Vol. 92
No. 124 (10 pages)
e Battalion
1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993
Monday, April 5,1993
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Judicial Board ruling denies appeal for re-vote
CRAIG FOX/The Battalion
Outcome of elections not tainted
by ballot tampering, board says
By GINA HOWARD
The Battalion
The Texas A&M University Student Government Judicial Board
unanimously denied appeals early Monday morning to conduct a re
vote of the 1993 student body elections.
Michelle Campbell, Student Government Election co-commissioner,
said this was the best ruling the board could have made.
"This was a good decision because the outcome of a re-vote would
not have been accurate because it would be different people voting,"
Campbell said.
An appeal was presented Friday to Election Commissioners Camp
bell and Michelle Cook which protested the recent student body elec
tions, specifically citing problems with the race for senior yell leader.
The appeal was filed by Brett Anderson, a junior management major,
and Michael Mason, also a junior management major.
A separate appeal was filed by Mike Healy, candidate for senior yell
leader, calling for a re-vote of the entire election.
The appeals cited the following concerns about the election process:
•The two-column format per candidate of the senior yell leader por
tion of the ballot was not easily understood.
•Due to the poor format, the Election Commission took it upon
themselves to interpret individual ballots. By erasing and remarking
ballots, the Commission violated the integrity of the election.
•Ballots were left unattended in the open Student Government of
fice.
•A violation of Article I Section IV Subsection F which states, "The
Election Commission shall post sample ballots and voting instructions
in front of all polling places."
Polling place workers in last week's election reported significant vot
er confusion on how to vote for senior yell leaders. This section of the
ballot required voters to fill in two lines on the scantron for each candi
date, but instructions were not clear, Anderson said.
See Judicial Board/Page 4
Mark Rollins (ri ght), a newly elected senior yell leader, explains his
position on whether the senior yell elections are valid. Charges were
made that the election process was improperly handled by the
election committee, and that many problems existed that may have
directly affected the number of votes that yell leaders received. The
Student Government Judicial Board found that problems existed in
the voting process that needed to be changed, but those problems did
not have an impact on the voting outcome.
Cadets appeal Election Commission fines
Student Government to determine
fairness of campaign violation penalty
By GINA HOWARD
The Battalion
A Student Government Judicial
Board hearing will be conducted
Wednesday to discuss an appeal
by twenty-five members of the
Texas A&M University Corps of
Cadets who were fined Thursday
for election violations.
Cadets who did not win their
race are not required to pay the
$25 each fine, said Jason Arbaugh,
Judicial Board chairman, but all
cadets involved are still appealing
the ruling.
"Most of them did win, but
even those who didn't are still ap
pealing on the grounds it was not
right to fine them," Arbaugh said.
"They are appealing on moral
grounds and I can respect that.
The whole reason for the process
is to try and make it fair for every
one and to allow them to appeal
whatever they think is wrong."
The Election Commission is
sued fines to cadets running for
various student offices because of
a Corps senior staff memorandum
distributed in Corps residence
halls last Monday.
The memo, signed by Will Har-
away, sergeant major of the Corps
and '93-'94 Corps commander,
listed each cadet running for of
fice and the office sought.
The fines were issued because
the Election Commission deter
mined the memo was distributed
during illegal campaigning hours.
The cadets were allowed to file
the appeal as a group to save
time, Arbaugh said.
"If it is not done as a group
then it would be 25 cadets basical
ly giving the same testimony," he
said. "If the decision is over
turned for one, it should be over
turned for all."
The fines, which are added to
each candidates total election ex
penditures, could disqualify
cadets whose total expenditure is
more that the campaign spending
limits set by election regulations.
Rick Taylor, student body pres
ident candidate and Corps mem
ber, said he is not worried about
the fine throwing him over bud
get.
"Most people have enough
money left," said Taylor. "They
(candidates) usually don't run
down to the last cent because they
know things like this do happen."
Mark Rollins, a '93-'94 senior
yell leader and Corps member,
agreed it will have no effect on
him, but could cause problems for
others.
"It's not going to affect me, but
for some of the offices with small
er budgets, it could," said Rollins
who won his senior yell leader
position Thursday. "The whole
thing is just real unfortunate. The
[cadets] who have won are being
looked at in a bad light."
He said he disagreed with
members of Corps staff who said
Thursday the fines were an attack
on the Corps.
"I don't think they (Election
Commission) were looking at it as
a Corps thing," Rollins said.
"They just really don't under
stand how we run our system.
It's kind of a penalty for being or
ganized."
Billy Dean, Corps scholastics
officer, said he is glad for the
chance to appeal.
"I am sure the process will
eventually end in justice being
served," Dean said.
President invites people to take another look at gay life
GLSS kicks off Gay Awareness Week today
By JEFF GOSMANO
The Battalion
Gay Awareness Week begins today with
the hopes of making students more aware of
issues that concern the gay, lesbian and bisex
ual community at Texas A&M University, said
Clay Kilpatrick, publicity chair of the Gay and
Lesbian Student Services (GLSS).
"The goal of this week is to show students
you can be gay and be out on this campus, and
you don't have to fear retaliation from other
students," Kilpatrick said.
Kim Rettig, president of GLSS, said this
week's activities aim to inform students that
gay life is not isolated.
"Awareness week helps invite people on
campus to take another look at gay life," she
said.
Tom Neal, the founder of the Coalition for
Gay and Lesbian Student Groups, will speak
today about gay activism on the student level.
Ellen Hobbs, former editor of The Battalion
and writer for the Texas Triangle, will speak
about journalism in the gay community, and
Laurie Thomas, president of coalition for gay
and lesbian student groups, will discuss racial
tension in the gay community.
Although National Coming Out and Na
tional Gay Awareness Week occurs in October,
GLSS celebrates Gay Awareness Week in April
to recognize its anniversary as a University-
recognized organization (1985).
A legal battle to establish a University-rec
ognized GLSS began in Feb. 1977 when mem
bers of GLSS hired an attorney to fight the
University's decision not to allow a gay and
lesbian campus organization.
After seven years of numerous appeals and
legal work, the case was heard by the 5th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals in 1984. GLSS won
the appeal, but the University appealed the de
cision and asked the U.S. Supreme Court to
hear the case.
The Supreme Court denied the University's
request, and the decision handed down by the
appellate court stood. On April 1, 1985, GLSS
became recognized as a University organiza
tion.
Activities are scheduled Monday through
Thursday and will be held in 401 Rudder at 7
p.m. For more information about this week's
activities, call 847-0321.
Candidates hustle
for runoff support
by stressing issues
By GINA HOWARD, JEFF
GOSMANO and TODD
STONE
The Battalion
The two remaining candi
dates for student body presi
dent have been working to get a
strong voter turnout for this
Tuesday's
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Taylor
runoff
tion.
Rick Tay
lor and Brian
Walker
earned the
most votes
from last
week's elec
tions, but nei
ther garnered
the 50 percent
necessary for
a victory. Taylor earned 38 per
cent to Walker's 35 percent.
Since the results were an
nounced Friday morning, both
candidates have scrambled to
maintain political momentum.
"My intentions are to get
people back out," said Taylor,
who is a member of the Corps
of Cadets. "My main priority is
to get students and student or
ganizations to vote. We had a
good turnout last time, and we
need to get those people back
out again."
Walker, who is the speaker of
the Student Senate, said he has
been meeting with students and
student organizations to spread
the word that the election is not
over. He said getting students
to vote in a runoff "is typically a
problem."
"The important thing is to
make sure we have the voter
turnout," Walker said. "I have
been hitting as many meetings
as possible trying to get the stu
dents to vote."
Taylor said
he will try to
keep students
informed of
important is
sues until the
runoff, but
there are
some cam
paign activi
ties he cannot
pursue be
cause the
runoff is so
soon.
"You can't door knock, and
do a lot of things you can do for
the main election," he said. "I
plan on answering questions
people are still wanting to
know."
Taylor and 24 other Cadets
who ran for student leadership
positions face a $25 fine issued
by the Student Government
Election Commission Thursday
because of a memo that was dis
tributed in Corps residence
halls during illegal campaign ng
hours last Monday.
The fines, which are added to
each candidates' total campaign
See Candidates/Page 6
Walker
Controversial injectable birth control now available in U.S.
Depo-Provera is a controversial form of birth control now available
for the first time in the U.S. The drug has a history of side effects.
By STEPHANIE PATTILLO
The Battalion
America's first injectable form
of birth control, Depo-Provera, is
now available to U.S. women, but
not without the controversy and
debate that has surrounded it for
the past 20 years.
Depo-Provera is a prescription
medication that provides contra
ceptive protection for three
months and is more than 99-per-
cent effective. The Food and
Drug Administration cleared it for
marketing last October after sev
eral failed attempts by The Up
john Company to make the con
traceptive available in the United
States.
Though Depo-Provera fulfills
an important need in birth control
options for women, it has a bad
history of side effects, said Dr.
Harriette Andreadis, associate
English professor and women's
studies instructor.
"Drugs that muck around with
female organs are very danger
ous," she said.
In the mid-1970s, an FDA advi
sory committee recommended ap
proval for Depo-Provera as a gen
eral contraceptive. When Con
gress raised questions about the
drug's possible links to cervical
cancer, the approval was denied.
However, questions still linger
today about the safety of the drug.
According to an article in
"Mother Jones," Depo-Provera
causes nodules in the breasts and
cancer in the reproductive organs
of animals. It causes "irregular
bleeding disturbances" that one
medical journal describes as
"menstrual chaos." It reduces the
body's resistance to infection and
causes weight gain, headaches
and dizziness in some women.
The article also stated that
Depo-Provera may cause long
term or permanent sterility. In
1971, high doses of Depo-Provera
in beagle dogs caused cancer.
Florence Steinberg, spokesper
son for The Upjohn Company,
which manufactures Depo-
Provera, said the beagle dog stud
ies were not a good model to
study the drug's effects, and it
was these studies which kept the
FDA from initially approving the
drug's use.
"The World Health Organiza
tion, UK regulatory authorities
and many others determined that
See Birth Control/Page 4
Sports
•Baseball: Aggie pitcher
breaks Southwest Conference
record for strikeouts in a
single game
•Sports Editor: Injury displays
faults inherent in spring drills
Page 7
Opinion
•Pro-Con: Which candidate
will make the best Student
Body President?
•Column: The continuing saga
of Woody Allen & Mia Farrow
Page 9