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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 9, 1992)
a The Battalion was harmfj e hypothesij n g*oplasty,j was used’al thrombol;; me, researd angioplash] iS ert a balW a to a narrow d then inflate) •mbinationij sty is usedtoi teries narrow and others! lytic drugsc by breaking; rg those arteii mother stu ;ioplasty, et ter clot-bust; :oronary arte :an be risky. atior need to adds icials saidtl , they willpij n forms so( job becaustj crimination ti on to the l : '1 office, ty and adm r concerns i udy can be tmental levi rveyed cont been treatei iry matters e not giver nen in ’ . Barbara business adi red the com )1. 92 No. 71 (8 pages) ‘Serving Texas A&IA Since 1893’ Wednesday, December 9, 1992 Bpike Lee to visit Aggieland By ANAS BEN-MUSA Reporter of THE BATTALION Film director Spike Lee has verbally agreed to be the guest of honor at Texas A&M's first Texas Film Festival next spring. The fes tival is sponsored by the Memori al Student Center's Aggie Cine ma. "We will feature over 20 pro grams in the festival/'said Paul Alvaradi-Dykstra, chair of Aggie Cinema. "It will consist mainly of screenings of new films that have not been released by American in dependent and minority filmmak- | ers. Lee The main program of the festi val, which runs Feb. 25-28, w ; ll feature a retrospective of Lee's films. "Its a real coup for us to get Spike Lee right now because he has gotten such notoriety over his film about Malcolm X," said Pen ny Ditton, adviser to Aggie Cine ma. Alvaradi-Dykstra said this is the first time a major film festival has been organized predominant ly by students. On opening night, organizers plan to have Lee show and lecture on his latest film "X" — Lee's epic film about the life and times of the controversial Muslim leader, Malcolm X. "The reason we approached Spike Lee to be guest of honor at the festival is that he led the way for both independent and minori ty filmmakers in America," Al varadi-Dykstra said. "He has bro ken a lot of barriers with the films he has made. "Now with Malcolm X, it rep resents a very significant break through and very important achievement for a black indepen dent filmmaker to make a epic Hollywood production." Lee's lecture and involvement in the festival is modeled after the Virginia Film Festival, which is held at the University of Virginia, Alvaradi-Dykstra. "One of the best things about the Virginia Film Festival is that you have a chance to interact with the film directors, personally," Al varadi-Dykstra said. Aggie Cinema is hoping that the directors of the films submit ted to the Texas Film Festival will come and speak about their cre- See Cinema/Page 4 To The Batmobile! mti |l| :;J|' ' .... m ■ ^ il 11| wr w ■'v < ? llil I m, 1 f k ^ | Mill MW I W$M «1 ■' m i h zw&Wa%-$; ■ ,' r Muffin man closes stand in Blocker By TANYA SASSER Staff Writer of THE BATTALION If you walk into the Blocker Building one morn ing looking to buy a cup of coffee and a pastry, you're going to be out of luck. Despite the efforts of Texas A&M University students, faculty and staff, Rick Carabetta, propri etor of a concession stand in the Blocker Building, will no longer be selling fresh coffee, donuts and muffins because he said he is "tired of fighting the a d mini stra tion." Although the University is not forcing him to close up shop, they are making it virtually impos sible for him to continue, Carabetta said. In order to continue selling his products throughout an entire semester, he would have to be sponsored by four student groups whose mem bers would have to take turns working at the con cession stand, he said. Currently, only the Business Student Council sponsors him. **"1 would have to fiird-volunteers to work at the . table, and they would have to get health cards," he said. "Basically, it would be a complicated zoo." In a letter to The Battalion, Carabetta said he thinks Coca-Cola has a monopoly on this campus. "The local Coca-Cola dealer wrote a letter of complaint to the University because they have an exclusive concessions contract on this campus," the letter stated. "I was a fly in the ointment." Robert Smith, vice president for finance and ad ministration, said he is not aware of a letter from the local Coca-Cola dealer to the University. "We're in the process right now of trying to de termine what the facts are," he said. "We are studying the allegations made in the individual's (Carabetta's) letter to Dr. Mobley. We are trying to determine what the issues are, and it is premature to do so." Dennis Busch, administrator of concessions pol icy, said Carabetta went before the concessions committee over a year ago and asked to be ex empted from the existing policy which states that a concession must be sponsored by a University- affiliated group and cannot operate for more than five days in a 30-day period. "We were able to grant him exemption from the policy," he said. "This was based on his willing ness to abide by guidelines and on positive feed back from faculty and students." The concessions committee began questioning their previous decision when they received com plaints from the local Coca-Cola dealer, Busch said. "The committee began looking into it, and we See Muffin/Page 4 U.S. troops take capital in Somalia Navy frogmen lead advance party THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MOGADISHU, Somalia - American troops began arriving in Somalia's capital before dawn Wednesday, swiftly mov ing to seize the airport in an armed mission of mercy to feed starving millions. Under a nearly full moon, the first group of six to eight Navy frogmen came out of the sea on the beach outside the broken, shattered city ruled by the gun and reeking of decomposed bodies. "Get your hands up!" one of the men shouted at an AP re porter. Then the group slipped off into the sand dunes. A sec ond group come ashore, changed into camouflage battle fatigues and headed across the dunes toward the long single airstrip. Later, three rubber boats came ashore, and about two dozen troops poured off and walked up through the dunes into the glare of television lights. Between 50 and 75 reporters and photographers hurled ques tions at the troops, their faces smeared with black and green camouflage cream, as they walked toward the tarmac and tried to ignore the following mob. Not a shqt was fired. Although they had expected no major confrontations with Mogadi^Jiu's thousand? of armed young militiamen, the 1,800 Marines involved in the operation were taking no chances in a full-scale land and sea operation. Their orders were to defend themselves in this chaotic land, and commanders made it clear they would shoot first if threat ened and ask questions later. The Marines didn't know whether they ultimately would be fighting or feeding Somalis. And they didn't know how long they would stay, a concern shared by President-elect Clin ton. Eleven U.S. ships cruised off shore in the Indian Ocean: three amphibious ships carrying the Marines, the aircraft carrier USS Ranger, a cruiser, two tankers, and four floating warehouses. After night fell, the lights of two ships twinkled on the hori zon above a halo of light frorti foreign television crews filming at the airport, said Grant, the CARE spokesman. "This whole thing is grand theater," he said, noting that the rest of the city was blacked out. The commander of the Ma rine strike force said he had no instructions to disarm the So mali factions unless they posed a danger. Col. Greg Newbold described his mission as having "a human face on it." "Somebody dialed 911 and we came," Newbold said aboard the USS Tripoli. His troops are the advance party for an eventual deploy ment of 28,000 U.S. troops, who will be joined by soldiers from France, Turkey and Canada, among other nations. At the Pentagon, spokesman Pete Williams said the U.S. forces would drop leaflets and broadcast messages in the capi tal to explain their mission. In Advance Northside to host yell practice By CHERYL HELLER Reporter of THE BA TTALION A “beat the hell outta finals” northside yell practice will be held between Haas and McFad- den Halls tonight at 10:30. The first yell practice to en courage students to do well on final exams was held last spring when a Haas resident came up with the idea and organized the practice, said Haas Hall Resi dent Director Melissa Moore. “I think' a yell practice for fi nals is a good idea,” Moore said. “It’s a good way to relieve stress.” Bart Mitchell, social chair for Walton Hall, said he thinks the yell practice is a good idea be cause it gets students pumped up for final exams. “It’s good bull,” he said. “It gives students a study break and gets them outside for a little while.” This year’s yell practice will be led by yell leaders Ronnie McDonald, Steve Scanlon and Mark Rollins. Rollins said he is very excited about the practice. “I hope it’ll encourage every one to beat the hell outta finals, and it’s a good way to wrap up a great year,” he said. Finals Schedule any ot* ,CI " issafl our car tune-up> includes: e check distributor , hoses and :k ice y *plus ^ THURSDAY, DEC. 10 Reading day, no classes FRIDAY, DEC. 11 3 classes meeting MW 5:45 p.m. - 7 p.m. or later; final exam is 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. 3 classes meeting MWF 8 a.m.; final is 10 a.m. - noon 3 classes meeting TR 9:35 a.m. - 10:50 a v m.; final is 12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. 3 classes meeting TR 11:10 a.m.-12:25 p.m.; final is 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. MONDAY, DEC. 14 3 classes meeting MWF 9:10 a.m.-10 a.m.; final is 8 a.m.- 10 a.m. 3 classes meeting MWF 12:40 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.; final is 10:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. 3 classes meeting TR 8a.m. - 9:15 a.m.; final is 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. 3 classes meeting MW 4:10 p.m. - 5:25 p.m.; final is 3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. TUESDAY, DEC. 15 □ classes meeting MWF 10:20 a.m. - 11:10 a.m.; final is 8 a.m. - 10 a.m. □ classes meeting 3 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.; final is 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. □ classes meeting TR 3:55 p.m. - 5:10 p.m.; final is 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. □ classes meeting MWF 1:50 p.m. - 2:40 p.m.; final is 3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY, DEC. 16 □ classes meeting TR 12:45 p.m. - 2 p.m.; final is 8 a.m. - 10 a.m. □ classes meeting MWF 11:30 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.; final is 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. □ classes meeting TR 2:20 p.m. - 3:35 p.m.; final is 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. □ classes meeting TR 5:30 p.m. - 6:45 p.m. or later; final is 3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Committee fights for recognition Legislative Study Group represents A&M interests as student lobbyists By JULI PHILLIPS IULI PHILIPS/The Battalion Heather Cameron, Todd Sluder (center) and Russell Langley Reporter of THE BATTALION Behind the seemingly endless maze of cubicles in the Student Government office, a small, un sung group of students is doing powerful things. The Legislative Study Group, part of the executive branch of the Student Government, is the stu dent lobbying group of Texas A&M University. Todd Sluder, the chairman of the committee, says a lot of people do not realize what LSG is or what it is doing. "When I tell people I am part of LSG, people say, 'What's that?'," Sluder said. "No one really real izes what we deal with. » "According to Student Govern ment archives, the Legislative Study Group has had a long histo ry of lobbying for the University." Since the late 1970s, the com mittee has been helping lobby the legislature and has become in creasingly involved as more issues in the Legislature affect the Uni versity and students. This year the committee is working on issues such as the new budget for the biennium begin ning Sept. 1993, the allocations of the Permanent University Fund, and the formation of a student re gent position on the Texas A&M Board of Regents. Sluder said the group's main re sponsibility is to make sure the in terest of the University and its stu dent body is represented to the Texas legislators. "We collect data through the Aggie Poll conducted for us," Sluder said. "We then take that information, as well as our re search, and lobby in Austin to make sure the student's interests are represented."