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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 1988)
30 MPH Texas A&M ■ mm V • I The Battalion Vol. 88 No. 22 GSPS 045360 12 Pages College Station, Texas Tuesday, September 27, 1988 Dog days at the doctor Hank, a bassett hound, receives an examination from Texas A&M Veterinarian students Wayne Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack Deson and Sue Chastain at the Small Animal Vet erinary Clinic Monday- Johnson loses medal because of drug test SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ben Johnson was stripped of his victory in the 100 meters for taking steroids, and Carl Lewis was given the gold medal Tuesday as the Olympic movement recoiled in shock over one of its grimmest moments. “This is a blow for the Olympic Games and the Olympic movement,” International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samarach said. Johnson also was banned from competition for two years by the In ternational Amateur Athletic Feder ation and almost certainly will be stripped of the world record he set here. Thus, at age 26, Canada’s “Big Ben” will lose two of best years of his career. And the Olympics loses one of its proudest moments, now cast in shame. “We feel sick about it,” Pat Reid, a ' Canadian coach, said. “The whole world feels sick about it.” Canadian chef de mission Carol Anne Letheren said, “We are acutely aware of how devastating this news will be to millions of people.” Johnson left Seoul Tuesday morning aboard a Korean Air Line flight destined for New York, unable to defend himself or his actions. Letheren said when she spoke with Johnson, he appeared to be in a complete state of shock and not com prehending the situation and not comprehending the information. The IOC said in a statement that a urinalysis taken after Johnson won the 100 meters in world-record time Saturday showed traces of the ana bolic steroid Stanozolol, which builds muscle tissue and speeds healing. Dr. Robert Dugal of Canada called the drug one of the most dan gerous anabolic steroids, and said it could lead to liver cancer. Lewis was second in the world’s fastest 100 meters, and with his sec ond gold, he may now resume his bid for another four-gold grand slam at the Olympics. Four years ago, he won four gold when the So viet bloc stayed away. Now, he could win four gold without actually fin ishing first in the 100. Johnson’s manager, Larry Heide- brecht, said the finding of steroids was either a mistake or sabotage. In a news conference Tuesday morning, Heidebrecht said he be lieved the steroids were contained in a bottle of-sport drink given to John son either before the 100 semifinals or finals. Astronauts go to Florida for launch of Discovery CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The five Discovery astronauts flew through stormy skies to this launch site Monday for the first U.S. foray into space in three years, and their commander said, “We’re ex cited, we cannot wait to do this.” See related story, page 5 Before landing at the Kennedy Space Center, the astronauts took their T-38 jets in a turn around the space shuttle, almost obscured on the oceanside launch pad by low- hanging clouds. The astronauts, who had flown from their training base in Houston, delayed their departure from a re fueling stop at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa because of lightning warnings at the Cape and arrived 45 minutes late. NASA set the countdown clock in motion Monday morning for liftoff at 9:59 a.m. EDT Thursday of the first shuttle flight since the Chal lenger disaster. Shuttle commander Frederick H. Hauck said based on the trouble some weather history at the Cape, there is a 60 percent chance of a launch on schedule. “The mission control team is re ady,” Hauck said. “I know the launch control team in Florida is re ady, the bird is ready and we’re re ady.” NASA’s rules, tightened since Challenger, forbid launching when there is lightning within 10 miles of the pad or rain. Thursday’s forecast was for scat tered and broken clouds, a wind of 10-15 knots from the southeast, tem peratures of 85 degrees and widely scattered showers. Winds over 1 ‘l knots from the south or 24 knots from any direction would automat ically scrub the liftoff. Hauck said he would keep his fin gers crossed. “But I tell you, we’re excited,” he said. “We cannot wait to do this, and we are ready.” With a wave to scores of waiting journalists, Hauck said, “We’re back on track. Y’all take care.” The astronauts landed two miles from the launch pad, on the space center runway that would be used in case the shuttle had to make an emergency return. After his brief speech, Hauck and his four crew men embraced their wives, em braced them and walked with them off the runway hand-in-hand. At the launch pad, where the Dis covery was being groomed for flight, green ribbons, the local symbol for America’s return to space, fluttered from beams and scaffolding. Hauck and pilot Richard O. Covey spent the morning in liftoff rehearsals in Houston before flying to Florida. Mission specialists John M. Lounge and David Hilmers were in the back seats and mission specialist George D. Nelson was a passenger in a third T-38. jCounty settles voting issue D v r C T> IT V* By Susan B. Erb Staff Writer In what County Judge Dick iolmgreen said will probably be the inal decision on Brazos County ab- entee voting sites, the Brazos lounty Commissioners Court Tues- laylet stand its Sept. 13 decision to lesignate the county courthouse and he College Station Community Cen- eras Brazos County absentee voting ites. Commissioner Billy Beard’s mo- ion that an absentee voting site be stablished on the Texas A&M cam- msdied for lack of a second. On Sept. 6, the commissioners ourt designated the Brazos Center is the county’s only absentee voting ite. The court rescinded its decision he following week and voted to des- gnate the College Station Commu- lity Center as a temporary absentee D, wiling site and to reinstate the county courthouse — Brazos Coun ty’s historical absentee voting site — as an absentee polling place. Decisions were based on site acces sibility, fairness to minorites and cost of polling sites. Holmgreen said he thought the fi nal decision was a good one. The sites, he said, are accessible to any one in the county. “We are not trying to stop any- body from voting,” Holmgreen saij. “We are trying to improve the situa- ton.” GOP Party Chairman Rodger Le wis said the advantage of having an absentee site on campus is that Bra zos County residents from all pre cincts can vote there. Lewis said long waiting lines on election day could be a hindrance to voters who have jobs or classes to go to. “In 1984, there was no time dur ing the day when the wait at Precinct 35, the Northgate dorm area, was less than an hour. There will proba bly be over 4,000 voters registered in that precinct this year.” Minority leaders voiced concerns at previous commissioners court meetings that an on-campus voting site would dilute the minority vote because of the concentration of the Hispanic-minority community in the west and northwest parts of the county. Robert Orozco, a Bryan attorney, suggested at the Sept. 13 meeting ei ther equal convenience, in the form of a site in every precinct — which he recognized as economically un feasible — or equal inconvience, one site at the county courthouse. Costs of $3,000 per absentee site prohibited the establishment of a site in every precinct. Lewis said he felt the minorities had been manipulated to oppose something that would help them as much or more than it would help A&M students, who are predomi nantly Republican. “The truth,” Lewis said, “is that more minorities work on the Texas A&M campus than anywhere else in Brazos County. I drive past them ev ery day while they’re standing on the road waiting for their rides to work. They don’t have cars. “It will be a long hike for them to walk all the way across campus to the community center,” Lewis said. Holmgreen stressed the fact that Brazos County residents may vote at 40 different locations throughout the county on election day, Nov. 8. Absentee voters may cast their ballots Monday through Friday, Oct. 19 to Nov. 4, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. A, gie n's n's ick Professor Students not safe from AIDS M iOO tgh 'ut: I in- Of on mg ay- of ,nd or n. i3l By Kelly S. Brown Staff Writer Editor’s note: This story is the sec ond in a three-part series on ac- [uired immune deficiency syjn- Irome. Staff writer Kelly Brown ittended a state conference on AIDS and the College Campus — hlicies and Perspectives" earlier this nonth. AIDS only happens to “other peo ple,” o methods of prevention are lot necessary, or so many college tudents believe. They think it happens to the iromiscuous, the homosexuals, the ntravenous drug users, but not to heir friends and especially not to leople like them, an Oregon State Jniversity professor said. Lizebeth Gray, an assistant profes- or of counseling at OSU, said stud- es conducted on campuses around he country keep turning up with he same conclusions — students lossess accurate knowledge about HDS, but knowledge is not enough ochange their “at-risk” behavior. And a risk does exist. Research ompleted at California State Uni versity, the University of Texas and OSU indicates that this decade’s col lege students, heterosexuals and ho mosexuals alike, will be the group hardest hit by AIDS in the future. Dr. Barbara Tyler, staff member at A.P. Beutel Health Center, said she knows of A&M students who are infected with AIDS now, and a num ber of A&M students already have died of AIDS. “There is cause for great concern, and that’s why we formed a commit tee this summer to develop a policy A&M will have toward AIDS,” Tyler said. “We want to recommend to the president the adoption of a general statement on the institution’s re sponse to AIDS, and a policy and procedure guideline relating to the specific issues involving AIDS. We would also like to stimulate and pro mote education and information programs to the university commu nity.” Many campuses already have poli cies regarding AIDS, and A&M will look at theirs to see how effective they have been. A&M also is keeping a close watch on the AIDS studies other colleges have done on thei campuses. Gray said her studies show that college students are not talking to each other about AIDS or the risk of getting the disease. “For example, they aren’t asking a. new partner about their sexual his tory and they aren’t talking about the need to use a condom, even though they know its risky to have intercourse without protection,” she said. Researchers agree that the re search findings confirm the impres sion that behavior and knowledge are not in sync on the issue, and they want that to change. In a study completed this spring at the University of Texas by Dr. De- metri Vacalis, an associate professor of kinesiology and health education, results showed that 75 percent of the students surveyed had a good un derstanding of AIDS and “risky” be havior. However, 55 percent said they never use condoms, 31 percent said they sometimes use condoms and 14 percent said they always use con doms. Of the 2000 students in the study, 47 percent said they had sex with more than one person. Fifteen per cent said they had had sex with peo ple they didn’t know and 33 percent said they were not interested practic ing safer sex. The same study showed that 33 percent of the students thought AIDS could be transmitted while sharing a hot tub. Forty percent said See AIDS, page 7 Rape defendant begins testimony SAN DIEGO, Texas (AP) — The first of 10 men to be tried in the al leged gang rape of a woman testified Monday that he was romantically in volved with her and had sex with her on the hood of a car outside an ille gal cockfight at her insistence. The defense promptly rested its case, and State District Judge Ro dolfo Gutierrez presented his charge to the jury, and told the six-man, six- woman panel to be prepared to de liberate late into the night if nec essary. “I told you yesterday to be pre pared to work late, because that’s what we’re going to do,” the judge told the jury as lawyers for both sides worked on their final arguments. The judge told the jury that din ner would be ordered for them. Gu tierrez said he wanted to finish the trial no later than noon Tuesday be cause he needs to leave then to at tend ajudicial conference. Orlando Garza, 24, testified that he and the alleged victim had been having an affair for about two months before the night she says she was assaulted. The state put on the stand as a re buttal witness a 16-year-old boy who testified for the defense Saturday that he watched several men sexually attacking the woman but didn’t re member any of their names. Garza’s testified Monday before more than 160 people in the jammed courtroom. Cutting card needed to work at bonfire site By Kathleen Reilly Staff Writer Texas A&M students who want to work on bonfire this year need to get a cutting card before first cut on Sunday. Bonfire cutting classes start today and continue on Wednesday and Thursday. The classes will be held at the Grove at 5:15 and 6:15 in the eve ning. Mike Prothro, a senior redpot, said the classes will stress safety. “Students will be shown the proper way to use an ax and to watch for and avoid dangers,” he said. “They will also learn about maintaining the equipment.” No one will be admitted to the cutting site without a cutting card. Attending cutting class is the only way to obtain a card. For those who cannot make it to the v/eekday classes, one will be held at the site on Sunday morn ing at 7:30. The same cutting site will be used, only a different area will be cut. It is in Carlos, on Texas Mu- nicpal Power Agency property. Prothro is one of eight senior redpots in charge of the opera tion. Senior redpots prepare ju nior redpots for next year when the juniors will be in charge. Five brownpots act as mediators be tween the junior and senior red pots. Brownpots and junior red- g ots do the actual building of onfire. Civilians also can work on bon fire. Each dorm has a yellowpot and crew chiefs in charge of moti vating residents. Women usually are pinkpots. They provide lunch at the cutting site and work with the cookie crew as bonfire is be ing built.