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
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The Battalion
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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