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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1993)
The Battalion Vol. 93 No. 30 (12 pages) 1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M - 1993 Friday, October 8,1993 Clinton to send 1,700 more troops to Somalia The Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Clinton I told the American people Thursday he was sending 1,700 more troops, heavy ar- |mor and naval firepower to Somalia to 'finish the work we set out to do." He I pledged to end the deployment within six months. See Column Page 11 "We started this mission for the right I reasons and we are going to finish it in the right way," Clinton said in a national ly televised address. "If we stay a short while longer and do the right thing, we have a reasonable chance of cooling the embers." Clinton said the U.S. force needed to be expanded to protect troops already there and to make sure humanitarian mis sions continued. Counting troops off shore, the reinforcements would double the American deployment to more than 10,000. If America turned and ran because of the rising death toll, around the world "aggressive thugs and terrorists would conclude the best way to.change our poli cy is to kill our people," Clinton declared. He said that he wanted to call the troops home as soon as possible and was sending diplomat Robert Oakley to Africa to try to find a diplomatic settlement. He "We started this mission for the right reasons and we are going to finish it in the right way." - President Clinton said it might take "up to six months" to complete the mission but he hoped to wrap it up before then. Clinton, sitting at his Oval Office desk, said the 4,700 U.S. troops already in So malia would be reinforced with 1,700 Army ground troops, 104 tanks and other armored vehicles and, offshore, an air craft carrier and other naval forces carry ing 3,600 Marines. Clinton also issued a stern warning to Somalis holding at least one American serviceman captive. He declared the Unit ed States would hold them "strictly re sponsible for our soldiers' well-being. We expect them to be well treated and we ex pect them to be released." He said he did not want to personalize the conflict, and never mentioned by name Mohamed Farrah Aidid, the fugi tive Somali warlord whose forces are blamed for the deaths of American and other troops in Somalia. The speech was critical to gaining sup port from a public horrified by pho tographs of a dead American soldier be ing dragged through the streets of Mo gadishu and a videotaped interrogation of a downed helicopter pilot. Clinton acknowledged the "anger and horror" provoked by those images but said the United States must nonetheless see the mission to its end. He asked: "Do we leave when the job gets tough — or when the job is done?" He said more than 1 million Somalis still were dependent on the relief opera tions for food and said those efforts would crumble if the United States with drew its military forces. Aggie Band celebrates centennial anniversary By Jennifer Smith The Battalion T he "Pulse of Aggieland" is quick ening as one of Texas A&M's old est traditions, the Texas Aggie Band, prepares to celebrate its centennial anniversary next year. In addition to performing at the foot ball games and practicing 10 hours a week, the Texas Aggie Band is preparing new performances, releasing an album and conducting a tour in anticipation of a 100-year celebration scheduled for next fall. Jason Hearnsberger, a senior finance major and commanding officer of the Ag gie Band, said being commander during the band's centennial has been a unique experience. "It's made this year more busy and ex citing" Hearnsberger said. "But the extra work has been worth it." Three new marches have been created for the centennial celebration. One has al ready been performed, and another will be introduced at this weekend's football game against the University of Houston. The third march will be performed later this season. The Aggie Band- will release a centen nial album before the A&M-University of Texas football game in November with 25 pieces of music. Lt. Col. Ray E. Toler, director of the Aggie Band, said the album is a first-rate tribute to the band's 100-year anniversary. "Its design is to cover the history of the band," Toler said. "It starts with a single bugler playing two bugle calls. Then we go with a single drummer playing ca dence, followed by a march played by a 13-piece group representative of what the first Aggie Band sounded like. "We then progress from there to give the feel of the band's growth throughout the years. We tried to do what we have done historically." The Aggie Band, along with A&M's symphonic band, will embark on a cen tennial tour in the spring to Houston, Dal las and San Antonio. The concerts will feature selections similar to those the band plays at football games, but, Toler said, they will be softer and more refined. The actual centennial celebration is a # three-day event scheduled for fall 1994, and all former band members will be in vited to this celebration. "We hope to put 500 former band members on Kyle Field," he said. Toler said the alumni band will per form wearing dark trousers, white shirts and a band hat to project a military look. Although details about the event are sketchy, he said, it will probably be held during the A&M-University of Southern Mississippi football game weekend. ■ Tomwy Huynh/THL Battalion Toler said the band is not much differ ent now than it was 100 years ago. "We've been marching in the same style for 75 years," he said. "We try to be innovative with our drills, but we're also marching with a precision military stan dard." Last April the Texas House of Repre sentatives congratulated the Aggie Band on its centennial, passing a resolution pro claiming it "the nation's premier military marching band." See Somalia/Page 10 U.N. scorns Croatian army for war tactics The Associated Press ZAGREB, Croatia - The U.N. commander in former Yugoslavia issued a damning report Thurs day charging Croatian troops had practiced a "scorched-earth poli cy" in Serb-held villages and killed civilians in cold blood. The report detailed evidence of atrocities committed during an offensive a month ago against Serb-held villages in the Medak pocket near Gospic in southwest ern Croatia. "The scale of physical destruc tion and killing of residents in the area . . . indicates that the Croat ian Army practiced a comprehen sive scorched-earth policy," said a statement summarizing the re port. In the ethnic warfare that has wracked former Yugoslavia since June 1991, Serbs have been most blamed for atrocities and "ethnic cleansing," — the use of terror, destruction and murder to force out a rival group — although all sides have been accused of such practices. Serbia is suffering severe eco nomic sanctions for backing Serb rebels in Croatia and neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina. But the European Community also has warned Croatia it could face sanctions for attacking Serbs who hold about one-third of the state after a six-month war in 1991, and for backing Croat forces in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina. See Croatia/Page 10 Food fight turns into high school brawl The Associated Press HOUSTON — Ten students were arrested and several others were injured slightly Wednesday when a cafeteria food fight at a Houston-area high school spawned a large brawl. One Cypress Creek High School student was taken to a local hospital with a bump on the head, officials said. Four of the 10 students arrested were "asso ciates" of gang members, but officers, students and school personnel said the fight was not gang-related. Karen Moore, a chief deputy constable, said the fight started when a group of students threw food at another group in the cafeteria. That sparked a verbal exchange that led to a brawl involving 20 to 30 students in the com mons outside the cafeteria. "I kind of think what happened was, it was a food fight and it got out of hand," Moore said. "It appears that it could be the whites and Hispanics against the blacks." Principal Jan Aragon denied that race was a factor, saying the fight involved two groups of students who simply didn't like each other. After teachers and principals broke up the first fight, several students were escorted to the school office. But moments later, the stu dents "just got up and left," Moore said. They returned to the commons and started a second fight, this one involving 30 to 40 stu dents. Five teachers and principals were injured slightly trying to break up the second brawl. Authorities confiscated a set of brass knuck les. If the owner of the brass knuckles is found, Moore said, he could be charged with a felony. Five students arrested were juveniles; the other five were adults. All could face misdemeanor riot charges, Moore said. KANM recalls 20 years of accomplishments By James Bernsen Stephanie hiewman/Tnc Battalion Jeff Hughes, a junior forestry major, breaks back from a commercial into his Australian contemporary music show "Surfboards, 'Roos and Nude Beaches" at KANM Wednesday night. The Battalion From humble origins in a con verted broom closet to modern production facilities, workers at KANM-Cable 99.9 reflect on the years' many changes as they pre pare to celebrate the station's 20th anniversary Friday. Station Manager Beth Weissinger said the station's biggest accomplishment has been surviving this long. "We might be the oldest cable radio station in Texas, and maybe even the U.S.," she said. Weissinger said she has seen many changes in the station since late 1987 when she first began working there. "We used to work out of a con verted broom closet in the Pavil ion," she said. Weissinger said the disc jock eys would nave to go around the outside of the building to find the nearest bathroom and would oc casionally lock themselves out by accident. The station has now moved into the Koldus Student Services Build ing and has a studio, production room, office, and most important ly, she said, a bathroom. Faculty Adviser Tim Sweeney said the "laboratory environ ment" of the station helps stu dents get hands-on experience not available in journalism or elec tronics classes. Such experience has helped at least two KANM alumni move on to large stations in Dallas and Houston, said John Walvoord, production director. Sweeney said the station has applied for an over-the-air broad cast license from the Federal Communications Commission, but it may be difficult to obtain. The station has suffered from not being able to broadcast, and a license would help the station greatly, Weissinger said. "If we were able to broadcast, people would be able to pick us up in their cars," she said. "Real istically speaking, that's where most people listen to the radio." See KAN M/Page 2 Freshmen elections result in runoff for six offices By Kim McGuire The Battalion Freshmen class elections re sulted in runoffs for six of the seven offices. Runoffs will be Tuesday and the results will be announced at 10:30 p.m. in front of the Sul Ross statue. Only the six positions of sen ator were determined in the pre liminary vote Thursday evening. The Class of '97 senators will be: Jim McFaddin, Matt May- field, James Atkinson, Bin Islam, K.C. Allan and Rob Holland. Runoff candidates for the re maining offices are: Gary Kipe and James Atkinson, president; and Chris Foster and Jenny Martin, vice president. Also, Nicole Pfrommer and Jimbo Cross, treasurer. Running for social secretary are: Jennifer Doktor and Tracy Mapes; and Courtney Lyons and Daniel Chaput, historian. Also, Jennifer Cross and Na talie Reinhardt, secretary. The runoffs are a result of no one candidate gamering 50 per cent of the vote. The voting site for Tuesday's running election will be the Memorial Student Center. Voting times are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for all freshmen. For more information, con tact the election commission in the SC A office at 845-3051. Inside . . ■ • 1 Campus Weather • Rush Room comes to •Friday: partly cloudy, College Station highs near 90, lows Page 2 near 70 Sports •Saturday: mostly cloudy, •Special Pullout: A&M pre- widely scattered pares to battle Houston showers, highs near 90 PageS Opinion •Extended forecast: partly cloudy, cooler, highs in •Extra Mail Call 80s, lows in 60s Page 12