Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 1991)
The Battalion Vol. 90 No. 75 GSPS 045360 10 Pages College Station, Texas Friday, January 18, 1991 Cagers face Bears Texas A&M basketball teams face Baylor teams this weekend See Page 7 Iraq WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi dent Bush condemned Iraq’s missile attack on Israel as “further aggres sion,” and the White House said bombers from the Desert Storm alli ance had been dispatched Thursday night for a fresh wave of air strikes !] against Iraqi targets. Military officials said Iraq also had fired a single missile toward allied forces in Saudi Arabia. The missile was intercepted and destroyed, but even so the overnight Iraqi retalia tion ended the eerie quiet from Baghdad that followed Wednesday unleashes missile attacks Bush condemns Iraqi aggression against Israel, Saudi Arabia night’s commencement of war. Throughout much of the day, of ficial Washington was expressing unbridled satisfaction with the war effort, and Bush vowed, “We will prevail.” But there was a sense that Iraq would eventually come out fighting, and the administration threatened to intensify the campaign against Baghdad if it used chemical or bi ological weapons. The day’s optimism was punc tured by Iraq’s missile attack on Is rael. “It’s what we’ve been worried about all along,” Pentagon spokes man Pete Williams said. White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said, “The president is out raged at and condemns this further aggression by Iraq.” Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had vowed in advance to answer American hostilities with an attack on Israel, a bid to widen the Persian Gulf war and tempt Arab nations — Syria and Egypt among them — to desert Desert Storm in favor of a holy war against the Jewish state. Secretary of State James A. Baker III quickly phoned the ambassadors of several key nations, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria and Is rael. Israel did not retaliate, much to the administration’s relief. Fitzwater emphasized in his statement that the “coalition forces in the Gulf are at tacking missile sites and other tar gets in Iraq.” Zalman Shoval, Israel’s ambassa dor to the United States, said his country reserved the right to retal iate, but answered with a non-com mittal smile when asked if it would do so. “So far the State of Israel has paid the dearest price of any other countries in the Middle East which had faced Iraqi aggression, except Kuwait itself,” he said, noting that the Jewish state is not part of the anti-Iraq coalition. Iraqi President Saddam had threatened to strike Israel if he were attacked by the U.S.-led coalition massed in Saudi Arabia. It was not immediately known whether Israel was retaliating against Iraq. The U,S. command expressed sat isfaction with the air offensive against the Iraqis, but bad weather frustrated some strikes, and pilots said anti-aircraft fire was intense. Relatives find support in group By KAREN PRASLICKA Of The Battalion Staff While Desert Storm rages in the Middle East, family and friends of U.S. service people stationed in the war zone are getting help dealing with anxiety from a group formed by a Texas A&M Navy captain in the U.S. reserves. Dr. Bruce Prevail, director of the A&M Employee Assistance Program, says he is doing what he can to help families by leading a support group for those with family and friends stationed in Saudi Arabia. About 35 people attended the first meeting Jan. 12, and another meeting was held Thursday night. The majority of the people were family members of soldiers in Saudi Arabia, but there were a few concerned students and citizens. “The first meeting was more of an organizational meeting,” Prevatt says. “It was supposed to let them know what our vision was but also to encourage them to share their vision. It’s their group, not ours.” Prevatt also says the group was not created to make a political statement. “We are there to work with the families in doing what we could to help them,” he says. The group is dedicated to the See Support/Page 6 Chris Conner and Kathryn Den- try, whose husband is in Saudi Arabia, talk during a support group meeting for family and friends of U.S. service people stationed in the war zone. Volun teers working with the group are trying to provide the same serv ices that families in a military community would receive. Clevenger selected to head student body presidents council By BRIDGET HARROW Of The Battalion Staff Texas A&M Student Body Presi dent Ty Clevenger was named chair man of the Texas Council of Student Body Presidents at the student committee’s Aus tin conference this week. The council, which presently consists of stu dent body presi dents from 11 Texas universi ties, was orga nized by Clevenger last fall. The council was given official recognition during this week’s conference. The council discussed legislative issues pertinent to university stu dents and the possible reorganiza tion of statewide student organiza tions. “We wanted to get all the student body presidents together to talk about legislature issues,” Clevenger said. “Secondly, we wanted to discuss what would be the most effective way to establish one state student as sociation as opposed to a jillion smaller ones, which are all splintered and have been ineffective in estab lishing a student presence in the Texas Legislature.” As chairman of the council, Cle venger will keep members of the committee informed on legislative bills pertinent to college students. Council members will coordinate efforts via the SC A Net, a computer system that allows student govern ments to communicate. One of the legislative bills Cle venger has been working to help get passed concerns student representa tion on the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents and other boards. “This bill, for the first time in the 20 or so years it has been pursued, has a chance of finally getting through,” Clevenger said. Other issues the council discussed included: • Opposing flexible tuition which would give the state’s boards of re gents authority to raise undergrad uate tuition. • Getting the student service fee cap to be set by campus referendum. • Having the Texas Election Code change the term “permanent address” on voter registration cards to just say “address,” so students will not be confused. • Requiring student government approval for all fee increases such as the computer access fee. • Increasing faculty and staff funding. “Faculty and staff funding nor mally has not been considered a stu dent issue,” he said. “But we are making it a student issue because universities cannot attract quality, competent teachers without paying them.” Clevenger Red Cross urges donors to give blood for soldiers By LYNETTE CLARK Of The Battalion Staff The Red Cross in the Brazos Val ley is asking residents to show sup port for U.S. soldiers in the Middle East by donating' blood today at a blood drive in Bryan. Bill Thomas, director of the local Red Cross, said the blood drive is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at Fan nin Elementary School. Fannin is lo cated at 1200 Baker St. near 29th Street in Bryan. Thomas said the U.S. military re quested more than 1,000 units of blood a week from the Red Cross. The military normally takes care of its own blood supplies. Because of the conflict, however, the Red Cross has been called to as sist, Thomas said. “The blood donated will be to re place that being used today in Saudi Arabia,” Thomas said. Supplying units of blood is only one of the important services pro vided by the Red Cross to military families, he said. Family emergencies at home, like deaths and illnesses, and events like births, are relayed to soldiers in the Middle East by the Red Cross. The Red Cross also informs fami lies in the United States of any events involving loved ones in the military. The Red Cross also provides emergency loans for military fami lies in need of assistance. “For some, the Red Cross is their one contact with the military for emergency situations,” he said. Today’s blood drive is expected to draw a large number of donors, Thomas said. “I’ve received quite a few phone calls today,” he said. “I encourage everyone to come out and help the Red Cross help our soldiers.” Students join forces in gulf Forty-seven called to action Texas A&M’s count of students who have been called to active duty as a result of the Middle East crisis now stands at 47. Officials here say that number may rank as the largest total for any college in the nation. Dr. J. Malon Southerland, Texas A&M associate vice presi dent for student services who heads the University’s new Task Force on the Gulf Crisis, said 22 of those students have had to withdraw from classes this week. The other 25 students withdrew prior to the start of the spring se mester, which began Monday. “We do not have any compara tive figures, but logic would tndi- ' cate that Texas A&M is among the leading institutions —* per- . haps the leading institution — in having students withdraw as a re sult of serving in reserve units that have been called to active du ty,” Southerland said. He said he based that obser vation on the fact that Texas A&M’s enrollment of 41J71 stu dents last fall ranked as the sev enth largest in the nation. He also noted the University’s long military tradition. : ; However, an updated list of students was. not immediately available, so the exact figure of A&M young men and women there was not known. Research expenditures increase by $22 million By JULIE HEDDERMAN Of The Battalion Staff Texas A&M research expendi tures for 1990 increased to $272.8 million, $22.1 million more than last year, which ranks A&M eighth in the nation in research spending. Dr. Duwayne Anderson, associate provost for research and graduate study at A&M, says the largest amount of money — $ 103 million — was spent on life science research. Life science research includes vet erinary medicine, agriculture, the College of Medicine, bioengineering and biotechnology. Life sciences also led in research expenditures in 1989. “That’s our strongest single area of research,” Anderson says. The second largest area of re search in 1990 was biological sci ences with $64.4 million. Engi neering, which spent $52.5 million, and environmental sciences with $52.2 million followed. T he Institute of Biotechnology in Houston and Texas A&M at Galves ton also have enlarged research ex penditures. Anderson says most funding comes from federal and state agen cies, private foundations and indus tries. A&M ranks sixth in industrial funding, receiving $21.2 million from private industries who support research. Universities ranking ahead of A&M in research expenditures in clude Johns Hopkins University, MIT, Cornell, Stanford, University of Wisconsin, University of Michi gan and University of Minnesota. The University of Texas at Austin is ranked 17th with spending at $193.3 million. Anderson says A&M’s research has grown 8 percent over the last five years and he expects it to con tinue to grow. He says there will continue to be an increase in spending of $15 mil lion to $20 million each year. Cheney says conflict remains farfrom over’ A&M officials agree draft to support crisis unlikely By MIKE LUMAN Of The Battalion Staff Military and civilian Texas A&M officials agree a military draft to support the Persian Gulf war is unlikely, and most predict a negative public response should a draft be initiated. Even so, Secretary of Defense Dick Che ney said Thursday the conflict is “far from over,” and warned agaist optimism for a quick war. Seventeen years have passed since the government’s authority for a military draft expired. The Selective Service System, how ever, remains active and ready to go. A new draft would require authorization by the U.S. Congress and the president. Selective Service representatives in Washington, D.C. said during a phone con versation they are doing nothing unusual in response to the Persian Gulf situation. If a draft were enacted, Selective Service would use a lottery system and assign top priority to men about 20, a representative said. Maj. Gen. Thomas Darling, commandant of the Corps of Cadets, said he sees nothing to suggest a draft will be reinstated, and any mention of a draft is “very preliminary.” “I think we have adequate forces for now,” Darling said. “If we get into a long- duration occupation where we need long standing forces there for some time, the ro tation back home may not be sufficient without draftees.” Col. James Woodward, an A&M military science professor, stressed that reinstate ment of the draft would be a political deci sion, not a military one. “I have no idea if there will be a draft,” he said. “I would not think so. But I can only respond by doing what our national leaders say.” Col. William Barba, A&M naval science professor, said military officials can request or recommend a draft in times of need. He said everyone hopes the war will come to a swift end. Barba, howver, said hostilities would have to drag on longer than expected before national leaders con sider a draft. Barba said public reaction to a draft probably would be negative, judging from recent anti-war demonstrations around the nation. He said he was “irritated” to see A&M re servists complain about being sent to Saudi Arabia. “They joined (ROTC) to get educational benefits, then something like this happens,” Barba said. “What did they expect? It’s just 1 doing your duty.” Dr.. James Burk, an A&M sociology pro fessor and author of the forthcoming book “The Military Obligation of Citizenship,” said a portion of the today’s public does not see limitary service <is a patriotic obligation. “As the group of people who call them selves citizens has become more diverse, we had to correspondingly broaden the idea of what citizens ought to be,” he said. “It’s impossible to say now that just be cause you are a citizen, you have an obliga tion to perform.” Burk said this trend has been building since the end of World War II, and man ifested with protests during the Vietnam W'ar. His theory holds that if the public be lieves wards inevitable, it will respond more favorably to a draft. “If war is intentional, a deliberate policy adopted by political leaders, it’s difficult to assert — on moral grounds at least — a gen eral obligation to perform military servive,” he said.