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Ifs business as usual
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Co-op mixes school
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See page 11
See page 4
Coaching changes
cause Miami turmoil
See page 13
TexasA&M
The Battalion
’WAVAH^p: 1
Serving the University community
Vol 80 Mo.20 GSRS 045360 14 pages
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, September 26, 1984
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Regents will appeal
court ruling that A&M
must recognize GSS
By KARI FLUEGEL
Stuff' Writer
The Texas A&M University
Board of Regents gave the go-ahead
Monday to appeal the early August
federal court ruling stating that
A&M must recognize Gay Student
Services as an on-campus student or
ganization.
Ted Hajovsky, the System’s gen
eral council, said the System will ask
Attorney General Jim Mattox to ap
peal the ruling. If Mattox does not
appeal the ruling, Hajovksy said the
System will ask for permission to
pursue the appeal to the U.S. Su
preme Gourt. As a state agency, the
attorney general must give permis
sion for the System to pursue the ap
peal alone.
A&M has until November to file
an appeal.
The Fifth U.S. Gircuit Gourt of
Appeals ruled Aug. 3 that A&M will
have to recognize Gay Student Serv
ices as an on-campus organization.
The ruling, made by a three-
judge panel, reversed the 1982 deci
sion of U.S. District Judge Ross N.
Sterling, who had ruled that the
University had not violated a pro
tected constitutional right by deny
ing recognition to the group.
GSS was denied recognition by
A&M in 1976 on the grounds that
homosexual conduct was illegal in
Texas, and that it would be inappro
priate for A&M to recognize an or
ganization likely to “incite, promote
and result” in homosexual activity.
That argument became invalid
when a federal judge in Dallas struck
down the section of the Texas Penal
Code forbidding sexual acts between
adults of the same sex.
A&M also argued that GSS was a
social organization, and that the
University does not recognize social
groups. Sterling upheld the Univer
sity’s claim that the group was a so
cial organization, and that A&M had
legal justification to decide what type
of organizations were recognized on
campus.
But the Court of Appeals stated
that: “At (the) heart of the First
Amendment is the freedom to
choose, even if such choice does not
accord widi the state’s view.”
The ruling also said: “TAMU’s re
fusal to recognize Gay Student Serv
ices as an on-campus student organi-
zation impermissibly denied
appellants their First Amendment
rights.”
Optical systems studied
in new engineering lab
LINDA SCARMARDO
Reporter
Rock Work
Photo by DEAN SAITO
Jim Reious, a geology graduate student from
Carlsbad, Calif., prepares rock sections for
research for his thesis. Reious worked Tues
day in the Halbouty Geosciences Building.
An electro-optics lab for students
opened this semester in the electric
engineering department at Texas
A&M.
The new lab will primarily be used
for research in optical fiber commu
nications, optical fiber studies and
integrated optics, Andrew Chan, as
sociate professor of electrical engi
neering said.
Optical systems are converters of
communication signals — such as
telephone calls. The light weight sys
tems occupy little space and are
usually unaffected by outside inter
ference when used.
“I believe that fiber optics will be
the dominant form of communica
tion in the future, although it won’t
wipe out conventional forms com
pletely,” Chan said.
The popularity of fiber optics is
growing.
“Many students at Texas A&M
have shown interest in fiber optics
and other related projects,” said Yel-
lapu Anjan, assistant professor.
Anjan said the lab is less than a
year old.
“At the moment we are trying to
strengthen the laboratory by attract
ing graduate students and accumu
lating equipment,” Chan said.
Equipment is difficult to obtain,
Anjan said. “It takes six to eight
months for light sources to come in
and, of course, funds are hard to
come by,” he said.
Chan said three graduate students
and many undergraduates are par
ticipating in the lab, which is the only
one available at A&M. These stu
dents are learning how to use the
equipment and other basics.
Chan and Anjan taught first-time
courses in the electro-optics field last
spring. Anjan said he plans to write
an equipment proposal to the Na
tional Science Foundation so that fu
ture classes can use equipment to ap
ply more of what they learn.
Dr. W.B. Jones, former depart
ment head, laid the foundation for
the optics program at A&M, Chan
said.
Judge approves Agent Orange settlement
United Press International
Jdock
NEW YORK — A federal judge
Tuesday approved a $180 million
settlement which chemical compa
nies must pay to soldiers exposed to
| Agent Orange in Vietnam and sug
gested the government may have
known in advance of the herbicide’s
j dangers.
He said the government had the
ultimate responsiblity for taking care
| of Vietnam veterans and their fami
lies and urged the government to
fulfill the “nation’s, obligation” in
[helping those exposed to Agent
Orange, used to defoliate the jungles
of Southeast Asia during the war.
It was the largest product liability
claim ever to be paid, but the final
determination of how much money
each vet and his family receives is
still to be decided at more hearings.
The veterans blamed Agent
Orange for health problems includ
ing cancer, miscarriages by their
wives and birth defects in their chil
dren.
The seven companies that made
Agent Orange at the request of the
government insisted the plant-kill
ing chemical, used to destroy enemy
cover in the Vietnam jungles, was
harmless in small doses.
Saying it was necessary to “bind
up the nation’s wounds,” Chief
Judge Jack B. Weinstein of U.S. Dis
trict Court in Brooklyn ruled the
$180 million settlement was fair and
adequate.
Weinstein said that before decid
ing the size of the payments to each
vet and their family, hearings must
be held on how much money will be
paid to veterans’ lawyers.
Whether or not dioxin-tainted
Agent Orange was the cause of the
veterans’ illnesses, Weinstein called
on the U.S. government to fulfill
“the nation’s obligations to Vietnam
veterans and their families.”
He countered the government’s
contention that it was immune from
liability in the Agent Orange case,
citing “substantial additional evi
dence” that government officials
may have known in advance of
Agent Orange’s risks.
“This evidence strongly suggests
that many in the government were
aware of possible dangers in the her
bicide spraying program,” he said.
The 456-page decision came after
hearings across the nation in which
Weinstein asked veterans if the pro
posed agreement was fair.
Frank McCarthy, president of the
Vietnam Veterans Agent Orange
Victims, hailed the approval as “the
only victory of Vietnam for Agent
Orange victims.”
McCarthy said that if the case had
gone to trial it could have taken up
to 15 years of litigation with the risk
that veterans would end up with
nothing.
But Wayne Mansulla, a Washing
ton attorney representing 2,000
Agent Orange victims, said he was
“very discouraged” by the approval.
“It’s going to be a very insignifi
cant amount of money that’s going
to get to these veterans,” Mansulla
said.
Vietnam vet Ramon Suarez, 42,
called the settlement a “sellout” for a
paltry sum. Exposure to Agent
Orange, he said, resulted in tumors
all over his body.
Mondale chides ‘new Reagan’
In Today’s Battalion
United Press International
ew.
WASHING TON — Walter Mon-
Idale, escalating his attacks on Presi-
Tdent Reagan, said Tuesday the “new
[Reagan” is making overtures to the
j Kremlin in a cynical political move
that shows “condescension toward
our people.”
“We all welcome the soothing new
tone,” Mondale said of the presi
dent’s conciliatory speech toward the
Soviets Monday at the United Na-
| dons.
“Gone is the talk of nuclear warn
ing shots,” Mondale said. “Cone is
the winnable nuclear war. Gone is
the evil empire. After four years of
sounding like Ronald Reagan, six
weeks before the election he’s trying
to sound like Walter Mondale.”
In prepared remarks for a stu-
’ dent audience at George Washing-
^ ton University, the Democratic chal
lenger said, “The new Reagan
I supports economic aid to the devel
oping world. The old Reagan
slashed it.
“The new Reagan wants to help
settle regional conflicts. The old
Reagan ignored them, or made
them worse.”
Mondale repeated the theme,
reminiscent of the Democratic “new
Nixon” slogan used against Richard
Nixon, saying: “The new Reagan
calls for peace in Central America.
The old Reagan launched an illegal
war in Nicaragua.”
Reagan spent the day in Washing
ton, giving a speech to international
financial and trade officials and
meeting at the White House with Ca
nadian Prime Minister Brian Mulro-
leader many times during his presi
dency.
In an address to the United Na
tions Monday, Reagan abandoned
the harsh words he has often used
against the Kremlin and instead
sounded a conciliatory call, saying:
“America has repaired its strength ...
We are ready for constructive nego
tiations with the Soviet Union.”
Meanwhile, Mondale’s running
mate, Geraldine Ferraro, cam-
paigned for the Democratic ticket in
the Detroit area, telling voters at the
hub of the nation’s auto industry
tha( Reagan’s handling of the econ
omy “is sending our jobs overseas.”
“If you’re homeless, they say you
like it that way,” Ferraro said. “If
you’re hungry, have some cheese. If
you’re one of thousands of disabled
cut off from benef its ... sue us.”
In his tough speech that tried to
resurrect the “Fighting Fritz” image
he projected during the Democratic
primaries, Mondale said his rival is
offering “all sizzle, and no sub
stance.”
ney.
He told reporters he met with
Richard Nixon in New York Mon
day to discuss Soviet Foreign Min
ister Andrei Gromyko. Reagan is to
meet with Gromyko for the first time
Friday. Nixon met with the Soviet
With more than 4,000 students
and local residents packing a high
school auditorium in Sterling
Heights, Mich., Ferraro hammered
away at what she claimed was the ad
ministration’s insensitivity.
“I do not know which is more
damning — their contempt for the
issues, or their condescension to
ward our people,” Mondale said. “I
do not know which is worse — the
emptiness of such a campaign, or the
cynicism about the American people
that it implies.
“Six weeks before the election,
they talk of peace, they bow toward
diplomacy and they boast about
changing an image.”
Local
• Comparing long-distance services can save students
money. See story page 3.
• Jewish New Year begins tonight. See story page 4.
State
• Union appealing Firing of blind deaf-mute woman from
government job. See story page 9.
National
• A Pilot of an Afghan jumbo jet is forced to make an
emergency landing after attacked by Moslem rebels. See
story Jiage 8.