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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 1991)
ai y5,i9$ ie$ Arthur G a - ;ma n to dj f 'ration De, Monday :, ' vn of K: : The Battalion Vol. 90 No. 88 USPS 045360 10 Pages College Station, Texas Wednesday, February 6, 1991 i, family t “ops cron'j. ™lic Chur oadcast thi; from “Ma. ommand 1 ' l > Mudar, m dotermine 'ried instn I or pan of tions wei: he table, at: far was tolt: nything. U USS Missouri fires on Kuwait svn "\ i JORDAN < s 7> IRAQ Baghdad DETAIL MAP British Embassy Rashid HotaKA, Al-Mansour Hotel 100av*e. SAU0| ;. v U.S. Embassy 100 km. Saddam’s Palace A retieat home Presidential Compound Family compound, some government buildings In the area AIRPORT ARABIA Tigris River Euphrates River DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Allied warplanes and the USS Missouri’s mighty guns shattered the morning peace from Baghdad to Kuwait’s shores Tuesday. The U.S. command reported the Missou ri’s 16-inch guns opened up twice overnight — once with six rounds that knocked out part of a long-range Iraqi artillery battery shelling coalition troops across the border in Saudi Arabia, and once with 28 rounds that destroyed an Iraqi radar site. At midday Tuesday, the Missouri could be seen off KhaQi, in Saudi Arabia’s north east corner, firing its guns toward the Ku waiti coastline again, an informed source reported. In another move Tuesday, Iraq banned sales of heating oil and other fuel to its in creasingly desperate people. Baghdad said 428 civilians have been killed thus far in what the official radio con demned as “savage” bombing. The Syrian contingent in Operation De sert Storm engaged in its first combat, driv ing 30 Iraqi intruders back into Kuwait with artillery fire, Saudi officials reported. In telephone calls and private meetings, diplomats and government leaders con ferred on Monday’s bid by Iranian Presi dent Hashemi Rafsanjani to mediate a Per sian Gulf peace. The Soviets and Turks signaled support for Iran’s initiative. In Washington, how ever, President Bush said he had seen no Iranian peace plan and saw nothing to ne gotiate with Iraqi President Saddam Hus sein. “He’s got to say, Tm going to get out of Kuwait,’ now, fast,” Bush said. The U.S. chief executive said he was sending the Pentagon’s top leadership — Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and Gen. Colin L. Powell — to the war zone this week to assess how the U.S.-led offensive is pro gressing. The U.S. command reported another 2,000-sortie day in the Desert Storm air war, and said American warplanes took special aim again at the dug-in Republican Guard, backbone of the Iraqi defense of Kuwait. • Six “packages” of B-52 strategic bombers struck Guard positions, the command said. It said U.S. warplanes also continued fo cusing on resupply lines to the Iraqi troops in Kuwait and southern Iraq, striking a 25- truck convoy in one instance late Monday. British officers reported strikes on an am munition storage site south of Baghdad, and a railway junction and rail bridge in southeast Iraq, among other targets. They said one-third of the key bridges in Iraq have been destroyed. A key U.S. Air Force commander, Col. John McBroom of the First Tactical Fighter Wing, told reporters Tuesday some Iraqi ground units’ fighting “capabilities” were cut in half by air strikes. American com manders say they want the attacks on ar mored vehicles and bunkers to reduce Iraqi fighting power by half before they will or der a U.S. ground offensive against the half-million-man army assembled in Kuwait and southern Iraq. “The air war is absolutely getting to him,” McBroom said. In Baghdad, post-midnight explosions shattered windows and shook residents from their beds for another early morning spent in basement shelters. Witnesses said at least four allied missiles hit the city, Associated Press correspondent Salah Nasrawi reported from the Iraqi capi tal. They said one was at a military site. Baghdadis were told by official radio Tuesday that all fuel sales to civilians had been banned. ¥ Gorbachev y$6.99, Gorbachev denounces Baltic vote MOSCOW (AP) — Mikhail S. Gorbachev stepped up his war of words with Lithuanian leaders on Tuesday by re jecting their inde pendence poll set for Saturday and ordering instead a Kremlin-con trolled referen dum. Lithuanian President Vytau- tas Landsbergis insisted the non binding ballot would be held as planned. “Lithuania is in observance of law ... and views the president’s decree as impermissible political interfer ence in the matters of the sovereign Lithuanian state,” he said in a statement read by spokeswoman Rita Dapkus. The decree followed Gorbachev’s order for new talks with the Baltics I and seemed a clear attempt to force ■ Lithuanians to seek independence I only on the Kremlin’s terms. The de- jcree did not threaten any action if the poll was held, indicating only | that the Kremlin would not accept its results. “The poll and the attempt to call it a ‘plebiscite on the future of the Lithuania state’ (are) legally invalid,” jl his decree said, according to the >■ state news agency Tass. The poll “cannot be seen as any- jthing other than an attempt to block ... the holding of a national referen dum on the question of preserving See Gorbachev/Page 9 A&M doctor 3 probes AIDS, “-“-ifmedical ethics By Julie Myers Of The Battalion Staff itfil The AIDS epidemic has pre- ^ ; sented new dilemmas to health care Providers, said a Texas A&M profes- IBorof medical ethics. Dr. Don Self, head of the humani- iftes in medicine department at the in&M College of Medicine, ad- Wressed “Ethics in medicine and the |! AIDS crisis” Tuesday during a meet- ling of the Pre-medical/Pre-dental ■Society. I AIDS, acquired immune defi- js” I ciency syndrome, presents a conflict t | between the safety of the public and jphe medical community and the ji rights of the individual, Self said. Because of this conflict, hospitals and their employees are experienc- [ing a combination of problems. Self IHaid these include: I I • An eight-fold increase in work- |B>ad over the past two years. AIDS is da labor intensive disease. • An unbalanced medical educa- fcon. AIDS research predominates in llburnals and conferences. • Decreasing resident autonomy, ecause AIDS patients take much d space in internal medicine hos- j j pital units, doctors must supervise r Scents more closely. ^=3000 I « fear of transmission. ierS. I • Frustration with the limits of r | ne g | technology and its inability to solve ifce AIDS epidemic quickly, unlike jnoxic Shock Syndrome or Legion- See Ethics/Page 9 —lersj ;eni Riding out fthc* st©i*m MIKE C. MULVEY/The Battalion James Schroter, an A&M Cycling Team member, stormy sky. Schroter didn’t mind the showers af- rides on Highway 60 Tuesday afternoon under a ter traveling 75 miles with the team last Sunday. Faulty radar blamed in crash LOS ANGELES (AP) — The air traffic controller who placed a US Air jet and a Skywest commuter plane on a crash course was hindered by broken radar and confusion caused by a third plane, investigators said Tuesday. National Transportation Safety Board investigators probing Friday night’s runway crash at Los Angeles In ternational Airport that killed 34 people also found communication problems with the airport fire depart ment. The unidentified controller handling the USAir Boe ing 737 with 89 people aboard and the Skywest Met- roliner with 12 people aboard has not been interviewed, NTSB investigator Jim Burnett said. She will not be interviewed until all other controllers and her supervisor have been questioned, Burnett said. “She’s subject to medical availability,” he said, but he wouldn’t elaborate on what that meant. Eight survivors of the USAir jet remain hospitalized, one in serious condition. The controller was responsible for runways on the north side of the airport. A ground surveillance radar used by controllers to determine where planes were on the field was functioning but the indicator at the posi tion used by the north side controller was out of service, Burnett said. The south side indicator was functioning. “The local controller handling the (USAir and Sky west) aircraft could not have observed the south indica tor without unplugging her head set and getting up from the position, basically leaving her position, so that was not a practical thing to do,” Burnett said. Burnett also detailed a communication problem with a Wings West Metroliner commuter plane that oc curred in the moments before the USAir and Skywest planes collided. The first officer of the Wings West plane had the ability to monitor the local air traffic control frequency while talking to that airline’s airport facility, but made a switching error that turned off the tower frequency. MSC head promotes leadership, balance; challenges students By Jayme Blaschke Of The Battalion Staff Newly selected MSC President Chris Britton said Tuesday he wants to develop more leadership and balance in the 1991 MSC Council and con tinue the MSC’s tradition of great programs. Britton, a junior agriculture development major from Cleburne, said he looks forward to working with Texas A&M students involved with the Student Programs Office. “My number one goal is to challenge students involved in the Memorial Student Center to develop excellence within themselves,” he said. MSC Student Programs made its first selection Monday by naming Britton president. The student council will continue its search for other MSC officers during the next four weeks. Britton said the importance of balancing MSC programs, academic success and having a social life is one thing that has to be stressed. Having a good balance is necessary for developing leadership skills, he said. “In the next selection rounds, we want to look at students interested in leadership positions in an objective, impartial manner, and hopefully pro vide them some insight into their character,” he said. Strong leadership is essential to continue the MSC’s reputation of ex- See President/Page 9 ExCEL gives assistance to minority freshmen By Katherine Coffey Of The Battalion Staff A Texas A&M freshmen orienta tion program is looking for people interested in helping minority stu dents excel at the university level. ExCEL — Excellence uniting Cul ture, Education and Leadership — is the name of the three-year-old pro gram started by the director of De partment of Multicultural Services Kevin Carreathers. Applications for ExCEL ’91 will be available beginning Feb. 20 for students interested in serving as as sistants in the program. Darron Edwards, executive direc tor of ExCEL, says the program is intended to focus on different cul tures. “What we are stressing is for peo ple to identify ways to preserve their cultural identity and heritage,” Ed ward says. “It is also meant for stu dents to appreciate and understand See ExCEL/Page 9 Funniest People holds auditions in Flagroom Some of America’s funniest peo ple are waiting to be discovered at Texas A&M. The producers of ABC’s Ameri ca’s Funniest People will audition A&M students from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday in the MSC Flagroom. KTSR Star 92 disc jockey Bobby “Slam” Duncan also will broadcast live from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the MSC. Contestants appearing on the weekly show have a chance to win a $10,000 first prize, or second and third prizes worth $3,000 and $2,000, respectively. Duncan says the show’s producer obviously believed there are some prospects at A&M for the show. ■ Anne Harding, MSC recreation chairwoman and senior jounalism major, said the show auditions at many colleges and universities. They also will audition Baylor University students while in Texas. Harding says the crew will video tape each audition in the Flagroom and edit the tape in Los Angeles. The ABC crew apparently stays away from major metropolitan cen ters, like Houston, and concentrates See Funniest/Page 9 Inside 2 Larry Cox^> We asked column ^ an< ^- J 'the itch' ^you said ... H Wudel O What's Up ‘ column ^ Weather Outlook : : 1 Wed Thurs Fri Cloudy Cloudy Cloudy Focus We asked and you said ... A&M students give their views on a state tax increase to fund education reforms. page