Page 7
Already we've jailed more of our
population than any other western
nation ... and we're still building
prisons on every corner."
- Joe Huddleston on the
"conservative revolution."
Page 5
Dena Russo
leads Lady
Aggie charge
in 61-49
victory over
SHSU.
The Battalion
Vol, 91 No. 65 College Station, Texas “Serving Texas A&M since 1893” 8 Pages Tuesday, December 3, 1991
Deputy chancellor relinquishes position, returns
By Chris Vaughn
The Battalion
Four years after assuming one of the
Texas A&M System's most visible jobs.
Dr. Charles Arntzen is stepping down
Jan. 1 as deputy chancellor and dean of
the College of Agriculture and Life Sci
ences.
Arntzen, who also headed up the
Texas Agricultural Experiment and Ex
tension agencies, will return to teaching
and research in the Department of Bio
chemistry and Biophysics, and the Insti
tute for Biosciences and Technology.
Talk of Arntzen's resignation as
deputy chancellor and dean has sur
rounded him this year, although he said
during a July interview with The Battal
ion that he had no plans to resign.
Arntzen faced criticism from Texas
farmers, ranchers and legislators for plac
ing too much emphasis on biotechnology
at the expense of animal and plant pro
duction, a charge he strongly refuted.
He maintained he was modernizing
A&M's agriculture program to compete in
the global market, and that animal and
plant production had not suffered under
his term.
Arntzen, who is in Egypt this week,
said in July that he hoped his actions as
dean spoke for themselves and that he
would not be forced to resign.
Dr. Herbert Richardson, chancellor of
the A&M System, did not return phone
calls Monday to The Battalion.
But in a University release, Richard
son said Arntzen has provided excellent
leadership.
"He was instrumental in getting IBT
established and funded, and in providing
a new and important biotechnology focus
to complement traditional agriculture re
search programs," he said. "I am pleased
he will remain on our faculty."
Until a permanent successor is found.
Dr. Charles Lee will assume the position.
Lee presently is executive associate dean
and associate deputy chancellor for agri
culture.
In two other administrative changes,
Dr. Eddie Davis has been promoted to ex
ecutive deputy chancellor, and Dr. Ed
Hiler will return to a restructured posi
tion as deputy chancellor for academic
programs and research.
to teaching
Davis previously served as deputy
chancellor for finance and administration,
but that position will be eliminated. He
now will be responsible for all operational
aspects of the System.
Hiler will continue to manage A&M's
federal relations activities and oversee the
strategic planning process.
"I'm delighted that both Davis and
Hiler have agreed to continue as part of
the TAMUS management team," Richard
son said in the release. "Each has made
important contributions to the System's
progress, most particularly during the re
cent legislative session."
Blaze engulfs office in Zachry
JAY JANNER/The Battalion
Philip Eubank, professor of chemical engineering, looks through
his burnt books and journals Monday. Eubank's office in the
Zachry Building caught on fire earlier that morning. University
police estimate damages to be between $3,000 to $5,000.
UPD begins arson investigation;
finds flammable material at site
By Tammy Bryson
The Battalion
A fire that ravaged an office
in the Zachry Building on Mon
day morning has University
Police officials pointing to ar
son as the cause of the blaze.
The College Station Fire De
partment responded to a tele
phone call received at 5:40 a.m.
from a person reporting a fire
in Zachry. Firefighters arrived
at the scene where flames were
seen coming from a third floor
window, said College Station
Fire Department officials. They
entered the building to find
Room 336C, the office of Dr.
Philip Eubank, a professor of
chemical engineering, ablaze.
"It appears a flammable
material was splashed over the
office and ignited," said Bob
Wiatt, director of the Universi
ty Police Department. "Appar
ently someone entered through
another office that was un
locked and crawled through
the ceiling to get into this of
fice."
Firefighters had the blaze
under control at 6:38 a.m.
The damage was confined
to the one office, except for
smoke in the corridors and
throughout the building, Wiatt
said.
University police estimate
damage to the office at approxi
mately $3,000 to $5,000. Wiatt
added, however, that the esti
mate does not include Dr. Eu
bank's personal property, such
as books or computers.
Minor smoke damage
throughout the Department of
Chemical Engineering on the
third floor of Zachry, prevailed
throughout the day, Wiatt said.
The smoke could be an incon
venience to students and pro
fessors in the building for some
time.
Wiatt said the suspicious
nature of the origin of the fire
led the College Station Fire
Marshall to conduct an arson
investigation.
The College Station Fire De
partment's inspection division
working with the University
Police department collected ev
idence from the scene and took
photographs to aid in the inves
tigation process.
Wiatt said evidence ob
tained from the fire scene has
been sent to a Department of
Public Safety laboratory in
Austin to be analyzed. Univer
sity Police officials are investi
gating arson as the cause, but
no suspects have been identi
fied as of 6 p.m. Monday.
Any person with informa
tion regarding the fire should
contact the University Police
Department.
Ukraine elects president
KIEV, U.S.S.R. (AP) -
Ukrainians voted 9-to-l for inde
pendence and elected former
Communist Leonid Kravchuk as
their president in a severe rebuff
to Mikhail S. Gorbachev's efforts
to preserve the Soviet Union.
"The Soviet Union has disinte
grated," Kravchuk said Monday
during a meeting with people
from the United States and a
dozen other countries who ob
served Sunday's election. "An in
dependent Ukraine is born."
He said the Ukraine would es
tablish collective control of Soviet
nuclear weapons with Russia,
Byelorussia and Kazakhstan — the
other republics where Soviet nu
clear warheads are based.
Ukrainian leaders also said
they would move quickly to draw
up a new constitution balancing
the executive and legislative
branches, form an army from So
viet troops in the Ukraine, control
exports to other republics, and is
sue a new currency.
Ceremony salutes 2 students
The solemn sound of buglers
playing "Taps" and the sharp ring
of gunfire will be heard on cam
pus tonight
as two Texas
A&M stu
dents who
died during
November
are honored
in a Silver Taps ceremo
ny at 10:30 in front of the
Academic Building.
The deceased stu
dents to be honored are:
• Laura Renee Hold
er, 22, a senior bio-medi-
cal sciences major from
Grand Prairie, who died
Nov. 5.
• Sherry Ann Clark, 44, a grad
uate student in elementary educa
tion from Nacodoches, who died
Nov. 30.
Dating back almost a century,
the stately tradition of Silver Taps
is practiced the first Tuesday of
each month from September
through April, when necessary.
Names of deceased 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
around the Academic Building at
10:20 and the campus hushed as
Aggies pay final tribute to fellow
Aggies.
The Ross Volunteer Firing
Squad begins the ceremony,
marching in slow cadence toward
the statue of Lawrence Sullivan
Ross.
Captors release Cicippio
Kidnappers to free another American hostage soon
WIESBADEN, Germany (AP) — American Joseph
Cicippio arrived in Germany saying he felt "terrific"
after being freed Monday from his long ordeal as a
hostage in Lebanon. Shiite Muslim kidnappers said
another American captive would be freed by Thurs
day.
The Revolutionary Justice Organization released
Cicippio, 61, of Norristown, Pa., from more than five
years' captivity. He was taken to Damascus, Syria,
and then flown to Germany and brought to the U.S.
military hospital in Wiesbaden.
After a preliminary examination, officials said Ci
cippio "has no apparent urgent medical problems,
other than some needed dental work."
A U.S. military news release said, "Mr. Cicippio
says that he feels well and is in good spirits."
Early Tuesday, the Organization of Islamic Jihad
for the Liberation of Palestine, a Shiite, pro-Iranian
group, announced in Beirut that they would free
American educator Alann Steen within 48 hours.
Steen was abducted in January 1987, or 41/2 months
after Cicippio.
A sign above the hospital entrance read: "Wel
come home, Mr. Cicippio." Blue and white balloons
decorated the front railing, and the steps were
flanked by two American flags.
Asked how he felt, the 61-year-old Cicippio re
sponded, "Terrific tonight, great."
"Thank you all for coming out so late at night,"
he added, speaking to about 100 people who greeted
him shortly after 11:15 p.m. The temperature hovered
around freezing.
See U.N./Page 8
Officials discuss state insurance law
"It’s been fun."
McWilliams
Steps Down
David McWilliams resigns as
the Texas Longhorn head
football coach after his third
losing season in four years.
Complete story on Page 3.
The Record
1970-85 Univ. of Texas Assistant
1986 Texas Tech 7-4
1987 Texas 7-5
1988 Texas 4-7
1989 Texas 5-6
1990 Texas 10-2
1991 Texas 5-6
Totals 38-30
AUSTIN (AP) - Texas
officials started hearings Monday
on a proposed 16.5 percent
"benchmark" increase in
homeowner's premiums, while
the state's consumer advocate
recommended a 5 percent cut.
The State Board of Insurance is
expected to take testimony for at
least two days and issue a
benchmark rate before the end of
the year. Those rates would take
effect in March.
Under the state's new
insurance law, the board also will
set a limit for insurance
companies on how much they can
deviate above or below the
benchmark. The amount of
flexibility allowed insurers will be
as hotly contested as the
benchmark rate itself.
In a surprise move, Allstate
Insurance Cos., which holds about
10 percent of the Texas market,
dropped out as a party in the rate
hearing.
That left only State Farm
Insurance Cos., which holds about
30 percent of the market, to carry
the industry's recommendation.
The Insurance Board's decision
‘will affect all regulated
homeowners' policies.
See Allstate /Page 8