me Battalion
Birth of a Cadet
_ Freshman Orientation Week
photo essay.
See Page 5
Dl. 89 No. 192 USPS 045360 14 Pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, August 28,1990
obley opts for AIDS education programs
y CHRIS VAUGHN
The Battalion Staff
ame
aed
3o
Condom machines in Texas A&M build-
gs won’t become a reality now that A&M
esident William Mobley nixed the AIDS
jommittee recommendation to put condom
nachines in residence halls and other heavily .
jopulated buildings.
Mobley, who announced the new Univer-
lity AIDS policy Monday, instead opted for
[ducational measures to cope with the Ac
quired Immune Deficiency Syndrome prob-
fem.
The president said condom machines in
Residence halls and other highly populated
puilclings are not necessary because condoms
ire readily available to students at locations
iurrounding the campus.
“Condom machines would make access the
primary issue, and I would hate to see that be-
pome the issue,” Mobley said. “The primary
isue is to educate students.”
Dr. Jerry Gaston, associate provost and
chairman of the 14-member AIDS commit
tee, said he thinks the committee will be
95
wondom machines would
make access the primary issue,
and I would hate to see that
become the issue. The primary
issue is to educate students.”
—William H. Mobley,
Texas A&M University president
pleased with Mobley’s decision, despite the
failure of the condom machine recommenda
tion.
“The committee knew it would be unusual
if the president approved and put into effect
every one of our recommendations,” Gaston
said. “I think they will still be pleased.”
As part of the new AIDS policy aimed at
education, a class in the health department
about all sexually transmitted diseases, in
cluding AIDS, is planned for the spring.
University Regulations for students and
the Policy and Procedures Manual for faculty
and staff now will include a six-page section
devoted to AIDS and related problems, such
as discrimination.
The policy states that A&M shall not dis
criminate against any student, employee or
future employee because of AIDS or HIV
(Human Immunodeficiency Virus).
. Dr. Kenneth Dirks, A.P. Beutel Health
Center director and committee member, said
he strongly supported the anti-discrimination
portion of the policy.
“There’s no reason to discriminate against
someone’s educational opportunity,” Dirks
said. “You can’t get AIDS sitting in a class-
Vice President. for Student Services John
Koldus also has been asked to begin imple
menting more prpgrams, such as workshops,
conferences and orientations, aimed at edu
cating students about the dangers of AIDS.
“We wanted these opportunities to be used
to remind students of the consequences of
certain behavior,” Gaston said. “We have a so
phisticated student body, but young people
have a tendency to believe they’re immune to
harm. There’s a sense of immortality. Educa
tion is a constant requirement.”
KAMU-TV and KAMU-FM also have
joined in the educational efforts as they pro
gram more shows and commercials about the
deadly disease.
Mobley and Dirks both said the health cen
ter will continue to play a vital role in dispens
ing information about the disease. The center
also does confidential AIDS testing and coun
seling.
“I think education is the proper approach
to handling the problem,” Dirks said. “I’m
convinced that when Aggies know the facts,
they make good decisions.”
Gaston also agreed.
“I think education will help,” he said. “It
would be too optimistic to say that none of
our students would get AIDS, but our goal is
to make that happen.”
The University AIDS committee, which in
cluded faculty, staff and students, was ap
pointed by former A&M President Frank
Vandiver two years ago.
Marshall: Sprinklers
make dorms safer
All Spirit at All-tl
f CHRIS VAUGHN
The Battalion Staff
Texas A&M's crowded residence
nails, exempt from city building
codes, would be much safer if sprin
kler systems were installed, the Col
lege Station Fire Department’s fire
marshalls said.
None of A&M’s residence halls
have sprinkler systems, including
[he newer four-story modular dorms
like McFadden, Neeley, Hobby,
Rudder and Haas.
If the buildings were off campus
[hey would have to have sprinklers,
but they are exempt from city build
ing requirements because they are
on state property.
College Station Deputy Fire Mar
shall Bland Ellen said sprinkler sys
tems would improve the chances of
his department, which responds to
fire alarms on campus, controlling a
fire.
“I don’t know if it’s unsafe, but I
believe sprinkler systems would
make it safer,” Ellen said. “That’s the
reason we (College Station) require
them. A&M may never have a prob
lem. But if it did, it would be much
easier to contain if sprinkler systems
were in place, especially in places
with a high life hazard.”
College Station Fire Marshall
See Sprinkler/Page 14
Fall enrollment breaks record
A record 40,129 students were
registered at Texas A&M as of
the start of Monday’s classes,
according to University figures.
Executive Director of Admis
sions and Records Gary R. Engel-
gau noted that the Fall 1990 first-
day Figure is 1,111 more than last
year’s first-day total.
Final enrollment totals will not
be determined until the 12th day
of class, the official reporting pe
riod of the Texas Higher Educa
tion Coordinating Board.
Engelgau said he expects the
final figure for the fall semester
to be about 41,000.
A&M enrolled 40,492 students
as of the 12th class day last year.
Jr. Yell Leader Kerry Cox, an Agricultural Busi
ness major from Amarillo, whoops it up during
Photo by Scott D. Weaver
All-University Night held Monday Aug. 27 at
Kyle Field.
More space
now available
for parking
Bicycle lanes created,
garages completed
By KATHY COX
Of The Battalion Staff
Changes made by the Department
of Parking, Transit and Traffic
Services at A&M have created more
parking spaces for off-campus stu
dents.
Completion of the 2,000 space on-
campus student parking garage on
the south side of campus has helped
clear space for more off-campus stu
dent parking spaces, Tom Williams,
director of PTTS, said.
Williams also said the railroad
right of way on Wellborn Road
across from Kyle Field has been pre
pared and designated as off-campus
student parking.
Additional spaces also were allo
cated to off-campus students since
new bike lanes on campus took the
place of some off-campus parking
spaces, he said.
The new bike lanes on Bizzell,
New Main Drive, Coke and Ross
were created to help make traveling
on campus easier for bicyclers and to
make the campus look better, Wil
liams said.
In another change, PTTS will
start enforcing parking rules on the
weekends.
Williams said parking on the
weekends had become chaotic, and
fire and emergency vehicle teams
were concerned they could not get to
residence halls if an emergency oc
curred.
“We need to keep order in the
parking areas seven days a week,” he
said.
PTTS mailed parking tags to stu
dents along with a map designating
lots in which each permit holder can
park.
Students already should be dis
playing their parking tags, Williams
said, and those who have not pur
chased a tag can buy one at Rudder
Tower.
Problems in construction of a
E arking lot next to the tennis courts
as delayed the opening of the lot,
Williams said, but it is scheduled for
completion next week.
Williams said he believes the
changes, including the parking ga
rages, bike lanes, expanded bus serv
ices and enforcement of rules will
help transportation at A&M.
“I think we’re getting off to a
good start,” he said.
Fifty-two Americans escape Iraq, arrive in Turkey
Fifty-two exhausted Americans
reached freedom in Turkey on
Monday after an ordeal in Iraq and
occupied Kuwait, and U.N. Secre
tary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar
said “it is time for diplomacy” to re
solve the Persian Gulf crisis.
World markets rebounded and oil
prices fell, apparently on the rare
good news from the Middle East.
But there were threatening devel
opments as well.
Baghdad detained three young
men, the sons of American diplo
mats, at the Turkish border, separat
ing them from their families.
The State Department ordered
the expulsion of 36 Iraqi diplomats
— two-thirds of the Iraqi Embassy
staff in Washington — and imposed
travel restrictions on those remain-
ing.
In Kuwait, diplomats waged a test
of wills for a third day with Iraqi au
thorities demanding that they close
their embassies. France, protesting
the worsening situation at the Ku
wait missions, said it would ask the
United Nations to send envoys to
help the besieged diplomats.
President Bush was pessimistic
about prospects for a diplomatic set
tlement to the crisis. “I don’t partic
ularly see more hope now,” he said
Monday.
In the gritty reaches of the Saudi
Arabian desert, the pace of the U.S.
troop deployment was as blistering
as the temperatures. Army Maj.
Gen. Gus Pagonis, in charge of logis
tics for the U.S. forces, said an aver
age of 50 U.S. transport flights were
arriving daily.
Those Americans who arrived
safely in Turkey on Monday began
their journey last week as a group of
100 American diplomats and depen
dents who left Kuwait after Iraq’s
embassy-closing order. In Baghdad,
Iraq detained the men but allowed
the 55 women and children to leave.
Then, at the Turkish border —af
ter a grueling 27-hour, 430-mile
overland trip from Baghdad —three
young men over the age of 18 were
“forcibly removed” and sent back to
the Iraqi capital, the U.S. Embassy in
Ankara said.
Washington angrily accused
Baghdad of having “once again re
neged on its pledge” of free passage
for the dependents.
The 52 who got through to Tur
key were taken to a NATO base in
Incirlik to await a flight home Tues
day. Base spokeswoman Marty Davis
said they were swimming, relaxing,
and having “pizza and ice cream
cones.”
Their ordeal — coupled with
other Iraqi actions against diplomats
— angered American officials.
suits. Hungary and Nigeria said
Monday they were temporarily sus
pending embassy operations in Ku
wait.
Bush says negotiations
at standstill in Mideast
ial-A-Ride expands services, includes night hours
By KATHY COX
Of The Battalion Staff
Photo by Sondra Robbins
Traci Faucett, a freshman from Garland, steps
up into the Dial-A-Ride bus Monday night near
the Fish Pond. Bus Operations has added
nightly service this year.
Texas A&M Bus Operations is ex
panding its Dial-A-Ride service to in
clude off-campus locations.
The expansion was made to ac
commodate students who stay on
campus after off-campus shutdes
stop service at 10 p.m., Doug Wil
liams, manager of bus operations,
said.
“I
It’s a more personalized
service”
—Doug Williams,
bus operations manager
“We’re trying to provide security
and mobility for these students,” he
said. “It’s a positive effort.”
Williams said off-campus students
who study at the library at night or
need to have access to University
computers will find the service use
ful because they can stay on campus
later.
The original Dial-A-Ride service,
which began in Fall 1989, provides
free rides to locations on main and
west campus from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Sunday through Thursday.
Students can call 847-RIDE and
talk to the driver who will come pick
them up.
“People like being able to call and
talk to a person instead of just wait
ing for a bus,” Williams said. “It’s ~
more personalized service.”
New expanded services offer
rides from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday
through Friday to off-campus loca
tions along the regular shuttle bus
routes.
Students who use the off-campus
Dial-A-Ride service must have a bus
pass or a one-ride coupon.
Williams said bus operations will
use the small buses or vans at first,
while demand for the extended serv
ice is being determined.
“We are anticipating an over
whelming demand,” he said.
KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine
(AP) — President Bush said Monday
he holds out little hope that a U.N.-
sponsored search for a diplomatic
settlement in the Persian Gulf will
result in “fruitful negotiations.”
He said the demand of the United
Nations and the United States for a
complete Iraqi withdrawal from Ku
wait is not subject to negotiations.
And Iraq’s Saddam Hussein “has
been so resistant to complying with
international law that I don’t yet see
fruitful negotiations,” Bush said.
“There is no flexibility on Iraq
getting out of Kuwait and the rulers
(of Kuwait) being permitted to come
back,” Bush said.
The president commented during
a news conference with Canadian
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney,
who came by Bush’s vacation home
to consult on the crisis.
Asked if he was more optimistic
now than earlier about a diplomatic
settlement, Bush said:
“I don’t particularly see more
hope now. ... It’s so clear that what
the world is demanding of Saddam
Hussein (is): ‘Get out of Kuwait and
restore the rightful leaders to their
place.’”
Bush praised Mulroney for Cana
da’s decision to send three ships to
support the U.N.-backed trade em
bargo despite some initial Canadian
reservations.
White House spokesman Marlin
Fitzwater welcomed the decision of
U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez
de Cuellar to meet Thursday with
Iraq’s foreign minister but said “it re
mains to be seen” whether the talks
are likely to offer a promising reso
lution of the crisis.
“Certainly we are pleased with the
role the U.N. is taking at this point,”
Fitzwater said.
However, he indicated that the
United States expects Perez de Cuel
lar to hold firm to the. U.N. call for
Iraq to withdraw from occupied Ku
wait and for military enforcement of
the trade-embargo against Iraq.
“We expect these discussions to
focus around the U.N. resolutions
and take place within the context of
a complete and immediate uncondi-
“I
■don’t particularly see
more hope now.... It’s so
clear that what the world is
demanding of Saddam
Hussein (is): ‘Get out of
Kuwait and restore the
rightful leaders to their
place.’”
—George Bush,
President
tional withdrawal from Kuwait,”
Fitzwater told reporters here.
Fitzwater also said Bush would ex
tend his planned one-day visit to
Washington this week, remaining in
the capital from Tuesday afternoon
until Thursday afternoon for meet
ings on the Mideast, budget and
other matters of a “routine nature.”
Fitzwater denied that the presi
dent’s decision to extend his Wash
ington stay was in response to crit
icism that Bush has continued to
vacation while sending U.S. troops
to the Persian Gulf.
“It just makes common sense” for
Bush to conduct meetings and other
business while he’s in Washington,
Fitzwater said.
Bush was expected to talk by tele
phone to Perez de Cuellar later
Monday, Fitzwater said.