The Battalion
Winning made
breezy
Sailing team named
in Top 20 ranking
See Page 3
Vol. 90 No. 80 USPS 045360 8 Pages
College Station, Texas
Friday, January 25, 1991
Wading games
RICHARD S. JAMES/The Battalion
Students sloshed through puddles Thursday at- day night. More than 15 inches of rain have
ter heavy rains fell on the Brazos Valley Wednes- fallen on the area this month.
Regents decide fate
of college upgrade
By MIKE LUMAN
Of The Battalion Staff
The Texas A&M University Sys
tem Board of Regents is expected to
approve a proposal today to up
grade the 13-year-old College of
Medicine and establish a health sci
ence center.
The proposal, presented by Uni
versity President William Mobley,
was approved by the Committee for
Academic Campuses.
“The objective is to position the
College of Medicine and the Univer
sity Health Science Center to lever
age the capabilities of this campus,
and also to meet state needs in
health care and be a significant
player in research,” Mobley said.
If established, the new health sci
ence center will be patterned after
other successful units, such as the
health center at Texas Tech Univer
sity.
Mobley also presented proposals
to the Board to establish an ethnic
studies institute and a center for
College of Business hosts 12th Career Fair
By TROY D. HALL
Of The Battalion Staff
Texas A&M students interested in
a business career will have a chance
lo meet recruiters and attend events
during the 12th annual Business Ca
reer Fair next week.
Approximately 100 corporations
will attend the three-day event be
ginning Monday on the first floor of
Blocker Building. Different cor
porations will be on campus recruit
ing each of the days.
This is the largest Business Career
Fair since the event began 12 years
ago, says Kyle Wantzloeben, public
ity chairman for the fair and sopho
more marketing major from San
Antonio.
The fair primarily is for students
majoring or minoring in business,
but all students are welcome, he says.
White House
warns conflict
could continue
for months
WASHINGTON (AP) — The war
against Iraq probably will last
months, not weeks, and will entail
“enemy victories” and allied losses
before Saddam Hussein is defeated,
the White House said Thursday in
its first tentative predictions about
the duration of the conflict.
The somber appraisal was com
bined with a confident prediction
that “in the final analysis, we will
prevail.”
Eight days into the war, Republi
can leaders of Congress were briefed
on the fighting by President Bush
and Defense Secretary Dick Cheney.
“It’s not going to be a short war,”
ouse Republican Leader Bob Michel
of Illinois said. “We’re not going to
be rushing into a land war while the
air strikes still have much to ac
complish.”
Rep. Newt Gingrich, the GOP
House whip from Georgia, said Sad
dam was “a very, very dangerous op
ponent” and that “all of us ought to
understand that this is still a long,
difficult undertaking.”
Even so, Gingrich said Saddam is
“going to get his butt kicked.”
“There are going to be enemy vic
tories, there are going to be enemy
surprises, days when we see allied
losses,” presidential press secretary
Marlin Fitzwater said.
“We need to get into a frame of
mind that allows us to accept those
reverses and surges and still keep
track of the main thrust and our
conviction that we will win, that we
are being successful at this point,”
Fitzwater said.
With Iraqi forces hunkered down
and refusing to come out fighting,
allied casualties have been kept low.
That could change dramatically if
the war moves from the air to a
fierce battle on the ground between
infantry, armored and artillery
forces.
“We would prefer not to talk in
terms of days or weeks but months
because we think the people need to
be prepared for the idea that this is
not a short war,” F'itzwater said.
The Army said it was calling 8,478
more reservists and National Guard
members to active duty from units in
22 states, Puerto Rico and the Dis
trict of Columbia.
“Most companies will be looking
for students with business degrees,”
Wantzloeben says. “I am sure there
will be some companies looking for
other types of degrees as well.”
Members of the Business Student
Council encourage all business
school students to participate in the
fair, no matter what their classifica
tion.
“Even though freshmen and
sophomores might not be looking
for a job, the more they interview
and talk with recruiters, the better
off they will be when they are ready
to graduate,” Wantzloeben says.
The fair provides juniors and se
niors with the opportunity to give
prospective employers resumes and
get an edge on the interviewing
process.
The fair also will help students set
up career networks and let them get
to know the recruiters, he says.
Some of the recruiters come to
A&M each year and begin recogniz
ing students, Wantzloeben says.
Christy McBride, a senior ac
counting and marketing major from
Greenville, says she gained valuable
experience by attending a career
fair.
“When I was a sophomore, I went
around and talked to all the account
ing firms at the fair to find out what
the scoop was, including when I
should start talking to them and how
to go about receiving internships
with them,” McBride says.
Along with the Business Career
Fair, several events to help students
develop networking also are being
offered.
The eighth annual Women in
Business Symposium is Monday.
Sessions are scheduled for 9 to 11
a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m. in 601 Rudder
Tower.
Panel discussions will be pre
sented by the Executive Women of
Dallas. A&M students and faculty
members are invited to attend.
The Women in Business Sympo
sium luncheon will be from 11:30
a.m. to 1 p.m. at the College Station
Hilton.
The Career Fair banquet will fea
ture Marvin J. Girouard, president
and chief executive operating officer
of Pier 1 Imports. The banquet will
give students the opportunity to
meet corporate recruiters.
Students need to reserve ' seats
with company representatives by
Friday. Wantzloeben says students
will have the opportunity to meet re
cruiters and discuss potential career
See Fair/Page 5
JAY JANNER/The Battalion
Michael Edwards pays for her lunch with Aggie
Bucks at the Underground food court. Student
Government and University Food Services con
tinue to feud over Aggie Bucks’ refundability.
Strained relationship sours between
Student Government, Food Services
By GREG MT. JOY
Of The Battalion Staff
Controversy over the r'efundabil-
ity of Aggie Bucks has rekindled the
feud between the Texas A&M Stu
dent Government and University
Food Services.
“We were led to believe Aggie
Bucks were fully refundable,” Stu
dent Body President Ty Clevenger,
says. “We have heard, however,
there are strings attached. We have
no confidence in Food Services’
work whatsoever.”
Clevenger says he heard penalties
of 20 to 30 percent are charged on
all Aggie Bucks refunds, and no re
funds are given on Aggie Bucks
used with a meal plan.
However, Lloyd Smith, director
of A&M Food Services, says Cle
venger has been misinformed.
“As far as we are concerned, Ag
gie Bucks are refundable, with or
without a meal plan,” Smith says. “If
you want to drop a meal plan, Aggie
Bucks will be refunded 100 percent.
There is no service charge at all ei
ther.”
Smith says much of the problem
stems from the Fiscal Offices’ policy
of not accepting requests for refunds
before the first day of classes.
He stressed this was a Fiscal Office
policy and not set by Food Services.
This incident is the latest in a se
ries of run-ins between Clevenger
and Food Services.
“Last year we had a major prob
lem,” Clevenger says. “At the end of
the semester, they would confiscate
any funds left in an Aggie Bucks ac
count.”
Clevenger says on-campus expen
ditures increased by $5 million with
Aggie Bucks funds. When this much
money is locked up, Clevenger says
Food Services will do whatever it can
to make it difficult to get out.
“They have tried to deny it,” Cle
venger says. “But obviously the mo
tive is to keep the bureaucracy afloat
at Food Services.”
Smith says the policy for confiscat
ing leftover accounts is standard
procedure for most universities, and
the computer software used for Ag
gie Bucks originally was written that
way.
Smith also denies allegations
made by Clevenger that Food Serv
ices’ products are overpriced.
“We go out several times a semes
ter to see the prices of local mer
chants,” Smith says. “What most stu
dents forget to do, however, is
compare apples to apples. You can’t
compare our hamburger to a regu
lar McDonald’s hamburger. You
have to compare it to their quarter
pounder. If you do, you will see we
are extremely competitive.”
Smith also says A&M meal plans
are less expensive when compared
with prices at the University of
Texas and Southern Methodist Uni
versity.
See Bucks/Page 6
Dr. William Mobley
presidential studies at A&M.
Mobley said the Ethnic Studies In
stitute, which will be part of the Col
lege of Liberal Arts, is “timely and
appropriate.”
The institute will conduct re
search, but Board Chairman William
A. McKenzie said its main purpose is
to bring people together and “move
forward,” rather than to study mi
norities.
The Center for Presidential Stud
ies will be a nationally recognized
center for research on the American
presidency, and also will serve as a
national archive, Mobley said.
The Board, which reacted favor
ably to both measures, will vote on
the proposals today.
In other business, the Board dis
cussed a plan to construct a College
of Business Administration Build
ing. The structure would be located
near the Medical Sciences Library.
Mobley said the building, which
would cost more than $22 million,
would increase student activity at
West Campus.
New shuttle routes could be cre
ated, sort of a “people-moving sys
tem,” Mobley said.
He said most business courses are
upper level, and junior and senior
business students likely will have all
their classes in the new building.
He added that A&M is one of the
only major business schools in the
country without its own building.
The Board is expected to approve
an appropriation for preliminary
design of the building today.
Fraternity hopefuls now
knock on bid house door
By ELIZABETH TISCH
Of The Battalion Staff
More than 300 men will accept
or deny fraternity membership
bids at 5 p.m. today during the
Interfraternity Council’s Bid Day
in front of the Texas A&M Sys
tems Building.
Slaton Smith, IFC public rela
tions chairman, says the proce
dure, which was changed last se
mester, promotes the Greek
system and creates excitement
among a fraternity’s new mem
bers.
In the past, Bid Day took place
in a small room in the MSC or
Rudder Tower. When rushees ac
cepted bids, they did not meet
their chosen fraternity until days
later.
Unlike past years, all members
from the 27 University-recog
nized fraternities will be waiting
on the Systems Building lawn to
meet pledges and welcome them.
“Before, when the event was
held in Rudder, there were only a
few guys to congratulate you,”
Smith says. “Now, when someone
accepts a bid, he immediately
meets the chapter.
“Also, it promotes the Greek
system when people drive or walk
by and see the excitement going
on,” he says.
Smith says A&M’s Bid Day is
modeled after Stephen F. Austin
University’s event called “step”.
Shannon Smith, last year’s IFC
rush chairman, says he decided to
plan the event similar to SFA’s af
ter he saw how successful it was.
Rod Cruz, IFC president, says
the 10-day fraternity rush should
end in a special way because of
the commitment involved in join
ing a fraternity.
“It’s a happy moment for the
guys,” Cruz says. “They’ve made
a lifelong commitment to a frater
nity that takes young members
and develops them into responsi
ble and successful men.”
IFC also wants to promote the
Greek system by clearing up any
misconceptions students might
have about fraternities.
“People think you can't be an
Aggie and a Greek, or a member
in the Corps of Cadets and a
Greek,” Smith says. “In fact, we
would like to invite Corps mem
bers to join.”
Allied forces down
Iraqi jets over Saudi,
foil overhead attack
DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia (AP)
— Iraq’s elusive air force showed
signs of life Thursday, sending two
warplanes over Saudi territory
where they were shot down carrying
missiles capable of sinking allied
warships.
Iraq mocked the allies for failing
to launch a ground offensive, but al
lied commanders said they would
stick to their game plan and intensify
the around-the-clock air strikes on
Iraq and occupied Kuwait.
The United States and Britain
each lost a warplane during the
night Wednesday. The American pi
lot was saved in a dramatic rescue af
ter his jet was disabled by ground
fire and he ejected over the Persian
Gulf.
The two crewmen of the British
Tornado GR-I fighter-bomber are
missing, British sources in Riyadh
said.
The losses occurred as allied
forces took advantage of clearing
skies to step up their relentless air as
sault on Iraq and Kuwait. Many of
the attacks concentrated on Iraq’s
elite Republican Guards, an Army
spokesman said.
“We are hitting them with all as
sets available to us,” U.S. Army Lt.
Col. Greg Pepin said of the elite Iraqi
unit. He estimated that more than
150,000 of the guards are “well dug
in” in Kuwait and southern Iraq.
The allied tactics call for “soft
ening up” the Iraqi forces from the
air before trying to eject them from
Kuwait by ground.
The number of allied sorties
passed 15,000 on Thursday, Pepin
said. Allied sources in Dhahran said
the U.S.-led coalition wants to pick
up the pace, perhaps flying 3,000
missions a day if the skies remain
clear.
In addition, Pentagon sources
said Thursday that U.S. submarines,
operating from the depths of the
Mediterranean and Red seas, are
continuing to fire Tomahawk cruise
missiles at targets inside Iraq.
Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said
Wednesday in Washington that air
attacks would intensify along supply
routes and lines of communications
around the Iraqi city of Basra, near
the Persian Gulf and Kuwaiti bor
der, in an attempt to strangle the
Iraqi army in Kuwait.
Despite the crushing allied air as
sault, Saddam Hussein reportedly
visited his troops on the front lines
in southern Iraq and Kuwait on
Wednesday.
The official Iraqi News Agency
said Saddam’s commanders dis
cussed the latest developments in the
war with their commander-in-chief,
then mocked the allies, saying they
fear a ground war.
The news agency said that as of
Tuesday, “only 90” Iracp troops had
been killed by the punishing allied
bombing of Iraq and Kuwait. The al
lies have not released casualty fig
ures from the aerial bombardment.
The dogfight that downed two
Iraqi warplanes over the northern
Persian Gulf on Thursday was one
of the few such engagements of the
war and the first report of an Iraqi
attempt to enter Saudi airspace.