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The Battalion
Vol. 93 No. 82 (14 pages)
1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993
Thursday, January 27,1994
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Quanell X calls for sacrifice
By Eloise Flint
The Battalion
Id exit: [
largely
to pay
The black community needs to
pull together and do things for
themselves, said Quanell X, a
controversial black minister who
was featured at a fraternity speech
Wednesday night in Rudder Tow
er.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity
sponsored Quanell X as part of
their seventh annual Alpha week.
Quanell X said blacks often
strive to attend basically white
universities "because we think in-
erior."
Black students shouldn't pass
Minister says African Americans should
pull together, takes shots at white women
up universities such as Prairie
View and Texas Southern because
they are passing up making some
thing for themselves and their
children, and instead are trying to
integrate with whites.
"You as black people must ask
yourself what you're doing here,"
Quanell X said. "You look over
the black institutions because you
feel superior on the plantation."
Kia Carter, a junior business
analysis and research major, was
pleased with the speech.
"It really makes you think
about yourself, but I'm not going
to get up and change schools or
anything," Carter said.
Quanell X urged students not
to consider money when choosing
a university.
"Too often we sell out for a
dollar bill," Quanell X said.
"Don't let money determine how
you guide your life, somebody
needs to sacrifice."
Cynthia West, a senior recre
ation parks and tourism sciences
major, said Quanell X was de
grading his own race.
"With the statements he made
about black students at A&M he's
putting them down in general for
the school they chose to attend,"
West said.
Quanell X said the white popu
lation is responsible for the
wretched condition that the black
people are in, and they should
apologize for what their ancestors
have done.
"You know you don't like us or
want us, but have to give us jus
tice," Quanell X said.
See X/Page 8
Board of Regents meeting to
emphasize campus construction
The Facilities Planning and Building Committee of the Texas
A&M Board of Regents will discuss the progress of construction
within the System.
Among the items of discussion are:
• A report on the Special Events Center.
• A report on the widening of Texas Avenue.
• A report of West Campus parking improvements.
The regents also will tour the Riverside Campus. After the tour,
the regents will hear a report on the Texas Growth Fund.
The regents will reconvene Friday to discuss and vote on the fol
lowing agenda items:
• Authorization to increase tuition for graduate students.
• A policy stating all University meal plans and current food
service operations, including the Sbisa Food Court, will be operated
by the University and will not be privatized.
• Authorization for A&M to contract for the provision of elec
tricity, steam, chilled and hot water for a new co-generation facility.
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Quanell X speaks about how white women want
lips like that of black women in a speech called
"Do for self, or suffer the Consequences." The
Steu’ Milne/The Battalion
two-hour speech, presented by Alpha Phi Alpha
Fraternity, was at 7:30 p.m. in Rudder Tower
Wednesday evening.
Proposed bill will allow Student
Senate to vote on mandatory fees
By Kim McGuire
The Battalion
The Texas A&M Student Senate heard the first
reading of a bill Wednesday night that would allow
the Senate to approve all changes to mandatory stu
dent fees.
Sen. Ben Dale, academic affairs chairman, said
students should have a say in determining their fees.
"We don't feel the
current system of de
termining fees is mis
managed or unfair,"
Dale said.
"However, we feel if
students have to pay
fees, they have a right
to say if they want it or
don't."
Dale said the Senate
is asking that all requests to change fees be presented
to the Senate Finance Committee so they can re
search the requests.
The committee would then present the request to
the Senate for a vote.
Sen. Chad King said the Senate has voted on stu
dent fee changes in the past and asked why the bill
would be necessary.
"We got to have a say in the changes in the MSC
and International student fee, why do we need this
bill," King asked.
Sen. Darla Marburger, co-author of the bill, said
the Senate should have a say in fee changes because
students are often not aware a change is taking place.
"A lot of times a student doesn't know if a change
takes place until it shows up on their fee statement,"
Marburger said.
"This way, students will be aware of a change be
fore it takes place and also they'll have a say in it
through their senators."
In other business, the
Senate heard the first read
ing of a bill that calls for
the creation of an Interdis
ciplinary Council of Honor
. . Societies to facilitate the
-Ben Dale, academic affairs chairman coordination of every hon
orary group on campus.
Dale said he wrote the
bill because of the lack of
coordination among existing honor societies.
"It seems there is a lack of communication be-
"... we feel if students have to pay
fees, they have a right to say if they
want it or don't."
tween the seven recognized honor societies on cam
pus," Dale said.
"By establishing an Interdisciplinary Council of
Honor Societies, we would set up some form of coor
dination. Students would know how many are out
there and the opportunities they offer."
Both of the bills were sent to committees for fur
ther review before their next meeting on Feb. 9.
Health Reform Petition to
be circulated around campus
Signatures will be used to emphasize student
By Lisa Elliott
enetically screened baby bom
The Associated Press
I NORFOLK, Va. — A baby who
23/nonsti' Was tested when she was only
eight cells old to ensure she
would be free of the deadly Tay-
16 Sachs disease was born Wednes-
. day. She was the first child to be
,Ap ' Breened for the incurable disease
2 3/nons««p a pre-embryo, a doctor said.
K Brittany Nicole Abshire and
■er mother were doing well, said
Br. William E. Gibbons, the fami-
TFRfSi^y s ^ octor at t y* e J ones Institute
UsIIs^for Reproductive Medicine in
Baby tested outside the womb for
deadly disease, then implanted
ivestifi!
, March l- ! ;
20/nonsl« :
•wing
), April 4,
Norfolk.
Brittany was born at Baptist
Hospital in Orange, Texas, near
the DeRidder, La., home of her
parents, David and Renee Ab
shire.
Brittany was tested as an eight
cell pre-embryo that had not yet
been implanted into her mother's
womb. Doctors used a needle one-
fifth as wide as a human hair to
withdraw a single cell from each
of the eggs that were fertilized "in
vitro," or outside the mother, said
Dr. Gary D. Hodgen, leader of the
team that performed the proce
dure.
The eggs were tested for Tay-
Sachs, and three "clean" eggs
were implanted in Mrs. Abshire's
uterus. One developed into Brit
tany.
She was the first child in the
world to be screened for the in
herited disease at that stage, Hod
gen said.
See Genetics/Page 14
The Battalion
The A&M Student Health Ser
vices Advisory Council will cir
culate a petition to student orga
nizations in an attempt to per
suade President Clinton to in
clude college students in his
health care plan.
The petition was started by a
student at the University of Cali
fornia at Berkeley who feared
college students would be over
looked in the Clinton Adminis
tration's health care plan.
The student, who began work
ing with the American College
Health Association, has circulat
ed the petition to universities in
eight states in order to make the
petition available to students all
across the country.
The Council hopes to com
plete the petition project by mid-
March, once they have collected
as many signatures as possible.
The petition will then be sent
back to the University of Califor
nia at Berkeley, where it will be
added to the other signatures
and sent to Clinton.
A&M's Council will attempt
to attend as many student orga
nization meetings as possible to
circulate the petition.
Copies of the petition will also
"Right now we, as col
lege students are con
cerned that we could
potentially lose our
health care."
-Lori Lindernuth,
secretary for the A&M
Health Services Advisory
Council
be available at the receptionist's
desk of the A.P. Beutel Health
Center, as well as the health edu
cation office.
Members of the Council will
have a booth in the MSC between
11 a.m. and 1 p.m. next week for
interested students.
Dr. Kenneth Dirks, director of
Texas A&M's Student Health
Center, said the petition is not
against the health plan or against
Clinton.
"What we want to do is make
sure that whatever plan is adopt
ed, it should include college stu
dents," he said.
Lori Lindernuth, a senior com
munity health major and secre
tary of the Council, said the peti
tion will not be associated with
any particular political party be
cause it will affect all students.
"Right now we, as college stu
dents, are concerned that we
could potentially lose our health
care," she said.
Dirks said even if college stu
dents are included in Clinton's
plan, they may end up paying
more and getting lower quality
health care.
He said students should be
identified as a separate group in
stead of lumped together with
the rest of the population, as they
would be in Clinton's plan.
oliticians squabble over health of Clinton plan
The Associated Press
20/
iking
[, March 7
WASHINGTON - The White House of-
17/nons! f erec j coricess j ons on SCO pe of its health
riting plan Wednesday just hours after President
pr 5,12, I s Clinton drew a no-exceptions line on universal
Bverage.
35/nonshJ 5 ena t e Minority Leader Bob Dole pro-
& BOO^Iunced the Clinton health plan "in trouble,"
Et Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., assert
ed that Americans won't stand for a Republi-
i35/nonst«tan filibuster,
il Wine; I The president met with House Democratic
, leaders and key committee chairmen to map
’ Bategy for the struggle over the Clinton
30/non9t4*alth Security Act and a half-dozen compet-
r^ira bills -
jlCiiv' 1 phe president later canceled a speech at a
ocal school on doctors' orders to recover his
jril 27
,ril 5,12, l 5 1
voice.
Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen told busi
ness groups that Clinton was willing to let
more big companies self-insure rather than be
ing forced into the regional alliances where
most Americans would have to buy their in
surance.
White House press secretary Dee Dee My
ers also said that while Clinton stands firm on
universal coverage, the timetable for achieving
it is "something that has to be worked out."
House Speaker Thomas Foley said, "It's
possible you will have some kind of a phase-
in."
"His program is in trouble," Dole said on
NBC-TV. Repeating his argument that the cur
rent system works well for 85 percent of
Americans, Dole told Fox-TV, "We don't need
a triple bypass to take care of the health care
delivery system or this massive overdose of
government that President Clinton proposes."
Bentsen acknowledged that big business
has problems with Clinton's proposal to force
all companies with up to 5,000 employees into
regional insurance-purchasing alliances.
"You think the 5,000-employee threshold ...
is too high," he told the National Association
of Manufacturers and a pension group. "We
hear you. We're willing to discuss this one and
the other details of our plan."
"We got the concept right, but the president
couldn't have been more clear when he said
we're open for discussion on this as well as
other issues," said Bentsen.
Bentsen said he was troubled by sugges
tions that only companies with 100 or fewer
See Health Plan/Page 14
Inside
Aggielife
•Return of the coffeehouse
Page 3
Sports
•Diener: Confessions of a closet
benchwarmer
Page 9
Opinion
• Clay: Numerous incidents
hurt A&M's good reputation
Page 13
,30/nonsW ;