Texas m m •
The Battalion
Vol. 87 Mo. 60 (JSPS 045360 10 Pages
College Station, Texas
Monday, November 23, 1987
ii Cuban inmates take
28 hostage in center
Squadron 10 cadets Jason Grier, a junior range
science major, left; Trampus Black, a freshman
general studies major, and Tom Shanley, a fresh-
Photo by Tracy Staton
man mechanical engineering major, clean the
Twelfth Man statue of E. King Gill after orange
paint was splattered on it.
Police find Twelfth Man
in new coat — orange
By Clark Miller
Staff Writer
The Twelfth Man statue of E.
King Gill at the north end of Kyle
Field was painted orange late Sat
urday night or early Sunday
morning, a Texas A&M police of
ficial said Sunday.
Officers discovered the
painted statue shortly after 9 a.m.
Sunday, said Bob Wiatt, director
of University Police.
The statue had been com
pletely covered with a bright
orange paint, he said.
He also said University of
Texas students may be responsi
ble for the painting and UT offi
cials will be notified of the inci
dent.
Wiatt said shrubs and plants
around the statue were trampled
and spotted with the orange
paint.
Because of the amount of dam
age to the shrubs and plants,
Wiatt said the UPD suspects there
were several people involved. ‘
“If we catch the people respon
sible, they will be charged with
criminal mischief,” Wiatt said.
Members of the Corps of Ca
dets removed the orange paint
from the statue Sunday.
OAKDALE, La. (AP) — Cuban
prisoners who rioted after they
found out they might be sent back to
Cuba held more than 20 hostages in
a smoldering federal detention cen
ter Sunday and demanded that they
not be deported, authorities said.
The minimum-security center was
surrounded by law officers after the
riot Saturday night.
“They’re still asking the same
thing — they don’t want to go back
to Cuba and they’d like not to be
prosecuted for what they’re doing,”
said Luenette Johnson, a spokesman
for the center.
The Cubans seized 28 guards and
staff members but released a few
who complained of medical prob
lems, said J.R. Johnson, warden of
the Federal Detention Center. John
son did not say how many people
were released.
“They want information on what
will happen to them in the future,”
the warden said. He said officers
had no plans to go inside as long as
the inmates assured them that hos
tages would not be hurt.
Redpots, NOW discuss
females’ bonfire roles
By Lee Schexnaider
Staff Writer
The bonfire controversy flared again Saturday as se
nior redpots explained why they did not attend a forum
sponsored by the National Organization for Women
scheduled for Thursday and rescheduled for Friday.
Ned Murphy, a senior finance major and redpot,
said there were problems at the cutting site that pre
vented them from attending the meeting and they were
unaware the meeting had been rescheduled.
“We wanted to be there,” Murphy said. “It was an
honest mistake.”
The controversy occurred when two female photog
raphers for The Aggieland said they were verbally and
physically harassed while taking picture at the site.
Dr. Wendy Stock, the adviser for NOW and an assi-
tant professor of psychology, voiced her concern about
how women will be treated at the bonfire site.
“Do we have vour guarantee that from now on, and
the guarantee of whoever is organizing the bonfire that
from now on there will not be any further incidents as
occurred in the past, to the best of your ability?” Stock
asked.
orps — who
it burns that
“Anybody — male, female, non-reg, corf
wants to work on this fire and know when
they put work in it, can come out,” Murphy said.
But Stock was concerned with what the redpots will
do to assure women will receive equal treatment, con
sidering past anti-female sentiment at the bonfire site.
“What are you going to do to protect women’s rights
to do that?” Stock asked.
Murphy said the way to improve the situation is to
have women work on the bonfire.
“The best way to protect women’s rights in this is
have the women work,” he said. “The women that are
out here have respect because of their ability to work.”
Class councils, Corps ask juniors
to stay away from Elephant Walk
A&M’s grounds maintenance
will have available today figures
for the total cost of removing the
paint from the statue as well as
the cost of fixing or replacing the
damaged shrubs and plants,
Wiatt said.
Wiatt said the vandalism may
be a case of the A&M-UT football
rivalry getting an early start.
A&M will play UT here on
Thanksgiving Day.
A spokesman from the UT Po
lice Department said there was no
vandalism on the UT campus last
weekend that could be attributed
to A&M students.
By Drew Leder
Staff Writer
In an effort to preserve the Texas
A&M tradition in which seniors wan
der around campus like a herd of
dying elephants, the junior and se
nior class councils and the Corps of
Cadets are asking juniors not to par
ticipate in Tuesday’s Elephant Walk.
The customary role of juniors in
the event is to track down “dying” se
niors and “kill” them before they
reach their final destination, or mass
dying ground, at the bonfire site.
To kill the seniors, or “zips,” ju
niors employ such lethal devices as
water balloons, shaving cream,
toothpaste, water pistols — some
times filled with bleach — and al
most any other weapon that will
mark the termination of their prey.
Unfortunately, Senior Class Presi
dent Andrea Beshara said that what
is intended to be a somewhat solemn
occasion for seniors to reflect on
their years at A&M often ends up as
a free-for-all battle between juniors
and seniors, resulting in injuries and
a campus that looks like a war zone.
Because of these problems, Be
shara said, junior involvement this
year will be discouraged so the walk
can proceed in an orderly manner
and the tradition can be maintained.
“We’re not saying that they can’t
participate, but we are highly dis
couraging it for the preservation of
Elephant Walk,” Beshara said. “If
the problem continued, the El
ephant Walk would have been taken
away completely.”
Jesse Southerland, assistant vice
president for Student Services, said
although he is unaware of a direct
threat coming from the administra
tion to get things under control or
lose the walk, continued problems
could eventually have forced
changes in the tradition.
“It is very fair to say that it could
have reached a point where the ad
ministration would have asked for a
change,” Southerland said. “But, as
usually is the case, the students were
one step ahead of us.”
Junior Class President Denise Ar-
ledge agreed that junior involve
ment should be limited in order for
the tradition to survive and said she
believes most juniors will refrain
from attacking the seniors.
“We would rather not participate
so we can have one next year, and so
far I haven’t talked to a single junior
who said they would participate any
way,” Arledge said.
Although the problems associated
with the walk necessitated a change,
Cadet Commander Pat Thomasson
said they weren’t the only reasons ju
niors were asked to not participate.
The tradition of Elephant Walk,
which began during the ’30s, didn’t
originally involve junior partici
pation, Thomalson said.
The role of juniors as hunters
didn’t begin until about 10 years
ago, he said.
To provide alternative entertain
ment on the day of the walk, there
will be a yell practice at the Lawrence
Sullivan Ross statue at 1 p.m.
There also will be live elephants at
the bonfire site with which students
may have their pictures taken.
The plan to limit involvement,
which was initiated by members of
the Corps, is drawing praise from
many who have had to deal with the
aftermath of the walk in past years.
Claude Goswick, director of the Uni
versity Health Center, said by keep
ing juniors away from the seniors,
many of the usual injuries can be
avoided.
“The participation of the juniors
leads to some of the bigger problems
— primarily fights resulting from
tempers that flared,” Goswick said.
Last fall, six students were treated
at the health center for injuries sus-
tatined at the walk, he said, and two
more were treated this spring.
Although most injuries result in
minor scrapes and bruises, he said,
there have been more serious inju
ries, some incurred in ax-handle
fights.
Bob Wiatt, director of the Univer
sity Police Department, said he ap
plauds the idea, which should re
duce the confrontations that
normally occur during the event.
While no arrests have been made in
recent years, Wiatt said, the police
have frequently been called in to
break up fights.
Wright: Budget pact will
WASHINGTON (AP) — House
Speaker Jim Wright predicted Sun
day that the $76 billion deficit-re
duction plan will win congressional
approval, but only if President Rea
gan persuades members of his own
party to back the negotiated pact.
Reagan announced Friday that
White House and congressional ne
gotiators had worked out an
agreement that cuts the deficit this
fiscal year by about $30 billion and
in fiscal 1989 by $46 billion through
higher taxes, an increase in fees for
many government services and sales
of some public assets.
Later Friday, the president signed
an order putting $23 billion in auto
matic federal spending cuts under
the Gramm-Rudman law into effect.
pass if Reagan helps
But if the negotiated pact becomes
law, the Gramm-Rudman cutbacks
will be largely negated.
Wright, D-Texas, appearing on
NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press,” said he
expects to gather enough Demo
cratic support for the negotiated
budget-cutting plan, but it has to
have Republican backing to win in
Congress.
“It will have to have votes on both
sides of the aisle,” Wright said. “We
probably cannot pass it all by our
selves. I believe I can produce a ma
jority, or will produce a majority of
Democratic votes for it in the House.
But it is going to have to have some
support on the Republican side as
well.”
A&M student reports rape
to College Station police
A Texas A&M student told
College Station Police that she
was raped at her apartment
Thursday at about 1:30 p.m.
The CSPD report said the
woman was sexually assaulted by
a man with a knife.
The student reported that she
was in her apartment in the 1600
block of Valley View Drive in Col
lege Station at the time of the
rape.
The CSPD is investigating the
case.
Friends remember former professor for helping Aggies
By Janet Goode
Staff Writer
Dr. Richard C. Potts, former
A&M professor, researcher and as
sociate dean of agriculture, is re
membered as a “super friend” who
helped many Aggies achieve their
goals.
Potts, 75, died Thursday evening
at a local hospital. His career span
ned 42 years, and when he retired in
1977, he was named professor eme
ritus in A&M’s soil and crop sciences
department.
“He was definitely not just an
other dean,” Howard Filers, asso
ciate professor of journalism, said.
“He was a super friend.
“He was always finding agricultu
ral journalism students for us. He
was able to spot the students who
were in animal science and agricul
ture but were really interested in
writing.
“He was constantly finding money
for the students. One could almost
say there wasn’t one agricultural
journalism student who didn’t have
a scholarship when he was here.”
He was the “students’ ” dean, Fil
ers said.
Clifford Leabo, retired professor
and once-journalism department
head, described Potts as the “last of a
breed” — someone truly dedicated
to teaching.
He was an adviser to everyone,
Leabo said.
The first thing that comes to
mind, Leabo said, is how totally com
mitted Potts was to making the stu
dents better. But, he says, people
also need to remember how ded
icated Potts was to improving how
the faculty teaches the students.
“On my second day here as de
partment head in 1967,” Leabo said,
“Potts was one of the first people to
call me up, and he said, ‘what can we
do to make the agricultural journa
lism department better?’
“His belief was, fundamentally, to
make education happen.”
Leabo said there were three stu
dents in agricultural journalism
when he was department head. Dur
ing the time Potts was associate dean
of agriculture, the number of stu
dents majoring in agricultural jour
nalism rose to about 80, although
the number has dropped since.
Leabo attributes the increase en
tirely to Potts’ belief in total educa
tion.
Potts became the associate dean of
agriculture after serving as a profes
sor and researcher for 20 years.
Orginally from Oklahoma, Potts
had degrees from Oklahoma State
University and A&M. He did his
doctoral work at the University of
Nebraska in plant ecology and
agronomy.
While at A&M, Potts received nu
merous awards and honors, includ
ing the Faculty Distinguished
Achievement Award for Student Re
lations in 1964. He received a distin
guished service award for outstand
ing service to youth of the state from
the State Association of Young
Farmers of Texas in 1967.
Potts traveled extensivly and had
numerous articles published and was
a past president of the American So
ciety of Agronomy.
Bob Rogers, editor of the Bryan-
College Station Eagle, and also a for
mer journalism department head,
said Potts was extremely interested
in helping students.
“I never knew anyone who went
out of his way so much to help a few
students,” Rogers said. “He was in
terested in every single student.”
Potts was also the adviser for Agri
culture Communicators of Tom-
morrow.
“When ACT had picnics,” Rogers
said, “he loved to be the hamburger
chef. He was just that kind of per
son.”