Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 10, 1990)
ri| 9,191) 'mri» TexasA &M»> m m 4 'The Battalion ‘ere expcr;. Astros s <tid. II be motf r eached t|, f ks in. Hesti 1( l in the ^ ; s behind th, Giants. e Pendine WEATHER TOMORROW’S FORECAST: Mostly sunny and mild. HIGH: 72 LOW: 58 Vol.89 No.128 USPS 045360 12 Pages College Station, Texas Tuesday, April 10,1990 Democratic runoff draws to close Richards, Mattox talk of party unity; both predict their victory °ff-seasonii l ls pitched i# "is. n. GDI. Associated Press The Democratic runoff for gover nor neared a conclusion Monday with state Treasurer Ann Richards and Attorney General Jim Mattox each talking party unity instead of swapping allegations. And both predicted victory in to day’s balloting. “When we win, we will not gloat,” Richards told a crowd of supporters in Midland. “We will be healers. The real fight is in November.” Mattox told backers in Dallas that he would consider including Rich ards in his administration. “I think that there’s a place for all of us within this Democratic Party, each of our talents,” he said. The winner of their race will face Republican oilman-rancher Clayton Williams in the general election. Wil liams won the GOP nomination out right last month, capturing more than 61 percent of the vote. The bitter Democratic campaign Run-off elections between State Treasurer Ann Richards and At torney General Jim Mattox for the Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate are today as well as runoff's for various local and county races. See list of voting sites on page 6. — which included charges of drug abuse by each candidate — raged over the last month after Mattox and Richards bested a seven-person pri mary field. A pre-election poll published Sun day by the Houston Chronicle and Dallas Morning News gave a slight edge to Richards, although it showed a large number of voters still undecided. Of 759 Democrats who said they’d vote in the runoff, 44 percent backed Richards and 38 percent Mattox. Sixteen percent said they were undecided. The telephone sur vey by the University of Houston had a margin of error of four per centage points. Also on Sunday, Mattox appeared on national television and accused Richards of drug use 10 years ago. “I’m saying that she used cocaine at the age of 46 and marijuana, and she used other drugs,” Mattox told CBS- TV’s “Face the Nation.” The attor ney general said he obtained the in formation from mutual friends he declined to identify. Richards underwent treatment for alcoholism in 1980 and said she has not had a “mood-altering chemi cal” since. She phoned the program to deny she’d ever sought treatment for cocaine use, but declined to ap pear on the show. On Monday, she added, “Mr. Mattox is telling lies in this campaign.” But much of Monday’s cam paigning — whirlwind tours of the state by both candidates — lacked much of the nastiness that per meated both campaigns in recent days. Richards referred to the fight as she called in Midland for im provements in education and bol stering existing Texas businesses. “It will have been worth going through this mean campaign to solve the problems,” she said. “For those of us who care about the problems of Texas, what I have taken (mudsling- ing) is worth it.” She ripped Gov. Bill Clements, a Republican, saying he had failed to provide leadership to change the current public school finance sys tem, which was declared unconstitu tional by a unanimous Texas Su preme Court. “What we are seeing takirig place in Austin, Texas, is a travesty,” she said at the University of Texas at Ar lington later in the day. “Instead of helping, we have a governor who has deliberately been a roadblock.” Mattox, meanwhile, told members of Dallas’ Progressive Voters League that while he couldn’t promise to end drug abuse problems, he said he would strive to clean them up. Mattox reiterated his call for a state lottery, which he says is the only way to raise needed state revenue without an additional tax increase. And he said he expects Democrats to work together in the fall. “I’m a Democrat and I’m going to support the entire Democratic ticket top to bottom,” Mattox said. “Win or lose, I’ll walk across the field and shake hands. That’s the kind of indi vidual I am.” The governor’s nomination isn’t the only statewide race being de cided toda^. 3r kshops, climbers, Rams are anoppor- iowship. Fee** $10/12 $15/20 Balloons wreak environmental havoc Air releasals end in litters, animal deaths By DEAN SUELTENFUSS OfThe Battalion Staff Colorful, festive helium balloons conjure up images of children’s par ties, circuses or perhaps a day spent at the county fair. But for some people, they conjure up images of a different kind. According to the book “Fifty Sim- I pie Things You Can Do To Save the $32/35 Earth,” many balloons that have been released into the air land on the ocean’s surface and are eaten by whales and sea turtles, which mis take the balloons for jellyfish. The balloons then get stuck in the animals.’ digestive tracts, resulting in death. Balloons that are released into the atmosphere can be harmful in other ways, too. $550/570 $455/475 $45/50 $10/12 me ? in159 5-7826. ; Rugby i Hoiis- onships ill Field ships y imme- jrn Col- ionships te Texas Jub. For )out the ase con- ; at 846- )8-0378, -7826. iy \r! They can be sucked into airplane engines and cause damage to the planes. They also can simply fall to earth, becoming yet another form of litter. Metallic balloons are danger ous because they can become tan gled in power lines, causing power outages and creating danger for people in the area. As more people become aware of dangers involved in releasing bal loons, some organizations have taken stances regarding this issue. For instance, in an effort to make more people aware of the dangers of balloon releases, Kappa Kappa Gamma has requested that all of its chapters refrain from activities in volving the release of balloons. Susie Woelfel, president of A&M’s Epsilon Rho chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma, said many people do not think about the dangers to wild life and the environment that can be caused by releasing balloons. NASA readies shuttle for telescope mission Battalion File Photo by F. Joe Balloons are released before the start of the Stadium in Lubbock. Research links ballons to 1989 A&M-Texas Tech football game at Jones animal deaths and power outages. Mary Albert, public relations chair for Texas Environmental Ac tion Coalition, said balloon releases will become less common as more E eople become aware of potential azards involved. She also said many people are un aware of the problems caused by bal loon releases. “I think in the general population, people don’t think about it, or maybe they don’t take it seriously,” Albert said. “In other words they say, ‘Oh, it’s just a couple of bal loons.’ Well, if each of those balloons is mistaken for food ... it’s going to add up.” Albert said balloon releases are probably not as common in Bryan- College Station as they are in other areas. In February, universities all across Texas released balloons to publicize an anti-drunk driving event. Albert said TEAC members did nothing to prevent the balloon re lease because they did not know about it. “If something like that was to hap pen again and we knew about it in advance, we would certainly try to S :t the word out not to release those alloons),” Albert said. “In fact, I didn’t even know that happened.” Although some communities and universities have banned the release of balloons, representatives of Bryan, College Station and Texas A&M said they know of no local re strictions regarding their release. Peggy Calliham, public relations and marketing manager for College Station, said it is important to realize that balloons can be hazardous not only to the environment, but also to humans. She said the city of College Station has made an effort to warn children of the hazards of handling metallic balloons near power lines. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA said there was only a 40 percent chance that weather would delay today’s launch of the space shuttle Discovery on its mission to place a telescope in orbit to look to ward the edge of the universe. Launch of the 35th shuttle mis sion from Kennedy Space Center was set for 8:47 a.m. EDT (7:47 a.m. CDT). There was a chance that low clouds could push that time back. Once in orbit, the Hubble Space Telescope, 43 feet long, 14 feet in di ameter and weighing 24,250 pounds, will be lifted out of Discov ery’s cargo bay with the ship’s me chanical arm, given an exacting checkout, and will be dropped over board Wednesday afternoon if all goes well. The telescope, being launched seven years late because of the 1986 Challenger accident and technical problems, represents an investment of more than $2 billion — $1.5 bil lion for the telescope itself and $600 million for spare parts, astronaut training and ground support. It will cost $200 million a year to operate and maintain. The flight is deemed so important that all five of the crew are veterans of previous flights. Commander Lo ren J. Shriver and pilot Charles F. Bolden each have flown once before. Mission specialists Bruce Mc- Candless II and Kathryn D. Sullivan not only have flown before, but also have space-walking experience. They’ll be ready to make space walks to rectify any problems with the tele scope. And mission specialist Steven A. Hawley, whose job it is to operate the mechanical arm that lifts the telescope out, has two missions un der his belt. The telescope’s 94-inch, mirror, according to experts, is the most flawless ever made. It was designed to capture and magnify light from nearly the farthest reaches of the universe — light created billions of years ago when stars and solar sys tems were in their earliest stages of formation. “Hubble has no rivals,” Leonard Fisk, NASA’s chief scientist, said. “Never before have we had a tele scope or observatory with this capa bility, and it will not be surpassed until we begin to establish observato ries on the moon some day.” Above the atmosphere, which dis torts visible light and blocks out ul traviolet, X-rays and gamma rays, the telescope will be able to see ob jects 50 times dimmer than those that can be observed from the ground. With this new tool, astronomers will see these celestial objects as they were billions of years ago. That should help determine whether the Never before have we had a telescope or observatory with this capability, and it will not be surpassed until we begin to establish observatories on the moon some day.” — Lennard Fisk, NASA’s chief scientist Big Bang that created the universe was 10 billion years ago, 20 billion years ago or somewhere in between, as scientists believe. Mostly, scientists stress, they ex pect to get answers to questions they haven’t asked. “We have to be consciously ex pecting that we may be surprised,” said William Jeffreys of the Univer sity of Texas, leader of the astrome try team, and one of 1,200 scientists who will work with results from the Hubble’s observations. In the 15-year life expected of the telescope, scientists hope also to find planets around other stars. Engineers will spend about five months calibrating the instrument once it is in orbit, but the first photo graphs are expected within two weeks of launch. Senators object to Corps integration committee By CHRIS VAUGHN OfThe Battalion Staff A resolution asking the president to appoint a committee to oversee the full integration of women into the Corps of Cadets was sent back to committee again Monday during the Texas A&M Faculty Senate meeting. The resolution was sent back to the Committee on the Status of Women for the second time because many senators expressed concerns that the resolution was too negative and that the Corps didn’t need a committee to oversee the integration of women. Dr. Patricia Alexander, chairwo man of the committee, said she was disappointed in the vote. “Of course, we’re disappointed, but it’s just a temporary setback,” Al exander, an associate professor of education, said. The resolution, which also was sent back to the committee after the March meeting, states that A&M President William H. Mobley will ap point a committee to evaluate and oversee the integration of women in the Corps. Alexander said during the citations voted down By CHRIS VAUGHN OfThe Battalion Staff propos Rules and Regulations eliminating parking ci tation appeal boards and giving the director of the Parking, T ransit and Traffic Services the final say was voted down by the Faculty Senate Monday. The proposed revision, which was voted down vociferously, would have eliminated ap peals panels which hear complaints by stu dents, faculty and staff about parking cita tions. The revisions relating to parking services also stated, “The decision of the Director or the designee is final,” which troubled some faculty members. “That sentence makes me simply uneasy,” Dr, Larry Wilding, a soil and crop sciences professor, said. During the discussion, WTlliam Kibler, asso ciate director of Student Affairs, said Parking, Transit and T raffic Services was attempting to do away with the appeals panels in its move to ward a completely administrative process. The Faculty Senate, however, did pass a re vision from Parking and Transit that will make parking permits mandatory for bicycles beginning in the fall. The price for the bicycle permits was not announced. The Senate also failed to approve a revision in die section outlining student rights during disciplinary review. Students currently have the right to remain silent during meetings with University offi cials concerning disciplinary action, but the revised section would have stated. “However, an adverse inference may be drawn from a student’s refusal to speak.” When questions arose about the legality of the proposed revision, Kibler said it did not conflict with the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution because most student cases were not criminal cases. He said in those disciplinary reviews that could become criminal cases, anything said during the meeting could not be used in a court of law. “It (proposed revision) creates an air of compulsion,” Kibler said. “It sufficiently taints it so it could not be used by law enforcement,” But most faculty members agreed that no inference of guilt should be made based on a person’s silence. “I think we would be giving a very bad civics lesson to the students if this passed,” Dr. Larry Hickman, a philosophy professor, said. lengthy debate about the resolution that the Corps currently discrimi nates against women by not offering them the same opportunities as men. She said the Corps discriminates by permitting women to join only seven out of the 39 Corps units. There are currently women in five Corps units, two of which are Aggie Band units. She also questioned why A&M does not have fully integrated units when the armed forces and the serv ice academies do. “It’s difficult to believe A&M could not achieve what the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, West Point, Air Force Academy or the Na val Academy could achieve,” Alex ander said. Alexander said the Corps has been trying to integrate its Units since the early 1970s and that with out the resolution, progress would continue to be slow. But Corps Commandant Gen. Thomas Darling said the Corps is moving toward integration and a committee is not needed. “We’re making good progress now,” Darling said. “I’m not at odds with the committee’s wishes, but I don’t think I need a committee to evaluate it.” Brennan Reilly, the A&M Student Senate liaison to the Faculty Senate, said the Student Senate does not be lieve it is in the student’s best inter ests for the Faculty Senate to over >< Corps problems. The Corps instituted a pilot pro gram this spring to study the effects / of companies containing men and women. Darling said he wants to eliminate the all-female units by the fall, but he didn’t go so far as to say when full integration would occur. “This is something significantly different than anything else,” he said. “We need to work at it cau tiously. We can’t use a sledgeham mer approach.” Alexander said the Committee on See Senate/Page 5