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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1988)
Monday, November 21,1988 The Battalion Pages Green Fees WITH CART RENTAL • Monday-Ftlday Before 3.00 • Excluding HoWdays • Expires • Two Person Minimum • Must Bring Coupon •With Student ID FOREIGN STUDENTS * SHIP YOUR HOUSEHOLD GOODS AND AUTO MOBILES BY OCEAN OR AIR WITH THE MOST EXPERIENCED AND RELIABLE INTERNATIONAL MOVING COMPANY IN TEXAS * MAJOR HOME APPLIANCE EXPORT DEALER 220 VOLT 50 CYCLE * 20 YEARS OF SPECIALIZED HANDLING SERVING ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD * MOVE WITH THE INTERNATIONAL MOVING SPE CIALIST * SPECIAL RATES FOR STUDENTS moving and packing international, inc. A_/> * 2303 NANCE • * P.O. BOX 2E HOdSTON. TEXAS 77020 HOUSTON. 713-222-8886 <S> 77001 BONFIRE Film Developing Special . rim $1.99 $2.69 12 EXPOSURE 15 DISC EXPOSURE $3.99 $5.59 24 EXPOSURE 36 EXPOSURE C-41 Color Print Film Only Standard 3 1/2x5 Single Prints Offer Good Nov. 22 - Nov. 30,1988 PHOTOGRAPHIC -i q; vi lh IN GOODWIN HALL & THE TEXAS A&M BOOKSTORE IN THE MSC MSC CAMERA COMMITTEE PHOTOGRAPHERS NEEDED BONFIRE PHOTOGRAPHERS MANDATORY MEETING MONDAY, NOV 21 7:00 PM 407 RUDDER FREE FILM..FREE PHOTOS YOUR SHOT MAY BE PUBLISHED In their own words: The story in quotes The following are quotes from va rious people about the recent con troversy concerning Jackie Sherrill and allegations that he paid “hush money” to former A&M football player George Smith: “I am definitely backing Sherrill. I’m not only backing him, I’m be hind him 100 percent. A&M is built on the support of your fellow man and your team. Besides, he has done so much for Texas A&M.” David Eller Chairman, A&M System Board of Regents “Jackie Sherrill’s job — in my opinion and the Board’s opinion — was never in jeopardy and certainly is not in jeopardy now. Unless some thing new is brought out, I consider it a closed issue.” David Eller “I don’t know much about what’s happened, but I am very supportive of Sherrill. I’d have to say he is one of the finest men to ever set foot on this campus.” Robert McKenzie A&M system regent “All the players love him and he’s our leader. He’ll always be our lead er.” Bucky Richardson A&M quarterback Sherrill has been here at A&M during some controversial times and he’s had to deal with them. Whether or not he’s responsible, I’m not in a position to say.” Jay Hays A&M student body president “I know Dr. Mobley and the Uni versity are taking steps to fix the problem. Sherrill could be a very im portant part of the solution if he would try to be.” Jay Hays “We’re behind the school, we’re behind the coach, we’re behind the whole program. . . . The fact of the matter is, it was sloppy journalism.” Dean Carlton Class of ’49, “Aggie Diehard” “In my best interest of making money, I included things in the book that were not and are not true, and I thought the book had to include those things which I know go on at college football programs. Since I at tended Texas A&M, that’s where I made the story fit.” George Smith Former A&M fullback “What I want to know is why somebody at the school paper is not in favor of the school. . . .The best thing hopefully we can get out of this is get rid of The Battalion and get another paper.” Dean Carlton “Be like Mr. Friday — just the facts.” Bill Price Class of ’51, “Aggie Diehard” When they got us the first time I told my wife, ‘There’s another shoe coming.’ Is this the other shoe?” Bill Price “If we take a whipping, we’ll take a whipping. We always have.” Bill Price “We have approximately eight hours of taped interviews with George Smith. We have a signed statement from him that says the in formation he gave was true. Reporter Doug Bedell and Smith had a separate personal contract to develop a book proposal and submit it to a publisher and/or agent. Such a proposal was submitted to an agent and to Smith in October. That con tract specifies that nothing was ever to be paid to Smith for information to be used in any book or for stories to be used in the Dallas Morning News, even though he requested such payment. Concerning his denial that some funds paid to him constituted hush money, he said in a taped interview on the morning of Oct. 21, . .all that was to keep me quiet for an other couple months.” We have reported accurately what George Smith has stated.” Ralph Langer Vice President and Executive Edi tor The Dallas Morning News Doug Bedell’s agreement with me was as an individual and not as an employee of the Dallas Morning News. In my opinion, he violated our agreement and should not have released a news story. I am very up set that he did so. George Smith It was not uncommon for me to seek help from Coach Sherrill and Coach Pugh. I called them often and sought advice and help with jobs and my getting started in a career. I con sidered myself to be very close to them today and even after I leave here today, hopefully. George Smith It was not a surprise for me to re ceive some help from someone whom I had sought advice from and who stood by me and encouraged me in everything I had ever done. He stood 110 percent by me. George Smith It certainly was not hush money, the money I received. I place great emphasis on that. It was not hush money. Doug Bedell made up the hush money issue himself. It was stated exactly like this. Doug said, ‘So the money that you’ve received over the last three months from Coach Sherrill, would you say that that’s hush money?’ I said, ‘Doug, I really couldn’t say that because Coach Sherrill has been there for me, like a father, he had advice. He’s told me right from wrong and also expressed what I should do in mak ing a decision.’ George Smith I had requested that he send me, or loan me, some money. It wasn’t hush money nor was it loans to be from any threat by me. I didn’t threaten Coach Sherrill to send me anything. George Smith I swear that have been totally hon est today with the officials here at Texas A&M University. I would like to extend my apology to the univer sity, the president, the student body, the football team here at Texas A&M and all Aggies all over the country. George Smith I did it because I thought I would get the money before the article ever came out and I would be able to go wherever I wanted to go because of the proposal. George Smith There’s nothing wrong with me borrowing money from you, just like I did with Coach Sherrill, because I was not a student athlete at Texas A&M at that time. This was five years later after I had finished at Texas A&M. So there’s not any vio lation. George Smith Researchers hope weevil will help toxic snakeweed problem FORT STOCKTON (AP) — Re searchers have introduced an Ar gentine insect to rangeland in Texas and New Mexico hoping it will help control toxic snakeweed, which de stroys millions of dollars’ worth of livestock each year. “The snakeweed plant, also known to West Texas ranchers as slinkweed, turpentine weed, broom- (Continued from page 1) far as George Smith is concerned,” he said. He said this does not mean A&M’s investigation is concluded. The News story quoted Robert Smith, A&M’s compliance director, as saying Sherrill was coerced into making payments to George Smith, but Mobley questioned the quote. “I think there may be a slight mis quote about that statement,” he said. “I think there is some concern whether the ‘not’ was left out of that sentence.” A story in the Bryan-College Sta tion Eagle Saturday quoted the Dal las Morning News’ sports editor as weed or threadleaf broomweed, in my opinion, is the most destructive weed found on Texas rangeland,” said range specialist Dr. Allan Mc- Ginty of the Texas Agricultural Ex tension Service in Fort Stockton. The plant, if eaten in large quanti ties, is capable of killing adult live stock and, when eaten in lesser amounts, causes abortion of unborn saying Robert Smith’s quote was on tape. George Smith also denied charges that Sherrill and Assistant Coach George Pugh paid for plane tickets from College Station to Atlanta for Smith, that Smith was paid for com plimentary game tickets, that Sher rill gave him money for summer room and board in Cain Hall and that Sherrill and Pugh gave Smith money to reimburse Smith’s mother for a plane ticket. Smith admitted doing yard work and cleaning the pool at Sherrill’s house, but Smith said he was only paid $20 to $30 for this work. The News’ story quoted Smith as saying was paid up to $400 for this work. calves, McGinty told the Odessa American. “We estimate that the snakeweed plant costs Texas ranchers about $34 million each year in livestock and rangeland forage losses,” McGinty said. Snakeweed inhabits 142 million acres in the western United States and causes $70 million to $140 mil lion in losses annually, mainly in aborted calves, said U.S. Depart ment of Agriculture entomologist C. Jack DeLoach. But researchers are hoping to curb those figures in a few years with the introduction of the weevil. “We don’t know at this time if the weevil is going to do the job, and it might take two, three or even five years before a resounding effect of the insect on the toxic plant becomes obvious,” said DeLoach of the agen cy’s Grassland, Soil and Water Re search Laboratory in Temple. About 800 weevils have been re leased in Texas and New Mexico in controlled experiments and re searchers expect to determine their effectiveness by next spring or early summer. Although the insect is not ex pected to eat all the snakeweed, DeLoach said if it can control 50 per cent of the plant, its introduction will have been successful. Conference a T3 <D co <N V-i od lo ^r oo Ph o • r—4 £ M | Cd <D pa M t>JQ LL P O Vh PO AIDS (Continued from page 1) “The ‘zero option’ is not a viable option,” Keeling said. “The only 100 percent protection is abstinence, but realistically, that is not an option for many people. So if sex is going to take place, it needs to be safer sex.” However, Keeling said that stu dents receive so many conflicting messages that it is hard for them to make a decision on the correct ac tions to take. “We try to instill people with self esteem, so they will want to take care of their bodies,” Keeling said. “Black people hear us, but they see that they aren’t valued as highly by so ciety. Women hear the message, but they see that they can’t get a promo tion. Gay men hear the message, but they see that they are ridiculed. All of that undercuts their self-esteem, and undercuts our message.” He said that a college campus is a “pressure cooker” that speeds the spread of a sexually transmitted dis ease like AIDS. “This stage of a student’s life is one of basic maturation and experi mentation,” Keeling said. “There is also a lot of peer pressure, and a very prevalent “do as I say, not as I do” attitude. “We tell people never to mix alco hol with sex, because when you are drunk you will sleep with people you normally wouldn’t shake hands with,” he said. “But ads like this one say just the opposite.” Keeling displayed an advertis- ment for an alcoholic beverage. The ad featured a man and a woman in sexually suggestive postures, with a large headline reading, “Be a part of it.” “What is ‘it’?” Keeling asked. “We know what ‘it’ is. It looks in the ad like ‘it’ hasn’t happened yet, but thanks to the alcohol, it appears that ‘it’ will happen any minute now. “Now whose message is more at tractive? Obviously, theirs is. “Students receive these conflicting behavior reinforcements and don’t know what is right, and that creates the pressure cooker atmosphere.” Keeling said that if a student has any reason to suspect he or she has been exposed to the AIDS virus, he recommends that the student at least discuss with a doctor the possibility of having a blood test. He said he definitely would rec ommend the test for those in high- risk groups, such as gay men who have had unprotected sex, intrave- neous drug users, and heterosexuals who have sex with more than five or six different partners a year. Keeling said that since he took his osition as director of the student ealth department at the University of Virginia, he has known of seven students who have died of AIDS. “All seven of them died because they weren’t informed,” Keeling said. “I want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”