*
The Battalion
V (jiOOl'
Vol. 93 No. 11 (8 pages)
1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993
Monday, September 13,1993
w
eekend
rap-up
Aristide supporter
murdered in Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - A
prominent supporter of exiled
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
was dragged from a Mass — in
front of human rights observers
- and assassinated outside the
church Saturday.
A Roman Catholic priest said
the assassins of businessman An
toine Izmery were plainclothes
police. A pickup truck driven by a
uniformed policeman and carry
ing 10 plainclothesmen circled the
Sacre Coeur church minutes be
fore the Mass.
Three hours later, two as
sailants fatally shot a retired army
colonel at a gas station in subur
ban Petionville. It was not known
if the killing of Antoine Jocelyn, a
former army doctor who was
among officers retired by Aris
tide, was related to the Izmery
assassination.
CNN employees
killed in Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia — In
some of the worst clan fighting
in months, five Somalis working
for Cable News Network were
killed and four wounded in a
three-hour battle that ended with
gunfire from a U.S. Blackhawk
helicopter.
The fighting came amid wors
ening violence in Mogadishu.
Earlier Friday, U.N. officials
said 27 mortar shells or rocket-
propelled grenades were fired at
U.N. positions and that Pakistani
troops were fired on again while
clearing roadblocks. There were
no U.N. casualties.
The day before, U.S. heli
copter gunships blazed away
with machine guns and rockets
at Somalis who ambushed Pak
istani troops and American engi
neers clearing a road.
ifRichards kicks off
I re-election attempt
AUSTIN - Gov. Ann
Richards' re-election campaign is
off and running.
.Proof of that came Friday
night when the Democrat was
entertained to the tune of $2 mil
lion during a fund-raising birth
day bash that featured Texas'
top musicians.
Willie Nelson started the
event singing "Waltz Across
Texas,” and Richards ended it
with a 20-minute speech in
which she touted her record,
hoped for a second term, and
promised to fight for it.
''We did it before. We can do it
again,” she told the crowd at the
city coliseum.
More than 2,700 people paid
tickets ranging from $25 to
$10,000 for the fund-raiser.
Bentsen supports
ATF/ FBI merger
DALLAS — Treasury Secre
tary Lloyd Bentsen says he sup
ports a recent proposal to move
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms from the Treasury
Department and merge it with
the FBI, according to a published
report.
In a videotaped statement to
the ATF earlier this week,
Bentsen said, "l support this and
other changes being suggested
throughout the federal treasury
and throughout our federal gov
ernment,” The Dallas Morning
News reported in Saturday edi
tions.
The position is a reversal from
previous comments by Bentsen
and other Treasury officials, who
said publicly earlier this summer
that they wanted the ATF to re
main in the department.
-The Associated Press
Arafat, Rabin prepare for peace
Mideast leaders to sign agreement during ceremony in D.C. today
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Yasser
Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin, wary
partners in peace after decades
of enmity, stood
ready to re
shape the Mid
dle East with
the ceremonial
signing of an
agreement that
will set the
stateless Pales
tinian people on
the road to in
dependence.
"I ... am
hopeful that
this will lead to peace," a
beaming Arafat declared Sun
day after stepping off a plane
at Andrews Air Force Base
outside Washington. It
marked the PLO leader's first
trip to the United States in 19
years.
And Rabin, as he left Israel
for Washington, said of the ac
cord, "I am behind it full-
hearted ly, knowing the
chances, the prospects, at the
same time the difficulties and
the dangers in which we em
bark.”
For Rabin — the general
who 26 years ago captured the
West Bank and Gaza Strip,
and Arafat — the guerrilla
leader who now hopes to free
them from Israeli rule, Mon
day's signing of an Israel-PLO
accord on self-rule for Pales
tinians marks a moment of
hope and trepidation.
Along with President Clin
ton, the two men will share a
stage on the South Lawn of
the White House, facing 3,000
guests — former Presidents
Carter and Bush, dozens of
foreign ministers*, and legions
of Americans, Arabs and Jews
who have tried to make peace
in the Middle East — and mil
lions of TV viewers around
the world who will watch the
ceremony live.
The prospect of the en
counter between Rabin and
Arafat, sworn enemies until
three days ago when they
signed a mutual recognition
pact between Israel and the
PLO, generated intense specu
lation and disbelief Sunday
amid the frenzied prepara
tions for the signing.
"An awful lot of taboos are
being broken in the last few
days," said Secretary of State
Warren Christopher.
The document will likely be
signed by Israeli Foreign Min
ister Shimon Peres and
Arafat's top aide, Mahmoud
Abbas. White House workers
were dusting off the desk used
to ink the 1979 peace agree
ment between Israel and
Egypt — the only Arab-Israeli
peace ever signed.
On everyone's minds was
whether Rabin and Arafat
would shake hands.
Rabin's response, when
asked in a CNN interview,
was a grudging "if it will be
needed." And Arafat? "Why
not,” he told The Associated
Press in an interview aboard
the plane taking him to Wash
ington. "With who are we go
ing to make peace? With our
enemies.”
Even before Rabin and
Arafat set foot here, there was
trouble. Three Israeli soldiers
were killed by Muslim mili
tants opposed to the accord,
and the thorny dispute over the
future of Jerusalem surfaced.
The future of the holy city
is one of the issues which Is
raeli and PLO negotiators left
to be decided at a later date.
' t'
limp * - ' -
- •••.
/
-•« L ' A '
<' ' f *
"I... am hopeful
is
that this will lead
' C r
to peace."
-Yasser Arafat,
Ljt .
PLO leader
Arafat
"I am behind it full-hearted-
ly, knowing the chances, the
prospects, at the same time
the difficulties and the dan
gers in which we embark."
-Yitzhak Rabin,
Israeli general
Rabin
Aspin: 50,000
peacekeepers
necessary for
peace in Bosnia
The Associated Press
BRUSSELS, Belgium - U.S. mili
tary planners believe that roughly
50,000 peacekeepers would be need
ed to implement a possible Bosnia
peace accord, and about half the
troops would be American, Defense
Secretary Les Aspin said Sunday.
In remarks at a defense conference
in Brussels, Aspin said that no final
decisions had been made and he pre
dicted it would be hard to get Con
gress to approve U.S. participation if
the allies didn't contribute at least
half the force.
Aspin's comments were the most
specific to date on the size and make
up of a U.N.-sanctioned multination
al force that might be asked to en
force an accord in Bosnia.
Aspin at first said it was "too sen
sitive” to discuss in public when
asked about planning for implement
ing a possible peace agreement that
would divide Bosnia among the
Croats, Serbs and Muslims.
Then he referred to recent news
accounts of the likely size of a peace
keeping force. "The numbers that
you see (in newspapers) are roughly
what it's looking like/' Aspin said.
Gus Morgan/THE Battalion
A gas pipeline explosion near Wellborn caused the evacuation of six families. No injuries
were reported, but there was extensive property damage.
Gas explosion rocks
Wellborn community
Latest Brazos Valley pipeline rupture
evokes concerns about future incidents
By Jacqueline Mason
The Battalion
Friday's rupture of a natural gas pipeline on the outskirts of College
Station, the latest in a rash of Brazos Valley explosions in recent years, is
causing many area families to worry for their safety.
"I was sitting on my couch and 1 heard an explosion and I hit the
floor," said John Cook, a resident of Wellborn, the community located
south Of College Station that was evacuated after Friday's blast. "I ran
outside, and I saw a flame over the trees."
The gas pipeline explosion occurred just after 5 p.m. in a pasture be
tween Schehin Road and Creek Lane, about 1.5 miles south of Wellborn.
It caused a fire that could be seen as far as five miles away.
Authorities evacuated six families from the area for fear of a second
explosion. No one was injured in the blast, however damage to nearby
property was extensive.
Investigator Kenny Elliott of the Brazos County Sheriff's Department
said most of the damage was structural. Houses were left with no
doors, broken windows and falling roofs, he said.
"The neighbors who live right next to the well," Cook said, "it [the
explosion] blew them right off the porch."
The greatest consequence of Friday's explosion, however, may be the
threat of something such as this happening again — possibly, with
worse results.
"I will never be comfortable out here," Cook said.
Last spring, a similar incident occurred in La Grange.
Gas pressure at an oil well caused a "preventer device" to be blown
out, sending pieces of a gas pipeline flying through the air and endan
gering workers at the well.
Fayette County Sheriff Rick Vandel said there was no danger to near
by residents, but flames from the fire caused by the explosion reached
heights of 350 feet.
Residents of Wesley, near Brenham, were not so lucky when liquid
petroleum gas leaked from a pipeline and caused a fatal explosion on
April 7, 1992.
Three people died in the blast, including a 5-year-old boy who was
killed when the mobile home he and his mother were in was blown to
pieces.
Incidents like these prompted Rep. Robert Earley, D-Portland, to or
der the Texas Railroad Commission to regulate the storage of oil and gas
in underground salt domes.
Earley sponsored two bills last spring to establish guidelines on the
storage of hazardous substances such as petroleum gas and natural gas.
The Railroad Commission is investigating Friday's pipeline explosion
outside College Station.
Expansion boosts B-CS economy
Area sees increase in housing, business construction
By Jennifer Smith
The Battalion
The Bryan-College Station
economy got a shot in the arm
this summer as several busi
nesses opened or expanded.
Sam Harwell, director of the
Small Business Development
Center, said Bryan-College
Station has been overlooked in
the past.
"But now it looks like people
are finally starting to realize
that the Bryan-College Station
area is a good area," Harwell
said. "This is a good market,
and most businesses that come
here do really well."
Harwell said many national
companies opened or began con
struction during the summer, in
cluding Toys R' Us, Outback
Steakhouse, The Limited and
The Gap. A Wal-Mart super
store and a 16-screen Cinemark
theater are set to open this fall.
Harwell said more than
150,000 people from all around
the county pump money into the
Bryan-College Station economy.
"We also get people from
Caldwell, Hearne and other
neighboring cities coming
here," Harwell said. "They
don't go to Waco, Houston or
Dallas. They come to Bryan-
College Station."
Dr. Jared Hazleton, director
of the Center for Business and
Economic Analysis, said the
economic upswing in the
Bryan-College Station area can
be attributed mostly to region
al trends.
"We are becoming more of a
regional trade center," Hazleton
said. "This growth has mainly
been in the service area."
Harwell said people nation
wide are moving to smaller
cities, and Bryan-College Sta
tion has grown as a result.
"We're finally beginning to
See Economy/Page 8
— —
Inside
Campus
•'Bullet train' to ease travel
for A&M students, faculty
Page 2
Sports
•OU Sooners destroy Aggies
in 44-14 blowout
Page 5
Opinion
•Editorial: NAFTA treaty
economically beneficial
Page 7
Weather
• Monday: mostly cloudy
with scattered showers
• Forecast for Tuesday:
same stuff - clouds, rain
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