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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 30, 1990)
Upm Texas A&M - - «• The Battalion Park violence erupts Houston parks director calls for tighter alcohol controls after Memorial Day panic in city park See page 3 . 89 No.150 USPS 045360 6 Pages College Station, Texas Wednesday, May 30,1990 Regents adopt system-wide drug policy _ By KEVIN M. HAMM Of The Battalion Staff ■Texas A&M University System iRegents adopted a drug policy Fri day aimed at curtailing drug tise among employees and students. ■The policy also covers alcohol abuse. ■The measure’s objectives include “maintaining a safe and healthy en vironment for all students and em ployees,” protecting the reputation of the System in communities and “improving the effective perfor mance of job duties and productivity ! of all employees and the educational ■■rformance of all students.” ■ The policy outlines uniform ac tions each part of the System should take to deal with drug or alcohol abuse among employees, but refers any specifics dealing with students to individual System parts. Board of Regents Chairman Wil liam McKenzie said this is the first system-wide drug and alcohol abuse policy in Texas. He added, “It’s long overdue.” System Chancellor Perry L. Ad- kisson said it is important to enact a drug policy that is consistent System- wide, and that this policy is proactive instead of reactive. According to the policy, employ ees may be tested if there is reasona ble suspicion their job performance has been affected by drug use or the employee’s actions are a safety haz ard. If drug use is confirmed, employ ees are advised of available counsel ing programs and the terms of any probation period. If the situation is not resolved through these means, the policy outlines further actions that can be taken. Sanctions that can be imposed upon employees and students must be consistent with any applicable lo cal, state or federal laws. Actions range from completion of a rehabilitation program to student expulsion and employee termination or referral to authorities for pros ecution. The policy was amended, on sug gestion by Regent Ross Margraves, by omitting a statement limiting the System’s ability to report illegal activ ities. The plan originally prohibited the “unlawful manufacture, distribu tion, possession or use of illicit drugs or alcohol on System premises ... or during System activities.” Margraves argued limiting the policy to System premises or activ ities would allow a person to man ufacture and sell drugs off campus and then come on campus and be exempt from the policy. “I don’t want ‘Professor Jones’ manufacturing LSD across the street thinking he’s safe,” he said. Institutions of higher education are required to enact a drug-abuse policy by Oct. 1 or lose funding, according to the federal Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 and the Drug-Free Schools Act Amendment of 1989. Gubernatorial hopeful Williams heads list Pro-choice group targets Texas candidates Te; pro AUSTIN (AP) — Ten Republicans were ced on an election-year hit list Tuesday by the xas Abortion Rights Action League, which omised that anti-abortion candidates would ieel the heat” come November. [ t'■“Now more than ever the pro-choice majority here in Texas is determined to use their votes, their dollars and their time to elect pro-choice candidates,” said Phyllis Dunham, TARAL exec utive director. S I GOP candidates blasted the group, saying it fa irs Democrats. ■ “This group will be supporting liberal Demo- ;'Cfats and opposing conservative Republicans,” lid Mark Sanders, spokesman for GOP lieuten- JS , ant governor candidate Rob Mosbacher Jr., No. 2 lt j on the TARAL list. “I’m afraid they will find on ; or election day that they are out of step with the ^■ainstream of Texas.” anjl TARAL last month placed GOP gubernatorial ■peful Clayton Williams atop a “TARAL 10” list p, eft candidates it is targeting For defeat. Added to that list Tuesday were nine more Re- | rf— •M publicans, including Mosbacher, attorney gen eral hopeful J.E. “Buster” Brown and seven can didates for the Legislature. Dunham said the abortion issue offers clear differences between candidates in many races and will be a significant factor in Texas and na tionally. “We’re being watched by the nation. This is George Bush’s home state,” she said. “What hap pens in Texas on the issue of choice is very signif icant for what happens in the rest of the nation. “Those candidates targeted for defeat on the TARAL 10 list will feel the heat,” Dunham said. “The elections on every level are critical in pro tecting the right to choose.” Mosbacher spokesman Sanders said the TA RAL list isn’t representative of the attitudes of most Texas voters and charged that the group is an ally of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ann Richards. “It’s certainly not a surprise,” Sanders said. “TARAL should probably be renamed the Ann Richards Fan Club.” “Rob endorses the plan that the Republicans outlined earlier this spring, which essentially calls for banning sex-selection abortions and requiring parental consent for minors,” Sanders said. “He is opposed to abortion on demand, but realizes that that position may not be reflected by every one in the state, and therefore has endorsed these limited restrictions.” Attorney general candidate Brown also crit icized TARAL’s failure to endorse Republicans. “In my opinion, this issue is way too sensitive of an issue to be used like that for partisan political gains,” he said. Mona Palmer, spokesman for GOP gubernato- iUu ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ rial candidate Williams, said the campaign no immediate response. had In releasing the hit list, Dunham said her group looked for pro-choice Republicans to en dorse but couldn’t find any in “critical” races. “That does not mean that we will not be en dorsing Republicans in other races,” she said. Keep off the grass r,:> .. ; ■ ^ ; • ** ’ r * ^ ' J ^4 ^ , . , * 4 i. • • . * " %!i v % % ' * ^ ■ v v , ~ ; • .4 ' ' / Photo by Eric H. Roalson While most of the MSC grounds have been torn up due to con struction, the sign urging visitors to respect an A&M tradition by staying off the grass surrounding the MSC remains. embers initiate plans for recreational building K Board allows $25,000 for development; nappropriated plant funds used for study 3y CHRIS VAUGHN flhe Battalion Staff .Idr,; 1 The Texas A&M System Board f Regents initiated plans for a 30 million recreational sports ijbuilding and natatorium at A&M by appropriating $25,000 to de velop building requirements. Regents approved the measure (during Friday’s meeting. I Money for the study will come from the University’s unappro priated plant funds. | The study, which could be fin ished in four to six months, is be- 'ng conducted by the A&M Facili- ies Planning and Construction ^Department to outline details of :ach room in the building. Architects then use the study to reate the concept for the build- ing. The recreational sports build ing and natatorium could be built - “I ■think we will get a quality building, yet one that is within the budget,” —Maj. Gen. Peel, vice chancellor on west campus near the intra mural fields or in Hensel Park on South College Avenue, the vice chancellor for facilities planning and construction said. Maj. Gen. Wesley Peel said the A&M administration has not made a decision about the loca tion. He said Hensel Park is an advantage for the 30,000 off- campus students and west cam- E us is an advantage since the ath- ;tic complex and intramural fields are already there. The project will be financed through a student fee, not to ex ceed $35 a semester, according to a law signed by Gov. Bill Clem ents in May 1989. The A&M student body also endorsed a student fee for the construction when a referendum on the issue passed by more than 62 percent. Peel said the sports and swim ming complex could be finished in about three years. Also during planning and building business, the Board re jected all construction bids for the A&M System headquarters be cause the lowest bid offered was more than $2.4 million over A&M estimates. The frame of the headquarters building, which is more than 82,000 square feet, is already in place on Tarrow Street in College Station near the Hilton Hotel. Peel said several proposed “frills,” such as elaborate granite and mill work, will be offered as alternates to cut down on unanti cipated costs. The estimates prepared for A&M had the cost of the head quarters at $7.6 million, but the lowest bid offered was $10.1 mil lion. “We’re disappointed the bids were so far off the estimates,” Perry Adkisson, system chan cellor, said during the meeting. The project is expected to un dergo some design changes and the bids will be reopened in early July in preparation for the Board’s meeting in late July. Some regents expressed dis pleasure about the elimination of certain features in the building to save money, but Peel disagreed. “I think we will get a quality building, yet one that is within the budget,” he said. In other planning and building business, the Board of Regents: • Appropriated $1.1 million for detailed designs of the Veteri nary Medical Center addition to be built on west campus near the present veterinary school. The addition is scheduled to cost $35 million when completed and add almost 251,000 square feet to the School of Veterinary Medicine. I • Appropriated $465,000 for detailed designs for the renova tion of part of the old Chemistry building. Renovations are to include the replacement of the roof, win dows, masonry, and the restora tion of the laboratories and lec ture halls in the 1932 wing of the building. Renovations are ex pected to cost $7.25 million. • Appropriated $30,000 for preliminary design of a Texas Beef Industry Center. The center, which is expected to cost $1.5 million, will be built by private donations. The beef center is the first component of the System’s planned Animal Sci ence Teaching and Research Center. Board allots $1 billion for ’91 Regents approve budget By CHRIS VAUGHN Of The Battalion Staff The Texas A&M University System will spend more than $1 billion during the next fiscal year, making it the largest system budget ever approved by an A&M Board of Regents. The record-setting budget was passed during Fri day’s regents’ meeting. The fiscal year 1991 budget for the 16 institutions of the A&M system totals $984.4 million, but following the addition of West Texas State University on Sept. 1, the budget will increase to $ 1.02 billion. The total system budget has increased 3.6 percent from last year’s total. Texas A&M alone will spend $550.6 million in 1991, a modest 3.4 percent increase in the present $532.5 mil lion budget. The regents also approved the budgets for the fol lowing institutions in the system: administration and general offices, $17.5 million; Prairie View A&M, $61.6 million; Tarleton State, $30.6 million; Texas A&M at Galveston, $14 million; Corpus Christi State, $16.7 mil lion; Texas A&I, $31.2 million; and Laredo State, $5.5 million. The system budget also includes the Texas Agricul tural Experiment Station, Texas Forest Service, Texas Engineering Experiment Station, Texas Transporta tion Institute, and other state agencies operating on campus. In other business, the Board of Regents: • Approved the Texas A&M athletic department budget, which totaled $11.1 million. • Approved an increase in student services fees and health center fees beginning in the fall semester. The student services fee will increase to $6.75 per credit hour, not to exceed $81 per semester, and the health center fee will increase to $25 per semester. • Granted the title of emeritus to Dr. Richard H. Costa and Dr. Harry P. Kroitor, both professors of En glish, and Dr. Roger G. Feldman, an associate professor of veterinary pathology. Koriyama campus classes commence Texas A&M’s Japanese campus in Koriyama, north of Tokyo, began classes Monday. A&M officials said the Koriyama campus is the most extensive inter national effort in the 114-year his tory of the University. Japanese students enrolled at the campus will spend two years study ing courses such as business adminis tration, liberal arts or science and engineering. After the two-year period, stu dents will relocate to A&M’s main campus to complete studies. Students from the United States will attend A&M at Koriyama in the future. Permanent facilities are scheduled to be completed by 1992. These fa cilities are being financed by Ko riyama city and business leaders at a cost of 2.5 billion yen, or about $18 million. The campus officially opened May 19. A&M President William Mobley led a University delegation that participated in the formal open ing. Soviet populist reformer wins post, promises Russian economic ‘rebirth’ MOSCOW (AP) — Populist re former Boris N. Yeltsin won the pre sidency of the largest Soviet republic Tuesday, overcoming opposition by Mikhail S. Gorbachev and declaring the start of “Russia’s social, economic and spiritual rebirth.” Yeltsin’s election, after three hard-fought ballots in the Congress of People’s Deputies of the Russian Federation, poses a substantial chal lenge to Gorbachev and may spur more radical reforms across the country. Gorbachev, who arrives Wednes day in Washington for a summit, re tains the two most powerful jobs in the country: president of the Soviet Union and General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party. But as president of Russia, the largest of 15 Soviet republics, Yeltsin will have a highly visible platform from which to wage his campaign for more radical reforms. Yeltsin and other Soviet officials said his election could help Gorbachev, de spite their differences. “It may be a blessing in disguise,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Gen nady Gerasimov told reporters at the United Nations in New York. “Gor bachev has his critics from both the left and the right, and possibly it is better to have the election of a critic from the left.” Yeltsin said, “At first. President Gorbachev will react very unhappily, but then he’ll gradually get used to this inevitability.” The strapping, white-haired Yelt sin told reporters that he would seek reconciliation with Gorbachev and avoid confrontations as long as it did not hurt Russia’s interests. Gorbachev had brought Yeltsin to Moscow to head the city’s Commu nist Party, but the two men had a falling out in 1987 after Yeltsin pub licly criticized the pace of Kremlin reforms. They have been at odds since then. After the outcome was announced in the Grand Kremlin Palace, Yeltsin strode to the podium to warm ap plause and pledged to “spare noth ing — health or time — to get out of this crisis and lead Russia to better times.” His bass voice echoing through the hall, he called the day “the begin ning of the road to Russia’s social, economic and spiritual rebirth, the way out of the crisis and toward the blossoming of Russia as a sovereign, independent government in the framework of our union.” He left through the Kremlin gates later to cheers from well-wishers chanting “Victory! Victory!” One man yelled, “Thank you, thank you for the future!” Gorbachev strongly opposed Yelt sin’s election. He told the Russian Congress last week that Yeltsin’s platform of decentralizing political and economic power would lead to a “breakup of the union.” The Russian Federation stretches from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It is home to half the country’s 285 million peo ple and includes Moscow. Yeltsin took office immediately. As president of the Russian Con- a coalition government with mem bers of the conservative Communist Party bloc and other groups. Yeltsin said he gained several votes because of efforts by Gorba chev Monday night to block his elec tion. Russian Deputy Alexander Liubi mov, a well-known TV commenta te At first, President Gorbachev will react very unhappily, but then he’ll gradually get used to this inevitability,” —Boris Yeltsin, Russian Republic president gress, a newly created body that holds the Russian Federation’s high est government authority, Yeltsin acts as chief executive of the repub lic. In the deciding vote of the 1,060- member Russian Congress, Yeltsin won 535 votes, four more than the majority needed. Russian Premier Alexander Vla sov received 467 votes. Valentin Tsoy, a little-known businessman from the Soviet Far East, received 11 votes. Lawmakers said Tuesday they be lieved Yeltsin gained the last few votes he needed by offering to form tor, said Yeltsin’s election would force Gorbachev to start dealing with another strong leader instead of “shadows” willing to defer to him. Vitaly Churkin, a spokesman for Foreign Minister Eduard A. She vardnadze, said on NBC that Yelt sin’s election “might actually help Gorbachev because Gorbachev is for radical reform, and he needs more popular support For that.” Some also said Yeltsin may have benefited from the adverse reaction to the Kremlin’s proposed program for making the crippled Soviet econ omy a partial market economy.