jTex,sA & M
tie iSattalion
We asked and
you said...
Should A&M continue
the bonfire tradition?
See Page 3
Voi.90 No. 43 USPS 045360 t 2 Pages
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, October 31,1990
Registration blues
’U,*r
ID
Hom,
lison
PHELAN M. EBENHACK/The Battalion
Junior Keric Clanahan tries to stay awake after waiting in the reg- Erik Wilson gets in a little studying. Tuesday was the first day for
istration line for three hours Tuesday morning while his friend honors registration at the Pavilion.
Clevenger seeks
statewide council
By MIKE LUMAN
Of The Battalion Staff
Texas A&M’s student body presi
dent is pushing for official recogni
tion of a statewide student leaders’
council to remedy student represen
tation problems in the Texas Legis
lature.
Clevenger says other statewide
student organizations are ineffective
and plagued with problems.
The new organization will be a
council of student body presidents
from Texas universities, he says.
Ty Clevenger submitted the pro
posal last week during a meeting
with A&M President William Mobley
and the 36-member council of state
university presidents.
Mobley says Clevenger’s presenta
tion was “well received,” and other
university presidents likely would
discuss the proposal with their stu
dent leaders.
“Communication is always
healthy,” Mobley says. “I think the
communication will be positive be
tween the council of student body
presidents and the council of univer
sity presidents.”
Clevenger says A&M’s Student
Government is “extremely involved”
with the Legislature.
Student interests include flexible
tuition, representation on the Texas
A&M University System Board of
Regents and funding of the work-
study bill, he says.
He says A&M student leaders will
meet with student body presidents
from other schools, including the
“Communication is
always healthy. I
think the
communication will
be positive between
the council of student
body presidents and
the council of
university
presidents.”
— William Mobley,
president
University of Houston, Texas Tech
University and Lamar University be
fore the semester ends.
All student leaders contacted are
interested in the council, Clevenger
says.
“I can’t think of any state with stu
dents less organized than they are in
Texas,” he says.
“Obviously we can’t go down
there (Austin) with a united front or
a united agenda,” Clevenger says.
“I’m frustrated and fed up with
that.”
He says he wanted to go through a
legitimate group — the council of
university presidents — to organize
all the student body presidents.
Mobley says other university pres
idents appeared interested in the
proposal.
The future of the council of stu
dent body presidents will be dis
cussed during the next meeting of
university presidents, Mobley says.
Engineer: Creativity solves environmental problems
iySEAN FRERKING
)lThe Battalion Staff
THtf
America could reduce its dependency on
foreign oil and help save the environment by
dopting a sensible national energy policy,
aid an internationally known engineer and
nventor Tuesday.
Dr. Paul MacCready, the inventor of the
fast working human-powered airplane,
ipoke during a slide presentation given to
norethan 100 Texas A&M students.
Because past administrations have had no
nergy policy, we have to fly forces to the
liddle East to maintain our foreign fuel ad-
liction,” said MacCready, named the “Engi-
leerof the Century” by the American Society
ifMechanical Engineers in 1981 for his work
in the solar-powered aircraft, the Solar Chal-
tnger.
-| Oil imports could be cut by two-thirds, he
'1 aid, while damage to the environment also
could be reduced if the United States would
set an energy policy and force engineers to
design fuel efficient vehicles.
He said the government, however, is not
solely responsible for the present situation.
“As consumers, we are the true designers
of our automobiles and vehicles,” MacCready
said. “If we would demand cars that got high
gas mileage, car companies would comply.
“We have the technology now to make
these cars,” he continued. “We just don’t have
the demand.”
Until a crisis forces people to change, Mac
Cready said he doesn’t think the nation will
embrace any new inventions.
“With gas so cheap, it’s too easy to get by,”
he said. “We have the knowledge to produce
cars that get almost 80 miles per gallon.”
For example, MacCready’s company, Aer-
oVironment, is working with General Motors
on a new project to design an electric car.
The battery-powered Impact accelerates
faster than a Mazda Miata and gets the equiv
alent of 75 mpg, he said.
“With projects like Impact, we force our
selves to refine and refine,” MacCready said.
“Although some of these projects may be im
practical, they are important because we can
convert our findings into practical applica
tions.” /
The creativity developed by designing so
lar-powered airplanes and electric-powered
cars also can be applied to the environment
and other social problems, MacCready said.
“Once people start taking off their blinders
and begin looking at these problems in differ
ent ways, we can get somewhere,” MacCready
said. “Creativity can solve many, if not all, of
the planet’s potentially disastrous problems.”
Comparing the present environmental sit
uation to the extinction of the dinosaurs,
MacCready said he was concerned about the
lack of progress in efforts to stop the destruc
tion of the environment.
“Presently, the exponential growth of the
human race is forcing the depletion of one
out of every four plant or animal species,”
MacCready said. “Opinions are slowing chan
ging, but we may have started too late. The
next 40 years will tell us if the Earth, as we
know it, will survive or not.”
However, he said he was optimistic because
of growing support for the environmental
movement. Increased attention in the media
has caused people to discover ways to handle
present environmental problems, MacCready
said.
“Almost everyday you see something
(about the environment) in a local newspaper
or magazine,” he said. “The exposure to the
issue has led to many breakthroughs in the
areas of aerodynamic efficiency and alterna
tive fuel sources.
“We have the technology now to wipe out
pollution and stop the destruction of the envi
ronment,” he continued. “The entire situa
tion is troubling. At the same time, knowing
what we can do, it is incredibly exciting.”
Registration begins
Touch-tone telephone regis
tration by classification begins
Thursday and will continue
through Nov. 27.
The registration system is open
from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m-
Twenty minutes are allowed to
register once the system has been
accessed. The system automat
ically disconnects after 20 min
utes, but students can redial and
continue until they complete reg
istration.
Open registration, and drop
and add by phone is Nov. 28
through Dec. 14 and Jan. 2 to 17.
The system will be available from
6 a.m. to 6 p.m., excluding week
ends.
For more information regard
ing registration, consult the
Spring 1991 class schedule book.
Graduate students worried
about fall semester classes can Q-
drop through Friday.
IS
Governmentforces open fire
Hindu fundamentalists force way
to mosque through police blockade
AYODHYA, India (AP) —
Government forces fired on
thousands of Hindu fundamen
talists who broke through police
barricades Tuesday and forced
their way into a heavily guarded
mosque. Five Hindus were killed
and 20 wounded.
At least 26 people were killed
in other parts of India as the de
cades-old dispute between Hin
dus and Moslems over ownership
of the site came to a head.
The controversy has left at
least 138 people dead in the past
week, brought Prime Minister
V.P. Singh’s government close to
collapse and further strained al
ready tense relations between In
dia’s Hindu majority and Moslem
minority.
Singh, who opposes the Hindu
campaign to replace the 16th-
century Moslem mosque, on
Tuesday repeated his offer to re
sign if his party thought it would
help contain the sectarian vio
lence. He made a similar offer
Monday.
Hindu fundamentalists had
said they would start construction
Tuesday on a temple to the god
Rama on the site occupied by the
mosque. The government said it
would block, any attempt to de
stroy the small, one-story shrine
and arrested 90,000 supporters
of the fundamentalist World
Hindu Council in the past week.
On Tuesday, 10,000 Hindus
stormed police barricades outside
the disputed shrine. Police First
used tear gas and bamboo canes
to beat back the crowd.
Then, after several hours of
clashes as the crowds pushed
closer and closer to the mosque,
the police fired rifles.
Reporters saw four bodies, but
a government spokesman in New
Delhi later said five people were
killed. Witnesses said at least 20
people were wounded.
S.K. Gupta, a doctor at a local
hospital, said 13 of the injured
were in serious condition. “They
have only 10 percent chances of
survival,” he said.
Thousands of young men
wearing orange headbands, the
color of the Hindu faith, broke
through successive police cor
dons, entered the small mosque,
pried bricks from the wall and
chipped bits of plaster from its
three domes. They planted an
orange flag on each dome before
police chased them away.
Many Hindus said they were
helped by policemen guarding
the mosque, which the funda
mentalists say stands on the spot
where Rama was born. Most of
the 20,000 policemen on duty in
Ayodhya are Hindus.
While the crowds rushed to
ward the mosque, Hindu holy
men screamed obscenities from
rooftops and pelted police with
stones. At least four policemen
were injured.
As news spread that the police
barricades had been breached,
hundreds of Hindus poured into
the streets of Ayodhya in defi
ance of the 4-day-old curfew that
had confined them to their
homes. Many distributed candy
and exploded firecrackers to
shouts of “Jai siya Rama!” —“Vic
tory to Rama!”
Many policemen were seen en
tering the disputed shrine to
pray.
The World Hindu Council said
its success in penetrating police
lines meant the temple project
had begun.
“In my 19 years of service, I
have never experienced such a
sense of failure,” a senior govern
ment official at the site said on
condition of anonymity. “It was a
collapse of the administration.”
Later, paramilitary troops
cleared the shrine of intruders
and threatened to open fire if any
further attempts were made to
breach the barricades.
In several towns hundreds of
miles from Ayodhya, Hindus and
Moslems fought street battles and
police opened fire on rioting
mobs. In those incidents, 25 were
killed in street battles and the po
lice firing, while one Hindu com
mitted suicide in protest.
Student Senate passes bill reminding
students to consult academic advisers
By BRIDGET HARROW
Of The Battalion Staff
The Student Senate passed a bill
Wednesday night that would remind
students who have earned greater
than 59 credit, hours to meet with
their academic advisers to ensure
they are meeting their graduation
requirements.
The reminder would be included
on students’ fee slips and schedules
of classes. Senator Roderick Diggs
who introduced the bill said the 100
credit hour degree audit does not al
low enough time for students —most
of which need only 130 credit hours
to graduate — to correct errors in
their graduation plan. Diggs will
present the proposal to the SIMS ad
visory committee for implementa
tion.
Senate members also passed a bill
to commemorate the work of Ryan
White, who came to national atten
tion in his fight against AIDS dis
crimination. The “Ryan White Me
morial Day” will be April 8, 1991,
the day of the 1st anniversary of
White’s death. The commemoration
day was orignally scheduled to be
December 17, 1990, the day after
the 19th anniversary of White’s
birthdate, but school would be out of
session.
In other business, the Senate also
considered a bill requesting that Uni
versity Administration give notice of
any possible tuition or fee increase at
least one semester before it is to be
considered by the Board of Regents.
Bush tries to calm war fears
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush discussed
the possibility of war in the Persian Gulf with leaders of
Congress Tuesday and was urged not to let impatience
lead to combat with Iraq.
“There’s concern on Capitol Hill ... that this is some
how a prelude to immediate military action,” George
Mitchell, the Senate Democratic leader, said. But the
White House tried to dampen fears that fighting was
imminent.
The attitude was “play it down — be calm,” presi
dential press secretary Miarlin Fitzwater said. “I would
say that it’s pretty much steady as she goes.”
Bush promised to continue consulting with lawmak
ers but pointedly added, "We must all understand,
however, that any such commitment must be hedged,
given the unpredictable and dynamic circumstances of
this crisis.”
“Many of us told him to make sure we don’t use the
military option out of impatience, that we try the em
bargo, the sanctions, the United Nations resolutions.
our allies’ efforts first and foremost,” Sen. Patrick
Leahy, D-Vt., said as he left the White House.
Fitzwater said the administration hopes the economic
sanctions will drive Iraq from Kuwait. But he also said,
“It is a process that requires patience. We have to keep
watching it. We have not seen a lot of impact at this
point.”
After consulting lawmakers. Bush also met with se
nior national security advisers. Bush has sent more than
200,000 forces to the gulf, and Defense Secretary Dick
Cheney said last week that 100,000 more may be de
ployed.
“The administration is considering further augmen
tation of our gulf forces and will be consulting with the
allies on this matter,” Fitzwater said.
Meanwhile, in an announcement at a Republican po
litical rally. Bush assured Americans there will be plen
tiful oil supplies despite the cutoff from Iraq and Ku
wait. He said any shortages had been made up by
increased global production and other steps.
Look for the bonfire section in Thursday’s Battalion