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Texas A&M ■ % m m W #
The Battalion
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fol.89 No.53 USPS 045360 10 Pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, November 14,1989
ush presents Walesa
ith Medal of Freedom
Pump up the volume
■WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi-
_^dent Bush bestowed the presi-
clntial Medal of Freedom on Lech
“■'Walesa in an emotional White
House ceremony Monday and
promised “American aid has begun
■d more is coming” to Poland.
■“Lech Walesa showed how one
■dividual could inspire in others a
Bch so powerful that it vindicated
? ■elf, and changed the course of a
■don,” Bush said, referring to the
l|81 martial law crackdown against Walesa
the first free trade union in the So-
■t Bloc and its rise to power this
IHar.
■“History may make men, but Lech Walesa has made
I Btory,” Bush said.
■
■As the president spoke of the crackdown and Wale
sa' 11 months incarceration, Walesa’s eyes Filled with
t$irs.
■The Polish trade union leader arrived in Washington
as the Senate reached a bipartisan compromise on a
plan to give $657 million in aid to Poland and $65 mil
lion to Hungary, ending a long battle over the proper
scale of aid to those countries.
Walesa’s trip to the White House was the first stop on
a U.S. tour that will include a speech to Congress, a pri
vate dinner at the White House and attendance at the
annual convention of the AFL-CIO, the American
trade union federation.
Walesa and his “fellow workers in a brave union
called Solidarity” are shattering the communist hold on
Eastern Europe, Bush said.
“The iron curtain is fast becoming a rusted aban
doned relic, symbolizing a lost era and failed ideology,”
he said.
And Walesa’s example, said the president, “was mir
rored across Asia when ‘People Power’ became a chant.
First heard in the Philippines, then in Pakistan, and
South Korea, and yes, even in Tiananmen Square.”
The president, who has been criticized for not doing
enough to stimulate change in the Soviet Bloc, point
edly welcomed “Lech Walesa - a man of freedom” to
“the White House - the house of freedom.”
&M student
Idies on way
ack to B—CS
!■ A Texas A&M student on her
^■ay back to school Sunday af-
^■rnoon died when her car col-
^■ded with a truck pulling a horse
^■ailer on Texas.Highway 6.
I Michelle Yvette Mendiola, a
21-year-old freshman general
Tfr sti idies major from Montgomery,
■as pronounced dead at the
19 Bene of the accident about 7
Utiles south of College Station.
Texas Department of Public
Jafety ofFicials said Mendiola,
d iving a four-door Chevrolet
jp.ivalier, was traveling north on
ighway 6 when she crossed the
(Center stripe, struck the left side
oi a 1986 Toyota pickup and pro-
Beded to hit the horse trailer
^/Bead-on.
W B The driver of the pickup, Paul
Brand of Houston, was treated
( - and released from St. Joseph
^■ospital in Bryan. Brand’s
.■450,000 thoroughbred horse,
^■lifford, the only horse in the
^■omemade two-horse trailer,
avlBed to death shortly after the ac-
.Jident.
1‘B DPS ofFicials said both Men-
pjBiola and Brand were wearing
atbelts at the time of the colli-
Regents choose
Becton president
of Prairie View
■■
W .
. ,, ,
0^
By Kelly S. Brown
Of The Battalion Staff
Lt. Gen. Julius Becton Jr. will re
turn to Prairie View A&M Univer
sity, his alma mater — but, instead of
returning as a student, this time he
will be leading the school as the pres
ident.
A six-month nationwide search,
where more than 100 candidates
were considered at various stages,
came to an end when the Board of
Regents unanimously approved Bec
ton as president Monday.
The 63-year-old native of Bryn
Mawr, Pennsylvania will take office
Dec. 18.
He will be succeeding Dr. Percy
Pierre, who left office in May to be
the first holder of the Honeywell
Professorship in Electrical Engi
neering.
During the search for president,
Dr. Milton Bryant served as interim
president. He will return to his pre
vious post as the university’s vice
president for academic affairs.
Becton said he’s looking forward
to the challenge of working with the
Regents, chancellor, students,
alumni and faculty in leading Prairie
View A&M into a new era of excel
lence.
“Working together, we can build
on the accomplishments of the past
as we move into the 1990s and
beyond,” he said.
The Regents are confident with
Becton’s experience and credentials.
Chairman of the Board William
McKenzie said, “I am delighted that
he has agreed to accept the chal
lenge of leading the university into a
new era of excellence, building on
the solid foundation laid by his pre
decessors.”
Becton, who retired from the
Army in 1983 after serving nearly 40
years, is currently chief operating of
ficer for American Coastal Indus
tries.
Before leaving the military, Bec
ton served as director of of the Fed
eral Emergency Management
Agency for four years.
<■ if: ‘
Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack
Kim Harris, a junior agricultural education major, Harris says she gives every semester, when the
donates blood Monday morning in front of Sbisa. Wadley Blood Center comes to A&M.
esolution passes postponing cutting MSC trees
"By Melissa Naumann
—
Of The Battalion Staff
■The Faculty Senate approved a
iresoludon Monday to postpone cut
ting down or moving the trees in-
vllved in the Memorial Student
Center expansion.
KBy a 37-31 vote, the Senate ap
proved the resolution from the Per
sonnel and Welfare Committee, rec
ommending that the plans be
deferred until students, former stu
dents, faculty, staff and concerned
Bizens have the opportunity to re-
Bw the current and alternative
Bans and to verbalize their concerns
to Texas A&M President William
Bobley and the Board of Regents.
^ •Medicine Tribe holds rally/Page 4
; A second part of the approved reso-
Btion recommended that every ef-
c fort be made to revise the plans to
r'c a^oid destroying one tree, pruning
two trees heavily and transplanting
five.
BThe Faculty Senate serves as an
advisory committee to the University
.president and any decisions made by
■BfWe Senate must be approved by him
aiid the Board of Regents.
As the expansion plans stand now,
fbur live oak trees will be destroyed,
five that are more than 30 years old
11 be relocated on the grassy area
tween the MSC and the drill field,
10 that are less than 30 years old will
S B relocated in the fountain area
when the expansion is completed
"'and 10 that are less than 30 years old
E|ll be relocated elsewhere on cam-
|ftis. Fourteen new trees will be plan
ted.
-Jfk Dr. Benton Storey, chairman of
the Personnel and Welfare Commit-
3l“tee and a professor in the horticultu-
■l sciences department, said the ex-
Faculty Senate proposes committee to review bonfire
By Melissa Naumann
Of The Battalion Staff
The tradition of bonfire should be reviewed by
a committee consisting of student senators, fac
ulty senators and members of the Association of
Former Students, the Faculty Senate decided
Monday.
During Committee of the Whole, the Senate
approved a motion to recommend to the exec
utive committee that a committee be formed to
examine bonfire. Committee of the Whole is an
informal discussion time when the entire Senate
forms one committee to make suggestions, ask
questions or express concerns.
Dr. Richard Shumway, an agricultural eco
nomics professor, introduced the motion, saying
that he couldn’t condone bonfire since a student
died while working on it, and the Senate needs to
address the safety and academic concerns of bon
fire.
Max Stratton, Class of ’69, a senior lecturer in
the health and physical education department,
said he worked on bonfire as a student, and even
though it wasn’t an education in the academic
sense, it was an education in itself.
Also during Committee of the Whole, the Sen
ate approved a motion by Dr. James Rosenheim
to recommend to the executive committee that a
resolution dealing with racism be proposed.
Rosenheim, an associate professor in the his
tory department, said that, since the administra
tion had not publicly responded to the vandalism
of the shanty built by Students Against Apart
heid, the Senate should draft a resolution stating
that the “Faculty Senate deplores it and all other
acts of racism.”
Dr. Dean Gage, executive assistant to Presi
dent Mobley, said Mobley reviewed a public
statement Monday regarding the vandalism and
it should be released today.
In official business, the Senate approved add
ing eight undergraduate and four graduate
courses. The new undergraduate courses are:
• English 311 (to be cross-listed with Linguis
tics 311), Speech Sounds and Writing Systems.
(3-0). Credit 3.
• English 409 (to be cross-listed with Linguis
tics 409), Introduction to Linguistics. (3-0).
Credit 3.
• English 410, History of the English Lan
guage. (3-0). Credit 3.
• Linguistics 105 ( to be cross-listed with
Speech Communications 105), Language and
Communication. (3-0). Credit 3.
• Linguistics 409, Introduction to Linguistics.
(3-0). Credit 3.
• Linguistics 451, Introduction to Indo-Euro
pean Linguistics. (3-0). Credit 3.
pansion should be reconsidered
because he seriously doubts that five
of the trees will survive being trans
planted. Also, he said, students have
not been informed enough about
the expansion.
On the other hand, Brennan
Reilly, student liaison to the Faculty
Senate, said the Student Senate ap
proved the expansion, and the stu
dents who have spoken out against
the expansion are a vocal minority.
“There are costs, but the benefits
far outweigh the costs,” Reilly said.
Steve Hodge, manager of the Uni
versity Center, said a University
Center Advisory Committee has
been involved in the planning since
it began in 1985. This committee
consisted of the student body presi
dent, the MSC director, the presi
dent of the MSC, the director of stu
dent activities, the director of the
Office of School Relations, the head
of the theater arts department and
Hodge, the University Center man
ager.
Hodge said people have asked
him if the plans can be changed to
sa' e trees but this is not possible.
“You can’t expand around the
street or around the corner,” Hodge
said.
An alternative design was refused
by the Board of Regents, Hodge
said, because the expansion went
from the MSC toward the Gen. Or
mond R. Simpson Drill Field and the
Regents considered the front of the
MSC to be the real memorial. Plus,
the alternative building would have
formed a semicircle around the tree
that has been called Rudder Oak,
making the building less functional,
he said.
The expansion will not use any
taxpayer money, Hodge said, and,
because it uses student fees, the
planners wanted to give students as
much room as possible.
Hodge said that $1.1 million have
been spent on the design of the ex
pansion and that any redesign of any
significance would cost at least
$250,000.
“It is very difficult to add any
amount of square footage without
affecting any trees,” he said.
The trees that will be transplanted
will be treated by A1 Korenek, who
developed a new boxing technique.
Korenek is known for successfully
transplanting two 40-foot tall trees
with 22- and 29-inch diameters in
Austin. Here, the largest tree to be
transplanted, frequently called Rud
der Oak, is 27 inches in diameter.
Dr. Mark Sicilio, from the College
of Medicine, said the first cutting is
scheduled to start in mid-December
when most students will be out of
town.
“I think that’s convenient,” Sicilio
said. “It’s sly and it’s wrong.”
Dr. Merrill Sweet, a professor in
the biology department, said that,
since the expansion has been
planned for four years and has cost
$1.1 million so far, waiting might be
the best option.
“What’s the big hurry?” he said.
“Why the big rush? In other words,
let’s look at it again. After all, it’s not
over until the chainsaw sings.”
Scholarships,
awards given
to eight cadets
By Holly Becka
Of The Battalion Staff
Eight Corps of Cadets mem
bers received awards and schol
arships during last Thursday’s
Fall Review.
Three senior and three junior
cadets received the Boot and
Saber Awards, presented an
nually by the Wofford Cain
Foundation.
The award is given to cadets
from the three military branches
and includes a $1,200 scholarship
for the senior recipients and $600
for the junior recipients.
Army recipients are Elton Don
Parker, Jr., a senior biology major
from Houston, and Stephen W.
Walker, a junior psychology ma
jor from Oakgrove, Ky.
Air Force recipients are Mat
thew Poling, a senior biomedical
science major from San Antonio,
and Todd Murphy, a junior in
dustrial engineering major from
Missouri City, Texas.
Navy-Marine recipients are
John L. Albers, a senior industrial
engineering major from San An
tonio, and Jonathon D. Whittles,
a junior biomedical science major
from Cloverdale, Ore.
Three cadets have been recog
nized for outstanding ROTC
summer camp achievement. Ar
thur Simon III, a political science
major from League City, finished
first among A&M cadets at the
Fort Riley Army ROTC Ad
vanced Camp. Richard Walker, a
senior history major from San
Antonio, and Albers were also ac
knowledged as for achievement.