I
Texas A&M MM W ^
e Battalion
WEATHER
TOMORROW’S FORECAST:
Cloudy with a high chance of
thunderstorms
HIGH: 64 LOW: 48
Vol.89 No.84 USPS 045360 10 Pages
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, January 31,1990
Catch!
Photo by Eric H. Roalson
)ffl ce | Curtis Graft, a junior environmental design major from Marshall,
:e for I catches a frisbee in the Northside Quad Tuesday afternoon.
Soil analysis puts fears to rest
A&M Riverside Campus samples uncontaminated
By TODD L. CONNELLEY
Of The Battalion Staff
It looks like it was a false alarm.
Jones and Neuse, an Austin environmental en
gineering firm, completed its analysis of the soil
thought to be contaminated with hazardous
waste at Texas A&M’s Riverside Campus.
The final report states that “the soils conform
to Texas Water Commission requirements for
clean-up and should not pose a threat to underly
ing groundwater.”
The testing was done Dec. 11, 1989, and Jan.
8, 1990, at the Riverside Campus, which is on
Highway 21.
Seven soil samples were collected by a JN geol
ogist at a site where drums that were thought to
be contaminated with PCB, a highly carcinogenic
compound, were located.
With the exception of one sample, all samples
were found to contain less than 1.0 ppm (parts
per million) of PCB. Sample B-2, at a depth of six
feet, contained 1.0 ppm of PCB.
Testing was also done on a drum containing
paint thinner. Based on the fact that the material
in the drum was paint thinner and solvents, the
samples of the sludge from the drum were ana
lyzed for volatile organics, total metals (arsenic,
barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, se
lenium and silver) and toxicity metals.
All samples analyzed were below the method
detection limit.
The question that remains is how to get rid of
all the unwanted waste.
Even though the PCB contaminated soil con
tains a miniscule amount, it still must be disposed
of at a Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reg
ulated facility. Presently there are no landfills in
Texas authorized to accept waste containing
PCB. The nearest location is the US Ecology fa
cility in Beaty, Nev.
Since the soil in the drums containing paint
thinner is classified as a Class I nonhazardous
waste by the TWC, A&M has the option to dis
pose of the waste at a municipal nonhazardous
landfill or an industrial landfill.
If A&M chooses a municipal nonhazardous
landfill, they must receive joint concurrence
from the Texas Department of Health.
Panel: Educational system
needs support from government
By BILL HETHCOCK
Of The Battalion Staff
Industry, government and education must start
working together to improve the nation’s schools, a
four-member panel on educational reform said Tues
day in a seminar sponsored by the Texas A&M Society
for Human Resource Management.
Dr. Dean Corrigan, former dean of the Texas A&M
College of Education and chairman of President Wil
liam H. Mobley’s “Commitment to Education” task
force, said the future of industry depends on a quality
education system.
“Industry has a personal interest and an economic in
vestment in the secondary schools in the nation,” Corri
gan said. “Universities also have an obvious interest.
We’re all in this together.”
Dr. John Hoyle, professor of educational administra
tion at A&M, said he agreed with Corrigan.
“We need to pull the same wagon,” Hoyle said. “In
dustry, government and education need to pull to
gether. Business leaders need to be concerned about
public schools. ,. T . l( r , .
“If we want to be leaders in business and industry, we
must support education and start making some changes
now.”
Corrigan said he feels Texas schools are too struc
tured. Too much structure leads to a lack of responsibi
lity and creativity in educators and students, he said.
“They’re 18 years old and have to carry a pass to be
in the hall,” he said.
Legislation should set standards for secondary
schools but should not mandate how these standards
are met, Corrigan said.
“Set high standards,” he said. “Require accountabil
ity, but let them be creative. Let the schools try new
things and then see what works.
“Don’t put schools in a straight-jacket with all kinds
of regulations. The emphasis of the (Commitment to
Education) task force is to highlight what works.”
Corrigan said he sees some administrative waste in
public schools in Texas, but still sees a need for more
money to be put into the Texas education system.
“Look at teachers’ salaries,” Corrigan said. “In this
society, you get what you pay for, and there’s no doubt
about it, teachers’ salaries are too low.
“Until we do something about that, we are not going
to get good teachers. We’ve got to attract and keep good
teachers.”
Corrigan said he did not see much financial help for
education coming from the federal level in President
Bush’s latest budget proposal.
“If you want to know what an institution, a university
or a government stands for, look at its budget,” Corri
gan said. “Not much is being added at the federal level
to any education programs. If we’re going to improve
our schools we’re going to have to do it ourselves.
“If we ever needed a kinder, gentler nation it is right
now,” he said.
Hoyle said more money should be spent on educa
tion.
“I’d like to see someone throw money at the school
system, just once,” he said.
Math and science skills are the weak areas in Texas
schools, Hoyle said. Only 6 percent of high school grad
uates are prepared for college level math courses and
only 7 percent are ready to handle college science
courses after graduating, he said.
Corrigan said emphasis should be put on “higher or
See Panel/Page 4
Pipe bomb explodes at church
HOUSTON (AP) — A pipe bomb
mailed to a church exploded this
morning, injuring the pastor’s
daughter, the church said.
People near the Lakewood
Church told police they heard a loud
pop followed by screaming.
Lisa Osteen, the 30-year-old
daughter of the Rev. John Osteen,
pastor of the 10,000-member Baptist
church, was taken to Ben Taub Hos
pital, where she was in stable condi
tion suffering from burns, authori
ties said.
KHOU-TV reported that the
bomb contained six- to eight-inch
nails and blew up in Osteen’s lap.
There was no immediate com
ment from police.
In December, nail-studded mail
bombs killed a white federal judge
near Birmingham, Ala., and a black
civil rights lawyer in Savannah, Ga.,
in attacks investigators said were mo
tivated by race. The Houston church
is predominantly white.
“We apparently did have a pipe
bomb that came in a small package
just in our regular mail that was
picked up at the local post office to
day,” an unidentified church spokes
man told reporters this morning.
“As normal procedure, Lisa Os
teen opened the package, there was
an explosion, and she did seem to
have some injuries, but not anything
critical.”
Houston Police Officer R.L. Bi-
shoff said witnesses were being in
terviewed by officials inside the
church.
Osteen was in a church office
housed in an auxilary building
across the street from the main
church when the bomb went off.
Reagan told
to surrender
diary entries
WASHINGTON (AP) — A fed
eral judge Tuesday ordered former
President Reagan to provide ex
cerpts of his personal diaries to John
M. Poindexter for the former na
tional security adviser’s upcoming
Iran-Contra trial.
U.S. District Court Judge Harold
Greene said a 1985 entry includes a
“somewhat ambiguous comment” in
dicating that Reagan knew of Poin
dexter’s work for the Nicaraguan
Contras.
Greene said Reagan must surren
der the material by Monday, a move
that could trigger a claim of exec
utive privilege by the former presi
dent and might delay the Feb. 20
starting date of the Poindexter trial.
Reagan submitted more than 100
diary entries to the judge last Thurs
day. Greene said entries covering
more than 29 different dates in 1985
and 1986 contain “information of
significance.”
Theodore Olson, one of Reagan’s
lawyers, declined to comment.
If Reagan balks at turning over
the material, Greene said he would
provide the former president and
the Justice Department with a secret
document Poindexter submitted to
the court outlining why he needs the
diaries.
After court filings by all sides, in
cluding Iran-Contra prosecutors,
the court will “make a final decision
with respect to enforcement of the
subpoena” for the diaries, Greene
said.
Correction
The Battalion incorrectly re
ported that Silver Taps would be
held Tuesday night. Silver Taps
will be next Tuesday, which is the
first Tuesday in February.
The Battalion apologizes for
any inconvenience this error
might have caused.
■“Aggie Watch encourages campus crime prevention
Speaker urges caution, exposes myths of date rape
By PAM MOOMAN
Of The Battalion Staff
More than half of the rapes in this country are
committed by someone the victim knows, Lisa
Kretzschmar, a Rape Crisis Center representa
tive, said Tuesday at a date rape program spon
sored by Texas A&M’s Department of Student
Affairs.
Lisa Kretzschmar said rape is a crime of vio
lence that uses sex as a weapon, but date rape has
an added tragic twist.
Date rape can cause even deeper scars than
random rape due to the victim’s sense of be
trayal, Kretszchmar said. Victims often can’t
identify danger signs until the situation is past
the danger stage, because they trust their at
tacker, she said.
“They feel betrayed by their own judgment,”
Kretzschmar said.
Another painful aspect of date rape the victim
may have to face is seeing her attacker again, per
haps on a daily basis, she said.
There are five myths about date rape,
Kretzschmar said. First, some believe it’s not so
bad if the victim knows her attacker. Also, if the
victim didn’t report the crime, then it’s assumed
the rape never happened, or that it wasn’t that
bad.
“It’s her word against his,” Kretzschmar said.
“That’s why date rape is not reported.”
A third myth says if a victim didn’t resist, theh
it wasn’t rape. Actually, there are several reasons
why a woman might not resist her attacker,
Kretzschmar said. She could be taken by sur-
rise, she could fear for her life, or she might
now the attacker and not want to hurt him by
resisting. *
Another myth is that when a woman says “no”
she really means “yes.”
Finally, some people may believe the woman
owes her date something after he has paid for
dinner and a movie.
“There is no excuse for forced sex,” Kretzsch
mar said. “It’s an expression of anger, power,
dominance and control.”
Date rape has three stages, she said. First, the
attacker “tests the water” by intimate talk or im
proper looks. Next, the victim becomes desensi
tized when she accepts the attackers advances,
even though he’s used no physical force yet. Fi
nally, the victim finds herself isolated with her at
tacker.
Women who may otherwise act aggressively
with a stranger are passive when they know their
attacker, Kretzschmar said.
Women should find out as much information
as possible about their date, and if they don’t
See Date rape/Page 4
|;By NADJA SABAWALA
Hot The Battalion Staff
; I Thieves watch out. .
| The University Police Depart
ment and student organizations are
working together to make crime on
campus a thing of the past.
t; Aggie Watch is a security program
developed to educate students, fac
ulty and staff on eliminating the op
portunity for crime to occur.
Lt. Bert Kretzschmar and Officer
Betty LeMay head the University Po
lice Department’s Crime Prevention
Unit that developed Aggie Watch.
The goal of the CPU is to alert the
campus community that they are not
ts safe as they think, LeMay said.
' “Aggies do not lie, cheat or steal,
mt the part we want to concentrate
m is ‘nor do they tolerate those who
do,’ ” Le ay said.
The 1990 opening for the pro
gram is Aggie Watch Week, which
J ns this week and Monday. Aggie
atch Week is sponsored by the De-
irtment of Student Affairs, UPD,
pha Phi Omega service fraternity,
udent Government, Residence
all Association and Off Campus
jgies.
Resource tables with information
i how to prevent crime are located
the Memorial Student Center
<
through Thursday.
“Engrave and Save,” sponsored by
APO, allows students to engrave
their valuables with an identification
number. Aggie Watch workers will
visit residence halls from 7-9 p.m. to
help students engrave their belong
ings.
Bicycle registration will be held by
Rudder Fountain and in front of the
Commons from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
and 4-7 p.m. Students can fill out a
registration c^rd and receive a
sticker with an identifying control
number enabling police officers
throughout the nation to identify
stolen bikes.
Both Kretzschmar and LeMay
stress the importance of engraving
and registering valuable property.
“We might break up a burglary
ring and recover a lot of property,
but we can’t get that property back
to the owner if we don’t have a num
ber on it, or if it’s not registered in a
computer,” LeMay said.
Kretzschmar said thieves may
have the desire and ability to commit
a crime, but the victims provide the
opportunity.
“Our job is not to bring out the
negativity, but kind of go beyond
that — how we can prevent the
crime from happening in the first
place,” Kretzschmar said.
Aggie Watch was developed to in
form people on campus that there is
always a risk of crime, even at A&M.
“People tend to be lulled into a
false sense of security here and they
don’t think of personal safety,” Le
May said.
Two programs evolved within Ag
gie Watch, one for students and an
other for faculty and staff. Both in
clude presentations about theft
protection and personal safety.
The CPU hopes these programs
will eliminate many crimes as well as
break up possible theft rings operat
ing on campus.
“What we really hope to see, is
neighborhood watch signs at the ma
jor entrances to campus,” LeMay
said. “We want the criminal element
to know that we’re watching out for
each other and our property.”
Aggie Watch has many plans for
the future including a Custodial
Watch Program beginning in Feb
ruary and an Office Watch Program.
Both encourage workers to report
any crimes of which they are aware.