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By Stephen Masters
Senior Staff Writer
I Texas A&M President William
llobley and Athletic Director Jackie
Sherrill said they were relieved but
lisappointed af ter the release of the
is'CAA Committee on Infractions re
port Friday that found A&M guilty
ol 25 rules infractions.
I “We’ve been through a lot of
si ess over the last five or six years,
■specially the last three or four,”
Sherrill said.
I “I’m very, very happy today is
■ere. I’m glad it’s over with. We’ll
■tke the hand that’s been dealt to us
■nd give it our best shot ....
■khough I don’t necessarily agree
■ith the assessment of these find-
iigs, we’ll deal with them.
■ “As soon as this session is over,
■lat’s it. 1 will not answer any ques-
■ons on this matter, nor will our
■layers or coaches.”
I Among the infractions were nine
‘significant violations,” including:
• Two unnamed assistant football
coaches who “provided false and
misleading information” to NCAA
investigators.
• A student athlete who was paid
more $4,000 for cleaning a printing
press at a wage of $ 15 per hour.
• An incident in which a rep
resentative offered a prospective
student athlete a car at a discount.
The report said Sherrill became
aware of the incident and reported
the facts to an A&M official, but did
not inform the official of A&M’s re
sponsibility to report the incident to
the NCAA.
Sherrill also failed to report the
incident to the NCAA enforcement
staff.
The committee’s penalties against
the University include a two-year
probation, no bowl game after the
1988-89 season, and the loss of five
See Conference, page 5
The heat is on!
Texas A&M head football coach Jackie Sherrill looks through an in
fractions report from the NCAA Friday morning. The president of
Photo by Dean Saito
A&M, William Mobley, looks on as Sherrill answers questions from
the media.
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Burma’s Parliament concedes,
approves multi-party elections
Student drowns
at fraternity party
RANGOON, Burma (AP) — Par-
lliament on Sunday yielded to weeks
lof massive nationwide protests and
■approved holding the first multi-
Iparty elections since 1960.
The legislature appointed a group
■of elders to supervise the polling and
■ set a target date for about three
■ months from Saturday, when Presi-
Ident Matmg Maung announced the
■ ruling Burma Socialist Program
I Party wmdd relinquish its 26-year
■ monopoly on power.
Despite government concessions,
■ opposition leaders continued to
■ press for an interim government to
I cope with Burma’s growing chaos,
land demonstrations continued in
I the capital.
Maung Maung issued a stern
I warning to demonstrators, who have
■ taken to the streets by tbe millions
I since spring in their fight for democ-
1 racy.
“People are now fed up with this
I lawlessness and are expecting the
government to take effective action,”
Maung Maung said. “I therefore
warn those responsible for the law
lessness to cease such activities.”
In some areas of Burma, he said,
students and Buddhist monks were
setting up rival local governments,
creating “a grave and dangerous sit
uation for those responsible.”
He called on demonstrators to get
back to work and on civil servants to
reactivate the stalled machinery of
government. In addition, he at
tacked the recent formation of a ri
val government by former Prime
Minister U Nu.
Maung Maung called Sunday’s
decision “a milestone in Burmese
history.”
“It will be evident in 20 years’ time
whether the decision was correct or
not,” he told the 489-member Parlia
ment.
While authorizing elections in
about three months. Parliament also
held out the possibility that they
Sherrill accepts
blame for charges
;te
31S
By Hal L. Hammons
Sports Editor
Jackie Sherrill was a maze of
apparent contradictions at Fri
day’s press conference as he an
swered questions regarding the
NCAA ruling.
He accepted blame for his de
partment’s failure to more care-
Analysis
fully moniter the actions of his
subordinates and supporters.
“I’m responsible for the pro
gram,” he said. “I’m responsible
to see that things run properly.”
But he said there was no way
he could effectively monitor ev
ery action of every individual in
volved to insure a clean program.
“I’ve never told anyone we’re
pure,” he said. “In college foot
ball today, it’s very difficult to sit
there and say nothing has hap
pened or ever will happen. Our
responsibility is to do everything
we can do to avoid it.”
He flatly stated, “If Jackie
Sherrill does something wrong,
Jackie Sherrill will leave. This in
stitution comes first.”
But then he modified his
stance, backing away from stating
he would leave for any violation
whatsoever and harping on the
slight nature of many of the
charges in the report.
He frequently stated he
thought the first charge — lack of
“institutional control” — was
fixed or in the process of being
fixed.
“I feel we do have institutional
control,” he said. “I hope (the
program) is clean, and the steps
we’re going to take will be good.”
But he admitted his failure to
dismiss a player — identified as
Kevin Murray during the press
conference by Sherrill and seve
ral others — probably was a crit
ical factor in the NCAA’s decision
to be so harsh with A&M.
“They felt it was our responsi
bility to dismiss a player, and that
was not our view,” he said. “I
think they were waiting for us to
do something about a player, and
we felt that was their responsibili-
ty”
Sherrill and University Presi
dent William Mobley also stated
that two assistant coaches impli
cated for numerous violations
would not be dismissed.
“When an assistant coach says
he didn’t do something, I’ve gqt
to believe him,” Sherrill said.
Sherrill maintained with Mob
ley that full compliance was the
plan of the University.
“Although I don’t necessarily
agree with the assessment of
some of the findings, we will com
ply with it,” he said.
But for most of the press con
ference he blasted the NCAA for
incorrect and unsubstantiated ac
cusations and would not difectly
answer questions about what his
decision concerning an appeal
would be.
He emphasized how he had re
ceived job offers that would have
taken him away from the pending
accusations before they resulted
in sanctions.
“I had an opportunity to walk
away and not be in front of you
guys (in the media),” he said. “I
could do a lot of less stressful
things. But I felt if I had done
that, an lot of things would go un
answered. I felt I owed it to the
players.”
could be postponed or held as early
as November.
Parliament enpowered the Coun
cil of State, the highest government
organ, to change the Constitution to
permit a multiparty system, enlarge
the elections commission if necessary
and formulate election rules.
Named to the Elections Supervi
sion Commission were three retired
civil servants, a retired army briga
dier general and a formermember
of Parliament. The men, all over 70,
are generally regarded as neutral, al
though not especially prominent. At
least four are not members of the
ruling party.
The Parliament session was held
under tight security, and delegates
slept in the building Saturday night.
The area was cordoned off with bar-
bed-wire fences and road blocks
manned by troops.
The multiparty elections would be
the first in Burma since Feb. 6, 1960,
when U Nu’s Clean Anti-Facist Peo
ple’s Freedom League won a massive
victory over an army-backed party.
U Nu was overthrown by the milita-
ryon March 2, 1962. The coup, led
by Gen. Ne Win, ushered in rigid
one-party rule.
Maung Maung urged Burma’s 22
million voters to “use their potent
weapon — the vote — to chooe the
right representatives.”
The Western-trained lawyer and
author, the country’s first civilian
leader in 26 years, said he would not
run in the elections and the power
ful military “will not lobby for any
party in the general elections.”
A Western diplomat in Rangoon
said the Burmese people were highly
skeptical of the recent government
moves.
“T hey don’t trust the government
to keep this promise” of elections,
said the diplomat, speaking on con
dition of anonymity. “They perceive
it as another trick.”
Meanwhile, 218 dependents of
diplomats and non-essential staffers,
including 59 Americans, left Rang
oon Sunday on a special Thai Air
ways International Ilight to Bang
kok, Thailand.
More than 230 people Hew out
Friday as a precautionary move.
In recent weeks, the government
has made one concession after an
other.
Ne Win resigned as head of the
ruling party in July, citing wide
spread street protests in March and
June as a factor in his decision.
When Sein Lwin, a hard-liner
widely hated for his brutal suppres
sion of dissidents, was chosen to suc
ceed him, riots erupted.
By Fiona Soltes
Staff Writer
A Texas A&M student drowned
in Lake Somerville Saturday af
ternoon during a fraternity rush
party.
David Joel Status, 19, a business
major from Longview, had been
swimming with members of the
A&M chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon.
Billy Towsley, Burleson County
sheriff’s deputy, said Stauts and
some others at the party were appar
ently swimming to a small island just
off the shore of Welch Park. Stauts
went under water at 2:30 p.m. in an
area about seven feet deep, he said.
“Apparently they tried to save
him, but couldn’t find him,” Towsley
said.
John Koldus, vice president for
student services at A&M, said the
fraternity’s adviser will meet today
with the individuals involved. It is
University policy to hold an investi
gation when a student dies while in
volved in an activity sponsored by an
A&M-recognized student organiza
tion, he said.
“Of course, the rangers of the
park will hold an investigation also,”
Koldus said. “Little by little, we’ll
work through it all and find out
what happened.”
Steve Bradford, vice president of
Sigma Phi Epsilon, said the frater
nity would not comment on the inci
dent until the results of the A&M in
vestigation were complete. Stauts
was not a member of the fraternity.
John Parker, Sigma Phi Epsilon
pledge chairman, told the Bryan-
College Station Eagle that after
Stauts went underwater he resur
faced and cried out for help. Parker
also told the Eagle that by the time
Stauts surfaced the second time sev
eral fraternity members were at
tempting to reach Stauts. Parker said
three members of the group at
tempting to reach Stauts were certi
fied lifeguards.
The body w'as found at about 6:30
p.m. after an extensive search by
members of the Somerville police
and sheriff’s departments, the Som
erville Rescue Unit and Corps of En
gineers, Towsley said.
Stauts’ body was taken to Strick
land Funeral Home in Somerville
and transferred Sunday morning to
Rader Funeral Home in Longview.
Martin Gustafson, Corps of Engi
neers’ reservoir manager, said the
park rangers will check the site of
the drowning for any dangers, al
though the area had not caused any
problems in the past.
Services for Stauts w ill be held at 3
p.m. today at Oakland Heights Bap
tist Church in Longview with Dr.
Jack Fritts. Burial w ill be at Memory
Park in Longview.
Enrollment explodes at North Texas,
students must live in close quarters
DENTON (AP) — Students are
being put up in 'hotels and dilapi
dated desks are getting second duty
to cope with booming enrollment at
University of North Texas.
Enrollment thus far stands at
24,580, enough to push North
Texas ahead of the University of
Texas at Arlington as the fifth-larg-
est university in the state.
The campus is expected to be the
fastest growing through the end of
this century, according to the Texas
Higher Education Coordinating
Board.
While the surge is praised by ad
ministrators, it hasn’t come easy for
professors or their students.
Students used to being in classes
of no more than 30 are being
crammed into auditoriums with 500
others. Classroom space is in short
supply and faculty are stretched thin
— the College of Arts and Science
alone added 200 sections, or class
periods, to accommodate extra stu
dents.
To deal with a shortage of seats in
some classrooms, university w'orkers
scrounged around in building base
ments for stools and desks that, by
the looks of the graffiti on their sur
face — “Nixon’s a dude” and “Mike
was here 12-12-68” — hadn’t been
used in years.
“The situation is only serious in
that our state funding hasn’t caught
up with our enrollment, so we have
to stretch to find those dollars to
handle more students,” said North
Texas Chancellor Alfred Hurley.
But English professor Robert Ste
vens noticed more serious side ef
fects: “Students have become help
less victims of my lectures. There’s
no room for give-and-take classroom
discussions. And at a time when
we’re concerned about writing skills,
there’s no way I can give essay tests
to 500 students.”
The housing department felt the
brunt of the influx when 4,400 stu
dents, requested on-campus hous
ing. The university has dormitory
rooms and beds for only 4,000.
The university is studying the pos
sibility of building a new dormitory,
but officials this fall had to handle
the overflow by converting areas
that once served as lounges, storage
areas and guest rooms into dorm
rooms.
Overcrowding has been good for
student Kris Richard.
“I’m enjoying it while it lasts, be
cause I have to move out (today),”
said Richard, one of 50 North Texas
students placed in the Royal Hotel
Suites when 2,000 more students
than expected enrolled this fall.
Firefighters: Bad fire season
burns Yellowstone Park land
Associated Press
Fires have charred 883,000 acres of Yellowstone since
June in what firefighters call the worst fire season in the
West in 30 years.
Light snow and low temperatures also helped fire
fighters in Idaho, where wind gusted to 60 mph, and
Montana, where evacuated residents of some ranches
and small communities were allowed to return home.
Rain and low'er temperatures dampened fires in Col
orado, but 45 mph wind gusts w'hipped a Boulder
County fire to 1,830 acres and led six families to evac
uate. Heavy rains later Sunday stalled the fire and resi
dents were allowed to return home. Fires in the Routt
National Forest were left unattended because the
weather was too cold and w ? et for firefighters.
And in northwest Oregon, the state Department of
Forestry shut down millions of acres of state-protected
forests in an unprecedented effort to curb the number
of fires caused by human carelessness.
Thin smoke from the Yellowstone fires has drifted as
far east as Pennsylvania and New York at an altitude of
15,000 to 20,000 feet, the National Weather Service
said Sunday.
“A couple days ago most of the smoke was over the
Midw'est and it has now gradually drifted eastward,”
said Brian Smith of the Severe Storms Center in Kansas
City, Mo. “It’s just going to have-a thin hazy appearance
and might create some colorful sunsets, but it’s not ex
pected to present any health problems because it’s so
far up.”
The 263,400-acre North Fork fire in Yellowstone re
mained about a mile from park headquarters at Mam
moth Hot Springs, said spokeswoman Marty Tobias.
That fire also has threatened West Yellow'stone, Mont.,
and destroyed several buildings at Old Faithful geyser.