Sunny with highs
in the mid-80s to
low-90s and lows
in the 60s
Page 9
"The psychology department is in
the process of designing a course on
the science of dealing with
stupidity."
Matt McBurnett, on creating
classes that benefit universities
Pages 2 & 3
Campus Section
• Peace Corps gets
permanent office at A&M.
• LoanSTAR monitors
energy data to save taxes.
Page 7
Aggies may face rude
awakening in late
season opener against
LSU Saturday.
The Battalion
Vol. 91 No. 8 USPS 045360 College Station, Texas
"Serving Texas A&M since 1893"
10 Pages Wednesday, September 11, 1991
A&M sociologist predicts Soviet Union will end in turmoil
By Jayme Blaschke
The Battalion
The Soviet Union arose during a time
of European turmoil a century ago and a
Texas A&M sociologist believes it will
end in much the same way.
Dr. Stjepan Mestrovic says that many
I of the events happening in the Soviet
Union today parallel those that occurred
at the turn of the century and that the So
viet situation will get worse before it gets
better.
"What's going on at this end of the
I century were really foreshadowed at the
other end, and I'm not sure this is being
realized," Mestrovic says. "Similar issues
are being debated. Nationalism, social
ism and the environment were issues.
They had syphilis, and we have AIDS.
They had a cocaine epidemic, and we've
got cocaine problems as well.
"At the turn of the century there was
widespread rebellion as people began to
see there were problems with capitalism,
as well as socialism and progress," he
says. "Now we're seeing new problems
erupt and Marxism is falling apart."
While the political situation in the So
viet Union remains muddled, Mestrovic
believes its future is clear.
"Since Eastern Europe and the
U.S.S.R. do not have a liberal tradition of
democracy like we have, they're going to
fall back on the cultural ingredients they
do have," Mestrovic says. "What are
those ingredients? The nation, religion
and family.
"I think we're going to see the U.S.S.R.
and Eastern Europe disintegrate into
smaller and smaller pieces," he says.
"The question is how to contain this disin
tegration so that it does not become
racism or violent war — kind of what's
been going on in Yugoslavia between Ser
bia and Croatia."
To prevent the situation from degen
erating, Mestrovic says, the U.S. must ac
cept that nations will fragment and work
to establish economic and cultural ties be
tween them.
"If you can put these nations in some
thing like the European Community
where they have ties and depend on each
other, I think then you will prevent blood
shed," Mestrovic says. "What I think will
not work are the efforts of Bush and Gor
bachev to preserve the U.S.S.R. as a
union. For a long time Bush advocated
the preservation of the U.S.S.R. in the fear
that if there were a breakup, what would
happen to all the nuclear weapons?
"I'd say the opposite. If we establish
the economic and cultural ties, then we
are much more likely to prevent the
chaos, because these forces are in
evitable," he says. "Ultimately, I believe
Gorbachev's efforts to preserve the union
are doomed. The Soviet Union is an arti
ficial entity created by the Communists
and doesn't have a history, but the feeling
of Mother Russia goes way back.
"That's why the other Republics fear
(Boris) Yeltsin, because they are afraid he
will create a Union where the lion's share
of the power goes to Russia," Mestrovic
says. " That's why no union treaty will
ever be accepted."
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NOW
denouces
scheduled
Tyson bout
NEW YORK (AP) - Women's
rights advocates denounced boxer
Mike Tyson on Tuesday for going
forward with a title bout despite
being indicted on rape charges,
saying it sends out a tacit message
that sexual assault is acceptable.
"What's most disturbing to me
is that men like Mike Tyson are
seen as heroes by so many young
men," said Melanie Baham,
president of the New York chapter
of the National Organization for
Women.
The former heavyweight
champion is a troubled example,
facing one count of rape, two
counts of criminal deviate conduct
and one count of confinement for
allegedly attacking a beauty
pageant contestant July 19 in
Indianapolis.
Tyson is guaranteed $15
million for his Nov. 8 fight with
champion Evander Holyfield.
Most agree the fight will come off
in spite of the rape charge,
although the effect of the
indictment on pay-per-view sales
remains to be seen.
Tyson, who is due in Indiana
later this week to post $30,000
bond, would face up to 63 years in
prison if convicted. Through his
lawyer and a spokesman, he has
asserted his innocence.
Tyson is scheduled to appear
Wednesday in Marion Superior
Court in Indianapolois, prosecutor
Jeffrey Modisett said Tuesday.
Tyson's denials are unlikely to
put off protests against the Las
Vegas showdown. Lisa Sliwa said
protests would be held in New
York.
Sliwa, a New York radio show
host and a leader of the Guardian
Angels, said she was outraged by
Tyson's decision to step into the
ring with an indictment hanging
over his head.
"I think it sends a terrible
message to young men: It's OK to
rape women," Sliwa said. "Tyson
is held up as a hero, and this sends
the idea that you can abuse a
female and be able to get away
with it."
NOW's Baham said the New
York chapter wasn't sure what it
See Tyson/Page 10
KARL A. STOLLEIS/The Battalion
In memory of...
Bobby Dean, chaplin for Squadron 16, and classmate of Tuesday. Members of Brock's squadron stood guard until
the late Wes Brock, stands guard over Brock's senior boots Silver Taps. See related stories pages 3 & 9.
University limits number of Q-drops
By Susan Maguire
The Battalion
The University's expanded Q-drop period
will make Texas A&M students think about the
classes they might consider dropping, but the
new format will help students in the long run,
said the University's registrar.
Donald Carter said Monday these changes
were made to benefit the overall student popu
lation and to make running the University
more efficient.
The Q-drop period for undergraduate stu
dents began on the sixth class day and ends on
the 50th class day.
Any undergraduate student who drops a
course within this time will receive a Q-grade,
a grade of record which will appear on stu
dents' official transcripts.
The previous Q-drop period was from the
13th class day to the 25th class day.
Carter said there was a concern among stu
dents that the previous Q-drop deadline, the
25th class day, was too early.
"I think it will help students who, for some
reason get into a class and do poorly," he said.
"It'll help them get out so it doesn't affect their
GPA."
The limit of three Q-drops, however, will
cause students to be more thoughtful as to
what they want to drop, he said.
"This will stop kids from shopping for
classes," Carter said.
Students must contact their individual col
leges to determine how the three Q-drop limi
tation will affect them. If the college previous
ly restricted Q-drops, then any Q-drops on a
student's record will count toward the limit. If
the college did not restrict Q-drops, the new
See Q-Drop/Page 10
Gorbachev
puts end to
violations
Soviet president vows to uphold
human rights, individual freedoms
MOSCOW (AP) - Mikhail S.
Gorbachev, opening the first hu
man rights conference ever held in
the Soviet Union, promised Tues
day to do all he could to end
decades of human-rights viola
tions and guarantee individual
freedoms.
"You have come to the capital
of a thousand-year-old state which
is entering a new era in its histo
ry," the Soviet president said in
his keynote address to the Confer
ence on Security and Cooperation
in Europe. "The great Eurasian
democracy will become one of the
bulwarks of the new world."
In the wake of the failed hard
line coup, the Communist Party's
grip on
power has
been broken
and the So
viet govern
ment reor
ganized to
transfer
power into
the hands of
the re
publics. The
KGB secret
police,
which ter
rorized gen
erations of Soviet citizens, is being
revamped.
Gorbachev said he envisioned
a new voluntary union of
sovereign independent states
whose overriding values are free
dom, honor and dignity.
And he called for early ratifica
tion of treaties reducing conven
tional forces and strategic
weapons, and urged the West to
provide greater help in the transi
tion to a market economy.
The ministers of the 35 CSCE
member nations voted unani
mously to admit the Baltic re
publics of Lithuania, Latvia and
Estonia, which gained indepen
dence from the Soviet Union four
days ago.
Their foreign ministers took
seats in an international forum for
the first time, sitting at the large
oval table with representatives of
every country in Europe, plus the
United States and Canada.
French Foreign Minister
Roland Dumas praised Gor
bachev, saying "without his reso
lute action ... we wouldn't be here.
"Let us rejoice in the victory of
the democrats," he said. "Their
victory is also our victory."
" The failure of the coup not
only allowed this meeting to go
ahead, but also showed how
deeply the principles which the
CSCE process embodies have tak
en root
throughout
Europe,"
said British
Foreign Sec
retary Dou
glas Hurd.
Soviet
activist Yele
na Bonner
said she
heard noth
ing in Gor
bachev's ad
dress to in
dicate he
was dealing with growing threats
to human rights in the republics,
some of whose leaders are accused
of repression.
"We heard all the same words
about the union, and nobody
knows what the union will look
like," said Bonner, widow of No
bel Peace Prize winner Andrei
Sakharov. "Personally I am not
willing to live side by side with
the republics that violate human
rights."
The CSCE was set up in 1975
to implement the Helsinki Final
Act on human rights. Since then, it
has campaigned for the kind of
commitments the Soviet president
made on Tuesday.
For the first time in many
"The great
Eurasian
democracy will
become one of the
bulwarks of the
new world/’
Mikhail Gorbachev,
Soviet president
Wet transformer causes
West campus power failure
A power outage occurred on the west side of Texas A&M's campus
Tuesday affecting the Heep Center for Soil and Crop Sciences and En
tomology, the Kleberg Animal and Food Sciences Center, the Bio
chemistry and Biophysics Building and the Rosenthal Meat Science
and Technology Center.
The outage was caused by water in a transformer in the basement of
Kleberg.
The situation was corrected and the power was restored to all build
ings except Kleberg at 10:20 a.m. Kleberg regained power at approxi
mately 11:15 a.m.