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The Battalio
Vol. 93 No. 21 (8 pages)
1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993
Monday, September 27,1993
w
eekend
rap-up
Three U.S. soldiers
killed in Somalia
NAIROBI, Kenya — Three
American soldiers were killed
Saturday in Somalia when militia
men fired a rocket-propelled
grenade that brought down their
helicopter.
Jubilant crowds surrounded
the downed craft, holding up
pieces of the wreckage. Re
porters who went to the scene
several hours after the crash said
some Somalis displayed what
they said were pieces of flesh
from the dead crew.
It was the first time a heli
copter was downed during the
10-month U.N. operation in Mo
gadishu and the worst loss of
U.S. life since four American sol
diers were killed Aug. 8 by a
land mine.
The deaths Saturday bring to
11 the number of U.S. servicemen
killed in action in Somalia.
Evidence sparse
on Amtrak wreck
MOBILE, Ala. — Investigators
retrieved a data recorder that could
pinpoint the time of Amtrak's
worst disaster, but they had no
luck trying to interview the crew of
a towboat whose runaway barge
struck a railroad bridge.
Another locomotive was re
moved from the bayou below the
wrecked bridge Saturday morning.
Authorities expect to have three re
maining cars cleared by Sunday,
said CSX Transportation spokes
woman Donna Rohrer in Jack
sonville, Fla. CSX owns the track.
One thing the National Trans-
ortation Safety Board wants to
ow is who was steering the tow
boat that lost the barge, NTSB
spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz said
Saturday. But investigators were
referred to the crew members' at
torneys when they tried to ask
questions Friday.
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VMI to establish
women's program
RICHMOND, Va. - The all
male Virginia Military Institute
said Saturday it would create a
program for women at a private
college to comply with a federal
court order.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals ordered the state-sup
ported college last October to ei
ther admit women, go private or
establish a program for women
elsewhere.
The program approved by the
VMI Board of Visitors would be
established by the VMI Founda
tion at a cost of $6.9 million. The
state would subsidize a portion of
the Virginia Women's Institute
for Leadership at Mary Baldwin
College, but details have not been
worked out.
Sixth Street: open
containers banned
AUSTIN — Sixth Street, once
compared to Bourbon Street in
New Orleans for partying between
the curbs, has been forced to move
its revelry indoors.
As recently as May, partyers on
the capital's most famous night
club strip could stroll up and down
the neon-lit, music-filled side
walks, grabbing a beer from a
curbside vendor.
Those days, however, are over.
Open containers no longer are
permitted on Sixth Street.
A city ordinance prohibiting the
outdoor consumption of alcohol in
downtown Austin went into effect
this summer after being ruled con
stitutional by a federal judge.
The ordinance was an effort by
city officials to reduce violence,
panhandling and loitering on
Sixth Street.
-The Associated Press
Yeltsin enjoying mass public support
The Associated Press
MOSCOW — Thousands of Russians
cheered Boris Yeltsin at a concert on Red
Square on Sunday and at least 10,000 peo
ple marched in the biggest demonstration
of support for the president since he dis
banded parliament five days ago.
Across town, hard-liners who have de
fied Yeltsin by refusing to leave the par
liament building dug in their heels.
"If need be, we will stay here for a
year," said parliament speaker Ruslan
Khasbulatov, leader of about 100 law
makers who remain holed up in the
building, known as the White House.
Yeltsin, accompanied by Defense Min
ister Pavel Grachev and Moscow Mayor
Yuri Luzhkov, waded into surging
crowds on Red Square for a free concert
by the Washington-based National Sym
phony Orchestra and its conductor, for
mer dissident Mstislav Rostropovich.
The president waved and smiled, then
Boris Yeltsin has
disbanded the
Russian parliament
and set new parlia
mentary elections
for December.
took his place at the front of the crowd.
He cracked a smile again when earblast
ing cannons went off during
Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture."
An announcer urged "faith in the pres
ident and in Russia's future," and the
crowd responded "Hurrah! Hurrah! '
A longtime backer of Yeltsin, Ros
tropovich has said he wanted the concert
to give Russians hope and confidence
during the transition to a post-Soviet
democracy.
"Yeltsin is one of us and he must suc-
Alexander Rutskoi,
the Russian vice
president, has
condemned Yeltsin
and declared
himself president.
ceed," said Nina Shtanina, a 69-year-old
pensioner who arrived on Red Square at
8 a.m., four hours early, to get a good
view of Rostropovich. Temperatures were
near freezing.
"I took part in the Second World War,
and if we won that fight, we can win this
one," she said.
Later, pro-Yeltsin demonstrators
chanting "Yeltsin! Yeltsin!" linked arms
and marched down broad Tverskaya
Street — Gorky Street in Soviet times. A
small band headed the procession.
Marchers carried Russian flags, pic
tures of the president and placards with
slogans such as "Shame on the White
House," "Boris, You're Right Again" and
"Elections are the Will of the People."
Yeltsin has set new parliamentary
elections for December and says presi
dential elections could be held in June.
The hard-line Congress wants simulta
neous parliamentary and presidential
elections in March.
Khasbulatov's parliament, elected in So
viet times, opposed the president's free-
market reforms, saying they were causing
undue hardship. Lawmakers also whittled
away at Yeltsin's presidential powers.
Outside the White House, Yeltsin's re
bellious vice president, Alexander Rutskoi,
urged 3,0Q0 to 4,000 anti-Yeltsin demon
strators "to stand till the end." Rutskoi has
condemned Yeltsin's actions as unconstitu
tional and declared himself president.
The demonstrators are a mix of Com
munists and extreme nationalists, and are
mostly older than Yeltsin's supporters.
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Battalion Co-Editors Resign jobs
In Pace of Publication Committee
1954 censorship controversy
led to mass staff resignation
First in a series of articles
previewing The Battalion's
100th anniversary issue
By Jennifer Smith
The Bateauon
B efore walking out on
their jobs as co-editors
of The Battalion in the
spring of 1954, Jerry Bennett
and Ed Holder wrote one
last story.
In the story. Holder and
Bennett charged College ad
ministrators with trying to
censor the content of the news
paper through the creation of a
"publication committee."
In the end, 12 members
of the newspaper's staff ten
dered their resignations in
an incident that made news
nationwide.
At a meeting of the Stu
dent Life Committee to dis
cuss the issue. College ad
ministrators insisted the com
mittee would simply "ad
vise" and "assist" the editors
of The Battalion.
Bennett and Holder, both
Class of '54, said in the same
issue of The Battalion that
this was censorship because
the editors could be removed
for not following the advice
of the committee.
When Bennett asked
someone at the Student Life
Committee to explain the dif
ference between advising
and censorship, he was an
swered by someone at the
meeting who said, "If it
means you could be kicked
out for incompetence, you
would have been kicked out
long ago."
After it was apparent the
words "advise" and "assist"
would not be removed from
the plan to create a special
committee, Bennett and Hold
er announced their resigna
tions and left the meeting.
Also in the Feb. 23 issue
of The Battalion, 10 other
staff members gave their
resignation letters in the
"Letters to the Editors" sec
tion of the newspaper.
Chuck Neighbors, manag
ing editor and Class of '54,
said he could no longer work
for a publication called a
newspaper if it no longer was
a newspaper.
"A student newspaper, if
it is to function effectively as
a training ground, must be
free and uncensored to pro
vide the most realistic atmos
phere for the novice journal
ist," Neighbors said.
Many administrators said
students are too young to
cope with the problems of
operating a newspaper, but
the purpose of a college
newspaper is to be a training
ground, he said.
Harri Baker, campus edi
tor and Class of '55, said a
"newspaper was killed last
night," and he hoped The
Battalion would one day be
free to tell the truth.
Bob Boriskie, managing
editor and Class of '55, said
to continue working at The
Battalion under the special
committee would be "offen
sive" to him.
"The light has been
turned out on the campus,
and I certainly do not choose
to remain with those who
Holder
prefer to grope about in the
dark," he said.
Gereld P. Estes, basic divi
sion editor and Class of '55,
said it is not a newspaper's
job to print stories that are
pleasing to the readers.
"Its job is to print the news,
whether pleasing or unpleas
ant to certain institutions and
individuals," Estes said.
The Bryan Daily Eagle,
criticized The Battalion in its
Feb. 24, 1954 issue for seeking
freedom of the press, saying
it would be irresponsible to
turn editorial control over to
"a group as relatively imma
ture as college students."
The Eagle also called the
special committee that would
oversee The Battalion a "sta
ble force."
In this issue of The Eagle,
Bennett and Holder said
censorship is hidden within
the words "advise" and "as
sistance."
"To us, it still means the
same thing," Bennett and
Bennett
Holder told The Eagle.
"This committee has been
set up to stop The Battalion
from printing the truth
about things at A.&M.
which are embarrassing to
some individuals.
"All we have done is try
our best to print the truth.
Maybe the truth hurts. It cer
tainly looks that way."
After about a month with
out a full student staff. The
Battalion editorial board, a
committee made up of The
Battalion's section editors,
wrote an editorial on March
23, 1954 titled "No Change
for Batt: Truth Still Policy."
By this time, many of the
staff members who quit a
month earlier had returned
to The Battalion, and Baker
and Boriskie took over as co
editors.
In this editorial, these
staff members explained the
threat of censorship was not
as severe as they had
thought when they resigned,
and "we felt we could return
without sacrificing any of
our principles concerning a
free press."
The editorial board also
added that A.&M. adminis
trators favored a free press,
and they would not tolerate
censorship in any form.
"So The Battalion will re
main the same — a newspa
per, not an organ of any spe
cial group."
The Battalion 1893-1993
• Monday: The Battalion vs. The Administration
• Tuesday: Cartoonists of The Battalion
• Wednesday: Fired Editor Thomas DeFrank
• Thursday: The Battalion Anniversary Issue
ATF director
faces threat
of dismissal
for Waco raid
The Associated Press
Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms Director Stephen Higgins
will likely be replaced following the re
lease of federal reviews of the ATF's
botched raid on the Branch Davidians'
Waco home, according to a published re
port Sunday.
In The Dallas Morning News' copy
right story, federal officials said Higgins,
the ATF chief for a decade, will probably
be eased out of his position.
The News and the Houston Chronicle
also reported Sunday that several other
ATF officials will be removed or reas
signed. Reviews by the Treasury and Jus
tice Departments of the raid are expected
to be released late this week.
However, ATF spokesman Jack Kil-
lorin declined to comment on reports
that the investigation concludes ATF
agents knew members of the armed cult
had been told before they launched the
raid in February.
Other ATF officials in Washington
and in Dallas didn't immediately return
telephone calls Sunday to The Associat
ed Press.
Associate ATF Director Dan Hartnett,
Deputy Assistant Director Dan Conroy
and Intelligence Chief David Troy were
expected to be transferred or placed on
leave, officials said.
Hartnett and Conroy are accused of
lying or making disingenuous state
ments about whether an undercover
agent recommended the raid be called
off because cult leader David Koresh
had been informed, according to the
Chronicle.
Troy also has been criticized reported
ly for making false or misleading state
ments at news conferences.
Sources told the Chronicle that Char
lie Thomson, special agent in charge of
the ATF office in New York City, and
George Rodriguez, special agent in the
Los Angeles office, have been tapped to
replace Hartnett and Conroy.
Three Texas ATF officials are report
edly likely to be transferred or place on
administrative leave: Philip Chojnacki,
head of the Houston ATF office and com
mander of the Waco raid; Ted Royster,
his Dallas counterpart; and Charles
Sarabyn, Chojnacki's assistant who was
the tactical commander of the raid.
Chojnacki and Sarabyn have said
that they began the raid to serve war
rants for possible weapons violations
because they didn't think the secrecy
had been violated.
Haden looks forward to taking over as
A&M System vice chancellor and dean
By Cheryl Heller
The Battalion
Dr. C. Roland Haden, who will take over as
Texas A&M University System vice chancellor
for Engineering and dean of the College of Engi
neering on Oct. 15, said he has big plans for his
new positions.
"I couldn't be more pleased that I was cho
sen," said Haden, former Louisiana State Uni
versity provost. "I think this may be the best en
gineering job in the country, and I'm looking
forward to the opportunity.
"As far as dean of engineering, I think
Texas A&M is already one of the best engi
neering schools in the country. I think we'll
strengthen the areas we need to strengthen.
and then let everyone know how good the
program is."
As dean, Haden said he will emphasize
good teaching and research in the College of
Engineering.
"We're going to make it a friendly place for
students and faculty," he said. "It will be a great
place to work and go to school."
As vice chancellor, Haden plans to work with
System Chancellor William H. Mobley to im
prove interaction between A&M campuses.
"I think there are some magnificent tools
available," he said. "I'm looking forward to
working with Dr. Mobley as he strives to
strengthen ties with other schools in the A&M
system.
See Engineering/Page 2
Inside
Sports
►Barone, A&M basketball
throw 'House' party
► Martinez leads Aggie netters
at home tourney
Page 5
Opinion
•Editorial: G. Rollie White
renovation a mistake
•Column: keep your feet on
the floor, not in your mouth
Page 7
Weather
►Monday: sunny & windy,
highs in the 80s
►Forecast for Tuesday:
sunny w/ highs in the 80s
Texas Lotto
•Saturday's winning
Texas Lotto numbers:
4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 32