Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 1992)
October), The Battalion Vol. 92 No. 31 (10 pages) ‘Serving Texas A&M Since 1893’ Monday, October 12, 1992 1492 Experts discuss journey, character of explorer (Exxlnmbus 1992 "hampioni 250 GPe' be followed ■ins ChaE tion goes fe nce o ights area! : anshaveii ;ovvardTeu id sparkliaf and dirtyia t than brf uitingnji ■er area. 1> who chooi elections itest urgencete usteroffto ttle betweei ;he warzoai a is easy it s wins, they henvise dis ended tbeij ;ames in is, they w :as hex ari ooner fart ir. e power li It w:"’ one is _ chapter o! n earth" J "4 By ANAS BEN-MUSA Reviewer of The Battalion The events that occurred in the time of Columbus are equal in magnitude to the incredible changes the world has seen this year, a Texas A&M history pro fessor said. "1492 was a year of many events: the conquest of the last Muslim kingdom of Grenada and the Jews in Spain were expelled or forced to convert," Dr. Daniel Bernstein said. Yet, the most incredible event was yet to come. On Oct.12, 1492 Christopher Columbus discov ered the New World. But, Dr. Vaughn Bryant, an an thropologist at A&M, said hun dreds of years before the Italian explorer's venture, many Vikings and Basque fisherman had visited North America. Bryant says they were the "real" dis coverers. However, Bryant and Bornstein said Columbus did something his European pre decessors nev er attempted to do. "Thg, big difference is continuous contact," Bornstein said. "When Columbus made his first contact he immedi ately began publicizing it. "It became common knowl edge throughout Europe and the contact with the New World was never bro ken, whereas whatever contact the Vikings had was limit ed and discontinuous." Bornstein said the explorer had an element of the entrepreneur in him. He said Columbus may have deliberately told the Spanish crown the distance involved trav eling to the Far East was shorter than scholars believed it to be at that time. "Columbus sincerely thought that it was possible to make an advantageous commercial con nection by voyaging in the other direction," Bornstein said. "But you have to make the distinction between why Columbus is doing this and why somebody would fi nance him doing it." Cesare Monti, an undergradu ate student in aerospace engineer ing, is from the same city as Columbus: Genoa, Italy. Monti said Columbus is an example of determination and the human need to discover. Columbus' endeavors because of its disunity, Monti said. "Italy was divided and had been divided for centuries into several small but powerful re publics," Monti said. "It was a pe riod of great instability because the republics were at war with each other." On the other hand, Spain had a powerful unified government and was stable — in a position to grant Columbus his venture. In addition to commercial in terest, Columbus had very serious religious motivations. Bornstein said Columbus took the meaning of his name — Christopher means the bearer of Christ — literally. "Columbus certainly saw him self and presented himself in his publicity as the bearer of Christ," Bornstein said. "He was bringing Christ to the New World. I think he was utterly serious about that." Christianity played a major part in his legiti mation of the entire enter prise, Born stein said. "He was dealing with ex tremely practical sovereigns (King Fer- d i n a n d and Queen Isabella)," Bornstein said. "They were very good and as tute rulers, but also people who took seriously re ligious commit ment." Although Columbus was a deeply religious man, many people today consider him a greedy man who exploited and killed natives of the New World. Bornstein denounced that accusa tion. "He was acting in his own time and on the assumptions of his own time, without being aware of the consequences," Bornstein said. "It could not be foreseen." When Columbus proved to be a authoritarian ruler after found ing a colony in the New World, the Europeans at the colony found it unbearable and rebelled, Bornstein said. "They accused him of misman agement and he was arrested and returned to Spain." he said. "The vast destruction that happened among the native population was not a result of a deliberate act of violence, but the totally uncon trollable and unexpected spread of microorganisms." 6th-grade students help build 'Nina' replica By WILL HEALY Reporter of THE BATTALION In celebration of the 500th year since Columbus discovered the "new world," Texas A&M's Nautical Archaeology Department and sixth grade students at Oakwood Middle School joined forces to build a replica of a Columbus-era caravel, a small sailing ship. Dr. Robert Vincent, president of A&M's Institute of Nautical Archaeology said it was a "reciprocal project all the way" with the department of nautical archaeology providing the blueprints and the stu dents building the model of the caravel "Nina." Teachers in all subjects are working together on a theme of exploration, and the Columbus voyage is the first part of the lesson, said Lisa Burns, a sixth grade language arts teacher at Oakwood. Science classes focus on the spread of disease at that time while math classes work with the dimen sions and blueprints of the ship. Social studies class es cover the history of the voyage, and language arts classes talk about Columbus' journal, said Bums. Local businesses also participated in the project, donating materials such as wood, chicken wire, and pipe, she said. Parents and students also donated materials, since the project had a "zero budget." The nautical archaeology department has been "invaluable" in designing the ship and finding mate rials to build the 72-foot long replica. Bums said. Oakwood intends to have the ship finished in time for the annual Parent-Teacher Organization See Ship/Page 6 DARRIN HILL/TUc Battalion Four year old Karen Wedholm of Bryan plays miniature golf at the 10th annual Brazos Folk Festival on Sunday at Central Park. The four day festival was sponsored by the city of College Station and celebrated the various cultures of the Brazos Valley. Over 2,800 people attended. Debate focuses on issues, B-CS supporters say By MACK HARRISON Reporter of THE BATTALION Bryan-College Station backers said they are pleased with their candidates' performance in Sun day night's presidential debate. Lou Zaeske, leader of the Ross Perot petition drive in Texas, said Perot forced President Bush and Bill Clinton to focus on the issues instead of mudslinging. "Had Perot not been there there, would have been a lot more cheap shots," Zaeske said. "Perot forced them to address the is sues." Rodger Lewis, chairman of the Republican Party of Brazos Val ley, said the debate covered the is sues as much as any previous con test. "As far as I can tell, it was about the same (as past debates)," Lewis said. "I think the president did a good job concentrating on the differences between him and Clinton." Jim James, chairman of the De mocratic Party of Brazos Valley, said Clinton and Perot performed better than Bush did in the debate. He said that for the most part, the candidates stayed away from per sonal attacks on each other. "I would rate Clinton as num ber one, Perot a close second and Bush trailing badly," James said. "I thought (the debate) was pretty focused on the issues. If it hadn't been for Perot, Bush would have tried more personal attacks." Clinton's actions as a college student do have a bearing on his candidacy, and therefore the issue is politically relevant, Lewis said. "Personal judgement and char acter are issues people care about," he said. "It's fair game." Lewis said Bush was not ques tioning Clinton's patriotism, but instead he was questioning Clin ton's judgement in protesting against his own country while he was travelling through Europe. "It's going to be impossible to get to ask questions on every is sue," Lewis said. "That's why it's important to get a grip on a per son's character." James said Bush's comments on Clinton's anti-war stance as a student in Europe were an act of desperation. "They were the desperate re marks of a man who told a group of Republicans he would do any thing to remain president," James said. Zaeske, chairman of the Inde pendent Texan Network, said the citizens were the ones who came out ahead in the debate. He said, however, the voters would have benefited more if Lib ertarian Party candidate Andre Marrou — who is also on the bal lot in all 50 states — was allowed to join the debate. "The true winner is the Ameri can people," Zaeske said. "The only way they could have won better is if the election commis sion had allowed Andre Marrou to be there." Lewis, however, said Perot did not belong in the debate because he, like Marrou, does not have a chance of winning the election. "I would have preferred that (Perot) not be there," Lewis said. "If we include Perot, why not in clude the Libertarian candidate, who is also on the ballot in all 50 states. They didn't because essen tially, it's a waste of time." Candidates outline 'visions' in debate THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ST. LOUIS — Bill Clinton and Presi dent Bush clashed over character and the economy Sunday night in a bristling three-way debate with Ross Perot. "I op posed the war but I love my country/' Clinton said in reply to Bush's attack on his anti-war activities in the Vietnam era. From taxes to crime to AIDS to foreign policy, the three men grappling for the White House outlined differ ing visions in a 90-minute de bate. In his first major campaign appearance, Per ot was a flamboyant participant, provid ing a series of one liners and offering himself as an outsider who can shake up the system. Clinton said he represents hope for "real change," and turned to Bush to add: "For 12 years you've had it your way, you've had your chance and it didn't work." Bush answered, "Change for change sake isn't enough," and recalled the eco nomic woes the last time the Democrats held the White House. Perot said, "We do have to have change," saying that the first priority should be to rebuild the nation's job base and pointing out his experience as a hard- charging business leader. The debate kicked off a climactic nine- "I hope I've earned your trust because a lot about being presi dent is about trust and character." - George Bush day period in the campaign for the White House and the stakes were high, especial ly for Bush who trailed Clinton in the na tional polls, and for Perot, who had not yet carved a significant place for himself in the race. There were no knockout punches in the debate, leaving the campaigns free to put their best face forward afterwards. Clinton's running mate. Sen. A1 Gore, quipped that Bush had finished "fourth," behind Clinton, Perot and moderator Jim Lehrer. White House chief of staff James A. Baker III said the president had made "a mature presentation." The opening moments were highly charged, with Bush bluntly criticizing Clinton for anti-war activities while studying overseas at Oxford University "You were wrong to attack my patrio tism. I opposed the war but I love my country," he said to applause from his partisans in the audience. Bush said he was not attacking Clinton's patriotism, but his character and judgment. The audience was made up of support ers of each of the three candidates. Clinton made several references to his "I offer a new direction, invest in American jobs, American education, control health care costs, bring this country to gether again." - Bill Clinton during the Vietnam war. Bush held out his service during World War II in con trast. Clinton responded directly to Bush, who seemed not to return his gaze. "When Joe McCarthy went around this country attacking people's patriotism he was wrong," said Clinton. "Your father (Prescott Bush) was right to stand up to Joe McCarthy. own life. He noted that he comes from a broken home, and his brother is a recov ering drug abuser — that, in arguing against decriminalizing drug use. An swering a question about family values, Clinton noted with a smile that debate night fell on his 17th anniversary. He thanked his wife, Hillary, and their daughter, Chelsea, for attending. Each man had two minutes for a clos ing statement. Perot used his to under score his outsider's candidacy. "The gov ernment has lost touch with the people. We've got to change the system," he said. Clinton said, "I offer a new direction, invest in American jobs, American educa tion, control health care costs, bring this country together again." Bush had the last word, asking the vot ers for "four more years." He recalled the col lapse of Commu nism and other dramatic world events of the past four years, and said he would turn his attention more to domestic issues. "I hope I've earned your trust because a lot about being president is about trust and charac ter." With that, the three men stepped out from behind their podiums, exchanged handshakes, then moved across stage to greet the questioners and members of the audience that was comprised mostly of See Debate/Page 6 "The government has lost touch with the people. We've got to change the system." - Ross Perot State of the Aggies * « S « « « » 8 8 m 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 F*% : mm Page 7