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ne Dattalion
WEATHER
TOMORROW’S FORECAST:
Partly sunny, brisk
HIGH: 66 LOW: 42
College Station, Texas
Monday, December 4,1989
Bonfire crowd sober, subdued
By Chris Vaughn
Of The Battalion Staff
Photo by Mike C. Mulvey
Texas A&M redpots celebrate the lighting of Bonfire '89 in front
idons I of an estimated 40,000 people Friday night at Duncan Field.
The media blitz urging people not
to drink alcohol at bonfire ’89 may
have paid off.
Texas A&M University Police,
members of the Bonfire Alcohol
Awareness Committee and student
government leaders said the cam
paign aimed at eliminating alcohol
from the bonfire site was a success.
“I am exceptionally pleased with
the people who attended bonfire,”
Bob Wiatt, director of security for
the University Police Department,
said. “There was no rampant misbe
havior and very little alcohol.”
University Police, working with
the Texas Alcohol Beverage Com
mission, wrote 79 tickets Friday at
bonfire for minors in possession of
alcohol or for people who made al
cohol available, to a minor. Last year,
140 tickets were written. The num
ber of citations written by College
Station police officers was unavail
able.
UPD and the College Station Po
lice Department arrested 16 people,
primarily for public intoxication and
disorderly conduct. Four people
were arrested for driving while in
toxicated, including one who drove
through a police barrier.
The number of arrests this year
was up 10 from last year, but this was
because of CSPD’s paddy wagon,
Wiatt said.
“In past years, we lost one officer
for about two hours every time
someone was arrested, but this year
we loaded several people into the
paddy wagon at a time and kept our
officers where we needed them,”
Wiatt said.
Photo by Steve M. Noreyko
A University Police officer pours out the remains of confiscated
beer at bonfire Friday night by Duncan Dining Hall.
Wiatt said his department avoided
some tickets and arrests by asking
people to pour their drinks out
when they approached the campus,
which he said almost everyone com
plied with.
Wiatt said he had received no re
ports of vandalism or burglary on
campus while his entire force was
busy with the bonfire crowd, which
was estimated to be 40,000.
The media campaign, which used
“Keep Alcohol from Shattering the
Tradition” as a slogan, was a re
sponse to a growing problem of
drunkenness and violent behavior at
the annual tradition.
A CSPD spokesman said he
thought the campaign failed in its ef
forts to curb drinking.
“It didn’t work,” Lt. Mason New
ton said. “As many people as I saw
carrying beer, liquor and coolers,
that’s the only reason they came. For
every one who wasn’t drinking,
there were 10 who were. It was a typ
ical bonfire crowd.”
But Wiatt said the situation im
proved as much as could be ex
pected.
“In past years, the problems were
much worse,” Wiatt said. “I’ll be
even more pleased if the numbers
diminish further next year. We can’t
expect every problem to disappear
in one year.”
Kevin Buchman, A&M student
body president, said he was proud of
the student body reaction to the
campaign.
“Bonfire was a tremendous im
provement over last year and the
years before,” Buchman said. “We
turned the negative aspects of bon
fire into a positive experience for ev
eryone.”
Jo Hudson, chairman of the Bon
fire Alcohol Awareness Committee,
agreed.
“I watched the crowds coming in,
and I saw very little alcohol,” Hud
son said. “Fm very proud of the stu
dent leadership, the student body
and the community and the way they
responded.”
Bonfire did get off to a rowdy
start, however, when a member of
the crowd attempted to steal a torch
and light the bonfire early. The man
fought with several redpots, Wiatt
said, who were in charge of lighting
the bonfire.
Wiatt said none of the men in
volved were drinking and no
charges were filed.
Bonfire, a time when homeown
ers on Jersey Street are particularly
apprehensive, created no problems
with flying debris and embers be
cause there was no wind, Newton
said.
Instead, the embers and debris
began falling into the crowd nearest
the bonfire, forcing several people
to put out flames on their neighbors.
renz, E. German government resign amid protests
iffad
nill EAST BERLIN (AP) — Communist
t to Party leader Egon Krenz and his entire gov
ernment resigned on Sunday, and a 25-
nember panel of reformers took over tem-
xjrary leadership in a desperate effort to
escue the Communist Party.
The dramatic, unprecedented action, an-
icunced by megaphone to a cheering
rowd, stripped Krenz of power less than
six weeks after he replaced hard-liner Erich
Honecker, Krenz was not named to the itew-
panel, which will lead the country until a
party congress later this month.
It was the shortest reign of any East Ger
man leader in the country’s history. How
ever, Krenz retains the largely ceremonial
position of president.
Krenz opened the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9
and had.promised democratic reforms in
cluding free elections, but there were in
creased calls for his ouster even within the
party because of his past links to Honeck-
er’s rule.
At least 10,000 people standing outside
the Central Committee building cheered
wildly when they heard the Politburo and
Central Committee had quit.
During a special meeting of the party
Central Committee, leaders also expelled
Honecker from the party along with 11
other disgraced officials following disclo
sures of massive corruption among top
party ranks.
The 12 are suspected of “serious viola
tions of party statutes,” said Guenter
Schabowski, who announced the resigna
tions and party ousters by megaphone.
Schabowski was one of those who re
signed from the Politburo. He was consid
ered a reformer, but like all of the ousted
officials, he was not named to the new com
mittee.
Official final examinations schedule
The final examination sched
ule for this semester is as follows.
Friday, Dec. 8:
7:30 - 9:30 a.m.
• Classes meeting MWF 4 p.m.
• Classes meeting MW 4-5:15
p.m.
• Classes meeting MW 4:30 -
5:45 p.m.
• Classes meeting MW 5-6:15
p.m.
• Classes meeting MW 5:15-
6:30 p.m.
• Classes meeting MW 5:30 -
6:45 p.m.
10 a.m. - noon
• Classes meeting MWF 8 a.m.
12:30-2:30 p.m.
• Classes meeting TR 12:30-
1:45 p.m.
3 — 5 p.m.
• Classes meeting TR 11-
12:45 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 11:
8-10 a.m.
• Classes meeting MWF 9 a.m.
10:30- 12:30 p.m.
• Classes meeting MWF noon
1-3 p.m.
• Classes meeting TR 8 -
9:15 a.m.
3:30-5:30 p.m.
• Classes meeting MWF 3 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 12:
8-10 a.m.
• Classes meeting MWF 10
a.m.
10:30- 12:30 p.m.
• Classes meeting MWF 2 p.m.
1-3 p.m.
• Classes meeting TR 3:30 -
4:45 p.m.
3:30-5:30 p.m.
• Classes meeting MWF 1 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 13:
8-10 a.m.
• Classes meeting TR 9:30 -
10:45 a.m.
10:30- 12:30 p.m.
• Classes meeting MWF 11
a.m.
1-3 p.m.
• Classes meeting TR 2 -
3:15 p.m.
3:30-5:30 p.m.
• Classes meeting TR 5 -
6:15 p.m.
• Classes meeting TR 5:15-
6:30 p.m.
• Classes meeting TR 5:30 -
6:45 p.m.
Any students having three ex
ams scheduled for the same day
may ask their dean to reschedule
one of the exams.
Board votes on parking
By Todd Connelley
Of The Battalion Staff
The Texas A&M Board of Re
gents today could give students
more room for their cars and ath
letes more room for their studies.
Maj. Gen. Wesley E. Peel, vice
chancellor for facilities planning and
construction, presented a program
to the Board Sunday for an addition
to Cain Hall.
Peel said Cain Hall, an athletic
dormitory, currently lacks adequate
space to satisfy the academic needs
of its residents.
Under the proposed project, Peel
said, computer labs, study cubicles
and tutoring areas will be built to try
to make Cain more conducive to
studying.
Offices will be provided to give
academic counselors a place to con
fer in private with student athletes if
the project is approved, Peel said.
The addition will create 80-100
more seats to the Cain dining area
for the female athletes who cur
rently dine in the Commons.
The estimated cost of the project
is $1 million with $750,000 provided
by the Cain Foundation and the re
maining $250,000 donated by Mrs.
Netum Steed.
Before providing the money, the
Cain Foundation requested the
grassy area next to Cain Hall be
made into a park and that the name
Cain Hall be maintained.
The Board also addressed a topic
of interest to all students — parking.
If approved. Parking Area No. 91
will serve as a replacement to Park
ing Area No. 60 which contains
spaces used as parking for visitors,
staff and spectators at athletic
events.
Parking Area No. 60 will be lost
because of the MSC expansion. Af
ter construction on the University
Center is completed, the parking
area will be used as additional stu
dent, staff and athletic event park
ing.
The proposal said the proposed
lot is currently an unused, hard-to-
maintain grassy area south of Kyle
Field.
The Board will vote on these pro
posals today.
A&M task force commits itself
to combat US. education crisis
ly Andrea Warrenburg
Of The Battalion Staff
Texas A&M has made a new commitment — a com-
nitment to education.
In a continuing effort to attack the American educa-
lon crisis, the creation of a task force was announced
uhday at the Board of Regents meeting by Dr. Dean
We want to help schools become
centers of intellectual inquiry where all
students have the opportunity to
succeed. In addition to reading and
writing, we need to add math, science
and higher-order thinking skills.”
— Dr. Dean Corrigan,
task-force chairman
■orrigan, former dean of the A&M College of Educa-
on, who will head the task force. The task force is
barged with implementing A&M’s “Commitment to
ducation” program.
The task force was created to combat some alarming
ptistics, Corrigan said. In Texas public schools, the
derail drop-out rate is 30 percent. Among minorities,
ie figure is a staggering 50 percent. Across the United
ates, there is a shortage of teachers, especially in math
^ id science.
“We need to work hard and try new approaches be
cause what’s out there isn’t working,” said Corrigan,
who assumed the newly created position of president’s
deputy for educational leadership last month. “We
want to help schools become centers of intellectual in
quiry where all students have the opportunity to suc
ceed.”
Initiated by A&M President William Mobley, the
“Commitment to Education” is an effort to link the Uni
versity with public schools and the private sector to
combat the top ten problems with the current educatio
nal system.
Among these problems are the drop-out rates of stu
dents in elementary schools and secondary education,
illiteracy, demographics, the need for increased global
awareness, overall faculty shortages, and the crisis in
math, science and engineering, Corrigan said.
“In addition to reading and writing, we need to add
math, science and higher-order thinking skills,” Corri
gan said.
The task force will consist of representatives from
each institution in the Texas A&M University System,
state superintendents, principals, teachers and cor
porate leaders. They will support the already existing
programs and serve as communications liaisons across
departments and colleges.
Some of the program’s activities that are already un
derway include education conferences on the new di
rection in education, cross-departmental hearings on
sources of funds available for program projects and a
luncheon today with the presidents in the A&M system
to discuss the “Commitment on Education” plan.
“This is the most innovative response to the biggest
problem in our nation,” Mobley said.
Regent Bill Clayton said the Board endorses the pro
gram 100 percent.
“Varsity’s horns are sawed off”
Texas A&M’s head football coach R. C. Slocum
and the senior team members sing the Aggie
Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack
War Hymn after Saturday’s victory over the Uni
versity of Texas. See Six straight/Page 10