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The Battalion
Vol. 91 No. 119 College Station, Texas
"Serving Texas A&M since 1893”
12 Pages Monday, March 30, 1992
NEA chairman resigns amid controversy over art funding
WASHINGTON (AP) — The govern
ment's role in funding the arts faces new
scrutiny as John E. Frohnmayer steps
down after three years as chairman of the
politically buffeteid National Endowment
for the Arts.
Not all the attention comes from the
conservative politicians and religious fun
damentalists who have so noisily sought
to restrict the endowment's grant-making
power that finally forced Frohnmayer
from office.
Patrick J. Buchanan made it an issue in
his quest for the Republican presidential
nomination, demanding that the agency
be closed and fumigated for giving funds
to "filthy and blasphemous art," some of
it explicitly homosexual.
"It's very tough to say what is art and
what is not art and perhaps we ought to
get out of that business," Rich Bond,
chairman of the Republican Party, said in
a recent television interview.
President Bush, accepting the resigna
tion from Frohnmayer that the Wnite
House had demanded, said he was un
happy with some of the art the endow
ment had supported.
White House spokeswoman Judy
Smith said no timetable had been set for
nominating a successor. Frohnmayer,
who leaves office May 1, said recently that
he does not expect a new chairman to be
named until after the November presi
dential election.
Frohnmayer has declined requests for
interviews since speaking to the National
Press Club earlier this month.
Frohnmayer said in that speech that
most congressional mail on the issue was
generated by right-wing fundamentalist
groups and that Buchanan's onslaught
has been "the most shameless" of all at
tacks.
"To kill the endowment because of a
few disturbing lines or images poses a far
greater threat to this nation that anything
that the endowment has ever funded,"
Frohnmayer said.
But not all questions about endowment
policy have come from such sources.
Franklin D. Murphy, chairman of the
National Gallery of Art, has said it was
"unthinkable" to consider abolishing the^
endowment and that it should continue'
"not only to support traditional art forms
but also to encourage experimentation at
the cutting edge."
But Murphy also argued that the en
dowment snould "reconsider the use of
public funds to support art that is over
whelmingly offensive to the mores of a
large majority of the citizenry, else such
support bring the whole temple down."
Lynne Cheney, chairwoman of the Na
tional Endowment for the Humanities,
said in September that she would support
showing the bold photographs of gay
men by grant recipient Robert Map
plethorpe that sparked much of the con
troversy.
But she, too, added a caveat:
"The more interesting debate — and
the one I'm less sure about — is whether
the government should fund the showing
of Mapplethorpe. That is a much more
complex question. There is a difference
between censorship . . . and sponsorship
by institutions that are funded by the tax
payers' money."
Regents
approve
fee hike
for A&M
By Karen Praslicka
The Battalion
A number of fee increases for
all universities in the Texas A&M
System were approved by the
A&M Board of Regents Friday, the
largest being a $7,000 fee for some
courses being taught in other
countries.
The Colleges of Agriculture and
Life Sciences, Architecture, Busi
ness Administration and the Grad
uate Schools of Business, Educa
tion and Liberal Arts have several
courses taught in foreign coun
tries.
The new fee will cover the cost
of transportation, insurance, room
and board, field trips and other ex
penses.
A higher student center com
plex fee, a $4 increase to $24, still is
pending approval by A&M stu
dents. Students will vote on the fee
change in April.
The higher fee is recommended
because of the expansion of the
Student Center. Additional funds
are required for the upkeep and
operations of the new space. Uni
versity officials said.
The International Student Ser
vices Fee will increase from $12 to
$16 for the 1992-93 academic year.
The fee will increase to $20 for the
1993- 94 year, and to $24 for the
1994- 95 year.
This fee, assessed on interna
tional students only, is to meet
costs of increased immigration
and naturalization requirements.
Room and board plans at the
University will also increase be
cause of higher operations costs.
See Regents/Page 12
DARRIN HILLVThe Battalion
Dragon lady
Noeml Adams shows off her dragon ‘Freye’ at
AggieCon 23 Saturday. Adams, who was
selling the stuffed dragons, was one of about
70 dealers selling items to science fiction
enthusiasts. AggieCon is one of the largest
science fiction/fantasy conventions in the
southwest. The convention is sponsored by the
MSC organization Cepheid Variable.
Clinton's past
faces scrutiny
Candidate admits smoking marijuana
'a time or two' while attending Oxford
NEW YORK (AP) — Democrat
ic presidential front-runner Bill
Clinton acknowledged for the first
time Sunday
experimenting
with marijuana
"a time or
two" while at
tending Oxford
University as a
Rhodes Scholar
more than 20
years ago.
Former Cali
fornia Gov. Jer
ry Brown, Clin- Clinton
ton's lone chal
lenger for the nomination, re
sponded "No" when asked dur
ing a joint television appearance
with Clinton whether he has ever
violated drug laws.
"Why don't you lay off this
stuff," Brown added. "What you
did 20 years ago is not relevant."
Over the last two years, Clinton
has been asked numerous times
whether he ever used drugs. He
elaborately avoided a direct an
swer, saying he never violated
state or federal laws.
On Sunday, a reporter noted
how he told the New York Daily
News he never violated "the laws
of my country" and asked if he
ever violated international drug
laws.
"When I was in England I ex
perimented with marijuana a time
or two and didn't like it," the
See Clinton/Page 12
Boston University president
declines Perot's proposition
BOSTON (AP) — Boston Uni
versity President John Silber
turned down
an offer to con
sider serving as
independent
presidential
candidate H.
Ross Perot's
running mate,
according to a
published re
port.
The Boston
Sunday Globe, Silber
quoting un
named sources close to Silber, said
an aide to the Texas billionaire
telephoned Silber at his office
Wednesday to make the offer.
"There was some substance to
it," one source told the newspa
per, who did not identify the
caller, but said it appeared to be
someone close to Perot.
Silber, an unsuccessful Demo
cratic gubernatorial nominee in
Massachusetts in 1990, told the
Perot representative he would not
abandon his own party, the
sources said.
One source described Silber as
being flattered by the inquiry, but
as expressing no interest in pursu-
See Perot’s/Page 12
Hispanic novelist values
self-translation of works
By Robin Roach
The Battalion
A Hispanic novelist Friday discussed the importance of translat
ing novels into a different language at the lecture "Writing Novels
in Two Languages."
Elena Castedo, who holds a masters degree from UCLA and a
Ph.D. from Harvard University, spoke of the personal aspects of be
ing from two different cultures and going from one language to an
other.
"I really came to understand language as self-identity," she said.
Castedo, who learned English as an adult, views English and
Spanish as two separate worlds. She emphasized the importance of
translating one's own work because of the problems encountered
by translators.
"Only a self-translator knows what emotions are trying to be ex
pressed," Castedo said. "A translator has to guess what the author
is trying to say."
She also discussed what things should be considered when go
ing from one language to another. When languages are translated
directly, the meaning can be changed dramatically.
"Characters are saying different things that mean the same
thing," Castedo said.
The problem with direct translation arises because a word in one
language may not exist in another. Castedo offered numerous ex
amples of the obstacles faced with direct translations.
See Novelist/Page 12
Board inquiry probes allegations
ROBERT REED/The Battalion
James Phipps; right, election commissioner,
denies Michael Sullivan, Battalion reporter, entry
into the Election Commission’s Board of Inquiry.
Looks for evidence of mail tampering
By Michael Sullivan
The Battalion
In a closed meeting Sunday evening, the
Texas A&M Student Government election
commission investigated allegations by a
student body presidential candidate that the
speaker of the student senate had been tam
pering with his mail in the Student Govern
ment Office.
John Ansbach filed the complaint against
fellow presidential candidate and Speaker of
the Senate David Brooks before spring
break.
"We filed a complaint the week before
spring break against the speaker of the Sen
ate for tampering with mail in my (Student
Senate) box," John Ansbach said in an inter
view last Thursday.
Brooks declined to comment on Ans-
bach's accusation.
"I'd rather wait until they (the board)
comes back with something," Brooks said.
Stephen Weber, executive vice president
of administration, said he would announce
the board's decision at 8:30 this morning.
The announcement was made after The Bat
talion went to press today.
Election Commissioner James Phipps
said he did not allow The Battalion or mem
bers of the public to sit in on the board of in
quiry to avoid harming the reputation of
any innocent parties.
"I don't want to let you in here because I
don't want to damage anyone's credibility,"
Phipps said.
The Battalion has learned, however, that
students at the meeting testified seeing
Brooks take, read and return mail from Ans
bach's box.
One source, who wishes to remain
anonymous, decided to come forward be
cause of concern about candidates' ethics.
"Student Government is pretty much in
the crapper," the source said. "Everything
going on is terrible."
The source said a person put confidential
information in Ansbach's box, and Brooks
was seen going through Ansbach's mail
with the material in his hands, prompting
Ansbach to file charges.
"Two or three people testified," the
source said about the inquiry. "One was an
eyewitness and caught him, the other was
the one who wrote the letter. I'm not sure
See Board/Page 10