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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 1992)
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TORY J The Battalion Vol. 92 No. 56 (10 pages) “Serving Texas ASM Since 1893” Monday, November 16, 1992 Official not pleased with IFC decision By JULI PHILLIPS Reporter of THE BATTALION A letter from a state representative sent to Texas A&M Board of Regents Chairman Ross Margraves voiced still lingering concerns about the University's actions against Sigma Alpha Epsilon following a party that sparked controversy for its racist overtones. State Representative Ron Wilson, D- Houston, stated in his letter that harsh action should be taken against the fraternity. He called for the Board of Regents to take a deep look into the University's handling of the SAE matter, but said the only true way to resolve the "indelible stain upon the reputation of Texas A&M" is to dissolve the fraternity. "I also request that you send a strong signal of support to the minorivies in attendance at A&M, as well as to those within the community, by removing this fraternity from the A&M campus," Wilson's letter stated. "Any actions that fall short of complete censure and banishment only serve to encourage this type of behavior in the future." Kevin Carreathers, director of Texas A&M Multicultural Services, said that although many minority students agree with Wilson's suggestion, he feels the greater amount do not because of the lack of widespread outcry about the situation. The sanctions, recommended by the judicial board and approved by Dr. John Koldus, Vice President of Student Services, consisted of the cancellation of all 1993 "mixers," a review of the chapter's operating structure and pledge education program, a $1,000 fine and a period of disciplinary probation. The incident also prompted the board to recommend future IFC regulation of party themes. Carreathers backed the decision saying,"The disbanding of the fraternity would serve no purpose but to send the message that Texas A&M does not condone that type of behavior. With these sanctions, we are sending the message that the behavior is not condoned while educating the members of the fraternity." He said he believes that the incident was borne from ignorance and that is something that needs to be confronted. Wilson closed his letter stating/'Should those actions (future attempts by A&M officials to further “Any actions that fall short of complete censure and banishment only serve to encourage this type of behavior in the future.” —Ron Wilson State Representative resolve the SAE issue) fall short of what I, and others in the minority community, think appropriate in dealing with this offensive behavior, I will not hesitate to use every means at my disposal as a member of the Texas House of Representatives to ensure that Texas A&M is not rewarded for this type of behavior." Carreather's concerns for the future are not rooted in politics, but in student and faculty recruitment. "Often people don't see the big picture - they don't see that people looking at coming to Texas A&M don't realize that the atmosphere isn't always like this," he said. "We are lucky that this happened in the fall semester when our recruiters are already on the road and can answer the questions. Otherwise, recruiters would have to be sent out in additional trips to calm potential students and others." Cuba relief group to defy embargo Caravans of supplies to cross border Plan to help victims of sex offenses Administrators offer suggestions for receiving assistance THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN ANTONIO — Caravans of food and other supplies for Cuba were headed toward the Texas-Mexico border, but organiz ers expected trouble in their bid to defy a trade embargo. More than 100 activists were expected to finish gathering and move Tuesday across one of the international bridges in Laredo, triggering a possible confronta tion with federal customs officials. Organizers of the mission said they expected arrests when they try to take 43 carloads of food and other humanitarian supplies through Mexico for the destina tion in Cuba, a group spokes woman said Saturday. President Bush last month signed new, tougher restrictions on trade with Cuba But the activists, sponsored by the Minnesota-based Pastors for Peace, want to deliver items such as medicine, powdered milk, bi cycles and spare parts, school supplies and Spanish-language Bibles, spokeswoman Laurie Port said. "Because of the embargo, peo ple (in Cuba) are suffering. They are not getting the food and medi cine they need," Port told the San Antonio Express-News in a tele phone interview from Minneapo lis. "We think that's wrong." But Pastors for Peace needs a special license from the agency's Foreign Assets Control Office in Washington, which the group has not sought, said the U.S. Treasury Department. "This is a violation of the rules. Everything from school supplies to Bibles is prohibited (for export to Cuba) without a license," said Bob Levine, a treasury depart ment spokesman. He said the agency was aware of the groups' caravans and plans to cross the border. But Port said Pastors for Peace did not seek the licenses because "that's part of the government's restrictive process" that the group opposes. A news conference was sched uled at noon Monday at the Peace and Justice Building in Laredo. At least three of the caravans were to converge in San Antonio before heading for Laredo late Monday. U.S. Customs inspectors will meet the caravans at whichever international bridge they try to cross, said Judy Turner, spokes woman for the agency's South west District in Houston. "Customs will enforce any re quirement for licensing for any goods sanctioned or embargoed for Cuba," said Turner. But Port said her group mem bers are prepared to be arrested. "We're going to get those things out of the country," she said. "We won't back down." The effort will include nine car avans from cities across the coun try, said Port. Activists planned to drive their cars to the Mexican port of Tampi co, leave them there and fly to Cuba to meet the goods arriving by ship. A critical gasoline shortage in Cuba and the cost of shipping ne cessitated the caravans, officials said. Pastors for Peace neither sup ports nor opposes the govern ment of Cuban Fidel Castro, Port said. She said a meeting with Castro is being set up for the activists' visit but has not been confirmed. Ms. Port said Pastors for Peace, part of the New-York based Inter religious Foundation for Commu nity Organization, has sent six caravans of goods to Nicaragua and four to El Salvador in recent years. The vehicles used in those car avans were left in Nicaragua and El Salvador, she said. By JULI PHILLIPS Reporter for THE BATTALION Student Service administrators are confronting the problem of sexual harassment and sexual as sault on campus as well as outlin ing procedures for the victims to receive help. Sexual assault and sexual ha rassment cases are rarely filed be cause the victim in the situation is afraid of being blamed for the sit uation or being labeled a trouble maker, said Assistant Vice Presi dent of Student Services Dr. Jan Wirmiford. Survivors also are forced to re live the sexual assault over and over while seeking action against the violator, Wirmiford said. Usu ally, men or women who are being sexually harassed only want the behavior to stop and almost never seek any formal actions against the harasser. Three sexual assault allegations have been filed with the Universi ty Police Department so far this year, but the assault survivors de clined to pursue the charges re sulting in a recent report listing the number of sexual assaults on campus as zero. Due to a law passed by the Texas State Legislature, the word "rape" appears nowhere in the Texas Penal Code. The legal term for rape is now sexual assault. "The word change was used to defeat the connotations associated with the word 'rape,'" Student Af fairs official Bonne Bejarano- Sanders said. "When people think of rape, they think of penetration, and that doesn't necessarily need to hap pen for the action to be considered rape. Also, it defeats the image that it can only happen to women." The University has set up many structures to help survivors deal with the harassment or as sault situation. Faculty members should ad dress formal complaints to Dr. Bill Perry, Dean of Faculties, while staff members should contact Karan Chavis, employee relations manager. Wirmiford handles stu dent complaints. "Informally, survivors can go to anyone they feel comfortable talking to," Wirmiford said. "We are committed to provid ing a comfortable learning and working environment and if there is something that is interfering with that, we need to deal with it." Lithuanian voters favor communism THE ASSOCIATED PRESS VILNIUS, Lithuania - The first republic to break away from the Soviet Union appeared Sunday to be on the verge of returning former Communists to power in a bitterly contested parliamentary election. Lithuanian voters angered by factory shutdowns, soaring prices and lack of hot water said as they left the polls that they were ready to give the former Communists a chance to restore economic order. Leaders of the former Lithuanian Communist Party, now called the Democratic Labor Party, promised that if they won, they would safeguard Lithuania's independence and continue to build a Western-style market economy. But they also said they would improve trade relations with Russia and demand better terms from the International Monetary Fund, which has forced Lithuania to freeze government wages and hold down public spending in return for Western loans. Sajudis, the anti-Communist party that led Lithuania to independence in 1990, has "done very little in the past two years," Andrei Kobzar, 30, said as he cast his ballot at a high school in downtown Vilnius. "Actually, they've done a lot — to make our life impossible," said his wife, Valentina, an unemployed waitress. "Everything is bad now. We live in a such a hole, with two kids. I have no job, no welfare payments." More economic bad news appeared on the eve of the election when the daily newspaper Tiesa reported that industrial production has tumbled 48.5 percent this year. According to other recent reports, one-third of all factories have closed or sharply cut back employment. Consumer prices have jumped 2,200 percent since 1990, and fuel is in such short See Soviet/Page 10 Program attacks drug problem Course to ease peer pressure By Reagon Clamon Repot ter of THE BATTALION The participants in an experimental mentorship program, designed to train Texas A&M undergrad uate students how to counsel troubled children, hope to make a dent in Brazos Valley's drug prob lem. Project B.E.L.O.N.G, (Building Essential Life Options through’Mew Goals) will create a course at Texas A&M to instruct students in techniques which will help children fight the pressures lead ing to drug use. The program will be funded by a $1.6 million grant from the U S. Department of Education’s Drug-free Schools and Communities Program and will involve various organizations in Brazos Coun ty, including the Public Policy Research Institute and the Texas Engineering Experiment Station. B.E.L.O.N.G. will produce many beneficial ob jectives, said Greg Muller, a graduate research as sistant at the institute. "We are hoping this project will help address the need for support of youth who are at risk," Muller said. "It will give them an older role mod el." The program would also be an effective teach ing tool, Muller said. "This program offers a unique opportunity to undergraduate students to get some direct experi ence in being a mentor/' he said. "They are getting experience that will be applicable at some point in the job field." The students targeted by Project B.E.L.O.N.G. will come from grades four through eight in the Bryan and College Station school districts. The first course for mentors will begin during the spring 1993 semester with successive classes every semester for three semesters, producing three groups of mentors.. This program is part of a group of programs all over the nation that are trying different avenues to arrive at a solution to the drug problem, Muller said. He said the success of this particular project hinges on community involvement. "Up to this point, we have had the support we need/' Muller said. "The schools see this as a worthwhile project. They're really behind it.” Orientation classes for Project B.E.L.O.N.G. will be held on Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. in Room 108 in the Psychology Building, and Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m. in Room 274 in the Read Building. Those interested in participating in Project B.E.L.O.N.G. should call Greg Muller at 845-6219. Supporters of military ban advise Clinton to make changes slowly THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders urged President-elect Clinton Sunday to go slow on overturning the military's ban on homosexuals, arguing that sudden action would create a furor in Congress and could endanger lives in the armed forces. "He ought to put it on the back burner," Senate Republican leader Bob Dole of Kansas said on NBC- TV's "Meet the Press." "I can't give him any advice except to go slow," Dole said. "There are other things you can do by executive order that wouldn't blow the lid off the Capitol. I think this one might come close." Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, appearing on CBS-TV's "Face the Nation," said, "I think we ought to proceed very cautiously." "If you did it overnight, I'd fear for the lives of people in the military themselves," Nunn said. "I think there could be some very emotional feelings. So I would prefer that it be stretched out over a period of time." Nunn, Dole and Senate Democratic leader George Mitchell of Maine, who appeared with Dole on the NBC panel show, said congressional action would be required to amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice even if Clinton did issue an executive order changing the policy. "I'd be surprised if he won that vote," said Dole. Mitchell said, however, "I think the governor will be supported in that because I think he will do it in a sensible and prudent way." The Arkansas governor said Wednesday in Little Rock that he intends to consult with military leaders about "the mechanics" of a change in policy. He did not say when this would occur. "I don't think (homosexual) status alone, in the absence of some destructive behavior, should disqualify people" from serving in the military, the president-elect said. A federal judge in Los Angeles reaffirmed on Tuesday his order that the Navy reinstate a homosexual sailor, but did not rule on whether the military ban is constitutional. The sailor, Petty Officer 1st Class Keith Meinhold, who has returned to duty, said the effect of/a change in policy on the behavior of gays in the military would be "a big fat nothing." "The only difference would be that we would no longer have to look over our shoulder," Meinhold said on ABC-TV's "This Week With David Brinkley." Former Army National Guard Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer, who acknowledged being a lesbian when questioned during a security check to attend the War College, said, "I don't think it's like suddenly the military is going to disintegrate." See Clinton/Page 10 V