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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1993)
,1993 'i in to pai nillir to II* on i 'cirnii Ot II; 'll t|; 'M'it \mer. istr. of 111 ’hid me: ^,l£ 5 ar is ar: il. n ph: ve oi strys i;an; bus!- keep when ub- I to dak de- red nds rap OT in jce use rge [in to ack on- io- Is- of- the led ing 1 5 Z5 The Battalion Vol.92 No.122 (12 pages) 1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M - 1993 Thursday, April 1,1993 Gay-insulting poem plagues College Republican meeting By KEVIN LINDSTROM The Battalion The president of the Texas A&M Col lege Republicans denied any knowledge of a poem degrading gays in the military that was passed around the chapter's Tuesday meeting with city council and student body president candidates. Mark Clements, a local businessman and a former member of the Sam Hous ton State University chapter of College Republicans, distributed the poem along with a letter discussing actions by democ ratic congressmen before the meeting. Clements said he attached the poem to his letter to amuse the people who would see it. "I wanted to show the poem to the people at the meeting because I thought it would humor them and I believe they hold the same opinion as I do - "Gays should not be in the military," he said. "I believe that the gay issue is just another part of the social agenda of political cor rectness." Phil Meuret, president of the Texas A&M chapter of College Republicans, said he would have asked Clements not to distribute the poem if he had known it was attached to the letter. Meuret said he had been given a copy of the letter three weeks ago, but it did not include the poem and he had not read it. "We agree gays should not be in the military, but no group should be made fun of," he said. "I regret that it was dis tributed, but it was an open meeting and, even if I had known about it, the only tTiing I could have done was ask him not to pass it out." "I believe that the gay issue is just another part of the social agenda of politi cal correctness." -Mark Clements College Station councilman Jim Gard ner, who attended the meeting, said he was not aware of the poem. "I guess that is one way of editorializ ing (gays in the military,)" he said. "I think it is a cheap shot." The other city council member candi dates attending the meeting could not be reached for comment. The following is excerpt is the first four lines of the 16-line poem: "Falling fairies from the sky. I broke a nail, oh, I could cry. Don't you like how my tushy sways? We are the fags of the Queen Berets." The poem continues with various ref erences to sexual acts. Clements said he received the poem from a person he met in passing and does not remember the person's name. Kim Rettig, president of the A&M chapter of Gay and Lesbian Student Ser vices, said that kind of literature encour ages hatred. "That's pathetic," she said. "It shows the immaturity within the Republican Party on campus, used to facilitate igno rance and fear." The meeting was organized as a forum for candidates for the student and city council elections. Student body president candidates Jason Arbaugh and Jimmy Stathatos attended the meeting and asked for the support of the audience. Both said they did not know of the poem until informed by The Battalion. Arbaugh said, "Whoever wrote that has the right to express their opinion, but it is sad that people are still stereotyping others." Stathatos said, "That poem was very insensitive and closed-minded. I don't have a lot of respect for him (Clements). It was blatantly unacceptable." Ku Klux Klan to hold April 24 rally in B-CS Press release invites 'white public' By JENNIFER SMITH The Battalion The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan will hold a rally April 24 in College Station for those who "stand for conservative values ... of this once- Christian nation." Grand Dragon Michael Lowe said the KKK will appear on behalf of requests from members who are A&M students. He said about a dozen A&M students are members of the KKK. "We had three rallies in February, and some members from Texas A&M were with us who suggested we have a rally in College Station" he said. Lowe said State Rep. Ron Wilson's involvement with the University inspired the KKK to target College Station. "He (Wilson) made fun of white people who asked questions when he spoke to the A&M campus," Lowe said. In a press release to The Battalion Wednesday, the organization cited gays in the military, Wilson's criticism's of A&M, Cultural Diversity Week, free speech for whites and the decline of moral values in U.S. so- dety as reasons for the public to attend the rally. Accompanying the release was a copy of a cartoon depicting Wilson as a black dog barking at the heels of a Texas A&M Corps of Cadet member's boot. This cartoon, which appeared in The Battalion last fall, was a reac tion to Wilson's disapproval of an A&M fraternity's "jungle party" at which pledges painted their faces black. Steve O'Brien, Battalion editor in chief, said the release did not place the cartoon in its proper context. In addition, the newspaper never gave the KKK permission to use the cartoon, which is copyrighted ma terial, he said. "If the KKK had contacted us about permission to use the cartoon, I would have opposed the idea because the cartoon was never intended to be racist," O'Brien said. "And I think it's obvious the KKK is a racist group." Lowe said the cartoon of Wilson was placed on the KKK's letter be cause it was the center of so much controversy. "Everyone has seen this picture, and most people reacted to it as if it were a joke," Lowe said. "But Ron Wilson made so much of it." See Klan Rally/Page 4 Student body elections continue today BILLY MORAN/The Battalion Troy Mills, a junior industrial distribution major from Rockdale, and Wednesday. Polling officials said that there seem to be more Beclcy Irby, a sophomore English major from Duncanville, share a students voting this semester than in past semesters. Elections ballot as tney cast their votes at the library in student elections continue until 6 p.m. Thursday. 'The Child is King' CBS medical analyst promotes children's health care By STEPHANIE PATTILLO The Battalion America needs to follow the Swedish motto of health care, "The Child is King," said CBS news medical correspondent Dr. Bob Arnot Wednesday night. Arnot spoke about keeping children healthy at a session open to the public at Rudder Au ditorium on the Texas A&M campus as part of a three-day conference sponsored by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. Health care and food are not privileges but rights, he said. "Without adequate nutrition. children won't have a chance to learn their ABC's or read adequately," he said. Arnot talked about the short com ings of Ameri ca's current health care system. The lack of preventative health care is one of the country's greatest problems, he said. "We need to take the child and make him first by providing Arnot prenatal care, well-baby care and immunizations for all,” Arnot said. Currently, one in five women don't receive prenatal care. The threat of health care costs is also a problem that needs at tention, he said. "We need to look at the indi vidual problems and fix them," Arnot said. He proposed to take the two to three hundred billion dollars of waste in the health care system and pay for preven tative care for young children. "We can do this without so cialized care," he said. See Medical/Page 6 Death row inmate protests sentence with hunger strike THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HUNTSVILLE — Convicted killer Gary Graham, sentenced to die for a murder committed when he was just 17 years old, said Wednes day he was on a hunger strike to protest his impending execution and what he believes is racism in the administering of the death penalty. "What I hope to gain is draw attention to the situation and hopefully people will stir the community and conscious-minded individuals in general to stand up and begin demanding the dismantling of basically two systems of criminal justice, one for the blacks and one for the whites," Graham, who has an April 29 execution date, said. Graham, 29, who is black, was convicted of killing an Arizona man, Bobby Grant Lambert, during a scuffle at a Houston supermarket May 13,1981. Lambert, who was white, was shot and robbed of change from a $100 bill he used to make a purchase. Untouched were $6,000 in $100 bills he was carrying. At his sentencing following the trial, Graham cited his youth and his troubled family history as mitigating evidence that pointed to life in See Hunger Strike/Page 4 Student body elections today; I.D. required Students can vote today from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the MSC, Sterling C. Evans Li brary, Blocker Building, Kleburg Center and Zachry Engineering Center. Voting is open to all stu dents including graduating seniors. Students need to bring their student i.d. with them to vote. The election results will be announced at midnight Thursday in front of the Lawrence Sullivan Ross statue. Ossie W. Greene '15 celebrates his 105th birthdav last November 18 with his daughter Jane March (far left) ana Association of Former Students Councilman-At-Large James G. Kimrey '58 (far right). The two other persons are unidentified. Oldest Aggie celebrates 105 years 'Old Army 7 alumnus recalls life as a band freshman in 1911 By MARY KUJAWA The Battalion Ossie W. Greene, class of 1915, once led the Fight- in' Texas Aggie Band as its captain. He reportedly is the oldest living Aggie and still has fond memories of his days at Texas A&M University. Greene, who recently celebrated his 105th birth day, arrived at Texas A&M in 1911 at the age of 23. He joined the band as a private in his freshman year. Greene rose to the position of corporal in the band in his sophomore year and to first sergeant in his ju nior year. He played first baritone. "We were limited to a total of 30 (in the band)," Greene said. "But we came up two short, and there was only 28 the year I graduated. So we had a 28- man band." As a senior, he assVimed the role of Captain, one of the highest offices in the college band. This gave the seniors in the band an equal standing with the se niors in the companies. Band officers were chosen on their ability to govern the men. It also was during his senior year that the band was moved to its own building. "The whole band as a unit was transferred to this one building," he said. "It was a very small dormi tory, and it was kind of off to itself. They put the band over there so they wouldn't make so much noise practicing." Band members were paid a nominal salary per month. "I think the first horn got $8. It seems like it was $8, $6 and $4," Greene said. The band played at games, athletic rallies, mili tary ceremonies and concerts. Greene said the band often would go on tour to entertain or to educate. They played at halls, high schools and small colleges. "We never went out of Texas," he said. "We mostly went to small towns." "Somebody in the See Old Ag/Page 4 Lifestyles •Lint: thd unrealized threat; the limitless possibilities •T-sip strikes up his three-story organ Sunday Page 3 Sports •Marco Gortana - Junior South African/Italian golfer dominates play at A&M Page 7 Opinion •Editorial: We must regulate the Santa Claus scam •Column: Elvis pick-up lines at college? Fish breasts? Page10