The Battalion
Vol. 92 No. 108 (8 pages) 1893 - A Century of Service to Texas A&M - 1993 Friday, March 5,1993
U.S. sergeant faces charges for shooting 17-year-old Somali
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOGADISHU, Somalia - The
first court martial hearing of Op
eration Restore Hope began
Thursday in a dusty, flyblown
room where Sgt. Harry Conde
faced charges for shooting a 17-
year-old Somali who snatched his
sunglasses.
Conde, a 13-year veteran born
and raised in San Juan, Puerto
Rico, could be charged with the
military equivalent of an aggra
vated assault for wounding the
teen-ager as well as a bystander
hit by buckshot from Conde's
un. If the court martial proceeds,
e could face up to 10 years in
prison.
A power generator provided a
droning background to the testi
mony from nervous Marines in
the room at Mogadishu's airport.
Their words frequently were blot
ted out by the roar or planes tak
ing off and landing.
Capt. Chris Wesely, the investi
gating officer, sat behind a bat
tered table. Only a few folding
metal chairs were available, so
some spectators sat on wooden
drawers turned on their sides.
Sheets of bare plywood served as
a partition.
This was not the sharp-creased
world of "A Few Good Men," the
movie, starring Jack Nicholson
and Demi Moore, about two
Marines court-martialed for the
death of another Marine.
There wasn't a dress-blue uni
form in sight Thursday.
The Marines wore their bat
tered camouflage fatigues with
sleeves rolled up and sand-col
ored boots, standard issue of the
Somalia relief mission that began
Dec. 9.
The courtroom Marines lacked
cinematic bravado: They were
nervous, uncomfortable men who
had to be told often to speak up.
There's no dispute that Conde
shot a youth, identified only as
Omar, who grabbed the soldier's
sunglasses through the window of
a moving Humvee military vehi
cle that was returning to the air
port.
At issue is whether Conde fired
on the spur of the moment, fear
ing for his safety, or if the shot
came as Omar was fleeing and
was fired in revenge.
Omar, hit in the abdomen by
several pellets, was treated at a
Swedish field hospital but later
vanished. No one is even sure he's
still alive.
Aggies observe
Lent, Ramadan
to honor God
By BELINDA BLANCARTE
The Battalion
Many Texas A&M University
Catholic and Muslim students
are celebrating their traditional
religious holidays despite the
fast-pace of college life.
Catholic students observe the
40-day Lent season while Muslim
students fast during the month of
Ramadan.
Both holidays are celebrated to
bring members of each faith clos
er to the god they worship
through fasting and prayer.
Ash Wednesday, Feb. 24, be
gan the Catholic Lenten period
that continues through the day
before Easter called Holy Satur
day. The season is celebrated
through fasting, prayer, study
and worship.
Carol Riedel, president of the
Catholic Student Association,
said, "It's a time of reflection, to
see what worldly things we de
pend on. We give them up and
depend on Goa."
Lent does not include the six
Sundays between Ash Wednes
day and Easter, the Christian cel
ebration of Jesus Christ's resur
rection.
"Each Sunday is supposed to
be like Easter, and we don't
mourn Christ's death," Riedel
said.
Magdalena Pala, Catholic Stu
dent Association adviser, said
Lent is a special time for Catholic
people.
"Lent is a preparation for the
most significant time - Christ's
death and the resurrection," she
said.
Although fasting for Lent does
not require people to stop eating
or drinking, people observing it
abstain from eating meat on Fri
days and give up other luxuries.
"If you give up something you
really enjoy, you are recognizing
that you are a sinner and are giv
ing that up for Christ," Pala said.
"The death of Christ occurred on
Friday, and meat was always
considered a luxury."
Traditionally, people give up
some material things during Lent
See Aggies/Page 3
Five heads are better than one
JOSEPH GREENSLADE/The Battalion
Gail Colby, a graduate student in anthropology Thursday afternoon. The skulls are actually plaster
form College Station, displays and discusses four castings made from real human skulls,
skulls from the genus Homo in Anthropology 202
Former student hangs himself in Walton Hall
Freshman violated housing regulations
by residing on campus after suspension
By GINA HOWARD
The Battalion
A former Texas A&M Univer
sity student who was still living
in a Northside residence hall com
mitted suicide by hanging himself
in his room Wednesday night.
The former student, who was
suspended after one semester,
was found by his roommate in
Walton Hall shortly after 11 p.m.,
said Bob Wiatt, director of Uni
versity police. Wiatt declined to
reveal the student's name.
Justice of the Peace Carolyn
Hensarling pronounced the death
a suicide early Thursday morn
ing.
Wiatt said an autopsy was still
conducted as a routine require
ment for any death by unnatural
cause.
The results of the autopsy will
be released today.
"We do these things to be sure
someone can't come out later and
say it was a different cause of
death," he said. "Parents some
times have trouble thinking their
child could kill themselves."
The former student had been
suspended from the University af
ter fall 1992 but had moved back
into Walton Hall in January.
Wiatt said he was likely pre
tending to be a student.
"Maybe he was just trying to
act like everything was still OK,"
he said.
Bill Kibler, an associate direc
tor of student affairs, said former
students have lived in the resi
dence halls before even though
they were no longer enrolled.
In many cases, students were
seeking readmittance, but Kibler
said this was not the case with the
former student.
"He was well aware that he
was not a student, and that he
was not going to become one,"
Kibler said.
Student Affairs learned several
days ago the former student was
living in the residence hall against
University regulations.
Kibler said his office was in the
process of taking steps to resolve
the situation.
Student counseling services
will offer counsel to those Walton
residents who request it.
Dr. Wade Birch, director of stu
dent counseling services, said two
members of his counseling staff
See Student/Page 3
FBI makes arrest
for N.Y. bombing
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK - A man de
scribed as a follower of a radical
Muslim cleric was arrested Thurs
day in last week's World Trade
Center bombing when he coolly
tried a third time to reclaim a
rental deposit on a van wrecked
in the blast.
Other suspects were being
sought. Law enforcement sources
said the bombing appeared to be
a terrorist act.
Papers that the suspect pre
sented the rental agency were
covered with nitrates, a govern
ment source, speaking on condi
tion of anonymity, told The Asso
ciated Press. Nitrates are found in
some explosives; traces of nitrates
were found at the blast site.
The arrest was a sudden, major
break in the most notorious U.S.
bombing in years. Just a day earli
er, the FBI had said it could take
months to crack the case.
Friday's enormous blast in a
garage beneath the twin towers
killed five people, injured more
than 1,000, left one missing and
sent fear through the nation's
largest city. The 110-story towers
— the world's second-tallest
buildings, home to hundreds of
businesses with thousands of
workers — aren't expected to re
open for a month.
WNBC-TV in New York identi
fied the suspect as 26-year-old
Salama Mohammed of Jersey
City, N.J., but the station wasn't
sure exactly how the name was
spelled. His arraignment, initially
scheduled for Thursday evening
in New York City, was post
poned.
The arrest came after an army
of investigators spent the past
week combing through piles of
rubble at the blast site, fielding
thousands of phone calls and pur
suing scores of leads. Detectives
systematically checked garage
payment stubs and viewed video
tapes of entering vehicles.
Investigators turned up
charred pieces of the rental van
around the perimeter of the blast
site, indications that the van
might have held the explosives, a
source said on condition of
anonymity.
The suspect had rented the van
from a Ryder truck agent in Jersey
City on Feb. 23 and returned less
than two hours after the explosion
Friday afternoon to say it had
been stolen from him in Jersey
See FBI/Page 8
Corps conflict
Professors disagree about in-house
investigation of sexual assault charges
By GINA HOWARD
The Battalion
Philosophy and political sci
ence professors offer different
points of view about whether the
Texas A&M Corps of Cadets has a
conflict of interest in its internal
investigation of sexual assault and
sexual harassment charges.
Some professors say the Corps
is properly handling an internal
problem while others say it is in
vestigating and judging on a mat
ter in which it cannot be impartial.
Dr. Peter A. French, professor
of philosophy and ethics at Trinity
University, said an organization
cannot serve as its own judge and
jury and remain impartial.
"A standard principle of Amer
ican justice, or any law, is the
principle of judiciality," he said.
"This says you can't be a judge in
your own case."
A female cadet, whose name
has not been released, filed a com
plaint with the University Police
Department Dec. 14, 1992, stating
she had been sexually assaulted
last April and sexually harassed
this fall by a senior member of the
Aggie Band. She did not file crim
inal charges.
Following the complaint, the
Corps initiated its own investiga
tion and hearing.
Dr. Judy Baer, associate profes
sor of political science at A&M,
said a conflict of interest may ex
ist, but since the female cadet has
not pressed charges, the investiga
tion can stay within the Corps.
"These complaints go through
University grievance procedures
first and then if the victim is will
ing to bring a case, only then will
the case necessarily go outside."
French said both the female
cadet and the accused male cadet
are at a disadvantage if the judge
has an interest in the investiga
tion's outcome.
"In any case, there must be sep
aration between the litigants,
which are the disputing parties,
and the persons making the judg
ment," he said.
He said although the Corps
may conduct a fair and impartial
investigation, the appearance of
bias exists.
"Because the Corps clearly has
an interest in the outcome, this
suggests suspicions of bias or lack
of impartiality," he said.
However, Dr. Paul Thompson,
professor of philosophy at A&M,
said the Corps' investigation is
not a source of bias.
The Corps has an internal re
view policy that makes judgments
about cadets and Corps policies,
he said.
"I'm not sure there's a conflict
See Corps/Page 2
Gov. Richards names three new A&M regents
21 student leaders demonstrate support
for non-voting student regent position
By GINA HOWARD
The Battalion
Gov. Ann Richards announced
Thursday the appointment of
three new regents to the Texas
A&M University System Board of
Regents.
M. Guadalupe Lopez Rangel of
Corpus Christi, John H. Lindsey
of Houston and T. Michael O'Con
nor of Victoria should begin serv
ing immediately upon confirma
tion by the Texas Senate, said Dr.
E. Dean Gage, Texas A&M Uni
versity senior vice president and
provost.
"They will probably begin
serving before the next meeting in
March," he said. "It depends on
how quickly the Senate acts."
The new regents will replace
William A. McKenzie of Dallas,
Douglas R. DeCluitt of Waco and
Wayne Showers of McAllen.
Their terms expired Feb. 1.
Gage said he was pleased with
the appointments whose terms
will run until Feb. 1,1999.
"1 have the utmost respect for
them," he said. "I believe they
will provide the kind of leader
ship that Texas A&M needs. We
are pleased to have them and
think they will be extremely effec
tive."
Richards said in a prepared re
lease that the three regents are
ready to handle the challenges of
the A&M System.
"All three have a proven com
mitment to higher education in
Texas, and they understand the
budget constraints this state is op
erating under in 1993," she said.
Rangel, 43, has taken a leave of
absence as an English instructor
from the Corpus Christi State
School. She earned a bachelor's
degree from the University of
Houston and a master's degree
See Regents/Page 3
By REAGON CLAMON
The Battalion
University student leaders
from across the state testified be
fore the state's higher education
committee Wednesday night to
help keep alive a bill that will cre
ate a non-voting student position
on the Texas A&M Board of Re
gents.
Steve Beller, Texas A&M stu
dent body president, joined 20
other students to demonstrate
their support for the bill. Beller
also spoke before the committee.
Todd Sluder, chairman of
Texas A&M University's Legisla
tive Study Group, also attended
the committee hearing and said
the representatives seemed recep
tive.
"There were a few representa
tives who voiced concern," said
See Leaders/Page 4
Inside
Sports
•Baseball: 'BT' carrying big
stick for A&M
•Volleyball: Corbelli chosen
to replace Givens
Page 5
Opinion
•Abracadabra! Budget plan
magic: Numbers don't lie but
Clinton's smoke, mirrors do
Page 7
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