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Welci
The Battalion
Vol. 92 No. 66 (10 pages)
Serving Texas A&M Since 1893”
Wednesday, December 2, 1992
Wilson forum
angers gay community
Quanell X
By GARY P. CARROLL
City Editor of THE BATTALION
Rep. Ron Wilson's forum at Texas A&M
University Monday night struck a sensitive
chord with A&M's gay and lesbian com
munity, according to a letter delivered to
The Battalion on Tuesday.
Gay and lesbian leaders at A&M were
upset by a statement of Mr. Quanell X, na
tional spokesman for Rap a Lot Records, in
which he insinuated that homosexuality
was wrong.
"We have a society today that teaches us
that homosexuality is okay," X said, "and
not to make a mockery of anyone who's a
homosexual — but you're sick."
Dr. Larry Hickman, professor of philoso
phy and faculty advise'r of the Gay and
Lesbian Student Services (GLSS) at A&M,
said he had one word for X's remarks —
"homophobic."
"His remarks were blatantly homopho
bic," Hickman said.
Both Wilson and X had ample opportu
nities to explain themselves, said Dr. Jim
Mazzullo, GLSS faculty adviser and associ
ate professor of geology.
"He had the opportunity to repudiate
the statement twice," Mazzullo said. "But
he side-stepped the issue both times."
Hickman, along with other A&M profes
sors, wrote Wilson a letter that stated, ". . .
we were deeply pained by Mr. X's re
marks, which were a gratuitous insult to
our community, and doubly hurt by your
failure as a leader and role model for
African-Americans to refute his remarks."
Mazzullo said Wilson's refusal to re
spond to two questions regarding X's com
ments was a "sin of omission."
"1 hope this is a simple mistake and that
it will be quickly rectified so we can build
toward a unified campus where everyone
is welcome," Mazzullo said.
The letter, signed by Mazzullo, Henriet
ta Andreadis (associate professor of English
and GLSS faculty adviser), and Hickman,
called for Wilson to apologize for failing to
clarify his position on homosexuality, and
creating a rift between African-American
students and members of the GLSS.
The letter stated, "You came to our cam
pus to fight the vicious disease of racism,
and you had the strong support of the gay
and lesbian community in this fight. How
ever, you left behind the germs of the
equally-vicious disease of homophobia . . ."
Brian Walker, speaker of the Student
Senate, said X's comments about homosex-
See Wilson/Page 10
"You came to our campus to fight the vicious disease of
racism, and you had the strong support of the gay and
lesbian community in this fight. However, you left behind
the germs of the equally-vicious disease of homophobia..."
-from a letter sent in response to statements made by Quanell X
Monday night
3 Northside
dorms could
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By TANYA SASSER
Staff Writer of THE BA TTAUON
Fowler, Keathley and Hughes
Halls may be converted to co-ed
dorms by Fall 1993 if members of
the Residence Hall Association
approve a proposal Wednesday
aight, said the assistant director of
Student Affairs/Residence Life.
Tom Murray said the Universi
ty has been looking all year for a
dorm that is willing to convert to
:o-ed. Surveys were conducted in
the three halls and the results
were favorable, he said.
"Eighty percent of the residents
were interested in going co-ed,"
he said. "That really says a lot.
The key ingredient in any propos
al is if the residents want it."
Krueger, Aston and Dunn Halls
were considered for the conver
sion earlier this semester, but the
residents of those halls preferred
that the halls not be converted to
:o-ed, Murray said.
Greg Mead, resident director of
Fowler Hall, wrote the proposal
that will be voted on during
Wednesday night's RHA meeting.
"Our hall council was interest-
ad in turning co-ed because
Fowler just turned from a female
hall to a male hall last year," he
said. "We thought this might be
the best time to try to go co-ed."
Mead said that since all three of
the halls are connected, it is diffi-
:ult to enforce the visitation poli-
:y. He said this is another reason
that it might be beneficial for
these halls to convert to co-ed.
Mead said there are three differ-
nt housing options outlined in
:heproposal. The dorms might be
o-ed by floor, suite or section, he
said.
If any of the three halls were
converted to co-ed by floor, there
ClJt' l §vould be two all-male floors and
wo all-female floors. If it was co-
d by suite, males and females
night live next door to each other,
)ut would not share bathrooms.
If it was co-ed by section, one side
of the dorm would be all-male
and the other side would be all-fe
male, he said.
"The different needs of the stu
dents need to be taken into con
sideration," Mead said. "This
proposal provides the unique op
portunity to try out different liv
ing situations."
Murray said that if the proposal
is approved by the RHA Wednes
day night, the final decision will
be left up to the Department of
Student Activities.
"Depending on the RHA's rec
ommendation, Student Activities
will consider the proposal," he
said. "Final approval is up to Dr.
Koldus."
Murray said he hopes the final
decision will be made this Decem
ber.
"We hope to move fairly quick
ly on this," he said. "Contract re
newal is coming up in March and
we need to let the residents know
what's going on by then."
Mead said it is important that
the decision is made this semester
so the residents know what to ex
pect.
"Some people will be upset be
cause they will be losing their
rooms, he said. "I hope the option
will be given to the students that
already live here to stay in the
rooms that they are in now."
Mead said the housing office
might be reluctant to have bal
cony style dorms converted to co
ed.
"We have met some resistance,"
he said. "I think the housing of
fice thinks it may be hard to get
people to live in balcony dorms,
but a lot of the students I've
talked to disagree."
Mead said that, as of a few
weeks ago, there were eight re
quests for every one space of co
ed housing available on campus.
"There is a definite need for co
ed housing space on campus," he
said.
Tamara Malloy, an agricultural economics major, camps outside
G. Rollie White Coliseum for Cotton Bowl tickets. She has been
outside the coliseum
sale today.
ROBERT /. REED/The Battalion
since 2 p.m. Tuesday. The tickets go on
Sources show N. Korea hiding building
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has
sought to camouflage a building under con
struction near a mountainside nuclear com
plex, intelligence sources said Tuesday. One
source said the concealed site could be a
weapons-grade plutonium plant.
The Western and South Korean sources told
The Associated Press that new U.S. satellite
photographs show recent construction outside*
the Yongbyon nuclear plant.
South Korean and Western officials believe
the hard-line Communist regime is trying to
conceal an atomic bomb program at Yongbyon,
despite denials by North Korean leaders and a
partial opening this year to international in
spectors.
Satellite photos show a side road into the
new site off a main road into Yongbyon has
been blocked. Trees have been planted at the
turnoff to obscure it, the sources said.
One South Korean source said a dome
shaped structure at the site was suspected of
housing a reactor to produce weapons-grade
plutonium.
The new construction had been detected by
the time the International Atomic Energy
Agency made an inspection of the Yongbyon
plant in November, but the agency's inspectors
were not yet aware of it and were not shown
the site, the sources said.
In Vienna, Atomic Energy Agency
spokesman David Kyd said the agency had
heard "nothing at all" about new construction
at Yongbyon.
The remote Yongbyon complex, with more
than 100 buildings, lies 60 miles north of the
North Korean capital, Pyongyang.
The intelligence sources said the significance
of the new construction lies in its proximity to
suspicious nuclear facilities and in "irrefutable
evidence" that North Korea kept the construc
tion secret even after pledging openness about
a nuclear program it claims is peaceful.
\ttack on plane suspends humanitarian aid
U.S. halts relief flights to Bosnia
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — The hu-
anitarian airlift to Bosnia was suspended
uesday after small-arms fire struck part of the
leering system of a U.S. Air Force transport
TLayf 'lane on its landing approach to Sarajevo.
Ul|i3 Bosnia's president urged "decisive stands"
y Islamic states to aid his country.
I The C-130 Hercules that was shot in the rud
er while approaching the Bosnian capital was
to land safely, unload its relief supplies
nd return to Zagreb, Croatia, said Peter
pC(I lessler, a spokesman for the U.N. High Com
missioner for Refugees.
Kessler said the airlift to the Bosnian capital
^as likely to remain suspended at least
hrough Wednesday while U.N. liaison officers
nvestigate the source of the shooting.
Twenty flights carrying food, medicine and
ther relief supplies were scheduled to land
[uesday in Sarajevo, but only 10 arrived before
ie airlift was suspended.
Earlier, Bosnia's army command had ac-
sed the Serbs of shelling the airport runway
vemight "with the intention of destroying the
u
radar system and thus stopping the humani
tarian flights."
More than 17,000 people have been killed in
the fighting, the Bosnian Health Ministry re
ported Monday.
Bosnia's Muslim President, Alija Izetbegov-
ic, appealed for Islamic solidarity and action at
"International resolutions
have remained empty words
and the time has come for
decisive stands."
- Alija Izetbegovic, Bosnia's
Muslim President
a conference of the 47-member Organization of
Islamic Conference in Saudi Arabia.
"International resolutions have remained
empty words and the time has come for deci
sive stands," Izetbegovic told foreign ministers
injiddah.
Saudi Arabia's King Fahd called for an end
to a U.N. arms embargo on Bosnia that has
crippled Sarajevo's defenders.
The Bosnian army commander said in a
newspaper interview that his forces were
"preparing intensively" for an offensive to
break the Serbian siege on Sarajevo, site of the
1984 Winter Games.
In an interview in Monday's edition of the
Oslobodjenje newspaper, Bosnian army chief
Gen. Mustafa Hajrulahovic said his forces
lacked materiel but were "now capable of
some offensive movement."
He refused to say when the offensive would
be launched, but that it would be "a battle of
many days in which nothing can be left to
chance."
Oslobodjenje has had to drastically reduce
production. It is often difficult to obtain copies
on the day of issue due to popular demand
and distribution problems.
Parts of Sarajevo came under heavy Shelling,
Bosnian radio reported. It said Serb artillery
was continuing "a bloody orgy of destruction."
Rescuers search West
Texas for plane crew
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
VALENTINE - Military and
civilian rescue workers searched
a West Texas mountainside
Tuesday looking for survivors of
a crash of an unarmed B-1B
bomber on a low-level night
time training flight.
Although early reports sug
gested at least one of the four-
person crew may have survived,
officials at Dyess Air Force Base
in Abilene would say only that
they had received no such word.
The crash is the fourth of the
star-crossed B-1B, which has
been criticized for its $2S0 mil
lion pricetag. The fleet has been
grounded several times, the last
coming this summer, since going
into service in 1986. There have
been problems with radar sys
tems, engine malfunctions and
deicing.
Some defense experts said
Monday's crash may raise again
the question of whether the Beet
should be grounded permanent
ly-
The plane crashed into a small
ridge between 6,185-foot Capote
and Needle peaks in a rugged
area of the Sierra Vieja Moun-
tains.
□ See related stories/Page 4
Helicopters and other military
aircraft circled the site Tuesday
while soldiers and law enforce
ment officials searched on the
ground. Rescue and disaster
teams were sent from Dyess and
Fort Bliss in El Paso.
The search was suspended for
the night at sundown because of
darkness and high winds in the
area, officials said.