Vol.92 No. 119 (10 pages)
Battalion
1893 - A Century of Service to Texas A&M - 1993
Monday, March 29,1993
Court decision in Ft. Worth shooting evokes rallies, protests
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT WORTH - More than
6,000 people rallied peacefully
Sunday to protest the probated
sentence handed to a white
supremacist who was convicted in
the murder of a black man.
"There were no violent inci
dents, no arrests," said Fort Worth
Police Lieutenant Ralph
Swearingin.
Racial tensions have simmered
here since last week's decision
that gave Christopher William
Brosky 10 years' probation for his
part in planning the June 1991 dri-
ve-by shooting death of Donald
Thomas, 32, of Arlington.
Some jurors said they meant to
sentence Brosky to five years in
state prison plus 10 years' proba
tion, but they were confused by
legal wording in sentencing docu
ments. Texas law prohibits stack
ing probationary sentences on jail
terms.
Brosky, 18, had been convicted
of murder a day earlier by the all-
white jury.
The Coalition of African-Amer
ican Ministers, a group of 60 pas
tors, planned Sunday's "death
march" to signify that it is
"mourning for justice," said the
Rev. Michael Bell.
Sen. Bob Krueger, D-Texas, and
several Dallas-area lawmakers
have written U.S. Attorney Gener
al Janet Reno asking that the sen
tence be fully investigated. Also
sending letters were Reps. Martin
Frost, D-Dallas, and Pete Geren,
D-Fort Worth.
State attorney general Dan
Morales is expected to meet with
Reno as early as Monday concern
ing the case.
Justice officials said a request
for review of the Brosky case was
referred to civil rights attorneys.
Prosecutors say Brosky and two
other skinhead white suprema
cists picked Thomas as a random
victim because he was a black
man socializing with white
friends.
Regents approve
$200 fee increase
Additional charge applies to programs
in education, business administration
By JENNIFER SMITH
The Battalion
Texas A&M members of the
Diversity and Equality Coalition
'92 (DEC) want the University to
incorporate a 10-point plan for di
versity into its legislative budget,
even though officials say A&M's
diversity efforts are adequate.
Students for DEC held a press
conference in Austin Wednesday
to bring publicity to their recent
efforts to get A&M to seek state
funding for their 10-point plan.
Rep. Ron Wilson, D-Houston,
who complained about the lack of
diversity at A&M last fall, helped
DEC set up its Austin press con
ference. Joseph Gourrier, A&M's
NAACP leader, said Wilson was
chosen to help bring attention to
the diversity issue.
"Ron Wilson has been the only
one to stand up and say that we
need to do something about this,"
said Gourrier, a senior psycholo
gy major.
In a written statement. Univer
sity President William Mobley
said A&M has many programs
addressing diversity and ex
pressed his disapproval with
DEC's press conference.
"I am disappointed that this
small gr° u P °f students used this
media forum to express their leg
islative issues and to inaccurately
and incompletely report positive
actions and new strategies being
taken by Texas A&M University
and the System," Mobley said.
Gourrier said this kind of state
ment aggravates the diversity
problem at A&M.
"A&M doesn't know what the
problem is because they're so
busy saying 'We've done these
things and they're positive things'
that they lose sight of the fact that
See State funds/Page 6
By ROBIN ROACH
The Battalion
The Texas A&M System Board
of Regents approved a $200 fee
Friday for students who apply for
admission to the College of Edu
cation's teacher education pro
gram.
The College of Education re
quested the $200 fee, which will
be accessed beginning this fall se
mester, because the administra
tive costs of becoming a teacher
exceed the standard process for
regular admission to the universi
ty and the college.
The fee will cover the costs of
materials and services not nor
mally covered by state funds, but
the dean of the College of Educa
tion may waive the admission fee
in cases of financial hardship.
The Board also approved a
$200 enrollment deposit fee for all
newly admitted masters students
in the College of Business Admin
istration and Graduate School of
Business (CBA).
The CBA Master's Programs
Office requested the fee to predict
better the number of master's stu
dents granted admission who will
actually enroll at the University.
The enrollment fee will be restrict
ed to admitted applicants only
and not all applicants.
Students who have been ad
mitted for the fall 1993 semester
have until May 1 to pay the de
posit, and students admitted for
the spring semester 1994 have un
til Nov. 1,1993, to pay.
CBA Master's Programs offi
cials believe the fee will bring the
office a better estimate of the
number of sections and seats per
section needed for core classes, i
The $200 deposit will apply to
the student's tuition fees in their
first registered semester and will
be retained from students who
fail to enroll.
The regents also approved sev
eral measures to reduce costs of
A&M System institutions by re
ducing income to system schools
from the Available University
Fund (AUF).
Texas A&M University System
Chancellor Herbert H. Richardson
has been directed by the regents
to reduce AUF allocations to the
University by $4.2 million for the
1994 fiscal year.
The reduction will significantly
affect the size of the work force
within the system offices.
"Because our operation is peo
ple-intensive, unfortunately, the
only way we can reduce the bud
get further is through reductions
in force," Richardson said.
He also said decisions regard
ing personnel will be made before
Sept. 1 after a review of all system
offices is completed.
Ross D. Margraves, Jr., chair
man of the Board of Regents, said
the reduction will only affect stu
dents and student services as a
last resort.
The Board also approved the
establishment of the Crop
Biotechnology Center within the
College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences and the Texas Agricul
tural Experiment Station (TAEX).
The center will provide tools to
reduce the costs of agricultural
production, create new products,
improve product quality, reduce
production risk and eliminate
negative impacts of agriculture on
the environment.
The Board also approved a
number of construction projects
that were discussed and consid
ered during Thursday's meeting.
BIG
Event
Over 200 helped
by service project
By SHELIA VELA
The Battalion
A bout 4,500 Texas A&M
students worked to fulfill
more than 200 community
job requests Saturday during the
11th ahnual Big Event.
Nicole Newbury, a junior ele
mentary education major and di
rector of Big Event, said the pro
ject was a success.
"The students and community
cooperated really well, and the
community appreciated what
was done," she said.
Students organize and con
duct the Big Event, a one-day
community service project in
which students work on job re
quests from the public. Through
out Bryan-College Station, stu
dents painted houses, raked
leaves and mowed lawns.
Big Event kicked off at Kyle
Field Saturday morning follow
ing entertainment from the Aggie
Wranglers and a motivational
speech from former student Cliff
Dugosh.
Newbury’ said no injuries or
accidents were reported, and the
sunny weather cooperated with
the effort. "It was a beautiful day
to be working, and one or two
groups worked until 7 p.m.," she
said.
More than 20 students from
the University Tower and The
Forum helped a College Station
resident clean and sort her
garage.
Lorie Forchia, a sophomore
psychology major who was at the
site, said, "It's good when you
get together to do something un
selfish for the community. It
brings Aggies together, and I
think all Aggies should do this at
one time."
Miriam Anderson, a freshman
genetic engineering major, said
she felt good about her involve
ment in Big Event. "You learn
See Big Event/Page 3
DAWN WEINER/Stwcialto The Battalion
Freshman Rachel Shauweker uses clippers la trim was one of more than 4,500 students who
hedges at a house outside of Bryan. Shauweker participated in the Big Event Saturday.
DEC holds press conference seeking state funds
A&M hosts Thatcher
Former British Prime Minister speaks
about communism, defense budgets
By JEFF GOSMANO
The Battalion
The tactics used to defeat
Nazism and communism, the two
great tyrannies of the 20th centu
ry, should be remembered as all
nations move into the next centu
ry, former British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher said Friday in
Rudder Auditorium.
In a speech sponsored by the
MSC Wiley Lecture Series,
Thatcher, Britain's first woman
prime minister, said the world
must remember how absolute
rulers were defeated in the past.
She said nations must maintain a
strong defense while working for
Thatcher
democracy
throughout
the world.
She said
the United
States and
other coun
tries should
not scale
down defense
budgets dur
ing peacetime
because "it is
when you disarm that tyrants like
Hitler think they can beat you."
Although the United States
may not face any current military
threats, it must maintain a strong
See Thatcher/Page 3
Russian Congress unable to
impeach Yeltsin
Failed upheaval sparks rally,
support for 'people's' leader
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOSCOW — Both President
Boris Yeltsin and his chief politi
cal rival claimed victory Sunday
after surviving an attempt by the
Russian Congress to remove them
from office.
But the secret ballot by the
Congress of People's Deputies left
the country's political crisis unre
solved after a dramatic day of re
jected compromise and huge
street rallies.
"A communist coup has failed.
The people have won," Yeltsin
told thousands of cheering sup
porters outside the Kremlin after
the vote.
Waving his fist, he then led the
crowd in a chant of "Russia! Rus
sia! Russia!"
Despite the euphoria, Yeltsin is
now in the same predicament he
faced before the Congress con
vened Friday. He vowed to press
ahead with an April 25 referen
dum to resolve his power struggle
with the parliament, dominated
by former Communists who want
to slow his free-market reforms.
The parliament's electoral com
mission announced 617 legislators
cast their ballots for Yeltsin's
ouster, short of the 689 votes, or
two-thirds of the Congress, need
ed to remove him.
Only 339 lawmakers voted to
replace his rival, parliament
speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov. At
least 517 votes, a simple majority
of the 1,033-member Congress,
would have been needed to re
place the 50-year-old parliament
leader.
The vote followed Congress'
rejection of a compromise pro
posed by Yeltsin and Khasbulatov
in an effort to end their political
battle.
The compromise enraged the
legislators because it would have
eliminated the Congress — and
their jobs — in favor of a smaller,
bicameral legislature.
After the vote was announced,
the Congress adjourned until
Monday. Khasbulatov thanked
the legislators for their support
and said he was surprised by the
outcome.
"During the three years that I
have filled this post ... I thought
See Impeach/Page 5
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOSCOW — Tens of thou
sands of President Boris Yeltsin's
supporters surged through the
streets Sunday with a spirit that
evoked the defense of democracy
during the failed hard-line coup
of 1991.
Appearing before the throng
massed outside the Kremlin, an
invigorated Yeltsin declared that
"Moscow has awakened at last."
Farmers, workers, intellectuals,
priests and politicians were
among the estimated 50,000 pro
testers whose shouts of "Yeltsin!
Yeltsin!" and "Down with the
Congress!" echoed off the thick
Kremlin walls. They marched
onto Red Square behind five trac
tors decorated with pictures of
Yeltsin.
What began as an enthusiastic
rally in support of the president
erupted into a mutual display of
emotion when he appeared on a
platform at the base of St. Basil's
Cathedral while legislators voted
on a motion to remove him.
The crowd chanted his name
See Rally/Page 5
tin
Sports
•Baseball: Aggies sweep
Houston; tieclfor first
place
•Perdomo earns All-
American honors at NCAA
swim meet
Page 7
Opinion
•Pro-Con: Should students
vote for or against the
library fee in this week's
referendum?
•Squid, Snails and puppy dog
tails: that's what malicious,
modern menus are made of
Page 9