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Vol. 93 No. 35 (8 pages)
1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993
Friday, October 15,1993
U.S. hostage freed from Somalia after 11 days
The Associated Press No deal was made with Aidid for release of pilot Durant, Nigerian private
MOGADISHU, Somalia - U.S.
helicopter pilot Michael Durant,
battered but buoyant, returned to
freedom Thursday on a stretcher
after 11 days as a captive of a So
mali warlord.
The United States said no deal
was made for the release of Du
rant, captured in an Oct. 3 battle
between U.N. troops and Mo-
hamed Farrah Aidid's fighters,
and of a Nigerian private cap
tured in a Sept. 5 gunfight.
Aidid emerged with an en
hanced stature as a result of the re
lease, which he came out of hiding
to announce at a news conference.
The freeing of Durant spurred
more calls from Congress for
speeding up the departure of
U.S. troops from Somalia, and
President Clinton indicated he
might be flexible on his March 31
deadline for withdrawal.
Durant, 32, clenched his teeth
and his eyes teared as he was car
ried, out on a stretcher from a
walled compound and handed
over to Red Cross representatives.
He clutched a note from his wife
and parents that the Red Cross
gave him just before his release.
Fie declined to speak to reporters.
Dr. John Holcomb of the 46th
U.S. Army Field Hospital said the
pilot suffered a broken leg, broken
cheekbone and a fractured back.
but appeared to have been treated
fairly well by his captors. The leg
was in a splint, but had not been
set and was quite painful, Hol
comb said.
"Mike is fine, basically," Hol
comb said, adding that Durant
"cried a little bit."
He said most of Durant's in
juries probably were sustained
when a rocket-propelled grenade
blasted the tail off his helicopter,
although Durant said in an inter
view while he was in captivity
that he had been badly beaten by
a crowd and stripped naked after
his capture.
Officials said Durant would be
flown Friday to a U.S. military
base in Ramstein, Germany, and
then taken to a military hospital in
Landstuhl, where his wife, Lorrie,
would join him.
Aidid has eluded capture since
June despite a U.N. ransom of
$25,000.
Aidid called for the uncondi
tional release of 32 Somalis de
tained by the United Nations, in
cluding three top aides and his
chief arms supplier.
Clinton said it was "up to the
U.N." whether Aidid's lieu
tenants would be released. "We
made no deals to secure the re
lease of Chief Warrant Officer
Durant," Clinton said at a news
conference in Washington.
Asked whether he still wanted
Aidid's arrest, the president did
not give a clear "yes" or "no." He
said a U.N. resolution had called
for the general's capture "and we
ought to pursue it, (but) there may
be other ways to do it and I'm
open to that."
Clinton called Durant's release
one of the "hopeful actions" he
said indicated U.S. policy in So
malia was "moving in the right
direction and making progress."
Aidid was confident enough to
invite journalists to a news confer
ence, a sign he no longer felt threat
ened by U.N. forces. He said he
would remain in hiding.
Maj. David Stockwell, a U.N.
military spokesman, said the Unit
ed Nations stopped actively search
ing for Aidid several days ago to
encourage the diplomatic initiative.
Retired Adm. Jonathan Howe,
the U.N. secretary-general's spe
cial representative to Somalia,
said Thursday he could not meet
Aidid's demand for assurances
that the United Nations would
not hunt him down.
"No, I can't give him an official
assurance," Howe, an American,
told a news conference in Mo
gadishu. "But we are focusing our
efforts on a peaceful conclusion."
Howe called for talks with Ai
did's Somali National Alliance,
and said that U.N. relations with
Aidid were like "sniffing dogs,
circling each other."
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Students find some professors' views
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Several students have criticized some Texas A&M professors for ex
pressing their personal religious beliefs in the classroom.
Dr. Philip S. Noe, an associate electrical engineering professor,
j has been criticized by a student in his class for talking about religion
in class.
"The first day of class Dr. Noe said something to the effect that if
you accept Jesus, then everything will be fine," said the student, who
asked not to be identified. "He is notorious for preaching in class.
"A lot of people in my class are going to other professors' lectures so
they don't have toiisten to him," he said.
However, Noe said, he has a right to say what he wants.
"I think professors should be able to say what they please in class. I
think our constitution protects us to do this," he said.
Though he finds Noe's comments offensive, the student said he
would feel uncomfortable confronting him.
i "I am afraid of how this might affect my grade," the student said.
- "After this class, I will definitely confront him."
However, Noe said he has an open door policy with his students.
"My students are welcome to come to me with anything," he said.
"I don't preach on the podium," he said. "I let students know what I
do, and I give testimony of the impact the Lord has had in my life. I do
not hide the fact that I am a Christian."
"I don't preach on the podium, I let students
know what I do, and I give testimony of the
impact the Lord has had in my life. I do not
hide the fact that I am a Christian."
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-Dr. Philip S. Noe,
associate electrical engineering professor
Noe, who has never had a student complain to him, said the head of
his department has talked to him about this before.
"It is a great concern of mine that I might offend a student. I have no
desire to do this," Noe said. "I don't use class time to preach. I do make
announcements at the beginning of class sometimes."
Janet Thomas, a senior Spanish major, has also had problems with
a professor.
"I had a professor that would go into a tirade about Christians," she
said. "He would say that people who believed in Christianity were stu
pid. It had absolutely nothing to do with the class.
"I have no problem with a professor expressing his beliefs, but it is
wrong to say someone is a lesser person," she said.
Dr. Daniel E. Bornstein, an assistant history professor, teaches a
western civilization class that includes the history of religion.
"I do not press any particular religious view," he said. "The only
way I bring up religion in class is as an example of what it can feel like
to be a religious minority at this campus."
He said he recognizes that religion is the most sensitive part of the
course.
"A number of students say that I handle my class very fairly, and re
spectfully, some disagree," he said.
"On the course evaluations, I get an even mix of students who think
I am overly kind and those who think I am overly harsh on the early
Christians," he said. "I try to stick as close to the text as possible. Peo
ple have to deal with evidence in the text, and a number of those state
ments are very challenging."
Shannon Smith, a junior theater arts and international studies major
in Bernstein's class, said he made an inappropriate comment in an in
appropriate manner at the beginning of the semester.
"Last week, he apologized for any offensive comments he might
See Professors/Page 4
Inside
Sports
•Aggies prepare for battle of
the Brazos with Baylor Bears
•A&M soccer kicks off
weekend of home games
Page 5
Opinion
•Pro-Con: Is Clinton properly
handling Somalia situation?
•Mail Call! MSC traditions
and howdy letters
Page 7
Weather
•Friday: morning clouds,
otherwise partly cloudy,
highs in the upper 80s
•Forecast for Saturday:
some clouds, slight
chance of thunderstorms
•Your Battalion extended
forecast: mostly cloudy
with a chance of rain
ng-
Russian Dignitaries Visit Brazos County
Sister Cities program
hosts Kazan officials
By Jacqueline Mason
Lauren Donahue/THE Battalion
Bronislav Fattakohov (left), a Russian dignitary from Kazan, exchanges gifts with Dr.
Ben Crouch, an A&M sociology professor, at the University Center Galleries Thurs
day afternoon. Fattakohov and Crouch have been doing correspondence work for
over a year. Fattakohov's interpreter, Erian Ramanaculov, stands between the two.
The Battalion
R ussian dignitaries from the city of Kazan are
visiting Bryan and College Station this week
to learn about the structure of city govern
ments in the United States.
The Bryan-College Station Sister Cities Associa
tion invited the.men to Texas as part of reciprocal
exchange program between Bryan and College Sta
tion and its "sister" city, Kazan.
Kandy Rose, former president of the association,
said the men agreed to come here to learn more
about democracy.
"They are very interested in knowing how we do
things so they can pattern their government after
ours," she said.
Kazan is a city in Tartarstan, a Russian republic
that declared independence in 1990.
Kazan city council member Nikolai Kochnev
said, however, that Kazan's approximately 1.1 mil
lion citizens are also considered citizens of Russia.
Exchange programs such as Sister Cities will
open doors for more Russian delegations to visit
America and study the United States-Russia rela
tionship, a relationship that has grown stronger in
the last two years, he said.-
Rafael Shaikhiev, assistant chairman of the Kazan
city council, said it might not be possible for Rus
sians to establish democratic freedom in Russia like
that enjoyed in the United States because the coun
try is not familiar with it. Also, economic develop
ment is slow in Russia, he said.
On Monday, the College Station city manager
and staff will teach the dignitaries how the council-
manager form of government works in Bryan and
College Station.
"They are going to learn about the structure of
democratic government," Rose said.
This may be of some value to them, she said, be
cause Kazan no longer receives funds from Russia.
The visitors already had a taste of producer com
petition when Sister Cities took them to Houston on
Wednesday to shop.
A tour of Texas A&M was also a part of the Rus
sians' agenda. On Thursday, the dignitaries were
given a tour of the campus, and A&M professors
who have traveled to Russia talked about various
exchange programs.
See Russia/Page 3
Concessions committee proposes MSC vendor restrictions
By Kim Me Guire
The Battauon
A committee operating under
the Department of Student Ser
vices has created a proposal re
stricting on-campus vendors from
offering their products year-round
in the foyer and main hallway of
the MSC.
Under the proposal, vendors
would take part in a "Back To
School Student Services Fair" in the
Rudder Tower Exhibit Hall. The
fair would begin three days before
classes and end five days later.
The Concessions Committee, a
committee overseeing all on-cam-
pus solicitation, created the propos
al in an attempt to increase stu
dents' convenience in selecting ser
vices and to resolve problems with
the current solicitation system.
Under the current system, ven
dors must fill out a concession
permit and may offer their ser
vices during the first two weeks of
class in the MSC main hallway
and foyer. After the first two
weeks, vendors must have a stu
dent organization's sponsorship
to solicit their sources on campus.
Dr. Bill Kibler, interim assistant
vice president and chairman of
the concessions committee, said
the proposed student services fair
will be more convenient for stu
dents when selecting services.
"If all the tables are set up in
one place instead of being spread
everywhere, it will be easier for
students to locate and select the
services in which they might be
interested," Kibler said. "As it is
right now, we have too many ta
bles being set up and spread out
everywhere."
Kibler said another factor de
termining the creation of the pro
posal was complaints from stu
dents about salesmen's behavior.
Dennis Busch, assistant manag
er of the University Center Com
plex and administrator of the
Concessions Committee, said the
onslaught of more competition
has led to vendors practicing
overaggressive sales techniques.
See Vendors/Page 3
Ross Volunteers announce new junior members
Drill Team is oldest student organization in Texas
By Jennifer Smith
The Battalion
Seventy-two juniors in the Texas A&M
University Corps of Cadets joined the Ross
Volunteers Thursday night, becoming mem
bers of the top military honor drill team on
campus and the oldest student organization
in Texas.
The Ross Volunteers are the official color
guard for the governor of Texas and represent
A&M at official functions.
A banquet inducting the new members was
held Thursday at the Clayton Williams Alum
ni Center, and each member was given a yel
low and white chord to wear on their uniform.
Marc Bertamini, executive officer of the
Ross Volunteers and adjutant of the Corps,
said they try to pick cadets who possess the
values the Ross Volunteers was founded on.
"We try to pick soldiers, statesmen and
knightly gentlemen," Bertamini said.
This is .the inscription on the statue of
Lawrence Sullivan Ross, the namesake of the
Ross Volunteers.
Josh Lechowick, Ross Volunteer company
commander and a senior history major, said
these traits make the members worthy of being
Ross Volunteers.
"Every student should uphold these traits,
but only 72 junior^ out of each junior class are
picked," Lechowick said.
To be eligible for the Ross Volunteers, a ju
nior must have a 2.3 grade point average, have
no record of discipline problems and and be in
good standing with the University.
Applicants must complete a two-part essay
listing their extra-curricular activities and hon
ors and their reasons for wanting to become a
Ross Volunteer.
The 72 senior members of the Ross Volun
teers then read each application, and a secret
ballot ballot is used to select the new members.
Bertamini said the applicants are not per
mitted to list which of the four major units of
the Corps they belong to, so seniors will not be
biased to pick someone in their unit.
"We try to keep the selection process as un
biased as possible," Bertamini said. "We look
at all of the qualified juniors in the Corps, and
then we select based on a ratio of all of those
that are qualified in each major unit."
See Ross Volunteers/Page 3