r 4,1990
The Battalion
9
We asked
and you said...
Student, faculty opinions
on the Persian Gulf
See Page 3
Vol. 90 No. 3 USPS 045360 14 Pages
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, Septembers, 1990
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Pollutants impact behavior
Lead, cadmium mask
intoxicating effects
By BILL HETHCOCK
Of The Battalion Staff
Heavy exposure to lead and
cadmium may lead to higher alco
hol consumption due to a mask
ing effect the pollutants have on
the intoxicating effects of alcohol,
Texas A&M psychologist Dr. Jack
Nations said.
Nations said past experimenta
tion has linked lead and cadmium
to alcohol consumption, but pre
viously it was thought that alcohol
makes the body absorb more of
the contaminants. This appears
to be true, but evidence from Na
tion’s studies suggests that the
contaminants dull alcohol’s intox
icating effects, leading to com
pensatory drinking.
“What we may have here is an
unfortunate cycle where alcohol
increases lead or cadmium ab
sorption, and the increased bur
den of the metal promotes more
alcohol consumption,” Nations
said.
Lead and cadmium are wide
spread throughout the environ
ment, Nations said. The principle
source of lead is auto emmissions,
and cadmium is found in tobacco
leaves and municipal sewage
sludge, he said.
Because these are the sources
of the pollutants, smokers and
people living in heavily polluted
areas are especially vulnerable, he
said. Cadmium is also entering
our food chain in increasing
amounts, because it is being used
in many fertilizers now, he said.
Test rats in Nation’s experi
ments consumed greater
amounts of alcohol when lead
and cadmium were present in
their systems. Nations said this is
because the contaminants blunt
the drunk feeling provided by al
cohol, so the rats drink more to
get the same effect.
“When the animals have the
metals in them, it’s like they’re
given a lower dose (of alcohol),”
Nations said.
Nations said future research
will center on other drugs, such
as cocaine. Preliminary evidence
indicates that lead and cadmium
also dull the impact of this drug,
he said.
Even though cadmium and
lead seem to decrease the intoxi
cating effects of drugs and alco
hol, these substances have the
same harmful consequences on
the body whether the effects are
felt or not, Nations said.
“The damage that’s being done
by alcohol is being masked and
the person is having to take in
more of it in order to achieve the
same subjective experience,” Na
tions said. “But just because the
behavioral effect is decreased
doesn’t lower the health risk, so
the end effect is a health risk in
crease.”
Pollutants may have a greater
indirect impact on behavior than
previously thought, Nations said.
“Chemicals in our environ
ment may not necessarily pro
duce the desire to take in drugs
or alcohol, but they may alter the
effects of the drug once it is taken
in,” he said.
Bush asks Congress to forgive
Egypt’s $7B military liability
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush will
ask Congress to write off Egypt’s $7 billion mili
tary debt to the United States as “a symbol of our
appreciation” for help in the Persian Gulf crisis,
the White House said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State James A. Baker
III gave Congress a ringing defense of the Bush
administration’s decision to pour troops and
weapons into the Middle East, saying the United
States had to react vigorously to “one of the defi
ning moments of a new era.”
He noted that economic effects of the crisis al
ready are being felt, in such ways as higher gaso
line prices, but he said the issue was hardly that
narrow.
“It is, rather, about a dictator who, acting
alon^ and unchallenged, could strangle the
global economic order, determining by fiat
whether we all enter a recession or even the dark
ness of a depression,” Baker told the House For
eign Affairs Committee.
Baker also said the administration would con
sider “working with others to create a new secu
rity structure for the region,” lasting beyond the
end of the current crisis.
He gave little detail on how such an organiza
tion might work, though he pointed to success by
NATO in curbing Soviet expansion during the
Cold War.
Presidential Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater
said Bush already had consulted with members
of Congress about forgiving Egypt’s military debt
and felt confident they would give the required
approval. But Patrick Leahy, chairman of a Sen
ate foreign aid panel, said the debt forgiveness
would lead to similar requests from other nations
and “I’m not willing to double or triple our for
eign aid budget without a lot more understand
ing of what the United States gets out of it.”
House Republican Leader Bob Michel, also,
said the White House announcement “may be a
little premature.” He added, “I would like to
hear firsthand from the administration the ratio
nale” for the move.
Fitzwater said, “This decision, one stimulated
in part by Egypt’s leadership in resisting Iraqi ag
gression, is an essential component of the ong
oing U.S. contribution to the current situation in
the Persian Gulf.”
In a White House briefing the day after Bush
returned from his Kennebunkport, Maine, vaca
tion, Fitzwater also said on other Persian Gulf
topics:
• There “is no conflict with the Saudis” on ul
timate control of the operations of U.S. forces
stationed in Saudi Arabia. He said the United
States would not launch an offensive operation
without consulting the host country, but he in
sisted that the chain of command for U.S. forces
remains unchanged — from the president
through the Secretary of Defense and to the
commanders.
• The U.S. Navy had stopped and boarded a
tea-laden Iraqi-flagged freighter in the Gulf of
Oman as part of the trade blockade against Iraq.
The spokesman said, “The ship was ordered to
divert. It did not divert. It was then boarded and
now has diverted. We don’t have information
now on where it’s being diverted to.”
Candidate equates pro-choice with liberty
By SEAN FRERKING
Of The Battalion Staff
Military dependents must
verify enrollment status
By LIBBY KURTZ
Of The Battalion Staff
Military dependents 21 or older
Iwho are Texas A&M students must
have the University verify their full
time enrollment to retain dependent
status.
The U.S. Armed Forces will allow
full-time students to be classified as
dependents until they are 23.
As dependents, students are enti
tled to all I.D. card and health care
benefits from the government.
Faye Mieth, a Veterans’ Services
counselor, said students needing let
ters of verification can come to the
Veterans’ Services Office in 207 Pa-
[ vilion.
j “If they’re a full-time student,
we’ll just check it (their status) on
SIMS and give them a letter stating
they are indeed a full-time student at
A&M,” Mieth said. “Students usually
send the letter to their parents so
they can give it to the necessary offi
cials.”
Besides working with military de
pendents, the veterans’ office deals
with any military financial issue.
The office is open from 8 a.m. to
5 p.m.
“If we can’t help them, we’ll point
them in the right direction,” Mieth
said.
The office employs four student
workers who are paid by the Veter
ans Administration.
Scott Esserine, a counselor and se
nior speech communications-politi-
cal science major, said the office
usually is busy.
Mieth said the office recently has
received many inquiries about the
Middle East situation from students
who are in the reserves.
“As of Tuesday, four students had
to withdraw from the University be
cause they were called in,” she said.
The pro-choice movement pro
motes every person’s right to make
personal decisions without govern
ment interference, the Democratic
candidate for Brazos County state
representative said Tuesday at a
Pro-Choice Aggie’s meeting.
In front of about 50 people, Jim
James, Class of ’76, said tne pro-
choice movement often is clouded by
the emotional issue of abortion.
“It is not really important if I am
for or against abortion,” James said.
“What is important is whether the
government should make that deci
sion for me. I do not believe it
should.”
James said he believes no govern
ment should impose morals on any
one. He said the Constitution and
the Supreme Court decision Roe v.
Wade prohibit the government from
controlling the personal life of any
U.S. citizen.
“What we are saying is that the
government should keep its hands
out of our personal business,” James
said. “That is what pro-choice is all
about, people making their own de
cisions.”
James also said if abortions were
illegal, women still would continue
to have them. He said in Romania
the number of abortions did not sub
stantially change after that country
made it legal to obtain an abortion.
“The only thing that changed in
Romania (after it became legal to
have an abortion) was there were no
longer any mutilated and dead
women from botched, illegal abor
tions,” James said.
He said he fully supports the pro-
choice movement but warned recent
political events may challenge the le
gality of Roe v. Wade.
“With the Webster decision (a Su
preme Court decision which re
moved federal support for abor
tions) we have the beginnings of a
fight for individual freedom,” James
said.
Photo by Sondra Robbins
Jim James speaks with Kelly Ann Robinson, a of Pro-Choice Aggies, after his speech in 404
sophomore civil engineering major and president Rudder last night.
He said the pro-life lobby is orga
nized and well funded. James said if
the pro-choice movement does not
organize and vote in the upcoming
elections, women around the coun
try may lose their right to make their
own decisions.
andria, Va., said the purpose of the
student organization is to promote
awareness of the pro-choice issue
and to educate the students of Texas
A&M about their options in the con-
fusing world of personal
relationships and sex.
is one of our main goals.”
Robinson said the group tries to
register as many people as they can
to vote, no matter if those people are
pro-choice or pro-life, and presently
is lobbying against the reversal of
Roe v. Wade.
Kelly Ann Robinson, president of “We want to promote a plan, not “We’re trying to protect our civil
Pro-Chioce Aggies and a sophomore just abortion ,” Robinson rights guaranteed by the Constitu-
civil engineering major from Alex- said. “Pro-choice before conception tion,” Robinson said.
Student Senate elects
new committee chair
By MIKE LUMAN
Of The Battalion Staff
Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack
Chuck Callis, a construction worker, installs of the new parking garage being built across from
metal studs Tuesday afternoon on the first floor Rudder Tower.
The Student Senate elected
Charles Phipps new Rules and Regu
lations Committee chairman last
night in its first regular meeting of
the semester.
Phipps introduced a bill to pro
vide an electronic student informa
tion board which would be main
tained by the Senate on the first
floor of the Pavilion.
The board, which would be pro
vided by a manufacturer at no cost
to Texas A&M, would be partially
covered by advertising.
The Department of Student Af
fairs in the Commons area uses the
same type of board.
Kenny Gossett, speaker of the
Senate, referred the bill to the Sen
ate Student Services Committee.
The Senate also discussed a bill to
extend the voting period in student
elections from one particular day to
five days. It was referred to the
Rules and Regulations Committee.
In other business, Student Body
President Ty Clevenger presented a
legislative agenda to the Senate for
the 1990-91 session.
Included in the Agenda were
plans for a task force to evaluate
methods of safer and more conve
nient bicycle transportation on and
off campus.
Also in the agenda was the cre
ation of a committee to work for
campus beautification, recycling and
tree replanting efforts during bon
fire.
Clevenger said another committee
will work for the inclusion in student
government of students from races
that have had little involvement in
the past.
A guest at the meeting, Juan Igna
cio Corujo from A&M’s Interna
tional Students Association, thanked
the Senate for its efforts in interna
tional awareness.
Clevenger also said A&M is trying
to arrange a student exchange pro
gram with Kazan, Bryan-Colle
Station’s sister city.
In other proceedings, all Student
Senators became certified deputy-
voter registrars of Brazos County af
ter completing paperwork from the
voter registrar’s office.
John Ansbach, external affairs
chair, began recruiting volunteers to
explain the process and register stu
dents in A&M classes to vote.
lege
Corps offers
male escorts
for safety
By KATHERINE COFFEY
Of The Battalion Staff
The Corps of Cadets’ escort
service, which has been available
to students since A&M admitted
women, will provide the best
available security for students
walking on campus, the Corps ad
jutant said.
Corps Adjutant Conrado Alva
rado, a senior Corps staff mem
ber who oversees the guard
room, said the escort service
plans to continue its 24-hour
service.
The guard room provides es
corts for any students walking to
various campus areas. The phone
number for the escort service is
845-6789.
“We encourage all students
and faculty to use this service to
prevent any unnecessary prob
lems that could arise,” Alvarado
said.
He said 40 additional Corps
members are volunteering to be
on call if the guard room becomes
See Escort/Page 12