I lie t5attalion
• Vol. 87 Mo. 51 USPS 045360 10 Pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, November 10, 1987
President says
U.S., Nicaragua
may start talks
Where 1 d it go?
rt 1 Texas A&M Lacrosse players Chris Grayson (7) and Pat Brown (80)
go on the offense against the Texas Tech team in the 7th annual Fall
Photo by Robert W. Rizzo
Lacrosse Classic Saturday on the main drill field. The Aggies lost 9-7
in overtime against the Tech team.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi
dent Reagan said Monday the
United States would take part in
talks with Nicaraguan authorities if
they engage in serious cease-fire ne
gotiations with the Contra rebels.
Reagan emphasized that such dis
cussions — tne first between the
United States and Nicaragua in al
most three years — would occur only
if representatives of all of the other
Central American countries are also
present.
The president outlined the U.S.
position to a luncheon gathering of
Western Hemisphere foreign min
isters assembled here for the annual
meeting of the Organization of
American States. Nicaraguan For
eign Minister Miguel D’Escoto was
among the listeners as Reagan
spoke.
The United States and Nicaragua
have had no substantive bilateral
talks since the latter half of 1984
when a series of meetings were held
in Manzanillo, Mexico. By insisting
that other Central American coun
tries be a part of any future contacts
with the Sandinistas, Reagan ap-
C eared to rule out a resumption of
ilateral discussions.
Reagan’s announcement appar
ently was linked to the surprise
statement by Nicaraguan President
Daniel Ortega last Thursday that his
government would agree to open,
through an intermediary, cease fire
talks with the U.S.-backed Contras.
Reagan’s remarks were consistent
with the previous administration po
sition that the United States would
ease its stand on talks with the leftist
Sandinistas only if they first opened
a dialogue with the Contras.
Reagan said that Secretary of
State George P. Shultz “will be ready
to meet jointly with the foreign min
isters of all five Central American
nations, including the Sandinistas’
representative” if Nicaragua en
gages in “serious negotiations” with
the Contras.
The administration, rejecting
Sandinista appeals for direct U.S.-
Nicaraguan talks, has confined its
contacts in recent years to the four
friendly Central American nations
— El Salvador, Honduras, Guate
mala and Costa Rica. In diplomatic
jargon, these countries are known as
the “core four.”
The United States is not a signa
tory to the peace agreement but has
been looking for ways to play a more
active role because of what Reagan
considers to be important American
security interests in the region.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Or
tega will address the OAS meeting
on Wednesday. Vice Foreign Min
ister Victor Hugo Tinoco told re
porters Monday that Ortega will
stress Nicaragua’s interest in full
compliance with the peace plan.
U.S. officials, insisting on ano
nymity, ruled out any direct talks
with Ortega during his visit, citing
the conditions raised by Reagan in
his luncheon remarks. But Shultz
was more ambiguous on that point
in a news conference Monday.
ommittee discusses harassment at bonfire site
By Lee Schexnaider
Staff Writer
; Members from the Sexual Ha
rassment Committee of the Presi
dent’s Office expressed their con-
iern over the treament of women at.
the bonfire site Monday.
They went to the bonfire in re-
ponse to an incident Oct. 30 when
two female photographers for The
ieland said they were verbally
and physically harassed both inside
and outside the perimeter. The com-
ittee also was concerned that a
ale photographer was allowed to
oam the perimeter as the cen-
erpole was going up, while the fe-
ale photographers were restricted
from the area.
Ned Murphy, a finance major and
senior redpot, said that the women
were not discriminated against but
#hat the other photographer was in
the area against a redpot’s instruc
tions. He said the decision to restrict
|he photographers from the area
Women’s bonfire participation has increased since ’80
By Lyneen Johnson
Reporter
Despite recent altercations with
female photographers inside the pe
rimeter, the role of women in bon
fire construction is no longer re
stricted to cookie crew.
A Battalion article says women
were integrated into the building of
bonfire in 1980.
Before 1980, women were as
signed separate cutting areas and
were not allowed inside the perime
ter without an official escort. The
perimeter, the area inside the guy-
wire poles that support the cen
ter pole, is a restricted area requiring
hard hats at all times.
Today, several hundred women
actively participate in all aspects of
bonfire, head redpot Scott Mallory
says. The actual numbers are impos
sible to determine because of the va
riety of activities.
Female battalions in the Corps of
Cadets, Squadron 14 and W-l, are
working on bonfire.
“It is mandatory for the whole
Corps, so we are all out there unless
injured or ill,” Wanda Cox of W-l
says.
The responsibilities and work
areas are identical for men and
women.
“We work right alongside the rest
of our outfit so long as we can get an
ax, or better yet, a chainsaw,” says
Cox, a junior sports medicine major.
“The axes and chainsaws in our out
fit are issued on a seniority basis, but
it’s first come, first serve as to where
See Bonfire roles, page 8
was made because of safety consider
ations.
“This is not male bonfire, this is
not female bonfire, this is Aggie
bonfire,” Murphy said. “Anybody
that wants to work and work hard,
we want them out there.”
He said that there were other
things going on and he was unable to
divert time away from his work to re
move the photographer from the
area. He noted that another year
book photographer was injured
while taking pictures of the con
struction of the bonfire. Tim Dor-
ney, a senior electrical engineering
major and photo editor for the year
book, broke his knee and one of his
lower leg bones when he fell off a log
pile as the logs shifted.
“We had asked the guy to stay out
of the way and he came around to
get pictures,” Murphy said. “He was
doing what he figured was his job,
but our job is to keep people safe. ”
The three committee members
who went to the bonfire to see if
safety and not discrimination was
the issue were Dr. Grace Chisolm,
chairman of the committee; Dr.
Linda Parrish, an associate professor
of educational psychology, and Dr.
Virgie Nolle, counseling psycholo
gist for the student counseling serv
ice. None of the committee members
actually entered the perimeter.
The committee is working on a set
of procedures outlining specific as
pects of the University’s sexual dis
crimination policy. Parrish said the
procedures tentatively have been ap
proved by President Frank E. Van
diver and are expected to be re
leased late this semester or early in
the spring semester.
“Then we’re going to publicize
them (the policies) widely because
we want everybody to have the infor
mation, because a lot of the time
people don’t know what sexual ha
rassment is,” Parrish said. “So it is
going to take a lot of education to tell
people. Even very sensitive people
don’t understand. They think it (sex
ual harassment) is the most outland
ish overt sexual acts. Well, it not al
ways that way.
“We’ve got to make sure that ev
erybody is educated on the subject so
this (discrimination) doesn’t happen
at A&M.”
Parrish thought the meeting with
five senior red pots at the bonfire was
successful.
“All I ever wanted to do is show
the females in the student body that
See Harassment, page 8
White House officials question judge
seen as front-runner for court choice
WASHINGTON (AP) — White
House officials called federal appel
late judge Anthony M. Kennedy the
front-runner for the Supreme Court
nomination Monday and subjected
him to new background questioning
as other Republicans doled out
blame for the collapse of the Doug
las Ginsburg nomination.
Kennedy, who was flown to Wash
ington less than two weeks ago to be
interviewed for the court vacancy
was brought back Saturday by an Air
01801 Force jet after Ginsburg with-
* drew in the uproar following his ad
mission that he had used marijuana.
“I think it’s fair to say he is the
leading candidate,” White House
spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said of
possible nominee Kennedy of Sacra
mento, Calif.
President Reagan, meanwhile,
said that harassment from outside
rather than inside the administra
tion forced Ginsburg to withdraw.
Reagan and other White House
officials denied that Ginsburg had
been abandoned after his drug-use
admission. The president said, “I
stood by and declared I would not
withdraw him. He voluntarily made
that decision on his own.”
Prior to Ginsburg’s selection, the
possibility of a Kennedy nomination
faced serious opposition from Sen
ate conservatives but was regarded
as generally acceptable to majority
Democrats.
Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., said at
the time that some senators believed
Kennedy was too liberal, and the
White House was told there could be
a filibuster against Kennedy if he
were nominated. It was not clear
whether Helms had changed his
mind in light of Ginsburg’s withdra
wal.
A Democratic source from the
Senate Judiciary Committee, speak
ing only on condition he not be
named, said Democratic committee
members placed Kennedy in their
“least controversial” category among
possibilities mentioned by White
House officials.
Fitzwater said Kennedy, passed
over last month by Reagan for the
court vacancy, has been interviewed
anew.
Dole pledges to balance budget if elected
RUSSELL, Kan. (AP) — Senate
Republican Leader Bob Dole for
mally opened his presidential bid on
Monday, pledging that if elected he
will sit down with congressional lead
ers “as long as it takes” to hammer
out a balanced budget plan.
In his announcement speech,
Dole took subtle swipes at chief rival
Vice President George Bush, extol
ling the Reagan administration’s re
cord but adding, “It’s not something
to run on. It’s something to build
on.”
Against the nostalgic backdrop of
his hometown of 5,600 in western
Kansas, Dole promised a policy of
common sense “molded in America’s
small-town heartland and tempered
during a career of public service.”
Dole, 64, the sixth and last major
Republican to announce his candi
dacy, called for tough-minded eco
nomic policies, saying the federal
deficit “is the single greatest threat
to a prosperous and dynamic Amer-
He said, “I will sit down with con
gressional leaders during my first
weeks in office and we’ll stay there as
long as it takes, and will not stop un
til we come up with a renewed com
mitment to a multiyear plan — a new
compact — that ends with a balanced
budget in the near future.”
Dole insisted that, if elected, “We
will tackle the runaway federal bud
get head-on — without raising tax
rates.
“With the single exception of pro
grams to assist vulnerable Ameri
cans, no area of federal spending
will be off-limits,” he said.
Dole, the GOP Senate leader for
the past three years, hammered at
the theme that he’s been on the front
lines during President Reagan’s pre
sidency.
He said, “I offer a record, not a
resume,” a clear jab at front-runner
Bush’s lengthy list of past positions.
He also used his speech for hard
line anti-communist rhetoric,
“We must press the Soviets to pull
back from their reckless involvement
in regional conflicts,” Dole said.
“When I am president America will
never retreat from those who need
help.”
Dole’s three-state announcement
tour focused on his Midwestern
roots, a region where he faces an
early test of his ambitions. He chose
to begin his quest in his hometown
before thousands of cheering sup
porters, telling them, “I am over
whelmed.”
TDC records say
inmates serve less
than actual term
HUNTSVILLE (AP) —A life
term in a Texas prison can actu
ally turn out to be a little more
than a decade behind bars for
some convicts, according to Texas
Department of Corrections re
cords.
TDC figures released for 1986
— the most recent available —
show that the 417 convicts sen
tenced to life terms and released
last year served an average of 11
years, nine months and four days.
Some convictions came before
the 1977 aggravated offender
laws in which criminals sentenced
for aggravated crimes must
spend at least one-third of their
sentence behind bars. For a life
term, considered to be 60 years,
that means serving a flat-time
sentence of 20 years.
“The average amount of time
served has gone up, primarily be
tween 1978 and 1983,” said
James Marquart, assistant profes
sor of criminal justice at Sam
Houston State University. Much
of the increase can be attributed
to the harsher laws involving ag
gravated crimes.
But convicts are still serving
only one-quarter to one-third or
less of their original sentences,
the Houston Chronicle reported
Monday. Non-violent criminals
are now spending about one
month behind bars for every year
assessed.
“It’s not long,” Marquart said.
“I don’t think that’s shocking.
“It’s not like TDC is trying to
let them out — what are you
going to do with these people?”
he said. “The whole system is ba
sically out of control with people.
It’s more than just a TDC-parole
board problem. It’s a system
problem.”
On Sunday, the newspaper re
ported violent offenders were be
ing included as part of an early-
release program intended to dis
charge 150 inmates for every 150
brought in.
The program, announced in
September by Gov. Clements and
corrections officials, was intended
as a stopgap measure to ease
overcrowding. But Clements
added only non-violent offenders
would be cleared for the early re
lease.