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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 19, 1993)
The Battalion Vol. 92 No. 175 (6 pages) 1893 - A Century of Service to Texas A&M - 1993 Monday, July 19,1993 'W 'W \\/ eekend W rap-up Italy clashes with U.N. over Somalia MOGADISHU, Somalia - Italy's deputy army chief vowed Friday his nation would not obey U.N. demands to immedi ately replace the controversial commander of 2,400 Italian peacekeepers or remove them from the capital. Gen. Mario Buscemi, Italy's second-ranking military officer, appeared set on challenging , U.N. officials within minutes of j arriving in Somalia. He said he supported talks with Somali gunmen, whom the United Na tions has branded as terrorists. Italy has been at the forefront of nations who have criticized the U.N.'s handling of opera tions in Somalia, saying the hu manitarian mission has been sidelined by aggressive military tactics against Aidid and rival warlords. Hussein denounces U.S. administration BAGHDAD, Iraq — President Saddam Hussein, facing an in creasingly tense standoff with the United Nations, accused the Clinton administration Saturday of "political insanity and racial fanaticism." In one of his harshest attacks on Washington since Clinton took office, Saddam also urged other countries to distance them selves from the United States — an apparent attempt to drive a wedge into the international al liance that has supported actions against Iraq. "The Iraqi people will bow to no one but God, and will reject treachery, deceit and threats," Saddam declared in the speech, broadcast nationwide on televi sion and radio. It marked the 25th anniversary of the coup that brought the ruling Baath party into power. J ^—- Last bridge falls to Mississippi River WEST QUINCY, Mo. - In a rush of water and a ball of fire, the last bridge across the Missis sippi River along a 200-mile span was cut when a levee blew. A half-mile north of the Bayview Bridge, the levee failed Friday night. The water's force sucked a barge through the levee breach, and a gas station hit by flood wa ter exploded, sending flames and thick black smoke billowing hun dreds of feet into the air. The bridge, which had been restricted to local and emergency traffic only, was the last link across a 200-mile span of the Mis sissippi from St. Louis to Burling ton, Iowa, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said. 'Killer bees' claim first U.S. victim HARLINGEN - An allergic reaction from dozens of bee stings filled a rancher's lungs with fluid and killed him, a pathologist said Saturday in a preliminary ruling. Initial measurements showed that the bees that swarmed Lino Lopez were of the so-called killer bee variety, bee researchers said. That would make the 82-year- old Starr County man the first documented person killed by Africanized honeybees in the United States since the more ag gressive strain crossed from Mexico into Texas in 1990. "I think he most likely got enough poison from all of those stings, whether they were African or not, that he had an al lergic reaction to it," said Ruben Santos, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy. -The Associated Press Midwest flooding threatens St. Louis THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A levee collapsed Sunday in St. Louis, threatening to submerge hundreds of homes under as much as 10 feet of water, and people in Wisconsin had to be res cued from rooftops as the Midwest's flood siege persisted mercilessly. New storms cut a swath through six states and menaced four others. Des Moines, Iowa, suffered a setback in its effort to restore running water to 250,000 people in their eighth day with dry taps. A pump failure meant that ser vice wouldn't be restored before Wednesday, two days later than the most recent estimate. Among many cities and towns where volunteers heaved sandbags was Hal stead, Kan., 25 miles northwest of Wichi ta. Heavy overnight rains threatened to push the Little Arkansas River over its banks for the second time in a week. "Everybody's almost in a daze. There's not been much sleep this whole last week, and here we go again," said Chuck Ben nett, police chief in the town of 2,000. The toll in lives and property contin ued to rise from more than a month and a half of flooding: at least 28 deaths, at least $7.5 billion in damage, 16,000 square miles of farmland flooded and more than 24,000 homes damaged. Among the latest developments: — A 12-year-old boy was swept away in a flash flood Saturday night in Sauk County in south-central Wisconsin. Bara- boo Police Chief Tom Lobe also said two campers were missing and that other peo ple were rescued from rooftops and cars after the Baraboo River overflowed. — As the Mississippi River neared an expected crest at St. Louis, a levee in south St. Louis gave way when the River Des Peres, a major storm drain for the neighborhood, pushed sandbags off the top of a fortified dike. North of St. Louis, sandbaggers gave up trying to protect low-lying parts of St. Charles city from the rising Missouri Riv er, and dozens of residents fled. Much of the rest of St. Charles County already is under water as the Missouri and Mississippi rivers have converged there. Downtown St. Louis is protected by a floodwall 52 feet high, 5 feet higher than the crest expected Sunday night and Monday. — Almost 42,000 people in Cape Gi rardeau and Jackson, Mo., lost power for several hours because of flood-related problems at a switching station. Worn Out Souls at the Hilton /■ i-fis, • f £ j - >' e ii: itc 1H i>l A(JY KYAN/lhe battalion Dave Loving, Dan Carpenter, Mark Oakland and Steven Hilton Sunday afternoon. The free pool parties will be held Kloesel, members of the R&B band 'Worn Out Souls/ on Sundays through mid-September ana will feature a live perform during 'Sundance by the Pool' at the College Station band each week. Instructors reflect on students' attitudes By JANET HOLDER The Battalion Many factors influence a student's ability to learn including the student's and instructor's commitment and joint cooperation to learn Texas A&M instruc tors said. Vincent Dimiceli, a math lecturer, said some students may make the classroom a more difficult place to teach and learn. Dimiceli said he has separated stu dents who talked to much in class be cause other students complained they couldn't pay attention to the lesson. "A student gave a colleague of mine a hard time and even brought complaints to the office because he was asked not to talk in class," Dimiceli said. Rodney Paris, lecturer for the Acade mic Enhancement Center said it maybe difficult for a professor to correct stu dents' classroom behavior, such as sleeping in class because it is an adult correcting an adult. It is the professor's choice whether to discipline the student, he said. Paris said another problem that dis rupts the classroom is that students have become more visibly disrespectful. "When I was in school if we had a pro fessor with a heavy accent we would grit our teeth, roll our eyes and close our mouth," Paris said. "Recently I sat in on an undergraduate class. A student made a derogatory comment about the profes sor's accent loud enough the professor could hear. It used to be students would correct each other when others were be ing disrespectful now they don't because they feel they don't have a right to tell others what to do. "It takes only a couple of people in a class to make professors have the percep tion that it is a bad class," he said. In addition to negative attitudes in the See Attitudes/Page 2 Trial continues for local teen charged with stabbing death Witnesses for defense to take the stand today By JENNIFER SMITH The Battalion The trial of a 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing a classmate to death at a local school continues today, and a full day of testimony from witnesses for the defense is likely. Sherron Dante Greenwood is ac cused of stabbing Billy C. Williams, 16, on the morning of March 26 in the cafe teria of Bryan High School's Lamar ninth-grade campus where the two were in a classroom for students with discipline problems. Greenwood's attorney, Michelle Es parza, has said her client acted in self defense and felt threatened by gang members. District Attorney Bill Turner is trying to show that because Greenwood brought a knife to school, his actions were premeditated. Only one witness, A1 Pulliam, testified for the prosecution Friday before Judge John Delaney recessed the trial until 9 a.m. today. Pulliam, who supervised the disci pline class, said he was talking with Greenwood and another boy when Williams and two other boys entered the cafeteria. After a verbal exchange, one of the two boys moved toward Greenwood. Pulliam said Greenwood moved away in an effort to avoid the confrontation. Although Pulliam said he never saw a knife, he did see Greenwood lunge at Williams in what seemed to be "a blow to the chest." Pulliam also testified that the two boys involved in this incident were friends and that he had never seen any problems between them. See Trial/Page 2 Gramm blasts proposed energy, fuel taxes By REAGON CLAMON The Battalion Federally proposed energy and fuel taxes would harm Brazos Valley busi nesses and hit Texas' economy harder than other states, said U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, at a group meeting of Brazos county business leaders Sunday. A plan proposed by President Bill Clinton to levy a tax on energy measured in Btu's (British thermal units) and a Sen ate plan to levy a 4.3 cent per gallon tax on fuel are now being debated in a House-Senate conference committee which began meetings last week. Gramm doesn't support either plan. Texas is the largest energy user in the nation and while the cost of a Btu tax to the average American family of four Senator: increase in prices unfair to Texans would be around $400, Gramm said the tax would cost Texas families around $732, according to fuel consumption fig ures from 1990. "That's only talking about energy use directly or indirectly," Gramm said. "What that doesn't say is w’hat it would cost Texas in competitiveness." Gramm said the fuel tax would also unfairly burden Texans because resi dents, on average, drive farther to work than in other smaller states. Gramm cit ed statistics that indicated Texans use 60 percent more gasoline than people in New York. "This tax is basically unfair to people who live in larger states," Gramm said. Sunday's meeting was held at the ALENCO plant at 615 Carson in Bryan, which is owned by Redman Building Products, Inc. John Standard, the general manager of ALENCO, told Gramm both the taxes would hurt his company and consequent ly hurt the community. Standard said his plant uses a lot of en ergy in manufacturing aluminum doors and windows. The aluminum extrusion process in particular. Standard said, uses a tremendous amount of energy and would cause the plant to be hit hard by a Btu tax. Standard said ALENCO would also suffer if a fuel tax were levied since the See Gramm/Page 2 Overpass construction on Briarcrest to cause delays Minor traffic delays will greet motorists trav eling in the area of the East Bypass at EM 1179 in Bryan today. Contractor crews will be working to set new beams on the existing bridge structure to widen it for additional lanes. Traffic using EM 1179 (Briarcrest Drive), the west frontage road of South Highway 6, or the southbound lanes of South Highway 6 will expe rience delays during construction of the west side of the overpass. To avoid peak traffic times, crews will be working to set the new beams across South Highway 6 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. only. Motorists are advised to select alternative routs in order to avoid delays. The Texas De partment of Transportation urges motorists trav eling EM 1179 or the East Bypass to allow extra time to reach their destinations and to be alert for flagmen and warning signs in the construc tion zone. Road construction on Briarcrest overpass • Construction on overpass will slow traffic. ANGEL KAN/The Battalion Inside Sports •A&M rugby team places 2nd in Summer Seven tournament •Four Aggies dive into NFL training camps Page 3 Opinion •Monday: mostly sunny, highs in the mid to upper 90s •Forecast for Tuesday: partly cloudy, highs in the mid to upper 90s •Editorial: We must fight the causes of youth violence •Column: Blacks must conquer self-imposed limitations Page 5 Texas Lotto •Saturda/s lotto numbers: 5, 9, 13, 32, 42, 45 •Estimated Lotto Texas jackpot: $3 million