Bullinger at 821-6339.
Texas A&M Women’s Rugby: There
will be practice from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
at the TAMU Rugby Field. No experi
ence is necessary. For more infor
mation contact Wendy at 696-9012.
Thursday
The Writing Center (Dept, of English,
Texas A&M): The Writing Center in
249 Blocker will consult with anyTAMU
student who needs help with his or her
writing projects for Summer II. Hours
are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Come by or call 862-
4181 for more information.
Aggie Roadrunners: There will be a
daily run of 2-3 miles beginning at 7
p.m. in front of G. Rollie White. Run
ners of all levels are encouraged to
attend. For more information call
Hank Bullinger at 821-6339.
Texas A&M Women’s Rugby:
There will be practice from 6 p.m.
to 8 p.m. at the TAMU Rugby Field.
No experience is necessary. For
more information contact Wendy at
696-9012.
Friday
The Writing Center (Dept, of Eng
lish, Texas A&M): The Writing Cen
ter in 249 Blocker will consult with
any TAMU student who needs help
with his or her writing projects for
Summer II. Hours are 10 a.m.-5
p.m. For more information call 862-
4181 or come by.
Sunday
TAMU Chess Club: The TAMU Chess
Club will be playing chess in 308 Rud
der from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more in
formation contact Scott Griggs at
696-3879 or griggs@myriad.net.
Monday
The Writing Center (Dept. ofEngi
Texas A&M): The Writing Centei
249 Blocker will consult with anyTl ^1
student who needs help with hisal
writing projects for Summer II. Ea
are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Come by or call 81 5e j
4181 for more information.
Aggie Roadrunners: There will lx imJ
daily run of 2-3 miles beginnings :T . t j
p.m. in front of G. Rollie'
ners of all levels are encouraged
attend. For more information!
Hank Bullinger at 821-6339.
Texas A&M Women’s Rugby: Tin j
will be practice from 6 p.m.' ^
at the TAMU Rugby Field. Noexpt
ence is necessary. For moreii
mation contact Wendy at 69&901Iow
icel
What’s Up is a Battalion service! :iv
lists non-profit student and facs f si
events and activities. Items shout Hi
submitted no later than three da:
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plication deadlines and notices^ sail
events and will not be run in id»
Up. If you have any questions,plea lissi
call the newsroom at SA5-3313, to|
Proceeds for inneHcity youth
diverted to Botanic Garden
FRIDAY
Weather Outlook
SATURDAY
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a cer
emony on the Treasury steps, offi
cials trumpeted commemorative
coins honoring Jackie Robinson,
with proceeds going to scholar
ships for poor inner-city kids.
What they didn’t mention —
and what none of the U.S. Mint’s
glossy brochures say — is that $1
million, nearly 20 percent of the
expected total, will instead help
expand the U.S. Botanic Garden
at the foot of Capitol Hill.
Former Sen. Bennett Johnston,
a Louisiana Democrat whose
wife, Mary, is a vice chairwoman
of The National Fund for the U.S.
Botanic Garden, got the money
diverted late last session.
Nine months afterward, bitter
ness lingers.
The developments illustrate
the fierce politics surrounding
the selection of subjects for the
nation’s commemorative coins,
pitting worthy cause against
worthy cause.
On a recent summer morning,
the scene at the Botanic Garden’s
glass-walled conservatory is as for
eign as can be from the rollicking
bleachers of Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field
where Jackie Robinson ran, batted
and caught his way into history,
breaking baseball’s color barrier a
half-century ago.
The two worlds intersected last
October when Congress autho
rized a $5 gold piece and a silver
dollar, both honoring Robinson.
Eager to fly home to campaign for
re-election, lawmakers approved
the bill with little debate. No one
mentioned the Botanic Garden
would share proceeds with a non
profit educational foundation es
tablished by the ballplayer’s wid
ow, Rachel Robinson.
Thunderstorms
High: 98°
Low: 75°
Partly Cloudy
High: 99°
Low: 75°
Partly Cloudy
I # 1 H 'gh: 99°
Jm. .. J Low: 75°
Skefeh
By Quatr
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