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."