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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1991)
father u e, but Jice." preju- ofarm 'd and o own econ- >come tofSt. it and other o live, a be in lensitv The Battalion Vol. 90 No. 87 USPS 045360 10 Pages College Station, Texas Tuesday, February 5, 1991 WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States reacted skeptically Monday to Iran’s of fer to mediate the Persian Gulf War, and President Bush declared, “We have to go for ward and prosecute this to a successful con clusion.” “It’s going according to plan,” Bush confi- dendy assured the nation’s governors, sum moned to the White House for briefings on the $1.45 trillion federal budget he submitted to Congress. The Budget earmarks $15 billion as a “pla ceholder” for increased military spending for the war. Iran’s President Hashemi Rafsanjani of fered to meet Saddam Hussein for talks on ending the 19-day-old war. Rafsanjani also said he was willing to resume official contact with Washington in the interests of peace. “What’s to mediate?” State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said. “The only mediation ... that would be appropriate would be for the people who communicate with Saddam Hussein to convince him to comply with the 12 United Nations resolu tions” demanding Iraq’s withdrawal from Ku wait. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney said, “If someone can come up with a diplomatic reso lution that achieves that objective, that would be fine, but I frankly don’t expect it.” White House press secretary Marlin Fitz- water said Iran “is not directly involved in this conflict and our interest is in getting Iraq out of Kuwait.” The United States and Iran severed rela tions after the 1979 seizure of American hos tages at the American Embassy in Tehran. Tutwiler renewed Bush’s offer two years ago for direct talks with authorized representa tives of the Iranian government. “We are going to set the timetable for what lies ahead,” Bush said. “I have confidence that we’re doing the right thing, and I have confidence that it is going the way we planned,” the president said. “And there have been no surprises, and there will not be any quick changes, nor will I try to tie the hands of the military because I just feel we have to go forward and prosecute this to a successful conclusion,” Bush said. “I would not underestimate the amount of work that remains to be done,” Cheney said. The secretary refused to speculate about when a ground war might begin. “We have not established any sort of artificial timeta ble,” he said at a news conference. “There is no drop-dead date ... out there by which we feel we have to act.” Bush said he would send Congress a sup plemental request to cover costs of the fight ing. Budget Director Richard Darman said the administration hopes U.S. costs will not go much higher than the $15 billion figure. “They feel a substantial portion of the war costs are being paid by the coalition” of na tions aligned against Iraq, Democratic Gov. Booth Gardner of Washington said as he left the White House. “But there are some costs for this country.” The administration defended allied bomb ing raids that Jordan says have injured and killed Jordanian truck drivers on Iraq’s high way from Baghdad to Amman. U.N. Secre tary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar con demned the attacks, The State Department’s Tutwiler said the trucks were traveling through a war zone “and specifically through an area that has been the source of Scud attacks against neigh boring states.” “Moreover, we have credible information that war material, including some related to Scud missiles, has been transported in convoy with civilian oil trucks,” she said. “Such material contributes to Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait and is a legitimate military target.” ball tellers TA ill life tses. ondJ; eredi 15. *’ * ft' MIKE C. MULVEY/The Battalion Coors Distributing account representative Bobby Reneau cleans up some of the beer remaining on Briarcrest Road in Bryan after 50 cases spilled out of the open door of a Coors trailer. The door had come ajar following a delivery by the driver. The TABC also made an appearance at the cleanup site. Researcher designs pump o improve artificial heart $ The Battalion Staff A Texas A&M bioengineering re- earcher is bringing life to a new ar- ificial heart designed to overcome pgOplij^proMems in present models. ^ Dr. Gerald Miller, director of the A&M Human Systems Engineering Laboratory, is developing an artifi- ial heart that uses a centrifugal )ump more efficient than previous Jumps. The new pump — called the Tesla urbine — relies on centrifugal force ind friction to move fluids and has )een used to propel rocket fuel. The urbine can produce tremendous low rates. Miller says. Blood flow rates are a major con- :ern for artificial heart designers, he lays. The concept of the artificial leart is limited by how much flow he device can produce. Miller says. “The normal human heart can produce five times the (usual) ount of flow during exercise,” iller says. Presently available designs are not seful for certain types of people, he -dsol A limited blood flow might be suf- icient to meet the needs of a 70- 5- rob' 1 year-old patient, but it might not be iequate for a 35-year-old, he says. Older artificial hearts use pneu- latic-powered sac-and-valve sys- ftms or “pusher plate” pumps to —etc Senate approves Regent appointees By iv Of The Mike Luman Battalion Staff The Texas Senate unanimously approved Gov. Ann Richards’ two appointees to the Texas A&M Uni versity System Board of Regents and confirmed Regent Royce E. Wisen- baker to a third six-year term. Alison Leland, an investment banker from Houston, and Mary Nan West of the A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Devel opment Council became full-fledged regents after Monday’s Senate vote. Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Aus- tin, and chairman of the Senate Committee on Nominations, said Monday the new regents will work for increased access to higher educa tion for minorities. Last week Barrientos told Leland and West he was not satisfied with A&M’s progress in work concerning accessibility of Texas universities to Hispanics and blacks. “I think they (Leland and West) are outstanding individuals who will work for the schools and the benefits of all Texans,” Barrientos said. The new regents also fielded ques tions about hazing during the confir mation process, he said. “We were assured they would do everthing possible to see students aren’t hurt in anything as crude as hazing,” Barrientos said. Leland, the first black woman on the Board, graduated in 1980 from Spelman College in Atlanta and re ceived a law degree from George town University in 1985. She is a member of Spelman Col lege’s Advisory Council Interna tional Affairs Center and of the Texas Opera Theatre. Leland’s husband, U.S. Rep. Mickey Leland, was killed in a plane crash in August 1989 while trying to organize famine relief in Ethiopia. A Richards supporter, Leland, 32, replaces Regent L. Lowry Mays of San Antonio. West, chairwoman of the San An tonio Livestock Exposition Board, replaces Regent John A. Mobley of Austin. A native of Batesville, West grad uated from St. Mary’s Hall and then attended the universities of Arizona and Colorado. West owns 10,000 acres in Val Verde County and runs her grand father’s 36,000-acre ranch near Ba- See Regents/Page 9 Iranian mediation effort fails Silver Taps ceremony to honor 1 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 January is honored in a Sil ver Taps ceremony at 10:30 in s front of the Academic Build ing. The deceased student being honored is: • John C. Lusk, 24, a senior recreation, parks and tourism science ma jor from Springtown, who died Jan. 7. Dating back almost a century, the stately tra dition of Silver Taps is practiced on the first Tuesday of each month from September through April, when necessary. The names of de ceased students 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 to wards the statue of Lawrence Sul livan Ross. Shortly after, three volleys are fired in a 21-gun sa lute, and six buglers play a special arrangement of “Taps” three times — to the north, south and west. Student lectures on apartheid By Julie Hedderman Of The Battalion Staff A definite feeling of resignation and acceptance exists among upper- class, educated white South Africans that things have to change, but there is also a reluctance for those changes to occur, said a South African stu dent. Roger Horrocks, a Texas A&M junior philosophy major, spoke and answered questions Monday night during the Student Coalition Against Apartheid and Racism meeting. “Let’s face it,” he said. “Our way of life is very good.” Horrocks, a member of SCAR, said he was uneasy about embracing a particular perspective and was a spectator most of the time while liv ing in South Africa, although he did participate in some anti-apartheid protests. “Apartheid itself was developed in attempt to solve the kind of cultural mix that evolved in the country,” he said. “It has to go, it has to change.” However, he does not see an immediate change occurring. The period of transition the country is now going through is difficult on people his age. They nave little faith in the fu ture and are uncertain about their roles in it, Horrocks said. He also said young people do not have a strong identity as South Africans and tend to em brace an American way of life. Horrocks said his knowledge of South Af rican history is question able because the text books he studied in school were written by white educators for white students. Horrocks asked how many of the people at the SCAR meeting had a working knowledge of South Afri can history. Of the 18 people there, only one raised her hand. Roger Horrocks Horrocks then asked the audi ence, “How can you be so concerned about South Africa when you know nothing about it?” Horrocks said economic sanctions on South Africa have affected every- HUY THANH NGUYEN/The Battalion one in the country, but they have had the most economically damag ing effects on the blacks, despite the positive political results. See Africa/Page 9 drive blood through the circulatory system, Miller says. This is a cumbersome way of op erating an artificial heart because older pumps use an inefficient elas tic bag to collect air built up in the bloodstream, he says. Miller continues to work on the device because of limits of available artificial hearts. He says he wants to become more responsive to the an ticipated need for the devices. In January of last year, the Food and Drug Administration decerti fied the most well-known artificial heart, the Jarvik-7, for use as a total replacement. Miller says the Jarvik-7 model had many problems associated with it, in cluding difficulties with the pump and its bulky power supply. Other models still are certified by the FDA and researchers are consid ering some for implantation in peo ple. However, Miller says these devices are used mainly on a temporary ba sis to assist patients recovering from open-heart surgery. “It’s been quiet in terms of total heart replacement,” he says. The new heart will be simpler and more responsive and able to regulate flow and pressure electronically, he says. The improved design avoids flow and valve problems and also re- See Heart/Page 9 Inside 2 Mail Call ’the itch’ Cartoons 4 7 What’s Up Wilson column Weather Outlook ■si Wed Thurs Partly Cloudy Cloudy Fri Rain Focus Hall of Shame Directors vote to permanent ly exclude Pete Rose from Coopers- town ballot. page? Spill dredges up problems Oil harms marine life a? By Elizabeth Tisch The Battalion Staff Destruction of tiny organisms called phytoplankton is one of the most devastating results of the Jan. 25 oil spill in the Persian Gulf, says Texas A&M graduate student Khaled Al-Abdulkader. lankton are the main pro- ‘Phytopl cers of says. “They utilize light in the water to produce organic materials.” Al-Abdulkader, who received his undergraduate degree in aquatic sci ences, has studied ecology of phyto plankton since 1987. The native of Saudi Arabia has conducted research on these orga nisms in the Persian Gulf as a re search assistant at King Fahd Uni versity of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran. He presendy is pursuing his mas ter’s degree in oceanography at A&M. Al-Abdulkader says he only can speculate about the damage of last week’s oil spill, which U.S. officials call Iraq’s attempt to halt U.S. mili tary forces in the gulf. He says, however, his speculations are based on past research of oil spills in the Persian Gulf. “This is not the first in the Persian Gulf,” he says. “There have been several during the Iran-Iraq war.” In 1970, a storm damaged an off shore oil pipeline, spilling 100,000 gallons of oil into the gulf. In 1983, Iraq hit an Iranian oil pipeline dur ing the eight-year war. Al-Abdulkader says he is not sure of the amount spilled in 1983 but this latest dumping is far worse and possibly more damaging than the 1989 Alaskan Exxon Valdez oil spill. “It was stated in a Saudia Arabian newspaper Saturday that 1.5 million tons of oil were released into the gulf,” he says. “The largest batch of oil is 80 by 25 kilometers but spread ing southward slower than what was reported earlier in the week.” Earlier statements reported the batch moving at a rate of 20 kilome ters a day. The oil patch prevents sunlight — m eded to sustain phytoplankton — from penetrating the water. “Phytoplankton is the base of the pyramid of the food chain for ma rine animals,” he says. Oil also will damage coral reefs which are the main breeding grounds and shelter for phytoplank ton and other marine life, Al-Abdul- kader says. The lack of these organisms will cause a deficiency of food for fish, birds, dolphins and whales. Al-Abdulkader says nature will play a much bigger part in cleaning up the oil than efforts made by cleanup crews from the Environ mental Protection Agency and Arab- American oil companies. The amount of time necessary for surface water to be mixed and re placed by water from the ocean floor in the Gulf — or residence time — can be two and a half to seven years, he says. The gulfs counterclockwise circu lation also will exchange water with the Arabian Sea through the Strait of Hermuz. Al-Abdulkader says the Persian Gulfs residence time most likely will be two and a half years, but the cir culation rate is difficult to determine during winter months. “It is hard to predict the circula tion rate at this time because the win ter winds are slowing down the flow,” he says. “Also, the gulf has only one relatively small opening, which is the Strait of Hermuz.” One reason the Persian Gulf re covered from past oil spills is be cause the gulfs marine life repro duces quicluy, he says. “Although the Persian Gulf has See Ocean/Page 9