The Battalion
Vol. 87 No. 99 (JSPS 045360 12 Pages
College Station, Texas
Friday, FebruaryJ.9, 1988
andidates strive to lead debate
DALLAS (AP) — Five of the six
Iremaining Democratic candidates
Ifaced the first big event of a three-
Iweek struggle for the South Thurs-
Iday night, hoping to shine in a de-
[bate leading off the light for the re-
jgion’s hundreds of delegates on
[Super Tuesday.
The presidential debate, just two
[days after seven Democrats faced
[Northern voters in New Hampshire,
was held without Bruce Babbitt, who
withdrew from the race earlier in the
dav. and Paul Simon, who felt he
could do more for his endangered
candidacy by campaigning in the up
per Midwest.
Gov. Michael Dukakis of Massa
chusetts, Rep. Richard Gephardt of
Missouri, Sen. Albert Gore Jr. of
Tennessee, Gary Hart and Jesse
Jackson were hoping to distinguish
themselves in the region where more
than one-third of the Democratic
delegates are up for grabs in the Su
per Tuesday primaries March 8.
The debate, at Southern Method
ist University, was provided to public
broadcasting stations and moder
ated by PBS’ Roger Mudd. The Re
publican candidates were to meet in
a similar debate here Friday night.
Babbitt, the former Arizona gov
ernor whose dark horse campaign
advocating higher taxes never got
off the ground, said Thursday
morning in Washington he was
dropping out of the presidential
race.
Sen. Simon of Illinois, his presi
dential hopes in jeopardy following
a third-place finish in New Hamp
shire, spent the day in Minnesota
and South Dakota, hoping to win a
victory in one or both next week to
keep his campaign going into the
South.
Dukakis came into the debate
needing to establish himself as a can
didate with an appeal broader than
his own New England region. He
won going away in New Hampshire’s
leadoff primary and immediately
headed South, hoping his campaign
that stresses management experi
ence in 10 years as a governor will
sell there, too.
Gephardt, who finished second in
New Hampshire after winning Io
wa’s caucuses, came into the debate
hoping to score points with South
ern audiences after focusing on
other states up to this week.
He has demonstrated appeal to
blue-collar, union and conservative
voters in the two states where he has
competed, saying that the country
has begun an economic decline that'
must be reversed in part through re
taliation against nations that don’t
trade fairly with the United States.
Gore and Jackson have concen
trated on the Southern campaign, al
though both competed in New_
Hampshire. Jackson finished in
fourth place there ahead of Gore.
Hart had vowed to continue on
his campaign, despite finishing be
hind the leaders in the earlier con
tests.
Officials tell conference
B-CS on recovery road
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By Jeff Pollard
Staff Writer
Local businesses are on the road
to recovery, a member of the Bryan-
College Station Chamber of Com
merce told participants in the cham
ber’s Brazos Valley Economic Out
look Conference on Thursday.
"Times have changed and the
rules for businesses have changed
with them,” David Shellenberger,
president-elect of the Bryan-College
Station Chamber of Commercesaid.
"In order to prosper, business lead
ers have learned to manage their
time and resources to deal with in
creased local competition and the
economic downturn.”
Shellenberger, owner of a retail
clothing store, was one of many local
business men and educators who
outlined the economic developments
of various markets in the Brazos Val
ley. Shellenberger told participants
that “. . . in times like these it is im
portant to find your niche in the
market to keep from being just an
other statistic”.
Shellenberger said early figures
show retail sales in Brazos County
up by about 2 percent ($715.4 mil
lion in sales), but because the num
ber of retail outlets went up from
1,621 to 1,657, individual sales re
mained about the same compared to
1986.
“Based on strong third and fourth
quarter sales (up 8 percent and 6.6
percent respectively over last year),”
Shellenberger said, “we’re project
ing a 4-5 percent increase for 1988.
A&M s expanding enrollment and
commitment to capital expenditures
will also help things in ’88.”
This point was emphasized by Ed
die J. Davis, deputy chancellor of fi
nance and administration at A&M,
speaking on the impact of A&M ac
tivities on the local economic com
munity. He said that for every dollar
that is paid in sales tax by the com
munity, nine dollars is returned to
the University for local expendi
tures.
Davis said that in payroll alone,
A&M plans to spend about $280 mil
lion, which would affect about
39,000 employees and their families.
This means that the A&M payroll
supports in some way about 40 per
cent of the population in Bryan and
College Station.
“A&M directly inputs over $800
million dollars into the local econ
omy,” Davis said, “and after figuring
in several economic factors, that
comes to about $63 per second, or
$2 million, that is circulating
through the B-CS area that can be
attributed to Texas A&M.”
Davis went on to say that, when
compared to receipts of corpora
tions operating in Texas, A&M
would rank in the top 15 among pri
vate corporations and the top 50
among public corporations. To re
place A&M, he said, it would take
bringing in all of the operations (the
offices, stores and headquarters) of
Luby’s cafeterias, Pizza Inn, the La
Quinta Inns hotel chain and Pier 1
Imports.
Further impact is shown in the
area of University research. Du-
wayne M. Anderson, associate pror
vost of research studies, said that re
search funds continue to expand
and is expected to exceed the $200
See Economy, page 5
I sought the law..
Senior Rich Sanden, an industrial education ma
jor, inquires about “Operation I.D., a security
seminar held in the Memorial Student Center. Pa-
Photo by Mike C. Mulvey
trol Officer Betty Lemay explains the seminar’s
purpose, which was to help students learn prevent
ative security.
NASA astronaut helps A&M celebrate
Black History Month through promoting
involvement in Air Force ROTC activities
CARE Week ends on topic
of understanding safe sex
By Pam Mooman
Reporter
Col. Guion S. Bluford, a NASA
astronaut, came to Texas A&M
Monday to participate in activities
celebrating Black History Month.
Bluford, who has been up in space
twice, said he is proud to be part of
the astronaut program at NASA.
“I’m proud of being a part of that
team,” Bluford said.
The United States Air Force
ROTC brought Bluford to A&M to
| try to promote the Air Force to all
students, notjust minorities.
“Our overall enrollment (of mi
norities) in the Air Force ROTC is
about 11 percent,” Captain Kevin
Gamache, assistant professor of
aerospace studies at A&M, said. He
said the Air Force ROTC usually
mirrors enrollment in the Corps of
Cadets.
“We’re trying to increase the
awareness of opportunities in the
Air Force for any college graduate,
notjust minorities,” Gamache said.
Bluford has won numerous
awards, including four for outstand
ing service as a fighter pilot in Viet
nam. He has also been included in
Who’s Who Among Black Ameri
cans and Who’s Who in America.
Bluford received a bachelor of sci-
Col. Guion S. Bluford
ence degree in aerospace engi
neering from Pennsylvania State
University in 1964 and went on to
get a doctorate in aerospace engi
neering with a minor in laser physics
from the Air Force Institute of
Technology in 1978. Bluford has
also written several scientific papers.
“My goal was to be an aerospace
engineer,” he said. “I’ve always had
an interest in aerospace.” He said
opportunities for being an astronaut
have improved since 1977, and that
is why he became one.
He was the mission specialist and
the first black man in space on the
third flight of the space shuttle Chal
lenger in August, 1983. This was the
first flight with a night launch and
landing.
Bluford next served as a mission
specialist on Challenger in 1985
when payload control was givin to
Germany, the first time a foreign
power had been given control dur
ing a U.S. mission.
Bluford said it has taken NASA a
while to determine its directions, but
now it has a clear idea of what it
wants to accomplish. He said NASA
is building a stronger, safer and bet
ter program that will have spacecraft
flying in late summer.
“We have two years to catch up
on,” he said. “We need to pick up
where we left off.”
Bluford said the United States has
given the world an opportunity to
see it perform flight operations.
Now the country must prepare to fly
again, he said.
Bluford said there will be a major
change in the overall space program.
Shuttles and expendable booster
rockets will be used for launches.
Space program lacks minorities
By Carol Goswick
Reporter
The space program is in great
demand of minorities in the sci
ence and engineerings fields,
NASA Astronaut Col. Guion S.
Bluford said Thursday to about
50 people in the Memorial Stu
dent Center in accordance with
Black History Month.
Bluford, who has a master’s de
gree in aerospace engineering,
said he works with few minorities
in his field and wants to encour
age people to plan early for a ca
reer in the space program.
“When I was a child I was al
ways interested in airplanes so I
feel very fortunate to have com
bined engineering, flying air
planes and space missions all in
one career,” he said.
The colonel stressed the im
portance of students starting in
high school to prepare them
selves for the higher levels of sci
ence and math. His advice to col
lege students already involved in
the curriculum was to, “Hang
tough at Texas A&M because the
program itself is tough.”
In the course of his career as a
jet pilot and instructor, Bluford
has logged over 4,200 hours in
flight. His presentation, “Minor
ity Opportunities in the Space
Program,” concentrated more on
his experience as a black astro
naut participating in two shuttle
missions aboard the Challenger.
The colonel showed a slide
show of his missions including
one launched on Oct. 30, 1985,
which was the first dedicated
Spacelab mission under direction
of the German Aerospace Re
search Establishment.
Bluford said that he was part
of the largest crew to fly in space
with eight members. He de
scribed the launch of this shuttle
from zero to three times the
speed of sound as a very rough
ride.
“It was somewhat like that of a
cobblestone road,” he explained.
Success of the mission included
experiments on treating motion
sickness, making pharmaceutical
products, life sciences, astronomy
and growing crystals for universi
ties in Europe, he said.
“The fun part of the mission is
walking in space,” Bluford said.
He described the latest device
used to enable astronauts to move
more freely away from the shuttle
called a “man-maneuvering unit.”
“Our main goal at NASA for
the 1990s is the construction of a
space station where we can have
American astronauts in orbit all
of the time,” Bluford said.
By Laura White
Reporter
Approximately 50 A&M students
and a panel of four experts dis
cussed the importance of commu
nication between men and women,
the dangers of stereotyping and date
rape, and responsible birth control
last night in the fourth presentation
of CARE Week.
Creating Attitudes for a Rape-
Free Environment Week, sponsored
by Mosher hall, achieved its goal last
night to have a “frank and honest
talk about sex and sexual attitudes,”
Charles Goodman, Greek Advisor
for the Department of Student Ac
tivities, said.
Male and female students, sitting
on opposite sides of the room, were
given questions to discuss among
themselves and then to discuss with
the other group and the panel. Both
groups agreed that the biggest prob
lem dealing with sexual attitudes was
a lack of communication and the
problem of stereotypes.
“Don’t ask for our phone num
bers if you have no intention of call
ing,” was the main argument from
the females. The men responded by
explaining that while males may
have good intentions, the night-club
atmosphere was not condusive to
conversation and sometimes men do
not feel like they know a woman well
enough by the end of the evening to
call her.
Jo Hudson of the department of
Student Activities, explained the
reasons for this lack of communica
tion.
“Women communicate more liter
ally than men,” she said. “When a
man says TT1 call you,’ he may just be
saying, ‘Goodbye, see you later.’
When a woman says ‘I’ll call you,’ she
means that she will telephone you
sometime in the near future.”
The discussion cleared the air
about stereotypes. “The truth is that
women aren’t impressed by the ma
cho-man stud image,” one female
said. “What’s wrong with a little sin
cerity and genuineness once in
awhile?” she asked. The women in
the group agreed on the fact that
this particular stereotype had gone
too far.
The men dealt with the stereotype
that women have about them: sex is
all they think about. “That generali
zation is so unfair,” one male student
said. “Men are just as interested in
finding a meaningful relationship as
Illustration by Carol Wells
women are. Not all men are looking
for a commitment, granted, but then
again, neither are all women.”
“The typical Spring Break on the
beach includes a lot of drinking, par
tying, and dancing,” Goodman said.
The combination of these factors
may lead to a situation where sex is
involved, he said.
“Current statistics indicate that
over 30 percent of college students
are carriers of some kind of sexually
transmitted disease,” Dr. Mark
Montgomery, a gynecologist in the
College Station area, said. “Respons
ible sex means not only birth control,
but also protection from these dis
eases,” he said.
The groups broke up into a dis
cussion on whose responsibility it
was to initiate the conversation of
sexual protection and reached the
conclusion that both partners are re
sponsible for making sure that the
experience is a pleasurable but safe
Oxygen chamber aids in healing
By Tom Eikel
Reporter
A new treatment facility that uses
pure oxygen in a pressurized cham
ber is operating in the basement of
the A.P. Beutel Health Center.
Dr. Bill Fife, the facility’s director,
said the new muiltiplace hyperbaric
oxygen chamber can be used to acce
lerate and enhance the healing proc
ess of patients.
“The only things left to be done
are mostly clean-up,” Fife said, “We
could start treating right now, but
we’ll probably wait and have an open
house during spring break.”
Fife said he wants to wait for E)r.
Claude B. Goswick, who is responsi
ble for the medical part of the pro
gram, to return. Health Center Di
rector Goswick is recovering from
quadruple bypass surgery.
Hyperbaric medicine is a growing
field, and Texas A&M is now one of
no more than four universities in the
United States that has this type of
equipment, Fife said.
The hyperbaric chamber will be
used in the treatment and research
of various diseases and conditions.
During treatment, the chamber is
pressurized with air and the patients
are fed pure oxygen through a hel
met-like breathing device which is
tightened around the patient’s neck,
Fife said.
Len Aaron, who designed and
built the chamber, said administer-'
ing the oxygen this way instead of
filling the entire chamber with oxy
gen is necessary to prevent the possi
bility of a fire.
“With a chamber this size full of
pure oxygen you’d have a good size
fire hazard, primarily from static
electricity,” he said.
There are two types of hyperbaric
chambers; monoplace and multi
place. A monoplace chamber is
usually an acrylic tube about 6 feet
long and 25 inches in diameter with
a door at one end. The patient lies
prone in the tube, which is then
pressurized with pure oxygen.
Texas A&M already has several of
these chambers, under Fife’s direc
tion.
A&M’s new chamber is multi
place, which basically means it is able
to accommodate more than one pa
tient at a time.
“There must be about 200 or 300
chambers total in the U.S., and of
those, maybe less than 50 or 60 are
See Oxygen, page 5