■ ^xasA&M^Q 4.4. IJ
tie tsattalion
Babe backs up
for sixth year
Cowboy’s Laufenberg
continues to smile despite
sitting on sidelines.
See Page 5
igrees
ff
flow
Vol. 89 No. 188 USPS 045360 6 Pages
College Station, Texas
Pentagon may expand troops to 250,000
7 (AP) - Irat
Monday to ont
inning througl
i crude runninj
is a world em
qi market,
tions voted to.
n Iraqi and Ku
nad sanctions tc
nvasion of Ku
qut Ozal, in ar.
News, had
i key would stop
oil if the Secu
the sanctions.
j.N. embargo,
'S.
rnment offidal
a of anonymity
0 curtail oil on
eat relief.” Tht
een jrressurinj
pipeline flow,
announced that
tate James
I to Turkey, a
this week fot
irisis set offbi
tail August2.
tor of the state-
ine company
ng stopped at
. Iraq reduced
ger pipeline to
ty, he told re-
WASHINGTON (AP) — Penta
gon plans call for sending up to
250,000 ground troops to Saudi
Arabia’s defense in the face of a con
tinued Iraqi military buildup in Ku
wait, Pentagon sources and adminis
tration officials said Thursday.
The substance of the military’s so-
called “detail planning” came as the
White House hinted at a possible na
val blockade to choke off Iraq’s oil
exports in the face of its week-old in
vasion of Kuwait.
Pentagon spokesman Pete Wil
liams told reporters that the U.S.
movement of troops continued on
Thursday and would take “many
days” to complete.
Williams declined to specify the
force level the United States intends
to deploy.
However, an administration offi
cial, speaking privately, said,
“There’s a certain minimum force
we have to put over there as a deter
rent, and, for now, we’re marching
ahead with it.”
A Pentagon source, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, said the
United States was prepared to put
“many divisions” in Saudi Arabia.
“We have contingency plans that
could result in the insertion of up to
200,000 to 250,000 ground forces
before it’s all done,” said this source,
who spoke on condition that further
identification be withheld.
Such a deployment could take up
to 60 days to complete, the sources
said.
Both sources said the future de
ployment of U.S. forces depends
upon President Saddam Hussein’s
moves, as well as the response to
Washington’s call for international
support in its quest to oust Hussein
from Kuwaiti territory.
Earlier in the day, the Pentagon
reported that 50,000 combat units
were moving south inside Iraq, and
that if they entered Kuwait, the total
invasion force would number “about
170,000.” Only a day earlier, the in
telligence estimates had put the Iraqi
force at 100,000 men.
A Pentagon statement said there
“seems to be some gathering” of
Iraqi troops on the Turkish border,
but the statement added that ana
lysts had “no good estimates of num
bers and types.”
Meanwhile, the White House
prodded other nations to join the
armed defense of Saudi Arabia, and
more U.S. fighter planes arrived in
the tense Persian Gulf area to bolster
the buildup of American combat
troops.
The White House prodded other
nations Thursday to join its armed
defense of Saudi Arabia and assured
Turkey that NATO would provide
protection from Iraq. More U.S.
fighter planes arrived in the tense
Persian Gulf to bolster the buildup
of American combat troops.
THE PERSIAN GULF
The Pentagon said Iraq had an es- Williams said more Iraqi units were
timated 120,000 troops in Kuwait heading south into Kuwait. He de-
and had improved its air defenses scribed their actions as “moving
there. Pentagon spokesman Pete sand, digging in tanks.”
Texas National Guard
helps out in Saudi Arabia
;es
West Ger-
irut, an of-
mg those
: led by Lt.
et minister
g to a For-
requested
aea, Sierra
a two-day
Economic
;st African
mtion.
r desire to
ly carnage
tly and we
support of
AUSTIN (AP) — Texas National
Guard personnel will be used to sup
port the deployment of troops to
Saudi Arabia, Gov. Bill Clements
said Thursday.
Clements said he approved a Pen
tagon request to allow the partici
pation of 11 personnel of the 136th
Tactical Airlift Wing, based at
Hensley Field in Grand Prairie.
“These troops volunteered to par-
ticipate in activities supporting the
movement of U.S. troops to the Per
sian Gulf to help the armed forces of
Saudi Arabia enhance their de
fensive capabilities,” Clements said.
Thousands of American combat
troops took up defensive positions
Thursday in the heart of Saudi Ara
bia’s vital oil-producing province.
GIs, diplomats tighten positions
Associated Press
American GIs dug into position in Arabia’s searing
sands Thursday while American diplomats worked the
air-conditioned corridors of power, both tightening a
vise, step by step, on an increasingly isolated Iraq.
The dangerous U.S.-Iraqi standoff in the desert rat
tled nerves across the Middle East.
Israel fired off a test missile as a warning to the Ira
qis. Air raid sirens wailed mysteriously in Jordan. Turk
ish villagers said Iraqi tanks had rumbled into position
near the Turkey-Iraq border. And Iraq closed its fron
tiers for foreigners, heightening concerns about hun
dreds of Americans stranded in Iraq and Kuwait.
The tension reached as far as the hills of Tennessee
and farms of Wisconsin, where local Air National
Guardsmen were hurriedly called from their civilian
jobs to help ferry U.S. troops and gear the 5,000 miles
to Saudi Arabia.
American leaders believe that oil kingdom could be
the next target of an Iraqi invasion force that conquered
Kuwait last week.
Arab leaders, desperate to defuse the explosive crisis,
gathered in Cairo in search of a peaceful resolution —
possibly an all-Arab force to act as a border buffer be
tween the Saudis and Americans on one side and the
Iraqis on the other. The summit was postponed a day
until today.
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein sent a delegation to
Cairo. Its leader, Taha Yassin Ramadan, asserted that
the U.S. force in Saudi Arabia, which unofficial reports
said could reach 50,000 men, would be used to attack
Iraq.
Any such move “will be answered decisively,” he said.
Iraq’s ambassador to Greece suggested the Iraqis would
unleash poison gas on any attacking American troops.
While the Arab presidents and sheiks marked time in
Cairo, American diplomacy pressed forward in world
capitals:
• Secretary of State James A. Baker III, in Ankara,
told Turkish leaders they could depend on their NATO
allies in any showdown with neighboring Iraq.
• In Paris, a U.S. envoy reassured a 21-nation en
ergy conference that Washington would tap its huge
emergency oil stockpile if the crisis causes shortages.
Friday, August 10,1990
Bush Jr. commends
Ogden at fundraiser
Photo by Mike C. Mulvey
George Bush Jr.
By JULIE
MYERS
Of The Battal
ion Staff
George
Bush Jr. com
pared the sac
rifices of Steve
Ogden, repub
lican candi
date for state
representa
tive, to those
of Texas
Rangers
pitcher Nolan
Ryan Thurs
day night.
Bush, co
owner of the
Rangers,
spoke to about
300 people at
a $50-a-plate
fundraising
dinner for Og
den at the Col
lege Station
Ramada Inn.
After last
season’s un
successful at
tempt at a
strikeout re
cord, Bush
said Ryan was
less worried about his individual
record of 5,000 strikeouts and
more concerned that he had let
23 teammates down.
“The reason I love that story,
particularly in a political context,
is that it really does speak to what
individual candidates are willing
to do,” Bush said.
Candidates, like Ogden, who
run for office are saying that they
are willing to give up the com
forts of a family life to serve.
Bush said.
“He’s willing to go out every
night and knock on doors be
cause he believes in a cause — a
philosophy,” Bush said. “He wor
ries about his kids. This is what
Steve Ogden is saying to me.”
“Therefore it is important for
us to understand the sacrifices
he’s making and rally behind him
— to pitch in,” Bush said.
“Sacrifice is what public life
must be about and should be
about and that’s why I’m here.
I’m convinced this man is doing
this for the absolute right rea
sons.”
As a graduate of the U.S. Naval
Academy and a nuclear engineer
in the submarine corps, Ogden
said he can understand and ad
dress the scientific and technolog
ical problems of Texas in the 90s.
Because he received an M.B.A.
from Texas A&M in 1987 and
has business experience during
the good and hard times, Ogden
said he can also address Texas’
economic and business problems.
Ogden has been an indepen
dent oil and gas producer since
1983 and owns Ogden Resources
and Impala Drilling.
Ogden will face his opponent,
Democrat Jim James, at the polls
Nov. 7.
unity, of
2 interna-
eacekeep-
elections,
Commu-
were be-
people as
■rnational
lism
n
■uphoric stale
>wn and usefl
ve to sigliii
eas may flo>
mind whit
uppressed.
its can also re
prevent higt
?ptic convul
and the eyf
lists say.
s the door It
that mimi
ts while lad
i nmented Di
i*ctor of til!
ent at John
tjol in Baltr
structure ii
.y drugs ant
to particula;
i r effects or
^est that can
- ty of effect
variety of re
< i subtype
ion
A’s
leo
»k!
H can be
rom 8:30-
McDonald
sx.
Police ticket driver for wreck
By HOLLY BECKA
Of The Battalion Staff
Texas A&M University Police
cited the driver of a car that veered
into the fence surrounding the
Zachry parking lot Wednesday night
for failure to control her vehicle’s
speed.
A&M senior Julianne Leonard, a
22-year-old marketing major from
Bryan, was driving a 1987 Toyota
when it struck a curb and then a 7-
foot steel fence on University Drive
atabout 11 p.m. Wednesday.
Bob Wiatt, director of UPD, said
the accident report stated Leonard
lost control of the vehicle after she
turned off South College onto Uni
versity Drive.
Leonard told University police
that as she was turning, another ve-
hide turned opposite her car and
startled her. Wiatt said Leonard said
this caused her to veer and hit the
curb.
Wiatt said several witnesses have
made statements that conflict with
Leonard’s.
“The witnesses did not see any
other vehicle that might have caused
her to be distracted,” he said.
“What we believe now is that she
was coming off South College onto
University at a high rate of speed
and lost control of the car,” he said.
Leonard was cited for failure to
control her vehicle’s speed and for
not wearing a seatbelt. Passenger Ju
lie Lane, 21, a senior accounting ma
jor from Rockwall, also was cited for
not wearing a seatbelt.
The two women were taken to
Humana Hospital following the acci
dent and were treated for minor in
juries and released early Thursday-
morning.
Professor: Survey exaggerates benzine danger
By MIKE LUMAN
Of The Battalion Staff
A recent consumer survey reported levels of
benzine in gasoline vary throughout the United
States, and people in certain regions are more
likely to develop cancer from the toxic substance
than others.
But a Texas A&M professor said the findings
were exaggerated, and removing benzine from
gas would force oil companies to change their re
fining process and raise already high prices.
“The survey needs to say how much it (ben
zine) really matters; how much it affects people,”
said Dr. Richard Davison of the A&M Chemical
Engineering Department.
Benzine is an octane-increasing chemical, or
aromatic, used in gas as an alternative to lead.
It is not added to gas, but is formed during
processing or already exists in crude oil, Davison
said.
Benzine can be removed from gas and sold in
pure form, but refineries must balance the loss
against octane needs, he said.
Gas is required to have a minimum octane to
prevent engines from knocking. High octane
means gas has greater anti-knock properties.
“That’s all octane is,” Davison said. “High oc
tane does not mean more energy than low, nor is
it more explosive.”
He said benzine levels vary among refineries
and it is difficult to generalize levels state-to-state
without examining the source of the gas.
The survey, by Washington-based consumer
and environmental group Citizen Action, studied
fuel samples in 18 U.S. cities.
The report concluded cities in the West, nota
bly Seattle and Los Angeles, sold gas with up to
three times as much benzine as Eastern cities.
Health concerns center on exposure to the
chemical during refueling and working in its
proximity.
Davison said a study to determine risk would
have to examine a large sample group exposed to
the substance and find a statistical difference in
their health and the rest of the population.
He said no such studies have been done.
The Environmental Protection Agency esti
mated there are about eight chances in 100,000
of developing cancer from self-service refueling
of motor vehicles during a lifetime.
Clean air legislation before Congress would re
quire reductions of benzine and other aromatics
in fuel.
Davison said there is always room to spend
more on safety, but costs must be weighed
against results.
The lead in leaded gasoline was effective in
raising octane. By not using it, refineries were
forced to find a different process, he said.
“That’s why unleaded costs more,” Davison
said. “It really does cost more to make. You can’t
take the benzine out without further processing
and cost.”
He said A&M has done research on alterna
tives, including methyl and ethyl additives to
boost octane level.
Players enjoy ‘Ultimate’ sport
By ISSELLE MCALLISTER
Of The Battalion Staff
Fun, fitness and friendship are why Texas A&M’s
Ultimate Frisbee players are fanatic about their
sport.
Ultimate Frisbee is played similar to soccer, except
the action is in the air, said Bill McAbee, a senior
from Bedford who has been playing for more than a
year.
Ultimate is played in an area smaller than a foot
ball field with a goal at each end. Each team has
seven players who try to catch the disk in the end
zones for points.
The players cannot walk with the disk, he ex
plained. It must be tossed from player to player. If
the disk is dropped, the other team takes over pos
session.
Bonnie Zigmond, a graduate student from Adkins
and a five-year Ultimate veteran, said the 21-year-
old sport started in New Jersey and has spread all
over the country.
The Northeast has varsity collegiate teams, she
said, but some of the best players can be found in
California.
Ultimate Frisbee at A&M is a co-ed extramural
sport, McAbee said. The team competes against
other universities and attends tournaments through-
Charles Boden Miller, Class of ’88, jumps for a
frisbee Wednesday afternoon at Ultimate frisbee
Photo by Eric Roalson . .
out the nation.
practice while graduate Student Paul Normandin There are no professional Ultimate teams, but the
waits for a chance to catch it. teams that compete at the national level are excep
tional, he said.
Zigmond said Ultimate might be the next sport
added to Olympic competition. The 1992 Summer
Olympics will feature it as an exhibition sport, she
said.
Thomas Jackson, president of the A&M Ultimate
team, says playing the game “will do a lot for your
mind and your body.” It is an exhausting sport, he
said, but it relieves stress.
“It is a great sport to get fit,” Zigmond said.
Studies show Ultimate is the most aerobic team
sport, she said. Some players lose up to 20 or 30
pounds, she added, because the action is non-stop.
It’s addictive, she said, and everyone can play —
even the most uncoordinated — because Ultimate
skills develop with practice.
And everyone does play. At A&M, undergraduate
students, graduate students, professors, lawyers and
engineers all play together, she said.
There is a great comraderie among the players,
Zigmond said. Their time together is relaxing.
Susan Saunders, a graduate student from Costa
Rica, said players exchange “psych beads” at tourna
ments and parties. They are strings of colored beads
given as friendship tokens.
“It’sjust a good bull thing to do,” she said.
The A&M Ultimate Frisbee team practices every
Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at 6 p.m. at Gen.
Ormond R. Simpson Drill Field, but starting in the
fall the team will practice at Penberthy Field by Ol
sen Field.