The Battalion
Vol. 92 No. 104 (8 pages) 1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993 Monday, March 1,1993
Notes on Koresh
(AP)—The leader of the
Branch Davidian religious
sect, born Vernon Howell,
changed his name to David
Koresh in 1985.
Some accounts said
Howell, 33, changed his name
to advance his music career.
But during a rambling
interview with CNN Sunday
night, Howell said Koresh was
the Hebrew name of Cyrus,
the Persian king commanded
to overthrow Babylon in the
Old Testament.
“Of course the nature of
that prophecy is that God said
he surnamed him," Howell
said. “It's a family name and
it says don't argue with your
rnother and your father. So we
believe that our god is male
and female."
Cult standoff leaves 4 federal agents dead
Waco newspaper uncovers
story of local religious sect
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WACO — Two gun battles
erupted Sunday as more than 100
law officers tried to arrest the
leader of a heavily armed reli
gious cult. At least four federal
and two cult members, including
a child, were killed in the
shootouts.
As the ensuing standoff neared
12 hours at 9 p.m., two children in
the cult's compound were re
leased after a statement was read
on an area radio station. Two
more children were released an
hour later, followed by two more
around 11 p.m. and two toddlers
shortly after midnight. The eight
children were taken to a com
mand post about a mile from the
compound.
The battles began when federal
agents hidden in livestock trailers
stormed the main home of the
sect, witnesses said. The agents
had warrants to search the com
pound for guns and explosives
and to arrest its leader, Vernon
Howell, said Les Stanford of the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms in Washington.
ATF spokesman Jack Killorin
in Washington said the cult re
ceived a telephone tip just as the
agents were moving into place.
"We have reports that there
was a phone call as the operation
was moving into place," he said.
"There was subsequently a state
ment from Mr. Howell that the
ATF and National Guard were on
the way."
Killorin said the agency had
undercover agents monitoring
"statements and attitudes within
the camp," and levels of tension
were increasing.
He said the agency had infor
mation some members had want
ed to leave, but were being kept
against their will.
"Increasingly they posed a
threat both within and without
the compound," he said.
Four federal agents were killed
in the assault that began about
9:30 a.m. One sect member killed
also was reported killed in the en
suing 45-minute shootout.
Then about 7 p.m., three mem
bers of the Branch Davidian sect
came out of the compound armed
See Standoff/Page 3
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WACO — A newspaper's deci
sion to publish stories about a reli
gious cult that battled with 100
heavily armed lawmen Sunday
followed inaction on the part of
local officials, the newspaper edi
tor said Sunday.
Bob Lott, editor of the Waco
Tribune-Herald, said that after
eight months of investigation the
newspaper decided to begin print
ing a seven-part series about the
Branch Davidians sect on Satur
day.
Sunday morning, as the second
installment was being read in
Waco homes, law enforcement of
ficers moved in on the cult's com
pound. At least four agents from
the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobac
co and Firearms were killed and
14 other agents were injured at the
sect's compound, east of Waco.
Ducking bullets were four
newspaper reporters, a photogra
pher and two television newsmen.
The photographer's car and a TV
van were hit and the van served
See Newspaper/Page 3
Flag Guard marches to Military Review
RICHARD GARCIA/Special to The Battalion
Members of the Flag Guard march across the Quad on their way to Duncan Field. The assault "rescued" Corps Commander Matt
Kyle Field for Military Review on Saturday. The review was part of Michaels from the Student For Change organization.
Military Weekend that began on Friday with the Air Assault on
Faculty wages up 2
By MELODY DUNNE
The Battalion
Faculty salaries at Texas public
universities increased an average
of 2.1 percent last year for profes
sors and associate and assistant
professors, according to a survey
by the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board.
On average, the first three aca
demic ranks now earn $46,201 an
nually, up from $45,254 in the
1991-92 school year.
Dr. James Morgan, deputy
speaker of the faculty senate, said
the increase in salaries is low con
sidering the cost of living increase
Was greater than the raise.
Salaries have not risen during the
last decade because of Texas' eco
nomic woes, he said.
The average budgeted faculty
salary for professors at Texas
A&M University for nine months
in 1992-93 was $62,764. The high
est budgeted salary and the low
est budgeted salary for this period
are $159,876 and $30,582, respec
tively.
The University of Texas' aver
age budgeted salary was $70,295
for professors, and their highest
and lowest budgeted salaries for
this term are $195,312 and
$29,767.
Morgan said most likely there
will not be any substantial raises
during the next few years because
the Legislature cannot afford to
give raises while the Texas econo
my is slow.
Dr. Jerry Gaston, executive as
sociate provost, said the 2.1 per
cent increase is the average in
crease paid to professors, assistant
professors and associate profes
sors. It does not include people
.1 percent in Texas
Highest average salaries of professors and
associate and assistant professors in Texas
University of Texas
$57,224
Texas A&M University
$51,280
University of Houston $50,763
University of Houston-Clear Lake $45,813
Texas Tech University $45,571
University of Texas at Arlington $45,087
JENNIFER PETTEWAY/The Battalion
who changed rank. from A&M's peer institutions,
A study completed annually by schools comparable to A&M in
the Office of Planning and Institu
tional Analysis compiles data See Salaries/Page 2
Trade center closes
in bomb aftermath
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK - The World
Trade Center bomb blast will shut
it down for at least a week, offi
cials said Sunday as foreign
banks, shippers, law firms and
other tenants scrambled to set up
shop elsewhere.
New York's neighboring com
modity exchanges planned to re
open Monday, however, under a
special exemption from safety offi
cials. But all other businesses in
the landmark 110-story twin tow
ers needed to relocate under des
perately short notice.
Fifty-thousand people work at
the complex which gets an aver
age of 80,000 daily visitors. Like a
vertical city at Manhattan's south
ern tip, it's become critical to the
region's economy, with commer
cial tentacles that extend around
the globe.
The cost of the damage, reloca
tion, and lost business was impos
sible to ascertain Sunday. Many
businesses spent the weekend try
ing to grapple with the damage
caused by Friday's noontime ex
plosion in an underground park
ing garage. The FBI said Sunday a
bomb caused the blast, but would
not speculate on who detonated
the bomb, or why.
The blast killed five people, in
jured more than 1,000 and
knocked out the center's emer
gency command center.
FBI verifies cause
of building blast
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK - The FBI con
firmed Sunday that a bomb
caused the explosion at the World
Trade Center.
James Fox, head of the New
York FBI office, said agency ex
plosives experts came to that con
clusion. "It was their opinion that
it was caused by a bomb," he told
WCBS-TV.
Also Sunday, Police Commis
sioner Raymond Kelly told a
news conference that there had
been 40 telephone calls claiming
responsibility for the blast noon
time Friday in the 110-story twin
towers.
Professor says women
must crack 'glass ceiling'
By MATARI JONES
The Battalion
Women have a tougher climb
up the corporate ladder than men
because men are groomed from
birth about
the "do's"
and
"don'ts" of
corporate
America,
said Dr.
Marilyn
Kern-Fox-
worth,
Texas
A&M University journalism pro
fessor.
Kern-Foxworth said the people
a person associates with can make
a difference in his or her career,
an advantage men seem to have
over women.
"Men tend to socialize with
people who can make a differ
ence," she said. "They socialize,
go play golf and transmit infor
mation to and from each other
while women socialize with peo
ple who are not in a position to
make decisions and make a differ
ence."
Kern-Foxworth said women
need more formal and informal
mentors to teach them the unwrit
ten rules and guidelines of the
business world. This is why
women do not advance to top ex
ecutive positions, she said.
Tawny Britton, president of the
A&M chapter of the National Or
ganization of Women, agrees.
"The labor force is separated
by barriers from society," she
said. People are taught that girls
do one thing and guys do another,
she said.
This phenomenon is called, the
"glass ceiling" - a superficial bar
rier which systematically prevents
women and people of color from
climbing from one level to a high
er one in corporate America.
There are two consequences for
women who cannot crack the
glass ceiling.
On one hand, women are
thrust toward becoming entrepre
neurs, so they can become their
See Ceiling/Page 2
International Week
Campus organization invites students
to 'Discover the World at Texas A&M'
Future of Russia draws speculation
Former ambassador says military may take over country
By CHERYL HELLER
The Battalion
Celebrating the diversity of dif
ferent cultures at Texas A&M Uni
versity, the International Students
Association kicks off its 14th an
nual International Week today.
Tim Debysingh, vice president
of programs for the International
Students Association, said "This
Week gives international students
3 chance to show off their cultures
3nd gives Americans a chance to
see how different they really are."
Under the theme, "Discover
the World at Texas A&M," Inter
national Week activities begin
with a planned opening ceremony
in the MSC Flagroom featuring
speeches and musical perfor
mances.
The mayors of Bryan and Col
lege Station also plan to present a
proclamation declaring March 1-6
as International Week.
More than 45 campus organi
zations will hold craft and art dis
plays in the MSC today from 11
a.m. to 7 p.m. and Tuesday from
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Money for
See Relief/Page 2
Inside
Sports
•Basketball: Lady Aggies
bounce past Baylor
•Baseball: Aggies sweep UT-
Pan Am, improve record to
14-0
Page 5
Opinion
•Pro-Con: Should the U.S.
cut funding for the Space
Station
•Ageless woman fends off
test of time
Page 7
By KEVIN LINDSTROM
The Battalion
The Russian military may take
control of its country in an at
tempt to restore order in Russia,
said a former U.S. arms negotia
tions ambassador Saturday at the
conference for the Southwest As
sociation of Slavic States.
Dr. Richard Staar, former am
bassador to the Mutual and Bal
anced Force Reduction negotia
tions between the U.S.S.R. and the
U.S. from 1981 to 1983, said "The
Russian military may see itself as
the only group capable of main
taining order in Russia.
"My feeling is that maybe the
armed forces will take over," he
said. "They've got a monopoly of
the instruments of mass violence.
If the military takes over, I don't
think they are capable of running
the country, but they could hold it
together for a certain period of
time."
Dr. Roger Reese, associate pro
fessor of history at Texas A&M
University, said there was a low
probability the military would im
pose its will on the country.
"I see a long list of possibilities
and a military dictatorship is low
on that list," he said. "There are a
lot of people who say they know
the way to keep Russia together.
The military is just one of them."
Staar said because the Yeltsin
government seems unable to
maintain public confidence the
opportunity for the military to
take control of Russia may ap
pear.
"The armed forces are not nec
essarily committed to the agenda
of the government in power," he
said. "The highest military lead
ers publicly say they will support
the government in power, but
when senior officers in the field
See Russia/Page 2