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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