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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 1992)
The Battalion Vol. 92 No. 53 (8 pages) ‘Serving Texas A&M Since 1893’ Wednesday, November 11,1992 Bonfire ’92 Police finish preparation for bonfire By GINA HOWARD Reporter of THE BATTALION With Texas Aggie Bonfire less than two weeks away, officials from the College Station Police Department are putting the final touches on plans to keep specta tors and traffic under control during the event. Officers mulled over several options before deciding on the final game plan for Nov. 24, said Maj. Mason Newton, College Station police coordinator for bonfire night. "We anticipate that the event will be a problem, so we just had to decide exactly which of our options we would go with," Newton said. Newton said the department had several options in dealing with this year's bonfire: to "do absolutely nothing," to set up monitored pedestrian crossings on Texas Avenue and University Drive, to block off the major roadways or to rely heavily on motorcycle officers and try to keep the traffic moving. "The first was not really a good choice," he said. "We de cided to go with using motorcy cle officers and helping pedestri ans cross legally with the lights." In addition to the increased officers on the road, a command post will be set up west of South College Avenue as a remote booking site for bonfire night of fenders. "We are going to be taking a pro-P.I. (public intoxication) stance," Newton said. "Instead of just trying to find people rides, we will be making arrests and issuing citations." Police will be too busy that night to try to find rides for all of the drunks, he said. Newton said he anticipates that car accidents could be a real problem due to the heavily con gested roads that are expected. In order to keep cars moving on bonfire night, officers will be RICHARD S. JAMES/lhe Battalion Bonfire’s new site on the polo fields will create first-time problems for Eastgate businesses and traffic. handing out Department of Safe ty accident report forms to dri vers involved in minor acci dents. "We will not be working the minor accidents, but simply handing out 'blue forms' and telling them to get in touch with their insurance companies," Newton said. "Major accidents we will work as usual." One specific area the depart ment will target is the Northgate area, where six officers will pa trol, issuing citations and mak ing arrests. The overflow of revelers from the Dixie Chicken and Dud- dley's Draw in Northgate has in the past created a serious traffic problem on University Drive, Newton said. "Hopefully the crowd will not overflow, but if it does we will be issuing Class B misde meanors," ne said. "It's a dan gerous situation, and someone is going to get killed." Businesses located in the East- gate area will have, for the first time, the problem of dealing with bonfire spectators in and around the area. To help businesses, the police department has sent out letters and copies of the law concerning the towing of cars parked illegal ly in the businesses' lots, New ton said. "We invited any interested businesses in the area to attend a meeting detailing parking laws and what rights they have so they will be better able to deal with the situation." Bosnian factions sign unconditional cease-fire THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Bosnia's war ring factions signed an unconditional cease-fire cov ering the entire republic Tuesday, but it was uncer tain whether all had the will or means to end months of bloodletting. Also Tuesday, the Red Cross evacuated about a third of the estimated 6,000 people — Muslims, Croats and Serbs — who have been trying to aban don Sarajevo. The agreement on a Bosnian cease-fire, which was to go into effect at midnight Wednesday, was reached during negotiations among military commanders who have been meeting for two weeks at the Saraje vo airport on a plan to demilitarize the capital. Several longterm trends argue for an end to the fighting in Bosnia. These include the approach of winter, increasing economic problems and diplomat ic isolation in Serbia, and the military losses and lack of supplies and food on the Muslim side. However, dozens of truces have failed in Bosnia in the past — many within hours — because top com manders lack control over fighters in the field. At least 14,000 people have been killed in the fighting, which started when Serbs rebelled after Muslims and Croats voted for independence on Feb. 29. Serbs, who made up about a third of the repub lic's prewar population, have captured about 70 per cent of Bosnia. Monday's agreement "has been signed by the Serbs, Muslims and U.N. representatives, together with the Croatian Defense Council," said Serb Gen. Ratko Mladic, reached by telephone in the Serb stronghold of Pale, east of Sarajevo. "Only the regular Croatian army has not signed yet, but we expect them to sign in a few days," he said. Croatia has denied persistent claims that sol diers of its regular army are involved in the fighting. Baptist convention stresses abstinence THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CORPUS CHRISTI - Texas Baptists adopted resolutions Tues day targeting homosexuality as a "distortion" and emphasizing ab stinence in sex education. Sex values dominated debate among more than 6,000 delegates at the 107th annual Baptist Gener al Convention of Texas. Leaders also voted to ask their executive board to siphon $800,000 from the State Missions Commission budget to build Christian schools in inner-city neighborhoods. Its 1993 budget is just more than $8 million. "The inner city schools are the ones where you have a lot of gang violence and many other prob lems," said Harvey Starling, pas tor at the Second Chapel Baptist church in Garland. "You put a Christian influence in there, and it will always help." Earlier Tuesday, delegates adopted a resolution that said ho mosexuality violated the biblical ethic of abstinence outside of mar riage. The same document con demned adultery, incest and pornography. Another resolution on teen- pregnancy called for parental in volvement in teaching sex in schools. It urges lawmakers "to support programs which have a major goal of keeping children from be coming parents through the teach ing of abstinence and the provi sion of appropriate sex educa tion." "We have got to teach these children what sex is and convince them of what they need to do," said Kim Snyder of First Baptist Church of College Station. "We don't need to give ultimatums, we need to give them alternatives so they will be guided in making the correct choices." In other action Tuesday, the Baptists announced a plan to pro vide disaster relief to starving citi zens of the East African nation of Somalia. On Monday, delegates voted to continue funding Baylor Universi ty despite an ongoing clash be tween fundamentalists and the moderate institution. Student victim reflects on stabbing attack By WILL HEALY Reporter of THE BATTALION Mike Marketos, a sophomore business administration major from Plano, was stabbed Monday night around 9:30 when two black males attempted to rob him across from the Briarwood Apartments in College Station. Marketos said an unidentified black male spun him around as he was closing his car door, and an accomplice hit him and asked for his money. Marketos said he told them he did not have any money. "1 said T don't have any' - and I really didn't," Marketos said. "Even if I had it in my back pocket they didn't give me a chance to pull it out. "I thought he punched me but right after he punched me, he ran off," Marketos said. "I wondered, 'Why did he run off?' and 1 Police have no suspects in attempted robbery looked down and I was bleeding." Marketos did not immediately realize he had been cut, and said it wasn't as serious as it could have been. "It was just a cut," Marketos said. "I was lucky in the fact that I saw the guy's punch coming so I tried to avoid it and that's how he got me in the side. If I hadn't moved, he would have got me in the stom ach." Marketos then walked across the street to his girlfriend Gina Huff's apartment. "He was leaning over like he was throw ing up," Huff said. Huff's roommate called 911 and Marke tos was taken to the Humana Hospital in College Station, treated and released short ly after midnight after receiving 10 stitches. Marketos took an exam and went to class Tuesday, and said he was not serious ly harmed. "Gina took my notes for me because it is hard for me to raise my right arm," Marke tos said. Marketos said there was no emotional damage from the incident. "It hasn't really hit me that I could have died," Marketos said. "If I hadn't moved it could have hit me in the stomach and who knows what would have happened?" Marketos said he is looking at the inci dent as a lesson and is happy that the inci dent will force his girlfriend and her room mates to be more conscious of their own personal safety. "I'm glad it was me rather than Gina or her roommates," said Marketos. "I was lucky enough to be able to move out of the way." Marketos said Briarwood Apartments could have done more to prevent incidents like this from occurring. "They could have had more lights be cause it is dark around there," Marketos said. An investigation is ongoing and police have descriptions of the assailants, but all Marketos saw was their hairstyles, what they were wearing, and the fact that one of the men had a moustache. "I don't even know if I could recognize them," Marketos said. "It was dark and there was nothing out there." The police questioned one man but he turned out not to be one of the suspects. "It's a little upsetting knowing the fact that they're out there," Marketos said. Bushs hunt for house in Houston THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HOUSTON - Once they leave the White House, George and Barbara Bush may trade their Houston hotel room for a house. The soon-to-be-unemployed president, long criticized for having the hotel suite as his le gal voting residence, has asked a friend to do some house hunting for him in his adopted city. Jack Steel said the Bushs are looking for something modest ly priced with no more than four bedrooms. The home has to be in the general area of Tanglewood, an upscale west Houston neighborhood where the Bushs once owned a house. "The thing that pleases me about this ... is that so many people and the media always said, 'They're not really Tex ans, and they won't go back to Texas,"' Steel told the Houston Chronicle. "I guess this shows em. An independent political group aired ads in September claiming Bush was trying to avoid taxes in Maine by claim ing the Houston hotel room as his legal residence. Bush spokeswoman Torie Clarke re sponded that the Bushs have been legal residents of Texas since 1948, and planned to re tire there. Steel said the Bushs are in terested in having something ready to move into when Bush's presidency ends Jan. 20. He plans to have three or four houses ready for Mrs. Bush to look at next week. Steel said when he talked with the president Sunday, Bush was in "great spirits." "But I think the president and Barbara are looking for ward to getting down here and back to as normal a life as possible," Steel said. Faculty, staff consider multicultural class This is the second in a four-part series that examines the possibilities of a required multi cultural curriculum and opinions of people on the University campus. The series will fo cus on faculty and students opinions regard ing multiculturalism at Texas A&M as well as multiculturalism on other university cam puses. By TANYA WILLIAMS Reporter of THE BATTALION Students at Texas A&M University have not been the only people voicing their ideas and feelings about the possi bility of a required multicultural curricu lum or class. University officials, faculty and staff have their own opinions and proposals about the need for sensitivity training at Texas A&M University. Some faculty members that support the idea of sensitivity training have pro posed different ideas for the infusion of multiculturalism into A&M's curricu lum. Dr. Larry Oliver, associate professor in the Department of English, and Sheri Schmidt, student development specialist in the Department of Multicultural Ser vices both have different ideas regarding multicultural sensitivity. Oliver believes that a multicultural curriculum could be applied to colleges and universities nationwide. "As was obvious by the fraternity inci dent ... on this campus (and) at cam puses all across the country, there is an insensitivity toward racial and ethnic di versity," Oliver said. "The insensitivity often times mani fests itself as it did at the fraternity party, then it offends (minority) students who see themselves as stereotyped or treated insensibly." Oliver says the insensitivity, caused primarily by ignorance and misunder standing, could grow into something much larger. "Insensitivity leads to incidents like we had at the fraternity party, which leads to further incidents," Oliver said. "The model that we chose would say to students that yes you have to take a re quirement in multicultur alism just like taking a hu manities requirement — but we'll give you a choice." - Dr. Larry Oliver, associate professor of English "Whites and blacks then start to exist in a state of perpetual tension — then you know you have a racially charged cli mate." Oliver feels that a lot of this could be eliminated if students took courses such as African-American Literature. His suggestion is not to make one course like 'Multiculturalism 101' or 'Cultural Diversity 101', but rather pro vide a number of multicultural classes that would accomplish the goals of mak ing students more informed about, and sensitive to, cultural differences, while giving them a choice of what course to take. "In that situation (one course curricu lum), students have no freedom of choice, I think a lot of students, maybe thousands, would enter those class rooms in a hostile frame of mind," Oliv er said. "The model that we chose would say to students that yes you have to take a requirement in multiculturalism just like taking a humanities requirement — but we'll give you a choice." Oliver feels that having a one course requirement would also bring about oth er problems. "Logistical problems of having one course is finding one course that would serve 40,000 plus students without hir ing a cadre of new professors — plus the problems of space requirements, sched uling requirements, and adding a course "In order to prepare our students to be successful once they leave here, it is the University's obliga tion to provide them with what they need." -Sheri Schmidt, student development specialist, Department of Multicultural Services to a curriculum that is already packed," Oliver said. "If we're going to have a re quirement, let's make it a feasible one that doesn't disrupt the whole system." Oliver said that the Department of Liberal Arts is developing a proposal for a two-course requirement that could be See Course/Page 3