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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 3, 1990)
\ d he Battalion Stevie Ray Vaughan Local musicians, fans pay tribute See Page 4 Vol. 90 No. 1 USPS 045360 14 Pages A&M student revives victim By TROY HALL Of The Battalion Staff A Bryan resident was rescued by a Texas A&M student late Sunday afternoon at Bryan Utili ties Lake, said Clyde Goen, dep uty chief of the Bryan Fire De partment. As of early Monday morning, Zeferion Medellin Rojas, 24, 1804 Echols St., was listed in critical condition and in a coma at St. Jo seph Hospital’s intensive care unit after being rescued by Rob ert Green, a sophomore civil en gineering major from Alvin. The victim and some friends were swimming at Bryan Utilities Lake when he went under water. When the friends realized Rojas was in trouble they began calling for help, Goen said. Green found Rojas about 30 feet "A couple of friends and f ran out to the bank assuming a kid was drowning.” — Robert Green, A&M student from shore in five feet of water. He began one-man CPR, while two of his friends went to the nearest telephone to call for help. “We were about to pack up and leave when we heard a lady yel ling for help,” Green said. “A couple of friends and I ran out to the hank assuming a kid was drowning See CPR'Page 13 College Station, Texas Monday, September 3,1990 U.S. hostages escape captivity, return home to reclaim freedom WASHINGTON (AP) — Four- dozen Americans reclaimed their freedom Sunday, liberated from Saddam Hussein’s clutches and grateful to be back home. “I wasn’t a guest,” Lloyd Culbertson said. “I damned near starved to death.” The 47 Americans, weary from 24 hours of travel and their weeks as unofficial prisoners of war, arrived at Washington-Dulles International Airport aboard an Iraqi jetliner cleared to land only for this home coming flight. A handful of the passengers talked with reporters; most cleared customs and left the airport quietly with relatives. A U.S. official said 24 women, 11 men and 12 children ar rived but declined to identify them, citing privacy laws. The Americans who were held in Kuwait, which was overrun by Iraqi soldiers on Aug. 2, brought ominous word that Saddam Hussein’s forces may be mistreating Americans left behind. Culbertson, 76, of El Paso, said some of the hostages were being held without food and without wa ter. He did not provide details. Cul bertson took issue with Iraqi Ambas sador Mohamed Sadiq al-Mashat’s insistence that hostages were treated well as “guests” of Saddam: “The ambassador from Iraq is dead wrong.” “If it were not for the grace of God and Jesse Jackson, we would not be here,” said Culbertson, who told reporters he taught electronics to the Kuwaiti military for 5 and-a- half years. “The State Department has not lifted a hand for us.” Culbertson described meals as “pretty skimpy rations” — mainly frozen turkey. “I have never eaten so much turkey in my life.” Asked if the people left behind feared for their lives, Culbertson said, “Yes, they certainly do.” Bonnie Anderton left her hus band, Richard, after an emotional parting in Kuwait. She said they talked about sending their 10-year- old daughter, Jennifer, home alone but decided against it because the little girl needs medical treatment. She declined to say what the treat ment was. She said the Americans slept on the floor, had no water or power and Iraqi troops often fired shots nearby the U.S. Embassy compound during the day. Anderton said her family had been in Kuwait for three months. Her husband was working as an en gineer. “I think Jennifer will agree with me: Next summer we are going to Disneyland,” she said. Ed Johnson, a businessman from St. Louis, said he sought refuge in the embassy Aug. 17 at the sugges tion of diplomats there. “If it were not for the grace of God and Jesse Jackson, we would not be here. The State Department has not lifted a hand for us.” — Lloyd Culbertson, former hostage Committee recommends class A&M commits to multicultural awareness By LIBBY KURTZ Of The Battalion Staff Texas A&M University students maybe required to take a mandatory culture-awareness class if recom mendations from a committee formed to eliminate discrimination are implemented. At a press conference Friday, Uni versity President William Mobley Formally accepted the final report From the Committee for a Discrimi nation-Free Campus. The 17 member committee, which ndudes members of faculty, staff indstudents, called for both prompt idoption and implementation of heir recommendations. Mobley said A&M must ensure its :ommitment to multiculturalism and liversity if it wants to fulfill multiple uissions. “The predictions of our demogra- 6 hers on this campus are that by 030 at the latest, the traditional mi- torities will be the majority,” he said. Because of this, the president said A&M should be doing everything it can to promote a better learning en vironment for all students, regard less of their ethnic backgrounds. “We need to nurture diversity in all its forms on this campus,” he said. Mobley noted that A&M’s policies on discrimination are up to par with other institutions. He said the committee’s recom mendations will serve as an enhance ment to the policies currently in ef fect. T he committee made proposals concerning faculty, students and academics. Mobley said he already had taken steps to implement the 14 general- administrative recommendations which include: the dissemination of the newly drafted “University Statement on Harassment and Dis crimination,” improvement of em ployment policies and use of nondis- criminatory language. He said the other recommenda tions, which dealt with academics and multicultural education and awareness, had been referred to the appropriate vice presidents, faculty and student organizations for fur ther study and appropriate action. The mandatory culture-aware ness class was one such recommen dation. The committee’s other recom mendations include: • The University should establish an ethnic or multicultural studies program to be offered as an interdis ciplinary minor. • All members of the University community should be encouraged to participate in conferences or workshops on minority and women’s issues. • Residence halls should be re quired to hold a special session at the beginning of each semester that will focus on multicultural issues. Similar programs should be offered for Off- Campus Aggies. • Disciplinary hearings that in volve a minority student should have a minority staff member involved. • The Handicap Planning and Advisory Committee should con tinue to provide input in addressing the needs of handicapped students, faculty, staff and visitors to the cam pus. Sheran Riley, an assistant to the president and chairwoman, said the committee chose to follow a positive proactive program in eliminating discrimination at A&M, rather than supporting a disciplinary policy. See multicultural/Page 13 De Klerk continues democratic reforms JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) — President F.W. de Klerk called Friday for the governing Na tional Party, which implemented apartheid four decades ago, to ac cept non-whites as members. De Klerk said the all-white party’s restrictions were at odds with its goal of creating a democracy free of domination by any race or group. “The new South Africa demands that those who belong together through inner conviction should come together,” he told a party pro vincial congress in Durban. The government is looking for political allies amongvblack political groups to buttress its position in ne gotiations with the African National Congress, the main black opposition movement, on sharing power. The ANC seeks a one-man, one- vote system, virtually guaranteeing a black majority government. De Klerk wants protection for whites and other minority groups, a free market economy and guaranteed rights, such as the right to own prop erty. “The requirement of no (racial) domination means that power has to be shared in such a way that a major ity will neither have absolute power nor be able to abuse its power to the detriment of minorities or for their suppression,” de Klerk said. The congress and three other up coming provincial meetings are ex pected to approve accepting non whites. Even with the change, black party members would not be able to vote for the party’s candidates in na tional balloting because apartheid bars them from voting in national elections. Accepting blacks and other races would reverse the National Party’s heritage as the architect of apart heid. It won power in 1948 on a plat form of white dominance and has been the main voice of Afrikaner na tionalism, representing whites of mostly Dutch descent who dominate South African politics. Under apartheid, the country’s five million whites control the gov ernment and economy, while the 30 million blacks have no voice in na tional affairs. Since replacing P.W. Botha as president in 1989, de Klerk has pushed for repeal of apartheid laws and held talks with the ANC. His efforts have caused more whites to leave the National Party for the right-wing Conservative Party and extremist groups. Conservative Party leader Andries Treurnicht called de Klerk’s move Friday political surrender. He said in a statement the National Party had lost touch with people’s desire for nationalism instead of integra tion. In his speech, de Klerk accused Freurnicht of advocating violence to prevent change in South Africa. He said the Conservative Party sought continued policies of oppression. Student locator assists tudents 24 hours daily State, local Democrats rally support of voters By JULIE MYERS Of The Battalion Staff Jy BRIDGET HARROW Jf The Battalion Staff H you lost an old friend’s phone 'umber, or you can’t remember the a new f r I en< T> Texas , M s student locator service might lelpyou. Student locator, at 845-4741, is a urectory assistance number that lents 3 liSting f ° r a1 ' A&M StU ' J en the service was started in ' calls were handled by the Stu- ™t Affairs office until 10 p.m. n Ier 10 p.m., student locator 5 were transferred to the Physical a uts communication center. ■ ut s ' nce 1980, the communica- '! C f n . ter . has operated student lo- \Uv u "hme due to the growth of s student body, said Geneva or n ^? n ’ a d m inistrative assistant ontrol 0mmUnicationS and key ■ainr ' I1 ^ rrnat t on for student lo- ^■sp^ided by Student Infor- ivhirti' ana ® ement System (SIMS), md * * * * S °P erate d by the admissions "fed* office in Heaton Hall. Year ^r. e ^ e S ann ing of the school t ere j , ei a h students have regis- Drovia ^ rnmu nication center is 12th rl j 1 ^ a roster after the Rives ^ J°hnston said. “This Rctatpi y 101 ? 115 students time to Pus stiiH^° ne ’ and '*■ g* ves on-cam- •ifnis. !|™'i es P«:ially overassign- Peroianeiu dornf” ‘ 0 m ° Ve “ ' heir s '°ns am? tS mu ? t 8° to the admis- turd if tk recor ds office and fill out a ‘’'the s.,,7 W ‘J IU a nu mber changed sL P Udem ocat °r fde, she said. Stud names ^ nts w ho don’t want their r numbers to be given out need to fill out a “hold directory in formation” card. The card must be updated every academic year. “This gives students the option of deciding what information can be withheld from the public,” she said. Many students don’t turn in an updated phone number and are listed incorrectly, Johnston said. Other students don’t turn in a lo cal Bryan/College Station phone number, so only their hometown numbers are listed, she said. The only information student lo cator gives out is student names, classifications and phone numbers. “We do not have time to give out addresses,” Johnston said. We aie not only the student locator. We are directory assistance lor the rest of the University as well.” Besides handling calls for student locator (845-4741) and directory as sistance (845-3211), the communica tion center also handles general list ing information calls (0) foi A&M. Currently, the communication center is not computerized, and the operators work from a hard-copy di rectory. But the communication center will be going to an on-line directory by mid-September, Johnston said. “This will enable us to be updated more frequently,” Johnston said. “We will not have to insert updates manually anymore. If records has the information in their system, we 11 have it immediately too.” Student locator and directory as sistance are open 24 hours a day and seven days a week. , . ^ “We are only as good as the inlor- mation that is given to us,” Johnston . said. “Students have to be sure they update their phone information w th us. even if they live in a dorm. The rainy weather didn’t dampen the spirits of state and local candi dates and area voters who met at the Southwood Valley Athletic Complex Saturday evening. “Our intention is to bring out the swing voters, the ones who are unde cided,” Brazos County Democratic Chairman Bill McGuire said. “The voters can’t really know the candi dates if they just rely on television and 30-second sound bites for infor mation on political issues.” Nikki Van Hightower, candidate for Texas state treasurer; John Sharp, candidate for comptroller of public accounts; Jim James, candi date for state representative; Jim Turner, candidate for Texas state Senate 5th District; and Judge Mor ris L. Overstreet, candidate for place 5 judge on the Court of Criminal Appeals gave short speeches and mingled with Brazos County resi dents. Local Democratic candidates who attended the rally and also gave speeches included Jean Williamson, Judge Sarah Ryan; candidate for judge, County Court at Law No. 2; Judge W.T. ‘Tom’ McDonald Jr., candidate for judge, 85th District Court; Ron Gay, candidate for county judge; and Mary Ann Ward, candidate for Brazos County clerk. “Texans need to be concerned with the environment and public ed ucation,” McGuire said. “Republi cans have paid lip service to these is sues only at election time.” Aggie Democrats President Ste phen Medvic said Texas A&M stu dents should be knowledgeable about local races, as well as the gov ernor’s race. “Local races for state representa tives and senators are important be cause the legislature could vote dur ing any session on a woman’s legal right to an abortion,” Medvic said. “State races like the comptroller, treasurer and governor will impact the state and A&M almost immedi ately, whereas local races may not be a factor for a while,” he said. Medvic said even students who plan to leave the Brazos Valley after graduation should care about the lo cal races now. “So many (A&M students) give back (to A&M) when they’re gone, move back or maintain close ties with the university that it’s important to vote intelligently, so A&M and the community can be a place they’re proud of and want to move back to or visit,” Medvic said. Local races also are a concern for Judge W.T. McDonald, who hopes that his race for the 85th District Court judgeship will not be ham pered by those who vote a straight ticket. “Vote for who you want to at the top of the ticket, but know who you are voting for further down the bal lot when you go to pull the lever,” McDonald said. “If you want to vote for Republican gubernatorial candi date Clayton Williams and don’t know about anyone else, then get out of the voting booth. Be informed about your choices.” Overstreet, the first black to be nominated to state-wide office, said the voters couldn’t ask for a better slate of candidates if they picked it themselves. Other activities included face painting, a $5-a-ticket raffle for a limited edition print of Ann Rich ards and a voter registration booth. Photo by Scott D. Weaver Julian McMurrey of College Station and Stephen Medvic, senior political science major from Bedford, from left to right, talk poli tics with Jim Turner, who is running for the state Senate.