The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, January 20, 1992, Image 1
LADY AGGIES hope to extend their five- game winning streak tonight against UT. Page 5 Page 9 "Never before . . . has there been a better time to live in this country than right now." -Brian Boney, opinion editor The Battalion “Serving Texas A&M since 1893” 8 Pages Monday, January 20, 1992 Injured basketball players, staff await dismissal from hospital By Scott Wudel . The Battalion Four members of the A&M basketball team and support staff are expected to be released today from a Dallas hospital after re ceiving treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning. Senior forward Anthony Ware, A&M assistant coaches Mitch Buonaguro and John Pi- gatti, and Colin Killian of the A&M sports information office, along with other members of the A&M basketball team, were overcome by carbon monoxide fumes Saturday night at Baylor University's Ferrell Center short ly before the Aggies' game against Baylor. The entire A&M team was sent to two Waco hospitals for treatment. Ware, Buonaguro, Pigatti and Killian were transported to Dal las' Humana Hospital early Sun day morning for further treat ment. Buonaguro, Pigatti and Killian were given a full two- hour session in a hyperbaric chamber. Ware had sinus trou ble and could not stand the in creased pressure and continued to receive oxygen through a mask. Freshman Tony McGinnis and trainer Mike Ricke were held overnight in a Waco hospital and released Sunday afternoon. The rest of the A&M team and staff returned to College Station on Sunday. See Basketball/ Page 4 Police arrest, charge A&M athlete in theft By Scott Wudel The Battalion Texas A&M football player Bri an Mitchell was arrested and charged Sunday with theft and failure to appear in court for a traf fic warrant. College Station Police said. Mitchell, a sophomore, was ar rested at 4:10 p.m. outside the Ap- pleTree grocery store at 1725 Texas Ave. He posted $335 bail and was released by College Station Police Sunday evening. Mitchell, a redshirt freshman wide receiver from Dallas, was A&M's second- leading receiver during the 1991 football season. He played in all 11 games and caught 19 passes for 519 yards and six touch downs. A&M head football coach R. C. Slocum was not available for com ment. AppleTree management also declined comment on the incident. Mitchell Groups to honor IMLK Planners hope to rekindle flame By Karen Praslicka I The Battalion The birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., will be celebrated li today and during the week by or ganizations which want the for mer civil rights leader and his ! dream of equality among all peo- pie to be remembered. The Committee on Multicul- I tural Awareness will sponsor a I Martin Luther King, Jr. Day cele- I bration Wednesday, Jan. 22, at 3 j p.m. in the Commons Lobby. Joellen Newman, coordinator : of residence life for the Committee I on Multicultural Awareness, said she hopes the program will in crease awareness of Dr. King. "I hope it will make people a ■ little more aware of him and what 1 he stood for," she said. The program will feature stu dent body president Steven Ruth, the Voices of Praise gospel choir and the Fade to Black dance en- 1 semble. Ruth will speak on civil rights for blacks, and how these rights have developed through the years. The Department of Multicul tural Services will sponsor a video tribute to Dr. King entitled, "In Re- ■ nembrance of Martin." The video ; vill be shown today, Jan. 20, at icon in Room 145 of the Memorial Student Center. The video features former president Jimmy Carter, comedian Bill Cosby, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and others speaking about Dr. King's life. Much of the video is narrated by Dr. King's wife, Coret- ta Scott King. Lorinda Beekmann, student development specialist, said many people know who Dr. King was, but not what he stood for. She See Community/ Page 4 Head first Florida State quarterback Casey Weldon dives in Dallas. Weldon's score sealed! a sloppy 10- for the only touchdown scored in the 56th 2 victory over A&M in a tug-of-war that Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic on New Year's Day featured a Cotton Bowl record 13 turnovers. Citizens protest prices Former Soviet republics struggle to curb economic MOSCOW (AP) — Demonstra tors angered by soaring prices staged more rallies in Russia and Uzbekistan on Sunday, and news media said two other former Sovi et republics reined in economic re forms to head off unrest. Thousands of university stu dents marched peacefully through Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, to protest the police shooting of fel low students during a rampage Thursday against soaring prices, news reports said. In St. Petersburg, supporters of Communist groups protested the lifting of price controls in Russia, which has sent the cost of con sumer goods spiralling under President Boris Yeltsin's efforts to create a market-driven economy. Tensions are rising less than three weeks after Yeltsin lunged away from the centrally planned economy of communism by lifting price controls for many goods and raising state-set costs of necessi- :ies. Other republics in the new Commonwealth of Independent States also raised prices to avoid having Russians flood into their territories to buy cheaper goods. The government of Belarus plans to raise some state-regulated food prices Monday, the indepen dent news agency Interfax said Sunday. Bread and dairy prices will triple and vegetable and fruit will be five times more costly. political chaos However, news reports said Sunday that Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan had decided to hold down or roll back prices in an ef fort to prevent unrest over eco nomic changes. Turkmenistan's president, Saparmurad Niyazov, issued a de cree Sunday barring price rises above wage increases for some goods, the Russian Information Agency said. The decree affects basic consumer goods, including dairy products, bread, fish, non-al coholic beverages and children's goods. In Azerbaijan, President Ayaz Mutalibov ordered a 30 percent re duction in the price of bread Sat urday, the agency reported. It said lost revenue would be compensat ed by higher prices for vodka and other commodities in high de mand. Yeltsin has ordered similar cuts for necessities in some Rus sian cities and charged that black marketeers, bureaucrats and ex- Communists are using his reforms to gouge consumers. The unrest in Tashkent contin ued for a fourth day with about 3,000 students from the city's Agriculture College marching to the city center before being turned back by police, Interfax said. The unarmed students returned to their campus for a protest rally, and no clashes or injuries were re ported, it said. Israeli prime minister loses critical support JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir lost his parliamentary majority at a heated Cabinet meeting Sunday, setting the stage for early elections ex pected to be focus on the U.S.- backed Middle East peace talks. Shamir's support in the 120- seat parliament was cut to 59 leg islators when the far-right Tehiya and Moledet parties fulfilled pledges to pull their five seats from the government in protest of the Arab-Israeli talks. The opposition Labor Party said it would try to topple the government in a parliamentary no-confidence vote. The newspa per Maariv said the Knesset, or parliament, was expected to dis solve itself this week and sched ule national elec tions for June 9. Tehiya and Moledet oppose the limited self- rule that the gov ernment has of fered to the Palestinians in the oc cupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, saying autonomy would lead to See Parties/ Page 4 Shamir A&M expansion University Center nears completion Alysia Woods The Battalion Almost two years and $30 million later, Texas A&M's new University Center located near the Memorial Student Center has eliminated the chain-link fences and opened its doors for the spring semester. Included in the center are stu dent organization offices, a recre ation area, art galleries and a browsing library. Dennis Busch, assistant man ager of the University Center, said although the center has opened its lobbies to the public, its staff has not completely moved into the offices. "Furniture is being moved in now," Busch said. "The offices will probably be occupied by the middle of February." The parking garage located across the center on Joe Routt Boulevard was the first stage of See University/ Page 4 DARRIN HILL/The Bdtaiioit The University Center, which is now open to the public after two years of construction, comprises the MSC, Rudder Tower and the new parking garage complex on Joe Routt Boulevard.