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Vol. 89 No.14 USPS 045360 10 Pages
College Station, Texas
WEATHER
TOMORROW’S FORECAST:
Sunny to partly cloudy
HIGH: 92 LOW: 70
Wednesday, September 20,1989
;e
The agony of da feet
Nancy Gold, center half for the A&M women’s varsity soccer
team, and Kim DeVargas, forward, both found themselves on
Photo by Scott D. Weaver
the disabled list for Tuesday afternoon practice. DeVargas and
Gold each sustained sprained ankles.
Hurricane Hugo threatens
50,000 Caribbean islanders
U.S. coast;
left homeless
MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Hugo,
the Caribbean killer blamed for 25
deaths, seethed past the Bahamas
Tuesday on an uncertain path that
threatens an area from Florida to
North Carolina by Friday.
Disaster teams found death and
destruction in Puerto,. Rico and a
string of resort islands clobbered by
the mightiest storm in a decade in
the northeastern Caribbean. More
than 50,000 people were homeless,
and military planes ferried radios,
Hugo wreaks havoc/Page 6
P
drinking water, generators, chain
saws and other equipment to
stricken areas that pleaded for more
help.
“Whole buildings just picked up
and left,” said James Grissim, a resi
dent of Water Island in St. Thomas.
He recalled “sheet metal roofing fly
ing through the air, singing as it
went, and glass, the sound of glass
breaking all over the place.”
Forecasters used computers, satel
lites and charts of old storms but
could not predict Hugo’s wobbly
path. It lurched to the north and
west because other weather systems
seemed to be blocking it from head
ing into the open Atlantic.
At 3 p.m. EDT, the hurricane’s
center was near latitude 22.6 de
grees north and longitude 68.6 west,
about 175 miles east northeast of
Grand Turk Island in the southern
Bahamas, according to the National
Weather Service.
It had maximum sustained winds
of 105 mph and was moving north
west at 12 mph, forecasters said. But
Hugo was re-organizing over open
seas where warm tropical air fueled
its engine, and forecasters expected
fluctuations in strength.
Hurricane warnings were down
graded to storm warnings for the
southern Bahamas as Hugo skirted
past, but the Bahamian government
issued warnings for the central is
lands of the archipelago. Islanders
boarded up their homes as a precau
tion.
In Florida, NASA officials said
they would wait until Wednesday be
fore deciding to move the space
shuttle Atlantis, scheduled for
launch Oct. 12, from its launch pad
and into shelter. They also put off a
decision on whether to remove a
Navy communications satellite from
an Atlas-Centaur rocket on another
launch pad until more is known
Puerto Rican Student Association
collects donations for relief fund
The Puerto Rican Student As
sociation, in connection with the
American Red Cross, will be ac
cepting collections on the first
floor MSG again today for the vic
tims of Hurricane Hugo.
Donors are asked to make
checks payable to the American
Red Cross, Hurricane Hugo Re
lief Fund. Donations also may be
collected from home or office.
For more information, contact
the American Red Cross at 822-
2157 or members of the PRSA at
764-1748 or 845-4634 (daytime)
or at 846-1228 or 696-1818
(nighttime.)
about Hugo’s path.
Cruise ships steamed out of the
way, while American Airlines’ heavy
Caribbean service, which uses San
Juan as its hub, was suspended.
In San Juan, National Guardsmen
with automatic rifles patrolled
streets to help police with rescue and
to prevent looting. Police spokesman
Tony Santiago said 40 businesses re
ported looting, much of which oc
curred at the height of the storm.
Police had arrested 30 people on
looting charge, he said.
Looting by machete-wielding
mobs was also reported on the island
of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Is
lands.
Relief officials asked for cots and
plastic sheetings to use for shelters
for the thousands of islanders whose
homes were crumpled by Hugo.
Coast Guard vessels from Puerto
Rico would scour the waters off the
island because of reports “there are
a lot of people stranded (on boats)
out in the water,” said Coast Guard
Lt. Stan Douglas.
Hugo walloped the northeastern
part of the island, then skirted its
populous northern coast on Mon
day. It churned on to the northwest
and toward open water. It whirled
past but missed the Dominican Re
public.
Student Senate gives
summer school bill
unanimous approval
By Monique Threadgill
and Michael Kelley
Of The Battalion Staff
Tuesday night the Texas A&M
Student Senate unanimously ap
proved a bill which will affect the
length of summer school sessions in
1991.
The Summer School ’91 Schedule
Bill consists of a proposal for two
five-and-a-half-week sessions and
one 10-week session.
The bill was introduced at the Stu
dent Senate meeting on Sept. 5, but
drew opposition to the proposed
overlapping six- and 10-week ses
sions.
After being sent to the Academic
Affairs Committee for discussion the
bill was amended to accomodate stu
dents who need a second summer
term, such as those who study
abroad or Co-op during one of the
summer sessions.
Brennan Reilly, junior liberal arts
senator and Academic Affairs com
mittee member, led floor support
for the amended bill.
“Basically what we tried to do with
the bill was to insure that students
get to express their views to the uni
versity committee that Dr. Mobley
appointed to deal with the summer
school issue,” Reilly said. “I don’t
think the student point of view was
originally seen by the Faculty Senate
or by the committee, which mainly
consists of administrators and fac
ulty.”
“The student concerns were not
addressed by the ‘10-six- proposal’
which we thought was far removed
from our interests,” he said. “We
came up with our own program, a
very strong one that we will take with
us to the committee meeting in an
effort to try and work with the fac
ulty and administration toward a
common goal. We want to insure
that they know what the students
want.”
Special guest speaker Steve
Hodge, University Center Manager,
addressed the MSC expansion issue
and student concerns over the trees
involved in the plans.
He said that only five live oaks will
be destroyed in the project, and the
others involved will be relocated.
The MSC expansion includes the
Rudder Complex, the MSC and
Parking Lot 60.
The expansion, which will take
approximately three years to com
plete, poses two major problems — a
limited amount of access to the MSC
and a loss of 400 parking spaces.
Two open meetings to discuss the
MSC expansion are scheduled. One
will be held Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 7
p.m. in 701 Rudder, and the other
will be held Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. in the
Rudder Theater.
Other legislation discussed at the
meeting included:
• Approval of a bill updating
“The Student Government Associa
tion Constitution For the Student
Body of Texas A&M University”
and
• Approval of an Ad-Hoc Com
mittee on International Affairs to be
established to work with the Faculty
Senate and University Administra
tion on the issues of international re
search and education.
Water commission levies
fines against Texas dairies
AUSTIN (AP) — The Texas Wa
ter Commission said Tuesday it rec
ommended $500,000 in fines against
nine Texas dairies for alleged viola
tions of state water quality laws.
The proposed fines total
$490,660 and range from $96,000
against a Tarrant County dairy
farmer to $23,700 against one in
Erath County. The average fine is
$54,000, more than six times the
highest water commission fine ever
paid by a Texas dairy farmer.
Six of the nine dairies are in Erath
County, the state’s top milk pro
ducer. Since June, the area has been
the target of a crackdown on dairy
pollution.
Lax enforcement of state water
laws has been blamed for dairy pol
lution that experts say could
threaten Central Texas water sup
plies.
“There is a concern that if this
continues, we certainly could have
long term problems,” Clyde Bohm-
falk, director of the water commis
sion’s division of water quality, told
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Jim Haley, water commission legal
director, said the high fines are in
tended to let dairy farmers know
“the law will be enforced.”
Jerry Clark of the Associated Milk
Producers Inc., the state’s second-
largest dairy cooperative, said the
fines were “out of reason.”
State law allows dairy operators to
have a hearing before an indepen
dent examiner before their cases are
considered by the water commission.
The dairy farmers can appeal the
commission’s decision in state court.
A&M selects professor as new Health Center director
U By Michael Kelley
_
I Of The Battalion Staff
A former two-star general in the
I U.S. Army Medical Corps was se-
B lected last week as the new director
■ of the A.P. Beutal Health Center.
Dr. John Koldus, vice president
■ for Student Services, announced
I Tuesday that Dr. Kenneth R. Dirks,
■ currently a professor of pathology
B and laboratory medicine at A&M,
B will become the acting director of
B the health center on October 1.
Dirks is a 1943 graduate of pre-
B sent-day Wichita State University, in
B Wichita, Kansas. He received his de-
B gree in medicine in 1947 from the
B Washington University School of
B Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.
Dirks came to Texas A&M in 1980
fl after serving 28 years in the U.S.
■ Army.
Dirks experienced wartime serv-
B ice during World War II and the Ko-
E rean War, as well as combat duty in
fl Vietnam.
At the close of his Army career,
B Dirks was one of six two-star gener-
fl als who was considered for promo-
fl tion to Surgeon General of the
■ Army.
Dirks w'as a private while attend-
B ing medical school at the end of
B World War II. He received his offi-
■ cer commission during the Korean
I War.
Dirks has served in 17 asssign-
■ tnents that have taken him around
■ the United States and to various
JM bases worldwide.
Dirks served one year in England
as an exchange officer with the
Royal Army Medical Corps at the
Queen Alexandra Military Hospital
in London. He then served three
years in Landstuhl, Germany as
commander of the 4th Medical Lab
oratory, which was the reference lab
for diagnostic problems in the U.S.
Army theater of operations in Eu
rope, the Middle East and North Af
rica.
During the Vietnam War, Dirks
served a one-year tour as com
mander of the 406th Medical Labo
ratory and as the blood program of
ficer for all U.S. forces located in
South Vietnam.
Some of Dirks’ best administrative
experience came from his last three
assignments.
In 1973, Dirks became command
ing general of the Army Medical Re
search and Development Command.
He was also Assistant Surgeon Gen
eral for Research and Development
for the Army. In 1976 he took com
mand of the Fitzsimons Army Medi
cal Center in Denver, Colorado.
Dirk’s last assignment began in
1977 as superintendent of the U.S.
Army Academy of Health Sciences
at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio,
Texas. Its enrollment consisted of
37,000 students and 6500 faculty
and staff members. Its annual bud
get was $41 million.
Dirks has been awarded 12 mili
tary decorations, including the Dis
tinguished Service Medal, the Le
gion of Merit, the Meritorious
Service Medal, and the Army Com
mendation Medal.
After military retirement, Dirks
joined the University of Texas
Health Science Center in San Anto
nio where he met Dr. Franz Leidler.
It was Leidler who convinced Dirks
to become a faculty member at the
A&M College of Medicine in 1981.
“One of the reasons I came here
was that I was attracted by the atmo
sphere that pervades A&M,” Dirks
said. “I like the friendly spirit, the
traditions, the attitude of the student
body and the sense of responsibility
and belonging that is reflected in the
Student Government. The entire
ambiance here appeals to me.
“To some degree I expect that my
military background matches nicely
with the Corps tradition on the
campus.”
While at the A&M Medical
School, Dirks was awarded “The
Student’s Friend” award in 1982 and
was voted as one of the three best
lecturers in the College of Medicine
from 1981-82. In 1985, he received
the Association of Former Students
Distinguished Teaching Award for
the College of Medicine. He has also
served on eight university commit
tees.
Dirks became interested in the
health director position while serv
ing as a pathological consultant to
the health center.
“A great deal of my military ca
reer was directed towards providing
health care to people of college age,”
Dirks said. “I’ve been interested in
health care for students for a good
while.”
Dirks said his objective as health
center director is to ensure that stu
dents do not have to wait for more
than 30 minutes to see a physician.
“I think that’s important,” he said.
“We’d like our students to be in class
because that’s what they’re here for
— to get an education. They’re not
here to sit in the health center wait
ing for a physician to see them. We’d
like to see that corrected.”
Dirks would like to see a closer
relationship between the student
health center and the College of
Medicine.
“By closer linkage, I want to pro
vide some services that may have not
been readily available in the past,”
Dirks said. “It’s advantageous to stu
dents to have new physicians . . .
helping to care for the health needs
of other students.
“The health center has done a
very good job, but our challenge is to
improve on what’s already been
done. I am aw'are that there have
been long waiting times in the past,
but new measures are being taken,
such as inaugurating an appoint
ment system in order to see a physi
cian.”
Dirks’ youngest daughter, Melissa
Dirks McConnell, is a senior Land
scape Architecture major at A&M.
She has served seven years as the ex
ecutive secretary to Dr. John Koldus,
vice president for Student Services.
Dirks is active in the Bryan-Col-
lege Station community as well, serv
ing this past year as president of the
Bryan Rotary Club and as a Health
Services Committee member for
three years on the Bryan-College
Station Chamber of Commerce.
Starting in June, a search commit
tee led by A&M president Dr. Wil
liam Mobley and Dr. John Koldus
reviewed 42 applicants and choosing
six finalists for review.
Koldus said that Dirks was the
unanimous first choice of most of
the search committee members.
“It wasn’t the fact that he was on
campus here at A&M and in the Col
lege of Medecine,” said Koldus. “It
was that he had headed up many
hospitals while in the military, which
in most cases meant working with
the same age groups as college stu
dents.”
Photo by Jayjanner
Dr. Kenneth R. Dirks