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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 1988)
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Birch is the ambassador and deputy permanent representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations. |l killed, 25 injured s earthquake rips hrouqh California By Mary-Lynne Rice Staff Writer Soviet premier Mikhail Gorba chev’s landmark policies of peres troika and glasnost have helped to reduce much of the Western world’s fear of the Soviet Union, but the United States should not overlook the necessity to work toward stabiliz ing relations between the two na tions, Soviet foreign policy experts said Thursday. His Excellency Alexander M. Be lonogov, U.S.S.R. ambassador to the United Nations; His Excellency John A. Birch, ambassador and deputy permanent representative of the United Kingdom to the United Na tions, and Dr. Aleksa Djilas, visiting scholar at the Russian Research Cen ter at Harvard University, discussed the possible effects of glasnost and perestroika on the Soviet Union’s emerging foreign policy, emphasiz ing the new opportunities for inter action between the superpowers. Dr. Betty Unterberger, Texas A&M professor of history, moder ated the conference, “Soviet Foreign Policy,” at the 33rd MSC Student Conference on National Affairs. Recounting Gorbachev’s affirma tion that modern world conflicts re quire new approaches toward solu tions, Belonogov said the United States and the Soviet Union must reach agreement on crucial issues, especially arms control. “The life and future of civilization are at stake,” he said. “We must learn to think differently . . . about what can still be done about the arms struggle. Otherwise, the outcome will be catastrophe for everybody. “For the first time in the history of civilization, man has acquired the ability to put an end to that civiliza tion.” The Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty recently signed by Gorbachev and President Reagan, in which the two leaders agreed to a 50 percent reduction in the number of offen sive nuclear weapons, is an encour aging step toward arms control, Be lonogov said. But it is only the first of many steps necessary to halt the arms race, he said. Birch said the arms control issue is among many new opportunities the United States and the world must take to test the Soviet Union’s ded ication to disarmament. “The INF treaty marks a new age in arms control,” he said. “It breaks entirely new ground. Now perhaps they can move on rapidly to achieve a reduction of strategic missiles and conventional force missiles.” The responsibility to insure the continuation of the nuclear reduc tion trend begun by the INF treaty lies with all citizens of the two na tions, not just their leaders, Belono gov said. “It’s high time for all people to ac quire a new mentality, to boost their instinct for self-preservation,” he said. “We must learn the art of peaceful co-existence — but that’s not easy.” Because they work toward a com mon goal of arms reduction, the United States and the Soviet Union risk being deluded into believing their cultural differences have disap peared, he said. “The East and the West have con siderable differences,” he said, “and it’s not reasonable to contend that they’re not there, or to think they can be removed by an invisible hand.” Many Americans may be misled by Gorbachev’s affability, Birch said, overlooking past communist-capital ist conflicts. However, he said, “the economic and political gap will not narrow suddenly because Gorbachev says he’s in favor of Mom and apple pie.” Still, some are leery of Gorba chev’s glasnost campaign. “Some wonder why Gorbachev suddenly declared this new thin king,” Birch said. “They wonder, ‘Is this really a change in substance or just a change in style?’ A lot say it is a hoax, a trick to make us let down our guard. But leaders do change their thinking. “It seems that Gorbachev came to realize that ideological competition must be peaceful and cooperative. The alternative in a nuclear world could very well be nuclear disaster.” Gorbachev also realized, Birch said, that the Soviet Union faces crit ical internal problems and a future of radical reconstruction. “His purpose is first to modernize the Soviet economy so ordinary peo ple can enjoy a better standard of liv ing,” Birch said. Also imperative to Gorbachev, he said, is to ensure that the Soviet Union retains its power and prestige. “Otherwise, the Soviet Union risks entering the 21st century as a super power in name only,” he said. Even with the initially favorable response to glasnost and perestroika among Westerners, the Soviet Union has yet to prove itself and its new policies in the world view, Djilas said. “I don’t expect Gorbachev’s changes to bring about a dramatic change,” he said. Yet he did not dis miss the possibility of their eventual success. “I don’t think it will come soon, but I’ll be delighted if I am proved wrong,” he said. Djil las, a native Yugoslavian, said a strong dissident movement in that country highlights Soviet foreign- policy shortcomings. With a $20 billion foreign debt, 150 percent inflation and 70 percent unemployment, Yugoslavia has seen the number of dissidents increase, he said. “They do not idealize Western Europe and the United States,” he said, “but liberal democracies have relatively efficient economies. “We believe communism must be reformed, transformed into liberal democracy, but not the way Gorba chev is trying to do it.” Yugoslavians, he said, are in a bet ter position to implement new ideas, because although communists hold the majority of political power, the country is not under Soviet control. Yet glasnost and perestroika likely will affect the entire world, Belono gov said, without regard to control ling political forces. If the policies are to succeed, the East and West must build mutual trust, he said. “The core problem is confidence between nations,” he said. “The most important institution in confi dence is openness, but that should not be an end in itself . . . We want to do resolutely away with all vestiges of the Cold War.” A&M loses benefactor in death of co-founder of hydrogen center TO WHITTIER, Calif. (AP) — A itrong earthquake rocked a wide rea of Southern California on hursday, injuring at least 25 peo- |ple and triggering a fatal heart at- ick, but apparently causing little Idamage. “I felt like Joshua at the battle of [ericho,” said Dwight McDonald of Ithe California Highway Patrol in downtown Los Angeles. The quake, measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale, struck at 7:25 a.m. in the Whittier Narrows area, 15 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, said Jacquelyn Dreher, a spokesman for the California Institute of Technol ogy in Pasadena. She said the location meant it was another aftershock of the powerful Oct. 1 quake that measured 5.9 on the Richter scale and was followed by a 5.2 quake on Oct. 4. The com bined temblors caused $358 million in damage in Los Angeles and Orange counties and were blamed for at least seven deaths. Thursday’s quake was the 35th aftershock to measure above 3.0 on the scale. “I just sat there saying ‘Well, here we go again,’ ” said Renee Wilbur, 31, an office worker at a California Youth Authority school in Whittier. She sprained a knee diving under a desk for cover, a repeat of the injury See Earthquake, page 10 By Richard Williams Senior Staff Writer A co-founder and consultant to the Center for Electrochemical Systems and Hydrogen Research at Texas A&M died Sunday in Houston. Dr. Hampton C. Robinson Jr. gave the center $500,000 and bought seven acres of land for use in research by the center. The center was founded in 1983 after Robinson contacted Distinguished Professor of Chemistry John O. Bockris and expressed interest in starting a center for hydrogen research. Robinson gave $200,000 to get the center started. Since its founding, the budget for the cen ter has grown to $2.2 million. Bill Craven, manager of the center, said even more important than the monetary donations were his contributions as a con sultant to the center. “He has been everything,” Cra ven said. “We will miss him more as a leader, because of his inspira tion and his ability to put things together.” As a consultant Robinson would help devise projects for the center and help the center obtain needed materials. “He was a priceless resource,” Craven said. “He could get us immediate re sults.” Robinson also helped the cen- Houston police say boyfriend strangled KRBE disc jockey By Tom Cawthra Reporter A Houston radio disc jockey ap parently was strangled to death in the bedroom of her Houston town- house apartment by her boyfriend before he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head late Tuesday night, according to a Hous ton police report. The bodies of Kimberly Fullilove, known to KRBE-FM listeners as Casi Love, the nighttime DJ at the popu lar Top 40 radio station, and James Kevin Labeth were discovered lying on a bed about 6 p.m. Wednesday, police said. ’ Labeth, 22, who police believe was Fullilove’s boyfriend, is reported to have shot himself with a rifle in the woman’s apartment. Police reported recovering a suicide note near the bodies after forcing their way into the apartment. The officers at the scene reported no other signs of forced entry into the residence at 9449 Briarforest. The investigation began after co workers at KRBE contacted the po lice concerning Fullilove’s absence from her usual on-the-air shift. Police Sgt. H.L. Mayer, homicide investigator, said Fullilove, 28, had an impeccable attendance record See Fullilove, page 9 A&M athletics work as million-dollar business By Tracy Staton Senior Staff Writer If the intercollegiate sports at [Texas A&M were corporations in stead of teams, Football, Inc. would [be the only blue-chip stock on the [athletic exchange. The Basketball [Co., Inc. would be breaking even and all other sports would oe out of business. Although sports sell tickets in stead of stock, athletics is more than just a game — it’s a multi-million dollar business. Wally Groff, assistant athletic di Athletic scholarships cost $1.5 million yearly By Tracy Staton Senior Staff Writer Scholarship athletes form the ! backbone of Texas A&M’s ath letic program, and it costs about $1.5 million per year to keep this backbone strong. Wally Groff, assistant athletic director for finance, says the Ath letic Department spends about $ 1 million for men’s scholarships and about $450,000 for women’s scholarships each year. The money for the scholarships comes from Aggie Club donations, he [ says. These scholarships are allo cated to each intercollegiate sport according to limits set by the Na tional Collegiate Athletic Associa tion, Groff said. Football can give the most scholarships; the department is limited to 95 scholarships for football players. Men’s and wom en’s basketball can offer 15 schol arships each and women’s volley ball can provide 12 scholarships. These four sports are called “head count” sports, Groff says. This means that each scholarship may be awarded to only one ath lete. The scholarships cost about $4,000 for in-state students and about $7,000 for out-of-state stu dents. The other 10 NCAA sports are equivalency sports, he says. The full scholarship can be divided among several students. A full scholarship pays for tu ition, fees, room, board and text books. So an equivalency schol arship could pay for one student’s tuition and fees, another stu dent’s room and board and an other student’s textbooks. The equivalency sports have 103 full scholarships available. See Scholar, page 10 rector for finance, says the Athletic Department is forced to be a busi ness because it is a self-supporting auxiliary of the University. “We have to be a business,” Groff says. “When I joined this depart ment 20 years ago, I heard a com ment at a meeting of intercollegiate athletics and it stuck in my mind: ‘Intercollegiate atletics is too big a business to be a sport and too big a sport to be a business.” But to keep all the sports in busi ness, the Athletic Department must deal in consolidated financial statements. The revenue generated by football helps support the other teams, Groff says. “If we ran this strictly as a busi ness, however, we’d eliminate 14 sports,” he says. “There’s just no way some of them will make money. We stretch the dollars, primarily from football, to cover our operations.” Football ticket sales generated about $5 million in 1987, Groff says. And ticket sales for all other sports brought in $450,000 combined. Ticket sales accounted for 56 per cent of the Athletic Department’s 1987 revenue. Aggie Club donations contributed the next largest amount, about $2.3 million, which was 23 percent of the $9.78 million budget. P. Clark Whiteside, associate di rector of the Aggie Club, says the or ganization raises about $2.23 million through direct-mail solicitation. “Around this time each year we send out a brochure with a pledge card in it,” Whiteside says. “We send the brochure and the pledge card, Athletes at A&M Part four of a four-oart series they send back the pledge card and a check.” The amount of donations is not proportional to the success of the football team, he says. Instead, the Aggie Club’s “giving list” has in creased steadily each year. “Whether they give $50 or $4,000,' they give because they’re loyal to the University, not because they’re loyal to the football team,” Whiteside says. “That’s one good reason why our donations don’t slack off when foot ball doesn’t have a good year.” Television contract revenues and Southwest Conference surplus make up 11 percent of the revenue. The money A&M keeps from these con tracts is allotted to the University according to formulas designed by the National Collegiate Athletic As sociation and the Southwest Confer ence, Groff says. For non-conference televised games, the NCAA gets 4 percent. Of the remaining 96 percent, half is given to each team. A&M’s share is divided in half; half goes to the Southwest Conference, the other half goes to the Athletic Depart ment. For conference games that are televised, the NCAA gets 4 percent. Fifteen percent of the remainder goes to each team, and the rest goes to the Southwest Conference. So for non-conference games, A&M receives 24 percent of the con- ■ Football ticket sales - $5,023,000 Basketball and other sport's ticket sales - $450,000 H Aggie Club - $2,225,000 □ SWC surplus and TV - $1,050,000 m TAMU support of women's program - $750,000 □ Interest and other - $280,000 tract revenue. And for conference games, A&M gets about 14.4 percent of the money. For example, ESPN paid $590,000 for the television rights to the A&M-University of Texas game in November. The NCAA got $23,600, which was the 4 percent as sessment. A&M and UT each re ceived $84,960, and the Southwest Conference got $396,480, Groff says. Bowl games also bring in money, Groff says. The revenue from the Cotton Bowl games is divided three ways — 37.5 percent of the money See Athletes, page 10