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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 1990)
Oiler >her y> who J L ' r ln they ception. 1 b f en plat re ; going; tanked 26|U: fe nse and (| f The Battalion ^ To show we care A&M student sends care packages to troops See Page 3 Vol. 90 No. 47 USPS 045360 10 Pages College Station, Texas Tuesday, Novembers, 1990 e previous J ‘*ed 26 of 4? e Rams biih cepiions. i when we k. >n said. "] “°ple bad ’’ e pass and days.” New fds passing he ball inin Oand$8.0l’ egistratio' 14) willb? dents aiik wards anc r availabli or mon ontact rreationa; 3p in at 15 HTl it 6:00 s will tart at lights ns! Sign graveyard Political candidate signs litter the lawn of Woodbrook Condomini- vote from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m at the MSC. The Voters Guide in Mon- ums in College Station on the eve of election day. Don’t forget to day’s Battalion has more information. Extremist rabbi killed by gunman NEW YORK (AP) — Rabbi Meir Kahane, who campaigned to drive Arabs from Israel and urged Ameri can Jews to arm themselves against anti-Semitism, was shot to death Monday night after a speech at a Manhattan hotel. Police identified the assailant as El Sayyid Al-Nosair, 35, of New Jersey. He was wounded by a postal police officer as they exchanged gunfire outside the Halloran House, police spokesman Officer Scott Bloch said. The postal officer and a bystander in the hotel also were wounded, po lice said. Kahane, 58, a Brooklyn-born Is raeli extremist who once served in the Israeli parliament, was pro nounced dead at Bellevue Hospital, said hospital spokesman Peter Schectman. Kahane had been shot in the neck, he said. Mayor David Dinkins said the shooting was “an international tra gedy that shocks all of us.” Kahane was head of the anti-Arab Kach party in Israel. The party ad vocates the ouster of all Arabs from Israeli-held territory and a ban on Jewish-Arab marriages. The movement’s symbol is a clenched fist inside a Star of David. Kahane founded the militant Jew ish Defense League in the United States in 1968 to mount armed re sponses to anti-Semitic acts. Witnesses said Kahane had given a speech to about 60 people at a meeting of the Zionist Emergency Kahane was head of the anti-Arab Kach party in Israel. The party advocates the ouster of all Arabs from Israeli-held territory and a ban on Jewish-Arab marriages. Evacuation Rescue Organization. About 8:05 p.m. (CST), a gunman came into the second-floor confer ence room and shot Kahane, Bloch said. The gunman then fled outside and tried to hijack a taxi, Bloch said. An on-duty postal officer in the area interceded. They exchanged gun shots and both were wounded, Bloch said. The gunman, who was shot in the chin, was believed to be in critical but stable condition at Bellevue. The bystander, shot in the leg, was in sta ble condition as was the officer who shot in the arm. Kahane moved to Israel in 1971 and became a citizen a year later. Kahane served as a member of Is rael’s Parliament for four years but was barred from running for re- election in 1988 after legislators assed a law banning parties that ave a racist platform. Court ruling says Army must re-enlist gay soldier WASHINGTON (AP) — The Su preme Court carved out a one-man exception to the military services’ ban on homosexuals Monday, letting stand a ruling that forces the Army to re-enlist a gay soldier. The justices, without comment, rejected the Bush administration’s challenge to the ordered reinstate ment of Perry Watkins of Tacoma, Wash., a 16-year veteran with an ex cellent service record. Monday’s action is not expected to affect in any sweeping way the mili tary’s ban on homosexuals. The ap peals court ruling in Watkins’ case did not address the validity of that ban, but instead noted that the Army repeatedly had re-enlisted Watkins while knowing he is gay. The case nevertheless had been closely watched by gay rights advo cates. “These days, we’ITtake a victory any way we can get one,” Paul DiDo- nato of the National Gay Rights Ad vocates in San Francisco said after acknowledging that Watkins’ victory was a narrow one. But DiDonato said Watkins’ case “sends a broader signal out to the military and the country at large that gays and lesbians cannot be treated unfairly forever by the military or any other employer.” Watkins, now 42, said, “My next step is obviously to get reinstated.” He said he wants to serve until he can retire with an Army pension in about five years. When asked if he anticipated problems after his reinstatement, Watkins said, “That goes without saying. The problems that are going to be there are the problems the sys tem itself will create. “I’m asking for the same rights any other citizen receives.” There was no immediate reaction from the Army or the Department of Defense. Local gas company official gives advice on safety to heating appliance owners By KATHERINE COFFEY Of The Battalion Staff Cold weather conjures up images of heavy sweaters, winter coats, hot chocolate and gas heaters. Bryan-College Station has been hit by a cold front, and cooler weather could be here to stay. Those with gas heaters need to take pre cautions before turning on the appliances, a gas company official says. Jerry Collins, Lone Star Gas Co. district manager, says vented and unvented heaters frequently are used by community members. A space heater, which has no vent or flue gases, is an example of an unvented heater. Carbon monoxide, the combustion product, can be dumped into a room if the unvented heater is not properly adjusted, Collins says. “If properly adjusted and there is an ad equate supply of fresh air coming into the house, then you won’t have a problem,” he says. “But never leave space heaters burning “If you need to keep the heater on at night, make sure a window is cracked to ensure proper ventilation.” — Jerry Collins, Lone Star Gas Co. at night when you go to sleep because it is dan gerous. “If you need to keep the heater on at night, make sure a window is cracked to ensure proper ventilation.” The following are two ways people can get into trouble by using gas heaters: • Allowing space heaters to become dirty or in a state of disrepair. This leads to poor air quality and could make users ill. • Using connectors. Collins says he has seen some people use rubber hoses with space heaters, which definitely can be hazardous. “People should be strongly discouraged from using rubber hoses because if they crack or split they will develop leaks in the house,” he says. “People need to remember three pre cautions, which include always using proper connectors, making sure burners are clean and properly adjusted and also remembering to insure an adequate supply of fresh air.” Vented heaters include wall furnaces, cen tral heating systems and built-in wall and floor vents. He says the same precautions apply to these types of heaters. Two main things to remember when using a vented heater are to keep the filter clean and to never run the furnace without all its filter panels in place. “Never leave the filter panel off when the heater is on because flue gases will get into the house,” he says. Flue gases are carbon monoxide, a gas that takes away oxygen and can lead to suffoca tion. Flue gases can make people sick if too much is inhaled. “Flue gases can even become deadly if in haled in high concentrations,” Collins says. Silver Taps ceremony to honor one The solemn sound of buglers playing “Taps” and the sharp ring of gunfire will be heard on campus tonight as one Texas A&M student who died during the past month is honored in a Silver Taps cere mony at 10:30 in front of the Academic Build- g- The deceased student being honored • Gregory Wells Hay ward, 23, a senior wild life and fisheries sci ences major from Temple, who died Oct. 5. Dating back almost a century, the stately tra dition of Silver Taps is practiced the first Tues day of each month from September through April, when necessary. Names of deceased stu dents are posted at the base of the flag pole in front of the Academic Building, and the flag is flown at half-staff the day of the ceremony. Lights will be extinguished and the campus hushed as Aggies pay final tribute to fellow Aggies. The Ross Volunteer Firing Squad begins the ceremony, marching in slow cadence toward the statue of Lawrence Sullivan Ross. Shortly after, three volleys are fired in a 21-gun salute and six buglers play a special arrange ment of “Taps” three times — to the north, south and west. Japanese Business Study United States prompted to improve attitude toward employees, quality, patience By JAMES M. LOVE Of The Battalion Staff Neither the United States nor Ja pan run businesses perfectly, and they both have many things to learn from each other in business prac tices, a Japanese-American business man said Monday. Masami Atarashi, president of Kokusai Business Brain K.K., a busi ness specializing in consulting and training for Japanese and non-Japa nese firms, was a featured speaker for the Japan Business Study. The Japan Business Study is pre senting a four-part lecture series at Texas A&M. Atarashi outlined some major dif ferences between American and Jap anese businesses and the advantages and disadvantages of both. He stressed that the greatest prob lems facing the corporate United States are a lack of patience, atti tudes toward employees and lower attention to quality. “The idea of changing a company president every five or six years is absurd,” he said. “This could result in sacrificing greater long-term gains for short-term reasons. It takes at least three or four years to fully assess an employee’s performance.” He also said companies should view employees as long-term assets instead of short-term tools. It is not good when employees worry about layoffs, regardless of their perfor mance. He said that in Japan all ef forts are made to first reduce costs and lower benefits of top executives to make up for corporate shortcom ings. “It makes no sense to me that some American companies are lay ing off people while some of their top executives are still making mil lions,” he said. Atarashi said American compa nies need to realize their lower-level workers also are a great source of “We all have something to gain from each other.” — Masami Atarashi, president of Kokusai Business Brain K.K. ideas and need to be respected and understood. On the other hand, respect for in dividuality was on the top of Atara- shi’s list of what Japan has to learn from the United States. He said Ja pan has leaned toward group recog nition and synthesis, which tends to stifle creativity and individuality. While Americans give both material and spiritual incentives to their employees, Japan ignores this basic human need, he said. Atarashi also said Japan needs to promote more young people and women. “Promoting women and the young still raises a lot of controver sy,” he said. “This is hurting Japan obviously because there’s a lot of po tential being overlooked.” He added that Japan has much to learn from globalization. He said the Japanese seldom socialize with other cultures and still are appointing their own people to positions in for eign countries. Only 4 percent of the 410 Japanese overseas companies have regional employees. He said this is hurting their productivity in these places because of communica tion barriers. Atarashi also said Japanese speak ers often are poor communicators. He said Americans have more pre sentational skills than the Japanese because they are required to address audiences more often. He summarized by saying a com pany will be more successful if a bet ter understanding of other countries and their practices is achieved. “We all have something to gain from each other,” he said. “First, we must understand our own country before we can understand another. “It’s also very important to see our similarities before looking for our differences. Once the differences are realized and understood, then we must accept them, or be willing to change and modify ourselves before continuing.” The Japanese Business Study was established two years ago at the Uni versity of Texas. The lecture series is presented by the Center for Interna tional Business Studies. Session two will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m. today in 158 Blocker. Session three will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Nov. 13 in 130 Blocker. Session four will be from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Nov. 16 in 114 Blocker. Officials end plans to change McFadden Hall to honors dorm By ELIZABETH TISCH Of The Battalion Staff After weeks of debate between the University Honors Program and the Residence Hall Association, McFad den Hall will remain a female dorm and will not be converted to an all honors residency, the director of UHP says. Dr. Dale Knobel says a great de mand still exists for an honors hall, but using McFadden to meet that de mand would not work. “(Texas A&M President) Dr. (Wil liam) Mobley, (Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs) Dr. (E. Dean) Gage, (Vice President for Student Affairs) Dr. (John) Koldus III and myself decided we all are very pleased with the way Lechner Honors Hall has worked out in its first two years,” Knobles says. “And we are pleased for the de mand but feel like we need to be looking forward to the long-term so lution, which means more than sim ply looking at McFadden.” Knobel says he is not sure how to satisfy those wanting honors hous ing, but the Department of Student Affairs will explore the problem during the next few years. McFadden President Jana Terry says the decision, made official last Thursday, shows class on the admin istration’s part. “I think it’s just great,” she says. “I think it represents really what the University is all about. It’s fair and I have a lot more respect for the ad ministration voting in our favor.” The dispute between the UHP and McFadden residents began last spring when UHP and Student Af fairs proposed converting the hall into an honors dorm. However, heated reactions caused the Department of Student Affairs to re-evaluate. In the meantime, Terry and her residents gained sup port from RHA. RHA passed Bill F9005, which states the conversion of McFadden would be an act of “se gregation of students and unequal, preferential treatment of suppos edly equal students.” Knobel says, however, UHP’s pro posal to convert the hall never stated residents would be forced to move out to make room for scholarship students. “The proposal that was put for ward was that spaces that became available only through attrition would be given to the honor stu dents,” Knobel said in the Oct. 16 is sue of The Battalion. Knobel says he feels good about the decision allowing McFadden to remain unchanged.