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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 1989)
A&M Battalion ol. 89 No.11 USPS 045360 14 Pages College Station, Texas Friday, September 15,1989 egents hear views on parking, bonfire, other issues tudent Senate speaker calls forum ‘a good start’ y Kelly S. Brown Of The Battalion Staff Lester O’Bannon saw plenty of faults with the A&M mpus he taught at for 22 years, but never became a ssive complainer. He believed the philosophy of “if jht f)u go to the right people, you’ll get things done.” V Maybe this is why the 93-year-old professor emeritus ■lose to pay a visit to the Board of Regents open forum I on policy issues Thursday. > wi)g y o a room f u u 0 f students, faculty, regents and corn- unity leaders, O’Bannon quietly told a story that could applied today. After exhausting all resources, O’Bannon went f rrllniight to the president in 1948 with a request to repair 3 I ■ hole in the ground on the baseball diamond near lird base. O’Bannon said he gasped during the games hen players would jump for fly balls, knowing one day player might land in the hole. The president had the [tuation remedied immediately. While participants in the forum probably don’t ex- ct overnight solutions to the issues they aired to three egents Thursday, they agree it’s a step in the right di ction. In the first meeting of its kind, the Regents some- es wrestled with the issues, but mostly listened care- lly to the concerns of each speaker, whether it was the [sue of the MSC expansion, where controversy over e removal of 20-odd trees has people taking definitive tdes, or talk about moving bonfire, improving under- aduate advising and spending too much time on re arch, the Regents heard the voice of the campus. Other issues considered included improving the lour ils JHT night )0N )m 1.25 .50 1.75 Is Daih parking situation, improving married student housing, increasing funds for the College of Liberal Arts, up grading undergraduate advising and the library, stan dardizing course instructor evaluations, not accepting the title of A&M as a “world class university,” and for mation of a hotel and restaurant management pro gram. These issues were few in comparison to the overall amount submitted in written form to the Committee for Academic Campuses. The forum was the third of seven the Regents will be making on their tour of the schools in the A&M System. Regent Douglas DeCluitt, who originated the idea for the statewide visits and public-hearings, said they wanted to hear input from all sides before they deter mine a focus, as they are in the process of deciding which issues the Board will address during the curent two-year cycle. Kicking the hearing off on a “cozy” note, DeCluitt asked students to fill in the nine empty seats at the Board table, and join him along with Chancellor Perry Adkisson and Regents Raul Fernandez and Billy Clay ton. Elizabeth Edwards, co-president of the Texas Envi ronmental Action Coalition, asked the Regents to re evaluate their plans for the MSC expansion so that the trees around the MSC would not be uprooted. “I’m not advocating not expanding the MSC,” Ed wards said, “I’m just saying the expansion plans could be changed where perhaps only the smaller and sick trees would be removed. The plans should be changed to where the proposed expansion has the campus be hind it, not just people representing a small population See Open Forum/Page 5 Texas A&M Regents (I. to r.) Billy Clayton, Douglas DeCluitt, and Raul Fernandez and Student Senate representative Ty Cle- Photo hy Scott D. Weaver venger listen to speakers making their case during the Board of Regents public meet ing Thursday. uestions arise over state investigator J AUSTIN (AP) — The ex-superin- lndent of a mental institution icre retarded people were found ling after improper medical care as been hired by tne state to investi- ate alleged abuse of the retarded, it as reported Thursday. Advocates for the retarded said le state investigation might thwart a yoposed court inquiry into the al- Iged abuse, the Austin American- Ktesman reported. ] The advocates question whether frry Vincent, former superinten- ent of Denton State School, can bnduct an impartial investigation at fin Antonio State School. Allegations of abuse at the San Intonio institution were reported this summer to U.S. District Judge Barefoot Sanders’ court monitor, so ciologist Linda O’Neall of Florida. Sanders, who oversees a class-ac tion lawsuit against Texas institu tions for retarded people, is ex pected to rule soon on a proposal for an abuse investigation by O’Neall, the newspaper reported. The state last week hired Vincent to investigate the abuse. His exper tise was praised by Jaylon Fincan- non, head of Texas retardation serv ices. Vincent resigned from his posi tion at Denton State School on Nov. 29, two weeks after a federal court report faulted the medical treatment of 16 retarded people who died at the school in 1987 and 1988. He now is a top official in the Louisiana Division of Mental Retar dation. Reached Thursday by the Associated Press, Vincent said he was in conference but would call back. He did not immediately do so. Fincannon said Vincent is an ex perienced mental retardation pro fessional. He said Vincent was hired because he is familiar with rules of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation but is independent of the agency. The medical problems and deaths during Vincent’s administration of the Denton school should not be considered abuse and neglect, Fin- cannon said. “He was, and is, a good mental re tardation professional, and he un derstands our agency,” Fincannon said. “He is a good manager and knows good management tech niques.” “I have no problems or concerns about him doing a thorough, objec tive, fair investigation,” Fincannon said. Mental retardation advocates said they doubt Vincent can be an impar tial investigator because of his recent close ties with the Texas system and his professional friendship with Tom Deliganis, superintendent of San Antonio State School. ege orps to parade in Fort Worth before game ly Holly Becka 1 The Battalion Staff RS I Campus may seem a little emptier this week- <rid as members of the Corps of Cadets travel to Fort Worth to participate in a parade before Sat urday’s A&M football game against Texas Chris- ( tfen University. 1 Maj. Mark Satterwhite, Corps recruiting coor- •nator, said the trip is the first of two parade ■arches for out-of-town games. The Aggie [and, Corps units and the Parson’s Mounted Cavalry will march in the parade. Corps members will assemble for an im promptu yell practice at 2:15 p.m. Saturday on the corner of Lamar and Weatherford streets in downtown Fort Worth. The march-by will begin at 2:30 p.m. at the same corner, and travel east on Weatherford. The parade route will continue south on Main Street, east on 7th Street and north on Com merce Street to the beginning point. Reviewing officer will be Corps Commandant Maj. Gen. Thomas Darling. Satterwhite said the commandant’s office would like everyone to be responsible during the the Corps trip. “We want everyone to be careful during the weekend,” he said. “We’re stressing safety on the road and for everyone to be safe during the weekend. It’s a night game, and we’re starting later in the afternoon, so there’s no need for any one to rush up or back.” Satterwhite said the Guard Room will close at 7 a.m. Saturday and will re-open at 7 a.m. Sunday. Aggies who will be in Fort Worth on Friday can attend a midnight yell practice at Billy Bob’s Texas, 2520 Rodeo Plaza. jns "lustle and bliStlG Photo byPhelanM.Ebenhack i wide angle camera lens and long exposure time make these students look like a blur as they rush to class in the Academic Building. Plant employee kills seven workers before committing suicide LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A man with an assault rifle mowed down co-workers as he went from floor to floor “looking for bosses” at a printing plant Thursday, kill ing seven people and wounding 13 before taking his own life. The gunman, Joseph T. Wes- becker, had been on permanent disability and was described by Police Chief Richard Dotson as a disgruntled employee. One worker called him paranoid and said he had a fixation with guns. “I told them I’d be back,” Wes- becker told fellow Standard-Gra vure Co. employee John Tingle, who approached him before the shooting began. “Get out of my way, John. I told them I’d be back.” “I said, ‘How are you Rock?”’ Tingle recalled. “He said, ‘Fine, John. Back off and get out of the way ... all the way to the wall.’” Tingle and other employees nearby then ran into a bathroom and locked the door. Police searched every floor of the three-story Standard-Gravure building for victims. Two were found as officers led Mayor Jerry Abramson through the building. » “We also found a fellow sitting in a corner that was just shudder ing in fear,” Abramson said. “He hadn’t been shot, but he was in shock.” Five of the wounded were in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds, hospital offi cials said. One person who was not wounded suffered a heart at tack and was taken to a hospital. “It looks like a battle zone . . . with the blood and the people in volved there,” Abramson said. Wesbecker entered the build ing at 8:30 a.m. with a duffel bag, an AK-47 semi-automatic rifle and a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. He also carried six to eight am munition clips, each holding about 25 rounds, Dotson said. Wesbecker took an elevator to third-floor offices, pulled the ri fle out of his bag and opened fire, police and witnesses said. Wesbecker worked his way downstairs, randomly shooting people along the way. “He even tually ended up in a pressroom in an annex area, which is where he killed himself,” Dotson said. Dotson described Wesbecker, 47, as a disgruntled employee of Standard-Gravure, which prints newspaper inserts and Sunday newspaper supplements. He was on permanent disability, al though the nature of his disability was not immediately known. Health Center creates new education position By Michael Kelley Of The Battalion Staff To increase student awareness about health-related topics, the De partment of Student Services, in conjunction with the University Health Center, is searching for someone to fill the newly-created po sition of Head of Health Education. “The student health service has not had a really pro-active program dealing with issue matters on health educauon,” said Dr. Malon Souther land, associate vice president for Student Services and acting director of the student health service. “We have had a number of con sultants that have come in over the last couple of years and that was one of the areas that they highlighted — that we needed a program on health education that might include a long list of potential topics from nutri tion, various specific diseases, and even general fitness-for-life pro grams.” It was Southerland’s decision to add the position to the Student Serv ices budget this year, but the new student health service director, who has not been announced at this time, will have the opportunity to choose the new Health Education director from the growing list of candidates. “We’re excited and have already advertised for the position,” South erland said. “We already have about 20 applicants. Many are really qual ified for the job, and this position seems to be what they want to do. “It’s possible, due to the quality of the applicant pool, and the fact that many of the applicants are local, the position could be filled this fall. There is no question that it will be filled by January.” Southerland said the director will present outreach programs on re quested health topics to students and student organizations. The position will also lead to more emphasis upon creating campus displays on topical health issues. “It will be a fun job, I think, with a lot to do,” Southerland said. “It could eventually lead to where there would be others participating with the coordinator. I could envision student peer groups and graduate student assistants working with that person, and maybe even another staff member as well. “The position is going to help communicate a positive message about the health service here at Texas A&M.”