'Pump Boys
and Dinettes'
- review by Julia E.S. Spencer
Planetary Grub
replaces Pa Taq
page 5
The Eighth
Annual National
Night Out
Celebration
The Battalion
bl. 90 No. 179 USPS 045360 6 Pages
College Station / Texas
"Serving Texas A&M since 1893"
Thursday, August 1, 1991
dlson
J
nd
orbachev's plan retains communist ideals, expert says
By Greg Mt.Joy
The Battalion
Mikhail Gorbachev's new Commu
nist platform, recently approved by the
party's central committee, is a move to
renovate a sagging party image, not a
rejection of communism, a Texas A&M
international affairs expert said
Wednesday.
Cory Ortigoza, a research associate
at the A&M Mosher Institute for De
fense Studies, said Gorbachev is not
dropping Communism but challenging
its stagnant leadership.
"The Central Committee has become
a refuge of old thinking," Ortigoza
said. "This new platform may provoke
a split in the party."
Ortigoza said the Communist party
is no longer a real political entity but a
collection of three or four different fac
tions.
"It's like a husband and wife that
share a bed, but aren't really married
anymore," he said. "There is so much
diversity in the party, that it can't
really be called a party."
Ortigoza said 4 or 5 million Soviets
have left the party in the last year,
prompting Gorbachev to ask for
change within the party.
"Gorbachev is using the argument
that the nation's people no longer trust
theparty to demand change," he said.
The new platform is more along the
lines of a Western European social de
mocracy, Ortigoza said.
He said the new platform would cre
ate a more liberal stance for the party,
including more freedom of religion and
the press. The need for a mixed econ
omy and private property was also rec
ognized.
The platform received the approval
of the Central Committee last week
and will go to the Soviet Congress in
November.
Ortigoza said the hardliners in the
committee were reluctant to approve
the platform but were given little
choice by Gorbachev.
"The leadership does not back the
reforms," he said. "Gorbachev saw this
and told them to look at the alterna
tive, radical reform under Russian
President Boris Yeltsin. He told them
they had to follow him or face the con
sequences."
Ortigoza said, however, the plat
form's approval would only buy the
Soviet president short-term security.
"There are many unanswered long
term questions," he said. "It remains to
be seen for how long Gorbachev has si
lenced his critics."
Ortigoza said dissatisfaction with
Gorbachev could reach the same level
as in April, when Central Committee
members called for his ouster.
"Trouble could erupt in November,"
he said. "If there is a bad harvest, and
it appears there will be, the mood in
Moscow could change."
Change could come in the form of a
new political party, Ortigoza said.
"Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard
Shevardnadze hopes his Movement for
Democratic reform becomes a party
when Congress opens in September,"
he said. "This will be the thing to
watch in the Soviet Union."
Ortigoza said although dozens of po
litical parties have sprung up recently,
none has a viable chance to oppose the
Communist party.
"The communists are everywhere,"
he said. "They control everything, and
no other group has had a prayer
against them. Shevardnadze's alterna
tive party, however, could be the straw
that breaks the camel's back."
Ortigoza said a new party could
draw as many as 7 million Soviets
away from the Communist party.
"This is only the opening challenge,"
he said. "We may soon see the total re
shaping of politics in the Soviet
Union."
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San Antonio conference
Staff members plan
to attend DWI talk
By Susan Maguire troversial one, Dennis said
Tho UnHniirm Texas has several ways to deal
^ ° with DWI and education is
one of them.
Severn! Texas A&M staff
members will participate in a "In Texas, DWI offenders
national safety conference fo- have to take a safety course af-
cusing on the problems of ter they're caught," he said,
drinking and driving and de- "It's been found that 50 per-
priving high school dropouts cent of those who take the
of their driver's licenses. course are less likely to be
Dr. Maurice Dennis, coordi- reanested for DWI."
nator of A&M's Safety Educa- The discussion on denying
tion Program and director of dropouts their driver's li
the Texas host committee, said censes will help legislators de-
the 35th American Driver and termine the best way to ad-
Traffic Safety Education Asso- dress the dropout rate, Dennis
ciation Conference (ADTSEA) said,
is expected to attract more
than 500 safety professionals "Few people know that de-
from across the nation. n ying licenses to dropouts un
der 18 has been in effect in
The conference will be in Texas for about two years," he
San Antonio from Aug. 11 to said.
14. "It is an incentive to keep
The topic of how to handle people in school, but they
drinking and driving is a con- See Dusty/Page 4
Committee
OKs lottery
Fight erupts over which stores sell tickets;
opponents hope to kill bill before House
AUSTIN (AP) — A House committee Wednesday voted to set
up a state lottery, but a fight developed over what stores would be
allowed to sell the gambling tickets.
Meanwhile, lottery opponents said they believed they still had
enough votes to kill the measure before the full House and accused
the House Ways and Means Committee of adopting the legislation
without proper public hearings.
Setting up a lottery would require changing the state constitu
tion. That requires two-thirds approval in the House and Senate
and approval by Texas voters. Under the current proposal, voters
would decide the issue Nov. 5.
"I certainly feel the tire tracks on my back at the moment as the
train just came running over us," said Sue Cox, executive director
of Texans Who Care, after Ways and Means approved lottery mea
sures 8-2.
"We are still confident that we can stop it on the floor" of the
House, she said. Lottery bills were rejected in 1983, 1985, 1986,
1987,1988, 1989, 1990 and earlier this year.
But State Rep. Ron Wilson, lottery sponsor, said legislators are
searching for ways to increase revenue, and "lottery has basically
taken on a life of its own. We need the revenue, and it's going to
drive itself."
Budget experts have said a lottery would raise about $450 mil
lion over the next two years.
House members probably will have another chance to vote on
the lottery early next week, Wilson said.
Official predicts University Center will open this spring
RICHARD S. JAMES/The Battalion
By Robin Goodpaster
The Battalion
Texas A&M students can look
forward to using the new Uni
versity Center as early as Spring
1992, said Dennis Busch, assis
tant manager of the University
Center.
Construction on the new cen
ter began during February 1990.
The final result includes renova
tions to the MSC, an extension to
Rudder Tower, a building used
to consolidate student opera
tions and a parking garage.
The new L-shaped building
across the street from Rudder
Tower, unofficially called the
Student Activities and Services
Building, will house the Athletic
Department, the 12th Man Foun
dation, Student Activities and
Student Services, the Off-cam-
pus Housing Center, Multicultu
ral Services Department, the Of
fice of School Relations, meeting
rooms and a small catering
kitchen.
A bridge will connect the MSC
and Rudder Tower second
floors. It will contain a browsing
library, a student art gallery and
RICHARD S. JAMES/The Battalion
Construction continues on the University Center. This bridge will connect the MSC and Rudder Tower.
a print and copy center.
Some of the renovations have
been completed. For example,
the Hullabaloo Food Court in the
basement of the MSC already
has been opened. The book store
on the first floor also is being ex
panded.
Busch said the new University
Parking Garage will be conve
nient for students as well as visi
tors. It will be finished by Sept.
1.
Entrance to the MSC is easier
than it used to be, said Steve
Hodge, University Center man
ager. People wishing to enter the
MSC can use the bookstore en
trance on Joe Routt Boulevard.
"Student activities operations
has been very cramped for some
time," Hodge said. "Hopefully,
this will help somewhat."
A&M department advisers help students work through degree plans
By Melinda Cox
The Battalion
Working through a degree
plan can be an overwhelming
process, but many people at
Texas A&M can help students
understand and decide the best
route to choose.
Advisers are part of every de
partment and can be useful
sources of information and ad
vice.
Les Fiechtner, director for un
dergraduate programs for the
College of Business, said coun
selors can be found throughout
the University.
"There are advisers in Student
Activities and the MSC,"
Fiechtner said. "The University
is structured to provide advice in
all areas and curriculum."
The College of Business also
employs people to advise stu
dents, Fiechtner said. These peo
ple, hired because of their educa
tional and previous experience,
have at least a master's degree in
an area involved with advising
or counseling.
This experience enables advis
ers to evaluate students' needs
and help them work their way
through the requirements of a
degree plan.
"The advisers act as a sound
ing board for questions primarily
dealing with the curriculum and
also any non-academic ques-
See Advisers/Page 4