=THe Battalion
bill
al veto
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Vol.88 No. 164 USPS 045360 6 Pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, June 29,1989
Student protestor predicts
fall of China’s government
jn will extend ass
o drought relief
farmers devastate
ne Midwest,
eretary Clayton Yen
would recommend
as too broad and po
estimated the rat!
billion although a HONG KONG (AP) — Wu’er Kaixi, the student
the price tag at aboil eader who was smuggled out of China, called for the
verthrow of the “wild beasts” of communism, and he
bill contend theassi redicted the current government would fall,
ected savings ofmoti In a defiant videotaped message made after he fled,
al commodity sabs ae raspy-voiced leader of a movement for freedom
jayments because! hoked back tears as he accused authorities of crushing
drought-shriveld tudents with tanks and burning bodies on Tiananmen
pare.
o the House, saidbl “Those of us who remain alive, our lives are
esident Bush sigm pnger our own,” he said on the tape. “The lives of
as targeted to“llftose classmates and countrymen who died for democ-
acy, for freedom and for our beautiful motherland
ave melted into ours. We must focus our will and con-
inue the great, patriotic democratic movement to the
ind.”
A Hong Kong activist showed the tape to the Asso-
iated Press on Wednesday, then distributed it to other
iews organizations.
Wearing a T-shirt from his school, Beijing Normal
Iniversity, the 21-year-old freshman who has gone into
iding looked pale and drawn during the 18-minute
i I ape, which was shot about a w r eek ago. He coughed
says ■eakly several tin es.
Wu’er was hospitalized more than 10 times after he
legan leading a hunger strike in May. As the movement
irogressed and pressure intensified, he began vomiting
ilood.
Wu’er savagely attacked China’s top leaders, Deng
(iaoping, Premier Li Peng and President Yang Shang-
lun, calling them a “band of fascist, reactionary war
lords.’’
And the goverment they run, he said, was “just a
mail stumbling block on the road of history.”
“This kind of government doesn’t have the strength
That means main!
ipp, a spokesman^
louse relief
for assistance if tbp
i 35 percent fronn
lefector
oviet spy
(AP) — A U.S.
■nee analyst whode-
e Soviet Union in
lining of FBI ha-
tally was a long-timt
i Soviet newspaper
y in disclosing bis
ge of 32.
sure that Glenn Mi-
r had been “a staS
ic KGB” was a rare
Soviet spying,
try newspaper
d an obituary signed
collegium and tbt
,des” of the manii
il Yevgenievich Or
died suddenlyJu«
not give a cause ol
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ig for the KGB -tit
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I spokesman Milt
n Washington.
anther was born in
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in Cumberland
■ BI believes he tool
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n said.
says Souther was)
who disappeared®
ter graduating fro®
'O University m Vit-
najor in Russian.
to continue living,” Wu’er said. “They are the people’s
enemies.”
He predicted it would last from six months to three
years.
Wu’er and his girlfriend, Liu Yan, were smuggled
“T
I he lives of those classmates and
countrymen who died for democracy, for
freedom and for our beautiful motherland
have melted into ours. We must focus our
will and continue the great, patriotic
democratic movement to the end.”
— Wu’er Kaixi,
Chinese student activist
out of China by a Hong Kong-based “underground
railroad” despite a nationwide manhunt during which
his photo was posted in airports and train stations.
More than a dozen others, including two leading intel
lectuals and another student leader, also have made it
to safety in this manner.
Wu’er was by far the best-known and charismatic of
the 21 student leaders accused of “counterrevolutio
nary crimes” by the communist leadership.
He was also the most widely criticized. As the crack
down began, state-run media showed a 10-minute video
of the leader eating with friends from Hong Kong, ac
cusing him of “feasting when his classmates were fast
ing.” When the secret tape was made, the hunger strike
already had ended.
Proposed removal of 26 trees
raises campus growth debate
By Kelly S. Brown
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The proposed removal of 26
trees for the expansion of the Me
morial Student Center has plan
ted a seed of controversy.
Some shake their heads and
say Texas A&M has become too
big too fast and at this rate, no
grass or trees will be left for fu
ture generations to enjoy.
Others maintain that change
must precede progress.
And so continues the debate
over green space being sacrificed
to make way for the erection of
new buildings and expansion of
old ones.
Gen. Wesley Peel, vice chan
cellor of facilities planning and
construction, said many of the
trees A&M is losing would be lost
in the future because they are
stressed, and at the end of their
life cycle.
“All we’re doing by expanding
the MSC is responding to a need
and doing what the administra
tion has asked us to do,” Peel said.
“The people who are protesting
the removal of the trees appar
ently don’t care about A&M or its
students.
“There’s always room to nego
tiate. But too often people’s in
ability to see the other person’s
Photo by Mindy Humphreys
These are some of the trees that may be removed to facili
tate the expansion of the MSC. The proposal for the expan
sion made by the admistration requires that 23 trees will be
moved or demolished.
point
tion.”
of view clouds the situa-
Peel said the administration
perceived a need for expansion
of the MSC three years ago and
last summer the Board of Re
gents approved plans to:
• Expand 58,790 square feet
See Trees/Page 4
vote
unitj
on Id be held e®
Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack
Sit and spin
Tim Goodman, a senior finance major from Sydney, Australia,
■ tries his hand at pottery making at the Crafts Center in the MSC.
Former Grenada police commissioner kills
U.S. diplomat, wounds 2 in shooting spree
ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada (AP) —
Grenada’s former police commis
sioner went on a shooting rampage
at police headquarters Wednesday,
killing the commissioner and a U.S.
diplomat and wounding two high-
ranking offifcers, an official said.
In Washington, the State Depart
ment said the American died trying
to subdue the gunman, who was
later killed by other law officers.
The shooting occurred at 11:30
a.m. at Fort George, the police head
quarters, which overlooks St.
George’s Harbor.
The State Department and offi
cials in Grenada said the slain diplo
mat, John Angelo Butler, 33, politi
cal officer at the U.S. Embassy, was
not the original target. Police Com
missioner Cosmus Raymond also
was killed, officials said.
Daniel Searles, the acting police
superintendent, and Collis Barrow,
deputy police commissioner, were
wounded and taken to St. George’s
General Hospital, Deputy Prime
Minister Ben Jones said. Both were
listed in stable condition.
Officials identified the attacker as
Grafton Bascombe. His motive was
not known.
State Department press officer
Dennis Harter said in Washington
his department understood Bas
combe was on loan to the neighbor
ing Caribbean island of St. Vincent
and had been about to return there.
Albert Xavier, an adviser to Prime
Minister Herbert Blaize, said Bas-
combe’s return was delayed because
he was in charge of funds made
available for joint military exercises
with the United States and was to
have given an accounting to Ray
mond on Wednesday.
Xavier said Bascombe entered
Raymond’s office and fired two
shots from a .45-caliber revolver, hit
ting the commissioner in the head
and stomach and killing him in
stantly.
Bascombe next walked into Bar
row’s office next door, where U.S.
Embassy and police officials were
meeting. Butler and administrative
officer Roy Sullivan were represent
ing the embassy.
Harter reported: “They were dis
cussing administrative details con
nected with the recently concluded
Operation Trade Winds joint mili
tary exercises held in Grenada last
week.
“They were also discussing secu
rity plans for the Fourth of July re
ception scheduled to be held at the
American Embassy. According to
eyewitness accounts, . . . Bascombe . .
. burst into the room, fired several
shots, critically wounding . . . Barrow
and . .. Searles.
“John Butler made a move to sub
due the assailant, who then shot Mr.
Butler point-blank before fleeing
the room.”
Officials collide with Bush over super ‘toy’
FROM STAFF & WIRE REPORTS
Northern congressmen attempted Wednesday to
scuttle the Superconducting Supercollider outside
Waxahachie, saying the nation can’t afford a $5 billion
“toy” that President Bush wants for his home state.
The fate of the SSC hinged on a House vote to strike
$110 million from an appropriations bill to break
ground next year on the 53-mile-long race track
shaped tunnels 25 miles south of Dallas.
Bush had sought $250 million in seed money for the
project, which the Energy Department decided before
last year’s presidential election to build in Texas follow
ing an intense competition for it by more than half of
the nation’s 50 states.
Earlier this month, the president pleaded with key
House members to protect the project from cuts in sci
ence, energy and water programs being made as part of
a deficit-reduction agreement.
Nonetheless, the House Appropriations Committee’s
energy and water development subcommittee trimmed
Bush’s supercollider request to $200 million, including
$110 million for beginning construction.
“We feel this will be adequate to get the project under
way,” Rep. Tom Bevil, D-Ala., the subcommittee’s
chairman, said Wednesday. “As time goes on, this
would become more expensive.”
While the Energy Department has put a $4.9 billion
price tag on the project, the Congressional Budget Of
fice has estimated it will cost at least $6.4 billion by the
time it is completed in 1999.
Opponents, led by Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., and
Dennis Eckart, D-Ohio, expressed fears that once con
struction is underway, the project will absorb $800 mil
lion to $900 million of the $1.1 billion that the govern
ment spends annually on all general, non-defense
scientific research.
“We’re beginning to leverage this project into the
budget at a cost to other science programs,” Obey said.
“But the president indicates he’s opposed to additional
revenues. If we’re going to have these expensive toys,
we ought to pay for them.”
Proposed flag amendment ignites controversy
ners
o declined to critii-i
-ailed for an effori j
igress to enact kfj WASHINGTON (AP) — Free-
ild set aside thereSf&peech advocates, reacting strongly
:h civil rights la Vito a proposal by President Bush, said
ere setback. Wednesday a constitutional amend-
Ihent to protect the American flag
inevitably would lead to censorship
of many unpopular views.
J “The minute you establish the
principle that there can be excep-
i TO tions to the First Amendment for of-
fensive speech, there’s no principled
®ay to limit it,” Ira Glasser, exec-
:ly return a telepl : iltive director of the American Civil
liberties Union, said.
; ignored previous] “The first exception will not be
:rs and remained d 16 last,” he said. “Someone adds an
pxception for derogatory racial re-
©arks. If you’re a woman you want
1 union officials «|* n exception for Playboy. If you’re a
NLRB within 10• w y ou want an exception for Nazis
>s they have takc P iU( 'i 1 ‘ n g- Pretty soon, you don’t
t order. have a First Amendment.”
| The president’s call for an amend-
■ent on Tuesday was sparked by the
Supreme Court’s ruling last week
Bat burning the flag is a constitu-
Honally protected form of political
piotest.
B Bush didn’t say just how his pro
mised amendment would read, but
he did call the flag a “unique symbol”
'of America, suggesting he believes
the Constitution can be amended to
BUlaw flag burning without unduly
Breatening the right to protest.
iff His spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater,
inderlined that idea Wednesday,
Both Democrats, Republicans rally to save flag
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nobody ever lost votes for
waving the American flag. Somebody lost a lot of them
for vetoing a pledge of allegiance bill.
Those lessons were not lost in Congress or at the
White House after the Supreme Court held that a flag
burning demonstrator was acting within his right of po
litical protest, a decision that apparently overrules flag
desecration laws of 48 states and the federal govern
ment.
Democrats weren’t about to yield the issue this time.
The Senate adopted a resolution, sponsored by the
Democratic majority leader, declaring that it will seek a
way to reinstate the flag laws. Later, it approved an
amendment revising the federal flag desecration law in
an effort make it fit the court ruling.
President Bush said the administration is reviewing
proposals for a constitutional amendment to reinstate
flag desecration laws, and will consult with Congress on
the measure. “And as president, I will uphold our pre
cious right to dissent, but burning the flag goes too far,
and I want to see that matter remedied,” Bush an
nounced.
He’ll have no trouble finding congressional support.
Before their Fourth of July recess, members of the
House and Senate tuned up for some old-fashioned pa
triotic oratory back home.
One House member said flags should be flown at
half-staff to mark the ruling. Another said the six men
who raised the flag at Iwo Jima “were symbolically shot
in the back by five men in black robes.” A third said that
George M. Cohan, he of the grand old flag, “must be
turning in his grave.”
“What in God’s name is going on?” cried Rep. Doug
las Applegate, D-Ohio. “. . . Are there any limitations?
Are they going to allow fornication in Times Square at
high noon?”
Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis
took a daily drubbing from Bush during the 1988 cam
paign for his veto of a Massachusetts bill to require that
schoolteachers lead pupils in the pledge of allegiance.
TM
iik
5-1904
saying, “The president does not be
lieve this amendment would cause
an unraveling of the Constitution.”
Burton Yale Pines of the Heritage
Foundation supported Bush, saying,
“This is no frivolous exercise, no
slippery slope down which a host of
democratic guarantees may slide.
The amending process would per
mit a national debate and referen
dum on the flag.”
But the ACLU’s Glasser disagrees.
“I think it’s impossible to draft
limiting language,” he said. “Would
it say flag burning or flag dese
cration? Would desecration include
wearing the flag, or superimposing a
dove on it, or failing to salute it?”
Flag amendments already pen
ding in Congress generally would
give the federal government and the
states authority to prohibit dese
cration of the flag and to impose
criminal penalties for such actions.
One introduced by Sen. Strom
Thurmond, ranking Republican on
the Senate Judiciary Committee,
does not mention criminal penalties,
but says:
“The Congress of the United
States and the states have the power
to prohibit the desecrating, mutilat
ing, defacing, defiling or burning of
the flag of the United States.”
Attorney General Dick Thorn
burgh said the courts still would
have a role in interpreting any
amendment.
Rainbow spans A&M;
leprechaun not sighted
By Kelly S. Brown
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
and Richard Tijerina
STAFF WRITER
’Twas a dark and stormy night.
Summer showers fell from the
dark clouds hovering over Col
lege Station Wednesday, creating
the perfect backdrop for a large,
double rainbow that stretched
over the Texas A&M campus.
The Battalion received reports
of the weather phenonemon
around 8 p.m.
Rainbows occur when sunlight
passes through falling raindrops,
creating a primary spectrum
from violet to red. The human
eye sees but one color in each
raindrop. Put together, the rain
drops form a myriad of colors, or
prism, thus creating the primary
rainbow.
Bruce Thomas, meteorologist
for KBTX-TV, said although he
is not a “rainbow expert,” rain
bows virtually are inexplainable.
However, he said studies explain
how the rainbow is formed —
when light passes through rain
drops, it creates the prism effect.
’’Light slows and bends,"
Thomas said. “Violet light re
fracts the most and red light the
least. A double rainbow is just a
secondary rainbow over a pri
mary rainbow. It’s much fainter
(than the primary rainbow below
it).”
Thomas said double rainbows
like the one seen Wednesday are
common.
No two people see the same
image of a rainbow because they
are looking through different
raindrops that are reflecting sun
light, Thomas said.
Thomas said he heard about
the rainbow from friends at the
television station, but didn’t see it
until it was fading from view.
Bertha Blevinstone, a Bryan
resident, said she saw the rainbow
while walking toward campus and
stared at it for five minutes in the
rain.
“It was the most beautiful thing
I’ve ever seen — the colors were
so sharp,” Blevinstone said. “It
was huge. I sat down on the side
walk for five minutes watching it,
and two girls on a motorscooter
parked to watch it with me.”
College Station police said no
reports of leprechauns or pots of
gold were reported.