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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1993)
12,1993 The Battalion 1)1,92 No. 79 (8 pages) ‘Serving Texas A&M Since 1893” Monday, January 25,1993 " 7,19< n is to the aid. But an, "1 do scussion Former Justice Thurgood Marshall dies level of ae situa- absolute- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - Retired ;preme Court Justice Thurgood arshall died Sunday of heart jure. He was : "It was on) con- nk it was eve that id I apol- }-S.D„ a a, said he r ould di- is the na- specially up r e m e ourt spokes oman. ag immi- ur credi- that his : "You're eel very laho, had uld vote mstituent arsha 11 at 2 p.m. Bethesda aval Hospi- in the ashington iburbs, ac- tding to oni House, Marshall oman. He had been in failing health i the past several years and cit ed this as the reason for his retire ment from the court," House said, reading a hospital statement. He left the court in July 1991. Funeral arrangements were pending. Marshall, the first black justice of the Supreme Court, made his mark as a champion of civil liber ties for all. Marshall was appointed to the court on June 13, 1967, by Presi dent Lyndon B. Johnson, climax ing a career as a civil rights lawyer, appeals court judge and U.S. solicitor general. He quickly found a philosophi cal home with the court's liberal activists under then-Chief Justice Earl Warren. But the liberals be came outnumbered and remained outnumbered as the appointees of Supreme Court's first black Justice noted for achievements in civil rights presidents Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan gave the court a conservative cast. A gregarious, quick-to-laugh man before he was named to the court, Marshall became consider ably more solemn in public. His natural optimism displayed as the nation's most successful civil rights lawyer appeared to fade. Among some of the more im portant decisions written by Mar shall for the high court were those saying that shopping center own ers' rights to restrict demonstra tions were limited; that a teacher cannot be fired for speaking out truthfully on public issues; that possessing obscene material with in the privacy of one's own home cannot be made a crime. By the early 1970s, he was more often in the minority. In 1974, he dissented sharply from a ruling invalidating a plan for bus ing pupils across school district lines to achieve racial integration. He called the ruling a "giant steo backward" from the court's 1954 decision striking down school segregation, which he had won as a lawyer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He was again in the minority in 1986 when the court voted 6-3 to permit Norfolk, Va., to end the crosstown busing of elementary school students to achieve racial segregation. One of his sharpest dissents came in 1977 when the court ruled that states were under no legal obligation to pay for "non-thera- peutic" abortions for women on welfare. "I am appalled at the ethical bankruptcy of those who preach a right to life that means, under pre sent social policies, a bare exis tence in utter misery for so many poor women and their children," he said. He again dissented in 1980 when the court ruled that Con gress could severely restrict Med icaid spending for most abortions sought by poor women. In a 5-4 decision in 1972 which struck down capital punishment laws then on the books, Marshall was one of two justices who went all the way and declared that the death penalty was unconstitution al under any circumstances. The court reinstated capital punishment in 1976 and Marshall often spoke in opposition. In a 1984 speech at the New York Uni versity law school, he said the death penalty was being imposed with "startling unfairness." "The most glaring of the in equities in the administration of the death penalty concerns the race of victims and defendants," See Marshall/Page 4 steward- Lott said. Lott said. ; . . . and ?d Thurs- is agricul- o Mayor ising and ity execu- •y; former as educa- Veterans ffairs sec- Federico jency, in- ?e deputy lice Rivlin f Manage- -mer Clin- ntor to be JEN LOCKARD/Thc Battalion Chinese Student Association President Tai- Fang Wu (left), Yao-Hsien Tsai (right), Chung- Yuan Lu (back left) and Eddie Chang participate in the Lion Dance as part of the Chinese Lunar New Year held Saturday in the MSC. The students commemorated The Year of the Rooster, 1993, celebration with a Chinese food buffet and cultural events. N.C., and ■ recorded lion. Sen. o vote no Conference delivers advice By KEVIN LIND STROM The Battalion aq Faculty recalls Stark’s deeds Former MSC director remembered for accomplishments By CHERYL HELLER President ie Senate on's Cabi- other top Those who worked closely with J. Wayne Stark said he did more for students than perhaps my other fac- positions confusion i searched directions operation, about re- ress offices i in previ- quickly to osexuals in dd. An ex- d within a act Friday ixpanding his signa- ictions on ederally fi- the ban on fetal tissue LL I AMES) M. 2/22 :XA5 PM The Battalion ulty or staff member in the history of Texas A&M University. Stark, who served 33 fears as MSC director, died |an. 18 in Bryan at the of 77. He came to Texas A&M in 1947 to oversee the con struction of the MSC. • Stark "I considered him a valued counsel, adviser and friend," President William Mobley said. "He is not replaceable, and A&M was fortunate to have him for so long. His legacy will be long-last ing." Stark retired as MSC director in 1980, but he continued to serve the University as special assistant to President Mobley for develop ment of cultural programs. Jim Reynolds, current MSC di rector, said Stark had great fore sight for what students could gain from the University. "Over the years, he had some unique visions about what Texas A&M students needed, and would take advantage of, if op portunities were offered to them," Reynolds said. "His vision of the Memorial Student Center worked out absolutely on target." Stark had a tremendous inter est in international travel, said MSC Administrative Assistant Jane Bailey. "He always devoted a lot of time to students, encouraging them to travel and learn about other cultures," Bailey said. "He arranged jobs and internships overseas so that they could learn about the world firsthand." In 1959 Stark became the Texas A&M sponsor for Experiment in International Living, which along with related programs, has en abled approximately 400 Aggies to travel overseas to live and work. Stark, a retired lieutenant See Stark/Page 4 Young African-American lead ers need to remember that they owe the advantages they now en joy in education to the African- American leaders who went be fore them, said artist and poet Nikki Giovanni at the Fifth Annu al Southwest Black Leadership Conference at Texas A&M Uni versity Friday night. "I would be remiss not to re mind you that we have fought hard to get you here," said Gio vanni, an English professor at Vir ginia State University. "You must fight hard to get out." Joseph Gourrier, president of the student chapter of the NAACP, agreed. "We need to use all of the re sources available to us," Gourrier said. "That is how everyone func tions, no matter their back ground." Dr. Marilyn Kern-Foxworth, A&M professor of journalism, re members her difficulties when she attended college. "I had so many different emo tions," Kern-Foxworth said. "To day's students don't have to see the 'colored only' signs." Giovanni said, "Some of us, who are too old to do anything else but hope for you, are working very hard to open doors for you. If someone can help you, accept it graciously." Independent film maker Spike Lee has abused these advantages by misrepresenting African-American women and civil rights leader Malcolm X in his movies, Giovanni said. "Spike has held black women in the lowest possible evidence," she said. "It couldn't have been an accident that the only scene in the whole damn movie [Malcolm X] that showed a black woman doing anything, she was picked up by a white man and went down the corner. "I thought what Spike did to Malcolm was despicable and dis graceful," Giovanni said. "If you want to show what affected Mal colm X, show something real. "Spike Lee does not have an historical sense, he has a pop sense," she said. Kern-Foxworth, who will be moderating a forum with Lee dur ing Texas A&M's Texas Film Fes- Nikki Giovanni speaks at the Fifth Annual Southwest Black Leadership Conference. tival on Feb. 24, said there are go ing to be artistic differences. "I don't think you can please everyone," Kern-Foxworth said. "She is an artist, and she offers a different perspective. She didn't mention any of the positive por trayals of women in Spike's films such as Dr. Betty Shabazz, Mal colm's widow. I think it is a case of looking at a glass as half empty or half full." Giovanni, making a special plea to African-American males, said that college is better than the other options available to them. "It beats prison," Giovanni said. "It beats jail. It beats you running around saying to yourself, 'I'm bad,' and knowing inside that you are not maximizing your potential or your possibilities." France B. Brown, Jr., a work shop instructor for the conference and former A&M student, said Giovanni's comments were insult ing to him as an African-Ameri can male. He said Giovanni im plied that every African-Ameri can male not in college would commit crimes. "The sweeping indictments she made were uncalled for," Brown said. "And they were unbecom ing of Nikki Giovanni." Speaker urges blacks to promote equality By JEFF GOSMANO The Battalion If African-Americaii stu dents take an active leadership role, they can promote equali ty in the future. Dr. Patricia Russell-McCloud said Satur day at the Southwestern Black Student Leadership Confer ence banquet in Duncan Din ing Hall. Russell-McCloud, an attor ney and professional motiva tional speaker, said African- Americans need people who will encourage change and not simply wait for others to react to racial injustices. "We don't need too many more thermometers," she said. Dr. Patricia Russell-McCloud speaks on leadership at the conference last Friday. We don't need people to just register the situation. We need leaders who are going to be ther mostats who will affect the change." The African-American leaders must be confident in them selves and the changes they strive to make, she said. "We will need a leadership that will not be restrained or har nessed by self-doubt," she said. See Speaker/Page 4 Rally for Life draws crowd of 60 : GAMES) ). 2/1 0 :ice PM t side of By CYNTHIA TREVIZO The Battalion DARRIN HILL/The Battalion Dr. Haywood J. Robinson discusses pro-life issues before a crowd of about 20 people at Rudder Fountain on Friday. Aggies for Life protested the 20th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, by informing students of abortion alternatives Friday at the Rally for Life. "After 20 years of legalized abortion, I think, and I want you to remember, that a whole part of a generation has been de stroyed," said Diane Sarver from Brazos Valley Life and Family Advocates. "Never to love, never to laugh and never to experience life." Sarver said society "offers failure, suicide and self-destruc tion" and stressed that the crowd of 60 people by Rudder Fountain were "survivors" of abortions which never occurred. The rally began with the singing of Whitney Houston's "Miracle" by Shawn Sharp and highlighted speakers who gave personal testimonies. "For the next five years I car ried that guilt with me," said Martha Curtis who had an abor tion. She said her pain was eased when she gave her life to Christ and was "called" to establish Heritage House, a women's Christian maternity home in the Bryan-College Station area. Dr. Haywood Robinson, board chairman for the Brazos Valley Crisis Pregnancy Service (BVCPS), was also directly in volved in the abortion issue until See Rally/Page 4 Aspin plans for 'revolt' Secretary readies to fight military ban THE ASSOCIATED PRESS an foulc of it: abou Aspin r ear d em ategx m it: :oulc Dyee: q, n< ght. ssar} lines! ?0s/ WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Les Aspin said Sunday he wants to head off a potential "revolt” in Congress and among the Joint Chiefs of Staff over President Clinton's plan to lift the ban on homosex uals in the military. As Clinton prepared for a meeting Monday with the joint chiefs of the armed services, Aspin said "they and the military . . . have to understand that the president is deeply committed to . . . end dis crimination against homosexuals in the military." "My argument to the military is sooner or later, the courts are going to come at you on this issue," Aspin said on CBS-TV's "Face the Nation." "You can object and stonewall . . . but one of these days we're going to have, like it happened in Canada, where the court suddenly comes in and says, 'You have to — that this is unconstitutional, ,,, Aspin added. :ron$; ealh e or /esti ce o ap e re wit; ibse th it oi nt t iver l ha >ee: ead th f th ersi : in ■ in ate sh< na an lan IS ien on itu en ou on tec lo: r o w< ca se th< ns gi at I i ‘P ts m u :a :n Clinton should give the defense secretary six months to draft an ex ecutive order lifting the ban, according to a Jan. 18 draft of a memo from Aspin to the president. That time lag would "avoid an immediate debate in the Congress — a debate that is likely to be against this position," states the memo.