I A n u
i n
cl The Batialign
193 No. 6 (12 pages)
The Battalion
1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993 Monday, September 6,1993
eekend
rap-up
Pope makes first
visit to Lithuania
VILNIUS, Lithuania — Pope
John Paul II launched the first
papal visit to the former Soviet
Union on Saturday with an ap
peal for reconciliation in a coun
try he described as "martyred”
by 50 years of Soviet occupation.
"With great emotion I have
just kissed the soil of Lithuania,
grateful to God for the gift of be
ing able to come among you,"
John Paul said after arriving
from Rome.
His visit to Lithuania held
special meaning for the Polish-
born pontiff, whose drive for hu
man rights in his homeland con
tributed to the fall of Commu
nism across Europe.
In 1984 and 1987, the pope
sought to visit Lithuania, the Ro
man Catholic stronghold in the
Soviet Union. But the Moscow
leadership blocked the trips.
Jury subpoenas
Sen. Hutchison
AUSTIN — U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchison on Friday was subpoe
naed by a Travis County grand
jury to testify in an investigation of
her tenure as state treasurer.
"This is political and the peo
ple of Texas realize it and the De
mocrats have to stop the character
assassination. This is dangerous,"
Hutchison said Friday evening af
ter arriving at Dallas-Fort Worth
International Airport on a flight
from Houston.
Hutchison's attorney John
Dowd called the subpoena a
"publicity stunt" and said that
Travis County District Attorney
Ronnie Earle "is intent on pursu
ing a political agenda."
The grand jury subpoenaed
Hutchison to appear at 9 a.m.
Sept. 9 in Austin. She faces fines
up to $500 if she resists the sub-
| Poena.
Teen settles with
psychiatric clinic
SAN ANTONIO - A Judson
High School student, whose ad
mittance to a psychiatric hospital
sparked investigations and an
eventual overhaul of laws gov
erning such facilities, has won a
5300,000 settlement.
The money was paid to Jeramy
Harrell, who claims that at age 14,
he was carried off against his will
- and over the protests of his
grandparents — for treatment at
Colonial Hills Hospital.
Harrell's grandparents and le-
1 guardians, Sid and Marianne
Harrell, also received a settlement
from National Medical Enterpris
es Inc., which owned Colonial
Hills, The San Antonio Express-
News reported Friday.
The owners of the hospital, ac
knowledged no wrongdoing.
Robot used to end
five-hour standoff
WASHINGTON - A woman
was slain and her shotgun-wield
ing boyfriend refused to surren
der, so police sent in a 3-foot,
3-pound robot to disarm the
suspect with a blast from a high-
pressure water jet.
RMI-9 got his man.
The successful end to the five-
hour standoff was the first time the
robot owned by Maryland's Prince
George's County fire department
had helped nab a suspect.
Ordinarily, technicians direct
its mechanical claws by remote
control to dismantle suspected
explosives, fire department
spokesman Capt. Victor Stagnaro
said Friday night. Built on
Wheels, low like a bowling ball,
II-9 is so powerful that it has
helped move vehicles out of the
road.
-The Associated Press
Arafat becomes salesman for peace plan
PLO leader tries to win Egypt, Syria's support
The Associated Press
DAMASCUS, Syria — Palestine Liber
ation Organization chief Yasser Arafat
visited Egypt and Syria on Sunday trying
to sell a peace agree
ment with Israel.
Radical groups
throughout the Middle
East, meanwhile,
threatened to step up
their campaign against
the plan, which would
establish Palestinian
self-rule in the Gaza
Strip and West Bank
town of Jericho. Iran
also denounced the deal
And in Israel, obstacles to the accord
emerged as Jerusalem signaled it won't
recognize the PLO until the organization
pledges to delete references to Israel's de
struction from its charter. But officials
said they thought the differences could be
resolved and the accord signed in Wash
ington by Sept. 13.
Syria has not officially commented on
the Gaza-Jericho plan. But its state-run
media have criticized Arafat for not coor
dinating beforehand with the other Arab
parties to the Mideast peace process, Syr
ia, Jordan and Lebanon.
Syria's support is crucial to Arafat be
cause Syria has influence over Damascus-
based radical Palestinian factions that
have put up some of the most vehement
opposition to the Gaza-Jericho deal.
Egypt, which signed a peace treaty
with Israel in 1979, supports the Gaza-
Jericho accord and has reportedly been
trying to mediate between Arafat and
Syrian leader Hafez Assad, long-time
adversaries.
Israel's Cabinet approved the autono
my plan last week.
Arafat won support for the proposal
on Saturday from his Fatah faction, the
PLO's most important group.
But Palestinian officials have reported
that influential members of Fatah and se
nior PLO officers are digging in to fight
the plan. Opponents have branded the ac
cord a sellout that contains no guarantees
for an independent Palestinian state.
Arafat is expected to meet with the
PLO's ruling Executive Committee this
week, where many members reportedly
oppose the plan.
He contends, however, that he does
not need the approval of the Palestine
National Council, the Palestinian parlia
ment-in-exile, to sign the plan. His refusal
to convene a PNC meeting has come un
der fire, putting further pressure on the
PLO chief from within his ranks.
Arafat
Aggies shutout LSU
Kyle Bumett/THE Battalion
A&M yell leaders conduct yell practice from the Fish Pond urday afternoon. Tradition holds that the yell leaders are
Saturday afternoon following the Aggie victory over LSU Sat- thrown in the Fish Pond following each victory at Kyle Field.
NRA aims
to change
public image
Organization seeks
law-and-order identity
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Under attack from
the White House and riddled by a series
of legislative defeats, the National Rifle
Association is aiming to remake its image
from pro-gun to law-and-order advocate.
"We want to turn NRA into the No. 1
crimefighting organization in the United
States," says Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's
executive vice president, outlining a
strategy he hopes will deflect new gun-
control efforts and lift his group's sag
ging political clout.
The changes already show.
The fight over the so-called Brady bill
and its five-day waiting period for hand
gun purchases — which preoccupied the
NRA for much of the last six years —
seems to be taking a back seat.
Congress, which passed the Brady
measure last year only to let it die when
the crime bill it was attached to stalled,
takes it up again later this month.
LaPierre acknowledged it's likely to be
come law.
President Clinton supports the measure
as part of his broad anti-crime initiative.
Now the gun-rights lobby is looking
inward, seeking to rebuild its strength
See NRA/Page 9
Area groups gang up on local gang problem
Leaders look to
end hostile conflict
By Mary Kujawa
The Battalion
The Brazos Valley Citizen's Crime
Commission and the You & I Can Orga
nization are two community groups that
are working to eliminate gang problems
in Bryan and College Station by calling
attention to the issue and working to
bring about solutions.
Ronnie Jackson, chairman of the
school committee of the crime commis
sion and specialist at Bryan's Special Op
portunity School, said, "The problem is
rampant all over the country. It's become
a fairly attractable outlet for kids to be in
volved in.
"We're not living in isolation," he said.
Sgt. Mark Ricketson of the Bryan Po
lice Department said the department has
identified 30 gangs with 400 members in
Bryan. Most of the gangs are turf-based
groups that claim territory and protect
it, often leading to drive-by shootings,
he said.
Ricketson, leader of the Street Crime
Apprehension Team (SCAT), the main di
vision for gang intelligence in the Bryan
Police Department, said "It is everyone's
problem and everyone is working on it.
"If we had one gang, it would be seri
ous," he said.
Rev. Floyd Polk, president of the You
& I Can Organization and pastor of Lee
Chapel and First United Methodist
Church, said, "Kids identify their turf
and will fight other kids who cross over
into their territory."
Polk said young people join gangs
when they feel they don't belong.
"Gangs accept people as they are," he
said. "They are protected by the gang."
Schools in the community have taken
steps to address the problem on campus
es, said Dr. Claude Cunningham, director
of secondary programs for the College
Station Independent School District.
"The school district has been very
forthright in dealing with gangs from a
policy standpoint," said Cunningham.
"We have zero tolerance for the things
gangs become involved with, such as
weapons, drugs and gang insignia."
See Gangs/Page 9
School system fights to keep kids out of turf wars
By Michelle Tremblay
The Battalion
Bryan Independent School District is
taking security precautions to combat the
gang activity that has erupted in it's
schools.
The Bryan Police Department esti
mates that 30 different gangs, such as the
Tip Toe Posse and the Squab Mob, exist
in Bryan with a total of 400 members.
The gangs occupied the attention of
the county last spring after a fatal stab
bing at BISD's Lamar ninth-grade cam
pus. The stabbing was later discovered
to be gang-related.
On March 26, Sherron Dante Green
wood, 16, murdered Billy C. Williams,
16, in Lamar's cafeteria. Greenwood
was involved with the Tip Toe Posse,
which often was involved in fights
with the Squab Mob.
"It (the Greenwood case) was a
tragedy," Ronnie Jackson, specialist at
BISD's Special Opportunities School,
said. "We are not tolerating any type of
aggressive behavior. I'm a firm believer
that any kind of fight, any confrontation,
runs the risk of injuring youngsters and
ending a life."
The risk of gang involvement begins
at an early age because children want to
be part ora group, Jackson said.
"Kids begin to start entertaining the
idea of being in gangs in their pre/ear-
ly-adoleseent years. Last year, they
were not in the high schools as much;
the majority are in middle school and
early high school," he said.
Because of the number of gangs and
the severity of the violence they cause,
B1SD has hired a police officer so the dis
trict can keep better track of gang opera
tions and develop ways to deal with the
gang situation from within the schools.
See Schools/Page 9
No more report cards for kids?
Proposal includes increase in parental role
The Associated Press
AUSTIN — Educators at two elementary
schools have asked the Texas Education Agency
to let them do away with report cards.
In their place, Travis Heights and Galindo
schools want to install a new system that relies
on written evaluations, upgraded checklists, par
ent conferences, student self-evaluations and col
lections of the student's work.
Administrators call the method "alternative
assessment" or "authentic assessment." It's a
movement gaining support in Texas and nation
wide, educators said.
"There are schools everywhere beginning to
explore alternative ways to assess their stu
dents," Claudia Serrano, project manager of a
group doing research on the subject at Harvard
University, told the Austin American-Statesman.
Two years ago, in an attempt to encourage
schools to be creative, the Texas Legislature gave
the TEA authority to grant exceptions to state
regulations.
The number of districts statewide that re
ceived permission to get rid of traditional report
cards increased from 19 in the 1991-92 school
year to 31 in 1992-93, said agency spokesman
Joey Lozano.
Advocates say it gives a more accurate picture
of what a student knows, and it also forces par
ents to become more involved.
Opponents said it's merely a feel-good gim
mick that removes incentives for hard work and
See Grades/Page 9
Inside
Sports
Weather
•A&M opens season in style,
LSU game wrap-up
•Houston Oilers lose to New
Orleans, 33-21
Page 7, 8
•Monday: widely scattered
afternoon showers
•Forecast for Tuesday:
partly cloudy, some rain
Opinion
Texas Lotto
•Editorial: Labor pains -
students must hustle for jobs
•Column: Fairness Doctrine,
FCC threaten free speech
Page 11
•Saturday's winning
Texas Lotto numbers:
2, 9, 22, 29, 33, 40
•jackpot: $26 million