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