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Vol. 90 No. 81 GSPS 045360 10 Pages
College Station, Texas
Monday, January 28, 1991
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Texas A&M Sports Car Club’s first autocross of
the semester.
Allied ground troops
prepare for offensive
DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia (AP)
— American ground forces will be
ready to attack the Iraqi army within
a month, and an air strike seems to
have thwarted Iraq’s effort to flood
the Persian Gulf with more oil, U.S.
officials said Sunday.
Massive allied bombing raids con
tinued over Iraq, and in one dog
fight two American warplanes
downed four Iraqi fighters, they
said.
On the ground, U.S. Marines
learned how to negotiate deadly
minefields and penetrate elaborate
fortifications. Afterward, they
crowded around radios and tele
visions for Super Bowl XXV.
Defense Secretary Dick Cheney
announced U.S. soldiers will be pre
pared “before the end of February”
to launch the ground offensive.
Cheney said that although relent
less allied air attacks against Iraq
have been successful, they alone will
not drive Iraq from Kuwait.
If all servicemen and women in
the region were used, such a con
frontation would pit 675,000 alliec.
troops, including 480,000 Ameri
cans, against 540,000 Iraqi soldiers
in and near occupied Kuwait.
Cheney also announced U.S.
forces had taken military action to
stop a colossal oil spill in the north
ern Persian Gulf that he blamed on
Iraq.
The spill, part of which was re
ported burning, threatened water
supplies in Saudi Arabia, where
most of the U.S. forces are based,
and could hinder an amphibious as
sault on Kuwait, if the allies choose
to launch one.
Allied officials contend the slick
would not hamper military opera
tions in the northern gulf, where a
U.S. Marine landing is considered a
possibility to drive the Iraqis out of
Kuwait. But other officials have said
the thick sludge could gum up the
engines of amphibious assault snips.
Cheney left it to Gen. H. Norman
Schwarzkopf, the commander of
Operation Desert Storm, to describe
the U.S. raid on the Iraqi-held facili
ties in Kuwait that have been leaking
millions of gallons of crude oil since
last week.
Schwarzkopf told reporters in Ri
yadh that U.S. warplanes using
“smart bombs” blew up the facilities
late Saturday.
He showed videotape of the F-l 11
fighter-bombers attacking a coastal
linking oil fields
ore loading buoy for
complex of
with an offs!
tankers.
Oil and environmental officials
suggested such an attack to halt the
flow of crude, which has left a slick
35 miles long and 10 miles wide.
U.S. military officials have said
Iraqis turned on pumps at a Kuwaiti
offshore oil loading facility and fed
the spill with five idle tankers hold
ing a total of 125 million gallons of
crude oil.
A Saudi environmental official
said as much as 84 million gallons of
oil a day might have been pouring
into the gulf, a disaster a dozen times
larger than the Exxon Valdez spill in
Alaska.
Schwarzkopf said the videotap<
indicated much less oil was flowinj
from the loading buoy.
Schwarzkopf said the air assault
which had encountered no Iraqi re
sistance, set off fires that would bun
for at least another day.
Environmental experts say then
is no way to stop the slick. Oil, ship
ping and environmental experts sai<
the oil cannot not be contained be
cause of the rough gulf waters, thi
size of the spill and the war.
Regents seek
funds to make
Corpus Christi
4-year college
By MIKE LUMAN
Of The Battalion Staff
The Texas A&M University Sys
tem Board of Regents agreed Friday
to seek funding through the Texas
Legislature to finance the transition
of Corpus Christi State University to
a comprehensive four-year institu
tion.
The vote came after a speech by
State Sen. Carlos Truan, D-Corpus
Christi. He told the Board that
South Texas universities do not re
ceive their share of state funds.
“The southern region pf the state
has been historically neglected,”
Truan said. “If you don’t join us,
you might regret it.”
Board Chairman William A. McK
enzie, however, told Truan he was
“preaching to the choir.”
McKenzie said the Board sup
ports increased funding for South
Texas universities, and will do every
thing it can to work with several
“The southern region
of the state has been
historically
neglected. If you don’t
join us, you might
regret it.”
— Carlos Truan,
state senator
South Texas institutions that have
requested increased funding.
Truan told the Board that South
Texas has only one doctoral pro
gram, compared to hundreds in the
Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The League of United Latin
American Citizens sued the A&M
and University of Texas systems in
1987, claiming they discriminate
against areas of the state with large
Hispanic populations.
Reacting in part to the suit, the
presidents of Texas A&I University
and Laredo State University also
asked the Board for its support.
Corpus Christi State, Texas A&I
and Laredo State joined the A&M
System in 1989.
In other business, the Board
unanimously authorized the estab
lishment of the A&M Health Science
Center, a research and service fa
cility with the College of Medicine.
Richard A. DeVaul, dean of the
College of Medicine, will assume the
additional title of executive director
of the health science center.
The Board also approved the cre
ation of the A&M Race and Ethnic
Studies Institute and the Center for
Presidential Studies, both within the
College of Liberal Arts.
To honor Aggies in the Middle
East, the Board approved a resolu
tion commending ’ A&M graduates
involved in Operation Desert Storm.
The resolution credits Lt. Col.
George Walton, Class of ’71, with be
ing the lead pilot in the first strike
against Iraq Jan. 16.
A&M President William Mobley
told the Board that as of Friday, 57
students have withdrawn from the
University after being called to ac
tive military duty.
Mobley said tuition will be re
funded for any reservists called to
duty in the Middle East.
Sheriff’s office investigates professor’s disappearance
By JULIE MYERS
Of The Battalion Staff
An investigation into the disappearance of
a Texas A&M bioengineering professor by
the Brazos County Sheriffs office has not
yielded any information.
Dr. Peter John H. Sharpe’s van was found
abandoned Thursday night one-tenth of a
mile from a Brazos River bridge on Highway
21 West by the Texas Department of Public
Safety.
Sharpe was last seen on the A&M campus
Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
His family already had reported Sharpe’s
disappearance to the University Police De-
f >artment Friday when DPS officers again
ound the van and called the Sheriffs depart
ment to investigate the matter, Sheriff Ron
nie Miller said.
Sharpe’s wife told Miller her husband had
been having professional problems related to
his A&M job.
“I hope he’s with a friend,” Miller said.
The sheriffs department took fingerprints
from the van, looked for tracks and started
dragging the Brazos River Saturday, Miller
said.
The sherrifs department will continue to
drag the river one-half mile from the bridge
for Sharpe’s body today. UPD is assisting in
the search.
Miller said there was no sign of foul play
and the van seemed to be in good running
condition.
Dr. G. Kemble Bennett, industrial engi
neering department head, said a replacement
had been found to teach Sharpe’s graduate
bioengineering seminar class.
Bennett said he had not seen Sharpe since
the beginning of the holiday break. He said
he had no indication from Sharpe that any
thing was bothering him.
Sharpe has been at A&M since 1972 and
also works for the Texas Engineering Exten
sion Service as a Senior Fellow.
Miller said anyone having information
about the case or anyone who has seen
Sharpe since Thursday afternoon is encourr
aged to call the sheriffs department at 361-
4100.
Black leadership conference
NAACP official: Don’t judge people by their race
By ISSELLE MCALLISTER
Of The Battalion Staff
The executive director of the
NAACP implored Texas A&M
students to be serious about their
academic studies and not to judge
people by their race.
Dr. Benjamin Hooks delivered
a powerful address Friday
inspired by the memory of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. as part of
the Southwestern Black Student
Leadership Conference this
weekend.
Hooks said black men and
women “are a great people” and
can accomplish whatever they set
their minds to.
His message, however, was
aimed at more than Blacks.
Hooks said men and women of all
races should strive to improve
themselves and not permit racism
to destroy their lives or society.
People should emulate individ
uals like Nelson Mandela and not
fall into the trap of hatred, he
said.
Mandela, jailed for more than
20 years for speaking out against
the South African government,
did not succumb to his situation
with drugs and alcohol, Hooks
said.
Instead, the South African civil
rights leader “stretched his mind”
and triumphed over oppression,
Hooks said.
“Don’t judge a man by the
color of his skin but by the con
tent of his mind,” he said.
Young men and women should
develop their intellects and learn
all they can, Hooks said. Young
people are the future of the
world, he said, and should seek to
expand their intellectual hori
zons.
“Don’t be satisfied,” he told the
audience. “Always strive to be the
best.”
Hooks emphasized his point by
using the words of Dr. King: “If
you can’t be a mountain, be a hill,
but be the best hill you can be. If
you can’t be a tree, be a bush, but
be the best bush you can be.”
Hooks said he regretted that
today’s students never will have a
chance to listen to the great civil
rights advocate.
“Martin Luther King was truly
a great man,” he said. “Non-vio
lence is not a tactic; it is a way of
life.”
The audience gave Hooks a
standing ovation, after which
they joined hands and sang “We
Shall Overcome.”
Writer urges Blacks to use talents, opportunities
By KATHERINE COFFEY
Of The Battalion Staff
Blacks in the American work force are too
good to have to rely on affirmative action or quo
tas, an award-winning journalist said Saturday at
Texas A&M.
Tony Brown, a producer, writer, educator and
film director, spoke during this weekend’s third
annual Southwestern Black Student Leadership
Conference.
Brown, host of a syndicated show on PBS, is
known for his plan for the economic revitaliza
tion of the black economy.
“It is not a matter of affirmative action and
quotas,” he said. “It is not a matter of somebody
giving you anything, but it’s a matter that it’s
your time in history to take advantage of your
opportunities. If you rely on others, then you
have conned yourself out of the competition.”
Brown told the crowd that the opportunities
are there if they are great and prepared.
“Don’t think this is another welfare program,
and all you have to do is be black,” he said.
“That’s not going to work. Your place is where
your talents will take you.”
Blacks should not attempt to be minorities, but
should train to be governors, presidents, doctors,
senators and heads of major corporations.
Brown said.
“We are not poor, and we are not a minority,”
Brown said. “We are a cultural economic market
that has been trained to behave as a poor minori-
ty”
Brown said the United States is a culturally di
verse society in which people live side by side in
respect and equality.
However, Blacks have to get their own identity
together first, he said.
“Racism can only take you hostage if you give
up your soul,” he said.
Black student problems are not tuition, getting
through college, getting into college or being
middle class because they’re already there,
Brown said.
He said the problem today is helping black
communities.
“The bottom line is our communities must
come first or you have restricted your opportuni
ties,” he said.
“You are the best educated Afro-Americans in
the world,” Brown said. “You are America’s
bridge to her future or she’s not going to have a
future. If America does not turn to Blacks and
help train them into the work force of technolog
ical capacity, then corporate America will not be
able to compete with the rest of the world.
“If it wasn’t for Rosa Parks and Martin Luther
King and the great black men and women before
them, then this meeting would not have taken
place today,” he said. “They created your oppor
tunities and you’re supposed to create opportu
nities for the next generation. That’s what it is all
about.”
. ; ;
j
c C Don’t be
satisfied. Always
strive to be the
best. 3 3
— Benjamin Hooks
Entrepreneur stresses importance of economics
By ELIZABETH TISCH
Of The Battalion Staff
The founder and director of
one of the nation’s largest black-
owned businesses said at a Texas
A&M conference Saturday that
“being a minority entrepreneur is
like being at the tip end of a Roto-
Rooter.
“You don’t know where you’re
going, but you’re probably not
going to like it,” Joshua Smith,
chief executive officer of the
Maxima Computer Corp., said.
Smith spoke to students from
more than 100 universities and
high schools during the South
western Black Student Lead
ership Conference.
A&M was host to the annual
three-day conference Thursday
through Saturday.
Smith, who also serves as chair-
' man of the National Committee
for Minority Business Devel
opment, said many people do not
think Blacks can be successful in
today’s business world.
He said, however, minorities
possess this same negative atti
tude about their capabilities.
“Don’t blame it on the white
man,” Smith said. “We don’t even
support ourselves. We don’t even
buy from ourselves.”
The entrepreneur said 100
years ago, Blacks progressed
greatly despite oppression but are
inactive in today’s business.
“How can this happen under
oppression, but now undef free
dom, we are eroding,” Smith said.
“We generate three-tenths of 1
percent in businesses.”
He stressed that if a Black
wants to survive , in a capitalistic
world, the “them vs. us attitude”
must go.
“You get emotional and that
doesn’t do anything,” he said.
“You must create a plan.”
Smith said the problem of low
minority participation in business
cannot be solved through social
problems alone. It must be bal
anced through economics.
“If we put 80 percent of our
energy into economic commit
ment, we would solve all our
problems,” he said.
He said the nation’s gross na
tional product of $250 billion
should prove this is no poor
country.
“We are not a poor people,” he
said. “We must stop thinking like
poor people.”
He told the crowd of more
than 700 students and faculty
members that “you must either
find a job, create a job or die.”
He said there are 50 million
unemployed Americans today,
and that before people can help
each other, they must help them
selves.
“We must transform our
dreams into reality,” he said.
C i If we put BO
percent of our
energy into
economic
commitment, we
would solve all our
problems. 3 3
— Dr. Joshua Smith