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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^
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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.