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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 1989)
Id :tero. Texas A&M The Battalion Vol. 88 No. 117 USPS 045360 16 pages College Station, Texas WEATHER FORECAST for FRIDAY: Fair skies turning mostly cloudy at night. Warm. HIGH:79 LOW:63 Thursday, March 23,1989 O “•I, ,rm g trajj »al Mat. ‘"'ineedj "'ould be; 111 the om, tifi'e saii iven’t see- an't doj > trade j or seconi ''1.24?, rave in ]' tinners, 1 his air. ! said. "Hi raws goo! I tesandlj two-thiri learancr d five ami for a 94; , worsilvt I " Kerfei; I ill messd [ comraoi and Sa: sebio a,it and Ent sAACm inds . l mm Run away! Senior mechanical engineering major Mike Walker of San Antonio and sophomore mete- Photo by Fredrick D. Joe rology major Michael Giles of Longview run in Spence Park Wednesday. Senate waives tuition for teachers’ children AUSTIN (AP) — The children of public school teachers would receive free college tuition, and local school districts would have to notify parents of students who are taught by uncer tified teachers under bills passed Wednesday by the Senate. Sen. Chet Edwards said free tu ition for teachers' children would provide an incentive for instructors to continue teaching and help solve the statewide teachers shortage. Under the bill, tuition grants could be provided to children of tea chers who have taught in the state’s public schools for at least eight years. The teacher would have to continue teaching while the child is in college in order to continue receiving the grant. “I think this is the type of new idea we have to try,” Edwards, D- Duncanville, said. Other lawmakers questioned the proposal, which would cost about $5.8 million per year. “Where do we draw the line?,” said Sen. John Montford, D-Lub- bock. “I just wonder if we’re not opening the door here,” to other groups who would want free tuition for their children, he said. Sen. John Leedom, R-Dallas, said the proposal was unfair because a teacher’s child who may not be pre pared for college would get free tu- “T I here are a lot of groups out there who need some frills and fringes. If we’re going to load it up, let’s do it right.” — Sen. John Montford ition, while many academically able students cannot enter college be cause of economic problems. But Edwards said teachers de serve free college tuition for their children because they are low paid and have few benefits. And, Ed wards said, the program would help the state by ensuring experienced teachers remain in the system. Presidential hopefuls set different priorities By Alan Sembera SENIOR STAFF WRITER The main difference in the stances of the two candidates for Texas A&M student body president at a debate Wednesday evening wasn’t about issues but was about priorities. both candidates strongly sup ported increasing campus safety, but on other issues, Kevin Buchrnan stressed better communication with the administration while Michael Kelley placed emphasis on increas ing involvement in Student Govern ment and other student organiza tions. The candidates answered ques tions put to them by leaders ot seve ral student organizations. When asked what his top three priorities as student body president would be, Kelley, speaker pro-tern- pore of the Student Senate, said they would be safety, getting students in volved in campus organizations, and getting them involved in the Student Government election process. Buchman, speaker of the Senate, said he wants safety, effective com munication with the administration, and a better quality of teaching at A&M. Both candidates gave their views Battalion file photo Michael Kelley on how to strengthen the students’ voice to the administration. Kelley said he would meet regu larly with student leaders to present a unified voice to the administration. Buchman promised to begin mak ing use of channels to the adminis tration that are not being suf ficiently used. He said he would use the Chancellor’s Student Advisory Board as a conduit to the regents. When asked where he would spend an extra $100,000 in student service fees if he had it, Buchman said he would lower the fee, and give more “office help” to student orga nizations. Kelley said he would spend the extra money to increase campus safety and advertise campus activ ities. When asked how he would mini- ‘mi/cf problems with construction areas, Kelley said he would try to in form students of safety problems in construction areas. Buchman said increased patrols are needed in these areas. Buchman also said he would make an effort to protect green space from being lost to construction. He said trees and grass quickly are giv ing way to concrete. Both candidates agreed that at tracting endowments from alumni is the best way to keep student service fees down. They said if former stu dents give more money to student organizations, students would pay less. Buchman also said he would keep a closer watch on the spending of student service fee allocations by campus organizations. Kelley said he would try to attract more money from the state Legis lature. Both candidates promised to lobby the Legislature. They said they would lobby for more financial-aid funds and would use lobbying to make campus safety a budget prior ity in order to get more money for the University Police Department. Buchman said he would try to give students a voice in the way UPD funds are spent. He said the depart ment recently bought a new fleet of cars when they should haver - hired more patrol officers. Both candidates said they would increase involvement in Student Government — Buchman through a bi-weekly grievances committee, and Kelley through publicity and adver tising of Student Government events. When asked if A&M has the proper focus on athletics, Buchman said there were problems in the past, but the current status of A&M ath letics is fine. Kelley disagreed, saying there is a problem because athletes with fail ing grades are allowed to stay in school. He said more tutors should be provided by A&M for athletes as well as for other students. In closing, Buchman said he would create a unified voice for the Kevin Buchman Battalion file photo student body to help influence the administration and Legislature, and promised to be accesible to students. Kellev said safety would be his number-one priority, arid that he would create a unified voice for the student body by increasing involve ment in Student Government and other student organizations. “'There are a lot of groups out there who need some frills and fringes,” said Montford. He asked Edwards if he could amend the bill to include free tuition for children of all state employees. “If we’re going to load it up, let’s do it right,” Montford said. But Edwards said his bill was de signed to only “address the shortage of teachers in the classroom.” The Senate passed the bill 23-5 and it was forwarded to the House. Sen. Carl Parker, D-Port Arthur, said his bill requiring local school dis tricts to notify parents if their chil dren are being taught by an uncerti fied teacher would get parents more involved in the education system. But Sen. Bill Sims, D-San Angelo, said the bill would punish many ru ral school districts t hat cannot attract or afford certified teachers in all subjects. The notification would cause par ents to descend on the school board, Sims said. “I certainly hope so,” Parker said. Senate confirms three regents to A&M Board A US I IN (AP) — The Senate on Wednesday confirmed three regent appointments by Gov. Bill Clements to the Texas A&M Uni- versity System, but not before several state senators called on Clements to name more blacks and women to university govern ing boards. The nominees to the Board — former House Speaker Billy Clay ton of Springlake; Raul Fernan dez of San Antonio; and Ross Margraves Jr. of Houston —were approved by the Senate 25-3. Sens. Craig Washington, D- Houston and Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, both of whom are black, and Hugh Parmer, D- Fort Worth, voted against the ap pointments. Other senators, although vot ing f or the nominees, told Clem ents he should appoint more blacks and women to university governing boards. Sen. Chet Edwards, chairman of the Nominations Committee, which recommended the Senate approve the appointees, noted there are no women, nor blacks on the A&M Board. Official: Supercollider needs foreign backing WASHINGTON (AP) — For eign contributors to the super col lider must sign on the dotted line with specific amounts before Congress agrees to build the $4.6 billion atom smasher, the influen tial chairman of a House appro priations committee warned Wednesday. But Energy Secretary James D. Watkins said foreign countries are waiting for Congress to signal its commitment to building the high-energy physics project in Texas before they chip in. Watkins complained it’s a “chicken and egg situation this year” and testified that everyone “is looking for the next person to make the next commitment.” Rep. Tom Bevill, the chairman of the House Appropriations sub committee on energy and water development, countered there won’t be much incentive for other countries to participate once the United States takes on the fund ing. W ? hen Congress agreed to spend $100 million on the super collider last year, “that’s getting pretty serious, that’s pretty com mitted,” Bevill, D-Ala., told Wat kins, admonishing the depart ment for always underestimating the final costs of its major pro jects. Bevill said Congress will insist on knowing how much foreign countries are committed to spending on the collider before authorizing construction. “They are going to have to put their name on the line,” Bevill said. “We like to talk in specific terms and Congress likes to hear specific figures. I don’t like to be vague about it.” Bevill lias vowed not to put the super collider “on the credit card” and not to sacrifice all other important energy research to pay for it. , The mood of the country and the mood of Congress “is not too keen on undertaking a project of this size,” Bevill said, if Congress has to foot the whole bill. Asking Congress to approve the project w'ithout knowing ex actly how much is coming from non-federal sources is “asking for trouble,” Bevill said. Bevill said Congress agrees with the concept of the super col lider and the need for building a scientific instrument with the po tential for putting the country at the forefront in high-energy physics, but he must have “a good solid case” for construction when he takes the appropriations bill to his colleagues. “I’d like to be able to say this country has agreed to do this, and that county has agreed to do that. I think we would have a good case and I think Congress would ac cept it,” Bevill said. The Energy Department is proposing $1.8 billion toward the cost come from non-federal sources, including $1 billion from the state of Texas. But even Texas is not willing to begin* spending its share if Con gress is not committed to con struction, and wants a refund clause in case the federal govern ment backs out. UT student still missing from Mexico By Alan Sembera SENIOR STAFF WRITER Authorities still are searching for a University of Texas student who disappeared from a crowded street in Matamoros, Mexico, during Spring Break. The student, 21-year-old Mark Kilroy, disap peared after leaving the Matamoros Hard Rock Cafe with three friends about 1:30 a.in. Tuesday, March I T Kilroy and his friends were spending Spring Break at South Padre Island. One of the friends, Bradley Moore, a Texas A&M sophomore electrical engineering major, said thev were walking toward the Gateway In ternational Bridge across the Rio Grande when thev noticed Kilroy was gone. He said they had gotten separated into pairs because of the mass of American students on Spring Break who were going toward the border. Kilroy was with Bill Huddleston, an A&M at Galveston student, when he disappeared. Hud dleston went in search of a restroom, and when he returned, Kilroy was missing. Moore said that when they realized Kilroy was not with them, they waited and then returned to their car hoping he would be there. He wasn't there, he said, so they went to their hotel room to see if Kilroy was there, but there was no sign of him. Moore said Kilroy is not the type of person to slip away without contacting them. Kilroy and his friends went to high school together in Santa Fe, near Galveston. When Kilroy did not .return to the hotel by morning, thev reported his dissapearance to the authorities. Investigators put Huddleston under hypnosis Thursday, and he remembered seeing a man with a fresh round scar on his left cheek leaning against a stone wall in the shadow's. He said he remembered the man, who was wearing a blue plaid shirt, motioning to Kilroy saving in English, “Hey, don’t I know you from somewhere?” Three crimes occured in the same area of Mat amoros within four days of Kilroy’s dissapear ance. A Mexican truck driver was killed two nights later less than three blocks from where Kilroy was last seen. The same night, an American college student was abducted and sexually assaulted. Another student was beaten and robbed Friday morning in the same area. Kilroy’s friends and father handed out thou sands of fliers on South Padre Island last week end in an ef fort to locate him, but no clues have been found. A $15,000 reward has been offered for infor mation that w ill help locate Kilroy. Kilroy’s friends are trying to find college stu dents who were in Matamoros at the time of his dissapearance who might have seen him or the man who motioned to him. Kilroy is 6-foot-2, w-eighs 170 pounds, and has dark blond hair. Corps door-lock policy will not change By Stephen Masters SENIOR STAFF WRITER Despite the attack of two female cadets Monday, the Texas A&M Corps’ housing policy of not locking outer doors to residence halls is not likelv to change soon, the Corps housing director said Tuesdav. George S. Thomas, Corps area coordinator, said the four recentlv renovated Corps stvle halls have locks on the outer doors that are not used because of the cost of issuing ke\ s to the 2.200 residents. Thomas said monev is also the reason locking doors have not been put on the remaining eight halls in the ( orps quadrangle. A door costs $2,300,” Thomas said. “ There's four doors per dorm and eight dorms. That doesn’t even include kevs, so that gives you a feel f or the immediate cost, and it’s going to be done over the next two years am way. “ The question is, realizing any in- c idem is major. Do we overreact be cause of this one incident?’ That’s what we’re going to trv to answer over the next few days.” Without kevs, 32 new locking doors would cost an estimated $73,600. Doors to all civilian residence halls are locked at 7 p.m. and guests of the opposite sex are required to be escorted in dorm after that time. A proposal planned for the fall will re quire outer doors of all civilian resi dence halls to be locked 24 hours a dav. Thomas said he doesn’t know if the proposal would apply to the Corps. Meetings on the subject came a dav after a student carried two rifles and a hunting knife to the fourth floor of Dorm 2 in attempt to hold his former girlfriend and her room mate, both members of Squadron 1 4. hostage. The women’s room was appar- entlv unlocked, but they told police they thought they had locked it. Thomas said the Corps does have a tradition in which locking dorm rooms is a privilege reserved for se niors, but that it is on an outfit-to- outfit basis. The tradition was never a Corps wide practice, or condoned by the University, he said. Todd Reichert, Corps com mander, said the policy is not in ef fect for any outfit that he knows of, but said it could be involved as an “Old Army” tradition in some out fits. Naomi Williams, commanding of ficer of Squadron 14, the outfit in w hich the two vidims are members, said the outfit does not follow the tradition of only seniors locking doors. Squadron 14 is on the fourth floor of Dorm 2.