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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 7, 1993)
ly 6,1993 idle ; Ponds,, The Battalion £^ <0 ' V0L92 No. 169 (6 pages) 1893 - A Century of Service to Texas A&M - 1993 Wednesday, July 7,1993 A&M advised to release Corps investigation results By JENNIFER SMITH rood The Battalion The Texas attorney general's office ad vised Texas A&M University last week to release to The Battalion some of the infor mation regarding a Corps of Cadets sexu al harassment and sexual assault investi gation conducted last spring. C DncU i nves tig at; i on concerns allegations LKUCKhy a female sophomore cadet that a se nior male cadet sexually assaulted her in the spring of 1992 and sexually harassed her last fall. On March 26, A&M's Office of Univer- ^ sity Relations said in a press release A&M /j would not release the results of the inves- j ligation because this would violate the Buckley Amendment, formerly titled The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974. This amendment states that educa tional records are private and belong to the student and the university. Even though the records are in the possession of the university, only the student has access to them. The Battalion filed an open records re quest March 26 to obtain the results of the investigation and hearing, which began Jan. 28. The Battalion specifically said in formation concerning the identity of the students was not being requested. The University then reviewed this re quest and asked for an opinion from the attorney general as to whether the infor mation could be released. Scott A. Kelly, assistant general coun sel with A&M, asked for the attorney gen eral's opinion for the University. On June 29, Celeste A. Baker, assistant attorney general, stated in a letter to A&M that the University must release the requested information as long as the peo ple involved were not identified. "You assert that FERPA prohibits the release of all of the information you have submitted to this office," Baker said. "We disagree. Information must be withheld from required public disclosure under FERPA only to the extent 'reasonable and necessary to avoid personally identifying a particular student.'" The attorney general's office also said the University has 10 days to resubmit the documents to the attorney general's office for reconsideration if it feels the documents are not open records, or officials can release the papers to The Battalion. Kelly said in a phone interview Tues day that he still feels the items requested by The Battalion are not subject to release. "I think those things in the report are prohibited by the Buckley Amendment," he said. "I need to evaluate it and make a decision." Kelly said the opinion of the attorney general's office in this case is inconsistent with prior opinions, and the general counsel will probably resubmit some of the documents involved in the investiga tion to the attorney general. "We're going to try to cause them to understand the Buckley Amendment,"he said. "I think the attorney general's office fell off the track a little bit." Kelly said even if the report was re leased without the names of the people involved, too many people would be able to identify the students because this case is so widely known, rendering the docu ments unavailable for release under the Buckley Amendment. A&M's general counsel's office will discuss the case with an organization in Washington D.C. that studies FERPA cas es to get its advice before offering an opinion to A&M's administration. The administration will ultimately decide if the information requested will be re leased or if further action will be taken to withhold the information. See Investigation/Page 4 / . Tour de Campus re democ- tion, such! and presi- turn into ided Ton-; alier fam- ■et face-to- s in New new spirit it popular have ex transition, aonkeyed dress late ranee and RICHARD DIXON/Tlw Battalion Jim Simons, an oceanography graduate student, heads to the library rides his bike to class because it "saves time" and is "convenient." Tuesday afternoon to make some copies for his dissertation. Simons Economic summit reports progress THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TOKYO — Leaders of the industrialized world searched in pre summit talks for the key to unlocking stalled trade negotiations Tues day. President Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa reported tentative, tantalizing progress toward easing bitter economic tensions. Clinton, trying to strengthen his foreign policy credentials, offered reassurances to Asian allies nervous about whether a budget-conscious United States would maintain a strong military presence in the Pacific. "We intend to maintain a full engagement in this region," Clinton said. He warned North Korea against building nuclear arms. The 19th annual summit of leading industrialized nations — the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan — opens Wednesday amid modest expectations because of the political shakiness of the leaders and the weakness of their economies. It's the economic summit debut for Clinton, Canadian Prime Minis ter Kim Campbell and Italian Prime Minister Carlos Ciampi. For Miyazawa, it's almost certainly his last. He got a no-confidence vote in Parliament June 18 and was forced to call new elections. Clinton met with members of Japan's opposition parties and offered an "out stretched hand." A report prepared for the leaders by their finance ministers calls for closer cooperation to promote economic growth. It suggested that countries re-examine social insurance programs and regulations that discourage job creation. Lacking any bold new initiatives, the leaders were likely to trumpet a Russian aid package to help Boris Yeltsin keep alive his program of democratic reforms. Yeltsin will meet with the leaders over dinner Thursday and again after the summit's close Friday. Even before summit partners gathered around a cherrywood table in Akasaka Palace's Hall of Flowers and Birds, there were complaints about the strict formality of the annual meetings. British Prime Minister John Major, for one, openly wished for "in formal exchanges where you don't necessarily have to produce pre scripted solutions." Indeed, there were intense behind-the-scenes efforts to produce economic progress on two fronts: a framework for resolving U.S- Japanese trade disputes, and a separate agreement among the United States, Canada, Japan and the European Community for a "market ac cess" package of tariff cuts on a broad range of manufactured goods and services. ena Abiola's they will id it will n the new iigh-rank- :ip-ned to Nigeria riots kill 11, protest military rule THE ASSOCIATED PRESS i’s ;ub- 3IT1' 50pm on tion call ;nts and [ter than •adlines . If you LAGOS, Nigeria — Rioters fought police and soldiers Tues day and at least 11 people were reported killed as tens of thou sands of people set fires and blocked roads to demand an end lo military dictatorship. It was the first report of Ideaths since residents of Nige ria's largest city began demon strating Monday to pressure the government to recognize the an nulled June 12 presidential elec tion that was to end a decade of military rule. The man widely believed to lave won the election, business man Moshood K.O. Abiola, ap pealed to people to resist the dic- j'atorship of Gen. Ibrahim Ba- bangida and ignore an ultima- jtum threatening to dissolve the National assembly, i "Ignore this latest threat by jthe outgoing military president | . and damn the consequences," j Abiola said in a statement. 1 The Pan-African News j Agency said soldiers killed sev- leral rioters who set a truck on jiirein Ikoyi, a well-to-do neigh- Iborhood of Lagos. The agency, isetup by the Organization of ] African Unity, quoted witnesses las saying the troops piled bodies I in the back of a truck and drove laway. Other witnesses said five ]people died. Lotto - $50 million magnet THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AUSTIN — Some charged into Texas from Mexico. Some hailed from as far away as Florida. Others simply walked out of their house to the corner of the block. As if a voice was calling them, people scribbled down numbers, some randomly, others as if their life depended on a number sequence. They had a common destination — Lotto Texas mecca, known among other things as a convenience store — to buy their chance at $50 million to be drawn Wednesday night. Delsie Scott, a clerk in a gas station in Waskom, an hour's drive from Shreveport, La., said folks from as far away as Florida had come in looking to take a Texas-sized jackpot back home with them. "We had some vacationers from Florida who said they heard about the jackpot and immediately looked for a place to buy tickets," said Scott, who could barely grant a telephone interview because she was so busy ringing the cash register. "They just keep coming," she said, as if monsters were invading her store. "Most of them are coming across the border from Louisiana. "It's just crazy, and I'm sure it's only going to get worse tomorrow." Increased violence plagues S. Africa THE ASSOCIATED PRESS KATLEHONG, South Africa — An outburst of po litical fighting in two black townships killed dozens of people Tuesday, a grim reminder of how difficult it will be for South Africa to hold democratic elections. After overnight battles, police said at least 45 peo ple had been killed in Tokoza and Katlehong, two impoverished townships southeast of Johannesburg. Nationwide, more than 125 blacks have died since Friday, when black and white negotiators set April 27, 1994, as the date for South Africa's first elections including the black majority. Most of the township fighting involved support ers of the African National Congress and the Zulu- dominated Inkatha Freedom Party, the nation's two leading black groups and bitter rivals for power. Inkatha was one of six groups that opposed set ting the election date at Friday's talks, arguing that negotiators must first decide the type of government to replace white rule. The ANC, without offering evidence, claimed that the recent violence was orchestrated by forces op posed to the multiracial elections. "It is an attempt to blackmail the country, with the blood of our people, into delaying the advent of democracy," the ANC said. But Katlehong and Tokoza have often descended into violence, and it was not clear whether the elec tion date had any role in igniting the latest eruption. Inkatha spokesman Themba Khoza on Tuesday said ANC supporters had attacked Inkatha support ers, and that Zulu speakers were being targeted even if they were not affiliated with Inkatha. With the current level of violence, it would be dif ficult, if not impossible, to hold fair elections. In ar eas controlled by either the ANC or Inkatha support ers, opponents would risk attack if they tried to cam paign on a rival's turf. Law and Order Minister Hernus Kriel said the two groups must take urgent steps to control their followers. Powerful radar watches over B-CS By LISA ELLIOTT The Battalion Bryan-College Station residents can rest assured they will be in formed of severe weather thanks to A&M's Doppler radar system. The Doppler radar system can detect severe weather activity not detectable by any other weather radar system. Dr. Michael Biggerstaff, Texas A&M meteorologist, said that out of five existing Doppler systems, A&M's is probably the second most powerful system next to Col orado State's. The system was installed a year ago and has already been useful in warning the people of Brazos County about severe weather activities. The system has been used by the civil defense office to deter mine the severity of storms and to issue severe weather and tornado warnings. Biggerstaff said the system is capable of detecting air motion ei ther toward or away from the radar in addition to measuring the intensity of the weather. It can also detect tornado activ ity much sooner than any other system, he said. Biggerstaff said the Doppler system is more powerful than any system found at a Texas tele vision station. Bob French, chief meteorologist at KBTX channel 3, said the televi sion station doesn't use the Doppler system at Texas A&M on a regular basis but they do take notice when they hear from A&M during severe weather. "We take it more seriously when we hear from them," French said. French said the system they use is an enterprise radar. "It's a good system and it has a good range," he said. Biggerstaff said the National Weather Service depends on See Radar/Page 4 Inside Sports •Waterskiing: A&M team improves, expands •Owen: Si's double standard in refusing soccer team ad Page 3 Opinion •Editorial: Clinton's timber plan benefits both sides •Column: Stanford reflects on A&M's 'neighborhoods' Page 5 Weather ►Wednesday: cloudy in the morning, partly cloudy and breezy by afternoon, highs in the 90s ►Forecast for Thursday: cloudy in the morning, partly cloudy and breezy by afternoon, highs in the 90s ►Extended forecast: partly cloudy, highs in the 90s Tomorrow in Fate of nations: A&M international students express their views about U.S. involvement in their home countries and how it affects their lives here and abroad. Reviews: • Clint Eastwood's 'In the line of fire,' • U2's new album, ‘Zooropa'