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No. 114 (10 pages)
The Battalion
1893 - A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993
Monday, March 22,1993
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New regents comment on position, future of Texas A&M
By STEPHANIE PATTILLO
77ic Battalion
The new members of the Texas
A&M Board of Regents are from
different cities and have different
backgrounds but have one belief
in common - the needs of stu
dents should come first.
M. Guadalupe Lopez Rangel of
Corpus Christi, T. Michael O'Con
nor of Victoria and John H. Lind
sey of Houston were appointed by
Gov. Ann Richards two weeks
ago to serve on the Board until
Feb. 1999.
Rangel, an English instructor
who has taken a leave of absence
from the Corpus Christi State
School, is the first Hispanic
woman to serve on the A&M
Board of Regents.
Rangel, 43, said she is looking
forward to working with the stu
dent body to make the A&M Sys
tem stronger.
"I will work hard as a regent to
find solutions to students' prob
lems," she Said. "I understand
students very much and have
counseled and listened to them."
Financial problems students
encounter will be another of
Rangel's focuses.
Getting through college is more
difficult today than it was 20 years
ago because of the poor state of
the economy, she said.
"More students today have se
vere economic problems than in
the past," she said. "These prob
lems are put in the classroom
when you have older students
and students who have to hold
down two jobs."
O'Connor, 38, a rancher and
the youngest board member to
date, said working toward stu
dent enhancement is a priority.
"I haven't been gone (from
A&M) all that long," he said.
"The class of '77 may seem cen
turies away, but it's only been 15
years since I was a student there.
There's been a lot of changes, and
I'd like to see more emphasis to
ward student development."
As an institution grows, often
research and development be
come the important emphasis,
O'Connor said.
"I think the University as a sys
tem and especially in College Sta
tion has to change with the times,
but not lose focus of the tradition
and what A&M's all about," he
said.
With the increasing budget
cuts at the state capitol, education
must be seen as an investment,
not an expense, O'Connor said.
"So many times when there's
budgetary problems, they (legisla
tors) look at the expense-related
and not the enhancement of edu-
See Regents/Page 2
55 About being a regent,,. 59
"I have a
"I think the
"I will work hard
knowledge of the
University as a
as a regent to find
University and I
system and
solutions to
know the players
especially in College
students' prob-
involved. Knowing
Station has to change
lems. I understand
the other regents
with the times, but
students very
well will be an
yet not lose focus of
much and have
asset to me. I think
the tradition and
counseled and
they will feel I am
what A&M's all
listened to them."
someone who can
about."
be trusted."
-M. Guadalupe
-John H. Lindsey
-T. Michael O'Connor
Lopez Rangel
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TX
Nursing
homes aided
by truancy
program
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — A new program
that offers truant public school
students the option of working at
local nursing homes has proved
successful for both the youths and
elderly residents, officials say.
The program was the brain
child of Harris County nursing
home coordinator Barbara Cow
art. In January she approached
Peace Justice Molly Maness of
Pasadena, who hears truancy cas
es.
"What was missing in this pro
gram was some young faces,"
Cowart said. "These kids have so
much energy. 1 thought, what if
you could put that energy into
positive action."
Maness agreed, and school-
children caught violating school
attendance laws now are offered
the option of after-school-hours
community service instead of
fines charged to their parents.
"It's the most bizarre thing,"
Maness said about the notion of
closing such a wide generation
gap in the name of alternative
sentencing.
But she added that it works for
everyone involved.
"They love it," she said.
Thirteen-year-old Josephine
knows why. The one-time truant,
whose real name was withheld
because she is a minor, said it's
more than a matter of good deeds
and new friendships.
Truants and nursing home resi
dents have more in common than
some people think, she said after
completing 14 hours worth of
nursing home duty.
"I'm a good listener, and that's
what these people need is a listen
er and a person who will talk to
them," Josephine said.
She said her peers also need
someone to talk to.
"They need to say, like, 'Can
we sit down and discuss all
this?"' she said.
Some nursing homes in
Pasadena, Deer Park and L^ Porte
are participating in the program,
which started Jan. 19. Since then,
18 truants have signed up.
They do chores ranging from
reading to residents and helping
Waltrip wins Shootouf
M&ii&iA-..
DARRIN HILL/Thc Battalion
Darrel Waltrip waves to cheering race fans after Waltrip, driving his Western Auto Car Supply
winning the ARCA-NASCAR Winston West sponsored Chevrolet Lumina, finished a full lap
Shootout at the Texas World Speedway Sunday, ahead of second place finisher Ken Schrader.
Communist power struggle
Yeltsin tries to
resist overthrow
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOSCOW — Russia's stand
ing legislature took the first step
Sunday toward impeaching Presi
dent Boris
Yeltsin and
possibly
putting his top
aides on trial
for usurping
power.
Coming a
day after Yelt-
-sin declared
emergency
rule in an at
tempt to si4£:
step legislative
blocks to his economic reforms,
the Supreme Soviet's action ap
peared to cement a stalemate.
Yeltsin's chief legal adviser,
Sergei Shakhrai, said earlier that
the president would not step
down if impeached.
Outside the parliament build
ing, known as the "White
House," thousands of placard-
waving protesters took to the
streets to jeer or cheer Yeltsin. A
heavy police contingent, with
more than 100 jeeps and bus loads
of militiamen in reserve, kept the
two groups apart.
No violence was reported.
Defense Minister Pavel
Grachev called for a compromise
in the fight over dividing up gov
ernmental powers and promised
the army would stay out of the
dispute. But he warned that "tem
pers are running high" in some
units, especially in the Moscow
Military District.
"Any attempt to split the army
forces could lead to bloodshed,"
Grachev said at the emergency
session of the legislature, which is
dominated by Communists elect
ed before the Soviet Union col
lapsed.
Yeltsin's chief rival, parliament
speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov, and
other political opponents accused
the president of usurping power
and leading the nation toward
civil war.
See Yeltsin/Page 6
Yeltsin
More cult releases
FBI sees freeing of 7 members as sign
of improving negotiations with Koresh
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WACO — At least seven more
Branch Davidian cult members
left the group's armed compound
Sunday, a quickening tempo of
releases that the FBI said is a posi
tive sign.
"The quicker it picks up, the
better the situation is, and we're
getting more and more out," said
FBI agent Richard Swensen as
word spread that two more
women left the -compound about
11 a.m. Sunday.
Rita Riddle, 35, and Gladys
Ottman, 67, were whisked away
in a red car to McLennan County
Jail. One of the women acknowl
edged a row of news reporters
with a slight smile as the car sped
by. They refused to comment to
reporters upon arrival at the jail.
About 2:30 p.m., James
Lawten, 70; Sheila Martin, 46; and
Ofelia Santoyo, 62, left the com
pound, said FBI special agent
Sharon Smith. As with previous
releases, they were escorted by
federal agents and a state troop
er's car and also were taken to the
jail.
Earlier, about 12:30 a.m., Vic-
torine Hollingsworth, 59, and An-
netta Richards, 64, left the com
pound, Swensen said. Ms.
Hollingsworth was taken to Hill-
crest Baptist Medical Center for
an examination because of an ex
isting heart condition, Swensen
said.
"I think they (cult members)
See Releases/Page 2
Houston officer shot
twice while at desk job
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — A police officer
shot twice in the head while
working a desk job for a sick col
league remained in critical condi
tion Sunday, authorities said.
Dan Vaughan, 36, a 10-year
veteran with the Houston Police
Department, was shot in the fore
head and jaw with a .380-caliber
pistol Saturday by a man who
opened fire at the South Central
Police Substation.
The man walked into the sub
station, calmly asked to see a su
pervisor and then shot Vaughan
With a gun he had pulled from a
backpack. He fled the station, but
was arrested a few minutes later.
Charges against the 22-year-
old suspect were pending, police
said.
"I don't think (Vaughan) ever
had a chance to reach for his gun.
He was holding some paper
work," said Sgt. J.E. Zitzmann.
Vaughan underwent surgery
Saturday at Ben Taub Hospital,
where he remained in critical con
dition Sunday. The shooting oc
curred shortly before noon.
Houston Police Department
spokesman John Leggio said the
gunman had asked to see a lieu
tenant, and one of the two female
officers in the front office called a
See Officer/Page 2
Perot returns to television
Sports
•Baseball: A&M takes 2 out
of 3 in first conference
series at TCU
•NASCAR/ARCA Shootout
results
Page 7
Opinion
• Pro/Con: Should 10
minute AIDS testing
standard be implemented
as procedure?
• Whitley retells 'Quack
Shack' woes, recovery
Page 9
Businessman seeks
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Ross Perot
returned to prime-time TV Sun
day, urging Americans to vote for
deficit reduction and government
reform — and to join the expand
ing rolls of his national political
organization.
Billionaire Perot distributed
more than 30 million ballots in ad
vance of the 30-minute "national
referendum" he paid to air on
NBC. Leaders of his United We
Stand America group organized
events nationwide to help fill the
mails with a positive response.
Given those efforts, the sur
vey's unscientific nature and the
tone of Perot's questions, no one
national support of
should be surprised if the public
gives Perot's agenda a resound
ing, "Yes!"
Even as they criticized the for
mat, the political parties and ana
lysts were watching closely, still
fascinated by the man who sent
the 1992 race into so many con
founding turns.
"The Perot people are still
holding as a group," said Presi
dent Clinton's pollster, Stanley
Greenberg, although he said a
majority support Clinton's eco
nomic program.
Worried that Perot might at
tack Clinton's initiative, the De
mocratic National Committee sent
a memo to leading Democrats last
week urging them to respond
quickly to any criticisms.
UWSA's agenda
But, as has been his trademark
since the election, Perot aimed
most of his barbs at Congress.
"Watch Congress: they talk
about savings but what they want
to do is spend," Perot said in a
transcript of the program refeased
by his office. "They treat money
like it falls out of the sky. But it
comes from hard-working peo
ple." '
With his trademark charts and
folksy twang, Perot promoted the
staples of his agenda: campaign
finance and lobbying reform; a
balanced budget amendment; and
cuts in staffs, salaries and perks in
Congress and at the White House.
Perot's format was denounced
See Perot/Page 5