The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, April 08, 1993, Image 1

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    The Battalion
Vol. 92 No.127 (10 pages) 1893 - A Century of Service to Texas A&M - 1993 Thursday, April 8,1993
Gov. Richards cancels all
classes for Good Friday
By GINA HOWARD
| The Battalion
NO SCHOOL FRIDAY!!!
I All Texas A&M University classes, labs and lectures are canceled
in accordance with a resolution signed by Gov. Ann Richards to ob
serve Good Friday.
Richards signed the resolution Wednesday which declared Fri
day an official holiday for all state employees.
All campus dining centers will be closed with the exception of
the Commons Dining Center. Golf Course Snack Bar, Hullabaloo
in the MSC, and Billy Mac's in Hasterwood Airport will also be
open.
Parking, Transit and Traffic's Shuttle Bus Operations will run a
holiday schedule.
Two Dial-a-Ride buses will run from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. for on-
and off-campus service. A special services vehicle will be available
for persons requiring a wheelchair lift.
To request Dial-a-Ride, call 847-RIDE.
The Sterling C. Evans Library will be open Friday, but hours of
operation were not determined at the time of publication. The
hours will be released today.
Richards' resolution contained a provision stating an exception
to the holiday for any employees providing "essential services."
E. Dean Gage, senior vice president and provost, released a
memorandum to all deans and provosts that said the Health Center
and the College of Veterinary Medicine will remain open to con
duct "clinical service responsibilities."
Any employees required to work will receive equal time off at a
later date.
The Battalion will not publish Friday
The Battalion will not publish Friday because Gov. Ann
Richards signed a resolution Wednesday declaring Friday a holi
day for all state employees.
The Battalion will resume publishing Monday.
Hillary Clinton's father
dies from stroke at 82
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Hugh
lodham, father of first lady
■Hilary Rodham Clinton, died
Wednesday night, three weeks af-
|ter suffering a stroke. He was 82.
The retired Cnicago-area busi
nessman was stricken on March
19. Clinton, 45, spent the first 16
lays of his hospitalization in Lit-
leRock, returning to Washington
Dn Sunday.
Clinton had missed several
neetings of her health care task
force to be at her father's bedside
at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical
Center, and the White House said
early this month the task force's
report would be delayed beyond
its May 3 deadline because of her
absence.
Clinton, 45, was the eldest of
three children of Rodham and his
wife, Dorothy. The Rodhams also
had two sons, Tony, 38, and Hugh
Rodham Jr., 42. Both live in the
Miami area, where Tony is a pri
vate investigator and Hugh Jr. a
Dade County assistant public de
fender.
Rodham retired in 1970 from a
small textile business he owned in
Chicago, making draperies for ho
tels and other clients. He and his
wife moved to Little Rock in 1987
to be close to their daughter and
her family.
Friends and family remem
bered Rodham as a gruff but lov
ing and proud father.
In a profile of his daughter.
The Washington Post said that
when she would bring home lots
of A's on report cards, the family
joke was that he would grunt,
"You must go to a pretty easy
school."
The Rodhams were active in
their church and Republican poli
tics.
Their daughter took up more
liberal politics after going away to
school at Wellesley College in
Massachusetts.
Supreme Court not for Cuomo
New York governor withdraws from consideration for vacancy
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Mario Cuomo formally
withdrew Wednesday from consideration for
the upcoming Supreme Court vacancy before
President Clinton had narrowed his list of
prospects.
In a letter to Clinton, Cuomo said wanted to
remain as governor to help New York's eco
nomic recovery. He said staying in the political
world would allow him to "Continue to serve
as a vigorous supporter of the good work you
are doing for America and the world."
The letter was sent to confirm an earlier
telephone conversation with Clinton.
Clinton refused earlier in the day to confirm
reports of the withdrawal, but said, "I think
he's terrific."
Cuomo's decision, which Newsday said
was forwarded to Clinton last Thursday, was
unknown to some of Clinton's closest advisers
until now.
Among the candidates being mentioned by
administration officials are Judge Judith Kaye,
chief judge of New York's highest state court;
Judge Patricia Wald, who sits on the U.S.
Court of Appeals in Washington; and Judge
Richard Arnold of Little Rock, who sits on the
8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Clinton has by no means limited his choices
to those three people. White House officials
say.
Cuomo had emerged as the liberal wing's
sentimental choice, though the Clinton inner
circle had never tipped its hand about Cuo
mo's chances.
The loss of a celebrity candidate in Cuomo
could rob Clinton of one of the qualities he is
seeking in a nominee. Another White House
official familiar with the search process said
Clinton wanted "someone who will make peo
ple say 'Wow,' whether they agree with the
person or not."
Clinton has said only that he wants a justice
who will respect the right to privacy, an argu
ment that is the underpinning for a woman's
right to an abortion. Clinton said he would not
directly ask any potential nominee his or her
position on abortion.
White House officials said Clinton may be
trying to make history with his first choice to
the Supreme Court. That could help the
chances of Amalya Kearse, a New York federal
judge who is black.
Rough day for fishing . . .
LE1ZA MORALES/Special to The Battalion
Craig Bass jumps up and down on Ronnie Sims' jeep in an attempt to tractor. Sims and Bass, transfer students from Chapel Hill, were
dislodge it from the mud, as Russ Parks, a '92 graduate, tugs with a fishing in the Brazos River when heavy rains caused them to get stuck.
Institute sponsors speakers on minority issues
Commentator urges blacks to be competitive
By KEVIN LINDSTROM
The Battalion
The African-American community is re
sponsible only to itself and should not rely on
others for support, said a media entrepreneur
Wednesday night.
Tony Brown, a commentator on the Na
tional Public Radio Network's "All Things
Considered" program, said, "White people
have no role in our freedom, and white peo
ple have no role in our oppression."
Brown spoke to 150 people as a part of
"Meeting the Challenge: Critical Issues in Ed
ucation, Health and Employment for Racial
Minorities in Texas," sponsored by the Race
and Ethnic Studies Institute at Texas A&M
University (REST)
The African-American community has re
lied on others to change
their place in society, he
said.
"In the black communi
ty, we have made peace
with the crazy nonsense
that all we have to do is to
get another group to like us
and then they will change
our condition," he said.
Brown said attitudes can
have serious consequences.
"If you aren't competi
tive in America, you're dead," he said. "And
if blacks aren't willing to take their resources
and mobilize them and use them to better
themselves, their situation cannot be im
proved."
Brown said all of America has to achieve
for America to survive.
"If all Americans do not recognize that we
are interdependent, we as Americans will will
not survive," he said. "Our obligation is to
create better widgets so that all Americans
can have a higher standard of living. That is
the focus we have lost in this country."
Dr. Marilyn Kern-Foxworth, associate pro
fessor of journalism, said Brown touched on
many relevant points.
"I thought his comments were very timely
because he addressed some of the key issues
that are facing African-Americans today," she
said. "I think the point is well taken not to
concentrate on what other can do for you, but
what you can do for yourself."
RESI was established in January 1991 to
conduct basic and applied research on U.S.
race and ethnic relations at the local, state and
national levels.
Brown
Business depends on communities, CEO says
By KEVIN LINDSTROM
The Battalion
Americans need to pay attention to the re
lationship between business and the commu
nity, said an expert on minorities in business
Wednesday morning.
Joshua I. Smith, chairman and chief execu
tive officer of The MAXIMA Corporation and
former chairman of the U.S. Commission on
Minority Business Development said, "There
is a direct parallel between the dilapidation of
communities and the health of industry.
When the health of industry goes down the
tubes, the other things will follow."
Smith served as the keynote speaker for
the "Meeting the Challenge: Critical Issues in
Education, Health and Employment for Racial
Minorities in Texas," spon
sored by the Race and Eth
nic Studies Institute at
Texas A&M University
(RESI).
Smith said the African-
American community
needs to understand how to
use their resources.
"Don't talk just about
employment, but talk about
Smith how employment takes
place," he said. "Jobs don't
come from government programs, they come
from people who believe in their future who
take risks and make things happen.
"The foundation, in a capitalistic society,
has to be capital," he said. "It is not whether
or not you have it, but what you do with it."
Smith said the diversity of America is an
asset waiting to be developed.
"Diversity is an attitude," he said. "It is
valuing people and an appreciation of our dif
ferences."
Dr. E. Dean Gage, senior vice, president
and provost of Texas A&M University,
agreed with Smith. "The partnership of edu
cation and business is needed to overcome
the problems of education, health and em
ployment," he said.
REST was established in January 1991 to
conduct basic and applied research on U.S.
race and ethnic relations at the local, state and
national levels.
RESI is directed by Dr. Gail E. Thomas,
professor of sociology.
Vietnam authorities return
remains of 16 U.S. soldiers
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HANOI, Vietnam — Officials
handed over the presumed re
mains of 16 American servicemen
missing from the Vietnam War on
Wednesday in another step to
ward ending Vietnam's political
isolation.
The United States has said it
will not normalize ties until there
is ( a satisfactory accounting of all
missing Americans.
Wednesday's repatriation was
the final stage of the 17th mission
of Vietnamese and American ex
perts, who have combed the coun
try for clues to the fates of the
2,260 Americans who remain
missing.
The remains were flown to
Hawaii for identification.
Other remains thought to be
those of U.S. servicemen killed in
Laos were also aboard the aircraft,
said a U.S. military spokesman in
Bangkok, Thailand.
The next searches in Vietnam
are expected to take place later
this month and in June.
Ho Xuan Dich, director of the
Vietnam Office for Seeking Miss
ing Persons, said 532 sets of re
mains have been returned to the
United States since American
troops withdrew from Vietnam.
Most of the missing were
known to be killed or lost at sea,
but their bodies were never recov
ered.
In a brief but dignified ceremo
ny, the remains were put aboard a
Air Force C-141 transport jet that
arrived at Hanoi's Noi Bai Airport.
A U.S. military honor guard
stood at attention at the foot of the
plane's cargo ramp and saluted.
"The adrenalin right now is
pumping heavy," said Larry
Braden, 45, a U.S. Army veteran of
the Vietnam War. "I never, ever
dreamed I'd be here."
Braden, POW-MIA chairman
for the Arizona American Legion,
said it was the first time he had re
turned to Vietnam since 1967.
As about 40 Vietnamese sol
diers and airport workers looked
on, Philip Jones, a Navy yeoman
from Cambridge, Md., carried
eight varnished wooden boxes to
an aluminum casket. Each box
contained two sets of remains.
Insi
Lifestyles
•Texas A&M Miss Black and
Gold advances to nationals
Page 3
Sports
•Football: Solari, A&M's next
great linebacker?
•Baseball: #2 Ags take on
Texas Tech this weekend
Page 7
Opinion
•Column: Feducia examines
women's issues at Texas A&M
Page 9
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