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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 1989)
lie Battalion 01.89 No.51 USPS 045360 12 Pages College Station, Texas Friday, November 10,1989 . Germany opens Berlin Wall Who needs a d ° 9? in response to citizens’ exodus '^BERLIN (AP) — “Open the gate! Open the gate!” chanted about 100 Easi Berliners who gathered Thurs day night at the Brandenburg Gate, the huge monument just over the Berlin Wall in East Berlin. ^■inally with government appro val, the military did. ^Kast Germans coursed through Berlin Wall checkpoints and others entered West Germany at other bor- ""der crossings. Jubilant people pranced and danced atop the Berlin Wall, a sight unthinkable only hours earlier. ast Germans reacted to the news with astonishment. ■ is it really true?” asked Mario ^ftmidt, 18. ^■Now I no longer feel locked in here,” said Uwe Landgraf, 28, who hoped to travel to Paris. “I think that even some of those who left recently will come back now,” said a 25-year-old electrician who would give his name only as Thomas. “What joy! This is the best thing that happened in 100 years!” yelled a West Berlin man as he crossed into what had just earlier been forbidden territory. East Germany’s embattled Com munist leaders said Thursday they opened western borders and would allow citizens to travel freely any where for the first time since the Wall was erected in 1961. The move ended decades of fenc ing in East Germans to prevent their flight to the West and could leave the wall — a symbol of the differ ences between East and West —as a mere monument to the Cold War. Since 1961, 191 people are known to have died while fleeing to the West from East Germany. New Communist leader Egon Krenz also urged a law ensuring free and democratic elections in a des perate attempt to gain control of his country. More than 200,000 East Germans have fled West so far this year; more than 50,000 have left since Saturday alone. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to demand democratic reforms and the end of 40 years of one-party rule. Guenter Schabowski, a member of the ruling Politburo, said East Ger many’s heavily fortified frontier with West Germany would be opened as a provisional step until a law is passed to allow East Germans greater free dom of travel. Schabowski did not say when the law would be passed and it was not immediately clear when the borders would be opened. He also said East Germany was not yet ready to tear down all its barriers. The decision, made during a Cen tral Committee meeting, means all East Germans “can travel over all East German border checkpoints,” including through the Berlin Wall, Schabowski told reporters in East Berlin. President Bush said if East Ger many makes good on its promise to allow free emigration, “this wall built in ’61 will have very little relevance.” Apartheid shanty constant target tor vandalism, racial intolerance 3y Kelly S. Brown Df The Battalion Staff aasm does not exist at Texas \&M, or so that’s the train of :hought of some. k; Apparently, a different train of ihought stops daily at A&M, and ivhat’s on board is difficult for many :o believe. J»The Students Against Apartheid shanty, which was erected Sunday near the Academic and Harrington buildings, has been the target of sev eral vandalism incidents this week, ending with its destruction Wednes day. in ^rpouglas Pace, a freshman aero space engineering major, said he witnessed the shanty’s demise. HHe was leaving Harrington class room building around 6:20 that eve ning when he saw a “group of black college-age-looking men tearing down the shack.” HHe said he watched from 30 feet away as the “12 or so guys silently ^tore the boards from the structure, kicked the walls and threw pieces of it all over the place. It freaked me out.” Hit took the men 10 to 15 minutes l to dismantle the shack, Pace said, r i and in that time scores of students U passed by. ,/>■ Pace said while the vandals weren’t concerned with anyone see- f ing them, onlookers did their best to look the other way. 1', H “The guys took no precautions,” r he said. “They just went about their business, while people passing by p tried to disassociate themselves from ** the incident. I think everyone was too scared to do anything because these guys were pretty big. ” )tl Speculation by University Police '» Department Director Bob Wiatt, said while it’s impossible to know the motive of the vandals, it could be If that whoever did it might have been offended by the racist remarks writ ten on the shack Tuesday. “KKK, White Supremacy and Long Live Racism,” were inscribed on the walls of the structure. SAA President Irwin Tang, a sophomore political science major, said he’s hesitant to believe the eye witness’s account of the Wednesday incident, citing that “black people wouldn’t do it, even in retaliation for the racist remarks which were spray painted over by Wednesday morn- ing.” The shanty was built to fight rac ism, he said, not condone it. “I have no idea who did this,” Tang said, shaking his head. “It defi nitely didn’t fall down on its own accord — there were pieces every where, with one piece tied around a tree.” Tang said while the purpose of the shack is to illustrate the poor conditions the black people suffer through in South Africa, it shows that racism is not only alive in South Africa, but at A&M as well. Students who have been at A&M the past several years may remember the controversy the shanty has brought each time it is built. Some cry out it’s an eyesore, while others say it’s the necessary element to shake those unaware of the plight in South Africa, and still others take an apathetic stance. Whatever one’s opinion, Wiatt said, no one has the right to destroy the shanty or do anything to it be cause it is a legitimite structure rep resenting an A&M-recognized orga nization that has gone through all the paper work to get a permit to display it. Wiatt said one of the stipulations he gave for allowing the shanty on campus was that the SAA would not sleep in the shack at night like they have in years past. “Several years ago they slept in it to make sure no one would vandalize it,” Wiatt said. “Our concern was that five or 10 drunks would stumble upon the shack and some kind of vi olence would erupt.” Wiatt, who* called the tearing down of the shanty ‘dumb,’ said whoever the people are sneeking out under the cover of darkness with the intent to deface the shanty are actu ally enhancing the SAA’s cause by drawing more attention to it. And attention the shanty has brought. Two years ago two students cruci- See Shack/Page 12 Photo by Mike C. Mulvey Paige Schlender, a junior psychology major from New Braunfels who believes that dogs aren’t always man’s best friend, pets her snake Thursday afternoon. Cuba Libre, a six-foot boa constric tor, keeps Schlender company by regularly traveling to and from her classes in her backpack. Between classes, the snake slith ers around outside. Senate discusses plan to delay MSC expansion The Faculty Senate will discuss a resolution Monday to postpone and revise plans for the Memorial Student Center expansion. The resolution, from the Per sonnel and Welfare Committee, proposes to revise the plans to avoid destroying one tree, heavily pruning two trees and transplant ing five trees. The second part of the resolu tion proposes that the plans be postponed until students, former students, faculty, staff and citi zens at large have an opportunity to review the current plans. Members of the committee have been working on the resolu tion since August when they first learned of the MSC expansion plans, Dr. Benton Storey, chair man of the committee, said. Storey, Class of ’49 and a pro fessor in the horticultural sci ences department, said the reso lution, more than anything else, is to give students a chance to have input about the expansion since money from their fees will help pay for the project. The Faculty Senate meeting will be in 601 Rudder from 3:15 to 6 p.m. Committee examines choices for overdue library expansion By Mia B. Moody Of The Battalion Staff Expansion of Sterling C. Evans Li brary is overdue, but thanks to pro posals by the Library Expansion Committee, changes will begin as early as next year, Irene Hoadley, NOTIS program in library/Page 3 director of Evans Library said. “With buildings going up all over campus, library renovations were put off, but this has been designated as the year to plan some alternatives for expansion of the library,” she said. “Expansions will probably be gin next year.” The Library Expansion Commit tee has come up with five alterna tives and is talking to students and faculty members to see what they want done. Three of the proposals favor remodeling the library and the other two favor building new library facilities, she said. “I I—ibrary renovations were put off, but this has been designated as the year to plan some alternatives for expansion of the library.” — Irene Hoadley, Evans Library Director Hoadley said it will cost $150 per square foot to make expansions. The most popular idea among the com mittee would expand the library into the adjacent parking lot, which would provide more space for stacks and staff offices. Another of the committee’s ideas would connect the library to the Agriculture Building by a tunnel. Constructing a new building on the west end of campus, which would have stack space, electronic access and a large amount of study space, is another popular idea among the group, Hoadley said. The committee also proposed en closing the sidewalk area around the library and turning it into group study facilities. Another alternative suggests a food facilities and study area library with no space for books. A&M fans leave opponents with mixed impressions By Holly Becka Of The Battalion Staff PART 2 OF A 2 PART SERIES I Losing shows some of a person’s character, but winning shows all of It According to some, in recent ath letic events, this idea of sports- anship seems to have been thrown y the wayside by the fans of success- ul Aggie teams. Two University of Houston stu- ents claim they were harrassed by a roup of Texas A&M students at a olleyball match featuring the two ichools. Recently, at the Rice-A&M botball game, students from Rice niversity and members of Rice’s arching Owl Band say they were ffended when the Aggie crowd had an impromptu yell practice during most of the MOB’s halftime perfor mance, drowning out the band. Aggies retaliated because the Rice Owl mascot disrupted the beginning of the A&M band’s performance by breaking the ranks of the band members. Head Yell Leader Waylan Cain said it was his decision to have the yell practice. He said he believed he was justi fied in doing it because he’s seen the way the Rice band has ridiculed A&M in the past. He said in addition to the mascot interrupting the Aggie band’s performance, some male Rice students who were dressed as yell leaders were shouting obscenities and making gestures at the A&M crowd. Cain also said after he and the other yell leaders escorted the owl mascot from the field, band mem bers and the Rice students dressed as yell leaders harrassed freshman Corps members who set up line markers for the Aggie band. “I was just tired of it,” Cain said. “Our fans were starting to yell and gesture back, and I didn’t want us to stoop to their level by cussing and exchanging gestures. I just wanted them to leave us alone, and the yells were a polite way for us to say ‘enough’ and ‘do your own tricks yourself.’ ” Cain said he ended the yell prac tice when he thought it had been ad equate. He led all of A&M’s yells once. “That was enough to let them know we didn’t appreciate it,” Cain said. “In the past we’ve tolerated that, and it was my decision this year to pay them back. I got a warm re sponse and whoops from the crowd and I thought we had a pretty good response to do that. I think it was a good way to handle it. “As yell leaders we try to keep people from cussing, making obscene gestures, throwing things or verbally harrassing people from other teams — stuff that would not reflect well on A&M.” Corps Commander Matt Poling said he understood Cain’s reasoning, but he didn’t agree with it. “I went on the field and told them that was enough because I thought it was inappropriate,” Poling said. “I think part of being an Aggie is yes, we’re better, but we shouldn’t have to advertise it. General Ormond Simpson said that Aggies should be confident without being arrogant, and I think there is an arrogance in fans now. “I hate to say it, but the Aggies were better fans when the football team was 2-7 than now. I believe we have more class than we showed.” Dr. Ken Dye, the MOB’s band di rector, said the Rice mascot and the students dressed as yell leaders were not affiliated with the band. “I can understand the reaction,” Dye said. “Your fans were angry the owl ran out there. But I think the way it was handled was an overreac tion.” Dye said the mascot, a woman who was elected by the student body. was unaware of A&M’s tradition of not allowing people to run through its band. Dye said the MOB members tried to finish the halftime performance, but they found it difficult to do so. “They were mad, but they knew you were mad when the owl ran onto the field,” he said. “It puts you in an awkward spot to complain about a situation that’s very volatile.” Dye said that since Rice was cele brating its homecoming (during the A&M-Rice football game, he thinks a negative perception of the Aggies will result because of fans’ actions. “There has always been a tension when our schools have come to gether, but its gone well for quite some time,” Dye said. “This will make it bumpy, but we’ll just deal with it as it goes. A lot of alumni were there and were angered. Many have written letters to A&M.” A&M student Heather West, a ju nior economics major from Mexia, said it was hard not to become in volved in the peer pressure of partic ipating in the retaliatory yells. “My best friend and I didn’t par ticipate,” she said. “I can understand the reaction, and I think the reaction was merited, but retaliation is some thing not appropriate of A&M.” She said she didn’t think A&M’s reputation of being courteous to visi tors would be tarnished. “I don’t think it will give A&M a reputation of being rude because it was not a very populated game and there was not enough coverage of it,” West said. “And I think that a lot of people understood why A&M did what it did. The few Rice fans I was with could understand why A&M re taliated.” “What I think we need to remem ber is that what the mascot did was on her own initiative and it wasn’t the band, although those were the people affected.” A&M Student Body President Ke vin Buchman said he didn’t think A&M fans had meant their reaction to be malicious. “Looking back, I think everyone agrees it was inappropriate,” Buch man said. “I don’t think that it was done maliciously, and I don’t think it’s all the yell leaders’ fault. I don’t want to seem like I’m coming down on them. The crowd egged them on.” Rice students and MOB band members Stephen Balkum and Erik Daniel both said A&M fans directed their disgust at the wrong group. Daniel said he wasn’t sure what provoked A&M fans. “As far as I could tell, I didn’t see how they could react like that,” Dan iel said. “I heard it was preplanned. “I don’t think this changes any thing (in our schools’ relationship) in the long run. Rice people just started saying, ‘Oh, well. That’s the way they are, and that’s they way we are.’ I thought it was a childish way to get us back, but it’s more of a personal thing for me.” Balkum said he was upset that the yell practice lasted the entire MOB performance, and essentially ruined his school’s halftime activities. A&M student Missy Davis, a soph omore psychology major from Aus tin, said she attended the A&M-Rice game with her grandparents, who celebrated their 50th Rice reunion, her parents, who celebrated their 25th reunion, and her brother, who celebrated his senior homecoming. “Because I was sitting with rela tives I saw it from their point of view,” Davis said. “That wasn’t spirit or sportsmanship at all — it w'as rude. If Rice ever had any respect for A&M, it’s blown.” The Battalion has received many letters to the editor about this issue. Most writers have stated they were upset with fellow fans’ behavior, but more letters defending the Aggies’ behavior have been submitted within the past few days. A&M graduate Susan Rowland Rice wrote to The Battalion, saying that because Aggies have accepted the MOB’s abuse in the past, the See Fans/Page 12