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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 1989)
!ly il Vol.89 No.57 USPS 045360 12 Pages Battalion College Station, Texas WEATHER TOMORROW’S FORECAST: Partly cloudy HIGH: 70 LOW: 48 Monday, November 20, 1989 Hazing dies out as awareness of law increases By Selina Gonzalez and Suzanne Calderon Of The Battalion Staff Hazing on the Texas A&M campus is be coming a thing of the past as awareness of the 1987 hazing law increases among fra ternity rushees and entering Corps mem bers. Field Hudgens, Interfraternity Council external vice president, said, “Now we want to mold guys (fraternity rushees) into what they are and who they are instead of break ing them down.” He said hazing is defined as anything that demoralizes, undermines or breaks someones self-confidence. The 1987 state hazing law defines hazing as “any intentional, knowing, or reckless act that endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student for the pur pose of pledging, being initiated into, affil iating with, holding office in, or maintain ing membership in any organization.” The hazing law was passed after the 1986 alcohol hazing death of a UT-Austin frater nity pledge. The law established civil and criminal penalties for groups that haze and the individuals involved. According to the 1987 law, the term “ha zing” includes: • Any type of physical brutality. • Any type of physical activity such as sleep deprivation or exposure to the el ements. • Any activity involving consumption of a food, liquid, or alcoholic beverage. • Any activity that intimidates or threat ens the student or subjects the student to extreme mental stress. In addition, a section of the law requires that schools “cause to be published or dis tributed to each student during the first three weeks of each semester” a list of groups disciplined for hazing during the past three years. Dr. J. Malone Southerland, associate vice president of Student Services, said pub lishing a list of organizations that have par ticipated in hazing is an attempt to educate people about the reputation of different or ganizations. He does not believe A&M has had any in cidents that have totally violated the 1987 hazing law. “We do have some cases regarding a cou ple of student organizations that, after fur ther review, the Student Activities Depart ment believes it would be prudent to do some form of publication,” Southerland said. Student Activities officials are cur rently deciding what should be done in these cases. Hudgens said because no fraternities have been disciplined for hazing at A&M in the past three years, it has been unneces sary to publish such a list. When asked if he felt organizations re ported hazing incidents 100 percent of the time, Southerland said, “No.” Student Services officials recently de cided incidents of hazing should be re- See Hazing/Page 12 Aggie Players win production awards for ‘ Godot, ’ others |By Pam Mooman Of The Battalion Staff , Good things come to those who re waiting — “Waiting For Godot,” hat is. The Texas A&M Aggie Players >von one of two awards for best pro- luction for their performance of Waiting For Godot” at the Ameri- an College Theatre Festival at East 'exas State University Nov. 7-12. Texas Women’s University won he other best performance award ith their production of “Six tVomen With Brain Death: Or Ex- >iring Minds Want to Know.” Sean Duriham, an A&M sopho- nore theater major from Round lock, played The Boy. He said \&M’s production was up against tiff competition. Eight other uni versities with drama programs, in- luding Texas Tech University, Texas Women’s University, Univer sity of North Texas and East Texas state University, competed with the \ggie Players for the honors. “There were quite a few really ^ood productions,” Dunham said. Dunham said “Waiting # For Go- lot” was a difficult show to stage, ind it could have bored the audience tears — but it didn’t. “We were able to move the critic nd audience with it,” he said. The award also is important to Bohn Flores, a freshman theater ma jor from Dallas. “For people to really like my work this much, it’s a big deal,” said Flores, who played Lucky. Being his first time at the festival, |Flores said he didn’t know what to xpect and sat watching the other productions, which were good, with his fingers crossed. “It’s my first year and I didn’t know what to think,” he said. “I was really excited about (winning).” The Aggie Players also won other honors for costume design and sce nic design and were acknowledged as the best company at the festival. Two cast members, Oliver Tull, who played Vladimir (Didi) and Clinton Sam, who played Estragon (Gogo), were selected as outstanding performers. Tull, a senior theater major from Dallas, said he was not surprised that “Waiting For Godot” won. “I thought we had a very good production,” Tull said. “I thought we’d do well.” Tull said winning an award like this helps actors in two ways. “It’s one of the things that come from peer recognition,” he said. It’s a way for actors to know if they have done a good job, he said. “It’s (also) a way to advance a care- “Waiting For Godot” has been nominated for participation in the ACTF Region VI festival held in Lubbock in February 1990. Tull said only six spots are available for the re gional festival, and the participants will be selected next week. Winners at the regional festival will be invited to Washington, D.C., for the National Festival and will perform at the Kennedy Center. But even if “Waiting For Godot” is not chosen to advance to the next level of competition, Tull and Sam still will compete with other actors from across the nation for a $2,500 scholarship, as their awards were separate from the best production award. . Germans protest ommunist leaders lespite new reforms DRESDEN, East Germany (AP) — Tens of thousands of protesters in at [least eight cities braved icy winds Sunday to keep the heat on the Communist leadership, despite open borders and the election of a re form-minded Cabinet one day ear lier. Nearly 3 million East Germans crossed into West Berlin and West jermany between Friday and Sun day, the second weekend since the ^government opened borders to the [West, border police said. Most were just visiting for the day. Ferry service across the Elbe [River, which forms part of the bor- tder, resumed Sunday at Hitzacker, labout 80 miles southeast of Ham- iburg, for the first time since April [23,1945. In another change, the official |ADN news agency reported that the froles of the party and the govern- Iment in East Germany’s armed |forces will be separated. ADN said 50,000 people partici- Ipated in Dresden’s first officially au thorized protest rally. Other esti- [mates of the crowd size ranged up to 1100,000. “Lord don’t forgive them because [they knew what they did,” one ban- |ner in the southern city, making a [biting play on words from Jesus [Christ’s agony on the cross, said. In East Berlin, thousands partici- fpated in an unauthorized march [from the Alexanderplatz square to [Parliament, calling for sweeping re- jforms and abolition of the Commu- Inist Party’s guaranteed monopoly on ! power. Parliament on Saturday con firmed a reform-minded Cabinet of Communist Premier Hans Modrow and created a committee to study possible constitutional changes, in cluding dropping a law guarantee ing Communist rule. “We won’t let ourselves be blinded by the open borders,” one protest banner said. “Swap DDR (East Ger many) for Mickey Mouse,” another said. One sign suggested, “Honecker to court,” and speakers called for pros ecution of the country’s former lead ers, including ousted president and party chief Erich Honecker, who was replaced by Egon Krenz on Oct. 18. Krenz was quoted by a West Ger man newspaper as saying Honecker is one of those under investigation by a parliamentary commission. Just outside the capital, about 30,000 Communist Party backers demonstrated in Potsdam to show their support for the government’s announced reform program, ADN said. ADN reported other pro-democ racy rallies Sunday in a half-dozen cities and towns. The rallies were as follows: 20,000 people in Erfurt, 10,000 in Mei- ningen, also 10,000 in Frankfurt an der Oder, 3,000 in Schwedt and 2,000 in Neustrelitz. The official agency said “thousands” protested in Karl Marx Stadt but did not give a more precise crowd estimate for the march there or in East Berlin. At least some demonstrators were cool to the idea of unifying the two Germanys. Aggies beat Aussies 87-74 A&M’s Freddie Rick steals back a rebound from over the Australian Olympic team marked the Australia’s Tim Morrissey and scores. The victory Aggies’ season opener. Story, page7 A&M officials investigating cause of fires UPD checks out possibility of arson By Andrea Warrenburg Of The Battalion Staff A string of four fires on the Texas A&M campus in the early morning hours of Nov. 11 has the University Police Department investigating pos sible arson. All occurring on the north side of campus, the first fire was reported at 2 a.m. and the last fire at 4:45 a.m. Dumpsters in parking area 30 and parking area 2, two trashcans in the breezeway of McGinnis Hall and a couch in the A-3 study lounge, south of Davis-Gary Hall, caught on fire. Dan Mizer, A&M assistant direc tor for residence life, said the study lounge received extensive damage and will be closed for repairs for some time. “The dumpsters will have to be re painted and the trashcans replaced,” Mizer said. “As for the study lounge, .95 percent, of it is covered with black soot and the damage is pretty exten sive.” Mizer said a couch in the lounge caught fire and as the blaze grew, set the wood paneling and the ceiling on fire, damaging some ceiling beams. Carpet, light fixtures and some beams will have to be replaced, he said. “Outside companies are submit ting bids for repairs, trying to put a dollar amount on the damage,” Mizer said. In the opinion of College Station Fire Department Captain Timothy Fickey, who was on duty that night, it was arson. University Police Department De tective Jim Lindholm is investigating this possibility. Evidence has been taken to the Department of Public Safety laboratory for analysis. “We have eyewitnesses to the other fires and there’s a strong possi bility they’re linked,” Lindholm said. “We have a couple of suspects. “I’ve been here for almost seven years and don’t ever remember a string of fires like this,” Lindholm said. If anyone has information on the fires, they are asked to contact Lind holm at 845-6712. All information will be kept confidential. Survivor of collapsed Oakland freeway dies SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Buck Helm, the longshoreman rescued from a flattened freeway three and a half days after the Oct. 17 earth quake, was mourned Sunday as a gutsy symbol of endurance. His death raised the toll from the quake to 67. Helm, 58, died of respiratory failure Saturday night at Kaiser-Permanent Medical Center in Oakland, hospital spokesman Ron Treleven said. No other details on his death were available. “Buck’s passing pretty much took everyone by surprise because he was improving,” Gary Frischer, a spokesman for Helm’s family, said in a statement. Helm had been taken off a kidney dialysis ma chine, and doctors had hoped to wean him from the respirator that had enabled him to breathe. His death raised the toll from the collapse of the double-deck Nimitz Freeway in Oakland to 42. Overall, the 7.1-magnitude quake killed 67 people, injured more than 2,800, left more than 14,000 homeless and caused an estimated $7 bil lion in damage. “To many, Buck had become a symbol of sur vival and hope,” Frischer said. “For the Helmses, the thousands of cards and letters from all cor ners of the world gave Buck and the family strength and encouragement, and for that they are forever grateful.” Others were rescued from the collapsed sec tion of Interstate 880 shortly after the quake hit, but Helm was the only person to be pulled alive from the rubble after rescue crews began search ing the wrecked road. Rescuers had given up hope of finding more survivors when an engineer testing the struc ture’s stability saw Helm wave from inside his small car Oct. 21. A large beam that fell in front of Helm’s Chevrolet Sprint saved it from being flattened. The 220-pound, 5-foot-10 Helm suffered a fractured skull, fractured neck, three broken ribs, nerve damage to his leg and kidney prob lems caused by dehydration. He already had dia betes and high blood pressure. Helm, a longshoreman’s clerk who worked the docks in Oakland, commuted 250 miles each weekend to visit his family in the small town of Weaverville. His former wife, Lorrie Helm, and the cou ple’s children were frequently at his side during his hospitalization. She said he acknowledged hearing his family read the cards and letters sent to him by well wishers but couldn’t speak because of the respirator. NASA counts down to secret military mission CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA faced a tight schedule Sunday as a veiled count down began for launching the shuttle Discovery on Thanksgiving Eve with five astronauts and a secret spy satellite. “We’re on a tight schedule, but Wednesday night is a make-able launch date,” space agency spokesman Lisa Malone said. Launch director Bob Sieck gave the go-ahead to start the countdown Sunday afternoon even though workers at the pad were several hours be hind schedule in doing final checks and closing up panels on the lower part of the two solid fuel booster rockets. The panels were removed last week so workers could check computer boxes suspected of having faulty wiring. One of the boxes was replaced. Sieck said he was confident the lagging work could be done in parallel with other countdown operations and that liftoff could occur as planned between 6:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. It will be only the third after-dark launch planned in 32 shuttle flights. The Pentagon will not let NASA publically dis close the exact time of launch until nine minutes before the planned liftoff. Officials said that would make it more difficult for Soviet recon naissance satellites and a spy ship sitting offshore to track the shuttle. Critics argue that such secrecy is unnecessary because the Soviets, with their intelligence capa bilities, undoubtedly already know a great deal about the mission and that once Discovery is in orbit, they will be able to track it precisely and know what it is doing.