The Battalion
Monday - July 21,19'
F . w
4 ML
; w
'■7Z». V % "1/
■***'% l/
I#
Home for poor destroye
despite wishes of done
Group promised house would shelter eldei
M<
to
T v '- > > n
Don't 'drop' it
Photograph: Shannon Castle
Ashley Madden, Amy Moore, Lacey May and Krisitin Loveless build a gumdrop-
and-toothpick structure Thursday at the Society of Women Engineers Camp.
MTV prepares Austin-based show
By Diane Holloway
Austin Amirican-Statfsm an
AUSTIN — They have already con
quered the Austin comedy club scene,
and this fall they hope to become play
ers in the national sitcom scene.
As the principal writers and stars of
Austin Stories, MTV’s first scripted sit
uation comedy, three local standups
are wrapping up three months of writ
ing in Los Angeles and preparing to re
turn to Austin to film 13 episodes of
their brand-new series.
“It’s just now starting to hit us,” Lau
ra House said after MTV programming
executives announced the show to the
Television Critics Association and in
troduced the cast. “This kind of makes
it seem real.”
House, who taught at Bailey Middle
School while writing and performing
comedy, is teamed with Brad “Chip the
Wonder Boy” Pope and Howard Kre-
mer in an offbeat series in which they
play characters loosely based on their
own lives — three twentysomething
friends living and working in Austin. It’s
sort of an MTV-style cross between Se
infeld and Friends.
Laura is described as an ambitious
journalist who works at a fictional
newspaper called the Austin Weekly.
House says the paper is not supposed
to be the Chronicle.
Chip stumbles through odd jobs,
while Howard is a would-be lothario
Kremer says is a “renegade capitalist”
who somehow thrives without benefit
of a job or permanent residence.
The show has been percolating for
a couple of years, starting with a visit to
Austin by MTV talent scouts who saw
the three performers separately and
decided to put them together. House,
Kremer and Pope all knew each other
but had never worked together. The
transition from solo standups to rulers
of their own small sitcom domain has
been an adventure.
“Our growing pains have come
from doing this for the first time,” said
Kremer, the only non-Texan of the trio.
He started out as a rock musician in his
native New Jersey. “We’ve had to work
with a lot of other writers and get used
to the collaboration.”
Although the characters and many
of the stories come from the actor-
writers’ lives, they point out that they
are not really playing themselves. Nor
are they duplicating their stand-up
personas known to many Austinites.
“If the three of us were playing'our
stand-up characters, that would be re
ally annoying,” Pope said.
The series, which debuts Sept. 10 at
9:30 p.m., begins filming Monday. Be
sides shooting at locations around
Austin, the production will film on
sets at a studio that used to be the HQ
Fitness Center on East Riverside Dri
ve. Unlike traditional sitcoms, “Austin
Stories” will have no laughtrack or
studio audience.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) —A nonprofit group that
wants to build housing for the homeless on Kelly
Air Force Base promised an elderly woman that
her home would become a sanctuary for the el
derly poor if she signed it over to the group, the San
Antonio Express-News reported Sunday.
Instead, the house was demolished and Senior
Resource’s founder and president Patrick La-
Combe sold the lot two years ago for $64,000 in
cash, records show.
It’s not clear how the money was spent, the
newspaper reported in its copyright story. La-
Combe had not released the nonprofit’s tax returns
for review.
He told the Express-News that his plan to turn
the woman’s Alamo Heights home into a shelter
didn’t work out.
“It was in such poor condition, structurally and
otherwise, it wasn’t cost-effective to renovate,” La-
Combe said, adding that an architect and Alamo
Heights city engineers advised against restoring
the structure.
The newspaper also reported that Senior Re
sources promised to ensure the woman’s funeral
as part of the deal involving her home.
The newspaper did not reveal the identity of the
91 -year-old woman but said she lives in a nursing
home and is barely able to respond. The Express-
News said it could not reach her legal guardian.
LaCombe would not say if he promised the fu
neral arrangement, citing confidentiality rules
concerning clients and donors.
LaCombe and Senior Resources have made
headlines recently because the group wants free
land and buildings on Kelly to use as a site for a
modular house building and a job training facility
to benefit the homeless poor.
The small nonprofit group, which LaCombe
described as a charity, has spent the last eight
years mostly buying and selling real estate ac
quired from government agencies at bargain
prices, the newspaper said. It operated in obscu
rity until last month when a Washington federal
court blocked the $108 million transfer of Kelly
AFB to the city.
U.S. District Judge Harold Greene temporar
ily blocked the transfer on June 26 after La
Combe contended the Greater Kelly Develop
ment Corp. board violated the federal base
closure law when it sidelined his proposed plan
to train homeless workers and build low-cost
housing on the base.
Greene set Monday as the deadline for GKDC of
ficials and LaCombe to reach an agreement, threat
ening to impose a settlement if one is not reached.
It was LaCombe’s volunteer workinnt
homes that brought him in contact™!
woman who eventually signed overherhou
him in November 1992, the newspaper said
The woman was a regular patient at thedtip
office where Blanca Guajardo was a nurseJ
the woman was seriously injured wheiiij
struck her.
Guajardo said the woman needed helpti
care of her bills while in the hospital. Whe;
was transferred to a nursing home, LaConiti
friended the woman, taking her to his hoit ii',
dinner and on family outings.
cc:—:—:—
It was in such poor
condition, structurally anl
otherwise, it wasn’t cost
effective to renovate.”
Patrick LaCombe
President of Senior Resource,
a nonprofit group that wants
low-cost housing built at KellyAf
“She signed the house over to him,"Guaja
said, adding LaCombe promised the woman
would get the kind of funeral and burial shew
ed.
LaCombe also promised the woman thau
restoring her property, he’d help her leave
nursing home and return to live at her fora
home, Guajardo said.
The Express-News reported that itfo
examples that LaCombe’s efforts have beneii
the elderly or homeless.
“I have never seen a charity in America
this kind of vicious attack,” said LaCombeof
ports of his court fight with GKDC officials.
LaCombe said he created Senior Resources
1989 to help the elderly poor, planning to use
status as a nonprofit organization to acquirepto
erty taken over by the federal ResolutionTruslQ
poration in the wake of the savings and loani
dustry collapse.
Senior Resources bought dozens of proper
at little or no cost, selling many for much hi!
prices. LaCombe also acquired property fort i
self from the RTC, the newspaper said.
GOP
**■ * m i 1 'w ■
Continued from Page 1
DeLay has refused to talk about on the back-room
intrigue. On Sunday, his spokesman John Feehery
said, “Mr. DeLay has consistently been one of the
speaker’s more ardent defenders, and he continues to
support the speaker fully. He was simply trying to act
as an honest broker.”
So far the only casualty has been Paxon, R-N.Y. He
resigned his leadership post after admitting mistakes
in his handling of the episode.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Paxon strong
ly denied any role in an attempt to overthrow Gingrich.
His error, he said, was that “I didn’t inform the speaker
of the problem early enough. I certainly didn’t antici
pate when it blew up that it would have the impact that
it did on our agenda and our conference.”
“Certainly when I looked in the speaker’s eye it was
clear that he had lost confidence in me,” Paxon said.
Paxon, a conservative who gets along well with GOP
moderates from the northeast, “is one of the most in
credibly honorable man that I’ve been fortunate to
know,” Salmon said. “If Newt Gingrich is not speaker, I
think Bill Paxon would make an excellent speaker.”
Scarborough agreed that Paxon would be “a natural
choice to succeed the speaker whenever the speaker
decides to move on.”
Paxon’s name surfaced as the leading candidate to
On the new
GMAT,
there's no
more
lumping
or going
succeed Gingrich to the office third in line to the pres
idency if the speaker were driven out, but he said Sun
day he is not interested in the job. “No. Period,” he said.
“I never have been interested and don’t intend to be.”
Paxon twice dodged questions about whether Ma
jority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, was involved in the
plot. “I’m not going to rehash the events of the last two
weeks,” Paxon said. Armey has denied any role in the
anti-Gingrich talks.
Paxon stressed that the party must now lay aside this
“party intrigue” and concentrate on getting the best
deal with the White House in the balanced-budget and
tax-cut negotiations.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., who led an attempt to un
seat Gingrich last winter when the speaker faced ethics
problems, agreed that Republicans must stick togeth
er, at least through the budget talks. “I think we're just
really becoming the gang that can’t shoot straight,” he
said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Also on Fox, Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, said a possi
bility still exists that House Republicans could hold a
vote of confidence for other GOP leaders—Armey, De
Lay and Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio. “It’s possible that a
group of members may want to call them to be per
sonally responsible, as Bill Paxon was,” Nussle said.
Democrats have so far been content to stand on the
side and enjoy the Republican slugfest. But White
House budget director Franklin Raines, on ABC, ex
pressed concern the infighting could spill over into the
budget talks.
Weather Outlook
WEDNESDAY
Partly Cloudy
High: 95°
Low: 75°
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
f "wl . 1 Thunderstorms
'M High: 95°
. ■ Jkm r \ M Low: 75°
Partly Cloudy
High: 102°
Low: 75°
H
thing
Sk®(tch
By Quatn
Y ( -
Her, LAR ... HOW COME MY DOVE PAR
AIN'T CHOCOLATE-COVERgP?
~w
t d -
hang
"Wl
itma
TO START WITH, BRAIN I AC, YOURS IS
CNE-QUARTEK MOISTURIZING CREAM. W
r\
!i§: i
Wm
iik
From now on the GMAT is only being given on computer.
So get the Kaplan edge-content, methods, and the most authentic practice
there is. On computer. At Kaplan Centers near you, with Kaplan
teachers at hand. We’ve got the computer adaptive test-the CAT-covered.
Classes are filling fast, so call today to find out more.
1 -SOO-KAP-TEST
www.kaplan.com
’Course names are registered,
trademarks of their respective owners.
Kaplan CAT. It’s not important, it’s critical.
Local radio news from the newsroom of
campus and community news
8:04 a.m. Monday through Friday
during NPFt Morning Edition
on KAIVIU-FIVI 90.9
College Station/Bryan
TCA CABLE TV VIEWERS ENJOY:
• Top cable channels; local news, weather and sports
• Additional outlets at no extra monthly charge
• One monthly bill; no long-term contracts to sign
• No expensive equipment to purchase
• Local installation; guaranteed on-time service calls
• Upgrade to optional channel packages at any time
The Best Entertainment
Value In Town!
Call today! H
846-2229 CABLE TV
• Does not include applicable taxes. 4114 E. 29th St. • Bryan, IX
Stew Milne, Editor in Chief
Helen Clancy, Managing Editor
John LeBas, City Editor
April Towery, Lifestyles Editor
Kristina Buffin, Sports Editor
James Francis, Opinion Editor
Jody Holley, Night News Editor
Tim Moog, Photo Editor
Brad Graeber, Graphics Editor
Joey Schlueter, Radio Editor
David Friesenhahn, Web Editor
Staff Members
City- Assistant Editors: Erica Roy & Matt Weber;
Reporters: Michelle Newman, Joey Schlueter &
Jenara Kocks; Copy Editor: Jennifer Jones
Lifestyles- Rhonda Reinhart, Keith McPhail,
Jenny Vmak & Wesley Brown
Sports- Matt Mitchell, Jeremy Furtick &
Travis Dabney
Opinion- John Lemons, Stephen Llano, Robby Ray,
Mandy Cater, Leonard Callaway, Chris Brooks,
Dan Cone, Jack Harvey & General Franklin
Night News- Assistant Editor: Joshua Miller
Photo- Derek Demere, Robert McKay, W
Angkriwan & Pat James
Graphics- Quatro Oakley, Chad Malian*
Ed Goodwin
Radio- Will Hodges, Missy Kemp, Amy Montgoi*
Michelle Snyder & Karina Trevino
Web- Craig Pauli
Office Staff- Stacy Labay, Christy Clowdus*
Mandy Cater
News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in the Division ol
Publications, a unit of the Department of Journalism. News offices are in 013 Reed McDonald Building. Ne*^'
phone: 845-3313; Fax: 845-2647; E-mail: Batt@tamvml.tamu.edu; Website: http://bat-web.tamu.edu
Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion.
pus, local, and national display advertising, call 845-2696. For classified advertising, call 845-0569. Ad#
offices are in 015 Reed McDonald, and office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Fax:845-' [
Subscriptions: A part of the Student Services Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up a single#
The Battalion. Mail subscriptions are $20 per semester, $40 per school year and $50 per full year.TocWf
Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express, call 845-2611.
The Battauon (ISSN #1055-4726) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall springsemest#
Monday through Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods) s''
A&M University. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77840. Postmaster: Send address cl**
The Battalion, 015 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-1111.