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
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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.”