Thunderstorms
High 85
Low 64
y / The 16-hour registration limit
O / sacrifices students’ rights to
/ choose their own schedules
| -Battalion Editorial Board
yfAf/ An oily situation
A&M petroleum experts react
/ to claims that oil is inorganic
( and in limitless supply
/&/ ^
Baylor Bears 1
/ The next stop in •-
S the Aggies’ quest
1 for postseason play
%
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The Battalion
Yol.91 No. 133
Coliege Station, Texas
“Serving Texas A&M since 1893”
8 Pages Friday, April 17, 1992
Iryan substance abuse clinic will aid research, official says
By Alysia Woods
The Battalion
prison
The
■Texas A&M faculty and students will
have a multitude of research opportuni
ties in studying drug and alcohol abuse at
a substance abuse treatment center for
|soners to be built in Bryan.
e Texas Department of Criminal Jus
tice announced last Friday that it will con
struct the 1,000-bed drug and alcohol
abuse treatment facility in Bryan.
■The center will not only provide jobs
for the community, it will also provide
opportunities for research and internships
within the College of Medicine and the
University's Center for Drug Prevention
and Education.
Dr. Dennis Reardon, director of the
Center for Drug Prevention and Educa
tion at A&M, said the proposed treatment
center's first and foremost function will
be to benefit society.
"Eighty percent of the violators who
are sent to prison have a drug problem,"
Reardon said. "If they are unable to get
help, they may commit the crime again."
Reardon said if society could interrupt
the cycle, then recidivism could be re
duced. Recidivism occurs when someone
is convicted of a crime, sent to prison, re
leased and then commits another crime.
"I believe that throughout the state,
these new facilities will go a long way,"
he said.
Alcohol and drug abuse is a disease of
the body, mind and spirit, Reardon said.
By.eliminating the disease, prisoners can
re-enter society, he said.
Reardon said Bryan was probably se
lected as the facility's site because of
Texas A&M. He said the state facility will
give the University's Center for Drug Pre
vention and Education a number of aca
demic and research opportunities.
"We're already involved with many
things in the community," he said. "This
will give us a wonderful opportunity to
see close-up how a program of this kind
functions."
Graduate students in various depart
ments may receive internships at the facil-
ity.
The treatment center will also provide
the basic curriculum for A&M students to
become licensed chemical dependency
counselors.
Dr. Richard DeVaul, dean of the Col
lege of Medicine and executive director of
the Texas A&M Health Science Center,
said the facility will be a tremendous re
source to the University.
"We have an interest in this area from
a teaching and research standpoint," De
Vaul said. "This is an area with broad re
search and we hope to do many studies
there."
DeVaul said he will soon be working
with other A&M administrators to plan
research and educational programs at the
facility.
Services to be offered at the drug and
alcohol abuse facility will include assess
ment of suicidal and psychotic tendencies,
crisis intervention and hospitalization
screening. Stress management programs,
instruction in parenting and group thera
py will be provided to the inmates as
well.
Building A Future — In Space
A&M tests
Freedom's
escape pod
for NASA
By Jayme Blaschke
The Battalion
R2-D2 and C-3PO used one
to escape from Darth Vader at.
the beginning of Star Wars, and
now researchers at Texas A&M
University are busy testing one
forNASA.
At the Offshore Technology
Research Center at Texas A&M,
NASA is in the final stages of
preparation for the testing of
the Assured Crew Recovery
Vehicle, a type of escape pod
for the proposed Freedom
space station.
When the Freedom space
station is completed by NASA
in the late 1990s, it will be the
United States' first permenant-
ly-manned space station.
Since a space shuttle will not
be able to stay with the station
at all times, it is essential a sys
tem for the safe return of astro
nauts to Earth be included in
case of emergencies, said Jim
Cioni, assistant director for the
escape pod project.
The recent stranding of a
cosmonaut in orbit aboard the
space station Mir for six
months because of turmoil in
the former Soviet Union further
underscores that point.
"In the old days, American
spacecraft always landed in the
water," Cioni said. "When
NASA began the shuttle, we
got away from that, because the
shuttle lands like a plane on a
runway. Now, with the ACRV,
we're going back, and relearn
ing what it's like to land in wa
ter."
See A&M/Page4
NASA
A&M researchers are designing an escape system for the proposed space station Freedom.
Program upholds grant criteria, official says
By Jayme Blaschke
The Battalion
For the more than two years
Texas A&M has been a space
grant university, it has worked to
increase its leadership in space-
oriented science.
Even though there is a space
grant university in nearly every
state, strict qualifications ensure
the designation's prestige, said
Sallie Sheppard, director of the
space grant program at Texas
A&M University.
A school, to qualify as a space
grant university, must have
spent a minimum of $2 million a
year for the past three years on
space-oriented research, and
continue at that level to maintain
space grant status.
"Space grant is oriented to ed
ucational programs," Sheppard
said. "There is a strong outreach
"Space grant is
intended to enhance
education with space
applications, with
education as the focus,"
— Oran Nicks, head of
the Space Research Center
at A&M.
component which works with
public schools, encouraging stu
dents to stay interested in math
and science, which is essential
for the broad definition
aerospace career.
"The funding for space grant
comes from NASA, and is a fed
eral grant," she said. "Since it's
federal, we're required to put up
matching funds, but NASA is es
sentially funding the operation."
The real impact of the space
grant designation is yet to be
seen, said Oran Nicks, head of
the Space Research Center at
A&M.
Since the program has only
been established for several
years, it is too early for any long
term effects to manifest them
selves, Nicks said.
"Space grant is intended to
See Space/Page 4
Afghan rebels
seize power
Communist regime crumbles
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) —
President Najibullah tried to flee
the country early Thursday as
rebels advanced toward the capi
tal, but he was stopped and then
stripped of power, a senior gov
ernment official said.
There w r ere unconfirmed re
ports that he had been arrested
and another that he had escaped
the country.lt was not immediate
ly clear who was running the gov
ernment. It appeared some gener
als and at least one rebel leader
might be in charge, but officials
provided conflicting details on the
size and composition of the lead
ership coalition.
The toppling of the Soviet-in-
stalled dictator had appeared in
creasingly likely in recent days. It
also raised fears that Afghanistan
could collapse in chaos and a
bloodbath unprecedented in the
13-year-old civil war.Pakistan
called for an immediate cease-fire
by the numerous and often antag
onistic Muslim guerrilla groups.
The United States and U.N. Secre
tary-General Boutros Boutros-
Ghali also urged restraint, and
said the rebels should work to im
plement a U.N. peace plan.
"Fighting is violence, fighting
is death," said State Department
spokeswoman Margaret D.
Tutwiler.
Some rebel groups declared the
U.N. plan dead, and one radical
organization vowed to continue
fighting the government and ri
vals unless a strict Islamic funda
mentalist government was in
stalled.
If Najibullah's fall provokes
fighting among the guerrilla fac
tions, Iran could find an opening
to try to spread its brand of funda
mentalism in Afghanistan. A few
of the smaller guerrilla groups
have ties to Iran, but the largest
factions do not. Kabul was calm
despite several days of rumors
that Najibullah had fled or tried to
flee. State-run Kabul Radio did
not report the change in power
until Thursday night.
Foreign Minister Abdul Wakil
said Najibullah tried to escape
with a brother and a close aide but
See Rebels/Page 4
CS utility workers hit,
break natural gas line
Workers digging a hole for a
telephone and power pole acci
dentally hit a natural gas line
Thursday afternoon, forcing au
thorities to close streets and evac
uate residents.
Crews from College Station
Utilities and GTE were digging a
hole for a utility pole in the park
ing lot of a grocery store in the 800
block of Wellborn Road.
At 2:46 p.m. they struck a four-
inch natural gas line owned by
Lone Star Gas Co.
The College Station Fire De
partment responded, sending four
vehicles to the scene. Firefighters
evacuated people from the store
and two nearby homes, then su
pervised as workers shut off pow
er at a nearby apartment complex.
Police diverted traffic from the
area for an hour and a half, until a
repair crew arrived to fix the leak.
Although some nearby resi
dents suffered ill effects from the
gas, a fire department official said
no one was hospitalized.
ithics committee lists
303 bad-check writers
I WASHINGTON (AP) - The
iouse ethics committee on Thurs-
jday listed 303 current and former
Kiwmakers who wrote bad checks
at their members' bank, capping a
i alitically explosive probe likely
produce fallout at the ballot box
i November.
Rep. Ronald V. Dellums, D-
alif., topped the list with 851
yerdrafts on his account. Rep.
erry Sikorski, D-Minn., was sec-
ad with 697. Third was Rep.
auis Stokes, D-Ohio, with 551.
Stokes is chairman of the ethics
committee but removed himself
■om the panel's bank investiga-
ition because of his bad checks.
I The list cut across party lines,
rid included veteran lawmakers
tnd relative newcomers from ev
ery egion of the country.
I It included five senators and
four members of President Bush's
Cabinet.
Of the 303, 33 had only one
overdraft at the now-closed bank
that has become a symbol for the
perks that members of Congress
bestowed on themselves. Dozens
more had none and thus were not
on the list.
It was the second list released
by the committee in less than a
month in the scandal that has vir
tually consumed Congress.
The earlier one, naming 22
"abusers" of the now closed bank,
sent individual House members
scrambling in efforts to minimize
damage to themselves and the po
litical parties looking for advan
tage in the fall elections.
Scrambling continued among
See Overdrafts/Page 3
Sen. Phil Gramm announced
Thursday the appointment of Don
Bowman to a post in the U.S
Department of Agriculture.
Sen. Gramm presents Bryan man
with appointment to state office
By K. Lee Davis
The Battalion
Republican Sen. Phil Gramm
"came home" Thursday to ad
dress workers at the offices of the
State Agricultural Stabilization
and Conservation Service in Col
lege Station.
Gramm was in town to an
nounce the appointment of Don
nie Bowman to the post of State
Executive Director for the ASCS,
which is part of the U. S. Depart
ment of Agriculture.
Bowman, a 26-year Bryan res
ident, is the current assistant ex
ecutive director for the ASCS.
Gramm said within the terms
of the federal government, the
ASCS post was a political ap
pointment. But he stressed that
Bowman was imminently quali
fied for the position.
"This post has normally gone
to someone as a political appoint
ment, but in this case we have a
career employee who wants to be
executive director," Gramm said.
"We have an employee who
has worked with ASCS for 40
years, and I figure after 40 years
he has about gotten it right, and
has earned the right to have the
top spot."
One of Bowman's first acts to
be taken as director is the dis
bursement of $144 million in dis
aster relief aid to Texas farmers
who have lost money and crops
to heavy floods that have hit
Texas in the last twelve months.
The ASCS employs over 1,500
people in 230 offices across the
state to aid farmers involved in
ASCS programs with an annual
administrative budget of $44 mil
lion.
"I travel to a lot of places
around our country and some
times around the world," Gramm
said.
"There is only one place that
when I go there, people say,
'Welcome home,' and that is
Bryan-College Station. I never
forget that I am a farm-state sena
tor."