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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 29, 1993)
V The Battalion 1893 - A Century of Service to Texas A&M - 1993 Thursday, July 29,1993 Clinton considers air strikes in Bosnia to support U.N. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — Edging closer to military in tervention in Bosnia, President Clinton declared Wednesday he was ready to provide air power quickly to protect peacekeepers once he receives a request from the U.N. "We are prepared to fulfill our commitment," Clinton told a news conference before meeting with Secretary of State Warren Christopher on the fight ing in the former Yugoslav republic and in the Mideast. In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said NATO warplanes should be ready to mount air strikes in support of the peace keepers early next week. He said that any air strikes would be "limited to the place which has violated the rules of the United Nations." Asked when the air cover would begin, Boutros-Ghali said "Monday, Tuesday." Clinton said he was prepared to commit U.S. air- power in response to new Serbian assaults on the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo and attacks on French peacekeepers. The French government asked the United Nations and NATO to speed up plans to provide air cover for U.N. ground forces in Bosnia. Its peacekeepers were caught in the line of fire twice this week during Serb artillery bombardment. "If the request comes we certainly can be pre pared," the president said. "NATO can be prepared in a very brief time span." Senior military officials said that warplanes to be used in the operation lack some critical equipment to carry out precision strikes against weapons that threaten them. Some 60 jet fighters from the United States, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands are poised at air bases in Italy. The NATO aircraft need troops on the ground to "spot" targets for them. Those troops must be equipped with laser target designators, radios and other communications equipment to coordinate the attacks with the pilots, the military officials said. They commented only on condition of anonymity. Should the United Nations make a formal re quest, the warplanes would fly in support of a Secu rity Council resolution that authorizes protection for a force of some 7,500 peacekeepers near Sarajevo and five other mostly Muslim regions. Officials say the planes also could be used to protect 9,000 peacekeep ers elsewhere in Bosnia. Clinton has been frustrated by the refusal of Euro pean allies to back a plan that includes the prospect of Western air strikes against Serb targets in Bosnia and the lifting of a U.N. arms embargo to help Mus lim troops. A&M creates chemical spill team Response unit available 24 hours to combat lab accidents By LISA ELLIOTT jpport in ptical about > because an' duction proi e kind of pili rejecting an’ said. "Thf hile to do o/. Anythinj i it might not he democrats :ic president," : comes n entirely dif- ■s so far this nvolved the of drugs or isagree on 5sue of gays arrests made ^ military 1 of the Col- By JENNIFER SMITH The Battalion rtment was ie amount of Brazos Coun- )rce. This is irrests by the Analysts at Texas A&M Uni- ere made by rs 'ty have differing opinions on rol officers, es ident Bill Clinton's decision e aims at theweek to allow gays to serve in >rs, he said of police of very agency dealers, and ? sentenced in prison informa- : Study at n call the it events nitted no plication >t run in m at 845- The Battalion To reduce the danger caused by possible chemical spills on the Texas A&M University campus, the Safety and Health Office has recently trained and equipped a Chemical Spill Response Team (CSRT). According to the "SafeTLine: Safety Newsletter", the CSRT is a volunteer organization that cleans up chemical spills that can not be safely handled by labora tory personnel. Jon Demere, a member of the CSRT, said the team will be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Demere said all the necessary people have been trained by their individual departments to handle most types of chemical spills and should be able to recognize the potentially dangerous ones. "All laboratory personnel should be familiar with the haz ards associated with the chemicals they work with," he said. "All personnel should know the limita tions associated with the chemi cals they are working with and plan for emergencies involving spills." If something occurs they can't handle, the CSRT shoujd be called in. Jerry Bradshaw, safety director for the chemical engineering de partment, said large chemical spills are rare on campus but little ones are fairly common. "Small quantities of chemical spill happen fairly routinely," he said. Bradshaw is not aware of any major spills in the recent past. Bradshaw said chemical safety is stressed in both the graduate and undergraduate areas of the department. Graduate students are required to write up a paper analyzing their projects from a safety standpoint. Undergradu ates are required to read material danger and safety sheets about all of the classroom experiments be fore they begin. Bradshaw said the chemical en gineering department always keeps special compounds around to clean up spills and they have a compact disc that contains infor mation on cleaning up all types of spills as well as safety precautions and equipment. The CSRT has equipped a trail er with chemical clean-up equip ment as well as personal protec tive equipment. Demere said members of the CSRT have been trained exten sively by the Texas Engineering Extension Service. Training con sisted of 40 hours of classroom in struction, hands-on exercises and chemical spill simulations. "This meets or exceeds re quired training," he said. Members ot the team include Demere, Bob Hazelwood, Don Helton, Ernest Melandez and Shawn Sayers. Demere said if there is any question about whether the team should be called, the laboratory personnel should call the Safety Health Office for advice. Bradshaw said chemical spills can be avoided and reduced by education. "The key to chemical spills is for everyone to know how to han dle it and be equipped with the proper equipment," he said. ocai analysts ROTC loses two military professors to retirement By JASON BROWN military as long as they do not gage in homosexual activity. Jon Bond, professor of political ence, said this new policy is a s potential % major change from the cur- e police ar- ^ policy. ' " In the short run, it will affect ^popularity rating," he said, ‘s probably going to go down." Bond said this issue is almost entical to the past issues of let- 'g women and non- whites into e military. "Sometimes the exact words 'd reasons are used to exclude 'em," he said. An example is at dissimilar people serving to- 'ther in the military will hurt the tit's morale. Bond said. "We look back on these argu- ents now, and they seem silly," said. "My guess is this is a st step, and in the future, other eps will be taken to relax the ohibition more." Bond said the argument that iys and lesbians will cause prob- ms because they will be ha- ssed by or will harass straight >ldiers is unfounded. "Most of the examples will mtinue to be heterosexuals," and said. "It's mostly a problem 'harassment between male sel lers and female soldiers." Jim Mazzullo, Gay and Lesbian Indent Services advisor and as- )ciate professor of geology, told See Military/Page 6 Special to The Battalion Two retiring military professors and ROTC leaders at Texas A&M say they have seen many changes in the Corps of Cadets and the University over the years. Professor of aerospace studies. Col. James J. Crumbliss, and professor of naval science. Col. William Barba, retired in a joint ceremony Friday at the Sam Houston Sanders Corps of Cadets Center. Crumbliss and Barba were the heads of the Texas A&M University Air Force ROTC and Naval ROTC programs respectively. The two men were honored for their combined service of over 54 years in the military. Both men received commenda tions for their service at A&M. Maj. Gen. Thomas Darling, commandant of the Corps of Cadets, led the ceremony. "It is a big blow to lose two such fine officers on one day," he said. "They will be missed." Crumbliss joined the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M in 1962 when the college was all male and alkCorps. He was a member Crumbliss, Barba bid farewell in joint ceremony of Squadron 2. "A&M wasn't the academic or athletic powerhouse back then as it is today," he said. "I don't think we threw the yell lead ers in the Fish Pond once my entire fresh man year." Crumbliss said the academics at "It i s a big blow to lose tWO SUCh A&M are more "This job has been a great way to spend a last tour," he said. "It has been a real honor." Barba became head of Naval ROTC at A&M in July 1990 and has seen many changes in the Corps of Cadets, he said. Barba said aca demics in the , x.ty, c*a iaikja v. a,, /*/*• i >1 ••*'1 Corps have demanding since tine officers OH One day, they Will greatly im- teyfS a student. fee m i sse d." provecL What took four years to graduate now takes five or more, he said. He said his life had come full cir cle when he returned to A&M in July 1991 as the head of the Air Force ROTC. He said the job brought two things together he loved most - Texas A&M and the Air Force. The best part of his job was giving back to the cadets what was given to him, he said. He would happily do the job forever he said. provec The Corps has become more profes- Corvs Commandant Sional and flex ible to change. -Maj. Gen. Thomas Darling, he said. Barba said he sees the Corps growing to over 2,000 members again within five years. And hopefully, he said, there will be 200-300 women. Crumbliss said the Corps is at a cross road. He said there will always be a de mand for the type of leader the Corps will produce as long as the Corps keeps modify ing to society's needs. He said the key to this is to train for 1993, not 1876. Only re fusing to make a commitment to progress can cause the Corp's downfall he said. Although both men said retirement will be hard for them, they are ready to move on. Barba plans to stay in College Station and find a job. His son is a junior in the Corps. Crumbliss also has two children attend ing A&M. He will be the commander of a new junior Air Force ROTC program at Elkins High School in Missouri City. Darling said Crumbliss and Barba had eventful careers after Vietnam as combat pilots. Barba served two tours in Vietnam fly ing helicopters and observation planes. He flew 880 combat missions and was shot down six times. He also flew Medi-Vac he licopters which he said was one of the most rewarding experiences of his life. He has over 4,000 flying hours. Crumbliss served as an F-4 instructor pi lot, an F-15 pilot, a squadron commander and an operations officer. He has over 3,700 flying hours. Officials try to save veterans' fee exemptions Jr. t . a t nancial need before they could re- ition and fees at state colleges an By JASON COX The Battalion Texas veterans may not have to worry about a new law that threatens tuition and fee exemp tions for education, thanks to state legislators and officials who are working to find a way around the measure. The law, which passed the state legislature unanimously, was originally supposed to expand a veteran's college financial aid package to include children whose parents were missing in ac tion or who died as a result of mil itary action. However, an amendment added to the law requires veter an's children to show proof of fi nancial need before they could re ceive the exemptions. Due to an oversight, the bill now requires all veterans to show proof of finan cial need. "It was kind of an error — we didn't communicate clearly," said an official with Rep. Warren Chisum's office, D-Pampa, the legislator who was responsible for the amendment. "When the bill was filed, it ex panded the number of children which would be eligible under the Hazlewood Act," she said. "We thought we should add an amendment proving their finan cial need." The Hazlewood program al lows Texas veterans to receive benefits applicable towards tu ition and fees at state colleges and universities. She said because of rushed timing, the error wasn't caught until institutions began imple menting the measure. "It went through the house and no one really paid attention," she said. "Then the governor's office read it, but nobody really saw what kind of effect it would have until the school started contacting students." Officials estimate that 2,500 veterans, nearly a third of the vet erans who received help last year, would be unable to qualify again under the new law and would lose their eligibility for tuition and See Veteran/Page 6 Inside Sports •Lady Aggie soccer hires assistant coach •Baseball wrap-up: Rangers, Astros win Page 3 Aggielife •TV stations air telethon for flood victims •Reviews: George Thorogood, Cotton Patch Gospel Page 4 Weather ►Thursday: partly cloudy and hot with highs in the 90s to near 100 •Forecast for Friday: partly cloudy with widely scattered afternoon rain Texas Lotto •Wednesda/s winning Texas Lottery numbers: 4, 14, 29, 33, 37, 46