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FROM STAFF & WIRE REPORTS
Amid Aggie jokes, the Senate ap
proved two bills Monday that would
merge five South Texas universities
with the Texas A&M University and
University of Texas systems.
A bill to make Texas A&I Univer- .~
sity at Kingsville, Corpus Christi
State University and Laredo State
University part of the A&M system
led to the Aggie jokes.
Sen. J.E. “Buster” Brown, R-Lake
Jackson, said he is an A&I graduate,
and asked if the merger means “that
I’m going to be an Aggie?”
Sen. Chet Brooks, D-Pasadena,
said some felt the A&I-A&M merger
is “really a move for economic aus
terity, because you only have to
change one letter.” But he said some
UTstudents are a “little worried that
you might change the wrong letter.”
“Would you kind of help them get
the right letter changed?” Brooks
said.
Co-sponsor Carlos Truan, D-Cor-
pus Christi, said he thought the
merger would be in the best interest
of all future students at A&I.
“I assure you everybody’s a win
ner under this bill,” Truan, also a
former A&I student, said.
A&M’s Board of Regents voted in
November to merge with the three
member University System of South
Texas. Earlier in November, UT’s
Board approved a similar merger
with Pan American.
There was no discussion on
Brow nsville Sen. Hector Uribe’s pro
posal to merge Pan American’s insti
tutions at Edinburg and Brownsville
with the statewide UT system.
Both hills were sent to the House
on voice votes.
Also Monday, a Senate panel ap
proved establishing a law school at
Texas A&I University and making
Corpus Christi State University a
four-year institution.
The bills would help offset the
lack of professional and doctoral
programs available in South Texas,
Truan said.
“In South Texas we’ve lost a great
number of young people . . . because
they have wanted to go elsewhere to
continue their education,” Truan
said. “ We’d like to help them stay
home.”
The Senate Education Committee
approved setting up a law' school at
A&I by 9-1, and the proposal to
make CCSU a four-year university
beginning in 1994 passed the com
mittee, 10-0.
Both measures will be sent to the
full Senate.
Bush returns from China,
comes to Tower’s defense
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush returned
home Monday night from a five-day Asian voyage that
he pronounced a “productive and rewarding” journey
and moved to take personal command of the struggle to
win confirmation for John Lower as defense secretary.
In a prepared statement he read at the foot of the
ramp to Air Force One, Bush said his trip to Japan,
China and South Korea demonstrated that the United
States “is and will remain a Pacific power.”
“It’s great to l>e home,” Bush said in the chilly dark
ness at Andrews Air Force Base in suburban Maryland.
“God bless the United States of America.”
Vice President Dan Quayle was on hand to welcome
the new president back from his first overseas voyage.
In his brief statement, the president said he had held
“thoughtful and candid conversations” with world lead
ers, including the several he met with in Japan, where
he attended the funeral of Emperor Hironito. From
there he went to China for two days, followed by a five-
hour stopover in Seoul.
“I return tonight pleased with the progress made to
ward lasting and mutually beneficial relationships,”
Bush said.
He said work remains to be done toward encourag
ing the growth of democracy, working for human
rights and strengthening international alliances.
Bush made no direct reference to the Tower nomi
nation in his airport statement.
But in comments to reporters just before his plane
touched down, he said, “No one has challenged his
qualifications to head the Pentagon.”
“I don’t have any predictions nor do I plan to waver
one iota and I don’t intend to,” he said.
Tower has been plagued by allegations of drinking
and womanizing, as well as possible conflicts of interest
stemming from the hundreds of thousands of dollars
he received as a defense industry consultant in recent
years.
Asked whether Tower’s weekend vow of alcohol
abstinence would help his chances, Bush laughed and
said, “I don’t know.”
Aides said the president intended to spare no effort
in a bid to prevail in the first high-stakes political strug
gle of his administration.
Shigeko Johnson, a member of the Sakura anese dance. The dance was sponsored by
Folk Dance Group, performs a traditional Jap- the International Student Association.
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SMU class offers
student-athletes
new perspective
DALLAS (AP) — Student-athletes
at Southern Methodist University
are now required to enroll in a new
course about college sports that in
cludes a look at the recruiting scan
dal that cost the school two football
seasons.
“Current Issues in Intercollegiate
Athletics” provides athletes with a
perspective on sports they probably
wouldn’t get in the locker room, said
Cynthia Patterson, course instructor
and assistant athletic director for
compliance and academic affairs.
The course includes a discussion
of the recruiting scandal that re
sulted in the NCAA imposing its
“death penalty”.on SMU, costing the
school its 1987 football season. The
school decided against playing foot
ball in 1988.
“One of the reasons the course ex
ists is directly tied to that recent
past,” Patterson said.
Athletic Director Doug Single says
the course is “an attempt to deal with
potential problems ahead of time, as
opposed to trying to put out fires af
ter the fact.”
Patterson said, “We wanted to talk
about athletics in a broader context
than nuts and bolts, about how inter
collegiate athletics is part of a larger
culture.”
When the class gathered last week
in a gymnasium at the campus recre
ation center, Patterson and 26 stu
dents began a discussion about edu
cational disadvantages many black
students face.
A white student said he thought
the required Scholastic Aptitude
Test score of 700 for athletes was not
too high.
“Yes it is,” retorted freshman
football player Charles Moore. ‘Tor
you, it’s not. But when you’ve never
seen an SAT in your life, it’s not
going to be easy. Especially when
you have to take it five days before
you go to college.”
Moore said the class has taught
him to take his studies seriously.
“When I came here, I concen
trated on getting easy courses and
majoring in eligibility,” he said. “But
some of the statistics we’ve read
about graduation rates have shocked
me.”
A&M baseball team claims
No. 1 spot in national poll
A&M second baseman Terry Taylor watches a pitch during bat
ting practice Monday at Olsen Field.
By Jerry Bolz
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
The Texas Aggie baseball team
earned its first-ever No. 1 na
tional ranking Monday.
The 13-0 Aggies edged out the
University of Florida in the
ESPN/Collegiate Baseball weekly
poll, jumping from No. 6 last
week to the top spot. In the Base
ball America poll, A&M is No. 2
behind Mississippi State (2-0).
The only other T exas team
ranked in the top 25 of either poll
is the University of Texas, which
is No. 4 in the ESPN/Collegiate
Baseball poll and No. 13 in the
Baseball America poll.
A&M senior pitcher Scott Cen-
tala said he feels the team has the
best nine starting players in the
country.
“I don’t feel like we’re over
rated at all,” Centala said. “I think
we deserve it — every bit of it.”
Coach Mark Johnson played
down the No. 1 ranking.
“We’re not as hung up about it
as a lot of others are,” he said.
“We’re not making X’s on our
gloves for wins or anything.”
The Aggies will face the first
testing of their top ranking today
in a doubleheader in Beaumont
against Lamar University.
Centala, who is used mostly as
a relief pitcher, will start the first
game. He said the Aggies should
handle the Cardinals with no
problem if they maintain concen
tration during the games.
Johnson said he doesn’t know
exactly what to expect from La
mar’s ace starter Joey Alexander
(2-0), who has a 1.20 earned-run
average. A&M is averaging more
than nine runs per game and has
a team batting average of .361.
Freshman Sean Lawrence will
start the second game for the Ag
gies against Lamar’s Line Mikkel-
sen (0-2). Lawrence gave up three
runs in three innings in his only
appearance.
Trade embargo makes
Texas ostrich breeding
profitable proposition
By Juliette Rizzo
STAFF WRITER
The goose that laid the golden
egg may no longer be a myth in the
Southwest.
Because the South African trade
embargo has blocked the importa
tion of ostrich products from the
country, the value of female breed
ing ostriches and their chicks has in
creased in the U.S.
Hot, arid states where the winters
are mild and the environmental sur
roundings are similar to Africa, now
have the potential to become sites
for profitable ostrich breeding in
dustries.
Scarcity of hides since the em
bargo has caused the price of ostrich
hides to increase, thus making the
breeding of ostriches in Texas a real
ity. Some West Texas farmers and
ranchers, accustomed to raising
cattle, have been prompted to envi
sion their land as grounds where the
ostriches can breed and roam.
Dr. James Jensen, who directs the
care of exotic animals, including os
triches, in Texas A&M’s veterinary
teaching hospital said dealing with
the embargo hasn’t been simple be
cause the United States imports
20,000 hides per year.
Ostriches are used for boots and
leather goods and their feathers are
used in the fashion industry. The
feathers are more than just a fashion
plume, Jensen said.
“The feathers are used in dus
ters,” he said, “and with the new
space-age technology, the natural
fibers are the best for cleaning elec
trical equipment and dusting micro
chips.”
The United States has found a
way around the trade embargo by
importing tanned hides from Bot
swana, which gets its untanned hides
from South Africa. However, the
prices of the Botswanan hides are
high.
Because South Africa wants to
keep its corner of the market, Jensen
said, the United States must learn
how to breed quality birds.
“There are probably more os
triches in Texas than in other east
African countries where ostriches
roam in the wild,” Jensen said. “Be
cause Texas is the largest ostrich
populated area outside of Africa, we
need to learn how to breed properly
and produce quality products.”
Texas is home to 2,000-3,000 os
triches. The birds lay eggs almost
year-round in Texas’ warm climate.
With proper breeding, the ostrich
population cttuld easily double or
triple in Texas, he said.
To produce quality birds and
products, ostriches must be bred and
cultivated selectively, Jensen said.
“In the United States, ostriches
have been inbred indiscriminately
and their feather selection is sub
standard,” he said. “We need to
learn the process of producing qual
ity birds so we can compete in the
world market.”
Interest in properly breeding the
ostriches drew veterinarians, breed
ers and ostrich owners from around
the world and the United States to a
recent two-day conference at A&M
sponsored by the College of Veteri
nary Medicine.
Jensen explained how the ostrich
breeding industry has a positive fi
nancial outlook for the future if
proper breeding is mastered.
“Ostrich reproduction rates are
higher than those of other animals,”
he said. “Hardly any other livestock
in North America can pay for itself
in one year.”
A female worth $1,000 at one
time is now valued at $30,000 if it
can be bred.
Jensen dismissed the myth that os
triches stick their heads in the sand,
which would be difficult to do in
Texas’ hard clay soil.
The conference, the first devoted
to the management, housing and
treatment of ostriches, was success
ful, Jensen said, and will be held
again next year.
With greater knowledge of how to
successfully breed the ostriches, Jen
sen said, “someday we will be able to
face the situation of converting os
trich breeding to a true agribusi
ness” in the United States.