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A&.M offering shuttle ride
to libraries in Austin for $8
— Page 3
Alabama Coach says A&M
will be team's first big test
— Page 13
l tie Battalion
Vol. 81 No. 8 (JSPS 045360 12 pages
College Station, Texas
September 13, 1985
Second big change in apartheid planned
Associated Press
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
- A government panel on Thurs-
lay proposed repeal of the hated
‘pass laws” that keep South Africa’s
jlacks out of white areas — the set -
3nd major change in the apartheid
system announced in two days.
Even whites who oppose the gov-
irnment hailed the step.
“This is the beginning of the end
)f apartheid," said Sheena Duncan,
president of the Black Sash women’s
novement, which opposes the na-
ion’s system of racial segregation. "I
really do think it means something.
They are not playing around with
words this time.”
Helen Suzman, an anti-apartheid
member of Parliament, said, “This is
jrobably the most important step
drward in 30 years.”
A primary ef fect will be that fami
lies now restricted to their tribal
homelands could join the men work
ing in the cities, preventing the brea
kup of families.
On Wednesday, President P.W.
Botha told a congress of his National
Party that the government was giv
ing up its policy that blacks even
tually have to become citizens of
black homelands and relinquish cit
izenship in South Africa.
Blacks, however, still will have po
litical rights only in the homeland,
and still will not be able to vote in
South Africa.
Residents of Soweto’s White City
Jabavu neighborhood said police ar
rested as many as 600 students
around Hlengiwe High School,
holding an undetermined number
of them in Diepkloof Prison under
state-of-emergency regulations.
The residents said students under
age 12 were freed. The neighbor
hood has seen the worst of Soweto
rioting since anti-apartheid violence
began more than a year ago.
Goyernment policy allows the
country’s 5 million whites to settle al
most ainywhere while its 24 million
blacks need permits, or passes, to
live near white areas and hold jobs
there.
Between 200,000 and 300,000
blacks a year are arrested for viola
tions of the pass laws and sent back
to the tribal homelands, usually for
trying to work in cities illegally.
A committee of the President’s
Council, an advisory panel to Presi
dent P.W. Botha, on Thursday an
nounced a report that said pass laws
— technically called “influx control”
— do not work and cost too much to
maintain.
It also said the laws are “discrimi
natory” against blacks and “conflict
with basic numan rights.”
The plan calls for replacing pass
laws with what the council said
would be “orderly urbanization.”
Details were sketchy, but the re
port said more money should be
spent developing black townships
and allowances should be made for
“informal” communities — black
squatter camps.
Under influx control, blacks may
not be in white areas for more than
72 hours without a stamp in their
pass giving permission from white
authorities. Those born in urban
areas, and their children, can live
and work there permanently. Those
in the homelands are virtually bar
red from coming to cities except on
one-year migrant workers’ contracts.
Police at A&M
investigating
pipe bombing
Photo by Jaime Lopez
First Yell
The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band plays during Texas A&M’s first are held at midnight on the Fridays before the games, the prac-
yell practice in The Grove. While yell practices for home games tices for out-of-town games are held at 7 p.m. on Thursdays.
Students contribute to community
A&M is basic industry in B/CS area
By JENS B. KOEPKE
Staff Writer
Imagine the local area without
Texas A&M.
College Station might not exist
and Bryan would be a typical East
Texas small town.
“Without A&M, the local area
would look like Navasota or Hear-
ne,”said Lonnie Jones, an agricultu
ral economics professor at A&M.
The University pumped a record
$344.2 million into the local econ
omy during 1984, according to a
study conducted by the University
president’s office.
The revenues, up $25.5 million
from 1983, included $220.2 million
in wages and $28.5 million in utili
ties, services and supplies. Students
contributed over $105 million to the
local economy in housing, food,
clothing and other expenditures.
“A&M is the primary, basic indus
try in the community,’’ Jones said.
The University employs more
people than the four other basic in
dustries combined, he said. The
other basic industries are agricul
ture, mining, construction and man
ufacturing.
Every dollar produced by the Uni
versity results in a $3.10 revenue
f ain in the community, Jones said.
imilarly, every job created at the
University results in two new jobs in
the community.
“The two most heavily impacted
areas are real estate, especially rental
housing, and retail/trade business
es,” Jones said.
Faced with an enrollment de
crease, the local economy would not
feel an abrupt change, but a slacken
ing demand for retail business and
rental housing, he said.
An enrollment estimate revealed
by speaker Jaan Laane at the A&M
Faculty Senate meeting Monday
night puts A&M about 1,200 stu
dents behind last year’s final tally.
President Frank Vandiver con
firmed that A&M has fewer grad
uate students, out-of-state students
and foreign students than last year.
A significant enrollment decrease
would be dramatically felt by an al
ready soft local economy, said Ed
Brady, executive vice president of
the Bryan-College Station Chamber
of Commerce.
The difficulties that city busi
nesses encountered because of the
flattening of enrollment growth in
the last two or three years were com
pounded by the slump in the oil and
gas industry, Brady said.
“Combined, it has been a painful
lesson for the diversification of the
local economy,” he said. “We’re for
tunate we’ve got the University, but
we need to diversify.”
To achieve this diversification, he
said, the Chamber of Commerce, to
gether with the Brazos County In
dustrial Foundation, the Bryan De
velopmental Foundation, the
College Station Industrial Devel
opmental Foundation and Texas
A&M’s Research Park has developed
See Students, page 7
By BRIAN PEARSON
Staff Writer
The Texas A&M University Police
Department is investigating a
Wednesday detonation of a pipe
bomb in Puryear Hall.
Boh Wiatt, director of the depart
ment, said the bombing could be a
retaliation against stricter enforce
ment of University policy on dorm
residents.
No one was hurt in the explosion.
“You’ve got a feud going on in
Puryear because they have some of
the staff — including the head resi
dents, assistant residents and area
coordinators — who are telling the
residents of this dormitory to cut out
the hijinks,” Wiatt said. “We have a
small group of people who resent
that and are trying to retaliate.”
He said there are no definite sus
pects in the case.
Brian Kennedy, head resident of
Puryear Hall, was jolted out of bed
at 1 a.m. when the bomb — a 6-inch-
long, polyvinyl-chloride (PVC) pipe
filled witn gunpowder — exploded
outside of his dorm room.
“I went to bed and 10 minutes
later I heard an explosion,” Ken
nedy said.
The bomb was taped to the out
side of Kennedy’s door when it went
off. Wiatt said if the bomb had
been tied firmly to the door, it would
have “blown the door in.”
Kennedy said, “Pieces of the pipe
were on the floors above and below
us.”
Wiatt said, “He (Kennedy) could
have opened that door after the fuse
was lit and the thing was about eye
level.”
Wiatt said the culprit probably will
face serious charges.
“There are probably a half a
dozen charges that could be filed
with this type of incident,” he said.
Wiatt said the three main charges
are arson, places where weapons are
prohibited, and components of ex
plosives.
Each charge has a penalty of two
to 20 years in prison. If a person is
hurt in an arson incident, the con
victed person can spend five to 99
years in prison.
“So help me, if we get who was
doing this and if we have enough ev
idence according to the district attor
ney, then we’re going to do our best
to send him to prison,” Wiatt said.
This particular explosion was not
the only bombing incident Kennedy
has experienced.
On Sept. 4, Kennedy found a shoe
box in his room. When he opened
the top, an assortment of fireworks
detonated. Wiatt said Kennedy suf
fered a temporary hearing impair
ment from the blast.
“There was a timing device consis
ting of batteries, clothes pins and
wires that were activated when the
top of the shoe box was removed,”
Wiatt said. “It set off the string of
firecrackers, a smoke bomb and
Texas Whistlers.”
Wiatt said the suspect said he
learned to build the bomb by watch
ing the movie “Airport.”
University Police had a suspect
who admitted to the bombing, but
charges could not be pressed be
cause of “insufficient admissible evi
dence beyond his confession,” Wiatt
said.
No one saw the suspect place the
shoe-box bomb and all evidence was
destroyed with the explosion, Wiatt
said. The suspect was turned over to
the Department of Student Affairs
for disciplinary action, but Wiatt said
the suspect in the first crime is not
necessarily a suspect in the second.
Kennedy said he feels he was sin
gled out for the bombing incidents
because he is a representative of the
establishment.
Kennedy said, “If we allowed
things and somebody gets hurt, we’d
he the ones responsible for it.
“It’s not a matter of good bull or
bad bull, it’s a matter of liabilities.”
White says execution
Associated Press
AUSTIN — Execution is an
p im j s h njlt > m f or
•n-
froto
such crimes, Gov.
.lark Whue said Thursday.
I support it in and of itself ."
Whatever deterrent effect exe*
cations may have “is some added
value to the death penalty ... not
the sole basis for the death pen-
; ally. The death penalty is an ap
propriate punishment for some
one who commits a capital crime
: "White said.
The governor referred specif
ically to Charles Rumba ugh, 28,
who’died by lethal injection eltriy
Wednesday alter spending nine
years on death tow. Rumbaugh
was executed for killing an Am
arillo jewelry store owner during
a robbery.
“1 don’t think anyone would
suggest that what Mr. Rumbaugh
did should he punished lightly. I
think he is a very good example
of the appropriateness of the
death penalty,” White said.
Marty criminal justice experts
say there is little evidence to show
See Execute, page 7
Greeks slow to apply for recognition
By TAMARA BELL
Staff Writer
A wait-and-see attitude has been
adopted by most fraternities at
Texas A&M in response to Univer
sity recognition of Greek organiza
tions.
Recognition of social groups was
officially granted this summer by Dr.
John Koldus, vice president for stu
dent services. The Interfraternity
Council and two fraternities, Farm
house and Kappa Sigma, already
have been recognized under the so
cial category.
Heidi Seifert, president of Pan-
hellenic, said Panhellenic, the gov
erning council of sororities, has not
made any plans to apply for Univer
sity recognition.
Once a social group is acknowl
edged, it receives in addition to
other advantages, a discount on ad
vertising in The Battalion and use of
University facilities.
At least two other fraternities
have decided to seek recognition.
Sam Lorimer, president of Alpha
Tau Omega, believes the recognition
of all fraternities at A&M is inevi
table.
“The only disadvantage we, the
chapter, saw ended up not being a
disadvantage,” he said. “Banking at
the MSC and needing a faculty ad
viser to sign checks just encourages
us to be more careful in our book
keeping.
“Another concern is the Univer
sity will be able to regulate our par
ties, but the Texas ABC (alcohol bev
erage control) will be cracking down
on fraternities harder than the Uni
versity will when alcohol is the ques
tion.
“We have an advantage over those
fraternities not recognized because
we have more credibility. When we
become recognized we’ll be known
as the Texas A&M Alpha Tau
Omega instead of the University’s
stepchild.”
Rick Beck, president of Pi Kappa
Phi, said another positive aspect of
recognition is the ability to rush on
campus.
“The Greek system is growing,”
Beck said. “We’ve been here six
years and we have 36 men in the
chapter. We would like to get up to
50 or 60 members. If we’re recog
nized, we can participate in a cam
pus-wide formal rush.”
Although some fraternities view
recognition as positive, most are ei
ther hesitating because of a lack of
information or waiting for the reac
tion of other fraternities.
Kappa Alpha President Sid Cau-
thorn said the chapter is investigat
ing the long-term effect of recogni
tion before making a final decision.
A concern of some fraternities is
the University’s control of finances.
After an organization is recognized,
its funds are regulated through the
Student Finance Center, Koldus
said.
“The University gets the interest
from the money in the Finance Cen
ter,” Koldus said. “It accumulates
See Greeks, page 7