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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 1989)
If he Battalion CUSitl WEATHER TOMORROW’S FORECAST: Partly cloudy, cooler HIGH: 58 LOW: 40 drolVol. 89 No.46 USPS 045360 10 Pages College Station, Texas Friday, November 3,1989 [astv;« Sandinista forces launch attacks to abolish Contras lesea tinu tevf: Freshmen Cadets of group Trident P-2 gather at Duncan Field for the annual Fish Wrap. Fish Wrap is where the two sections of the bonfire centerpole are joined together by wrapping them with Photo by Mike C. Mulvey rope. The Cadets then run around it and fling themselves from the rope, wrapping it tightly around the pole. MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Sandinista troops launched attacks in Nicaragua’s central and northern mountains Thursday to try to wipe out outnumbered Contra forces that have infiltrated from Honduras, according to reports. Lt. Col. Rosa Pasos, a military spokesman, said most of the action was concentrated on rebels sneaking into Nicaragua, but she would con firm only one attack near Quilali, in the border province of Nueva Sego- “What the lifting of the cease-fire does is give us the possibility of orga nizing offensives in a -more orga nized manner and with greater fire power,” Pasos said. President Daniel Ortega ended a 19-month cease-fire on Wednesday, saying the Contras had been step ping up attacks inside Nicaragua. He also blamed the United States for the renewed attacks and accused Presi dent Bush of promoting “terror ism.” The Sandinista party newspaper Barricada said Thursday that com bat units in 14 towns and villages in northern Nicaragua began opera tions overnight, but neither the newspaper nor Pasos gave details. A communique distributed by the Nicaraguan Resistance in Teguci galpa, Honduras, said the Sandinis- tas had mounted attacks Wednesday with tanks, helicopter gunships and heavy artillery. Pasos refused to comment on those reports and said she had no immediate reports on casualties or details of the fighting. In Tegucigalpa, Contra com mander Enrique Bermudez said that the Contras would continue observ ing the cease-fire because they have not had the resources to launch at tacks since U.S. military aid was cut off in February 1988. “These troops will only carry out evasive actions,” Bermudez said. In Washington, Bush administra tion officials reiterated concern that the ending of the cease-fire was a prelude to cancellation of the Feb. 25 vote. White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said Thursday it was un realistic to expect the Contras to lay down their arms when the leftist Sandinista government is out “to de stroy them.” State Department deputy spokes man Richard Boucher said the ad ministration believes reports from Contra rebel leaders that the Sandi- nistas have commenced major mili tary operations in at least two re gions in Nicaragua. “We understand these are large- scale operations being conducted by the Sandinista army,” he said. “They involve the use of artillery and of at tack helicopters.” “We believe that the process of elections cannot be helped by these kind of attacks,” he said. rogram shines light on local environmental groups V Cindy McMHlian f The Battalion Staff I Environmental protection and conserva tion are not limited to faraway rainforests or ■vildlife refuges. Local environmental groups fcarticipating in an open house Thursday flight demonstrated that concern for the -world’s environment begins at home. I “Who Cares About the Brazos Valley,” an ■nformal program designed to introduce Bryan-College Station residents to local envi ronmental organizations, offered slides, vi- leotape, pamphlets and information at ooths set up in the Brazos Valley Museum. Representatives from the Sierra Club, Bra- i \ zos Beautiful and the Texas Environmental Action Coalition answered questions and en couraged participation in upcoming and ong oing events. Brazos Beautiful was promoting its Christmas tree recycling program, which be gan three years ago in Austin and was adopted by Bryan-College Station last year. Discarded trees are collected in early January by 4-H Club members and then shredded and used as mulch for landscaping park areas around the cities. Another Brazos Beautiful program is live tree donation. A live oak or crepe myrtle can be planted in a park or public area and ded icated to honor a person or occasion for $50. The Sierra Club, the only environmental group in Texas with a full-time lobbyist, acti vely supports laws promoting conservation. Les Greenberg, chairman of the club’s Brazos group, said the national organization keeps him informed of currently proposed legis lation affecting the environment. A bill to expand the Big Thicket Preserve in East Texas recently passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and should go be fore the Senate this month, he said. The Sierra Club is urging people to write letters to Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, in favor of the bill because his support is crucial to its success, Greenberg said. At a recent town meeting, local members spoke to Rep. Joe Barton, Class of’72, about a bill he supports that would open up the Arctic Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration, Greenberg said. “That refuge is the last unexplored area in North America,” he said. “Barton has one of the worst voting records in the House of Rep resentatives on environmental concerns.” The Texas Environmental Action Coali tion expressed its support of World Rainfo rest Week by selling Brazil nuts and “Rainfo rest Crunch.” The companies who produce the snacks donate a percentage of their prof its to rainforest conservation. TEAC raised $1,000 last week by selling shirts and hosting a music benefit, vice presi dent Michael Worsham said. Centerpole goes up today Bonfire centerpole will be raised at 5 p.m. today at Duncan Field, marking the beginning of what is known as stack. Once centerpole is raised, the long, hard process of stacking and wiring the logs around the center log, and essentially build ing bonfire, can commence. Those attending the raising of centerpole can stand outside of the roped perimeter area. As tra dition, a cannon will be fired once the pole hits the bottom of the hole. An informal yell practice will follow. Bonfire is scheduled to burn on Dec. 1, the night before the A&M—University of Texas foot ball game. This is the first year the game will not be played on Thanksgiving Day. Lecturers debate issue of animal testing By Bob Krenek Of The Battalion Staff The MSC Great Issues program presented “How Necessary is Animal Testing?” on Tuesday with the opposing views presented in a two-part lecture by Dr. Neal Barnard and Dr. John P. Howe. Barnard is an animal rights activist and the chairman of the Physicians Committee for Re sponsible Medicine. He is a praticing physician on the George Washington University School of Medicine faculty and maintains a private practice in Washington, D.C. Howe is the second president of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He is a cardiologist and supports what he termed “limited, appropriate and humane animal re search.” Each speaker was allotted 30 minutes to pre sent his side of the issue and then the audience was allowed to participate in a question-and-an- swer session moderated by Dr. Don Tomlinson, an assistant professor of journalism at Texas A&M. Barnard opened his part of the discussion by calling the animal testing issue complex and say ing there have been a lot of inaccurate statements made by those on both sides of the issue. There were three main points Barnard said he wanted to illustrate. First, there is still much im provement to be made in both research involving animals and the alternatives available, he said. Second, experimentation involving animals has inherent problems that may render the results inaccurate. Finally, Barnard said animal research has not been the foundation of progress in medi cal research. Barnard said much of the animal testing being conducted today is unnecessary as well as cruel to the animals used as subjects. He cited a federally-funded experiment at Louisiana State University that was started to de termine the effects of head injuries in combat sit uations. The conclusion, Barnard said, was that severe head injuries to the cats used in the exper iment caused them to quit breathing but that they still had a chance of survival if they were resusci tated immediately. “Where have these guys been?” Barnard asked. The results of the experiment should have been obvious enough, Barnard said, but the ex periment was made to seem even more unneces sary when it was revealed that a previous study had produced the same result — in 1894. The U.S. Surgical Corporation is a company that produces staplers used to close incisions made in surgery patients, Barnard said. The company operates a lab using live dogs to teach the company’s salespeople how to use the stapler so they may be better equipped to sell the device, he said. “We should not have salesmen use these de vices under any circumstances,” Barnard said. The government is expected to provide pro tection for animals under the Animal Protection Act, he said. But this act has provisions written into it that exempts animals while they are being used in experiments. “The animals are protected before the experi See Animals/Page 5 John Koldus gets award for top service Honor surprises Student Services VP By Pam Mooman Of The Battalion Staff Hard work is rewarded, as Dr. John J. Koldus recently found out. Koldus, Texas A&M’s vice president for Student Services, received the Distinguished Serv ice Award from the Texas Asso ciation of College and University Student Personnel Administra tors on Oct. 16. “It was a surprise,” Koldus said. Dr. Wayne Duke, past presi dent of TACUSPA, said there were three nominees for the award, which is not presented an nually. “It’S only given to those indi viduals the leadership feels are distinguished and deserving,” Duke said. Duke, who presented the See Koldus/Page 10 Correction Thursday’s edition of The Battal ion incorrectly reported the time pe riod in which the site of the George Bush Presidential Library will be named. The announcement should come in two to three months. Experts say victims of date rape face lifelong healing ly Kelly S. Brown f The Battalion Staff PART 2 OF A 2 PART SERIES The healing period for a victim of late rape is lifelong. Her trust in ieople has been weakened and her self-esteem taken away. Although [she may never fully ‘recover,’ ex perts say she must push forward and leal head-on with the tumultuous [experience. Linda Castoria, executive director >f the Brazos Valley Rape Crisis Center, said the victims’ emotional [scars keep them from ever being the same again, and sometimes their ex perience is even more traumatic than a sexual assault by a stranger "pecause the victim had trusted her ittacker. Who to call for help. . •Rape Crisis Hotline 779-RAPE •Student Counseling 845-4427 • Police 911 • A.P. Beutel Health Center • Student’s Legal Advisor845-5821 •St. Joseph Hospital 776-3777 •Humana Hospital 764-5100 845-1551 Last year at least 59 victims once trusted their predators: in Brazos County 25 date rape cases and 34 ac quaintance rape cases were brought to the BCRCC’s attention. Five inci dents involved men who raped other men. Before 1983, rape was considered a crime only against women, Casto ria said. Six years ago the Legislature voted to change the crime of rape to sexual assault to highlight the se riousness of the criminal act and do away with the degrading term. So few people consider men to be victims of rape, maybe sexually as saulted, but the term rape and the victim being a man is a scenario sel dom thought of in society. “There’s a stigma of ‘I am a man and should be able to maintain con trol,”’ she said. “Most men don’t give it serious thought that they can be raped. But think about it — if the criminal has a gun or a knife, it’s going to be difficult to keep control.” The Texas Penal Code says a per son commits sexual assault “if (they) cause . . . penetration of the anus, va gina or mouth of another person with a sexual organ or object, with out consent or causes another per son to contact or penetrate the mouth, anus or sexual organ of an other person without their consent.” Castoria said whomever the vic tim, a man or a woman, they must accept it and realize that it was not their fault. “It is so vital for them to realize that they shouldn’t feel guilty,” Cas toria said. “They have to stop blam ing themselves and start directing the blame toward the criminal — rape is a violent felony crime and a victim should not look at the situa tion like she asked for it.” But too often, the predator goes unpunished while the ‘survivor’ is left on an emotional roller coaster that’s ridden daily. With date rape, Castoria said the victim and the attacker might have mutual friends or she might be in a situation where she has to see him every day at work or school. “The victim thinks no one will be lieve her,” she said. “In some cases, she’s afraid of her parents finding out. But what they have to remem ber is that it’s rape and something has to be done. “They think somehow they should have seen the signs,” she said. “And while they’re feeling guilty, they’re confused and afraid.” Castoria said the victim is in the first phase of recovery at this point, where disbelief and shock are com mon emotions. The victims are faced with decisions like ‘should I press charges? Do I want my family and friends to know? Should I stay at work or school?’ Castoria said whatever the victim decides . in these instances, they should consider counseling a prior ity immediately. “They need to know that there are places they can go, places that will help,” she said. “Victims should call See Date rape/Page 4