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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 1992)
e Battalion Vol. 92 No. 37 (10 pages) ‘Serving Texas ASM Since 1893’ Tuesday, October 20, 1992 Candidates fire shots in final debate By GINA HOWARD Reporter of THE BATTALION Supporters of the three presi dential contestants in Bryan-Col- lege Station said the double for mat of Monday's debate was fair and benefited their candidates. Lou Zaeske, chairman of the In dependent Texas Network, said he felt the format worked well and gave voters a chance to see a cross section of the candidates. "I think it was very well done," Zaeske said. "The first half was very good at addressing issues and the panelists asked good questions. I am very comfortable with everything that transpired." Ben Morris, a member of the Republican Party, said the double format gave both President Bush and Bill Clinton a chance to per form under their debate condi tions of choice. "I think it is always better to have more than one moderator," Morris said. "I maybe would have preferred to see them able to debate directly with each other and with a panel of questioners, but basically I think it was very fair." Supporters, however, did not agree on who was the overall win ner of the debate. Zaeske said independent can didate Ross Perot was the clear winner. "Perot won the debate because of his sincerity and how handily he brought up the issues," Zaeske said. "I think he revealed some things that will be food for thought for people in the next weeks. "Clinton seemed over-coached and plastic while Bush just went ad nauseum over the same old trust issue." The American people, he said, are looking to Perot for non-parti san leadership. "Perot is representing the American people, independent of Congress," Zaeske said. "I think a lot of people want change and to get it, they must vote for a change." State Senator Jim Turner, a De mocrat, said Bush was the winner. "Bush did better than anyone else," Turner said. "Clinton was second and Perot came in third." Ben Morris, a member of the Republican Party, said while Bush may not have been the clear win ner, he had the best performance of the debate. "Bush came out with a lot of very factual information and was more aggressive," Morris said. "He should have been this aggres sive all through the debates." Morris said mud-slinging seemed to be the debate objective of Perot and Clinton. "I think it was clear Clinton and Perot had nothing to say about each other, but were doing nothing but ragging on Bush," he said. "I think the American peo ple will see that." Morris said Bush stuck to the issues and did a lot to solidify his positions. "He didn't attack Clinton per sonally," he said. "He stated not only his positions, but also Clin ton's inconsistencies. Debate Analysis Bush makes comeback, report says THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON- It was a more-cornbative, more-focused President Bush who took the stage in the last debate, ham mering away at Democrat Bill Clinton's record as governor of Arkansas and repeatedly rais ing issues of character and trust. The three debates were to have been Bush's final rally. In the end, they may have marked his last hurrah. Bush clearly did not hit the Clinton home run many Republicans said he needed in the wrapup show down in East Lansing, Mich. Nor did Clinton stumble. So that left little in the final debate to help Bush end his long stall in the polls and save his presidency. Independent challenger Ross Perot used the word "irrele vant" several times. In the end, that's how the three presidential debates over eight days may apply to the election outcome. "I think that people were con firmed in their own opinions,'' said Perot Henry Graff, presidential historian at Columbia University. Even though Bush came across stronger Monday night than in the first two debates, Clin ton "repre sents the spir it of a genera tional change in the making. Bush is last year's show. Clinton is the new fall show," Graff said. Bush stepped up his attack, seeking to tar Clinton as a poor governor and an oppor tunist with "this pattern" of waf fling. See Debates/Page 6 Bush Koriyama students visit sister university in Aggieland Visit provides guests insight into local culture, traditions By TANYA WILLIAMS Reporter of THE BATTALION Aggies will have the opportu nity to practice on their "Konin- nochiwa" or Japanese "howdy" and meet their brother and sister .counterparts from the east while students from the Texas A&M Koriyama campus visit College Station this week. Sixty-five students from the Japan campus arrived Sunday and began their week-long stay at Aggieland yesterday with a luncheon hosted by the TAMU/Koriyama Support Office Staff. The luncheon, held in the Memorial Student Center, was given in honor of visiting TAMU/Koriyama Aggies and their student hosts. A&M President William Mob ley began the luncheon by wel coming the guests from Koriya ma to College Station and thanked the Texas A&M student hosts for taking an active in volvement in "one of the most important agendas of this univer sity", to be an international uni versity. "Our relationship with Ko riyama is growing and we look forward to a bright future where students from Texas and students from Koriyama, faculty and com munity leaders, in these states and nations are cooperating more effectively and move toward a global economy," Mobley said. "Texas A&M is proud to be hosting you this week and we look forward to many years of friendship, collaboration and ed ucation." Dr. E. Dean Gage, senior vice president and provost for acade mic affairs, also welcomed stu dents and staff from Koriyama by encouraging students to become more aware of the world around them. "Texas A&M University is very, very aware of the fact that we do live in a shrinking world and, in our academic programs, we need you to help train you, as well as the fact that our inter change with you in Japan will be so very important to us, as we graduate young men and women who will be capable of function ing in a very rapidly changing world," Gage said. Karen Demoss, a member of the Koriyama staff and advisor on the trip, explained that stu dents that are visiting this week have only completed one and one half semesters of study in their 27 month program before relocating in College Station. "The program at Koriyama is two and one half years," Demoss said. "Most students entered in May, when the Japanese school year started." "They take intensive language courses for one full year," said Demoss. "And these students are only still in their second semes ter, so they're not fluent at all." The visiting Koriyama stu dents are considered enrolled in Texas A&M University and will only relocate, not transferring, to Texas A&M after completing 35 to 45 credit hours in Koriyama. This December, 17 students will be transferring after visiting two years ago. The rest of the week, students will be able to tour various parts of the campus such as The Ster ling C. Evans Library, Corps Cen ter, and the KAMU Communica tions building. The students will also have the opportunity to learn American football from the A&M football team and Coach R. C. Slocum this afternoon, and get to experi ence football first hand when the Aggies play the Baylor Bears on Saturday, Oct. 24. DARRIN HILI/The Battalion Patricia Campos, left, a psychology major from business major from Fakushima, Japan, talks New Braunfels, talks with Aya Kitbatake, a about Koriyama, where Kitabatake attends. Lobbyist delays congressional action Government researchers rebuff AIDS vaccine THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — A biotech company's effort to rush an experimental AIDS vaccine to large-scale hu man trials was rebuffed by government researchers, so it went the old-fashioned way: it lobbied. It hired former Sen. Russell Long, one of Wash ington's legendary powerbrokers who now is a lob byist with a rare asset — access to the Senate floor. The result? Congress slipped $20 million into a $250 billion Pentagon spending bill for the coming year, earmarked for trials of the Connecticut compa ny's developmental drug. But that move, which circumvented the scientific process the government normally uses to allocate re search dollars, created what some say is a dangerous precedent: That politicians, not doctors, can make life-and- death decisions about drug testing. "I don't know how in good conscience you can go to a patient and say, 'We're giving you this drug be cause a lobbyist chose it,"' said Dr. Bernardine Healy, director of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Mervyn Silverman, president of the American ’oundation for AIDS Research, said, "AIDS is the Host political disease I've ever dealt with, and this only further politicizes it." The provision in the defense appropriations bill, ilready signed by President Bush, earmarks $20 mil- ion for large-scale clinical trials of the vaccine gpl60, i genetically engineered version of a protein that iurrounds the virus that causes AIDS. The pioneer and leader in gp!60 research is Mi- ToGeneSys of Meriden, Conn. The company is rep- esented in Washington by Long, a former Louisiana ienator who chaired the tax-writing finance commit- ee for more than 15 years. At least a dozen potential vaccines to prevent or reat AIDS are in development. The MicroGeneSys product is one of about half a dozen such drugs now undergoing limited trials in human patients. Healy said Long had approached her agency and asked for special treatment for gpl60, to "pull it out of line" and give it expedited consideration. At one point, he sought to have the NIH brief sen ators on the relative merits of all the developmental vaccines. The agency declined. "This vaccine is not in a class by itself," Healy said. "There are others that may be as good if not better." When that failed. Long pursued what Healy called "a backdoor channel." He approached Sens. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., and John Warner, R-Va., the chairman and ranking Republican on the Armed Ser vices Committee. They added the provision Sept. 18 on the Senate floor. There was no opposition and little debate. Warner mentioned that Long had used his privilege as a for mer senator to come to the Senate floor to under score the amendment's importance. A competing biotechnology firm, the San Francis co-based Genentech, sought to counter the lobbying push by having a Washington public relations firm spread the word on what MicroGeneSys was doing. But it was too late. Lobbying registration records show MicroGe neSys paid Long $6,600 during the first half of 1992 to push the amendment. A Long aide said he was on vacation and would not comment on his activities because of "discretion and client privacy." Company president Frank Volvovitz said gp!60 is "the most thoroughly studied AIDS vaccine" and has shown encouraging results in limited trials at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. He declined to address his company's decision to lobby Congress to win research funds, saying only: "We're trying to develop a product here." U.S., U.N. should force Serbs to talks, expert says By MARK EVANS Staff Writer of THE BATTA LION The United States and United Nations can force the Serbians to the negotiating table by providing military aid to Bosnia and Croatia, balancing the scales between op posing armies in what used to be Yugoslavia, said a Texas A&M foreign policy expert. "As long as the Serbs think they can win militarily, they have shown little interest in coming to the negotiating table," said Dr. Ronald Hatchett, director of Texas A&M's Mosher Institute for Inter national Policy Studies. "The way that we persuade them that they cannot win militar ily is that we give more military aid to the Bosnians and Croatians, so that they can match the mili tary potential of the Serbs." Only by doing this can the world community convince the Serbians that negotiating new boundaries with Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina is the best way to preserve the interests of Serbs living outside Serbia, he said. Currently, almost one-third of the Serbian population lives out side of Serbia. Large Serbian enclaves exist in Bosnia and Croatia. So far, the United States has re mained on the sidelines, Hatchett said. President George Bush refused to recognize Bosnia, Slovenia and Croatia as independent republics until this summer, almost one year after fighting broke out in Yugoslavia. "Basically, the U.S. foreign pol icy has been to support the status quo," he said. ""We feared any changes in boundaries because we were afraid that once (the bound ary changes) began they might not be able to be controlled. "Our unwillingness to step in (with military and humanitarian aid) has caused more people to die," he said. Sending troops into Bosnia will not solve the problem, he said, be cause without a political solution the same problems will return once the troops leave. Hatchett said he supports pro viding the Bosnians and Croatians with military aid because the only weapons they have are small arms. The Serbian-controlled Yu goslavian army controls all of the heavy artillery, and the Bosnians and Croatians have no way of ef fectively defending themselves, Hatchett said. Any aid provided by the Unit ed States, military or otherwise, should go through the United Na tions, he said. The Yugoslavian conflict is a "quagmire," and the United States should avoid direct in volvement. Hatchett said he agrees with last month's U.N. action, revoking Yugoslavia's membership in the General Assembly. "It's a wise move because it shows the indignation and un willingness of the world commu nity of nations to tolerate contin ued military aggression on the part of Serbia against its neigh bors," he said. "All of this is aimed at trying to force Serbs to sit down and negotiate to stop the killing." Meanwhile, more than 14,000 people have died in war-torn Bosnia-Hercegovina since Febru ary when the Bosnians announced plans to secede from Yugoslavia. Serbians, who controlled only 40 percent of the land in Bosnia before the war, now control well over 70 percent of the former Yu goslav republic. Peace will not come to Bosnia until all sides — Serbians, Croat ians and Muslims — agree to es tablish new boundaries based on ethnicity, Hatchett said. If peace does not come soon, outside countries may intercede, he said. Turkey feels responsible for the Bosnian-Muslims because of ties which date back to the Ottoman Empire, Hatchett said. Greece has its eye on Macedonia as do the Bulgarians. "The Europeans are becoming more and more anxious about this situation," Hatchett said. "Their reluctance to become involved militarily is eroding."