Thursday, April 16,1987/The Battalion/Page 5
^Battalion columnist tells forum
yisjiis columns ore just his opinion
By Tammy Hedgpeth
Reporter
[fiattalion columnist Karl Pal-
Irtiryer told a Fountain Forum audi-
je|ce of about 50 Wednesday that his
opinion has no effect on The Battal-
|jo/i in general.
■“What I do is write my opinion,”
said Pallmeyer, a 1980 Texas A&M
lf|iinalism graduate. “I have no say
Ber anything that goes into the pa-
; pei
■Most questions at the Lambda
.J Sigma-sponsored forum centered on
* pilmeyer’s past columns.
■Pallmeyer’s column on the quality
of ainpus health care drew heated
dl)ate.
■Pallmeyer said that female stu-
|dents need gynecological services,
Kii h the A.P. Beutel Health Cen-
j tet at the time the column was writ-
Iten did not provide. If a student
■s injured at bonfire site, he wrote,
tht health center would treat him.
Bui if a student needs gynecological
Itreatment, it wasn’t offered.
■Two members of the Corps of Ca-
|deb questioned the relationship be-
■ n bonfire and birth control. Pal-
Imever said that although there is no
pirn i relationship between the two,
j the health center should provide full
| Imedical services.
■)ne cadet said Pallmeyer writes
columns he knows will upset the
b Dmtro ft l )S - , • ,
■Several stories have to shake peo-
omSauAii'mle to make them read them,” Pal-
nigteHaj, pcyersaid. “Would you have read it
Biout the word ‘bonfire’ in it?”
SHKHraditions at Texas A&M also
Wrij^Bred up heal for Pallmeyer.
jxSRpBTradiLions at A&M are part of
aT^JBat makes the school different
P"*™ other schools." Pallmeyer said,
■it I also think that, as at any
pool education and knowledge
■uld remain supreme.
wwwm M
w l fil 1
'jk mI
r Jm. HI ^
■■ ■ ■■: . ...
Photo by John Kaspar
A member of the Corps of Cadets member questions Battalion columnist Karl Pallmeyer about a col
umn he wrote on health care at A&M. Pallmeyer spoke at Fountain Forum Wednesday.
“People should think about every
thing instead of why we shouldn’t
walk on the grass,” he said. “The
problem with this school is that too
much emphasis is placed on tradi
tions.
“I think traditions are fine, as
such, but they need to be put into
perspective. That’s something we’re
poorly lacking here.”
Some members of Lambda Sigma
said they may not agree with his arti
cles, but they understand Pallmey
er’s side.
John Mitchell, a junior marketing
major from El Paso, did not under
stand Pallmeyer’s side.
“I think he’s biased,” Mitchell
said. “The Battalion represents only
a small part of the University. It
doesn’t need to sell; it’s free. Pal
lmeyer doesn’t shake people like he
thinks.”
locid Oil
ets OK
lor drilling
for dm;::
i ini .ili"':::*
thnvod:.: I
has the if ■
ducthr-H DALLAS (AP) — Placid Oil
'i said B 0, (> ffi c * a l s art* preparing to drill
ji the Cull of Mexico after a
judge’s ruling clearing the way
^« l for the Green Canyon energy ex-
C6u P ()rat * on project, a Hunt broth-
Bsspokesman said Wednesday.
I “Things are moving ahead in
Reparation of all the steps that
Rally are required at this point to
get their project back onstream,”
f|iid Keith Burton.
T He said the drilling vessel is
Ixmt 40 percent complete, and
I rk started Wednesday to put
| e equipment together for dril-
k.
I A $31 million financing plan
lir the project was approved late
luesday by U.S. Bankruptcy
judge Harold C. Abramson.
■ Lamar Hunt, Nelson Bunker
Hunt and William Herbert Hunt,
ililf
ivas hettr*
mosexual
e wascond*
ality (in ^
pe,” he s®
; that will ^
■ can relJl^ ;l
I Grant of ^
r unity O®
the mee®!'
, espect
ng it are SP
Dsexualii)'
een as > f
;h is sho* 1 ’ 1
(dom.
id of po* 1 ^ 1
1 submit
submiss
iiethinf
It, it’s se»
earl.”
hard to 1 ; Bong with Placid Oil, sought ap
proval for the financing plan to
continue developing the deep-
Bater oil-production project they
jaim would extract 73 million
equivalent barrels of oil from the
Gulf of Mexico.
I However, creditor banks of the
Hunts opposed the plan. Attor-
eys for the banks, which are
eking to collect more than $773
illion in debts from Placid in the
iankruptcy proceedings, argued
aat the project is not. economi-
ally viable.
Abramson Tuesday night ap-
pioved the $31 million financing
Ian that allowed development of
ye Green Canyon project off the
Wuisiana coast.
1987-88 Student Senate meeting
opens with goals for next year
By Christi Daugherty
Staff Writer
Mason Hogan, Texas A&M stu
dent body president-elect, opened
the first meeting of the 1987-88 Stu
dent Senate Wednesday evening and
then led the session, which consisted
mainly of introductions and job ex
planations.
Committee chairmen outlined the
goals of each committee for the new
senators.
Tom Black, Academic Affairs
chairman, said his committee would
continue to fight the senior finals is
sue. He predicted the proposed fi
nals plan would be put into effect
once and then quickly tabled.
“We’ll be there with advice after
the first attempt falls on its face,”
Black assured the senators.
Kevin Buchman was introduced
as the new student liason to College
Station city government.
Buchman, who was a freshman
senator during the spring semester,
replaces Mike Hachtman as liason.
Hachtman served in that position
for more than two years.
“I really enjoy Senate meetings,
and I know how important student
representation is in local govern
ment,” Buchman said. He said his
main job is representing the students
in local government.
He said he will attend Council
meetings with Hachtman this semes
ter to get a feel for the job, and take
over completely in the fall.
Guy Diedrich spoke for the Fi
nance Committee and vowed the
group would fight legislation cur
rently pending in Austin which he
felt would “. . . drastically alter stu
dent service fee amounts, and dic
tate in detail how the fees would be
allocated.”
Currently, the Student Finance
Committee makes the initial deci
sions about student service fee
amounts and disbursements. But
Diedrich said the legislation would
take away the students’ voice in the
process.
The Committee will work on the
issue next fall, he said.
Hogan announced that the exec
utive structure of student govern
ment will be slightly altered again
next fall by eliminating the position
of administrative vice president. In
stead, he said, there will be two exec
utive vice presidents, with applica
tions due Friday.
Lawyers: Pregnant inmate should be freed
BROWNSVILLE (AP) — Attorneys for Stacey Lynn
Merkt said Wednesday they have asked a federal judge
to release the pregnant sanctuary worker because of
fears she could lose the baby if she remains imprisoned.
Merkt’s attorney, Lisa Brodyaga, said the U.S. attor
ney who prosecuted the former volunteer has agreed
she should be released from a federal correctional cen
ter where she had been sentenced to 179 days.
“Her pregnancy has become more and more trouble
some,” Brodyaga said. “Rather than wait until she loses
the baby, everyone agrees she should be at least moved
and hopefully set free.”
U.S. District Judge Filemon Vela, who sentenced
Merkt on a conviction of conspiring to transport illegal
aliens, must hear the petition filed Tuesday.
Merkt, named a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty
International after entering prison in January, is due to
give birth before her sentence is up at the end of July,
Brodyaga said.
A doctor who examined Merkt recommended very
strongly she be released and suggested a community
service program, she said.
Brodyaga said she hopes Merkt can be set free, or at
least be put in a community service program or sen
tenced to a halfway house.
Merkt’s. husband, John Blatz, said recently that his
wife was malnourished when she entered prison, due in
part to a miscarriage suffered just before she got preg
nant, and because of stress and tension.
In prison, she has not gained weight properly and
has suffered from “morning, noon and night sickness,”
said Blatz, who like Brodyaga is an attorney for
Proyecto Libertad, an organization that helps refugees
from Central America.
Merkt was convicted on 1984 charges alleging she
conspired to transport five Salvadoran illegal aliens
from San Benito to McAllen, and putting them on a bus
for Houston.
STUDY
in BRITAIN
1987-88
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M
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A
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10:00 a.m.
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Study Abroad Office • 161 Bizzell West • 845-0544
BIG MEAL DIAL Get a 1 /3 lb. Hamburger
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There’s a little of him in all of us.