ttalion
State
Page 5 • Monday, September 27, 1999
)
Bush aide questioned Barnes help
BUSH
DALLAS (AP) — Six months before Gov. George W.
ush announced for president, top aides were dealing
H the thorny issue of whether for-
fer Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes helped Bush
Eito the Texas National Guard dur-
jg'the height of the Vietnam War.
Mfie Dallas Morning News reported
^rday that longtime Bush friend
ad chief fund-raiser Donald L. Evans
iRM||Ht to Barnes in September of 1998
r rtflfteijan anonymous letter alleged that
dgtush s father, then a Houston con-
tesbrnan, had solicited Barnes’ assis-
ince with the Guard during an encounter at the Blue-
_j)nnet Bowl football game in Houston.
^^Bhe allegation renewed the nagging question of
■ther Bush got special treatment landing a spot as a
mbshe Aside fighter pilot during the Vietnam War.
e issuer®vans said Barnes told him that he did not remem-
includ er whether he had helped Bush get a Guard slot, and
id hen esaid nobody in the Bush family, including his father,
i it isd adlasked for such help.
o find a:g§arnes did say, however, that a Houston business-
hat art nan had approached him and asked him to intervene
■lush, Evans said.
“I don’t remember Ben mentioning a specific name,”
>ahs said. “I just remember that he said, “There was
■be a businessman in Houston, that mentioned that
W j t | 1 lush’s desire to enter the Guard to me.’”
lox.lB
i end.
's’ first
tev wa
Evans said he met with Barnes on his own initiative,
without informing the governor in advance. At the time,
he was Bush’s gubernatorial campaign chair.
Evans said he told the governor that Barnes con
firmed that no Bush family members had sought
his help.
But, he said, he did not mention the part about the
Houston businessman because it seemed too vague.
In return, the governor — who says he knows of no
special help he received getting into the Guard — jotted
a note to Barnes, thanking him for affirming he and his
father’s recollection of events.
“Thank you for your candor and for killing the ru
mor about you and Dad ever discussing my status. Like
you, he never remembers any conversation,” Bush
wrote in the memo, dated Sept. 9, 1998.
“I appreciate your help,” the Republican governor
wrote to the longtime Democrat.
Barnes’ testimony is scheduled to be taken Monday
at an Austin law office by lawyers for former Texas Lot
tery Executive Director Lawrence Littwin. Littwin has
sued GTECH Corp., the lottery operator, alleging that
the company is to blame for his firing in 1997, after four
months on the job.
According to court records, Littwin’s lawyers want to
question Barnes, a former GTECH lobbyist, about
whether GTECH was allowed to keep its lucrative state
contract in exchange for Barnes’ silence about the Guard
matter.
Rig capsizes,
hunt continues
for crewman
PORT ARANSAS (AP) —
The hunt continued yesterday
for a missing crewman from a
122-foot drilling rig that cap
sized early Saturday in the
Gulf of Mexico.
Eleven of the 12 crewmen
aboard the jack-up rig DL-Han-
son were rescued after it col
lapsed about 1:30 a.m.
One of its four legs gave
way in 150-180 feet of water
about 30 miles northeast of
Aransas Pass, the Coast Guard
said.
Jack-up rigs are platforms
used for drilling oil and for
other sub-surface exploration.
They can be floated into
place and jacked up on re
tractable legs to the proper
height.
S 3 Sp6C
e hit siii
carnbe;
out-outs
can coir
lough' 1:
icent oil
jse ittfe
ashing.lA CONROE (AP) — Two men
vhichn jwho died when a wing broke
to. off their experimental plane as
empo i [they were flying over Mont-
hereshtigomery County Airport have
hkt [Seen identified.
rtendbuB Gordon Eugene Brown, 52, of
(The Woodlands, and Rudolph
lijtci^Mguilar, 47, of Conroe, died on
. impact, Conroe police Lt. Russell
■eynolds said.
mm’snutr* men were about 1,000
. Beet over the airport tarmac when
~ ythe home-built, single-engine
'' Bkywalker Revelation lost its left
mc ... wing (about 5:30 p.m. Saturday),
■Reynolds said.
"* “The wing just separated,”
I Tim leaf, one of several witness-
i es > sai d. “It snap-rolled, spun
— L / three times and crashed. ”
two die in
experimental
plane crash
CPS efforts faulted as lax in toddler's death
DALLAS (AP) — An internal review has found that
the state agency charged with safeguarding children
erred in the case of a toddler who allegedly died at the
hands of his parents. The Dallas Morning News report
ed in a copyright story.
Jabriel Walder, 3, died Oct. 12 1998 of internal in
juries from blunt force blows that sev
ered his pancreas.
His death was ruled a homicide by
medical examiners, who recorded 56
scars on the 25-pound boy’s body.
The boy’s parents, Karen Walder,
35, and Gary Isaac, 38, have been
charged with injury to a child for
Jabriel’s death and are awaiting trial.
Each denies beating the boy.
Doctors, nurses, child-care work
ers and police all reported possible
abuse. But Child Protective Services
(CPS) did not act decisively on the
warnings, including a doctor’s notations that “non
accidental scars” were present on Jabriel and his twin
brother, Nagee, the newspaper reported yesterday.
Also ignored was one of the agency’s own case
worker’s pleas that the Walder children be taken im
mediately into protective custody.
“Available information was ignored, leading to
poor decision-making, which left these children at
high risk of abuse,” according to an internal review by
the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory
Services, CPS’s parent agency.
Parts of the review — heavily censored — were
released to The Dallas Morning News through the
state’s Open Records Act.
Officials say the case offers a rare
glimpse inside a CPS agency shrouded
in confidentiality, beset by high em
ployee turnover and low pay and hin
dered by bureaucratic slowness.
The review blamed faulty supervi
sion in investigative and family preser
vation units, incomplete record-keeping
and bureaucratic delays that weakened
the system’s ability to adequately mon
itor the Walder family.
“A lot of risk factors were
missed,” Joyce James, an adminis
trator in another CPS office who
served on the review team, said.
As a result of the Walder case, at least three staff
members in the Dallas agency have been fired or chose
to resign, and the state has already instituted reforms to
increase CPS supervision and caseworker training.
Also, in Dallas, special CPS “risk units” now evalu
ate serious cases involving physical abuse and neglect
of children ages 4 and younger.
"... leading to poor
decision-making
which left children
at high risk/ 7
—internal review by
Texas Department of Protective
and Regulatory Services
Lessons THst
Will Lest
A Lifetime.
OFFICER TRAINING SCHOOL
Put that college degree to use by enrolling into the Air Force Officer
Training School. Upon successful completion of the Officer Training
School, you will become a commissioned Air Force officer with
earned respect and benefits like — great starting pay, medical and
dental care, management and travel
opportunities. For more on how to qualify
and get your career soaring with the
Air Force Officer Training School, call
1-800-423-USAF, or visit our website at
www.airforce.com
AIM HIGH
www.airforce.com
December Graduates
Official Texas A&M
Graduation Announcements
On Sale
Aug. 31 - Oct. 1, 1999
For information and to place your order
access the Web at:
http://graduation, tamu.edu
All orders must be placed over the Web
All payments must be received by October 1
MSC Box Office Mon-Fri 11:00 a.m. - 5 p.m. 845-1234
Beer • Pool Tables • Games • Soft Drinks • Music * TV
“Where getting it clean is more fun than getting it dirty’
(409)693-5738 TrlplcLoMers
$
2.25
Happy Hour Wash
Mon. - Fri. 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
750
Specials
Mon. $1.50 Dom. Pints (6-9:00)
Tues. $2.50 Black & Tans (6-9:00)
Weds. Free Pool (6-9:00)
Thurs. $1.50 Dom. Bottled Beer (6-9:00)
Fri. $1.00 Dom. 12 oz. Drafts (6-9:00)
Sat. $1.00 Dom. 12 oz. Drafts (all day)
(abita rootbeer on tap)
All other times: $ 1 Wash
Mon.-Fri. Noon - Midnight
Sat. & Sun. 11 a.m. - Midnight
At the corner of Texas & Harvey
(behind Garcia’s)
Major Credit Cards Accepted.
ATM Available
LEARN TO
f
;ef
9/p!
pmef
oesf
ime
g y oi
Tl ^
efx
/veiQ'
i M
rootf
ave
)C
FLY NOW
At United Flight Systems
THE EXPERIENCED FLIGHT SCHOOL
Learn to
fly with
the Cessna
Pilot
Center
Exclusive
Integrated
Flight
Training
System
M
Our New Location:
College Station Easterwood Airport
409 260-6322
www.unitedflight.com
Easily awarded
student loans
(24 hr. award
notice)
Private thru
advanced
training
Aircraft rental
Pilot Shop
FA.A.
approved 141
school
VA eligible
Benefits
What’s the Word?
Ora tor Seal Contest
“Bias in the Media: How stereotypes are perpetuated 5
2nd Informational
Meeting
September 27, 1 999
7pm
MSC 308
Oratorical Contest
Thursday, October 1 -4, 1 999
-1st place cash prize will be $1 500
-2nd place cash prize will be Si OOO
-3rd place cash prize will be S750
Persons with disabilities please call 845—1 51 5 to
inform us of your special needs. We request
notification three working days prior to the event to
enable us to assist you to the best of our abilities.
CLOCK
Mondays
6-8pm
The Time You Call Is The
Price You Pay!!!!
College Station TAMU/ Northgate Bryan
764-7272 846-3600 268-7272