The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 31, 1989, Image 1

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    Texas A&M
Battalion
WEATHER
TOMORROW’S FORECAST:
Partly cloudy
HIGH: 72
LOW: 55
[| 89 No.43 USPS 045360 10 Pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, October 31,1989
oscow police attack crowd at anti-KGB rally
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OSCOW (AP) — Helmeted riot police
ling truncheons repeatedly charged
clubbed demonstrators Monday night
a candlelight vigil outside KGB head-
ters in memory of Stalin’s victims,
es of protesters were knocked to the
md, beaten and dragged into police
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bout 40 people were detained, the offi-
Tass news agency said, in what was the
hest crackdown on protesters in Mos-
inmore than a year. Tass said the pro-
rs were “trying to create as much dis-
ion as possible, to display anti-Soviet
ers and shout anti-Soviet slogans.”
bedashes took place on some of central
Moscow’s busiest streets and were especially
jarring because of the more permissive po
litical climate instituted under President
Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s wide-ranging re
forms.
About 1,000 Soviets converged on KGB
headquarters at Dierzhinsky Square after
dusk to mark the unofficial “Day of the Po
litical Prisoner” and mourn the millions
who were wrongly imprisoned or killed un
der Josef Stalin.
The hourlong protest, in which two rows
of people holding flickering candles lined
up on three sides of the building, pro
ceeded peacefully. It had been organized
by the Memorial Society, which seeks to
commemorate those who suffered unjustly
under Stalin, and the Democratic Union, a
self-styled opposition to the Communist
Party.
At the end of the demonstration, a
splinter group of about 500 people, mostly
young men, marched off in the direction of
Pushkin Square, a favorite rallying site for
human rights activists.
Chanting, “Shame on the KGB!” and
“The KGB is the enemy of the people!” the
group was confronted without warning by
riot police two blocks from Pushkin Square
as they passed out leaflets to homebound
commuters.
The white-helmeted police, armed with
long black rubber truncheons, formed a
line, then waded into the protesters, club
bing at least four of their leaders to the
ground, then dragging them into nearby
buses for detention.
The demonstrators retreated, then
formed again and headed to Gorky Street,
the main thoroughfare leading to Pushkin
Square. The riot police and other uni
formed officers sealed off the square and
split the protesters into two groups.
On Gorky Street, riot police again
charged the demonstrators, taking about
six into custody. As the protesters were
dragged to the buses, spectators shouted:
“Shame! Shame!”
Another group of demonstrators, gath
ered on the southeast side of Pushkin
Square, was also repeatedly charged by riot
police, who ignored the dozens of television
camera teams and foreign reporters who
flocked there.
It was the roughest treatment of an un
sanctioned demonstration in Moscow since
December 1987, when about 200 burly men
in civilian clothes roughed up Jews who
staged a protest demanding the right to em
igrate.
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lene Torres, a senior nuclear physics major, gets unexpectedly
plashed by a truck driving through a large puddle on Clark
Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack
Street. Torres was trying to keep dry under his umbrella in the
midst of heavy rains on his way to classes Monday.
Smith officially
declares candidacy
for seat in Senate
By Michael Kelley
Of The Battalion Staff
In a not-so-un-
expected an-
\
nouncement
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Monday af-
ternoon at the
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Brazos Center,
state representa-
Smith
live Richard
Smith, R-Bryan,
Class of ’59, offi
cially declared
his candidacy for the Texas Senate’s
5th District seat. A Friday night ap
preciation dinner for Smith, and
press notices released this weekend,
alluded to his intentions.
District Five consists of 15 whole
counties and three split counties lo
cated in east central Texas. There
are 31 Senate members in the Texas
Senate who are elected to four-year
terms. One-half of the Senate is
elected every two years. The 5th Dis
trict race is next year. The Republi
can and Democratic primaries will
be held in March and the general
election next November.
Smith said he decided to run for
the Senate for two reasons — he
wants to deal with issues concerning
the elderly and work to create job
opportunities for youngsters.
The most pressing issue of senior
citizens, Smith said, is fear for their
lives and their property, due to
crime.
“Crime has moved into the coun
tryside because of the pressure on
the drug dealers in the cities, who
are moving their drug labs and drug
operations out into the country,” he
said.
Smith also talked about health
care for the elderly, saying Brazos
County has an efficient system of
health care, but that other areas in
the district are not as fortunate.
“In the 5th District there are
many rural areas that have a serious
deficiency in the provision of health
care because of a number of factors
— some federal problems and some
problems that can be dealt with at
the state level,” he said.
Smith said he would help the el
derly in their concerns about loss of
pension and retirement money due
to taxes.
“They are concerned about tax
laws at the federal level and also at
the state level,” he said. “They are
concerned about the state income
tax that would impact adversely on
their fixed income.
“I’ll state uncategorically here to
day that I’m unautnorably opposed
to a state income tax and would do
whatever I can in Austin to prevent
See Smith/Page 9
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0HANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) —
ivernment-run broadcasting said Tuesday
it peaceful demonstrations such as the
anti-apartheid rally over the weekend
ve helped ease political tensions and as-
led reforms.
We thank the people for behaving within
norms of democratic society,” Maj. Gen.
man Stadler, the police public relations
ief, said of the 70,000-member rally Sun-
at a soccer stadium on the edge of Johan-
isburg.
It was the largest ever anti-government
ent, and virtually every aspect violated se-
tity laws.
But authorities approved the event in ad-
nce and police maintained a low profile as
(t frican National Congress leaders, released
from prison Oct. 15, endorsed the organiza
tion’s guerrilla campaign and called for in
creased economic sanctions against the white-
run government.
“There is no doubt this event will go down
in history as the most dramatic, most poi
gnant, and perhaps the most politically signif
icant since the start of the struggle for liber
ation,” said the Sowetan, the nation’s largest
black-oriented daily newspaper.
The ANC has been outlawed since 1960,
but Sunday’s rally was the clearest signal yet
that the government is willing to allow peace
ful public activities by the organization.
The Citizen, a pro-government newspaper,
said it would be better to lift laws restricting
political freedom than to enforce them selec
tively.
Law and Order Minister Adriaan Vlok told
government-run TV Sunday night that
peaceful protest offers a needed outlet for
those with political grievances.
“I don’t think we need to be afraid that
these protests, which are monitored, will
break into violence,” Vlok said.
But Andries Treurnicht, head of the pro
apartheid Conservative Party, called for an
urgent session of Parliament to debate the
government’s relaxed stance toward protests.
“The ANC, under its own flag and that of
the Communist Party alongside, is enjoying
complete freedom to propagate its aims and
ambitions and issues one ultimatum after the
other to the government,” Treurnicht said.
“The government’s authority to maintain
law and order and to enforce the laws of the
land is being blatantly challenged,” he added.
Police spokesman Col. Vic Haynes said po
lice were studying Sunday’s rally to determine
whether anyone should be prosecuted.
However, police have made similar
statements after several recent demonstra
tions and have not taken any action.
When a magistrate approved Sunday’s
rally, he warned organizers not to promote
the aims of the ANC.
“We refused,” Cyril Ramaphosa, a union
leader and one of the main organizers said.
“The ANC lives. It is amongst us.”
The seven ANC leaders freed unconditio
nally Oct. 15 appeared on a podium beneath
huge banners of the ANC and the South Afri
can Communist Party. Six of the seven had
spent at least 25 years in prison.
.tiers
23
ervice honors
leceased staff,
acuity members
Flags will fly at half-staff today
( n memory of the following fac-
Hty, staff, or retired faculty
tfnember:
• Willis Howell Clark, retired,
Department of Marine Research
• A.D. Griggs, retired. Con
struction Management
• Manning A. Price, retired,
^ Entomology Department
• Donald Lee Rogers, Mainte
nance Department
• Harold D. Richardson,
Grounds Maintenance Depart
ment.
The observance, called “Lo
wering of the Flag,” commem
orates the memory of deceased
faculty and staff members who
were active and locally retired.
The flag is lowered at 8 a.m. on
the last Tuesday of every month
by members of the Corps of Ca
dets and remains at half-staff
throughout the day. The ritual
has been enacted at appropriate
times for the past several years.
Cadets represent A&M at Honor Conference
By Todd Connelley
Of The Battalion Staff
Honor and ethics were the topics of the fourth
annual National Honor Conference last weekend
at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.
Texas A&M was represented at the three-day
event by Jonathan Whittles, Corps sergeant ma
jor, and Karl Kent, Corps advocate sergeant.
During the sessions, which included lectures
and round-table discussions, participants dis
cussed ideas on existing honor codes and helped
design new ones.
“The University of Southern California is try
ing tb set up an honor code for the entire camp
us,” Whittles said. “We spent one whole day giv
ing them ideas.”
The conference, attended by all major military
schools and some civilian schools, also focused on
ethics in the private sector, as well as ethics in
public service.
Each subject was addressed by an expert in the
field.
Whittles said that in addition to attending dif
ferent seminars, cadet leaders from other schools
critiqued and evaluated other honor codes.
“After looking at the West Point system, we de
cided we need to devote more time toward edu
cating cadets about honor,” he said.
“They spend about 15-20 hours a week on ed
ucation, as opposed to our 3-4 a week,” he said.
“Time talking about it reinforces aspects about
it.”
But after observing Texas A&M spirit firs
thand, West Point leaders decided their institu
tion needed a little more motivation.
“A&M is much more spirited than West
Point,” Whittles said. “We told them they needed
to be a little more unified.”
Major speakers included Greg Laughlin,
House of Representatives, 14th district, Texas;
Eugene R. Sullivan, judge on the U.S. Court of
Military Appeals; and Gordon F. Shea, president
of PRIME Systems Company.
Thousands of East Germans march for democracy
BERLIN (AP) — Hundreds of
thousands of East Germans marched
for democracy Monday night, the
eve of a trip to Moscow by new
leader Egon Krenz for talks with the
Soviet bloc’s champion of reform,
Mikhail S. Gorbachev.
Official media said about 300,000
people rallied in Leipzig, a city of
650,000; at least 50,000 in Halle;
40,000 in Schwerin; more than
20,000 in Karl Marx Stadt; and
5,000 in Poessneck.
Lutheran Church sources in East
Berlin said 3,000 pro-reform activ
ists demonstrated in the capital.
Leipzig activists told the Asso
ciated Press by telephone many of
the marchers there demanded that
the Communist Party give up its mo
nopoly on power.
They said the protesters wanted
free elections, freedom to travel and
legalization of opposition groups.
Political parties now are recog
nized only if they align themselves
with the Communist Party-
The official news agency ADN
said people in all the cities spoke out
for a free press, and those in Karl
Marx Stadt carried banners reading
“Democracy Now.”
Krenz reaffirmed the Communist
Party’s pre-eminence Monday, tell
ing military academy graduates it
was “at the head of qualitative
changes going on in society.”
ADN reported he would leave for
the Soviet Union on Tuesday. Krenz
has said East Germany can learn
much from reforms promoted by
Gorbachev, the Soviet president.
Krenz is visiting the ?feviet Unlbh
as a state leader for the first time.
Bats inhabit
stage ceiling
of Rudder
Halloween has come early to
the Rudder Auditorium in the
form of pesky bats who refuse to
leave, University Center Manager
Steven Hodge said.
The bats were first noticed
about a week ago and most often
appear in the area high above the
stage, Hodge said.
“We are trying to prevent them
from getting in by finding and
closing their access holes,” Hodge
said.
Maintenance crews have been
locating the holes when the bats
leave at night.
This is not the first time bats
have invaded the complex. The
same problem occured several
years ago, Hodge said, and the
bats have apparently located new
holes in the building.
Since the bats are so high above
the audience, they have yet to
cause any real problems, Hodge
said.
“We’ve had several comments,
but no problems yet,” he said.
During the MSC OPAS presen
tation of the play “Absent
Friends” Friday night, one of the
actors added the bats to his script.
“Next time you should come to
our house,” he said to another ac
tor. “It’s very peaceful there. No
bats at all.”
A&M student dies
of unknown causes
Senior James Gregory Foley, 33,
died of unknown causes Oct. 24 in
Tomball. Foley, who came to A&M
after six years in the Navy, was ma-
Serrrce*
Funeral Home in Tomball.