Increasing clouds
with a 30% chance
of afternoon rain
High in the 60s
Back on Track
A&M baseball team faces
Houston Cougars today at 7p.m.
In first SWC home game
Page 5
“I respect people like David
Duke (and) MLK, Jr. ...
because they stand by their
beliefs - popular or not.”
- columnist Mike Sullivan
Page 7
The Battalion
College Station, Texas
‘Serving Texas A&M since 1893’
8 Pages
Friday, February 21, 1992
de Klerk threatens to resign (^ortJS staff
S. African Conservative Party vows to reinstate apartheid JL
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — President
F.W. de Klerk stunned the nation Thursday by an
nouncing a whites-only referendum on ending
apartheid, and he promised to resign if defeated.
The move came a day after his ruling National
Party lost its second special parliamentary election to
the Conservative Party, which wants to reinstate
apartheid and create a separate homeland for whites.
The vote had been seen as a test of white support
for political reforms that have been moving the coun
try toward multiracial democracy.
Now de Klerk will put the issue of apartheid to a
whites-only vote.
"If I lose that referendum, I will resign," clearing
the way for a whites-only general election, de Klerk
told Parliament.
"It's a question of honor," he said at a later news
conference.
De Klerk did not set a specific date for the referen
dum, but he indicated it could take place by the end
of March.
His action was seen as an attempt to outmaneuver
pro-apartheid forces while retaining white support.
to disband
Polls say he is supported by a majority of whites.
But the government's power base has been crumbling
rapidly because of white unease over the rapid pace
of political change and ending apartheid, the policy
of racial separation in a country of 5 million whites
and 30 million blacks.
If de Klerk were forced to step down, his depar
ture would throw political reform into chaos.
five units
By Gina Howard
The Battalion
Five units in the Texas A&M
Corps of Cadets will be disbanded
and absorbed into other units as
part of a reorganization plan ap
proved for next fall, the Corps
commandant said Thursday.
"Organization is really the
key," said Gen. Thomas Darling.
"One of the reasons we want to
get this (reorganization plans) set
is that we are in the process of
choosing leadership for next year
and we need to know what is the
Corps faculty members to come
up with possible modifications.
The changes, which were final
ized last Friday, include dissolv
ing several outfits in order for all
Corps units to be of a larger, more
standard size. Darling said the
size decided on is 60 members per
unit. He did not, however, specify
which units would be disbanded.
organization we are going to
have."
Two regiment units and three
wing units will be dissolved, he
said. Smaller units will simply be
absorbed into larger ones to in
crease the size. The brigade and
the band will not be affected.
Plans for Corps reorganization
began in January with junior and
senior staff,leaders joining with
"We have some units in the
Corps today that are very small,"
he said. "Some are so small that it
is hard to field a fish intramural
team. We selected sixty as the
minimum size a unit should be."
Darling said he has received
some feedback from the plans al
ready.
"I get letters from former mem
bers of the units saying, 'Please
don't disband this unit. It's got a
great history,"' he said. "I hate to
disband any unit, but the numbers
are just not there."
See Corps/Page 3
Corps commander promises
cadets leadership, discipline
By Gina Howard
The Battalion
Michaels, a senior wildlife and
fisheries sciences major from
Houston, will
HUY NGUYEN/The Battalion
Rollerblade blur
Clay Bryant, a senior wildlife and ecology major from Virginia Beach, Virginia, skates at Research Park Thursday afternoon.
The newly appointed Texas
A&M Corps commander said his
new job is to give all cadets posi
tive leadership and willpower.
"I see my role as being to pro
vide the opportunity for all cadets
to have an environment that is
conducive to leadership, self-con
fidence, and self-discipline devel
opment," said Matthew Michaels,
Corps commander for 1992-93. "I
want to maintain a motivational
atmosphere. Looking after our
own people — especially freshmen
— should be a top priority."
Michaels
be in charge of
all of the units
in the Corps
and run the
day-to-day
business of the
Corps.
"I will have
my staff to re
port on their
area of exper
tise and give
me advice so
that I can make the best decisions
See Commander/Page 3
Greeks seek character.
not race, members say
By Tanya Sasser
The Battalion
Fraternities are often viewed as
elitist or even racist organizations,
but at Texas A&M, men are
pledged on the basis of their per
sonal qualities, not skin color, fra
ternity members said.
"We look for a well-rounded
person as far as their education
and background," said Chris
Chambers, president of Sigma Phi
Epsilon, which has two black
members. "We're not prejudiced
against anybody."
Mike Leese, coordinator of
Greek affairs, said black men
pledging traditionally white fra
ternities are fairly common at
A&M.
"There is more 'crossing over'
with blacks pledging white frater
nities than vice versa," Leese said.
"These men should be pledged by
what kind of person they are and
not by what color they are."
Randall Gibson, a Puerto Rican
member of Omega Psi Phi, a black
fraternity, said he never consid
ered pledging a traditionally
white fraternity, but color wasn't
the issue.
"I never looked at any of the
white fraternities," Gibson said.
"They didn't really conform to
what I believed in."
Gibson said he liked the broth
erhood he saw in Omega Psi Phi.
"I saw a common bond and I
know wherever I go, I have a
friend," Gibson said.
Lonnie Bandars, a black mem
ber of Kappa Sigma, a traditional
ly white fraternity, said he didn't
really think color was an issue
when he decided to rush.
"I used to work at Bennigan's
and a couple of guys from work
asked me to rush Kappa Sigma,"
Sandars said. "So I did."
Mike Leese said the Interfrater
nity Council does not have any
rules or restrictions on this situa
tion.
"The only policy from nationals
is that you can accept anybody of
any race, creed, or religion," Leese
said. Chambers said color is not
an issue when men rush Sigma
Phi Epsilon.
"We just look for a person that
comes out and feels comfortable
and fits in with everybody,"
Chambers said. "He wouldn't get
treated any different just because
he was black."
In Advance
Cut-a-Thon
to fund
bone marrow
transplant
A Cut-A-Thon to benefit
cancer patient Becky Hubbard
will be held Sunday, February
23, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at
Benefield and Company, 4417
S. Texas in Bryan.
Anyone who donates $15 or
more to the Becky Hubbard
Benefit will receive a free
shampoo and haircut.
Hubbard is on leave of
absence from her job at the
Texas A&M Research
Foundation Ocean Drilling
Program. She suffers from
liposarcoma, a rare form of
cancer.
Her insurance company has
denied coverage for the
autologous bone marrow
transplant and chemotherapy
treatments recommended by
her doctors. Proceeds from
the benefit will go toward
covering hospital costs.
Panel advises limited usage
OKs implants for cancer patients, research
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) - A
panel of experts recommended
unanimously Thursday that the
government allow silicone gel
breast implants only for experi
ments and for women needing
breast reconstruction.
That advice, if followed by the
Food and Drug Administration,
means implants would no longer
be performed just for cosmetic rea
sons.
Women wanting to have their
breasts enlarged represent 80 per
cent of the million who now carry
the implants in their bodies. The
rest have implants because their
breasts had been deformed or
were removed because of cancer.
Nancy Dubler, a lawyer and
one of nine voting members of the
24-person panel, said the recom
mendation of restrictions "re
sponds to science on the one hand
and compassion on the other."
Initially, five of the nine voted
for the proposed restriction. The
other four did not vote. The com
mittee then discovered that six
votes were needed for passage.
The issue was reopened and,
after several minutes of discus
sion, another vote was taken. That
tally: 9-0.
An earlier vote rejecting an out
right ban was also unanimous.
The panel recommended that
more studies be done on the im
plants and on the possible effects
of the silicone gel on living tissue.
While the recommendations are
not binding on the FDA, the agen
cy usually follows the recommen
dations of such committees. The
FDA plans to issue its final deci
sion within 60 days.
Dr. Jules Harris, a voting mem
ber, said the evidence he has seen
this week did not "provide the ba
sis to conclude that silicone gel
breast implants are safe and effec
tive."
"I do not find this evidence
convincing but it is disturbing,"
Harris said.
Through their questions and
statements over the course of the
hearings, the members indicated
more sympathy for women need
ing breast reconstruction than for
those who just wanted bigger
breasts.
Dr. Mary McGrath, a non-vot
ing member and a professor of
plastic surgery at George Wash
ington University, complained
that drawing that kind of distinc
tion was "judgmental and pater
nalistic."
Earlier, the group's chairman
said members did not have the ev
idence to conclude that leaks from
the implants are linked to health
problems such as cancer and au
toimmune disease.
"We have a possible associa
tion, and we need more research,"
said Dr. Elizabeth Connell, the
chairman and a medical school
professor.
The panel also:
— Decided the implants should
not be relied upon for a lifetime
and said women who have them,
especially young women, should
be prepared for the possibility that
the devices may have to be re
placed.
The committee did not come up
with an expectable lifetime for the
implants but urged women to con
sult their physicians.
— Recommended that implant
patients with no symptoms of
problems not begin having routine
mammograms before they nor
mally would, often around the age
of 35. The committee said the dan
gers from repeated radiation out
weighed the known risks of the
implants.
A&M BASEBALL PREVIEW.. . From Olsen to Omaha