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Recent stunts pulled by
members of the A&M
Student Government
serve as blatant examples
of what is wrong in
politics today
—Battalion editorial Page 11
CAMAC Conference
Hispanic politics,
business, education
comprise agenda of fifth
annual convention
Page 2
Aggies go wild
against the
UTA Mavericks
Page 3
The Battalion
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Vol. 91 No. 121 College Station, Texas
‘Serving Texas A&M since 1893”
Lindy Hardin delivers her campaign speech for the office of General Studies senator Tuesday night at the Senate Forum.
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Candidates target
By Tanya Sasser
The Battalion
Many people think there is
not enough communication be
tween Texas A&M Student Sen
ate representatives and their
constituents, and many of this
year's candidates voiced their
desire to change that in a Stu
dent Senate forum Tuesday
night.
Despite the low audience
turnout, candidates for the Stu
dent Senate were given the op
portunity to address concerns
and to state their campaign
plans to solve these concerns.
Stephanie Graham, organizer
of the forum, said that it was
ironic because although the fo
rum was intended to discourage
voter apathy, very few people
turned out to hear what the can
didates had to say.
Graham urged the candi
dates not to be discouraged by
the small audience and to help
each other by educating voters
by word of mouth.
“A very few people came out
to see y'all so it's important that
y'all help each other out," she
said. "If you help somebody,
chances are they're going to
help you and you can spread
the word about anyone that has
made an impression on you
tonight."
One issue that turned up fre
quently was that of poor com
munication between students
and their representatives.
Troy Miller, an off-campus
Student Senate candidate.
communication
thinks lack of communication
has become a big problem with
in the Senate.
"I think that there is such a
thing as being 'too political/ "
Miller said. "By that I mean
that representatives lose touch
with their constituency."
David Stone, a liberal arts
candidate, agreed that the com
munication gap is often the
fault of the representatives and
not the students.
"We don't communicate well
with our constituents as sena
tors," he said.
Brian Walker, business Stu
dent Senate candidate, geared
his speech toward this same is
sue.
"In the past, the Senate
sometimes hasn't gone out and
gotten enough information
from their constituents," Walk
er said.
Although the lack of commu
nication between students and
Senators was on almost every
candidate's agenda. Brook
Leslie, a current off-campus
student senator running for re-
election, said she hopes to im
prove organization within the
Senate.
Leslie said she regretted not
having the opportunity to expe
rience formal training as a new
Senator this year.
"A lot of the Senators have
fantastic ideas about developing
programs for students that are
not on the Senate but I would
like to concentrate within the
Senate," she said. "I would like
to see a program developed for
the new senators."
12 Pages
Wednesday, April 1,1992
Commission
releases list
of violators
67 campaign infractions total $600;
three presidential candidates cited
By Michael Sullivan
The Battalion
Early Wednesday morning the
Student Government Election
Commission released a list of all vi
olations and fines issued to candi
dates in all races.
As of Tuesday the election com
mission issued 67 fines totalling
over $600. Of those 67 fines, 8 fines
worth a total of $75 have already
been cancelled.
The commission warns that
even though a candidate has a vio
lation listed, that the candidate still
has the right to appeal the viola
tion. All appeals will be handled by
the Student Government judical
board.
A candidate is responsible both
for violations he/she commits and
violations committed by those
working for the campaign.
Article II, section 3 of the Elec
tion Regulation states, "Any candi
date who willingly violates the
election regulations or permits any
violation on his behalf shall be sub
ject to disqualification for that elec
tion. Any election commission ac
tion may be appealed to the judical
board."
Article I, section 2, letter H pro
vides, "The election commissioner
has the power to render punish
ment up to and including disquali
fication for any violation of these
election regulations."
The following candidates who
have outstanding fines are listed by
campaign in alphabetical order.
The number after the name refers
to the total number of outstanding
violations. The letter(s) refer to the
violation and the amount is the to
tal fine levied against the candi
date.
See Election/Page 6
Board hears
appeal; lifts
Brooks' fine
By Michael Sullivan
The Battalion
The Texas A&M Student
Government Judicial Board
announced at 1:20 a.m. Tues
day that it lifted a $25 fine is
sued to student body presi
dential candidate and Speak
er of the Senate David Brooks.
The Student Government
Election Commission levied
the fine Sunday against
Brooks for tampering with
the mail of fellow senator and
student body presidential
candidate John Ansbach.
Brooks appealed the fine
Monday. The judicial board
reviews all appeals concern
ing rules infractions, includ
ing election proceedings.
Brooks said he was pleased
with the board's decision.
"I feel completely vindicat
ed by the fact they overturned
the fine," Brooks commented.
"I maintain — and I feel the
Judicial Board says — I did
nothing wrong. At the same
time I would like to state that
this incident makes it quite
clear to what lengths candi
dates will go to to avoid the
issues."
However, Charles Phipps,
Student Government judical
board chairman, said Brooks'
appeal only concerned the
See Judicial/Page 6
INT
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One
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dio.
ia
0ieane f:
A&M military official
supports Perot's choice
By Alysia Woods
The Battalion
A Texas A&M military expert
says Texas billionaire H. Ross Per
ot could not have picked a better
running mate in his maverick bid
for the presidency.
Dr. Art Blair, deputy director
for administration at the Mosher
Institute for Defense Studies at
A&M, said Admiral James Stock-
dale, a retired Navy combat pilot,
is a wise choice. Perot announced
Stockdale as his interim running
mate Monday.
"He (Stockdale) is a really fine
individual," Blair said. "He's a
deeply philosophical and moral
man with a lot of integrity."
Perot said he will run for presi
dent if he can get on the ballot in
all 50 states as an independent
candidate.
Twenty-seven states and the
District of Columbia require inde
pendent candidates to select run
ning mates. Perot's decision will
allow the petition process to begin
in these states.
Stockdale is presently a senior
research fellow at Stanford Uni
versity's Hoover Institution.
Before joining the A&M faculty,
Blair worked for Stockdale at The
Citadel in Charleston, South Car
olina. The Citadel is a military in
stitution with 2,000 male students.
Stockdale was appointed presi
dent of The Citadel in 1979 while
Blair was head of the English de
partment. Stockdale was hired to
reform the freshman cadet system
and chose Blair as his assistant.
Blair said Stockdale resigned
because his recommendations on
how to improve the school were
ignored by alumni.
"He had basically been denied
the ability to do what he'd been
hired to do," Blair said. "He's an
extremely honest and thorough
person."
Stockdale, 68, was a combat pi
lot in Vietnam. Captured in 1965,
he remained a prisoner of war for
7 1/2 years.
Blair said Stockdale's experi
ence as a prisoner made him the
hard-nosed man he is today.
"Seven years of being a POW
brings out the best of someone,"
Blair said. "It tempered Stock-
See Military/Page 5
Homosexuality and Religion
Gays, lesbians examine relationship with God, church
ELECTION
BEGINS
TODAY
Student body elections
will be held Wednesday and
Thursday, April 1 and 2 from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the
following polling places:
Blocker Building
Kleberg Center
Sterling C. Evans
Library
MSC foyer (between
the Sweet
Shop and
Rudder Tower).
Runoff elections will be
held Tuesday, April 7 from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. at the same
locations.
By Julie Polston
The Battalion
Four clergymen from various
denominations discussed includ
ing gays and lesbians in their
churches through a variety of sup
port services at a panel discussion
Tuesday evening in Rudder Tow
er.
The Gay and Lesbian Student
Services sponsored the lecture as
part of Gay and Lesbian Aware
ness Week at Texas A&M Univer
sity.
"There's a trend within Chris
tianity over the centuries to guard
and protect the truth," said
Michael Dack, pastor of Friends
United Church of Christ in Col
lege Station.
The truth is, gays and lesbians
are involved in churches both as
members of the congregation and
in the clergy itself.
A common topic addressed
was the acceptance of the marital
union of homosexuals, which
varies among denominations.
"There is wide controversy
within the Church of Christ (con
cerning homosexual marriages),"
he said.
However, the Rev. Ron Grant
with the Lambda Christian Fel
lowship said homosexual union is
accepted in his denomination.
An important concern for the
churches represented at the dis
cussion is to provide acceptance
and support for gays and lesbians.
"So much has happened in the
last 20 years in mainline church
es," Grant said. "There is enough
support in these churches, so you
don't have to live in San Francisco
or Berkeley."
Doug Ensminger, pastor of
Central Presbyterian Church in
Houston, said stereotypes will
persist until the heterosexual pop
ulation accepts homosexuals as
friends, co-workers and acquain
tances.
"Stereotypes don't give up easi
ly, they fight tooth and nail to stay
alive," he said.
One's upbringing, fear of the
unknown and society's "uptight"
view of sexuality are all barriers
preventing homosexuals from be
ing accepted into society, Ens
minger said.
The panel tried to stay clear of
biblical interpretations. However,
Will Main of the Unitarian Fellow
ship in College Station, comment
ed on homosexuality and religion.
"Christian churches say they
follow Jesus, and Jesus never said
anything about homosexuality,"
he said.
Dack said it will be a slow pro-
"There is wide
controversy within the
Church of Christ
(concerning homosexual
marriages)/'
Michael Dack, pastor of
Friends United Church of
Christ in College Station.
cess for the church to deal with
and accept biblical texts regarding
homosexuality.
"You can't avoid dealing with
biblical texts," he said.
Continuing with Gay and Les
bian Awareness Week, the student
organization will sponsor two
more lectures Wednesday and
Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. in 302
Rudder.