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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 1987)
The Battalion Mlars fot^ | bftnjj 'he ac : : ® Kano»y 1J ” examplt I s slates tot] ram 55 tod Aes ofititl ;il| h eartiuij ghway dtm, ailor-ntadti, ers. nil would ji interstatt 1111 not io jj ■ Trucb ' e only 60 J nd 55 ni^ said i 'he state fcjjj 'nust awan Vol. 82 No. 129 CJSPS 045360 12 pages College Station, Texas Monday, April 6, 1987 dndiver to submit Ian on growth rate Student population should be controlled' By Frank Smith Senior Staff Writer ride Siting Texas A&M’s escalating en- i , ro ment projections. President jFr; nk Vandiver on Sunday told 1 »M regents he’ll soon submit a to raw •mb ° . . . (me hi J 1 * * * * " su 8S estlI1 R ways to control the a rate of the University’s stu- ' ! Bent population. ; ^■'We can assimilate the numbers ' 0,e jP®|ol new students) that are coming mini and LH • c . i „ ,, 6 « us in September, Vandiver SR 1 ™.“Wecannot accept the numbers come to us in ’88 or ’89 J 0 ®“®™hout some kind of enrollment ll he A&M System Board of Re- ;|its listened to Vandiver’s com ints and discussed a number of Ber issues during a series of com- pitkv meetings that started Sunday, ■hiding proposals to establish Klti ( new' research centers on cam- p(is increase student fees and on- tpus living expenses and grant ious construction contracts. S loard committee meetings were eduled to resume today, and the lull Board will meet at 3 p.m. to take Hal action on all agenda items. Dur ing the full Board meeting, regents K will determine who will serve as H Board’s chairman and vice chair- mu i for the next two years. H)uring a meeting of- the Board’s Committee for Academic Campuses, ■ndiver brought up the enrollment problem, saying he would bring a plan to the Board at its next meet ing The Board meets bimonthly. Hie recalled an effort made three yea:s ago by the University to con trol enrollment by raising admis sions standards and toughening tdards in the business and engi- ifering colleges. “We put the management plan into effect and for about a year and a half we leveled it,” Vandiver said. “And then, what I call the ‘reverse effect syndrome’ went into play. “We said at the time, ‘If we’re going to make the standards higher, we’re going to cap enrollment for awhile. But then we’re going to get more and better students.’ And that’s exactly what happened. En rollment started to go back up.” Vandiver said his plan will com bine the notion of “enrollment man agement” with the possibility of es tablishing an enrollment cap. “We can assimilate the numbers that are coming upon us in September. We cannot accept the num bers that may come to us in ’88 or ’89 without some kind of enrollment plan. ” — Dr. Frank E. Vandiver, A&M president “I would like to have a flexible way to have you tell us that we can, under certain conditions, cap enroll ment at a certain level,” Vandiver told the regents. Regent Joe Reynolds told Van diver the formulation of such a plan will be a tough chore. “I wish you well. Dr. Vandiver,” Reynolds said, “but there are a lot of problems with telling students they can’t come to school, and we need to be very careful.” Regent John Mobley mentioned the drain on resources that accom panies growth left unchecked. “You can’t become bigger and bet ter,” Mobley said. “You can be one or the other, but you can’t be both.” Board member William McKenzie said the University’s growth is di rectly related to the relatively low cost of attending A&M. After read ing a list of the costs of attending other universities, McKenzie called A&M’s tuition rate “a travesty.” “My point is that we’re way out of sync with all the other state universi ties of a comparable nature,” he said. In other business Sunday, the Committee for Academic Campuses granted preliminary approval to proposed increases in student serv ice fees, campus meal plans and rental rates for on-campus housing. If approved by the full Board to day, student service fees would in crease from $61 to $65 per semester; monthly rental rates for student family apartments would rise 3 per cent; and board plan prices, along with semester rental rates for dorms, would increase 5 percent. The hikes would take effect this fall. In other business: • The Committee for Academic Campuses granted preliminary ap proval to the establishment of three research centers on campus. The Center for Entrepreneurship and New Venture Management will, according to Vandiver, “serve as a focal point, catalyst and champion” for research and education in entre preneurial pursuits. The Geochemical and Environ mental Research Center, Vandiver said, is “a logical outgrowth” of the research being undertaken by the See Vandiver, page 12 Head ’Em Out An Army helicopter prepares to land of Parsons’ Mounted Cavalry rides as a member by near the Photo by Tom Domey Brazos River during the corps’ annual March to the Brazos. See story, page 4. .S., Canadian leaders to conduct summit JOTTAWA (AP) — President Reagan arrived in Ottawa Sunday for meetings with Prime Min ister Brian Mulroney at a summit where the two lenders’ political problems provided a backdrop to nagging dif ferences on trade and acid rain llution. r ■ Both sides said in advance that no agreements or joint statements would be produced during Reagan’s 24-hour visit. ■The Canadians billed the summit as “an incon- Idusive working session.” The Americans called it alsiimmit “without drama — a lot of workman- flike, business-like sessions to look at the agenda.” ■ “I don’t expect any major breakthroughs on a dpzen different fronts,” Mulroney said Sunday in an interview on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press.” “What I expect is solid, continual progress.” At Parliament Hill, a short distance from the airport, where Air Force One touched down, more than 5,000 demonstrators gathered with banners and balloons to protest Reagan’s visit. The protesters complained about the Canada- U.S. free-trade talks, acid rain and Reagan’s Cen tral America policy. Over two days, Reagan and Mulroney will hold two rounds of talks and meet at a state dinner Sunday night and a luncheon at the prime min ister’s residence today. Reagan also will address a joint session of Par liament today and meet with opposition leader John Turner. The agenda for the talks was virtually un changed from Reagan’s three previous summits with Mulroney: acid rain, trade and Canada’s claim of sovereignty over the Northwest Passage, which the United States maintains is an interna tional waterway. Washington also is unhappy with the level of Canada’s defense spending, which amounts to 2.2 percent of its gross national product. The United States says the figure is below alliance- agreed targets. The political climate has changed markedly for both leaders since their last meeting in Wash ington in March 1986. State Department investigates ethics of Contra PR firm Most victims don't charge attackers Sexual assault unreported at A&M By Carolyn Garcia Staff Writer [There is an ugliness lurking in pur society and it’s preying on women. Regardless of how sophisti- Hted, educated, professional or self- psured they are, women continue to Sexual assault Part one of a three-part series I be victimized. The ugliness has spread like a disease, and sometimes is ignored by society and even Women themselves. ■ Sexual assault occurs every day, in levery state in the nation, and, yes, |fen at Texas A&M. Authorities es- Itimate more than 50 percent of fpes go unreported, w'hile those flew which are reported aren’t pun- Hied because most women don’t press charges. ■ Sexual assault, or rape, is a crime, !»d the offense carries some stiff pe nalties if and when it can be pros- uted. District Attorney Bill Turner said at in September 1983 the Legis- |lanue ruled to change the crime of rape to sexual assault to emphasize the seriousness and do away with the ■grading term. ■ Turner said the word carried a Hgative and degrading connotation aimed at women. H “We (the legal system) have come Hrward in our thinking,” he said. Ht’s not a crime of sex, it’s a crime of degradation of another human be- png using sex as a means of achieving | that result.” K In 1985, 16 rapes were reported I College Station, and last year, 15 pete reported. Three of the 15 were unfounded. H No sexual assaults were reported to have occurred on the A&M cam pus last year. Does this mean Aggies don’t lie, cheat, steal — or rape? Not so, says Bob Wiatt, director of securily and University Police. “So much of what goes on is that damn date rape,” he said. “There is nothing we can do if these women who are assaulted don’t come for ward and report it.” Just what constitutes date rape as opposed to “good hull” is easily dif ferentiated. . “When a woman says no — that’s it, buddy,” Wiatt said. “Until this generation, men have been brought up to think that only a tramp doesn’t years and up to 99 years or life in prison. Just what separates the two is not that wide of a gap, said Lt. Irvin Todd of the College Station Police Department. Unfortunately, Todd said, few of fenders spend a majority of their sentences in jail. A woman who has been assaulted can file a civil suit against her at tacker seeking monetary damages regardless of whether the assailant was sentenced to jail or not, Todd said. However, should a woman physi cally injure her attacker while trying to defend herself, she can be subject to a civil suit, Todd said. “In the time I’ve been here, there have been no re ported rapes, except for a few cases of date rape which the ladies elected to drop. ” — Bob Wiatt, director of security and University Police say no, and that all nice girls are sup posed to say no before they give in.” Women must be firm with their response, Wiatt said. “Once you say no, don’t be cute, coy or demure — and say it to mean it,” he said. “Scream it. It will pena- trate that foggy utopia and shake him into reality. “ ‘No.’ That’s the one ingredient that constitutes rape.” Sexual assault is a second-degree felony carrying a punishment of two to 20 years in jail and/or a $10,000 fine. Aggravated sexual assault, on the other hand, is a first-degree felony, bringing with it no less than five Unfortunately, Todd said, the sys tem is designed in such a way that if she kills her attacker she just has to convince the nine people on the grand jury that she feared for her safety or life, providing, of course, that there were no extenuating cir cumstances that would lead the dis trict attorney to believe otherwise. Exactly how many sexual assaults are committed on campus is impossi ble to calculate because most women don’t report assaults to anyone — except maybe another girlfriend, who in turn tells what happened to her friends. Wiatt said this leads some students to get the idea that, when they don’t read about the assault in the newspa per, the University administration, police and even the newspaper are trying to cover up assaults to protect A&M’s reputation. Wiatt said he finds this attitude not just silly, but personally offen sive. “In the time I’ve been here, there have been no reported rapes, except for a few cases of date rape which the ladies elected to drop,” Wiatt said. “I spent 30 years in the FBI and my reputation is nationally well- known. To say or even suggest that I would cover up the sexual assault of a woman on this campus is a per sonal affront to me.” Wiatt spent a large part of those 30 years investigating sexual crimes which ranged from acquaintance rape to sex-related murders. Wiatt said his department does what it can to make the campus as safe as possible. “We have an officer on stakeout with night-vision binoculars on the tops of various buildings, and we use plainclothes officers,” he said. “We are fortunate in that we have a very compact area to protect. “We have a total of 48 officers and detectives — not including the ticket writers. But we are nine short right now, and with budget things the way they are, who knows?” Wiatt said the officers report any overgrown shrubs or burnt-out secu rity lights to the University Physical Plant. The police department also pro vides an escort service from the west campus and other outlying campus areas, Wiatt said. Between Septem ber 1985 and August 1986, it gave 905 escorts, he said, and from Sep tember 1986 to February 1987, it gave 555. “We can’t be everywhere for ev eryone,” he said. “But we do dil igently try.” WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department awarded a non competitive contract in 1985 to a firm involved in the Iran-Contra af fair, although an official of the awarding office was the brother of a key company employee. A congressman and a federal ethics official are questioning the propriety of the contract, which was awarded after the department offi cial’s sister made the major sales pitch on the company’s behalf. The brother, however, said his ac tions were approved by State De partment legal officers. The State Department legal office would not comment on the contract, which is under investigation by the depart ment’s inspector general. The $276,186 contract was awarded to International Business Communications Inc., to whip up public support for administration policies in Latin America. While a hired hand of the govern ment, IBC also was a conduit for the funds raised from wealthy Ameri cans to assist the Contra rebels fight ing Nicaragua’s leftist Sandinista government. The firm and one of its partners, former U.S. Information Agency of ficial Frank Gomez, did a bonanza business with the State Department between 1984 and 1986. All told, they received six contracts totaling $419,386 at a time when administra tion-backed aid to the Contra rebels was on a congressional roller coaster of ups and downs. At the time of the contract’s effec tive date, Oct. 1, 1985, Air Force Lt. Col. Daniel W. “Jake” Jacobowitz was assigned to the State Depart ment office that hired IBC — the Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean. His sister, Frances Jacobowitz, was listed on an IBC document obtained by the Associated Press as adminis trator for the contract. The docu ment said she would devote 80 per cent of her time to the contract, which would pay $40,000 of her $50,000 salary. Standards of conduct for federal employees prohibit actual conflicts of interest as well as actions that cre ate the appearance of wrongdoing. “It could be an appearance prob lem,” Donald Campbell, deputy di rector of the Office of Government Ethics, said when the circumstances were described to him. “Just the mere fact that you have a relative there (at the company) raises con cerns.” Crocker Hall evacuated during early morning fire By Curtis L. Culberson Staff Writer Crocker Hall residents lost more than the daylight-savings hour of sleep most people lost Sunday morn ing. Residents were evacuated after a fire was discovered at about 5 a.m., and University Police had to re spond twice to early morning com plaints of a disturbance. Director of University Police Bob Wiatt said, “We are investigating the possiblity of a connection between a paper fire and the arrest of a student at Crocker Hall for public intoxica tion.” Lt. Gary Stevener, of the College Station Fire Department, said when firefighters arrived at Crocker at 5:07 a.m., what appeared to have been a trash fire outside a dorm win dow already had been extinguished by dorm residents. He said the department received the call at 5:04 a.m. and that fire fighters advised residents to clean up the trash to make sure the fire wouldn’t start up again. Firefighters don’t know how the fire was started but Stevener said there didn’t seem to be any damage to the building. Wiatt said at 3:58 a.m. officers re sponded to a complaint of two men creating a disturbance, but resident advisers told the officers, “We’ll take care of the situation.” The officers left but returned al most an hour later and arrested one of the men involved in the earlier disturbance, Wiatt said. He said University Police arrived at the dorm at 4:52 a.m. and ar rested a student, who was reported See Fire, page 12