Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 1991)
119:' 5nt 3ec 3 the Mostly cloudy Showers HIGH in 70s LOW in 40s Put the religion back in Christmas celebrations. - columnist Tanya Williams Page 7 LOCAL/ WORLD & NATION • Koriyama joins Association of American Colleges, Universities • Final examination schedule • What's Up Page 2 Slocum, Bowden focus on defenses for success in Mobil Cotton Bowl Page 5 The Battalion Vol. 91 No. 74 College Station, Texas ‘Serving Texas A&M since 1893” ^^ages^^^^hdayJDecemberJ^3j^991^ ion- are ire is e Dorms to close Dec. 21 Officials advise students to protect belongings over break By Susan Maguire The Battalion 1 p.i dcofic 294 8 qsK Residence halls will close for the Christmas break on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 3 p.m. and will remain closed until Jan. 19 at 10 a.m. Chareny Putney, residence life coordinator for the north area of fice, said that all students must be out of the halls on Saturday. Putney said students are al lowed to stay until Saturday be cause of such obligations as work |an<i graduation. The rule that says students must leave 24 hours after their last final is hard to en force, she said. "Technically, that's when stu dents should leave, but unless they're creating a disturbance, it won't be enforced," she said. Putney said the residence hall offices have sent out pamphlets to help students prevent their valu ables from being stolen or dam aged during the break. "We have sent out literature to warn against burglaries or a freeze," she said. Maintenance workers and secu rity officers will be watching the halls for suspicious activity during the break, she added. Bob Wiatt, director of the Uni versity Police Department, said there were 17 burglaries in the res idence halls last Christmas. "Only one was a forced entry," he said. "The rest were because the doors weren't locked, or the people had pass keys. "If students have anything of value that is rather small, they should take it home with them." Russian government backs commonwealth Yeltsin MOSCOW (AP) - Boris Yeltsin won landslide approval Thursday in the Russian legisla ture for his new commonwealth, while Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev edged closer to re signing, saying "The main work of my life is done." Acceptance continued to build for Yeltsin's plan to re structure the shattered Soviet Union into a commonwealth, which the Russian president forged last weekend with the leaders of the other Slavic re publics of Ukraine and Byelorus sia. □ Bush calls for conference to provide humanitarian aid to Soviet Union/Page 2 With much of the bitter win ter still ahead, there are short ages of food, heating fuel and ba sic consumer goods. See Soviet/Page 2 N., S. Korea sign accord for peace Agreement calls for reconciliation, non-aggression; end to Cold War Study Comer JAY JANNER/The Battalion Socorro Pasco, a sophomore psychology and English major from Houston, and Jennifer Byrd, a junior psychology major from San Antonio, study for a social psychology final exam Thursday at Sterling C. Evans Library. Exam schedule on Page 2. SEOUL, South Korea i (AP) — The premiers of North and South Korea on Friday signed a historic accord calling for reconciliation and non-aggression in the tense peninsula that has been one of the last theaters of the Cold War. Before the signing, the two na tions issued a statement pledging to work toward a nuclear-free Ko rea. It was hoped that the treaty could be concluded by the end of the months after talks at the bor der village of Panmunjom. In signing Friday's agreement. North Korea for the first time offi cially recognized the existence of South Korea. The accord reached in breakthrough talks late Wednesday calls for the Commu nist north and capitalist south to put a formal end to their 1950-53 war. "Today, the tide of reconcilia tion and cooperation flowing worldwide has reached this land," said South Korean Prime Minister Chung Won-shik. Chung and North Korean Pre mier Yon Hyong Muk smiled, ex changed documents and shook hands as other delegates applaud ed. "We must now make the Kore an peninsula free of nuclear weapons,CYon said. The two sides agreed to meet Feb. 18 to exchange final docu ments after ratification by the South Korea's National Assembly parliament and the north's Supreme People's Assembly. In a dinner toast Thursday after the two-day talks at a hotel out side Seoul, Yon said "a new light has been thrown on our national See Koreas/Page 2 [Bush honors hostages Speaker schedule for fall graduation at Christmas ceremony WASHINGTON (AP) - Presi- lent Bush joyously saluted five former U.S. hostages on Thursday md proclaimed at a festive Christ- xas tree-lighting ceremony that, 'America's prayers were an swered when these men came tome to us." The hostages were loudly :heered as Bush introduced them tn stage, one by one, before a :rowd of thousands of people on the Ellipse. They were the star at- ractions, with Bush, for the annu- ceremony for the lighting of the tational Christmas tree. 'On behalf of our loving coun- ry, I say, finally, to Terry Ander- t, to Tom Sutherland, Joseph Ci- :ippio, Alann Steen and Jesse ~urner, and the others not here, welcome home," Bush said. All hostages were released in the last two months. At Bush's invitation, Anderson, longest held and last freed lostage, threw a switch to illumi- iate the huge Christmas tree. It remained dark. Anderson kept trying, slapping the button box a time or two be fore throwing up his hands in rustration. Bush took over, with no better success. He shook the box and put down again. No joy. A few sec- )nds later the lights blazed. "It is almost miraculous that re can celebrate with these five lighting of our nation's Christ- las tree," Bush said. "The idea is the "On behalf of our loving country, I say, finally, to Terry Anderson, to Tom Sutherland, Joseph Cicippio, Alann Steen and Jesse Turner, and the others not here, welcome home." -President Bush, on the return of American hostages so moving because these men have come out of darkness, into the bright light of liberty." "And as you hear these re markable men talk, you realize they were never lost in that dark ness of sorrow, anguish and de spair. Even at the worst moments, they were guided by a stubborn spark that cruelty could not extin guish, the spark of the human spirit." Collectively, the five hostages were held in Lebanon for roughly 28 years. Anderson spent 2,455 days in captivity, much of the time in chains. "The hostages represent a strong spirit in America, a spirit of survival and strength," White House press secretary Marlin Fitzwater said. He said their release also demonstrated "the fact that we have prevailed in the sense that we have shown that hostage-tak ing does not help and that Ameri ca's resolve has been strong and has not weakened." U.S. Rep. Greg Laughlin, Mitsui and Co. Se nior Vice President Yoshiyuki Kawashima and Commodities Future Trading Commission Chair Dr. Wendy Gramm will speak at Texas A&M University's fall commencement exercis es. Commencement ceremonies are scheduled for Dec. 20 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and for Dec. 21 at 9 a.m. All ceremonies will be held in G. Rollie White Coliseum on the campus. Laughlin, a 1964 Texas A&M graduate, will speak at the 2 p.m. Dec. 20 ceremony for de gree candidates from the Colleges of Agricul ture and Life Sciences, Liberal Arts and Veteri nary Medicine. Laughlin holds a degree from the University of Texas and represents District 14 in Texas in the House of Representatives. Kawashima, the senior vice president, chief administrative officer and corporate secretary of Mitsui and Co. (U.S.A.) Inc., will speak at the 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20 ceremony for graduates from the Colleges of Business Administration and Graduation School of Business, Education, Geosciences and Maritime Studies and Medicine. Kawashima is a Tokyo University graduate, holds a law degree and has partici pated in the Advanced Management Program at Harvard School of Business. Gramm, a former Texas A&M economics professor and wife of U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, will speak at the 9 a.m. Dec. 21 ceremony for degree candidates from the Colleges of Archi tecture, Engineering, Science and Texas A&M University in Galveston. NOTICES Battalion ceases publication until Jan. 20, 1992 Today is The Battalion’s last issue for Fall ‘91. The newspaper’s next edition will be Jan. 20. The editor’s of The Battalion wish all Texas A&M faculty, staff and students a safe and happy holiday season. City Editor thanks Fall '91 staff Thanks to the Fall 1991 city staff. It was a trying semester, gang, but we made our way through. Thank you for all your hard work and understanding. Keep up the good work. Sean. College appoints dean Committee selects authority on mathematical modeling By Mark Evans The Battalion Dr. Richard Ewing will take over as the new dean of the Col lege of Science next summer, bringing with him an extensive background in mathematics and university-level education. A graduate of the University of Texas, Ewing currently serves on the University of Wyoming staff. He is an international authority in scientific computing and mathe matical modeling. A selection committee chose him from among 47 candidates following an international search. "He is a proven administrator, communicator, and builder of ed ucational programs," said Texas A&M Provost and Senior Vice President Dr. E. Dean Gage. At Wyoming, Ewing heads up three research agencies: the Na tional Science Foundation Cooper ative for Mathematical Modeling, the Institute for Scientific Compu tation, and the Enhanced Oil Re covery Institute. These centers will follow him to A&M along with their funding. Through these agencies, Ewing will work in conjunction with the Colleges of Engineering and Geo sciences to conduct research. "We will continue to have a very effective collaborative work ing relationship among the differ ent colleges," Gage said. "He(Ew- ing) will help build our multidisci plinary programs." Ewing currently serves on the consulting boards of major corpo rations such as IBM, Mobil, and Chevron. He is also on several National Science Foundation Re view Boards. "It is our believe that he is, probably, one of the most out standing people in the whole United States for this position," Gage said. "We are elated that we have been able to convince him that this is where he needs to be." Ewing replaces Dr. John Fack- ler who has decided to step down from his position as dean in order to pursue his own research pro grams. The 57-year old inorganic chemist has held the post since 1983. He will take his leave at the end of this month. Gage has appointed Dr. Mike Kemp to serve as interim dean of the College of Science until Ewing takes over on July 1.