The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, November 16, 1989, Image 1

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Vol.89 No.55 USPS 045360 14 Pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, November 16,1989
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Demonstrators picket Richards rally
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A group of pro-life supporters gather at the Brazos Center to dis
tribute literature to those attending an Ann Richards gubernatorial
Photo by Fredrick D.Joe
rally. The pro-lifers do not belong to a cohesive group, they
merely showed up individually to protest.
Asl
Pro-lifers picket
Dem. Richards’
campaign speech
By Michael Kelley
Of The Battalion Staff
Democratic gubernatorial candi
date Ann Richards received a warm
welcome from approximately 120
supporters at the Brazos Center in
Bryan Wednesday night. She was
also greeted by the* first pro-life
demonstrators to picket against her
pro-choice stance.
About 20 pro-life demonstrators
and their children handed out anti
abortion pamphlets to Richards’
supporters. They also carried signs
showing slogans such as “Save the
Whales, Save Human Life” and
“Ann: If you won’t support life- we
won’t support you.”
“We in the pro-life movement in
this area try to come out and bring
the fact of the unborn baby before
the people, and contact and educate
them to keep the issue before the
public, when a candidate, who is
pro-death (pro-choice) comes to
town,” said Diane Sarber, who coor
dinated the demonstration. “I’m
sorry to say, but the Democrats don’t
have much of a choice for governor,
as far as voting pro-life because the
candidates are all pro-abortion.
“As far as organizing it (the dem
onstration), it was very loosely orga
nized,” Sarber said. “People were
just contacted if they wantea to come
out and make a statement, and that’s
what happened.”
Sarber said the pro-life demon
strators were protesting Ann Rich
ards’ stance as well as other pro-
choice candidates. She said they
missed Attorney General Jim Mat
tox’s College Station appearances
Oct. 25 and 27 because they were
busy with their personal lives and
theyjust missed it.
“We will come out for any one
(candidate) that will not support life
for the unborn,” Sarber said.
Margaret Reese, a pro-life sup
porter from Bryan, said she came
out to tell pro-choice politicians that
there are many pro-lifers in Texas.
“The grassroots are much
broader than organized politics rea
lize,” Reese said. “There are so many
people out there that are even un
touched that maybe are not partici
pating.”
When questioned about the pick
eting pro-life supporters outside,
Richards said, “That’s the first time
that’s ever happened, but I certainly
respect their right to speak and to
express their opinion.
"I have very strong feelings that
most of those people do not realize
that there are thousands of children
in this state who are not cared for at
present in the United States, over 40
percent of (whom) live in poverty,”
Richards continued. “I also think
that it is fundamental for a woman
to make that choice. A legislator or
congressman or bureaucrat can’t
make that decision for her.”
Richards said it saddens her that
such people are single issue voters
when the state of Texas is facing so
many other problems.
Richards
By Michael Kelley
Of The Battalion Staff
Education is the key to solving the crime
and economic problems of Texas, state trea
surer and Democratic gubernatorial candi
date Ann Richards said Wednesday in Bryan.
Richards gave the same type of motivatio
nal speech to about 120 people attending her
dinner/fundraiser at the Brazos Center as the
speech that brought her instant national fame
at the Democratic National Convention in
1988.
“There is no single issue facing Texas as
important as the education of our children,”
said Richards, who is a former junior high
school teacher. “If we do not do our job in ed
ucation, then all our work on the economy
calls education No. 1 priority
and in criminal justice will be lost.”
Richards said high technology is critical to
Texas’ economic future and that education is
key to the success of creating jobs in Texas’
high technology fields.
“Our job is to educate a work force that is
prepared to work with the high technology,”
Richards said. “If we don’t start investing in
our childrens’ brains, instead of investing in
astroturf, then Texas is in trouble.”
Richards criticized the state for not work
ing to decrease the high dropout rate of tea
chers from Texas public schools. This rate is
due to inefficient bureaucratic management
of teachers by the Texas Education Agency in
Austin, she said. Too much money is being
spent on bureaucrats, Richards said, and not
enough on teachers and children.
Richards said the only way to decrease
crime in Texas is to increase prisoner rehabil
itation and to decrease the number of school
dropouts. She quoted figures stating 80 per
cent of persons in the Texas Department of
Corrections are high school dropouts and 85
percent committed the crime under the influ
ence of alcohol and drugs.
Richards called for more investment in
education to break the crime cycle in Texas in
which uneducated prisoners are released
from TDC facilities, but return to their old
ways because they have no alternative, such as
getting a job. Crime becomes their only alter
native, which ends up costing the state once
again. She also called for alcohol and drug re
habilitation of prisoners for the same reason.
Richards also said the state needs a health
care plan to meet the needs of suburban areas
of the state. She suggested training paramedi
cal professionals also so they can transport in
jured persons to larger urban hospitals.
Richards criticized Mattox’ plan to fund
education in Texas with a state lottery be
cause it is an unstable source of income for
future generations. She suggested using lot
tery revenue for the general revenue funds of
the state.
On public finance in Texas, Richards said
she supports a temporary tax increase, be
cause she sees no other way to meet the court
order to fix the system, due by May. She said
the real problem with any other system, other
than a temporary tax increase, is that it takes
time to do audits that determine how much
money is needed and where it needs to be
spent. Also, a new system takes from 18
months to two years to take effect.
A&M reacts to East Germany’s freedoms
1
By Andrea Warrenburg
Of The Battalion Staff
y
It was an historic moment. A mo
ment that sent chills up and down
the spines of millions of people
across the globe. After 28 years, the
border between East and West Ber
lin was abolished. But to many, the
chills meant different things.
“My first reaction was
amazement,” said Tevhit Koprucu, a
junior business major from Stut
tgart, in southwestern West Ger
many. “I didn’t know what to think.
I couldn’t believe they really opened
up the border.”
Woulf Koepke, an A&M German
professor from Lubeck, near the
□order of East Germany, said, “At
first it was a big party. Now the peo
ple need to sober up and realize the
great opportunity they have.”
A Texas A&M historian said it was
an event that will live forever in the
history books, but also will be
haunted by the past.
“It is remarkable to live through
times where everything changes,”
said Arnold Krammer, an A&M his
tory professor who has written ex
tensively on German history. “This
event may lead to reunification and
that scares the daylights out of ev
eryone. They would be about 80 mil
lion people strong. If you’ll remem
ber, whenever Germany has become
strong in the past we have had a
world war.
“East Germany is a country with
out a history,” Krammer said. “It
was a political creation in 1945. And
if the politics change, there is no rea
son for it to remain.”
To a political scientist, it is a sur
face change with unforeseen conse
quences.
“The (East German) government
has lost its authority derived from
the Kremlin,” John Roberson, A&M
associate professor of political sci
ence, said. “Now that this is gone,
they can’t impose sanctions legitima
tely.”
Roberson said the unforeseen
consequences below the surface raise
these questions: What will happen to
Germany? And what will happen to
the European Community?
In terms of what will happen to
Germany, Roberson said if the two
countries reunify, Germany will
have a difficult time remaining com
mitted to the Western alliance. If
they don’t reunify, the only way
West Germany can live with East
Germany is to form some kind of
democratic society.
In December, 12 European coun
tries will meet in Strasbourg^ France,
to discuss the formation of a com
mon European market with a com
mon currency.
Roberson said West Germany is
the most important member of the
European community and the other
countries want West Germany to be
the location for the central bank.
Now that the Berlin Wall is no
longer a barrier, the other countries
are afraid it will hinder the Euro
pean coalition efforts.
To an economist, the world is wit
nessing the collapse of socialism and
the rise of capitalism.
“It was a marvelous event,” Dr.
Morgan Reynolds, A&M economics
professor, said. “There is now wide
spread recognition that freedom
serves for wealth and slavery serves
for poverty.
“But we may see horror stories
along the way in how the leadership
evolves,” Reynolds said. “We can’t
rule out a Tiananmen Square
boomerang. But it looks optimistic.”
AH agree that the opening of the
western borders and ending the divi
sion of what was once a common
people is a landmark event, but
there are many other factors in
volved.
IS
e
[1
Questions about drugs
answered by telephone
By Todd Connelley
Of The Battalion Staff
An occasional marijuana user
begins to wonder about the long
term effects of the drug. An anx
ious mother discovers a plastic
baggie of cocaine in her son’s
room. A smoker with a three-
pack-a-day habit wants informa
tion on the best way to quit. These
people now have a quick, anony
mous place to turn.
The Community Drug Educa
tion System, developed by Luby’s
Cafeteria, combines a computer
disk and telephone technologies
to provide timely drug and alco
hol educational information
through a local access number,
268-1594. Once the number is
reached, callers can access any of
55 pre-recorded messages with
the help of a menu that lists the
three-digit code for each mes
sage.
The formal dedication was
made Wednesday at the Bryan
Council Chambers. Bryan Mayor
Marvin Tate and College Station
Mayor Larry Ringer accepted the
system on behalf of the cities
from Luby’s Vice President of
Marketing Vernon Schrader.
A special system and menu also
have been developed for Texas
A&M.
CDES can be accessed from
anywhere in Bryan and College
Station free of charge. It was ini
tiated by the Just Say No Founda
tion. The system received the
President’s Citation for Private
Sector Initiatives Award in 1988.
Committee hears arguments
in tenure case for biology prof
By Julie Myers
Of The Battalion Staff
Closing arguments and testimony were presented
Wednesday in the open tenure hearing of Assistant
Professor of Biology Lynn Lamoreux.
Lamoreux, 56, who was eligible for tenure and a pro
motion in 1987, is contesting her denial of tenure on
the basis of age and sex discrimination. In the biology
department, as in most departments, assistant profes
sors up for promotion and tenure are voted on by all
tenured professors in the department. In Lomoreux’s
case, two separate votes were taken; both times a major
ity supported her promotion and tenure.
However, Department of Biology head Timothy Hall
did not support the action.
Lamoreux subsequently appealed the decision and
was directed to the Tenure Advisory Committee, where
both sides presented their cases.
The Tenure Advisory Committee supported Lamo
reux and her charges of sex discrimination and viola
tion of due process, although they did not find evidence
of age discrimination.
Lamoreux charges discrimination on three grounds.
She contends she was denied use of necessary research
equipment. She also cites age and sex discrimination as
reasons she was not allowed to attend a symposium in
Germany. Finally, she says she was required to submit
research grant proposals ahead of the deadline.
In general, Lamoreux has been criticized for an ap
parent inability to communicate effectively with stu
dents and in work submitted for publication.
After the Tenure Advisory Committee completed its
review of the case, the matter was presented to the Pro
vost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Donald
McDonald who then directed the case to the Committee
on Academic Freedom, Responsibility, and Tenure.
Based on the two weeks of testimony, the Committee
is expected to make its final decision in mid-December
as to whether Lamoreux receives tenure and promo
tion.
Mobley
denounces
racist acts
Racism is unacceptable at
Texas A&M, President William
Mobley said Wednesday about
last week’s vandalism to the anti
apartheid shack on campus.
“I am appalled to learn that ra
cial slurs have been painted on
the anti-apartheid display and
that other isolated acts of vandal
ism have occurred at that site,”
Mobley said. “Such acts of intol
erance cannot and will not be tol
erated.
“Without making preliminary
judgment about who was respon
sible for these acts,” Mobley con
tinued. “I call on everyone on
campus 1 — and indeed through
out the community — to exhibit
tolerance and respect of each in
dividual’s right to peaceful ex
pression and to eliminate any ves
tige of racial or ethnic bigotry,
whether verbal or behavioral.”
Walesa vows
aid will not
get wasted
Says economic help
better than military
WASHINGTON (AP) — Solidar
ity leader Lech Walesa, saluted on
his historic visit to Congress with
cheers, whistles and four standing
ovations, told lawmakers Wednesday
that U.S. aid to Poland “will not be
wasted, and will never be forgotten.”
He asked for more investment to
help pull a bankrupt Polish economy
from “the verge of utter catastro
phe” and said such assistance in
peacetime is “better than tanks,
warships and warplanes.”
In an emotional speech recount
ing the nine-year struggle of his
union to form the first non-commu
nist government in the Soviet bloc,
Walesa gave thanks to Congress and
the American people for years of
support and words of admiration.
“These are appreciated, but being
a worker and a man of concrete
work, I must tell you that the supply
of words on the world market is
E lentiful, but the demand is falling.
et deeds follow words now,” said
the mustachioed 46-year-old former
shipyard electrician.
Walesa’s triumphant visit to the
nation’s capital continued Wednes
See Walesa/Page 13