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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 1994)
'37 24 25 >11 26 The Battalion • ru uy qtOOl Vol. 93 No. 75 (10 pages) 1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993 Tuesday, January 18,1994 id we \&M. i-the- peers >! ‘ficial, ike to ss are W W id W ■ sWare rs and aliens, urs in otline, Spring i tails. e! e! ) ) se!* se! se! ;e! : Sports [onday* erCard Quake, aftershocks rock Los Angeles — Earthquake epicenter located 25 miles NW of city in Los Angeles, Calif. The Associated Press LOS ANGELES — An earthquake devastated the sleeping suburbs of the San Fernando Valley on Monday, crumpling freeways and apartment complexes and hurling fireballs through cracked and flooded streets. At least 30 people were killed. Thousands of terrified residents fled their homes onto darkened side walks and "a tidal wave of walking wounded" was sent to hospitals. Fourteen people died in one apartment building near the epicen- Death toll at 30 from earthquake felt from San Diego to Las Vegas; measured 6.6 on Richter scale ter of the quake, which measured 6.6 on the Richter scale and was felt from San Diego to Las Vegas. A handful of motorists were briefly trapped in tons of concrete rubble as overpasses on three free ways buckled, severing Interstate 5, California's main north-south high way, and Interstate 10, the nation's busiest freeway. The quake derailed a freight train carrying sulfuric acid, and briefly closed Los Angeles International Air port. Telephone service was lost throughout the region and power was disrupted as far away as Cana da. "The whole street was on fire. Even the tall palm trees were burn ing. It was a very frightening experi ence. We lost everything. We have See Earthquake/ Page 10 A&M forgoes probation appeal; will comply with NCAA actions Texas A&M University will not appeal the find ings and penalties of the NCAA Committee on In fractions. The announcement was made Monday by A&M Interim President Dr. E. Dean Gage. "We deeply regret that this case arose and our goal and unequivocal commitment must be to nev er again face a similar issue," Gage said. "This iso lated and unique case is a disappointment to all who have worked so hard on total compliance and institutional control." Gage said the University has taken and will take additional actions to enhance and strengthen all compliance programs and will work with the NCAA staff and others to ensure that it will do all possible in every area of compliance. Paying tribute to Dr. King Jennifer Willis, a junior chemistry major, takes part in "By the Content of Their Character: a Tribute to the Amanda Sonley/The Battalion Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.," sponsored by the Committee on Multicultural Awareness. Workshop scheduled to teach regents tenure By Kim McGuire The Battalion A February workshop has been planned to inform Texas A&M Board of Regent members about University polices concerning tenure in hopes of ending confusion about the matter. Terri Parker, system communications direc tor, said Regent William Clayton will head the workshop which will attempt to inform the re gents about all the policies concerning tenure. Parker said a heated discussion about tenure occurred at the regent's December meeting when the regents were considering tenure rec ommendations. These recommendations are based on a pro fessor's teaching, research and community ser vice. Several regents originally voted against granting tenure, but Chairman Ross Mar graves pleaded with the regents to change their vote until a group could be formed to study the matter. A few of the regents discussed their reserva tions about granting tenure because they feared there were no means of dismissing unproduc tive tenured professors. Regent Mary Nan West said a review system should be established to study ways of dismiss ing unproductive tenured professors. "I'm not against tenure," West said. "But we have no mechanism of getting rid of someone who doesn't 'cut the mustard,' so to speak." Regent T. Michael O'Connor said a forum should be established where students, faculty and administrators could voice their opinion be fore tenure is granted. Regent William Clayton said the dismissal of . professors with tenure often leads to lawsuits. "We need to be able to fire at will if a pro fessor is not performing adequately," Clayton said. "I will not vote for giving someone a per manent job." Dr. Manuel Davenport, chairman of the com mittee on academic freedom, resignation and tenure, said granting tenure is not guaranteeing a professor a permanent job. "All tenure is is a guarantee to a hearing if your job is in question," he said. "It's nothing but a guarantee of due process. Professors without tenure can be fired at will whereas tenured professors cannot." Davenport said if a tenured professor's job is in question that person would be granted a hearing at which the University must convince a hearing committee the professor is being dis missed for infractions, such as professional in competence or immoral behavior. "The committee considers factors like pub lished articles, all kinds of evaluations, contribu tions to the University and community service," Davenport said. He said the University would be "greatly damaged" if tenure was ever abolished. "The American Association of University Professors puts schools who don't grant tenure on a censured list," Davenport said. "No quality professor would take a job here as a result and you'd see a mass depar ture of high-quality professors and department heads to schools with tenure. Frankly, A&M would become a laughingstock." Davenport said A&M was placed on the cen sure list in 1967 by the AAUP for not offering tenure which was finally established in 1968 by University department heads. He said he thought it would take an act of the state legislature to abolish tenure but said it would have the same effect if the regents consis tently denied professors coming up for tenure. Davenport thought an educational workshop about tenure for the regents would be a good idea, but said he was appalled the regents didn't know how tenure works. "The tenure process is explicitly spelled out in the University's policy and procedures manu al," Davenport said. "Frankly, I'm appalled the regents haven't read the regulations in that manual. It's their job to know the regulations governing the Universi ty-" Women's week plans highlight senate meeting The Texas A&M Faculty Senate wilt vote Tuesday on a resolution declaring; March 27-April 2 "Women's Week" at the University during their 3:15 p.m. meeting in 601 Rudder Tower. Activities planned for "Women's Week" include seminars, women speak ers, art and cultural exhibits and award presentations. March is National Women's History Month. The Faculty Senate will also discuss a report on the status of women at Texas A&M University. ' If the resolution passes, it will be for warded to A&M Interim President E. Dean Gage for approval. Gas leak shuts down Taco Cabana, Texas Ave. By Geneen Pipher The Battalion Portions of south Texas Avenue were shut down, and several local businesses were evacuated Monday during the midday rush hour after a gas pipe ruptured, spewing large amounts of natural gas into the air. Pat Quinlan, acting lieutenant at the College Station Fire Department, said heavy construction vehicles com pressed the ground over the gas lines at the intersection of south Texas and Poplar in College Station, causing the pipe to burst. All traffic on Texas Avenue was diverted to Universi ty Drive for almost 45 minutes, causing delays and traf fic jams for Bryan-College Station motorists. Lt. Irvin Todd of the College Station Police Depart ment said because of the possibility of an explosion, all patrons and employees from three area businesses had to be evacuated. "It was a two-inch pipe with 200 psi (pounds per square inch) of natural gas leaking," he said. "That is certainly a danger to people in the immediate area, which is why they had to be evacuated." Howard Matson, director of communication at Lone Star Gas Company, said the chances of explosion or fire were fairly slim- because wind conditions helped the gas dissipate very quickly. "The evacuation was really just to ensure safety," Matson said. "There was really very little chance of fire or explo sion because the ratio of gas to air needed to cause fire or explosion was not there. The leak has been fixed, and there is really nothing to worry about." Hal Hart, manager of the Bombay Bicycle Club, said the evacuation caused confusion and disruption of busi ness for almost an hour. "The whole thing was just an inconvenience," Hart said. "The patrons that were in the restaurant at the time were very understanding, but they left to eat somewhere else. It was right in the middle of the lunch hour, and we were kept outside for probably 45 minutes to an hour." Despite being frightened, the lunch crowd at Taco Ca bana remained calm and exited the building quickly ac cording to Manager Connie Gibbs. "When the firefighter came into the restaurant, he told us we needed to get out quickly in case the gas were to explode and the look in his eyes scared me," Gibbs said. "All the guests were a little scared but very cooper ative. They got out smoothly. I think they were con cerned because they weren't allowed to go to their cars, and the fire fighters kept telling us to move further and further away from the restaurant." Gibbs said she is not upset about the inconvenience or loss of business caused by the evacuation. "When we were out there on the street all we were worried about was whether or not the whole block was going to blow up or whether our cars would be taken in fire," she said. "I wasn't worried about whether or not I was making money," Administration appoints special counsel for Whitewater; Republicans push for hearings to protect public trust 1 ICCEPTED- The Associated Press WASHINGTON — A Republican con gressman pressed again Sunday for congres sional hearings into President Clinton's ties to a failed S&L, calling the Arkansas venture a small issue but one of public trust. The administration, meanwhile, stressed that Clinton is cooperating fully with a probe, and a Senate Democrat accused the GOP of rehashing the issue for partisan gain even af ter Clinton agreed that a special counsel should investigate. "All the information has been turned over, every scrap of it. A special counsel (is being) appointed. What do you want?" Vice Presi dent A1 Gore asked Sunday on ABC's' "This Week with David Brinkley." Attorney General Janet Reno is expected soon to announce the name of a counsel to in vestigate the ties between Clinton, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and James McDou- gal, owner of the Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan that failed in 1989 at a cost to tax payers of $47 million. McDougal and the Clintons also co-owned the Whitewater Development Corp., an Arkansas real estate venture. Investigators are trying to determine whether Madison S&L funds were illegally di verted to Whitewater or to help Clinton repay a $50,000 loan for his 1984 gubernatorial cam paign. Clinton denies any wrongdoing, saying he lost $68,900 in the Whitewater venture. McDougal's attorney, Sam Heuer, agreed Sunday. "I would suspect if there were some secrets, we would have known them long be fore now," he said. "Jim McDougal was a sav ings and loan executive, which is akin to be ing a communist in the McCarthy era." But Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, the ranking Republican on the House Banking Committee, repeated his call for bipartisan congressional hearings, saying the special counsel would look into illegal activities while Congress needed to air an issue of "public trust." "This isn't the largest issue. It's somewhere between much ado about nothing and some thing might be a little rotten in part of the Ozarks," he told CBS' "Face the Nation. '.'There are possible breaches of law, but more importantly there's a public ethic here that's at issue." Inside Campus •Campus conference center planning continues Page 2 Aggie life ► The marijuana-music marriage Page 3 Opinion ►Megliola: Love and tennis serve up a new life ►Editorial: Thanks Mom Page 9 ApL m 'Xif o bhnb\. \y Sports ►Slocum hires new defensive coordinator Page 5