ANT
5(PG)
at Matinee Only
00
HaT'
he Battalion
Vol.89 No.134 USPS 045360 10 Pages
College Station, Texas
WEATHER
TOMORROW’S FORECAST:
Partly cloudy and warm.
HIGH: 81 LOW: 62
Wednesday, April 18,1990
d
treated)
.-Sat.9-8
2-6
M
e
tinez
fdinator
)pm
01
ilture
ESS
$82.50
132.00
G
$52.50
$90.00
176.25
£62.50
rr
:D
aler
846-5332
-
23
>k
Kremlin cuts natural gas supply to Lithuania
MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin said it
was tightening the tap on Lithuania’s natu
ral gas supply Tuesday and may cut oil and
gasoline to the Baltic republic for refusing
to rescind pro-independence laws, Lithua
nian leaders said.
| But Lithuania’s president called the re-
| public’s decisions “irreversible” and said an
economic embargo will only strengthen the
I resolve of Lithuanians.
“I hope it will consolidate our people in
our peaceful struggle,” Vytautas Landsber-
gis said in a broadcast interview.
President Bush said in Washington the
UT mob stops
flag burning
by atheists
AUSTIN (AP) — Protests flared
again Tuesday at the University of
Texas as an “angry mob” of up to
400 students confronted a handful
of University Atheists trying to burn
an American flag, authorities said.
Campus Police Sgt. Silas Griggs
said 10 to 15 atheists were sur
rounded by 300 to 400 students,
many armed with fire extinguishers
and water bottles, who thwarted the
attempted flag burning.
He said the crowd encircled the
protesters, shouted abuse and
wrested the flag from their hands,
but no one was hurt in the melee.
“I didn’t see any assaults,” Griggs
said. “There were some shoving
matches, but as far as any blows
thrown, I didn’t see any. I don’t
think there were any.” Griggs said
nine unif ormed officers escorted the
protesters away when they realized
they were in danger and would be
unable to burn the flag.
Derek Roberts, anthropology
sophomore and a member of Uni
versity Atheists, told the Daily Texan
he had participated in the protest to
support the First Amendment right
to burn the flag and to confront peo
ple’s attachment to symbols and ob
jects.
“I think it proved my point that
worship of the object over reality
makes people do hateful things,” he
told the campus newspaper.
Witnesses said the counter-protest
was organized by the campus group
Young Conservatives of Texas and
joined by fraternity members and at
least one ex-Marine.
Andy Panos, a freshman business
student and officer of the College
Republicans, said the attempted flag
burning was “a rehash of 60s liber
alism.”
Brian Wordell, head of the Young
Conservatives, said, “I think it shows
that a lot of people have pride in
America, and most of us still love it.”
United States was “considering appropriate
responses” if Soviet economic threats
against Lithuania were implemented. But
he also said he did not want to damage su
perpower relations.
“I want to be sure anything we do is pro
ductive,” Bush said.
There was no immediate noticeable
change in the amount of natural gas used to
heat homes and fuel kitchens in Lithuania.
But word that supplies were being cut
caused concern among Lithuanians, who
flooded the Lithuanian government with
phone calls.
Officials in Lithuania said they were told
of the reduction in a telegram from the So
viet Union’s gas network. There was no of
ficial announcement from Moscow.
President Mikhail S. Gorbachev on Fri
day gave Lithuania 48 hours to repeal seve
ral laws backing its March 11 declaration of
independence. He said if Lithuania re
fused, the Kremlin would impose an em
bargo of goods that it exports for hard cur
rency.
Lithuania depends on Moscow for oil
and gas, which are the Soviet Union’s big
gest earners of hard currency.
A telegram sent to Lithuania’s gas au
thority Tuesday said: “Implementing the
orders of the government of the Soviet
Union and those of the state gas concern ...
supplies of natural gas to the Lithuanian
Soviet Socialist Republic will be sharply re
duced from the 17th of April.”
The telegram was signed by an official
named Mochernyuk, identified as the act
ing general director of the Soviet Union’s
western gas network.
The text of the telegram was broadcast
on official Lithuanian radio, which was
monitored by the British Broadcasting
Corp. in London.
Western reporters have been barred
from staying in Lithuania to report on the
political crisis.
The telegram also was read to the Lithu
anian Supreme Council legislature Tuesday
by speaker Alexandras Abisalas. Lawmak
ers were meeting to discuss a response to
Gorbachev’s ultimatum.
“Lithuania will search for a dialogue by
all possible means, through various chan
nels,” the Tass news agency quoted Land-
sbergis as saying.
Ready, aim, fire
Photo by David Vasek
The Texas A&M archery team practices near Zachry Tuesday
evening for a regional meet this weekend in Houston.
Group fights inequalities
Students call attention to minorities, racist acts
By JULIE MYERS
Of The Battalion Staff
Students attending an open meet
ing of the Texas A&M Committee
for a Discrimination-Free Campus
Tuesday called for more emphasis
on minority studies and called atten
tion to discriminatory acts on cam
pus.
“We need to have a (required)
class addressing race issues like we
have forced physical education clas
ses,” junior theater arts major Clin
ton Sam said. “This (racism) is no
less important than bowling.”
Freshman general studies major
Lance Harris proposed a one-hour
elective class that would include all
cultures, not just white, African-
American and Hispanic. Harris
added that he would like to see such
a class eventually become a three-
hour required class.
“I don’t think I’m biased in saying
that everyone can learn a little bit
more about cultures,” Harris said.
“I’m just saying that a little open-
mindedness never hurt anyone.”
James Rosenheim, committee
member and associate professor of
history, said there were no guar
antees that A&M could avoid the
race problems the University of
Texas has had in the last month.
Last week, a UT Phi Gamma Delta
fraternity member sold t-shirts dis
playing a “Sambo” caricature head
on basketball player Michael Jor
dan’s body, arid a car with racist
phrases was destroyed at the UT
Delta Tau Delta house.
“There are no guarantees that a
three-hour course required of every
one will get rid of racism and sexism
and age discrimination on this camp
us,” Rosenheim said.
“It is also going to be very diffi
cult, I think, to educate those of my
colleagues in the history department
who need to be educated. But that
doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.”
Other complaints included
charges that MSG Town Hall does
not represent minority students.
Town Hall does not make an ad
equate effort to bring top black re
cording artists to campus, senior ag
riculture education major Reginald
Martin said.
Physics graduate student Hong
Lu said international students have
been the targets of motorists who
drive past tfiem at night and throw
eggs at them. A visiting parent who
was hit by an egg needed six stitches
near her eye as a result of an assault,
Lu said.
Additionally, Lu said, a professor
of Chinese descent was beaten re
cently at Post Oak Mall by a member
of a local gang.
Senior journalism major Rod Jag
claimed he was a victim of age dis
crimination because fraternity mem
bers discouraged him from rushing
last fall, jag, 27, said Pi Kappa Alpha
members told him he was too old to
be in a fraternity.
Sheran Riley, committee chair
and assistant to the president, said
the purpose of the meeting was to
gather information and to see what
racial problems were occurring. The
committee will present recommen
dations to A&M President William
See Discriminate/Page 4
Senate debates bonfire proposal
By DEAN SUELTENFUSS
Of The Battalion Staff
In its last regular meeting of the
semester, the Student Senate elected
Kenny Gosset as speaker of Student
Senate and discussed a proposal
about bonfire before closing the
five-hour meeting at 1 a.m. today.
In addition to electing Gosset, the
Senate elected Jason Baird as
speaker pro-tempore and elected
Leanne Rogers as rules and regula
tions chairman.
After the elections, the Senate dis
cussed a bill to endorse recommen
dations concerning bonfire made by
a faculty-student committee. At the
end of the meeting, the Senate ta
bled the bill and requested that a
special session be called next week.
Ty Clevenger, student body presi
dent, said that if senators wanted a
special session to take place next
week, he would call for one.
The Ad Hoc Committee on Bon
fire, which consists of student lead
ers and Faculty Senators, spent 13
weeks doing research and hearing
testimony to create the nine-page
proposal.
Among other things, the proposal
recommends reducing the size of
bonfire and establishing minimum
academic standards for those who
work on bonfire. It also recom
mends eliminating bonfire if no cut
site can be found where trees are al
ready scheduled for clearing.
Several members of the eight-
member committee were present to
answer questions from senators
about the proposal.
The proposal met w’ith opposition
from a number of student senators,
who voiced concerns over a number
of items.
Several senators said they would
not support establishing a required
minimum grade point average for
those who work ort bonfire.
“Bonfire is supposed to be a tradi
tion where everybody’s supposed to
go work on it,” one senator said.
“And it seems like you’re just saying,
‘Oh, sorry, you can’t go work on it
because you’re not smart enough.’ ”
Committee members pointed out
that the proposal is just a recommen
dation and that it could not be en
forced unless the Faculty Senate ap
proves it and President William
Mobley acts upon it.
Plans to lower tracks
await further changes
By DEAN SUELTENFUSS
Of The Battalion Staff
After encountering a small detour
last week, plans to lower several
miles of railroad tracks along Well
born Road are far from being de
railed, officials said Tuesday.
College Station City Council
members last week expressed reser
vations about a proposal presented
by the State Department of High
ways and Public Transportation.
But Carol Zeigler, district engi
neer for the department, said the
proposal is being changed to make it
more acceptable to College Station
officials.
The proposal outlines the LO-
TRAK project, which will help sepa-;
rate pedestrian, vehicle and bicycle
traffic from train traffic and will
provide easier access to the west side
of campus by relocating the train
tracks below ground level.
Zeigler said total cost of the pro
ject will be about $35 million, with
A&M paying $6.6 million, Bryan
paying $2.9 million and College Sta
tion paying $2 million.
The rest of the project will be
funded through the highway de
partment, which will receive state
and federal funds and money from
the railroad.
Zeigler said the project already
has received a commitment for
funding from A&M, the city of
Bryan and the highway department,
and awaits a commitment from Col
lege Station.
“They had some design questions,
some alternatives they wanted to ex
plore, which we are now doing,”
Zeigler said. “As soon as we have
some of the answers of what is re
sponsible, what is feasible, and some
rough estimates on the costs that
might be involved, we will be back
with the College Station city staff,
first to review this and possibly pick
some of the more desirable alterna
tives to present to the council.”
He said it could be several weeks
before the project is ready for review
by the College Station staff.
Ron Ragland, College Station city
manager, said city officials are con
cerned about traffic flow and access
As soon as we have
some of the answers of
what is responsible, what is
feasible,... we will be back
with the College Station city
staff... ”
— Carol Zeigler,
district engineer
for motorists under the current
plan.
When council members are satis
fied with the plan, the issue will be
put in front of College Station voters
in the form of a bond election, which
could occur any time between Au
gust and January.
Ragland said $2 million is the
minimum amount of funding that
would have to be provided by Col
lege Station for the project.
He said he is not sure what would
happen to the LOTRAK project if
College Station voters don’t approve
the bonds.
“Typically, that doesn’t happen,”
See Railroad/Page 6
Aggies remember Aggies
Muster ’90 emphasizes celebration
By JILL BUTLER
Of The Battalion Staff
Texas A&M’s Muster 1990 will
emphasize getting together and
sharing good times with A&M
students and former students.
“A lot of people think (Muster)
is just a big funeral service with a
lot of emotion and a lot of
crying,” David Bereit, a member
of the Muster Awareness sub
committee, said. “This year, we
are trying to re-focus on the cele
bration aspect of Muster.”
He said this year’s Muster com
mittee chose the theme, “Cele
brate the Tradition and Share the
Spirit,” to emphasize celebration.
“Muster is a celebration of the
past year and a chance for Aggies
all over the world to get together
and relive their years at A&M,”
Bereit said. “It’s a chance for stu
dents and former students to re
think why they are Aggies and
what being an Aggie means to
them.”
This year, for the first time,
there will be a camaraderie barbe
cue before the Muster ceremony
April 21 at 11:30 a.m. in the Aca
demic Plaza, by the statue of Law
rence Sullivan Ross.
For anyone with a food services
meal plan, the barbecue will
count as one meal. Otherwise, a
ticket costs $5 and can be pur
chased this week at tables in the
MSG or the Blocker Building.
“We thought the barbecue
would help promote celebration
and unity,” Bereit said.
He said that although cele
bration is being emphasized this
year, one of the most important
parts of Muster is the mam cere
mony honoring Aggies who have
died during the past year.
“During the main ceremony, a
candle is lit and each Aggie who
has died during the past year has
their name called and gomeone
answers ‘here’ to show that the
Aggie is still with us in spirit,” Be
reit said. “It is a very solemn,
emotional ceremony.”
The ceremony is on April 21
every year and this year Muster
ceremoriies are being held in 350
different places throughout the
world.
The first Muster held at A&M
was on June 26, 1883. The date
was changed to April 21, San Ja
cinto Day, during the early 1900s
because many Aggies had fought
and died in wars and could be re
membered appropriately on this
day.
Graphic by Norzaini Mufti
Former students of A&M who
lived in Brazos County and A&M
students are recognized in Mus
ter at A&M, unless a special re
quest is made. Otherwise, former
students are recognized at muster
ceremonies in their areas of resi
dency.
The Muster ceremony at A&M
will be televised via satellite again
this year. Bob Barker, of Barker
Productions in Bryan, will record
the ceremony and broadcast the
program on Weststar 4, Trans
ponder 10.
“There a lot of small towns
where there may be a few Aggies
getting together for muster and
they want some kind of ceremo
ny,” Bereit said. “I think it’s neat
for them to be able to see that the
tradition still lives on.”
Bereit said many cities and
states who don’t have ceremonies
of their own use the televised ver
sion of A&M’s ceremony to cele
brate muster.
There will not be any commer
cials broadcast during the tele- .
vised version of Muster, and Be
reit said he does not feel that by
televising Muster, the ceremony
has become commercialized.
Red Cashion, Class of ’53 and
chairman of the board of ANCO
Insurance of Bryan-College Sta
tion, will speak at A&M’s Muster
ceremony and will attend the
camaraderie barbecue. Cashion is
also an National Football League
referee and had a Fish Camp
named after him last summer.
The Singing Cadets will per
form, and for the first time at
Muster, the Century Singers will
perform.
Muster will be from 7 to 8:30
p.m. Saturdayin G. Rollie White
Coliseum.
“People should get there ear
ly,” Bereit said. “There will prob
ably be standing-room only.”