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The Dattalion
No problem here
Ag cornerback Kevin
Smith clears the air
See Page 8
Vol. 90 No. 28 USPS 045360 10 Pages
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, October 10,1990
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Officer posts filled
after run-off contest
By BRIDGET HARROW
Of The Battalion Staff
One Student Senate seat and
five officer positions of the Class
of ’94 were filled in Tuesday’s
freshman run-off elections.
Jennifer Newberry was elected
to the one remaining Student
Senate seat.
Seven of the eight freshman
Student Senate seats were filled
last Thursday in the initial elec
tions.
Mark Rollins was elected presi
dent of the Class of ’94, receiving
86 percent of the votes.
The races for the other officer
positions were much closer.
The positions of vice-presi
dent, secretary, treasurer and so
cial secretary were decided by a
margin of 10 votes or less.
The other positions filled
were:
•Vice President — Shannon
Allen
•Secretary—Julie Hodges
•T reasurer — David Carey
•Social Secretary — Richard
Barrus
•Historian — Ross McGlothlin
Of the 7,715 freshman en
rolled at A&M, 127 turned out to
vote in the run-off elections,
while 562 voted in the prelimi
nary election.
Resolution criticizes recent violence in Jerusalem
Israel condemned in U.N. decision
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush adminis
tration, after daylong negotiations at the United
Nations, has decided to cast its vote against Israel
in criticism of the slaying of at least 19 Palestinian
Arabs in a Jerusalem melee, U.S. officials said
Tuesday.
The resolution, drafted by American diplo
mats, was adopted by the four other permanent
members of the U.N. Security Council and is
thus veto-proof, the officials told the Associated
Press.
It condemns the violence that broke out Mon
day “and particularly the excessive Israeli re
sponse,” the officials said.
The resolution also welcomes the decision by
U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de : Cuellar
to send a delegation to Jerusalem to investigate
the incident.
The officials said the resolution calls on all
parties to refrain from violence. In a gesture to
Israel, it expresses regret that worshipers also
were attacked.
The U.N. resolution condemns
the violence that broke out
Monday ‘‘and particularly the
excessive Israeli response.” It
also welcomes the decision by
U.N. Secretary-General Javier
Perez de Cuellar to send a
delegation to Jerusalem to
investigate the incident.
The United States rarely votes against Israel in
the Security Council. Far more frequently, it uses
its veto power to shield Israel against what is
judged to be unfair criticism.
But, in this instance, the officials said, the
Bush administration concluded Israeli policemen
used excessive force against Palestinian Arabs
who hurled rocks and bottles at Jews praying at
the Western Wall.
President Bush said Israeli security forces
should have acted “with more restraint” in bat
tling Palestinian demonstrators outside the holy
Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
“I am very, very saddened by this needless loss
of life,” he said at a news conference.
At least 19 Arabs were killed and more than
100 wounded Sunday during an hour-long battle
outside A1 Aksa mosque as thousands of Arabs
threw rocks and bottles at Jews praying at the
Western Wall below. Eleven Jews observing the
festival of Succot were hurt in the barrage.
Meanwhile, in a parallel move, the State De
partment in a travel advisory suggested Ameri
cans avoid the West Bank and Gaza because of
recurrent disturbances in the territories.
At the United Nations, a representative from
occupied Kuwait joined his rival from Iraq and
more than 30 speakers in condemning Israel’s
treatment of Palestinians and demanding that Is
raeli withdraw from territories captured in the
1967 Middle East war.
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Richards asserts need to debate conflicts
for voters ’ sake during appearance at A&M
By JULIE MYERS
Of The Battalion Staff
Democratic Gubernatorial Candi
date Ann Richards said she accepted
an invitation by the Bryan-College
Station Eagle to debate Republican
Clayton Williams, on his home turf
oftexas A&M, but Williams refused
to participate.
Richards told about 400 people
Tuesday nigh' that the people of
Texas and A&M students deserve
the right to hear tl ,em discuss the is
sues because they are on opposite
poles on most of them.
The appearance was sponsored by
the non-partisan MSC Political Fo
rum.
The League of Women Voters on
Monday formally canceled plans for
in Oct. 30 debate between Williams
and Richards because Williams
wouldn’t commit to it. Williams has
said he won’t debate Richards unless
she signs a pledge to stop all negative
television advertising.
Richards said Texas needs a gov
ernor who will make education the
number one priority. There are
areas of Texas where half of the stu
dents drop out before they grad
uate, she said.
“It is no coincidence that these are
the areas with the highest unemploy
ment and the highest crime rate,”
Richards said. “We are building pris
ons for kids who are in the second
and third grade. We have public
schools where the kids have never
seen a microscope or a computer,
and my opponent wants to divert
$500 million to private schools from
public school funds using vouchers.”
Bill Kenyon, deputy chairman of
the Williams campaign in Austin,
said a statement made by Williams
was twisted by the Richards cam
paign.
“Vouchers or parental choice of
schools will empower parents and
spur schools to improve,” Kenyon
said. “They would benefit the poor
because parents would not be forced
to send their children to a poor
school that has a monopoly on the
children it educates. They can take
their children to another school.”
Richards said education would
also improve if students had a rep
resentative on the Boards of Regents
of every public institution.
Kenyon said Williams also vowed
in January to support legislation al-
See Richards/Page 5
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State representative hopefuls stress education in debate
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BySEANFRERKING
OfThe Battalion Staff
Republican Steve Ogden and
Democrat Jim James, candidates for
District 14 state representative,
itionsi* Maced education at the top of their
iriority lists for improving Texas,
vhile differing on several other is-
iues during a televised debate Tues-
sofd 11 lay night.
Channel 15, KAMU-TV, broad
est the political discussion as part of
ts "Candidates ’90” political forum
neafi'Bneant to inform the public about the
ipcoming Nov. 6 elections.
James and Ogden are running for
andtf District 14, which is Brazos County,
stfd The debate was moderated by Dr.
Don Tomlinson, an associate profes-
grotftl or of journalism and a practicing
- ' "“awyer. Tomlinson asked questions
he League of Women Voters se
lected for the debate.
Ogden, a 1973 graduate of the
U.S. Naval Academy who earned his
M.B.A. at Texas A&M, said the state
needs to improve the educational
system first and not have taxpayers
shoulder the burden of costly pro
jects like the proposed Texas Trian
gle, a high-speed rail line.
“We need to set our priorities,”
Ogden said. “We shouldn’t have
people pay for tilings that right now
are luxuries.”
James, Class of ’76, agreed with
his opponent, saying the situation in
Texas will not allow the government
to waste funds.
“We can’t educate our children
properly,” James said. “We need to
take care of the basics and provide a
good education for our kids before
we should try for pie-in-the-sky pro
jects.”
Both candidates said they believed
more money should be spent on ed
ucation. The manner each would
solve the problem, however, dif
fered slightly.
Ogden said almost one billion dol
lars is being squandered by a grow
ing state bureaucracy. He said the
money could be used to correct the
See Candidates/Page 5
Survey results show
trust in night security
By JOE FERGUSON
Of The Battalion Staff
More than half of the Texas A&M
students responding to the Batt Poll
expressed confidence in the safety of
the campus at night while more than
two-thirds still indicated a need for
better lighting.
When asked if they feel safe walk
ing alone at night on campus, 63
percent said yes, 34 percent said no
and 3 percent had nq opinion.
When asked if they thought light
ing on campus is adequate, 26 per
cent said yes, 68 percent said no and
6 percent had no opinion.
“Determining if any areas are
poorly lit is in the eyes of the behold
er,” says Bob Wiatt, director of secu
rity for University Police.
Wiatt says on-campus lighting is a
top priority of the Security Aware
ness Committee. He says the com
mittee, which is composed of stu
dents, faculty, staff and police is the
only University authorized commit
tee to work on such problems and
that anyone wanting to report prob
lem areas should call committee rep
resentative, Dana Graerser, at 845-
3051. The committee then reports to
Robert Smith, vice-president of fi
nance and administration, for fur
ther action.
He says the committee periodi
cally conducts “walk-throughs” of
the campus to determine any possi
bly dangerous areas due to poor
lighting, high shrubs or other rea
sons.
Wiatt says officers on patrol are
instructed to report any poorly lit
areas or burned-out lights as soon as
possible.
In the past year, Wiatt says, thou
sands of dollars have been spent on
new light standards.
“But you can’t illuminate the
whole world,” Wiatt says.
The Batt Poll is a survey of Texas
A&M students intended to measure
opinions about campus-related is
sues.
YES
NO
34
Do you feel safe walking alone at
night on the Texas A&M campus?
Do you think the lighting on cam'
pus at night is adequate?
The poll, which will be conducted
periodically, is taken from a random
sample of students. A sample of 400
students was obtained from tele
phone interviews.
A random sample of 400 respond
ers yields a margin of error of plus
or minus 5 percentage points.
The poll was conducted exclu
sively for The Battalion by Research
Associates, a firm operated by A&M
graduate students Alister Miller and
Mitch Peck, both of the sociology de
partment.
Cindy McMillian, editor of The
Battalion and senior economics ma
jor, asks students to call the news
room at 845-2647 if students who
participate in the poll encounter any
problems.
More moon experience
needed before Mars trip
By MIKE LUMAN
Of The Battalion Staff
The United States should go
back to the moon “in a big way”
before attempting a Mars mis
sion, a visiting NASA scientist
said Tuesday.
Dr. Wendell W. Mendell, chief
scientist for lunar base studies at
the Johnson Space Center, spoke
to the Texas A&M chapter of Stu
dents for the Exploration and De
velopment of Space.
“The moon is a stepping stone
into space, and we ought to use
it,” he said. “A lot of people want
to bypass the moon and go
straight to Mars.”
He said a permanent lunar
base would provide an opportu
nity to test the technology needed
for the nearly year-long trip to
Mars.
Equipment must be reliable be
cause no immediate help can be
expected if something goes
wrong, he said.
The moon is only three days
from the planned space station,
which is the probable launch site
for a manned mission to Mars.
Mendell proposed designing
reusable orbit-to-moon craft that
would make moon landings rou
tine.
He said the space station
should be a “spaceport” for such
things as refueling and mainte
nance. The moon colony, in time,
also could produce tuel.
A base on the moon could be
come self-sufficient, a move that
would dramatically cut transport
costs, he said.
He said oxygen production
should be the first goal, then min
ing and chemical engineering.
The goals of a permanent
moonbase are scientific research,
resource utilization and coloniza
tion, he said.
He compared colonization of
the moon to the taming of the
American west, and said the ben
efits of people on the moon outw
eigh the costs.
He said a telescope could be
built on the moon capable of
studying a paramecium from a
distance of New York to Califor
nia.
There are hurdles to be
cleared, one of which is designing
underground living quarters to
shield from solar radiation.
People can tolerate radiation
on the lunar surface for only a
few years, he said.
He said private companies
would be involved in shelter de
velopment.
Experience on the moon will
solve problems sure to be encoun
tered on Mars, he said.
Mendell said technology for a
trip to Mars is not ready. The
Mars ship must be large enough
to hold 30 to 40 space shuttle pay-
loads. Fuel will take up most of
the space.