The Battalion
Vol. 92 No. 164 (6 pages) 1893 - A Century of Service to Texas A&M - 1993 Monday, June 28,1993
W eekend
rap-up
Pentagon moves
to salvage Seawolf
WASHINGTON - The Penta
gon wants to reallocate $2.2 bil
lion among various military pro
grams, partly to complete work
on a Seawolf nuclear submarine,
according to congressional
sources.
A Defense Department repro
gramming request to Congress in
volves scores of projects funded
over the past three fiscal years.
The Pentagon notified Con-
f ress that it wants to transfer $1.8
illion from fiscal 1993 programs,
$161 million from fiscal 1992 and
$200 million from fiscal 1991,
sources said Friday, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
Among the items is the Penta
gon's request to transfer $122 mil
lion to complete the first Seawolf
nuclear submarine, the result of
cost overruns on the program, the
sources said.
House kills collider
with 280-150 vote
WASHINGTON - House
members eager to prove their re
solve to cut the deficit voted
overwhelmingly Thursday to kill
the $10 billion superconducting
super collider for the second
year in a row.
But the 280-150 vote to end the
project branded by House oppo
nents as a “boondoggle," “this
turkey" and "Jurassic pork" does
not necessarily mean it will die.
The Senate last year voted to re
suscitate the giant atom smasher
after the House voted 232-181 to
close it. A House-Senate conference
committee dominated by collider
advocates proposed $517 million
and that was ultimately enacted.
"I always anticipated that if we
were going to save the super col
lider it would have to come in a
conference after the Senate did it,"
President Clinton said after the
vote. "So it's up to the Senate now
to decide on the super collider."
Dallas Naval station
axed, Kelly spared
WASHINGTON - The presi
dential base-closing commission
voted Saturday to accept the Pen
tagon's recommendation to close
the Dallas Naval Air Station.
The Defense Base Closure and
Realignment Commission voted
unanimously to shutter the Grand
Prairie base and shift all of its
functions to nearby Carswell Air
Force Base in Fort Worth.
On Friday, the commission
spared Naval Station Ingleside
near Corpus Christi, Corpus
Christi Naval Air Station and Kel
ly Air Force Base in San Antonio.
None of the facilities had been
recommended for closure by the
Pentagon, but there had been sig
nificant concern that Ingleside
could be sacrificed to spare Naval
Station Charleston.
Clinton converses
with half-brother
WASHINGTON - President
Clinton finally caught up by
phone Friday with the man who
contends he's his long lost half-
brother. They had a "warm con
versation," and the two agreed to
get together some time, the White
House said.
Clinton reached 55-year-old
Henry Leon Ritzenthaler at his
home in Paradise, Calif., and they
talked for about 15 minutes. It was
the first time the two had spoken.
"They had a warm conversa
tion and agreed to get together at
some point in the future," Press
Secretary Dee Dee Myers said in
a statement.
No other details of the conver
sation were disclosed. A re
porter's message left on Ritzen-
thaler's answering machine was
not immediately returned.
-The Associated Press
Iraqis respond to destruction
Tomahawk cruise missiles leave at least eight dead, twelve wounded
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Iraqis dragged away their
dead Sunday from the rubble
of buildings wrecked by U.S.
missiles while President Clin
ton said the raid was a suc
cessful reprisal for an alleged
assassination plot against
George Bush a success.
Iraq's intelligence head
quarters in Baghdad was the
target of the 23 Tomahawk
cruise missiles fired from two
Navy ships in the Red Sea and
the Persian Gulf.
“Our preliminary assess
ment is that we hit the targets
we intended and inflicted se
vere damage," said Gen. Colin
Powell, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff.
But three of the missiles —
each armed with 1,000-pound
high explosive warheads —
went astray and hit near pri
vate homes. Pentagon officials
said. The Iraqi government
said eight people were known
dead in the attack. Iraq's news
agency put the total number of
known wounded at 12, but
said teams were still searching
for more bodies.
For residents of Baghdad,
the attack was all too familiar.
During the 1991 Persian Gulf
War, a U.S.-led coalition had
rained missiles on the Iraqi
capital, striking military head
quarters, communications cen
ters, bridges and other targets.
Saddam Hussein's troops had
expected those attacks and
tried to stop them with a hail
of anti-aircraft fire.
But this time the attack
came out of the night without
warning.
Associated Press photogra
pher Jassim Mohammed, who
lives near the target site, said
he awoke early Sunday to the
noise of the cruise missiles
passing overhead.
"It was scary," Mohammed
said. "We did not know what
was going on, but everybody
was rushing to take shelter."
As the missiles exploded in
the fashionable Al-Mansour
district of Baghdad — where
the intelligence complex is lo
cated — residents of the capi
tal were jolted from their beds.
“Many families were seen
running from their homes and
there was a lot of panic in the
streets," Angela Frier, an Inde
pendent Television News pro
ducer in Baghdad, told the
British Broadcasting Corp.
After sunrise, rescue work
ers dug through the debris of
buildings, looking for sur
vivors and carrying away the
dead. The limp body of a man
was gently lowered onto a
stretcher after being pulled
from the debris of his home.
Rescue workers picked
through a ruined building that
officials said had been the
home of Leila Attar, an artist
and the director of the
See Iraq/Page 6
U.N. views evidence of plot to kill Bush
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security
Council on Sunday convened an emergency
session to hear the United States present evi
dence of Iraq's role in an alleged plot to kill
former President Bush.
U.S. Ambassador Madeleine K. Albright
planned to present photographs, charts and
other evidence as the United States sought
Sunday to rally international support for its
missile attack on Baghdad.
Iraqi Ambassador Nizar Hamdoun, who
has called the attack "a breach of internation
al law," was also to present his government's
case at the Security Council meeting Sunday.
Iraq has denied a role in the plot.
The emergency session of the 15-nation
council was requested by the United States,
but no resolution or vote was expected. Al
bright said the United States was not asking
for the council's endorsement.
Iraq denies its intelligence agents tried to
kill Bush during his visit to Kuwait in April.
It says the United States fabricated the plot to
justify military aggression against Baghdad.
On Saturday, U.S. forces launched a
See Council/Page 6
RB.L cautions
against possible
mail bombings
By JENNIFER SMITH
The Battalion
Mail bombings at universities
around the country have caused con
cern among Texas A&M officials who
warned University employees Friday
afternoon not to open suspicious
packages or mail.
In a statement issued Friday, FBI
Director William Sessions instructed
university personnel around the
country to be cautious of suspicious
packages. A&M University Relations
then issued an emergency alert to
A&M vice presidents and deans, as
well as to the provosts office urging
University employees to guard
against suspicious mail.
These warnings come after two
bombing incidents last week at Uni
versity of California-San Francisco
and Yale University. In the former
case, a geneticist lost several fingers
when a mailed package bomb ex
ploded at his home. In the latter
case, a computer science professor
was injured while opening a package
in his office.
Bob Wiatt, director of University
Police, said people should watch
their mail for anything out of the
See Mail/Page 2
Bryan Balloon Classic takes to the air
m 1 m
Iff
Wind surfing, sky diving among
activities at Lake Bryan festival
By LISA ELLIOTT
MARYMACMANUS/The Battalion
Balloons take flight for the morning race at the Bryan Balloon Classic held at Lake Bryan this weekend.
The Battalion
The birds of Bryan-College Station shared the sky with
dozens of hot air balloons last weekend during the third an
nual Bryan Balloon Classic, the largest festival event held in
the Brazos Valley.
The festival at the Lake Bryan Park, featured a petting
zoo, train rides, a kiddie jump and a variety of foods and
crafts. A boat show, a jet ski show and a wind surfing com
petition were also conducted. The National Guard dis
played Desert Storm equipment. Live entertainment was
provided by Joe Orsak and the Special F/X Band and the
Dealer's Choice Band.
Aggies Over Texas, the Texas A&M skydiving team,
parachuted over the crowd during the opening ceremonies
Friday and Saturday.
Karen Motolo, a senior biomedical science major and
member of Aggies over Texas, said it was one of her best
jumps.
"It was so much fun," she said. "I've never jumped over
water before, and we could look down and see the balloons
and the water. It was really-pretty."
Motolo said she looks forward to doing it again next year
and any other time she has the opportunity.
Terry Voight, site coordinator for the Balloon Classic, said
the highlight of the festival was the "Nighttime Balloon
Glow" Friday night when the balloons were filled with
lights to glow at night.
"It is absolutely spectacular," he said.
Another feature the crowd enjoyed was the windsurfing
competition, he said. "With the windsurfers on the water
and the balloons in the sky, it's a photographers dream,"
Voight said.
During the balloon competition, balloonists competed for
cash prizes. Voight said some of the best hot air balloon rac
ers in the nation competed.
"The number one, national champion balloon racer is
here this weekend and will be competing," he said.
Dan McGuire, class of '87 and a political science major, is
a balloonist with Sunrise Balloon Co. in Bryan. He compet
ed in the race, but said he didn't get into ballooning for the
money. Piloting a balloon is the best way to relax and get
away from the world, McGuire said.
"All it took was one time up," he said. "It's addictive."
McGuire said one of the funniest parts of ballooning is
watching all the spectators stopping their cars, waving and
coming out of their houses to watch him. "It's funny watch
ing people come out of their house in their nightclothes.
They don't think I can see them."
Voight said the purpose of the Balloon Classic is to in
crease tourism in Bryan-College Station while providing a
colorful festival. In the future the festival would like to hold
state and regional balloon championships.
Aggies pick up pace for MCAT
By GENEEN PIPHER
The Battalion
The Medical College Admissions Test
(MCAT) scores of Texas A&M students are on
the rise, say officials in Texas A&M's Office of
Professional School Advising (OPSA).
The MCAT, which has a maximum score of
45, is the mandatory test for students who wish
to go to medical school.
In April 1992, Texas A&M's average MCAT
score was 24, the same as the national average.
In April 1993, A&M students scored over one
point higher than the national average of 23.8,
said Monica Simpson, A&M premedical adviser.
"Since the office has been instilled at A&M,
the (MCAT) average has jumped," Simpson
said. "We are very proud of this."
Coordinator of the OPSA, Randee Nicholas
said the rise in scores could be a result of increas
ing numbers of students taking the MCAT and a
greater knowledge of the subjects on the test.
"There is an increase in the number of people
who are interested in the field of medicine," she
said. "Along with this is an increase in the
number of people that are really putting in the
effort to study because they are aware of how
competitive it (getting into medical school) is."
Mary Ann Carter, staff assistant and academ
ic advisor said, "The students have a peer pres
sure among themselves, and they have caused
the average to go up. Students know they have
to do better and they have put pressure on them
selves to succeed."
Simpson said in order for students to be really
competitive, their scores should not fall below
the national average.
"At schools like Baylor and Southwestern,
See MCAT/Page 2
Inside
Sports
Off-court activities highlight
of lackluster Wimbledon
Golf: results of Hartford
Open, LPGA Classic
Page 3
Opinion
Monday: morning clouds
then partly cloudy and
hot, high in the 90s
Forecast for Tuesday:
same as Monday - partly
cloudy and hot
•Editorial: Gov't should keep
hands off Open Records Act
•Column: Jones urges help for
depressive women
Page 5
Texas Lotto
•Winning lottery numbers:
37, 5, 27, 18, 33,21
•Wednesday's estimated
jackpot * $15 million
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