,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