Texas A&M
he Battalion
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.89 No.78 USPS 045360 8 Pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, January 23,1990
removes Coach Metcalf
B\ RICHARD TIJERINA
" 01 The Battalion Staff
tryiiiiH-
JidHWhat started out as speculation
Bturday ended as fact Monday,
■exas A&M men’s basketball coach
SI elby Metcalf, the winningest coach
in Southwest Conference history,
Ks relieved of his duties by Athletic
P Brector John David Crow.
■ John Thornton, a former Aggie
Bsketball star in the mid-1970s un
der Metcalf and an assistant coach
since 1981, was named as interim
h< ad coach for the remainder of the
sfason.
A statement released through the
University’s Sports Information De-
irtment said Metcalf would be re
signed to other duties at A&M,
which would be announced shortly.
■ Metcalf, 59, said Monday he was
planning on calling University Presi
dent William H. Mobley Tuesday
■orning to discuss his new assign-
v Bent.
■ However, Metcalf wasn’t sure he’d
Bcept a reassignment when asked
.Bout it Monday night.
fl “I’d rather they just pay me off
lile they did Coach Sherrill, and get
'• Be hell out of Dodge,” Metcalf said.
B Metcalf met with his attorney
~ Bead Davis and had a closed-door
Bssion with Crow Monday af-
tlrnoon. Metcalf then left and
: Bhornton worked with the team at
yBactice, preparing for Wednesday
Bght's game against Rice,
fl “I guess they want me out,” Met-
fltlf told the Associated Press earlier
frBonday afternoon. “It’s not a good
Btuation here.”
B AP reported that an Athletic De-
jartment source saw Metcalf after
Ss closed-door meeting with Crow.
■ “It hit Shelby like a ton of bricks,”
tne source said. “I saw him when he
Balked out of John David (Crow)’s
■fice. He had a stunned look in his
*es. He looked up and said, ‘They
Bleased me. T hey released me.’
“You could tell he didn’t believe
tey would do it,” the source said.
Crow’s announcement came in
e wake of statements rnade'by Mef-
If in an emotional, 45-minute
Iress conference following Satur-
lay’s 100-84 loss to Arkansas. It was
lie Aggies’ third consecutive confer-
Bice loss.
Texas A&M Athletic Director John David Crow
refused to comment Monday after announcing
Photo by Jay Janner
that head coach Shelby Metcalf was relieved of
his basketball coaching duties. See Sports/Page 7
Removal draws response
By JAY PEDEN
Of The Battalion Staff
Photo by Mike C. Mu Ivey
Former A&M Coach Shelby Metcalf watches the Aggies’ 100-
84 loss to Arkansas Saturday. Metcalf was removed Monday.
Metcalf charged that Crow had
criticized him around campus and at
the recent NCAA Convention. Crow
issued a statement prior to Satur
day’s game denying ever publicly
criticizing either Metcalf or the
A&M basketball program.
Crow, who met with Thornton for
20 minutes prior (b a 10-nTmtueTaTk
to the team after practice, declined
comment but released a statement
saying his decision was in the Uni-
See Metcalf/Page 6
Students’ reactions on Monday to Texas A&M’s latest
coaching change varied from disappointment to ela
tion. Many agreed that head basketball coach Shelby
Metcalf was treated badly by Athletic Director John Da
vid Crow, and many said a new coach could be an im
provement in the basketball program. But few were
surprised after the events of the past wTefend
Metcalf was “relieved of his duties” as coach and
would be “reassigned to other duties,” according to a
release from A&M’s Sports Information Department.
Crow also named assistant coach John Thornton as the
interim head coach for the rest of the season.
Kimberly Jenkins, a junior agricultural journalism
major, said she did not like the way Metcalf was treated.
“I don’t think they should have Fired him,” she said.
“I think it was dirty pool, talking behind his back like
they were.”
Chris Trotter, a senior kinesiology major, reacted an
grily to the news.
“You just can’t up and can him after 27 years,” he
said. “I think it was bad professional tactics on Crow’s
part. He could have asked for Shelby’s resignation at
the end ,of the season if he wanted it. His timing was
really bad.”
Chad Whitacre, a senior geophysics major, also dis
agreed with Crow’s timing.
“Crow should have done what he said he was going to
do,” he said, referring to Crow’s statement made
See Reaction/Page 4
ro-lifers rally on Roe vs. Wade anniversary
Ibefy STACY E. ALLEN
is j Oi The Battalion Staff
rr n Pro-life supporters gathered in the Memo-
jhiprial Student Center Flagroom Monday, the
{“th anniversary of the controversial Roe vs.
Bade decision, for a rally consisting of music
Bid speeches.
■ The rally, which was sponsored by ten or-
jginizations on campus, attracted a diverse au-
“$d]<?nce of students, children and members of
the community.
Ana Ortiz, freshman psychology major at
A&M and one of six speakers at the rally, told
the crowd what she experienced when she
had an abortion.
“It’s a five- or ten-minute process that will
completely and tragically change the rest of
your life,” Ortiz said. “It has been two years
since it happened and I still can’t deal with
the emotional loss. It’s not over in five min
utes — it’s never over.”
Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack
Seven-year-old Jennifer Farver of Bryan looks at her “Give Life A Chance” button
di ring a pro-life rally in the MSC Flagroom Monday afternoon. The rally was spon
sored by 10 organizations on campus.
See Pro-choice opinion/Page 2
Ortiz told the audience that the pain of
abortion affects women not only mentally,
but physically. “I can’t even express the kind
of pain I felt,” she said. “Everyone tells you
you’re in and out of there and it’s no big deal
and that you don’t feel it. That’s a lie.”
Jatin Patel, graduate student and one of
the organizers of the event, said the purpose
of the rally was to inform students about the
reasons pro-lifers believe what they believe. “I
personally believe to a certain degree that
many students don’t know a whole lot about
the issue,” Patel said.
Patel believes most students are in favor of
some restrictions on abortion, and he feels
that the information given at the rally could
help students make their decisions.
Information at the rally included the Diary
of an Unborn Child, a chronology of the de
velopment of a fetus which ended with ‘To
day my mother killed me.’ One pamphlet in
cluded color pictures of aborted fetuses, and
another encouraged women in crisis preg
nancies to consider adoption.
No opposition groups protested at the
event. John Welch, president of Aggies for
Choice, said that he respects the opinions of
those gathered at the event, but does not
agree with them.
“Aggies for Choice believes that every per
son has the right to make personal choices
concerning their lives, which is why we call
ourselves pro-choice,” Welch said. “We be
lieve that abortion should be kept as a choice
available but not necessarily used.”
Katherine Hinson, co-founder of Aggies
for Choice and 1988-89 president, said she
wants students to understand that pro-choice
does not mean pro-abortion.
“Being pro-choice means that no matter
what you believe, you don’t have the right to
impose your views on the next person,” Hin
son said. “A lot of the anti-choice people seem
to think the answer is not to have sex, which is
very unrealistic, especially in a college town.
We promote birth control instead of abstinen
ce.”
Laura Yaple, member of Aggies for Life
and worker at the rally, said she wanted those
in attendance to understand that pro-life
does not only fight for life in abortion cases.
“By saying we are pro-life, we are saying we
are anti-abortion, anti-infanticide and anti
euthanasia.”
Other organizations sponsoring the event
were A&M Christian Fellowship, Baptist Stu
dent Union, Brazos Valley Crisis Pregnancy,
Campus Crusade for Christ, Chi Alpha Chris
tian Fellowship, Christian Medical Society,
The Navigators, Aggie Men’s Club and the
Aggie Grass Roots Coalition.
Bush reassures
anti-abortionists
of his support
WASHINGTON (AP) — President
Bush assured tens of thousands of anti
abortion demonstrators Monday that “this
president stands with you,” as both foes
and supporters of legalized abortion
marked the 17th anniversary of the land
mark Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court deci
sion.
Bush, declaring his own “deep convic
tion” against the court ruling that legalized
abortions, spoke for just 90 seconds by
telephone hookup to a midday crowd of
marchers who gathered at the Ellipse
across from the White House.
“Before you begin the march, I want to
take a minute to share my deep personal
concern about abortion on demand, which
I oppose,” Bush told demonstrators, say
ing the anti-abortion movement reminds
Americans “of the self-evident moral supe
riority of adoption over abortion.”
“Let me assure you that this president
stands with you on this issue of life,” he
said.
Advocates of legal abortion, meanwhile,
celebrated the anniversary of the 1973 Su
preme Court decision at a luncheon fund
raiser and in an earlier ceremony on the
Mall remembering women who died as a
result of illegal abortions.
“The public is on our side,’’Sen. Robert
Packwood, R-Ore., a supporter of legal
abortions, said. “It will be a cutting edge is
sue in this year’s elections.”
The anti-abortion demonstrators
marched up Pennsylvania Avenue to the
U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court after
hearing Bush, some members of Congress
and other speakers. The U.S. Park Police
estimated the crowd at 75,000; the annual
march drew an estimated 67,000 people
last year.
Similar anti-abortion rallies and pro-
choice demonstrations were held around
the country Monday.
“What we’re going to do is show to
America that pro-life America is here,
awake, that we will not have the women’s
libbers’ death marches in our country,”
Nellie Gray, president of the March for
Life, said.
Even as Bush spoke, the Planned Par
enthood Federation was urging Americans
to call the White House to register their
support for legal abortions.
Conference
to feature
black leaders
By CHRIS VAUGHN
Of The Battalion Staff
More than 600 university students
from across the nation will meet at
Texas A&M Thursday for the four-
day Southwestern Black Student
Leadership Conference.
The conference, titled “Discover
ing the Keys to Success,” will feature
workshops, forums, a career fair and
keynote speeches from three black
scholars.
Dr. James Anderson, a psychol
ogy professor at Indiana University
of Pennsylvania, Dr. Na’im Akbar, a
psychologist specializing in African-
American studies, and Susan Taylor,
editor-in-chief of Essence magazine
are among the speakers at the lead
ership conference.
The SBSLC was created two years
ago by black student leaders who saw
the need for a leadership conference
for blacks in the Southwest. A&M
also hosted the event last year.
Students from universities in
Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Ok
lahoma were invited. Students from
Illinois, Wisconsin and several his
torical black colleges also are ex
pected to attend.
Denise Nance, chairman of the
conference, said there were several
goals she hoped would be met dur
ing the conference.
“We want to stimulate leadership
skills and provide for a forum of
ideas for black students,” Nance
said. “We also hope that through
talking with students from other
schools, there will be new programs
implemented.”
The workshops, many of which
will be taught by A&M faculty, will
cover topics such as African heri
tage, apartheid, the black family,
community involvement, affirmative
action and an update on current
events in the different majors.
The SBSLC will feature a play di
rected by Houston playwright
Thomas Meloncon Thursday at 8
p.m. in Rudder Theater. The play,
titled “Whatever Happened to Black
Love?,” is open to the public.
Students participating in the con
ference will have the opportunity to
meet with representatives from ap
proximately 30 corporations and
See Conference/Page 4