The Battalion
Vol. 92 No. 13 (10 pages)
“Serving Texas A&M Since 1893”
Wednesday, September 16, 1992
RANDALL NICHOLS/The Battalion
Craig Uptmore, a freshman from Waco; Brett
Platen, a sophomore from Grand Prairie; and
Mark Barnes, a junior from San Antonio, work
on drawings near Scoates Hall as part of their
Environmental Design 115 class on Tuesday
afternoon.
Working parents replace relatives
with day care centers, report says
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Working parents are increas
ingly turning to day care centers, instead of relatives,
to care for their preschool children, according to a
U.S. Census Bureau report released Tuesday.
In families in which both parents are employed,
many parents work different shifts to take turns be
ing at home, the report shows.
In 1988, 26 percent of the 9.5 million children un
der the age of 5 with working mothers were cared
for in organized child care facilities, compared with
13 percent in 1977, the report shows.
The portion of preschool children with working
mothers who were cared for in the home dropped
from 34 percent to 28 percent during the same peri
od.
Only 8 percent of these children were cared for in
their homes by extended families in 1988, compared
with 12 percent in 1977. The portion cared for in rela
tives' homes dropped from 18 percent to 13 percent
over the time span.
Economic changes are partly responsible, said
Barbara Otto, a spokeswoman for 9 to 5, National
Association of Working Women in Cleveland, Ohio.
"It's a two-wage earner economy and many peo
ple are recognizing that they can't rely on relatives,"
Otto said. "We're a transient society now and we go
where the jobs are, and often we don't have relatives
nearby to help out."
In 1988, there were 18.9 million working women
with children under the age of 15. No comparable
statistic exists for 1977.
During that time, the number of preschool chil
dren whose mothers worked more than doubled,
from 4.3 million to 9.4 million.
The section of the report on the hours parents
worked focused only on married couples, not single
mothers.
It found that preschool children were far more
likely to be cared for by their parents at home if their
parents worked different shifts. In such cases, fathers
often were the primary care-givers, the report said.
Of the 2 million preschool children whose fathers
worked the day shift while their mothers worked a
non-day shift, fathers were the main care-givers
when the mothers were at work 31.6 percent of the
time. Of the 3.4 million preschool children whose
parents both worked day shifts, only 4.3 percent
were cared for mainly by their fathers when their
mother was at work.
Officials comment on
yell practice incident
Campus leaders call for student unity, respect for traditions
By TODD STONE
Reporter of THE BATTALION
Leaders from the Corps of
Cadets and other student organi
zations need to encourage respect
for rules and tradition to avoid vi
olence at Friday night yell prac
tice, A&M officials said.
According to witnesses, as
many as 50 students, ran onto
Kyle Field during yell practice
early Saturday morning — result
ing in numerous fights as Corps
members attempted to remove
the students from the field.
Witnesses also said some stu
dents who ran onto the field were
not from A&M.
"It's (yell practice) an old tradi
tion that's unique and special,"
Maj. Gen. Thomas Darling, Corps
commandant, said, "but we can't
have confrontations going on out
there. I think our student leaders
will assist and support that."
Still, if students run onto the
field. University Policd Director
Bob Wiatt said cadets should stay
in position and leave the violators
alone.
"Why go and start chasing
people," Wiatt said. "It allowed
more holes in the ranks (of those
who guard the field), and more
people ran out to test the guards.
"It has always been under
stood that if someone should vio
late space on the field, the (Corps)
members who were guarding the
field would not pursue the indi
viduals," he said.
Kyle Field is a memorial to Ag
gies who were killed in World
War I. It is an A&M tradition not
to step on the field for anything
other than sporting events. The
cadets serve as guards to ensure
this tradition is not violated.
Darling said cadets may have
tried to stop the transgressions be
cause they were emotional and
caught up in the "hype and ex
citement" of the first home game
yell practice.
"I regret the incidents that hap
pened last week," Darling said.
"I'll be visiting with our cadet
leaders and urge our cadets to use
restraint."
Dr. John Koldus, vice president
of student services, agrees that if
students run onto the field, cadets
should not try to remove them.
"The key is we can't have peo
ple protecting the field that would
physically tackle," he said. "If
you don't chase people and tackle
them, then that just leaves the
people (violators) to stand around
looking foolish."
Corps Commander Matthew
Michaels said in letter published
in Tuesday's Battalion he does not
condone the violence, but "There
is no reason for the Corps to stand
idly by and take another kick in
the teeth. We are the founders of
tradition , . . . and we will defend
those ideals."
Wiatt said the Cadets cannot
take these transgressions person
ally.
"If a bunch a people run out on
the field, then what are you going
to do, fight a war?" Wiatt said.
"Just recognize them for the buf
foons they are."
Michaels said Saturday's vio
lence would never have occurred
if students would respect Kyle
Field's traditions.
"Those juniors (cadets) who
overstepped their bounds Friday
See Fight/Page 8
Congress earmarks funds
for super collider project
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
V
Gramm
WASHINGTON — House and Senate conferees
Tuesday earmarked $517 million for the super collid
er next year in a remarkable turnaround for a project
that, just months ago, was in dan
ger of being canceled.
Backers, who redoubled their
efforts after a stunning House
vote in June to kill the $8.25 bil
lion giant atom smasher, hailed
the conference committee's ac
tion.
"Having gone through the
SSC funding battle, I have a far
better appreciation for Winston
Churchill's observation that noth
ing in life is so exhilarating as to
be shot at and missed," said Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-
Texas.
"We really dodged a bullet."
Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, said, "It has been a
long, hard battle and we have won."
"It is a clear and convincing victory."
The funding is part of a $22 billion energy and
water development appropriations package that
now returns to the House and Senate for final ap
proval.
Conferees split the difference between the $550
million approved last month by the Senate and the
$483.7 million allocated by the House Appropria
tions Committee before the House voted to ditch the
project under construction south of Dallas.
Although the figure falls $133 million short of the
funding sought by the Bush administration, it is sig
nificantly higher than the minimum amount the En
ergy Department said would be necessary to keep
construction on track.
Last week, the DOE's chief overseer of the project
said the collider might not be completed on time if
Congress did not eaf'mark at least $483 million for
fiscal 1993.
Rep. Jim Chapman, the only Texan on the confer
ence committee, said the $517 million was a "fair
compromise" — but one that would add to costs and
construction time.
"It's unfortunate though that in the process we
have to compromise, because I think the honest re
sult is some slippage in schedule and some increase
in cost. I think that's inevitable," the Sulphur Springs
Democrat said. "We ought to be honest about that."
Rep. Joe Barton, whose district spans the collider,
agreed.
"I think this eliminates any reasonable hope to
build the project for $8.2 billion," said Barton, R-En-
nis. "You can't keep cutting and underfunding.
There's only so much stretch in that rubber band and
I think they've exceeded it."
The collider should come above current projec
tions, but under $9 billion, he said.
But a spokesman for the super collider laboratory
near Dallas wasn't prepared to admit the $517 mil
lion would cause delays and cost overruns.
"I think it will be close. We are going to have to
take a careful look," said lab spokesman Russ Wylie.
"I think overall people are exceedingly pleased
with the final outcome," Wylie said. "We are trying
to do everything we can to keep this program on
budget and on schedule and to warrant the confi
dence that was shown by the political leadership in
restoring these funds."
"If we have to postpone building administrative
buildings and work out of trailers to do that, we
will."
The collider, which faces difficult funding fights
each year on Capitol Hill, has had a tougher year
than usual. The House vote to kill the project
stunned backers, causing them to redouble their lob
bying efforts.
Retail sales hit five month low
THE ASSOCIATE PRESS
WASHINGTON - Retail sales
fell by 0.5 percent in August, the
poorest showing since March, the
government said Tuesday, but the
stagnant economy continued to
keep a lid on prices with con
sumer inflation rising by a modest
0.3 percent last month.
With seven weeks to go until
Election Day, economists said a
flurry of statistics Tuesday depict
ed an economy still showing few
signs of life.
"It's the same old story. The
economy is dead in the water,"
said Bruce Steinberg, an econo
mist at Merrill Lynch in New
York.
In addition to the drop in retail
sales, the government also report
ed that the country's overall trade
deficit tripled in the April-June
quarter to $17.8 billion, the worst
showing for the current account in
21/2 years.
With overseas economies slow
ing, analysts said that the United
States can expect little help from
what had been the economy's one
bright spot, sales of American
products abroad.
"The world's major economies
are stagnating with few signs of a
turnaround and that is hurting
our exports," said Allen Sinai,
chief economist of the Boston Co.
Financial markets were in re
treat Tuesday following a huge
rally Monday that had been
spurred by a cut in German inter
est rates. The Dow Jones industri
al average was down more than
35 points at
mid-after-
noon, erasing
half of Mon
day's gain.
Analysts
said that,
upon reflec
tion, in
vestors had
turned pes
simistic that the small German
rate cut would do much to spur
worldwide growth.
Among economic develop
ments Tuesday:
•The 0.5 percent drop in retail
sales was the worst showing since
a 1.2 percent decline in March.
While sales were revised upward
for June and July, analysts said
there still was very little strength
in America's retail sector. They
noted that sales of cars and other
durable goods fell by 1.6 percent,
the biggest plunge in 18 months.
"We are seeing the effects of
low consumer confidence and
concerns about the job situation,"
said Lynn Reaser, an economist at
First Interstate Bancorp in Los An
geles.
•The 0.3 percent increase in the
Labor De
partment's
consumer
price index
last month
left inflation
for the year
running at
an annual
rate of just
2.9 percent.
In August, the first drop in gaso
line prices since February helped
to offset the biggest jump in fruit
and vegetable prices in more than
21/2 years.
•The $17.8 billion second quar
ter deficit in the current account,
the broadest measure of foreign
trade because it includes not only
merchandise but trade in services
and investment flows, followed a
January-March deficit of $5.9 bil
lion. It represented a blow to
Bush administration hopes that
continued improvements in trade
would help offset a weak domes
tic economy.
•Americans' average weekly
earnings, after adjusting for infla
tion, did show an improvement,
rising by 1.5 percent in August,
but the gain followed declines in
June and July.
Economists were most disap
pointed by the worse-than-expect-
ed retail sales report. They had
been looking for a slight decline of
around 0.1 percent because of
weak auto sales, but they had not
anticipated the widespread weak
ness evidenced in the report.
Since consumer spending ac
counts for two-thirds of total eco
nomic activity, the overall econo
my will not turn around until the
consumer starts spending again.
Given the bleak unemployment
picture, analysts said any signifi
cant upturn in consumer demand
is still months away, not the type
of forecast President Bush wants
to hear in the midst of an election
campaign in which the weak
economy is a major issue.
"We are seeing the effects of
low consumer confidence and
concerns about the job
situation."
-Lynn Reaser, First Interstate
Bancorp economist
Yugoslavia's membership
tops U.N/s session agenda
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNITED NATIONS - The
47th General Assembly, with
145 topics, from famine to envi
ronmental protection, on its
agenda, opened Tuesday by
plunging into a bitter dispute
over Yugoslavia's membership
in the United Nations.
U.S. and European Commu
nity speakers told the assembly
they objected to Serb-led Yu
goslavia's participation in the
U.N. system, and would seek
suspension of the federation,
which now includes only Serbia
and Montenegro.
"It is anomalous and unac
ceptable that representatives of
the Federal Republic of Yu
goslavia should continue to
participate in the work of Unit
ed Nations bodies," said
Britain's ambassador. Sir David
Hannay, who spoke on behalf
of the 12-nation European Com
munity.
The U.S. and European pro
posal would go beyond even
the punitive actions taken
against South Africa, stripped
of assembly voting rights in
1974 because of its apartheid
policies.
Serbia and Montenegro
would lose not only their as
sembly vote but participation in
all U.N. organizations, such as
UNICEF and the World Health
Organization.
The Belgrade government's
ambassador, Dragomir Djokic,
said suspension could jeopar
dize international peace efforts.
"The membership of Yu
goslavia in the United Nations,
in its legal personality, should
not be challenged," Djokic told
the delegates.
The matter was to be decid
ed by the 15-member Security
Council later this week, then be
taken up by the 179-member
General Assembly. Russia and
China have veto power in the
Security Council, and could
block a move toward suspend
ing Yugoslavia.