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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 1993)
The Battalion Vol. 92 No. 109 (6 pages) 1893 - A Century of Service to Texas A&M - 1993 Monday, March 8,1993 Mosher Institute could raise enough to stay open, leaders say By JENNIFER SMITH The Battalion Texas A&M's Mosher Institute for International Policy Studies, which was in danger of closing this summer because of a lack of funding, may have a brighter fu ture, said leaders of the institute and the University. Ronald Hatchett, director of the institute, and E. Dean Gage, provost and senior vice president of A&M, discussed Thursday how Hatchett the institute will raise the $132,000 it needs to meet its 1993 bud get. "There were no ab solute commit ments, but there was a recognition of the Mosher In stitute's importance at Texas A&M," Hatchett said. "We may not be entirely self-sufficient by Aug. 31, but I feel we will be much better off." Gage said he doesn't foresee the institute closing or moving from Texas A&M because it is im portant to the University. The institute previously had re ceived funds from an annual en dowment of $175,000 from the Mosher family of Houston, the in stitute's founders. However, tough economic times forced the Moshers to cut back on funding, leaving the institute in need of $132,000 before Aug. 31. Hatchett said the University currently pays $74,000 for the in stitute's salaries, operating ex penses and office space. The insti tute still needs $58,000. Hatchett and Gage will meet with the institute's board of direc tors in Houston April 6 to discuss alternative sources for funds. "We would like to establish a stability of funding," Gage said. "We will be seeking an endow ment, as well as private dona tions." "There were no absolute commitments, but there was a recognition of the Mosher Institute's im portance at Texas A&M." -Ronald Hatchett Hatchett agreed the institute will have to look to other sources for funding. "The bulk of the money will have to be raised from other sources," he said. "Any other money the University gives us is coming out of the hide of the provost's office because it was not in the budget. The provost is squeezing money from other items in the budget." Gage said he would like to give the institute funding, but it de pends on if or by how much state legislators cut the A&M budget. See Mosher/Page 3 Experts dig deeper into Trade Center explosion THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — Explosives ex perts inched deeper into the huge, bombed-out cavern under the World Trade Center on Sun day, searching for a still-missing worker and more clues about the explosion. Riding on "spider scaffolding" - the kind of portable platform used by high-rise window clean ers — investigators worked their way down the sides of the cav ern, checking the jagged edges of blown-out concrete floors for evi dence. They had yet to reach the sub basement level where much of the rubble collapsed after the bomb went off in an under ground garage on Feb. 26, killing five people. As investigators looked for dues, police dogs sniffed through subterranean debris for a trace of missing building employee Wil- fredo Mercado, who is believed to have also died in the blast. Charles Maikish, director of the center, said some reconstruction work had been delayed "to put finality on that particular issue out of sensitivity to the family." So far only one man is accused in the bombing that rocked the Trade Center's 110-story twin towers. Mohammed Salameh, 25, was arrested Thursday night and is being held without bail. Inves tigators say Salameh rented the van that held the bomb. Chemicals and bomb parts found in a storage locker in New Jersey were sent to Fort Dix, N.J., for study, but federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms spokesman John O'Brien said he didn't know the results of the tests. Published reports said the locker had been rented by Salameh, but authorities haven't confirmed that. Amid reports of inter-agency rivalries and tensions, officials of various investigating agencies gathered Sunday to plot their next steps. Mayor David Dinkins dis counted the reports of tension, and said he believed relations were good between James Fox, head of the FBI's New York of fice, and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. He shoots, he scores! RICHARD DIXON/The Battalion Brian Martinak, a marketing major and Jeff their apartment. The nice weather is expected to Willis(right) take advantage of the sunny weather continued throughout the first part of the week. Saturday and Sunday by playing basketball at Somalia blames U.S. troops of shooting citizens THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MOGADISHU, Somalia - Residents of the Hammer Jadiidi district had just finished a day of fasting when the first shots rang out. Witnesses said the ensuing firefight, involving American troops, left three people dead and two wounded. The soldiers were accused of shooting indiscriminately in the Friday night incident and fleeing without helping the injured, in cluding a 12-year-old boy who was hit twice in the back. "They came to our country and said they would save us. Now they are killing us,” said Abdi Hassan, a witness who took an Associated Press reporter and photographer to see the blood stained sidewalk and pock marked buildings. But U.S. officials defended the patrol, saying one of the two vehi cles was hit several times. "The patrol took fire. The pa trol returned fire. The patrol got the hell out of there,” said Air Force Capt. Joe Davis, a U.S. mili tary spokesman. "If any Somalis got killed, they're the ones who shot first." Colleges receive A&M namesake Regents change 3 school names By GINA HOWARD 77ie Battalion The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents voted Friday to change the names of three system universities to reflect a strong association with the A&M system. After intense and emotional debate, the regents changed the name of Texas A&I University to Texas A&M University Kingsville, Laredo State Universi ty to Texas A&M International University, and Corpus Christi State University to Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi. The changes go into effect Sept. Sen. Carlos Truan, D-Corpus Christi, a supporter of the changes, said the alterations will have a positive influence on the entire A&M system. "This is for the future of the whole University system and the state of Texas," Truan said. "We must be global in our thinking. Let's look forward." During the meeting, represen tatives from the four institutions as well as members of the board debated the issue before voting. Speakers against the name change said it would lower the value of a Texas A&M degree, but regent Bill Clayton disagreed. "Nothing means more to me than A&M, and I want to share that with other people," Clayton said. "We need to be closer to gether and share a common name. They don't want our diploma or our name; they want our support." Truan, Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D- Laredo, and Sen. Teel Bivins, R- Amarillo, wrote a proposal to change the schools' names which appeared several weeks ago as a rider attached to a state Senate appropriations bill. According to state law, the rid er does not supersede the board's authority on naming schools. The legislators said the rider repre sented a suggestion to the board. Regent William A. McKenzie said political pressure from a few state legislators has forced the board to change the names of the universities. He said the name changes do not have wide sup port at the capital. "I have been told that Lt. Gov. (Bob) Bullock sent word that if we didn't pass the name changes, he and other senate members would 'jack around' with the A&M sys tem budget," he said. "I have a file that shows Zaffirini and Tru an are the only supporters." Regent Wayne A. Showers said the Board would regret acting hastily on such an important is sue. "There are no valid and per suasive reasons for changing the names," Showers said. "I am op posed to what I believe to be a po litical and unethical extortion." The proposal to change West Texas State University to Texas A&M University - Canyon failed. West Texas will become West Texas A&M University June 1 as previously scheduled. Bret Begert, president pro temp for the West Texas student senate, said he was pleased the board voted against changing his school's name. "We get to keep our identity and still have A&M in our name," he said. Not everyone present at the meeting was pleased with the vote results.' John Wydell, president of the A&I Alumni Association, said his organization stands overwhelm ingly against the change. See Names/Page 2 Koresh refuses request to end 8-day standoff THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WACO — The leader of a reli gious cult holdup in an armed compound after a bloody battle with federal agents is becoming irritable and has rejected an offer to end the week-long standoff, an FBI agent said Sunday. David Koresh, a polygamist who has claimed to be Jesus Christ, harangues negotiators on the telephone in lengthy discus sions that include religion and his childhood, FBI special agent Bob Ricks said. Koresh says he is also con cerned that his side of the Feb. 28 raid is not getting to the, public, Ricks said. In addition, Koresh has started playing loud music at the com pound, apparently recordings of his own music, in attempt to rattle the federal agents, Ricks said. He said talks with Koresh have taken a turn for the worse. "We offered him what we thought was a reasonable com promise with an item that was of most concern to him. And the of fer included from our side was the total release of all the people inside. And that offer was reject ed," he said. Ricks did not reveal details of the deal that Koresh turned down. Clinton sub-cabinet Number of White House and sub-cabinet appointments=l 57 That is: *65% male •86% white *1 3% black *1 Asian American *6 Hispanics Average age-45 years, 10 months THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - Despite ef forts to create a government that "looks like America,” President Clinton's earliest appointments are predominantly middle-aged and male — and not much more racially diverse than the Bush ad ministration, an Associated Press analysis shows. To considerable fanfare, Clin ton appointed a broad mix of men, women and minorities to his Cabinet — the top 18 appointees. But his first wave of sub-Cabinet and White House appointees is lacks diversity, analysis shows not so diverse. In fact, the group as a whole looks quite a lot like the president. A third are fellow Ivy League graduates while 36 percent are fel low lawyers. At least nine share an even rarer academic distinction with Clinton — they're Rhodes scholars. Of the first 157 White House staffers and sub-Cabinet appoint ments announced so far: — 86 percent are white, 13 per cent are black, and just one person is Asian American. Of the group, 4 percent are Hispanic. According to 1990 Census figures, 80 percent of Americans are white. — Nearly two-thirds are men. America's population is split evenly between the sexes. — The average age of an ap pointee is 45 years 10 months. More than half of Clinton's ap pointees so far, the Cabinet in cluded, are white men 35 and old er. The Clinton administration record so far is only slightly more diverse than his Republican pre decessor. In the Bush administra tion, 87 percent of political ap pointees were white, according to the Office of Personnel Manage ment. Clinton can fill about 3,000 jobs through appointments. The posts he has filled so far, however, are the government's primary power brokers — Cabinet secretaries, their deputy and assistant secre taries, agency administrators and White House deputies. During last year's campaign, Clinton said he planned "to give you an administration that looks like America. I would be aston ished if my Cabinet and my ad ministration and my staff ... is not the most fully integrated this country has ever seen." He reiterated that pledge after See Clinton/Page 3 Mii • x : :-> : ‘ -P; :: : 'C Sports •Baseball: A&M takes two from Black Bears; record goes to 17-2 •Basketball: Ags beat Rice, destroy Owls' first place Page 4 Opinion •Pro/Con: Should Texas raise tuition for students with more than 158 hours? Page 5