Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 1992)
A 2 The Battalion Vol. 92 No. 50 (8 pages) “Serving Texas A&M Since 1893’ Friday, November 6, 1992 THINGS TO COME nnn? TE THE GEORGE BUSH RESIDENTIAL LIBRARY & MUSEUM AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY RICHARD S. /AMES/The Battalion Plans for presidential library on schedule, Mobley says By GARY P. CARROLL City Editor of THE BATTALION President George Bush's un successful bid to be elected for a second term will not affect plans to build the presidential library, Texas A&M University President William H. Mobley said. However, Dr. Perry Adkisson, executive director of the Bush Li brary Center at A&M, said the processes involved with the con struction of the library may quicken. "I think it may affect it a lit tle," Adkisson said. "Once (Bush's) schedule is a little more flexible, that probably will speed (the construction of the library) up." Many people are concerned with the fact that Bush's failure to be re-elected will put in creased pressure on the Univer sity and the Bush Library Center to build the library, but Mobley said that simply isn't the case. "We're proceeding right on schedule," and fundraising ef forts will continue as planned, Mobley said. According to the Texas A&M Center for Presidential studies, the design and construction of li braries is not based solely upon the number of terms the presi dents for which they are being built served. Only one president - Ronald Reagan - in the past 30 years has served two complete consecu tive terms. The presidential li braries of recent single-term presidents, including Presidents Richard Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson, were completed on time; and Mobley said the process of building the Bush li brary will maintain an even keel. The Bush library and muse um is currently scheduled to be completed in mid- to late 1995 at an estimated cost of $42 million, said Shirley Joiner, assistant ex ecutive director of the Bush Pres idential Library Center. To date, only $1.8 million have been raised from private donations. Despite Bush's defeat, and the relatively low level of funds raised so far, Mobley said the level of urgency surrounding the construction of the library has not changed. The lack of political backing for Bush may actually help fund raising efforts by allowing peo ple to show their support for him in other ways, said Mobley and Joiner. "In some ways the whole process has been simplified" due to Bush's failure to be re-elected, Mobley said. "I think people can now re-direct their support for Bush in the form of dona tions." Adkisson said the plans for the library have not yet been drawn up, but design proposals for the library have been in the works for quite some time. CRSS Constructors, Inc., a Houston-based firm, has been working on the preliminary de signs, but no contracts have been awarded to any construction or design firm. Robert Long, Class of '88, of CRSS, said he isn't sure what the status of the project is. "I'm not sure what all has been done thus far, but he (Bush) has contacted the project director recently," Long said, "and I know we're not under contract." Adkisson said his office won't be awarding contracts for the de sign and construction of the Bush library for quite awhile. "That's way down the line - we're probably looking at about 18 months," Adkisson said. Tom Robson, Class of '71, ex ecutive vice president of archi tecture for CRSS and project di rector of the design team for the Bush library, was unavailable for comment. Michel T. Halbouty, Class of '30, and president of the Bush library committee, was also unavailable for comment. U.S. announces tariffs on European imports THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - The Bush administration, seeking to force trade concessions for American soybean farmers, announced Thursday that it was imposing punitive tariffs on $300 million worth of European imports. The move would effectively triple the import price of a bottle of European white wine, and it threatened to set off a full-scale trade war between the United States and the 12-nation European Community. U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills announced that effective Dec. 5, the tariffs on a 750-milli- liter bottle of white wine from Eu rope would rise from seven cents to 200 percent of the prices paid by importers. American consumers would not likely feel the effects of the higher tariffs until January be cause many importers have stock piled shipments in anticipation of such a move. Several importers said that if the tariffs take effect virtually all European white wines would dis appear from American store shelves because the importers would cut off orders, rather than risk being caught with expensive inventories they can't unload at triple the current price. U.S. officials released a two- page list of 240 wines that would be hit with the higher tariffs. The United States imported $270 mil lion worth of white wine from Eu rope last year, with France supply ing $125 million of that amount. Other big suppliers were Italy, $98 million, and Germany, $35 mil lion. Wines from Spain, Portugal and Greece were also targeted for the new 200 percent tariffs. In an addition to $270 million in white wine imports. Hills also announced that 200 percent tariffs would be imposed on $30 million in imports of wheat gluten, pri marily used as a binder in pet food, and in rapeseed oil, a cook ing oil. Germany is the principal Euro pean exporter of wheat gluten and rapeseed oil to the U.S. market. Hills said that she was delaying the effective date for the new tar iffs to allow negotiators time for one last-ditch effort to resolve the underlying trade dispute involv ing American soybean sales to Eu rope. "We have demonstrated extra ordinary patience and we are open to further negotiations in the 30 days before the duties become effective," Hills told reporters. "However, given the trade harm the United States is suffering, I must proceed with a compensato ry trade action." The administration claims the unfair subsidies cost American producers $1 billion a year in lost sales. Hills expressed the hope that talks over the next month would succeed but also issued a new target list of $1.7 billion worth or other European prod ucts. She said the administration would broaden the tariff targets beyond the original $300 million unless the negotiations succeed. The new list included industri al exports, as well as farm prod ucts in an apparent effort by the United States to spread the threat ened economic pain beyond farm ers as a way of forcing conces sions. Officials of the European Com munity gave no hint they planned to back down. EC officials have vowed to retaliate by boosting tar iffs on American products if Euro pean goods are hit. Hills briefed President Bush and other members of his Cabinet on Thursday. Bush insisted the United States was trying to resolve the trade dispute in a way that would be ac ceptable to U.S. interests. "No trade war. Just looking af ter the interest of world trade," the president said. In Little Rock, Ark., President elect Clinton echoed a statement he made Wednesday that foreign governments need to realize that during the two-month transition. Bush was still president. Speaker focuses on African heritage By TANYA WILLIAMS Reporter of THE BATTALION The MSC Black Awareness Committee welcomed nationally known lecturer, the Rev. Clarence E. Glover, at their meeting Wednesday night to discuss the rediscovering of African identities. The two-hour program focused on the connection of African-Americans to their African heritage. Glover opened the program by asking the crowd to allow themselves to really listen and understand the theme. "Not only hear something, but also feel some thing," Glover said. "For as a people of our descent, beliefs of not only just reason and logic, is a deep sense of feeling." Glover likened the searching of African-Ameri cans for their African heritage to a pilgrimage and asked the crowd to begin that pilgrimage Wednesday night. "We must shift our minds out of the traditional frame of reference," Glover said. "The greatest weapon that the oppressor has is the mind of the op pressed." Glover said the search for one's African heritage is a journey that African-Americans must take together. "Dr. (Martin Luther) King once said, T cannot be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you cannot be what you ought to be until I "We must shift our minds out of the traditional frame of reference. The greatest weapon that the oppressor has is the mind of the oppressed." -Rev. Clarence E. Glover, nationally known lecturer am what I ought to be.'" Glover told the audience that they must under take a sense of "educational militancy" and educate themselves about African culture and history be cause the education that African-Americans and oth ers have received is from a Eurocentric viewpoint. Glover, an African studies lecturer at Southern Methodist University, has previously spoke at Texas A&M at the annual Southwestern Black Student Leadership Conference in January. Campaign to raise Bush library funds By GARY P. CARROLL City Editor of THE BATTALION The $42 million needed to build the George Bush Presiden tial Library is being raised as a part of the Texas A&M University "Capturing the Spirit" campaign. The campaign has a minimum goal of raising $500 million by Au gust 31, 1996 and has already raised $221,986,906 - almost half of what it planned to raise since beginning the drive two years ago. The "Capturing the Spirit" campaign funds come from pri vate donations and are not intend ed to replace state funds. Funds raised will go toward the following programs: • The Sterling C. Evans and Medical Sciences Libraries • Student programs such as scholarships, honors programs. Corps of Cadets, MSC and leader ship programs • Faculty programs such as fac ulty chairs and fellowships; inter national programs, • University Press, research en hancements, computing enhance ments and institutional and ad ministrative support • Association of Former Stu dents • Bush presidential library • Athletic Department and 12th Man Foundation BILLY MORAN/The Battalion Eileen Westerman, technician at the toxicology and entomology African ostriches at the lab and six emus. They participate in drug research lab, plays with an ostrich named Judd. There are eight studies and serve as blood donors for other animals.