Malcolm X was wrong in
many ways, but at the end
he saw the truth and tried to
correct himself.
-Columnist Anas Ben-Musa
Page 11
Aggie Baseball ‘92
A&M overcomes rain,
^ SWTSU in first home
games of the season
Student Poet
Page 3
Author reflects on the
inspiration behind his
poetry
Page 8
The Battalion
fol. 91 NO. 92
College Station, Texas
‘Sewing Texas A&M since 1893’
12 Pages Thursday, February 13, 1992
linton releases letter to prove willingness to serve country
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Demo
cratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton
|n a 1969 letter called the Vietnam draft
illegitimate" but said he gave up a defer
ment "to maintain my political viability
dthin the system."
Clinton released the letter Wednesday
after he received a copy of it from ABC
Jews. The Arkansas governor, whose
Icampaign has been on the defensive
fabout questions over his use of a defer-
Iment, suggested the letter had been
[leaked to the press in an attempt to dam-
[age his campaign. •
"The fact that the leak
occurred just days be
fore the New Hampshire
primary can be no coin
cidence," Clinton said.
Still, he said he was glad
the letter came out,
maintaining it supports
his contention he gave
up the deferment on
grounds it was wrong to
keep it.
New Hampshire's leadoff primary is
next Tuesday.
Gov. Clinton
Clinton is sliding in state polls after
leading them for several weeks. His trou
bles have supporters of several other
prominent Democrats preparing for pos
sible late entries into the race.
Clinton wrote the December 1969 letter
to Col. Eugene Holmes to explain his de
cision to back out of an agreement to join
the University of Arkansas' reserve offi
cers' training program, which Holmes di
rected. Clinton had been granted a defer
ment when he agreed to join ROTC.
"After I signed the ROTC letter of in
tent, I began to wonder whether the com
promise I had made with myself was not
more objectionable than the draft would
have been, because I had no interest in the
ROTC program in itself and all I seemed
to have done was to protect myself from
physical harm," Clinton wrote.
The letter also says he "decided to ac
cept the draft in spite of my beliefs for one
reason: to maintain my political viability
within the system."
Asked about that passage, Clinton said
he felt that if he was to reach his goal of
having political career and influencing
U.S. policies he believed were misguided.
he had to play by the rules.
He drew a high lottery number and
was never called.
Clinton said his campaign would pub
lish the text of the letter in Thursday's
Manchester Union Leader and he agreed
to appear Wednesday night on ABC's
"Nightline" to discuss the issue.
"I know real people will read the
whole letter and I hope they can remem
ber what it was like 23 years ago to be my
age and to go through what we all did,"
said Clinton.
Historian
puts event
in focus
Says black culture
enriches history
By Julie Polston
The Battalion
BLACK
HISTORY
MONTH
□ Schedule of
events/Page 2
Continuing the celebration of
Black History Month, a Texas
A&M history professor discussed
the impor
tance of the
event in our
; society.
I Dr. Albert
Broussard,
history pro
fessor and as
sociate de-
pa r t m e n t
head, spoke
as the MSC
Bookstore's first guest speaker
Wednesday afternoon.
"If nothing else, it informs us
about our history," he said. "Not
just black history, but American
history in general."
The interpretation of history
changes when all types of people
are included, he said. Incorporat
ing African-Americans, Native
Americans, Mexican-Americans
and women creates a more accu
rate picture of history, Broussard
said.
"Learning about other people
will help prepare you to be a bet
ter citizen in the world today," he
said.
Broussard referred to Cater G.
Woodson as the "Father of Black
History" for establishing the
"Journal of Negro History." He
also praised the late Alex Haley,
author of "Roots: The Saga of an
American Family."
"Alex Haley did more for the
promotion of black history than
any person in my lifetime," he
said.
See Black /Page 10
Preparing to give
ROBERT J. REED/The Battalion
Alison Cox, right, a sophomore psychology major, Red Cross blood drive in the Academic Plaza
answers questons as she prepares to give blood at the Wednesday. Vans will be on campus until Thursday.
Killeen massacre survivors testify on gun control
U.S. faces
hard task
Cisneros: America must
fight, scratch to be No. 1
By Sharon Gilmore
The Battalion
AUSTIN (AP) — Memories of the
nation's deadliest mass shooting were
revived Wednesday at a House Com
mittee on Public Safety hearing on new
gun controls, with survivors arguing
on both sides of the question.
One survivor of the Oct. 16 massacre
at a Killeen cafeteria — that ended with
a gunman killing himself after murder
ing 23 others — told lawmakers why
she should be allowed to carry a gun.
Suzanna Gratia, of Copperas Cove,
said she was eating lunch with her par
ents when gunman George Hennard
smashed his truck into the restaurant,
leaped out and opened fire. About a
year before the incident. Gratia stopped
carrying a handgun in her purse.
"I reached for my purse thinking,
'Ha! I got him. He's not going to kill us,
by God.' Then I realized my gun was
sitting in my car, a hundred yards
away and I couldn't get to it," said Gra
tia, whose parents died in the gunfire.
Steven Ernst, who was shot twice by
George Hennard, said he saw his moth
er-in-law killed and his wife and her
business partner wounded.
Ernst said lawmakers have allowed
gun laws to become outdated because
guidelines have not kept pace with the
technological advancements in the
weapons.
"You're not going to be able to take
away the weapons from the people
who want to have them; they're going
to demand them," he said. "So, I would
just ask that the legislation they enact
would be sensible."
The task of the United States is to remain as strong as
possible by focusing on democracy and people, the for
mer mayor of San Antonio said Wednesday evening.
"I would argue to fight and scratch to stay number
one," Henry Cisneros said in Rudder Theater during the
keynote address at
the 37th annual MSC
Student Conference
on National Affairs.
"It is important that
your generation make
this commitment."
America must en
courage democracy
across the globe, he
said in "Facing the
Challenges of a New
World."
Displacement,
refugees and demo
graphics are part of W
the people issues and ^ M
multicultural conflicts
that will require time
to answer.
"Every day in our
world, 40,000 children die from preventable disease be
cause they can't get water, food or medical assistance,"
he said.
Cisneros, chairman of Cisneros Asset Management
Company and Cisneros Benefit Group, is a 1968 A&M
graduate with bachelor and master's degrees in urban
and regional planning.
Cisneros also discussed the environment. He said it's
not impossible to impose a preference concerning the en
vironment, but it will have to involve bargaining.
He also said America must work on its international
communication in dealing with other countries.
"We aren't an aggressive trading nation," Cisneros
said. "We don't have the skills of language for trading."
Americans have an obligation to use foreign lan
guages for understanding other cultures. He said foreign
languages should be required in high school and college.
"I would argue that this is one of your last chances to
learn languages," Cisneros said.
Henry Cisneros
Bush announces bid
for re-election in 1992
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - Pres
ident Bush formally announced
his bid for re-election on Wednes
day while telling
voters he wants
to declare on
March 20 that
"the liberation of
America's econo
my has begun.'
Campaigning |
in New Hamp
shire for a sec
ond term. Bush j
also said that
Democrats who
control Congress should pass his
economic program intact by the
deadline he set and not to tamper
with it.
"They say they are taking up
my plan but they are not," Bush
said. "Just pass this plan and give
the American people a chance to
see if it's going to work as I'm con
fident it will."
"I want to be your leader for
four more years," he said in a
speech to the New Hampshire
Legislature as he plunged into a
President Bush
heavy campaign schedule after of
ficially announcing his candidacy
in Washington.
"T oday is a special day for me.
I know there is no higher honor
than serving this great nation," he
told legislators in the state that
launched his 1988 presidential
drive but where he now faces a
spirited Republican challenge in
next week's leadoff primary.
Although Bush is being chal
lenged by conservative Patrick
Buchanan, the president's speech
es here and in Washington clearly
were aimed at the general election
beyond.
"Send a message to the
Congress. Tell them the time has
come to act," Bush said.
"The deadline is March 20 and
we're going to hold their feet to
the fire," he said.
With polls showing his popu
larity diminished and voters anx
ious about the economy. Bush de
clared: "On March 20,1 want to be
able to report to the American
people that the liberation of Amer
ica's economy has begun."
Zero-Gravity Physics
Graduate students participate in tests
for NASA space vehicle cooling system
Nuclear scientists experiment in a
simulated weightless environment.
By Reagon Clamon
The Battalion
W hen Igor Carron was hired as a re
search assistant by the Department of
Nuclear Engineering, he was told as a
part of his job he would be thrown around in
side an airplane at thirty-thousand feet. He was
delighted.
"I thought it was cool," Carron said . "It was
an opportunity I wouldn't have had otherwise."
Carron and several other graduate students
in the nuclear engineering department are par
ticipating in a high-flying research project to de
velop a new cooling system for space vehicles.
The graduate students are learning how this
system reacts in weightlessness. The team of re
searchers use a NASA-owned KC-135 aircraft
to reproduce the zero-gravity of outer space.
"This plane flies roller coaster humps ten
thousand feet tall," said Dr. Fred Best, the prin
cipal investigator on the project. "As it's falling
it produces zero-gravity."
Best, an associate professor of nuclear engi
neering, said students who work for him experi
ence weightlessness, but not all of them enjoy it.
The researchers carry white bags with them in
case they get sick.
"Let's be honest here — they're barf bags,"
Best said. "I believe some have called it (the
plane) the 'Vomit Comet'."
The researchers are experimenting with a
two-phase flow system designed to transfer
heat from one location in a spacecraft to anoth
er, much like the codling system in a car trans
fers heat from the engine to the radiator.
Unlike conventional cooling systems, howev
er, the system the A&M researchers are testing
uses both liquid and gas coolants. How this
mixture acts in zero or near zero-gravity is what
the researchers are trying to find out.
Carron said the system could be used in
many different situations in space.
"We are interested in putting this system on
the moon," Carron said. "If you want to sustain
See Students/Page 10