The Battalion
Vol.87 No. 171 045360 8 Pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, July 7, 1988
Search begins
for Meese’s
replacement
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
White House launched the search
for Attorney General Edwin Meese
Ill’s replacement Wednesday, say
ing President Reagan’s aides were
collecting names of candidates
“from various sources.”
Reagan met privately with Meese,
his longtime California friend and
political confidant, and the White
House said nothing of what had
transpired. It said the meeting was
granted at Meese’s request.
Spokesman Marlin Fitzwater con
ceded that White House officials had
no contingency plan to find a re
placement, even though Meese indi
cated some time ago he might leave
before the end of the administra
tion.
“We had an attorney general up
until (Tuesday) yesterday,” Fitzwa
ter said. “We don’t compile lists for
C ions where they’re already
Fitzwater had said earlier that
Meese told Reagan “some time ago
that he might want to leave before
the end of the administration. The
president left the timing up to him.”
Reagan, who conceded Tuesday
that he had “nobody in mind” to
take Meese’s place, on Wednesday
“briefly discussed” a successor for
Meese with White House chief of
staff Kenneth Duberstein and gen
eral counsel A.B. Culvahouse, the
spokesman said. He did not say
whether Reagan and Meese had
talked about whom to select.
A Justice Department spokesman,
Patrick Korten, was asked whether
the attorney general would play an
active role in choosing a successor.
“1 think he’s already weighed in
on the subject,” Korten said in refer
ence to Meese’s meeting with Rea
gan.
As he left the White House, Meese
was asked what he had told Reagan.
He gestured in the direction of his
car and said “I’ve got to go.” Inter
viewed later on Cable News Net
work, Meese was asked what kind of
person he thought should succeed
him.
“I don’t think anybody would be a
clone of anybody else,” he said. But
Meese said he hoped the person se
lected is “someone who suoscribes to
the principles of Ronald Reagan and
his administration.”
“I think a lot depends on the will
ingness of the Senate to fulfill its re
sponsibility and confirm someone,”
he said. “I would hope that someone
would be confirmed and take over
the day I leave office.”
Meese announced Tuesday that
he was resigning, effective in late
July or early August.
Probe of Gulf tragedy starts
Captain’s family receiving calls of support
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Hundreds of callers have but haven’t heard from in a long time. The pho
nledeed their support for the USS Vincennes com- hasn’t stopped ringing.”
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) —
American investigators began their
inquiry Wednesday into the shooting
down of an Iranian airliner by ques
tioning senior officers of the cruiser
that fired the fatal missiles, U.S.
sources said.
The six-member military team of
experts arrived from the United
States late Tuesday and began their
confidential task under a 15-day
deadline, which U.S. officers said
could be extended.
Leading the group is Rear Adm.
William M. Fogarty, a senior staff of
ficer at U.S. Central Command
headquarters in Tampa, Fla. It in
cludes a lawyer and technical experts
who will analyze computer tapes,
communications records and other
data that could explain the tragedy.
Iran says the USS Vincennes, a
billion-dollar Aegis cruiser with
computerized radar and weapons
systems, intentionally shot down the
Iran Air Airbus A300 over the Strait
of Hormuz on Sunday. All 290 peo
ple aboard were killed.
Iran has accused the United States
of premeditated mass murder and
pledged revenge in “the same blood-
spattered skies” over the Persian
Gulf, where Iran and Iraq have been
at war since September 1980.
The United States says the Vin
cennes fired because signals sent by
one of two airliner’s transponders
were were analyzed in its combat in
formation center as being from an F-
14 fighter on an attack bearing.
Iranians shouting “Death to
America!” held funerals Wednesday
for 24 of the victims.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Hundreds of callers have
pledged their support for the USS Vincennes com
mander, a former San Antonio resident who ordered
the downing of an Iran Air jetliner, family members
say.
Capt. William C. Rogers III has been called a hero by
people who have telephoned from across the state and
country, his brother, artist Richard Harrell Rogers,
said.
“They generally say he did the only thing he could to
protect his men,” the brother said on Tuesday. “People
consider him to be a hero. But everyone considers it a
tragic loss of life.”
On Sunday, the Vincennes fired two missiles at an
Iran Airbus A300, destroying it and killing 290 passen
gers and crew members.
“I’ve lost count of the enormous number of calls,”
Richard Rogers said. “Most are from people we know,
but haven’t heard from in a long time. The phone
hasn’t stopped ringing.”
Friends of Rogers from his 1957 graduating class at
Jefferson High School unanimously voiced support for
him.
“He was defending his ship and his crew members,”
Ben Corbo, a Kelly Air Force Base civil servant, said. “If
it were me, I probably would have done the same thing.
You can’t fault him for that.”
The assessment was echoed by Larry Hansen, owner
of ABC Rug Works.
“I don’t see where he had any choice,” Hansen said.
Hansen and former classmates Jack Wideman, a City
Public Service employee, and Monroe “Ben” Nowotny,
owner of a Boerne oil and gas contract company, called
Rogers a nice guy.
Nowotny said he had known him since the seventh
grade at Mark Twain Junior High School.
A&M Board fails to revise
list of president hopefuls
By Stephen Masters
Staff Writer
The Texas A&M Board of Re
gents Selection Committee Tuesday
released a list of 54 candidates under
consideration for the office of Uni
versity president, but more than 25
percent of those listed said, when
contacted by The Battalion, that
they were not actually seeking the
position.
Two candidates on the current list
— Dr. Ronald W. Roskens, president
of the University of Nebraska Sys
tem, and Dr. Anderson J. Ward,
provost for the National College of
Education — were not even aware
they had been nominated for the po
sition until contacted. Both Roskens’
and Ward’s names appear on a sepa
rate list dated March 31.
The new list of candidates, dated
July 5, is the fifth received by The
Battalion since the first list was re
ceived in January for the post that
University President Frank E. Van
diver will vacate Sept. 1.
Vandiver will step down to be
come director of the Mosher Insti
tute of Defense Studies.
The January list of 59 candidates
has been cut to 54. Several additions
and withdrawals have been made,
but there has been no change in the
list over the past two months.
Another candidate, Dr. Don H.
Pickrell, said he had written the Se
lection Committee in May requesting
that his name be removed from the
list of active candidates, but it still
appears on the July 5 list.
All lists, including the most re
cent, have a disclaimer saying “per
sons who have asked to be with
drawn from consideration do not
appear on this list.”
The Battalion contacted 39 of the
54 candidates on the list.
Eighteen claimed they are not
even seeking the position, including
Roskens and Ward. Another 15 said
they are seeking the position, but
have not heard anything from the
Board’s committees since receiving
letters requesting their applications
and resumes in March. Six of the
candidates declined to comment on
whether they were actively seeking
the position, but one, Brig. Gen. Ed
mond S. Solymosy, chief of staff at
Fort Lewis in Washington, did say he
had not had any contact with the
Board.
Although the interviewing proc
ess began two weeks ago, the Board
declined to release the names of
those interviewed in two sessions —
one in New York and one in Dallas.
Requests by the The Battalion for
the names of those interviewed have
been denied by the Board or re
ferred to A&M’s Deputy Chancellor
for Legal and External Affairs. Pres-
nal stated that the committee thinks
the information is not open to the
public under Texas Open Records
Laws.
The law states that the entity with
the requested information has 10
days to respond to written requests,
either to approve the request, deny
the request or ask for a new opinion.
If the information is denied, a pre
vious Attorney General’s opinion is
to be cited as the reason or a new
opinion is to be requested within 10
days. If the request is agreed to, it
must be surrendered within 10 days.
The Attorney General’s office
said no such request had been re
ceived from the Board by Wednes
day, 12 working days following the
initial request. 'The Board has not in
dicated to The Battalion which pre
vious opinion the Board has relied
on to deny the request. The Battal
ion requested to be informed by the
Board of any applicable court deci
sion or Attorney General opinion
the Board uses to deny the request.
The Battalion mailed a letter
Wednesday requesting Texas Attor
ney General Jim Mattox investigate
A&M’s refusal to release the names
and the University’s failure to re
quest an opinion.
The Attorney General, in a 1986
opinion, said the names of finalists
for important positions of lead
ership at public institutions must be
released.
However, Bill Presnal, executive
secretary for the Board, said the
Board will not compile a list of fi
nalists and that not everyone on the
current list will be interviewed.
Three candidates were inr
viewed in New York and “not many’
were interviewed in Dallas, Presnal
said. He declined to give the exact
number interviewed in Dallas.
The Board also has refused to re-
See Hopefuls, page 6
For the yell of it
Photo by Brad Apostolo
Junior Yell Leader Steve Goan whoops it up in Rudder Fountain
Tuesday for freshman visiting the University for summer confer
ences. These special Aggie yell practices are just a part of orientation
for incoming students.
Employees face
deadline to select
health coverage
AIDS ‘a touchy issue’ in schools;
Awareness up for A&M students
By Janet Goode
Reporter
Texas A&M employees are fac
ing a July 15 deadline this year to
make health care and other bene
fit selections for the 1988-89 fis
cal year.
Ellen Linder, editorial assistant
in A&M’s employee benefits pro
gram administration, said em
ployees are being required to se
lect changes in health coverage,
optional life insurance plans and
the new “tax saver” plan earlier
this year than the usual enroll
ment period, which was in Sep
tember.
Linder said with the new dead
line and earlier enrollment pe
riod, all the information can be
entered in the computers and re
ady to go when the first pay-
checks come out in September.
Linder said the office sent out
scantron-type forms this year for
efficiency.
If an employee does not wish
to change from their current ben
efit plan, they don’t need to re
turn the employee benefit enroll
ment book, tax saver enrollment
book or the Health Maintanence
Organization information that
was sent to them June 1', she said.
Linder said the biggest isssue is
health coverage. People are de
ciding if they want to stay with the
Lincoln National Insurance (an
indemnity plan) or go with one of
the plans under the Health Main-
tenence Organization.
Linder said an indemnity plan
is one where the employee pays a
deductible such as $200 or $400
and then after meeting that, the
company pays 80 percent of the
costs. One of the advantages with
this plan, she said, is that a person
could receive health care any
where in the world.
An HMO is a specific group of
doctors or a specific clinic. A per
son can go, without being sick, as
many times as they want for a
lower, consistent payment such as
$5 per visit. The emphasis with
these plans, she said, is on health
maintenence.
The advantage here, she said,
is the smaller cash outlay.
“Sometimes this can be better
for people because they feel freer
to go to a doctor more often for
routine exams,” Linder said.
Linder said that in Texas, peo
ple are deciding between the
same two HMO’s as last year —
the Texas Health Plan and the
Scott and White plan.
“Some people like the idea that
they can go to this one place and
pay less money consistently,” she
said.
Another change in area of op
tional life insurance is a lower
rate for non-smokers, Linder
said.
Information on a new program
on health care spending accounts
also were sent to employees.
The “tax saver” spending ac
count allows a person to set aside
a certain amount of money each
month to be taken out of an em
ployee’s check, Linder said.
There are two types of accounts,
she said, one for health care and
one for types of care such as day
care or health care facilities for a
spouse.
By Janet Goode
Senior Staff Writer
Editor’s note: This is the second
part of a three-part series on AIDS
and its impact on the Bryan-College
Station community. Part two exam
ines the effect the disease is having
in local schools and the efforts these
institutions are making to inform
students about AIDS.
Teen-agers are having sex.
According to the state’s depart
ment of vital statitics, last year in
Texas 10,784 unmarried girls from
ages 13 to 17 gave birth.
Despite this, many school systems
aren’t getting the information out
about AIDS. School officials, espe
cially in this community, say they
feel it is hard enough even to imple
ment sex education programs, let
alone talk about the fatal disease. It’s
the age-old slippery-slope argument
of “IF WE TALK ABOUT SEX
THEN THEY WILL DO IT.”
Bonnie Sorenson, a health educa
tor at the Brazos County Health De
partment, says she feels the facts
about sex and AIDS should first be
taught in the home and church and
then the schools.
“But,” she says, “sometimes a
child misses out on learning about it
(sex) at home. Sometimes parents
don’t have time like they used to.
“This is when teen-agers need to
get clear information from school. If
they don’t, kids get their informa
tion from television shows such as
soap operas, which don’t depict rea
listic pitures of society.”
Jerry Ellis, principal at Bryan
High School, says the schools in this
community are teaching about AIDS
in the health education classes but
are doing little else to combat the
disease.
“It’s a pretty touchy issue,” he
says. “We are teaching it in our
AIDS in B-CS
Part two of a three-part series
health curriculum, but we’re not
going into detail about it.
“I think there is going to be more
and more said and done, but right
now it’s pretty much on the back
burner.”
Ellis says he feels the kids in high
schools, in that age group, aren’t too
concerned about the disease.
“They don’t really think about it,”
he says.
Charlotte Potters, head of the
health and physical education at
A&M Consolidated High School says
Dr. John Moore, acting associate
director of A.P. Beutal Health Cen
ter, says the center deals with stu
dents worried about AIDS-related
problems daily.
“We usually refer actual AIDS
cases to specialists, but we treat them
with whatever services we have,” he
says.
Moore says the health center has a
fair number of students asking for
tests.
“Our lab does not actually do the
tests but we can arrange for them,”
he says.
Moore says that even though the
roblem of fear and the “it can’t
appen to me” syndrome is still
K
“It’s a pretty touchy issue. We are teaching it in our
health curriculum, but we’re not going into detail
about it. I think there is going to be more and more
said and done, but right now it’s pretty much on the
back burner. ”
— Bryan High School Principal Jerry Ellis
she thinks they are thinking about it
and are very receptive to informa
tion they receive.
“We teach them everything from
A to Z about communicable dis
eases,” she says, “and this includes
AIDS.”
Potters says they update informa
tion each semester with the most
current information from the center
of disease control and distribute it in
the health education class.
On the Texas A&M campus, stu
dents seem to think about it even
more. As the education level rises, so
does awareness. Many college stu
dents are passing the denial stage,
opening up and talking about AIDS.
prevalent on campus, a lot of stu
dents are taking precautions, edu
cating themselves, and getting tested
“just to be sure.”
John Schnase, chairman of tjF
board of directors of the Brazos
ley AIDS Foundation, says^ as
worried well people ne^ tional
much psychological and do eo .
support in light of AI T ^
pl 'W or not
to be tested if' e, T frightening to
many people ’ tl , e s ^y s - r
Moore W* the health center of
fers pre an d post-counseling, dur
ing w>ich students are informed of
the Aigh risk groups so the students
can decide if they still need testing.
Students also are informed of spe
cifics of the tests at that time. Moore
said the center mainly wants to in
form students that a positive test
does not mean a patient has AIDS. A
positive test means the patient has
antibodies in his system and can
transmit the disease.
Moore says a wealth of informa
tion about AIDS is available and still
needs to be disseminated. He says
the health center is looking into edu
cational materials that could be
given out free on campus.
He also wants to obtain a video for
students that depicts a college girl
getting infected from her boyfriend,
who got infected from someone else
Moore said the center has vid^
about AIDS available now th?" m
shown in the waiting roor
time to time. -4ve re-
And University officiask force
cently started buildip^y statement
that will establish aore says he be-
on AIDS, he say.'ple have been ap-
lieves about 14rce and are working
pointed to thonal statement about
on an in'statement should include
AIDS.^s for handling situations,
gui<Js how a professors should ap-
s V&ch a student in his class who has
.\IDS.
Moore says that no matter how
much is done, a lot of misconcep
tions will always exist about a disease
that is new and not well understood,
such as AIDS.
“This is why we need to educate
our college population and get accu
rate information to them,” he says.
“We are beginnning to take steps to
do this but we don’t want to rush in
and not do it improperly. It takes a
little time for the wheels to grind.”
Friday’s story looks at the plight of
AIDS victims in Bryan-College Sta
tion.