NATION AND WORLD
University Daily Kansan, January 13. 1984
1.
General's hanging leaves FBI guessing
By United Press International
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — FBI agents yesterday said that an Army general found hung, with a note purporting to be from terrorists pinned to his sweater, had left another note saying he saw intruders in the building.
Though suicide has not been ruled out in the death of Maj. Gen. Robert G. Ownyb Jr., FBI agents and military police maintained an intensive investigation of the possibility that Ownyb was killed by terrorists.
Owynb, 48, commander of the 90th Army Reserve Command, was discovered early Wednesday hanging in a second floor stairwell at the Army Reserve Command Headquarters at Houston. His hands were bound tight behind his back with a military belt, said FBI special agent John W. Dalsegar.
AN UNSIGNED NOTE attached with a safety pin to Owmain's chest read, Captured, tried, convicted of crimes by the court, sentenced to death the world, sentenced and executed."
The second note, dated "10-January-84" and written by Owbny, said, "It's about 11:45 hours. I started out of the building and saw a glimpse of some people in the building who moved toward the back of the building. I don't know who they are or what they are doing.
"They were apparently startled. I came back here to call the MPs. However, I cannot get any of the telephones to work. Just as a precaution, I also have keys in my shoe. I will call the MPs as soon as I can get to a shoe," the note said.
Despite the note, Dalseg said the "FBI and the Army CID are trying to determine whether the death was a suicide or a murder."
THE ARMY SAID yesterday that there had been no reports of telephone outages Tuesday evening at Fort Sam Houston.
Bexar County Medical Examiner Dr. Vincent Di Maio ruled that the cause of death was asphyxiation by hanging. Di Maio also ruled that general's face could have been the
Robert G. Ownby Ir.
result of the hanging, rather than from a beating.
Daisey said that the general's jacket had been found neatly folded on the second floor landing of the Army Training, with his glasses and wallet nearby.
"There was no indication of violence or foul play," the agent said.
eventually, officials feared that terrorism had begun in the United States. Some military bases in the Southwest yesterday reported increased security.
High-speed rail system would need federal aid
By United Press International
Page 11
WASHINGTON — A new high-speed rail system shuttling passengers at speeds of at least 125 mph between major U.S. cities probably could not be without government help, a congressional study concluded yesterday.
The congressional Office of Technology Assessment report notes the three major foreign high-speed rail lines — in Japan, France and Britain — have been built with government assistance. The Japanese system was the most expensive, at an estimated cost of $35 million to $40 million per mile for its most recently completed links.
"BASED ON FOREIGN experience and current U.S. market factors, it appears that any U.S. corridor with totally new high-speed rail service would have difficulty generating sufficient revenues to pay entirely for operating and capital costs," the study said. "Introduction of high-speed rail service, therefore, well may depend on whether the public benefits are judged
sufficient to justify public support."
"There are likely to be public costs associated with the provision of any high-speed passenger rail system in the United States," said the report. "The market for intercity passenger rail has been eroded steadily by air travel and automobiles," it added, noting that transportation habits would have to change to make a high-speed system successful.
The study displayed a range of options from the use of existing railbeds and conventional equipment to the use of an expensive, entirely new system.
There is a growing interest in the United States in introducing a high-speed passenger rail service. Private and state-sponsored initiatives are at different stages of planning in California, Florida, Michigan, New York, Vermont, Nevada, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.
THE REPORT SAID a high-speed system required strong ridership to pay for itself. It said both the European and Japanese systems were in corridors that had higher population densities than any being considered.
By United Press International
Race designation appealed
NEW ORLEANS — An appeals judge considering a fair-skinned woman's plea to have "colored" stricken from her birth certificate may allow lawmakers should set standards if they assist on using racial classifications.
Susie Guillory Phipps of Carlslaw, La., wants the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals to change the racial classification on her birth certificate to white, and to order the state to stop enacting race on birth certificates.
"IF WE CAN'T define what constitutes a Negro, how can we decide this case?" said Jack West-Holz, attorney for the state Health
The state contends it needs the data on birth certificates for vital statistics, but lacks guidelines for setting racial classifications.
The three-judge appeals panel took the matter under advisement and was not expected to rule immediately.
and Human Resources Department.
"If there are no standards, how can I argue this case?"
Phipps, 48, discovered the classification "col." on her birth certificate in 1977 when she applied for a passport.
She went to court after the state refused to alter her birth certificate because a 1970 law designated her as a 32nd black ancestry as "colored."
A district judge rejected Phipps' challenge of the 1-32nd law, quoting a 1974 state Supreme Court ruling that upheld the statute.
After Mrs. Phipps lost her court battle, the 1983 Legislature repealed the law, the only racial classification statute in the nation.
WASHINGTON — Calling for government spending cuts of at least $50 billion a year, a presidential commission of business executives yesterday announced a national campaign to increase opposition against waste in government.
Standing next to stacks of documents that he said were 23,000 pages of examples of needless spending, commission chairman J. Peter Grace told a hearing in Chicago that members of Congress to stop the government's "chain letter" spending.
Panel calls for cutting federal waste
By United Press International
"Look, fellas," the animated 70-year-old chairman of W.R. Grace Co. said in remarks directed toward Capitol Hill. "I know that you're jeopardizing your future election if you go out too far in front on this thing. But you know in your heart that this country can't go on like this."
The commission. closing 18 months of
research, used $75 million worth of donated time and $3.3 million in business contributions to issue 47 reports on what it considered waste — some of which many Americans take for granted as government services.
THE TOTAL SAVINGS if all of the nearly 2,500 recommendations were carried out would be $424.4 billion in three years, accumulating to savings of $10.5 billion by the year 2000 = $130,000 taxes for every taxpayer, Grace said.
The commission's recommendations would amount to the most radical shrinkage of government ever attempted. A beginning, Grace said, of a plan that would fund 1983 spending, instead of the $4.4 billion in cuts Reagan is recommending.
THE COMMISSION'S WORK amplified many recommendations made by congressional committees, the General Accounting Office and the Office of Management and Budget over the years.
"This thing is getting so bad that things go on to happen that never happened before."
Some major commission recommen-
dations, in order of possible savings,
were:
- Bring federal pensions closer to those for private business, in particular limiting military pensions and raising federal retirement ages.
- *Require the Pentagon to take competitive bids on spare parts.
- Repeal Davis-Bacon legislation that requires government projects to pay union scale wages, which the larger, smaller, more competitive contractors.
- Eliminate mistakes in issuing program benefits, benefit program pow three years
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Fire set to cover 'torture murders' of 4 Chicagoans
By United Press International
CHICAGO — Four people were tied up, stranded and stabbed yesterday by a killer who investigators said set fire to the victims' South Side apartment to conceal the "torture murders."
Pedro's throat was slit and the two women and the boy were stabbed in the chest, police said.
The victims were identified as Michelle Jointer, 30, a clerk at Continental Bank; Renee Coleman, 30, a salesperson; Tony, 10, and Ricardo Pedro, 25.
the city police base Police said the two women and the boy lived at the apartment and Pedro was a visitor.
Police are looking for Jointer's boyfriend for questioning, said Morgan Park District Watch Commander Raymond Belcitis.
COOK COUNTY Medical Examiner Robert Stein said three bodies were found on the floor and one was found in bed in the fourth floor apartment
"The firemen got there and put the fire out. They then went into the next bedroom and found the four bodies." McGure said.
Dennis McGuire, a spokesman for the fire department, described the slayings as "torture murders." He said the assailant apparently killed the victims and then set the fire to cover up the crime.
The blaze was confined to the fourth floor apartment and gutted the living room and kitchen. The bedroom where the bodies were found was hardly damaged, said LJ John Burge. He said some of the victims had cords tied around their necks.
Police said they had no motive for the murders.
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