The Battalion
Vol. 87 No. 135 USPS 045360 12 Pages
Colleae Station. Texas
Monday, April 18, 1988
[Shanty will not be rebuilt despite vandalism
By Drew Leder
Staff Writer
On the final day of Texas A&M’s
[Students Against Apartheid’s dis
play of their anti-apartheid shanty, it
was once again the target of.vandal
ism.
Two A&M seniors were appre-
[hended by University Police Friday
after they were seen near the shack
about the time members of Students
Against Apartheid found two dead
pigeons on wooden crosses hanging
(from its roof.
A search of a dumpster where the
[men had been seen dumping a bag
also revealed two doves that had
been shot and were attached to
branches in a similar fashion, with
their wings extended.
Bob Wiatt, director of the Univer-
|sity Police Department, said the po
lice will ask the county attorney’s of
fice to accept criminal mischief
[charges against the two students,
whose names were not released. But
Wiatt said he doubts that the charges
will be accepted.
“I don’t see that criminal charges
are going to be appropriate,” he
said. “No damage was done to the
shack and I don’t think this case is
going to fly.”
Members of A&M’s SAA organi
zation, who constructed the shack,
filed charges against the men Friday
after initially declining to do so.
The shanty, which was the target
of several incidents of vandalism
during the month-and-a-half it
stood on the A&M campus, was dis
mantled by members of SAA Friday
and the group has no plans to dis
play it again this semester. The third
E ermit from the University Police ai
ming the shack to stand on campus
expired Friday and neither the anti
apartheid group nor the police want
to prolong the life of the shanty any
longer.
Vint said the group has made its
point and accomplished what it set
out to do — to make people aware of
the situation in South Africa and get
them thinking about it. And Wiatt
said he would not grant another per
mit this semester because the group
has been given ample time to make
their statement.
Vint said the group may try to get
a permit to build another shanty
next semester.
Although Wiatt says it is unlikely
that misdemeanor charges will be
brought against the two students
who were detained Friday, he said
the men may face charges brought
by the state game warden for killing
doves out of season.
Janelle Lewis, a spokesman for
the state game warden’s office in
Bryan, said Friday it is likely that
some kind of charges will be filed
against the men for killing the game
birds out of season. Lewis said the
office is in the process of deciding
what, if any, charges will be filed.
The students involved in the inci
dent also may face punitive action bv
)orps leader commends
Cadets for defending flag
By Stephen Masters
Staff Writer
Three Texas A&M Corps of Ca
rets members were commended Fri-
lay by the Commandant of Cadets
for attempting to prevent a College
[Station teen from singing while
[draped in the U.S. flag.
Michael McPherson, a general
[studies major from Bryan, Trey
Hood, a business administration ma-
[jor from Waco, and Marck Hopkins,
[an aerospace engineering major
from Riverside, Calif, all freshmen
jin Company C-2, were commended
by Maj. Gen. Thomas G. Darling for
“standing up for what they thought
[was right,” Hopkins said.
\ Darling said he didn’t hear about
the incident until station officials
[called him.
“1 called them (the cadets) in and
[asked them to tell me what had hap
pened,” he said. “They went over
what happened and 1 told them they
had done a commendable job as far
as upholding the law as they saw it.”
The events occurred after Mc-
(Pherson heard on local radion sta-
jtion KKYS-FM Thursday night that
Rebecca Presley, a sophomore at
[A&M Consolidated, would sing
“Born in the U.S.A.” while wearing
[only the U.S. flag. Presley wore the
flag over her clothes at the actual
event.
The three cadets discussed the
A&M takes
I.D. pictures
for 1988-89
By Kimberly Motley
Reporter
Texas A&M students can take
pictures for their 1988-89 I.D.
cards now in a service meant to
eliminate long lines the week be
fore the fall semester, Assistant
Registrar Willis Ritchey said.
Ritchey said the service, which
began last week, will be con
ducted on an ongoing basis from
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday
through Friday. Pictures will be
taken in the open area of the Pa
vilion at the former location of
the Ring Office.
“We’d especially like to encour
age folks on campus to come by
now so they don’t have to worry
about coming by the week before
school starts,” Ritchey said.
Although he encourages on-
campus students to take their pic
tures now, he said everyone who
is reasonably sure they will be
back next fall should go ahead
and get an I.D. picture taken.
1987-88 I.D. cards are good
through both summer sessions,
he said.
“It will be a real time-saver for
everyone involved,” he said, add
ing that even students who are
blocked from registration can
come get their picture taken.
“It’s not being done by classifi
cation, alphabetically or any other
way,” Ritchey said. “It’s just on a
first-come, first-serve basis dur
ing the working hours.”
The I.D. cards cost $5, he said,
but this cost will be included stu
dents’ fall fees.
“The cost will be billed to stu
dents in July,” he said, “and it will
by itemized on their fee slips.”
matter and decided that wearing the
American flag as clothing was not
right, and might violate a state law
against “the desecration of a venera
ble object.”
Presley was participating in a con
test sponsored by the radio station
where people called in and said the
most outrageous thing they would
do to win tickets to the Bruce
Springsteen concert in Austin Fri
day.
Presley could not be reached for
comment Sunday.
McPherson called the Bryan Po
lice Department to ask what action to
take and was told to call at the time
of the incident. When he did, police
were dispatched to the radio station
in Manor East Mall.
Hood said the police at the scene
interpreted the law differently than
the cadets and no action was taken.
As of Sunday, no report on the in
cident had been filed with the Bryan
Police Department.
A spokesman answering the
phone at KKYS said only general
manager James Reeder could offi
cially comment on the matter.
Reeder could not be reached for
comment Sunday.
An anonymous caller identifying
himself as a representative of KKYS
later told The Battalion that he felt
the entire story had been blown out
of proportion.
Israeli sources say
own agents killed
leading PLO official
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli
sources said Sunday that Israeli
agents had assassinated PLO official
Khalil al-Wazir, the No. 2 man in the
organization who headed the upris
ing in the occupied territories.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir
declined comment.
The sources said the operation
was carried out jointly by the Mossad
intelligence service, the Israeli navy
and an elite commando unit. They
spoke on condition of anonymity.
They said it had been postponed
several times before Saturday.
Al-Wazir, who was in charge of
the PLO’s military operations
against Israel, was shot to death Sat
urday at his home in the Tunis sub
urb of La Marsa by an eight-member
squad.
Palestine Liberation Organization
officials blamed Israel, saying the
killing was designed to demoralize
Palestinians and end PLO-directed
protests in the occupied West Bank
and Gaza Strip.
“I’m not ready to relate to these
matters,” Shamir told the Associated
Press at his office in Jerusalem when
asked about reports Israel was be
hind the operation.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres,
co-leader of the coalition govern
ment, said in an interview on Israel
radio that he hoped al-Wazir’s assas
sination would not affect peace ef
forts.
Peres added, “We have to uproot
violence as a . . . factor that delays a
political development. People who
use violence will in the end see the
limits of violence. It leads nowhere.”
The issue came up only briefly in
Israel’s regular Cabinet meeting
Sunday. Israel radio said that when
Shamir was asked what happened,
he said he had heard the details on
the radio.
Former intelligence officials and
Israeli newspapers compared the as
sassination to Israel’s 1973 raid on
PLO offices in Beirut in which three
top PLO officials were killed.
the Department of Student Affairs,
which is investigating the matter.
Friday’s incident was one one of
several acts of vandalism perpetu
ated against the shanty since its orig
inal construction Feb. 22. The
shanty has been vandalized several
times and two weeks ago a make
shift bomb made out of a paper
towel role and gunpowder was at
tached to the shanty. The bomb ex
ploded while no one was near the
shack. No damage was done to the
structure.
To guard the shack from vandal-
ists, members of SAA began keeping
watch on the shack around the clock.
Early Friday morning, six of the
watchers told police that, from the
steps of the Academic Building, they
spotted the two white men near the
shanty. The members said they ap
proached the shanty to see what the
men wanted, at which time the men
began walking northward.
When the SAA members went in
side the shanty, they discovered the
pigeons hanging from the roof and a
sign attached to the side of the
shanty which read, “There will be no
peace until all niggers are dead.”
The pigeons had been stapled to
wooden branches, giving the ap
pearance of having been crucified,
Wiatt said.
The group members told police
they followed the two men to the
Northgate area and reported the in
cident to a College Station police of
ficer who was in the area. The police
officer took custody of the men and
notified the University Police of the
incident.
The men were brought to the
University Police Station and one of
the men was then released. It was
discovered the other man had some
outstanding traffic warrants from
the University and he was taken to
the College Station Police Depart
ment. Wiatt said both of the men live
off campus.
Wiatt said one of the men ad
mitted to having participated in the
incident while the other man denied
any involvement. He said the man
who admitted to the act of vandalism
wouldn’t give an explanation as to
why it was done.
According to an article that ap
peared in the Bryan-College Station
Eagle Sunday, one of the men in
volved in the incident called the Ea
gle and explained why he had placed
the pigeons and the sign on the
shack. The story quotes the man as
saying, “The reason I did it, person
ally, is because of a break-in at my
house and it involved black people,
and we have a lot of problems with
them around where I live.” The arti
cle states the man said he and his
friend had no particular interest in
Students Against Apartheid.
Susan Vint, president of SAA, af
ter hearing of the man’s statement,
responded, “(For him) to be so igno
rant is frightening. It would have
been better if he had some kind of
basis for what he did.”
said the their purpost
was to uphold the principle of the
law prohibiting disrespect for the
flag.
“Our point was not to get some
one arrested but to have an author
ity figure inform the girl that what
she was doing (with the flag) was
wrong,” Hopkins said.
Hood said they wanted to prevent
the scene.
“I don’t think it should have been
allowed to happen at all,” he said.
“People just don’t consider these
things to be wrong.
“The police told us that since she
wasn’t desecrating the flag they
couldn’t do anything. I think they’re
just interpreting the law too loosely,”
When the three cadets returned
to their dorms, they were informed
that Darling wanted to see them,
Hopkins said,
“The Commandant called us in
and told us that he was glad to see
people stand up for what they
thought was right,” he said. “He
commended us for our actions and
for doing what was right.”
Hood said the three have gotten a
positive reaction from other Corps
of Cadets members.
“We haven’t gotten in any kind of
trouble — actually it’s been just the
opposite,” he said. “All the upper
classmen have been congratulating
us and saying what a good job we’ve
done.”
From left to right. Missy Houston, Scott Jackson,
Steve Heldenfels, Shelley Hoge, John Muschalik
Photo by David Elmer
and Jeanie Sinclair turn each others’ rings at
Ring Dance Saturday night in the MSC.
Bash, banquet, ball provide
seniors chance to celebrate
By Deborah L. West
Staff Writer
Texas A&M seniors said good
bye to friends and celebrated
their impending graduation this
weekend at a bash, a banquet and
a ball.
Andrea Beshara, the Class of
’88 president, said Senior Week
end went well.
“Everything was a a success,”
she said.
Roni Hermes, a senior special
events chairman, said about
$1,900 was raised at Senior Bash,
which was held at the Hall of
Fame Friday night.
The money — collected from
the sale of about 800 Senior Bash
tickets at the MSC Box Office —
went to the Class of’88, she said.
Melissa Prescott and her band,
who were scheduled to play at the
bash, canceled because of a con
tract dispute, so another band
was hired, Hermes said.
Gina Sandoval, a Senior Ban
quet chairman, said about 400
people ate dinner and listened to
Gene Stallings, the coach of the
Phoenix Cardinals, at the Senior
Banquet Saturday night at the
College Station Hilton.
Rachel Hill, a Ring Dance
chairman, said people did not
want to leave Saturday night’s
dance when it ended at 1 a.m. be
cause they were having too much
fun.
“The bands quit playing, but
no one wanted to leave,” she said.
The Ed Gurlack Orchestra and
Michael Michael & the Max filled
up both dance floors, she said.
The orchestra played music from
the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s in Rud
der Exhibit Hall and the rock ’n’
roll band played in the MSC ball
room.
Souvenir table centerpieces
provided at the dance — which
were Messina Hoff champange
bottles with the Aggie ring crest
and the first verse of “The Spirit
of Aggieland” on their labels —
disappeared in the first ten min
utes of the dance, Hill said.
“People must have liked them,
because they didn’t stay on the ta
bles very long,” Hill said. “They
were nice souvenirs.”
Lines for senior formal pic
tures — in which the couple
stands inside a large replica of an
Aggie ring — were the shortest
they have ever been, she said.
“Thirty-eight minutes was the
longest anyone had to wait to get
their picture taken,” she said.
“That’s a record. Last year some
people waited two and a half
hours in line.” Seniors were al
lowed to prepay and to make ap
pointments for portraits this year,
she added.
Benson, the class gift chairman
for the Class of ’89, said people
got angry because they had to
show their dance tickets when
ever they changed rooms.
“They didn’t understand we
were just trying to keep people
who hadn’t paid $35 for a ticket
from getting in,” she said. About
2,000 seniors attended the dance,
Benson said.
Prairie View naval ROTC program honored
By Stan Golaboff
Reporter
Prairie View A&M’s naval ROTC unit was
honored Thursday as the oldest naval ROTC at a
predominantly black college.
“Thursday was the celebration of our program
turning 20 years old,” said Lt. Mark Morris, the
public affairs officer for Prairie View A&M’s na
val unit.
The midshipmen performed a review in
honor of the unit’s birthday, Morris said. The re
viewing officer was Vice Adm. Leon Edney, dep
uty chief of naval operations.
Edney is a former commandant of the Naval
Academy, a former commander of the aircraft
carrier Constellation and he is chief of personnel
of the Navy, Morris said.
The significance of Prairie View’s program is
that in its 20 years, it has produced more black
naval officers than all the other colleges in the
South combined, Morris said.
“One hundred and eighty black naval officers
have graduated from Prarie View in the last 20
years,” Morris said. “This includes both the Navy
and the Marines. The 180 officers include 132
male Navy officers, 32 male Marine officers, nine
female Navy officers and one female Marine offi
cer.”
Currently, Prairie View is one of the nation’s
largest producer of black naval officers, Morris
said.
“We have 62 cadets enrolled in our program
now, and we look forward to almost doubling our
size in the fall,” Morris said. “We estimate that we
will have 50 freshmen cadets joining our unit.”
One reason for this large influx of cadets is a
scholarship offered by Prairie View’s president
that will pay room and board of any freshmen
who enrolls in the naval unit, Morris said.
“We are very fortunate because our president
has a deep feeling of commitment to our pro
gram and with this new scholarship we should be
able to attract a lot of new recruits,” Morris said.
Another reason for the large influx can be at
tributed to the success of Prairie View’s grad
uates in the military, Morris said.
“For the 1987 fiscal year, we had 12 Navy
graduates,” Morris said. “One of our three fe
male graduates is currently training as one of the
four female naval flight officers in the country.
When she finishes her training she will be the
first black female flight officer in the Navy.”
Other examples of the success of Prairie
View’s officers is the high number of cadets that
get surface warship training slots, Morris said.
“We placed seven of our twelve graduates in
surface warship training slots last year,” Morris
said. “You could say that Prairie View is an excel
lent place for a black officer to receive his train
ing and that the training he receives here is some
of the best he can get in the nation.”