Texas A&M
Battalion
11
ifol*89 No.50 USPS 045360 14 Pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, Novembers, 1989
A&M students, faculty
discuss black politicians
--By Mia B. Moody
j^Of The Battalion Staff
. Th
tNew York’s mayor and Douglas
Wilder as Virginia’s governor have
A&M students and faculty members
spec ulating on whether the roles of
blacks in politics are improving or
rtnbaining the same.
TIB I believe the recent elections of
Wilder, whose position is pending a
vote* recount, and Dinkins are indi
cations that blacks in politics are
headed in a positive direction,” Dr.
Br)an Jones, head of the political
! science department, said. “In the fu
ture as blacks begin to appeal to a
( larger variety of people we will see
mo> e blacks in office.”
j^B'ommy Burns, junior political sci
ence major from Waco said he be
lieves the elections of Wilder and
Dimkins are not an indication of how
Macks in politics will fare in the fu
ture.
jr’Ml don’t see an increase in the
' number of blacks elected to political
mc positions because racist attitudes are
HjMreasing on college campuses na-
EtBiwide and the students of today
will decide the fate of the govern-
' ment tommorow,” he said.
isMBiurns said black representation
T'Hy even decrease as negative ste-
reotypes of blacks due to the media
continue to rise. He said blacks are
ays portrayed as drug dealers in
scasts and as pimps and prosti-
utfes in movies.
fcteve Miller, chair of the minority
lUtreach committee of College Re-
upicans, said he thinks the role of
|cks in politics will increase be-
se blacks now have good role
iddels involved in politics.
Black children will look at Wilder
[I Dinkins and know that they
e a chance,” Miller said. “But I
ieve the election of black candi-
|es may have drawbacks because
y may decide to fight only for the
k cause and forget that whites
Iso voted for them.”
_-Bfecott Kibbe, president of College
Republicans said, “I see blacks in-
njtcreasing in political offices in the fu
ture, but the key to this increase is
or them to get involved in the Re-
ublican party.
Democrats win nation-wide;
abortion issue plays key role
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Democrats savored off-year elec
tion success in “everything, all over
the country” Wednesday, while
blacks and abortion rights groups
celebrated L. Douglas Wilder’s likely
victory as governor of Virginia and
David Dinkins’ triumph as New
York’s new mayor.
“It’s a very tough day for Republi
cans,” conceded Rep. Newt Gin
grich, the GOP whip in the House.
President Bush said, “Wait till
next year.”
Republican J. Marshall Coleman
declared his intention to seek a re
count in Virginia’s close race, saying
there must be public confidence in
the election outcome “for the good
of the new governor.”
Coleman said Wilder, if victo
rious, would have his full support.
But Wilder — leader by 5,500
votes in complete, unofficial returns
from Tuesday’s balloting — wasn’t
waiting to stake his claim to history
as the nation’s first elected black gov
ernor.
“It starts coming home to you,
something happened last night,” he
said.
Asked whether the color of his
skin had mattered, he told a news
conference, “I’m saying it is not and
was not a factor in the results be
cause I was elected.”
Dinkins went to City Hall in New
York where he will soon take office
as the first black mayor of the na
tion’s largest city.
“I got a pretty fair percentage of
the white vote, and I think that’s
very important,” said the man who
pledged to bring racial harmony to
his city.
He said voters had spoken “with
the voice of hope, here and in Vir
ginia.”
In New Jersey, Democratic Rep.
James Florio celebrated his personal
victory as governor after two pre
vious campaign defeats. Democrats
savored regaining the state’s top job
after eight years as well as two-house
control in the state legislature, assur
ing them the upper hand when the
state’s congressional districts are re
apportioned after the 1990 census.
The Republican post-mortem was
in progress, even before the final
precinct tallies were known.
Gingrich said his party must be
“willing to rethink exactly what we’re
going to do in 1990 if we’re going to
have a successful year” when 34 Sen
ate seats, 36 governorships and all
435 House seats are on the ballot.
Sen. Bob Packwood, of Oregon, a
liberal Republican with a strong pro-
choice voting record, said, “If we go
in 1990 and abortion is the issue . . .
we will lose on that issue.”
Abortion rights groups read the
returns the same way.
“This morning’s election results
are a wake up call for George Bush,”
an opponent of abortion, said Kate
Michelman, executive director of the
National Abortion Rights Action
League.
“To politicians everywhere, we say
with conviction: If you’re out of
touch with the pro-choice majority,
you’re out of office.”
Kibbe, a history major from
Hondo said, “Black roles in the Re
publican party have already in
creased. In fact, Bush has appointed
many blacks to posts including chief
of staff and chair of health and hu
man services.”
J. Frank Hernandez, a junior En
glish major from Dallas, said he be
lieves the recent elections of Dinkins
and Wilder are major steps politi
cally and socially for blacks,
See Minorities/Page 14
IS?.
Twins Shanon (left) and Sharon Williams, both sophomore gen
eral studies from Houston and notorious for playing practical
jokes on their Davis-Gary neighbors came home Wednesday to
find their furniture had been moved outside the dorm.
Photo by Frederick D. Joe
Ri ( ^ .
Rival schools say A&M’s spirit can border on hostility
--By Holly Becka
Of The Battalion Staff
r
feRecent athletic events involving
L Texas A&M seem to have brought
s. Dut the fiercest rivalries and atti-
]iso tudes in fans from opposing teams.
rityfi^-
-yfc
;in
uiK- 1
Although friendly competition
has positive results, numerous A&M
leaders, students and faculty mem
bers from other schools generally
agree that competition with A&M
hasn’t been all fun and games lately.
Two students from the University
of Houston claim they were har-
rassed by a group of A&M students
at an A&M-UH volleyball match.
Most recently, students from Rice
University and members of Rice’s
PART 1 OF A 2 PART SERIES
Marching Owl Band say they were
insulted and offended at Aggies’ re
taliatory behavior during the MOB’s
halftime performance. After the
Rice Owl mascot (a person in a cos
tume) disrupted the beginning of
the Aggie Band’s performance by
running onto the football field, Ag
gie fans had an impromptu yell
practice, drowning out the MOB.
The Battalion has received nu
merous letters by students who have
looked back and said what A&M
fans did was wrong. In the minority
are students who defend their be-
jid
serA
:oyc :
xrt"
ait-
•avi?
Good for two
Photo by Scott D. Weaver
fray Parks, a junior history major from Bryan slams two points in
quick game of basketball. Parks and a friend were enjoying the
unusually warm November weather by playing on the Schu-
lacher basketball courts late Tuesday evening.
Party chief replaces
old guard in move
to quell restlessness
havior.
Several weeks ago at the A&M-
UH volleyball match, Houston stu
dent Michael Danke brought to the
event a flag he said is two-foot by
four-foot mounted on a six-foot alu
minum pole.
After his team won the first game,
Danke said he took the flag and ran
around the floor and bleachers of G.
Rollie White Coliseum. In an inter-
ing major from Columbus, Ohio,
said. “They just had the offhand as
sumption that something bad was
going to happen. They said that if
something did happen, they couldn’t
help it.”
Danke said a patrol officer at the
game told him that there was a lot of
tradition at A&M and if Danke
blocked someone’s view with the
BERLIN (AP) — Communist
Party chief Egon Krenz on Wednes
day ousted the old guard from the
ruling Politburo and replaced them
with reformers in a desperate move
to quell widespread unrest and
strengthen his 3-week-old lead
ership.
Thousands of East Germans disil
lusioned by 40 years of Communist
rule and skeptical of promised re
forms continued to flood from their
homeland, with more than 50,000
reaching West Germany since Satur
day. Pro-reform groups pleaded
with their countrymen to stay and
help “build a real democratic so
ciety.”
Krenz hurled a stinging attack on
his predecessor and long-time politi
cal patron Erich Honecker, and
Communist authorities took the first
steps toward registering New Fo
rum, the nation’s largest pro-democ
racy group.
And in another first, a top Com
munist held out the possibility of
free elections, a major demand of
those who have demonstrated for
democracy.
“Our country is going through a
tense and extremely difficult devel
opment,” Krenz said in a speech to
the Central Committee, which unan
imously approved his proposal to
dissolve the entire 21-member Polit
buro.
The Central Committee an
nounced the election of a new 11-
member Politburo and reaffirmed
Krenz, 52, as the party’s secretary
general. Krenz and six other Polit
buro members were re-elected.
The committee elevated four new
members to the Politburo, the na
tion’s most powerful decision-mak
ing body. They included Hans Mod-
row, the 61-year-old Dresden party
chief who is said to be a leading ad
vocate for democratic reforms.
The Central Committee proposed
Modrow for the post of premier,
which has been empty since Tues
day’s resignation of the entire Cab
inet.
The presidium of the parliament
was to meet Thursday to set a date
for convening the full parliament to
elect a new Cabinet.
In Washington, deputy White
House press secretary Roman Popa-
diuk said the Bush administration
hoped the shakeup “is a step on the
road to stable and evolutionary re
form.”
The United States hopes East
German leaders will use the changes
as an opportunity to establish a dia
logue with its own citizens “so the de
sire for peaceful change can be met,”
Popadiuk said.
All of the aging Politburo mem
bers dropped were closely associated
with Honecker, whom Krenz re
placed Oct. 18.
view, Danke said A&M yell leaders flag, he would take the flag,
told him “not to run on our (A&M’s)
side.” Danke and his girlfriend decided
to move to the top of the stands to
“I didn’t feel like they were threat
ening me,” Danke, a junior market- See Fans/Page 14
New state law changes
fee installment plan
By Andrea Warrenburg
Of The Battalion Staff
A new law enacted fc>y the Texas
legislature will affect the more than
13,000 Texas A&M students who
pay their fees in installments.
The statute, governing fee instal
lments at all state institutions of
higher education, will significantly
increase the first installment amount
that is due prior to the first, day of
classes.
“Part of the reason why the legis
lature enacted the law is because
there is a high level of payment de
linquency throughout the state,”
Thomas H. Taylor, A&M comptrol
ler, said.
Effective in Spring 1990, the law
eliminates two- and four-payment
installment plans and replaces them
with a new three-payment plan.
Nondefferable fees, such as parking
and football tickets, and one-half of
the deferrable fees, tuition and Uni
versity fees, must be paid before the
first day of classes.
Taylor said he thinks the new pay
ment plan is of no particular benefit
to siuuems oecause tftey nave io pay
more of their fees earlier, but that it
will benefit the A&M administration
in terms of pre-registration.
In the past, pre-registration was
before the last installment payment
was due. With the new plan, the last
payment must be paid before pre-
registration begins.
“It gives us a little more leverage,”
Taylor said. “Because if students
don’t pay, they can’t pre-register.”
The Texas legislature enacted the
law to take effect this semester. But
the A&M Board of Regents asked
for a delay to allow time to inform
students.
The Fiscal Department sent let
ters to students on the installment
plan and published information
about the change in the Spring 1990
class schedule book.
Taylor said A&M does not have a
significant problem with students on
the installment plan not paying their
fees.
“The A&M student body just
seems to be a little more responsi
ble,” Taylor said. “But it will help in
crease collections statewide.”
For more information, contact the
Fiscal Department at 845-8127.