The Battalion
Vol. 92 No. 130 (10 pages) 1893 - A Century of Service to Texas A&M - 1993 Wednesday, April 14,1993
Election woes: student leaders blame constitution
By JULI PHILLIPS
The Battalion
Members of student govern
ment blame the Student Govern
ment constitution for the contro
versy surrounding the March 31-
April 1 student body elections.
Warren Talbot, '92-'93 Off-
campus Aggies president and stu
dent government chief of staff,
said he had planned to file a peti
tion for a re-vote, but after consid
ering the rules regarding revotes.
he felt the potential harm to the
students involved outweighed the
benefits.
The election problems surfaced
when two appeals were filed
April 2 to the Judicial Board
which called for re-votes because
of incidents of ballot tampering by
members of the Election Commis
sion and other problems with the
election process.
One appeal asked for a re-vote
of senior yell leader and the other
for a re-vote of the entire election.
The Judicial Board last Wednes
day denied the appeals saying the
election commission's actions
were without malice and did not
change the results of the election.
Talbot pointed to the re-vote
guidelines in the Student Govern
ment constitution as the source of
all of the trouble.
"The entire constitution needs
to be rewritten," Talbot said. "A
petition for a re-vote from a stu
dent, like me, would take 20 days
to go through the process before a
re-vote could take place.
"That's just too long a period to
be justified. Something needs to
be changed."
Election Co-commissioner
Michelle Cook agreed with Tal
bot's assessment.
"There are so many things
within the Election Commission
guidelines that need to be
changed, but we don't have the
power to change them," she said.
"We need the Senate to do some
thing about our guidelines."
Cook said the problems have
been progressive, stemming from
vague election rules. Student gov
ernment must step back, admit
there is a problem, and take ac
tion, she said.
"When we changed the ballots,
we had no idea that we were do
ing something wrong," Cook said.
Ballots were altered because it
was clear the voters did not un
derstand the voting procedure for
some of the offices. Cook said.
The Election Commission had
seen the problems in past elec
tions but did not think about cor
recting them, she said.
Talbot said he is not question
ing the integrity of the election
commissioners, but the process
must be changed for student gov
ernment to regain credibility.
Brian Walker, '93-'94 student
body president, said changing the
constitution is not an easy proce
dure, but they will do what they
can.
MSC hat controversy
Students disregard tradition in protest of University history
By JENNIFER SMITH
Vie Battalion
Some minority students at
Texas A&M do not participate in
the Aggie tradition of taking their
hats off in the MSC.
A sign in front of the MSC asks
all visitors to remove their hat out
of respect for the Aggies who died
in war. But many minorities feel
they should not honor these Ag
gies since A&M was an all-white
university during World War II.
Joseph Gourrier, president of
the A&M chapter of the National
Association for the Advancement
of Colored People, said he under
stands these complaints.
"Some minorities will say why
should they take their hats off for
people who would have lynched
them if they were here at that
time," Gourrier said.
Cultural differences may also
prevent blacks from taking off
their hats in the MSC, Gourrier
said.
"Blacks can't run their fingers
through their hair to straighten it
out after they've been wearing
hats," Gourrier said. "So if you
don't want to go around with
messed up hair, you leave your
"As much as we value
traditions and like for
everyone to respect
them, you can't always
expect everyone to
abide."
-Kevin Carreathers
director of
Multicultural Services
hat on."
Student Body President Steve
Beller said students are doing
themselves a disservice by not un
derstanding and participating in
the tradition.
"When you walk into the MSC,
you take off your hat out of re
spect for Aggies that died for
America," Beller said. "They died
defending the Constitution of the
United States."
Kevin Carreathers, director of
Multicultural Services, said he
sees the value in traditions be
cause they can help ease tensions
between different ethnic groups.
"Traditions have their place
and mean a great deal to this Uni
versity," Carreathers said. "It
brings all students together."
But minorities, or anyone not
wanting to take off their hat in the
MSC has a right to their view
point, he said.
"As much as we value tradi
tions and like for everyone to re
spect them, you can't always ex
pect everyone to abide," Car
reathers said.
Dr. John Koldus, vice president
See MSC/Page 5
Los Angeles looks to avoid riots
Troops await Rodney King verdict
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — Barricades
went up around the courthouse
and Marines practiced storming a
town Tuesday, the fourth day of
jury deliberations in the Rodney
King beating case.
Sketch artists were admon
ished by U.S. District Judge John
Davies, who said they were "too
accurate for comfort" in their por
trayals of the anonymous jury de
ciding the fate of four police offi
cers accused of violating King's
civil rights.
"Any drawings of jurors or al
ternates must contain minimal de
tail and must not render them rec
ognizable," the judge wrote in a
court order posted in the court
house press room.
A crane lowered 3-foot-high
concrete barriers into place out
side the federal building, blocking
the entrance to crowds and vehi
cles, and a chain-link fence went
up around a parking lot across
the street. Police said it would be
used as a staging area.
"This is part of our prepared
ness program," said Lt. John
Dunkin.
About 600 National Guard
troops trained at armories in In
glewood, Burbank, Glendale, Los
Alamitos, Van Nuys and Arcadia.
"California guardsmen have
been instructed that they are to
use any means at their disposal to
protect themselves or any other
citizen if they are in threat of hu
man death," said Maj. Gen.
Tandy Bozeman.
Another military contingent
was training 80 miles to the south.
About 1,000 Marines at Camp
Pendleton stormed a mock town
as part of a "just in case" urban
assault exercise.
"The 3rd Battalion, 9th Marine
Regiment is on standby for any
problem up there and this is a
state-of-the-art training facility for
them," said Cpl. Rick Laemmle, a
base spokesman.
Hours after Sgt. Stacey Koon,
Officers Laurence Powell and
Theodore Briseno and former Of
ficer Timothy Wind were acquit
ted of most charges in a state trial
last April, the city erupted in vio
lence that left 54 people dead and
caused $1 billion damage.
Police under the leadership of
former Chief Daryl F. Gates were
criticized for their delayed re
sponse to the unrest, but new
Chief Willie Williams has
promised protection for the city's
3.6 million residents.
"People need to be calm rather
than seeing pictures of men
crawling over tanks and armored
vehicles," defendant Powell said.
Some activists condemned the
military and police buildup.
"We think that it's important
that people have a continued op
portunity to voice opposition,"
said activist lawyer B. Kwaku
Duren.
In South Central Los Angeles,
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters handed
out letters in her district saying,
"It's time to chill."
Climbing the highest mountains
JOHN GARBER/ Special to The Battalion
Debbie Bess, a senior psychology major and Health and Fitness Fair held near Rudder Fountain.
TAMU outdoors rock climber, reaches for the top Bess, along with a few other students, made it to
of the Rockwall Challenge at the Intercollegiate the top of the obstacle.
All washed up
CAROLYN DICK/Special to The Battalion
Yell Leader Mark Rollins watches as he is about to get dunked at a
dunking booth to raise money for the American Cancer Society
Three Marines acquitted in gay bashing trial
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WILMINGTON, N.C. - Three
Marines were acquitted Tuesday
of charges that they assaulted
three people at a bar that catered
to homosexuals.
Judge Jacqueline Morris-Good-
son said the state failed to meet its
burden of proof.
The three defendants hugged
their attorneys when the judge re
turned the verdict.
Lance Cpls. Walter Watkins III,
26, Patrick Cardone, 23, and Colin
Hunt, 20 were charged with three
counts each of simple assault.
They faced a maximum penalty of
30 days in jail or a $50 fine.
The most severely beaten man,
Crae Pridgen, had testified that
his attackers yelled "Clinton must
pay" during the Jan. 29-30 ruckus,
apparently referring to the presi
dent's move to lift the ban on ho
mosexuals in the military.
The Marines testified Monday
that they hit people, but only in
self-defense after patrons of the
bar threatened them. They also
said they never referred to Clin
ton.
Pridgen and two others were
beaten outside Mickey Ratz, a
downtown bar catering to homo
sexuals.
In closing arguments, defense
attorneys said Pridgen was intent
on fighting and met his match
during the brawl.
"He was hell-bent on hurting
somebody," defense lawyer John
Burney said. "He picks fights, he
gets drunk. . . . He met somebody
who wasn't scared of him for once
in his lifetime."
Defense lawyer Ed Bailey ques
tioned the alleged ferocity of the
attack in light of testimony that
Pridgen's injuries didn't seem too
serious.
Animals testing a necessity?
Must be balance amongst all interests, Mary Kay CEO says
By JASON COX
The Battalion
The use of animals in product
safety testing is necessary to re
duce the risks to human life and
health, said the vice chairman and
chief executive officer of the Mary
Kay Corp. at a seminar Tuesday.
Richard C. Bartlett said while
animal right's organizations have
a right to be concerned about
proper care, there must be a bal
ance between economy and ecolo-
gy- ,
"The appropriate use of ani
mals is the best hope of eliminat
ing their need," he said.
A recent survey revealed near
ly 68 percent of the American
public is concerned about the
proper use of animals, he said,
and some groups want to ban
completely testing.
Still, other groups support lim
ited and humane use of animals in
order to ensure safe consumer
products, he said.
Bartlett said product manufac
turers have a legal responsibility
to consumers, who use the prod
uct by choice, as well as others
who might come into contact with
the product inadvertently.
"It's been an argument by
PETA (People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals) that cos
metics serve no useful purpose,
and that testing should be halted.
But if people buy products for
their own emotional satisfaction,
they must be safe." he said.
Manufacturers are also respon
sible for workers who are exposed
to large amounts of potentially
caustic formulas, he said.
Bartlett declared a moratorium
on animal testing within the Mary
Kay Corp. in 1989 because of per
sonal concern about animal use,
confusion among consumers
about ethical standards for prod
uct safety testing, claims from
radical activists and the future
See Testing/Page 3
Sports
•Baseball: Aggies split
doubleheader with Sam
Houston
•Gonzales carrying pitching
load for A&M softball team
Page 7
Opinion
•Editorial: The United Nations
should enforce the no-fly zone
over Bosnia
•Column: Dr. Koldus
represents what it means to be
an Aggie. p age 9