The Battalion
Vol. 92 No. 29 (10 pages)
‘Serving Texas ASM Since 1893’
Thursday, October 8, 1992
Wellness Fair displays
focus on health issues
By WILL HEALY
Reporter of THE BATTALION
Forty organizations ranging
from the Texas Aggie Cattle-
women to Planned Parenthood
worked Wednesday to clear up
misconceptions about health is
sues at the "Reach for Good
Health" 1992 Wellness Fair in the
MSC.
Humana Hospital offered stu
dents a test which measures
body fat. Leanne Dale, director
of community education at Hu
mana, said people are not always
aware about the dangers of obe
sity and they suffer health prob
lems because they do not have a
proper diet and exercise pro
gram.
Dale told students about the
health education programs
which Humana offers on subjects
ranging from CPR to baby care
basics.
Texas Aggie Cattlewomen
also participated, working to dis
pel myths about beef. Janet
Hoelewyn, head of the Cattle-
women's publicity committee,
said beef is just like any other
food.
She said eating beef in excess
was unhealthy, but it provides
many essential vitamins and
minerals when eaten in modera
tion.
Beef contains fewer mil
ligrams of cholesterol than both
chicken and pork, according to a
U.S. Dairy Association study.
Planned Parenthood represen
tatives told students a common
misconception about their orga
nization is they only help
women.
"People don't realize we do
male screening for STDs (sexual
ly transmitted diseases)," said
Michelle Austin, a Planned Par
enthood representative.
Austin said they also do
anonymous HIV testing.
The organization that special
ized in disseminating informa
tion about HIV and AIDS at the
fair was the Brazos Valley Com
munity Action Agency (BVCA).
Many people believe AIDS is
only a homosexual disease, but it
also can be contracted through
heterosexual contact, said Melis
sa Perschau, a BVCA representa
tive.
She said people cannot con
tract AIDS through casual con
tact, such as from toilet seats.
The BVCA provides both anony
mous HIV testing and AIDS edu
cation.
The Brazos County chapter of
Mothers Against Driving Drunk
(MADD) informed students
about the dangers of drinking
and driving.
"MADD doesn't intend for
people to abstain (from alco
hol)," said Joyce Stebbins, secre
tary of MADD's local chapter.
MADD's message is for peo
ple to drink responsibly and not
drive afterwards, Stebbins said.
The Health Education Depart
ment of the A.P. Beutel Health
Center sponsored the fair.
SANDRA M. ALVARADO/The Battalion
Three graduate assistants Jennifer ReAux, Rebecca Holub and Karen Hofmann give Lynne
Remke, a senior speech communication major, information on the Center for Drug Prevention and
Education's "The Rainbow Center." CDPE is located on the second floor of the Health Center and
is open to all students, faculty and staff seeking information and assistance about drug and alcohol
use and abuse.
Bush to sign trade agreement with Mexico, Canada
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN ANTONIO - President Bush
joined the leaders of Mexico and Canada
for a North American free trade agree
ment ceremony Wednesday in this politi
cal battleground of Bush's adopted home
state.
"We are creating the largest, richest
and most productive market in the entire
world," Bush said. "If anyone doubts the
importance of trade for creating jobs, they
should come to this great state — come to
the Lone Star State."
Bush, Mexican President Carlos Sali
nas de Gortari and Canadian Prime Min
ister Brian Mulroney watched their trade
ambassadors initial the 2,000-page agree
ment in an afternoon ceremony in a
shady, historic downtown courtyard.
On a nearby street corner about 200
people, including Bush
supporters and trade
agreement opponents,
held signs and chanted
political slogans.
One San Antonio
woman, who said she
had a right to see her
president, was carried
away by police after
she tried to break
through a police rope
Bush three times.
Bush said Texas al
ready has seen the benefits of trade with
Mexico. In 1991, he said, Texas exports to
taled $47 billion. Of that, about $15 billion
went to Mexico.
"Free trade is the way of the future,"
he said.
The NAFTA accord, completed in Au
gust, would remove all barriers among
the United States, Mexico and Canada
over 15 years. Bush cannot sign the agree
ment until Dec. 17, according to the con
gressional procedures governing the
treaty. The pact is subject to ratification
by the national legislatures of the three
countries. The U.S. Congress is not expect
to consider it until at least next spring.
Bush's critics have accused the presi
dent of using Wednesday's initialing cer
emony for political gain in Texas, consid
ered a must-win state for Bush with its 32
electoral votes.
Republicans and Democrats have said
South Texas and East Texas will be re
gions of Bush's adopted home state
where Democratic nominee Bill Clinton
will try to take votes away from the presi
dent.
White House officials acknowledged
an initialing ceremony was not held in
1988 prior to the approval of the free
trade agreement with Canada.
"It's a photo opportunity because
they're not even signing it," said former
California governor Jerry Brown, who
protested in San Antonio with other free
trade agreement opponents. "In so many
ways, this is George Bush's last hurrah."
Brown and labor and farm worker
leaders said the free trade agreement
would eliminate American jobs, reduce
wages and lead to more pollution. Brown
said a "super government" of trade pan
els from the three countries could over
rule state labor and environmental regu
lations.
Bush referred to his trade agreement
opponents during the initialing ceremo-
ny.
"Some of NAFTA's critics will fight
the future — throw obstacles in the way
of this agreement and mask a policy of
protectionism," he said. "But history
shows us that any nation that raises walls
and turns inward is destined only for de
cline."
DARRIN HILL/The Battalion
Todd Rice receives congratulations from friends for being elected president of the Class of '96.
Class of ‘96 Officers
President - Todd Rice
Vice President - Dustie Householder
Historian - Meridith Sterling
Social Secretary - Ty Tucker
Treasurer - Tina Hornberger
Marketing experts applaud
Perot's campaign methods
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Political
operatives may scoff at Ross Per
ot's campaign methods, but mar
keting experts
said the Texas
billionaire is us
ing classic busi
ness sales tech
niques — the
same ones that
helped make
him rich.
"The first
step of persua
sion is making
people painfully
aware of how
much they need what you are sell
ing," says Tom Reilly, a suburban
St. Louis consultant who advises
companies on how to improve
marketing techniques.
In his 30-minute ad Tuesday
night on CBS-TV, Perot gave
viewers a detailed version of what
he thinks is wrong with their
economy and President Bush's
handling of it.
In so doing, "he paved the way
for selling the solution" during a
second 30-minute spot Friday
night on ABC, Reilly said.
That could be a tough sell,
since Perot's recommendations in
clude higher taxes and deep cuts
in popular government programs.
But Jack Trout, a Greenwich,
Conn., advertising consultant,
said Perot has cleverly sugarcoat-
ed the bitter pill he is asking
Americans to swallow by calling
his program "shared sacrifice."
"That does a good a job with
some bad news," said Trout,
coauthor with his business part
ner A1 Ries of the book "Market
ing Warfare."
The experts said Perot, the
businessman turned independent
presidential candidate, brings to
the political stump the same skills
that made him a legend on the
IBM sales force, where he once
took only a month to fill a sales
quota for an entire year.
"All of persuasion is built on a
simple model; obviously he un
derstands that model," said Reil-
1 y-
With its avalanche of facts and
figures on charts and graphs that
viewers often had difficulty read
ing, Perot's first broadcast didn't
have the polish of a state-of-the
art political production.
But he hammered away with a
simple message:
The economy is in trouble be
cause the government is burdened
with an intolerable debt the coun
try can't afford to keep accumu
lating.
"It is like having a guy coming
into the office with a little pile of
flip charts and taking you through
the selling deal," Trout said.
"In the medium of television,
he should have spent a few more
dollars on the production, since in
reality the chart was critical to the
selling," the consultant added.
Perot
Task force tracks students
University joins 'Texas Swing' to keep in touch with Aggies
By JULI PHILLIPS
Reporter of THE BATTALION
Until now Texas A&M University had little or no
information on students after their graduation, but
with joint efforts between 44 nation-wide universi
ties better feedback may be forthcoming.
Pat Johnson, associate director of the Career Cen
ter, said the new formation of the "Texas Swing" will
provide the coordination between schools so A&M
can track students who attend graduate schools at
other universities.
The "Texas Swing" is the name of the new touring
symposium of graduate and professional school re
cruiting representatives from universities such as
Southern Methodist University, Rice University,
University of Texas at Austin, University of North
Texas and Texas A&M University.
"We (the Career Center task force) felt that this is
information we need to capture to recruit for (our
undergraduate programs)," Johnson said. "New stu
dents will be able to see the potential they can
achieve in the workplace and as well as in further
academic pursuits after graduating from Texas
A&M."
The Career Center task force made gathering sta
tistical information one of their goals. The statistics
on career activities of graduates had not been gath
ered previously.
Through the program the Texas A&M student
body can learn about more than 100 graduate or pro
fessional schools.
Students should come by to find out about the
universities so they can make better decisions about
which school to attend, Johnson said.
"Students should look at the program the school
offers, not the name," she said.
Johnson said students get caught up in the over
all prestige of the university and forget that some
specific programs from less prestigious universities
are looked upon more favorably by employers.
The graduate/professional day is open to all stu
dents and will be held Oct. 8 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in
the Memorial Student Center Ballroom.