The Battalion
I'ol. 93 No. 46 (8 pages)
1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993
Monday, November 1,1993
W eekend
rap-up
Only 4 at U.N.
security meeting
MOGADISHU, Somalia - The
first meeting of the U.N.-spon
sored Security Advisory Commit
tee wasn't exactly a roaring suc
cess Saturday. Only four Somalis
showed up.
No one came to speak for ei
ther Gen. Mohamed Farrah Aidid
or Ali Mahdi Mohamed, the two
warlords who have divvied up
Mogadishu. Just two of Somalia's
15 factions were represented.
The United Nations had hoped
the session would be the first step
toward restoring security in the
capital, the scene of pitcned fac
tional battles early this week and
sporadic fighting since then.
Helicopters dropped tens of
thousands of leaflets over Mo
gadishu on Saturday to urge peo
ple to put away their weapons. A
U.N. official said confiscations of
openly carried weapons were to
begin as early as Sunday.
River Phoenix
dead at 23
LOS ANGELES - River
Phoenix, whose natural intensity
as a youthful star of the 1986 film
"Stand by Me" launched a ca
reer, collapsed outside actor
Johnny Depp's Sunset Strip
nightclub early Sunday and died.
He was 23.
Friends reported that Phoenix
was "acting strange" as he left the
Viper Room in West Hollywood
about 1 a.m., said sheriff's Deputy
Diane Hecht.
Paramedics were called when
the actor collapsed and he was
rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center. He was pronounced dead
at 1:51 a.m.
"At this time the cause of death
is under investigation. The exact
cause will be determined at au
topsy by the coroner," Hecht said.
The autopsy will probably be
performed Monday, she said.
| * 1 ■ ......
Vet beheads rats
in space dissection
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -
Columbia's veterinarian chopped
the heads off six rats Saturday and
performed the world's first animal
dissections in space, hailed by
NASA as a scientific triumph.
For the hapless, history-making
rats, the end came in a second or
less.
Martin Fettman, America's first
veterinarian in space, used a
miniature guillotine to decapitate
the rodents. No anesthesia was
used so the organs and tissue
would be free of cnemicals.
Everything from brains to blood
to bones was preserved for post
flight study by scientists around
the world. Fettman and astronaut-
physician M. Rhea Seddon had to
work fast; the extremely delicate
inner ears, for instance, had to be
removed within two minutes of
the animals' deaths.
Fort Worth police
release drug video
FORT WORTH - Police say a
controversial videotape is intended
to illustrate drug activity in south
east Fort Worth — not to smear
critics of a fatal police shooting.
The 10-minute video shows
purported drug activity at two lo
cations. It is one of several tapes
used in the city's anti-crime Weed
and Seed program.
"The videotape ... shows some
of the most dramatic drug dealing
that you or anyone else would
hope to want to see," Police Chief
Thomas Windham said.
The video, taken last December,
was shown Oct. 14 to a group of lo
cal ministers. The showing was
more than a week after a group of
southeast Fort Worth residents de
manded a civilian review board to
investigate the killing in September
of Eric Spencer.
-The Associated Press
Top food service employees lose jobs
The Associated Press
Four Texas A&M University employees have been reas- -
signed or fired after objecting to a vice president's efforts
to bring a private contractor on campus, according to
workers and school memos.
See Editorial Page 7
The director, assistant director and business manager of
A&M's Department of Food Services, which oversees one
of the world's largest dining halls, were included last week
in the changes in the past six weeks, the Associated Press
reported Saturday.
Another employee, a student working in the school's
microcomputer center, says he was fired from his campus
job for speaking out.
Retired Army Col. James Moore, who had served as as
sistant director of food services for six and a half years be
fore learning of his reassignment a month ago, criticized
the action.
"All I want is my job back," said Moore, 67, a recipient
of the Silver Plate, which is awarded by the International
Food Service Manufacturer's Association. It is considered
the most prestigious operator award in the food service in
dustry.
"Right now, they have me stuffed in an office where I
have to ask permission before I can go anywhere," he said.
The Federation of Texas A&M University Mothers'
Club, which solicits money for student scholarships, also
has raised concerns.
"We are going to keep watching because if we are go
ing to privatize, the administration is going to have to
show us that someone from the outside is better than what
we've already got," said A&M Mother's Club president
Margaret Freeman.
See Food/Page 2
Disabled Aggies reaching goals
Freshman Gilstrap
finds acceptance
from fellow Aggies
By Mary Kujawa
The Battalion
An accident may have detoured Bodie
Gilstrap, a freshman at Texas A&M, from
his dream of attending the University, but
it definitely did not put him on the side
lines.
In the summer of 1989, Gilstrap was a
typical 16-year-old youth who was looking
forward to his junior year at Eldorado High
School. He was doing day work on ranch
es in Schleicher County in west Texas
where he lived with his mother and father.
However, Gilstrap's life was changed
forever on the morning of July 29, 1989.
While on his way to work, Gilstrap was in
volved in a one-car accident in which his
pickup rolled over on him.
At the local hospital in San Angelo, he
was diagnosed as having broken vertebrae
and a damaged spinal cord. For Gilstrap,
this meant paralyzation from the neck
down and dependence on a ventilator to
help him breathe.
Gilstrap was transferred to the Dallas
Rehabilitation Institute where he spent the
next eight months. While at the Rehabilita
tion Institute, Gilstrap continued his high
school education.
Upon his return home, Gilstrap finished
high school and graduated with his origi
nal class where he was ranked 19th in a
class of 41 students.
Gilstrap thought his dream of attending
A&M was over, but teachers at EHS were
not going to let him give up on his dream.
Maureen Hodges, a counselor at the high
school, began the process of getting
Gilstrap to A&M.
Gilstrap applied to A&M and took the
ACT in the summer of 1991. In the fall, he
began correspondence courses in order to
complete freshman entrance requirements.
Gilstrap was admitted to A&M for the first
summer session of 1992.
"It took awhile, but I finally got here,"
he said. "I thought it was over, but my
mom and dad and friends helped me out."
Even though his dream of coming to
A&M had come true, it was still hard for
Gilstrap to leave home.
"My mom was pretty worried for a
while," Gilstrap said. "It was hard for me
too, being away from home."
Gilstrap also was concerned about being
accepted by other Aggies.
"I was worried about that when I came
here, but everybody is real friendly," he
said.
Gilstrap gets around campus in a 'Sip
and Puff wheelchair. The wheelchair,
which has a ventilator strapped to the back
of the chair, is controlled by air demands.
Gilstrap puts in commands with either sips
or puffs into a tube.
After his acceptance to A&M, Gilstrap
contacted the Office of Support Services for
Students With Disabilities. Support Ser
vices helps students with disabilities learn
skills necessary to become responsible and
self-reliant, and to participate in the whole
range of college life.
See GHstrap/Page 2
Lauren Donohue/Tm BATTALION
Freshman Bodie Gilstrap overcame his obstacles to reach his goal of attending
Texas A&M. Gilstrap was paralyzed after a car accident in 1989.
Group to help disabled students
get increased campus accessibility
By Kim McGuire
The Battalion
Students with disabilities are organizing efforts to increase accessibility to
events on campus through a newly formed committee.
The Program Access Advisory Committee consists of A&M students, faculty
and staff and is attempting to help organizations that are planning events make
them accessible to students with disabilities.
Gail Walters, coordinator of handicap and veteran services and committee
chair, said the group addresses the concerns of all students with disabilities, not
just students in wheelchairs.
"If an organization is sponsoring an event on campus, they need to look at all
possibilities," Walters said. "If a hearing impaired person is attending, they
should have an interpreter. Also, if a person using crutches is attending, they
should think about safety."
The committee is currently trying to make Bonfire more accessible to people
in wheelchairs.
Jeff Klouda, vice president of Networks, an organization of students with dis
abilities, said the closest a person in a wheelchair can get to Bonfire is one of the
See Disabilities/Page 3
Stomach disease
sends Reveille to
emergency room
By Mark Smith
The Battalion
Texas A&M's mascot Reveille under
went emergency surgery Sunday after
she developed a rare stomach condition
and is currently in the intensive care unit
(ICU) at the Texas A&M Animal Clinic.
She will stay in the ICU for two to four
days with a condition called gastric dila
tion volvulus, or a twisted stomach.
Mascot Cpl. Jim Lively noticed
Reveille pacing around nervously at 2:30
a.m. yesterday morning.
"It is rare for Rev to be up that early in
the morning," Lively said. "I could tell
she was uncomfortable and she was
vomiting."
Lively took Reveille outside, but she
continued to vomit. Lively then called
the clinic. He described Reveille's condi
tion to John Shelby, a student worker at
the clinic, who told Lively to monitor her
condition and to report back if the vomit
ing persisted.
Reveille's condition did not change
and Lively and Greg Riels, commander of
company E-2, took her to the clinic.
"When she arrived she looked good
for a dog with her disease," said Dr. Mar
tina Altschaul, veterinary clinical associ
ate.
The doctors at the clinic examined
Reveille and found that her belly was
sore on the left side. A routine blood
sample was taken followed by abdominal
X-rays. The X-rays showed some dilation
in the stomach.
"The only option to take was surgery,"
Altschaul said. "She did well during the
whole operation."
Dr. Phil Hobson, head of soft tissue
surgery for the animal clinic, performed
the surgery, and the dog emerged from
the operation at 8:30 a.m.
Riels said Reveille's condition was
caught just in time.
"The doctors said we were very lucky
Jim (Lively) noticed as early as he did,"
Riels said. "We brought her in at the out
er edge of the time needed to treat her."
The first 24-36 hours after the opera
tion are the most critical because a twist
ed stomach cuts off the blood circulation
to parts of the body. There is a chance
Reveille could go into shock because of
blood deficiency to those areas. However,
Altschaul said, it is too soon to tell how
she will be.
A procedure called gastrolpexy, in
which portions of Reveille's stomach
were sewn to the body wall to prevent
any recurrence of the twisting, also was
performed after her stomach was
straightened.
Doctors do not know exactly what
causes the disease, but it is only found in
large deep-chested dogs.
A hereditary connection may be possi
ble, Altschaul said, because Reveille's
brother died from the same condition.
Riels said he hoped that Reveille's
condition would not affect the plans for
her retirement ceremony during the half
time of the Texas A&M-University of
Louisville football game on Nov. 13.
If possible. Riels said. Reveille V will
be on the field for the A&M-University of
Texas football game and, if the Aggies
win the Southwest Conference, at the
Cotton Bowl. Reveille VI will take her
place if she is unable to participate.
Faculty, students gather to honor
Koldus in naming of building
By Carrie Miura
The Battalion
Faculty, staff, students and
family paid tribute Saturday to
the former vice president for
student services Dr. John J.
Koldus, dedicating the Student
Services Building in his name.
Fred McClure, '75-'76 Texas
A&M student body president,
said Koldus touched many
lives throughout his 20 years
serving the University. Koldus was more than just
a friend to more than 100,000 Aggies, he was an
important asset to the students and to the Univer
sity, he said.
"John Koldus is a man who tirelessly gave of
himself, so that the student life of each of every
student would be unique and it would be filled to
the brim of that intangible thing called Aggie Spir
it," McClure said.
"John Koldus knew it was his responsibility to
deal with things that matter in the daily lives of
Aggies," he said. "No wish was so small that it
would not gamer his undivided attention, no wish
was so large that it would cause him to shrink
from his responsibilities."
Koldus said it was a tremendous honor to be se
lected to have a building on campus named after
him.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I think that
See Koldus/Page 3
Koldus
Inside
Sports
►A&M slides past SMU,
37-13
►Soccer team crushes U.T.
Page 5
Opinion
►Scroggs: Mother uses
canvas to express grief over
son's death
Page 7
Weather
♦ Monday: mostly sunny,
highs in 60s, lows in 40s
• Tu esday: becomin g
warmer, Highs in 70s
Texas Lotto
♦Saturday's winning
Texas Lotto numbers:
1, 6, 8, 10, 12, 23