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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1994)
imittee >ur par. I 1 of thej 1 ary 1] Kold^s The Battalion Vuuy ipOO l Voi. 93 No. 89 (8 pages) 1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993 Monday, February 7,1994 Clinton seeks solution to violence 'g Con- ae 'mation v Path ■ at the ion call a doct. ial cant 2.50 pe by. Fo: >0. 57. •i ! ei rs. a near' ■ and nail cc ; ipp m w eekend rap-up Market bombing kills 68 in Sarajevo SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegov- ina — Bodies and severed limbs lay amid bloodstained market stalls after a mortar shell landed in a crowd of Saturday shoppers, butchering at least 68 people and wounding more than 200. The bloodiest single attack on Sarajevo's civilians since the war began 22 months ago came just after noon, as people filled the Markale market to scavenge for basic necessities. "There are trucks of dead, there are legs, arms, heads, as many as you want," said a wounded young man while wait ing for care at Kosevo hospital. President Alija Izetbegovic's spokesman, Kemal Muftic, said the 120mm mortar shell was fired from a Serb-held position north of Sarajevo. U.N. troops were ana lyzing the crater to determine the shell's origin. Scientists endorse burning chemicals WASHINGTON - Scientists are backing an Army plan to burn thousands of tons of chemi cal agents and munitions in spe cially built incinerators, saying it's better than keeping the dead ly material stored for years to come. A committee of the National Academy of Sciences said in a re port Friday that the Army should start burning the stock pile of more than 30,000 tons of chemical material, some dating to World War I. An alternative — chemical de composition — might be suitable at two sites and, therefore, should not be abandoned, but delaying the overall destruction until safer methods are devel oped "will result in a higher overall risk," it said. Surgeon staples nurse, pays $5,000 NEW ORLEANS - A surgeon was ordered to pay a nurse $5,000 for shooting a surgical staple into her buttocks as she stooped to count sponges on an operating room floor. Lola Simpson said she was less interested in the jury award than in bringing Dr. James Bennett to task for the 1990 incident at Chil dren's Hospital. She said Bennett called the in cident a "joke," but he could have spread infection from the patient to her. Bennett had just finished sta pling the hip of a boy being propped for surgery when Simp son bent down to count sponges. Bennett turned the stapling gun on her. "There was a nice muscular man standing next to him in the operating room, but he didn't think to do that to him," Simpson said. -The Associated Press Increased attacks in Bosnia prompts White House to plan strategy to end unrest The Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Clinton conferred with his top national security' advisers Sunday to chart a course for dealing with escalating violence in Bosnia amid intensifying calls from Congress for air strikes. A top administration official said Western military ac tion was clearly "on the table” in the aftermath of a mor tar attack Saturday in a market in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo that left 68 dead and hundreds wounded. And Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole asserted that a decision by Clinton to order air strikes would have "strong bipartisan support” in Congress. But Clinton — along with other allied leaders — ap peared still to be groping for an effective strategy for ending the bloodshed in the former Yugoslavia. A day after he sent a U.S. medical team and three transport planes to Sarajevo to help evacuate the wound ed, Clinton summoned top national security officials to the White House to discuss the deteriorating situation. He was leaving later in the day for Houston on a 21/2- day trip that will combine political fund raising with pro moting his health-care program. Aides said the president did not consider the situation to be enough of a crisis to warrant delaying the trip. An administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Clinton asked for an update on the situ ation and was also eager for details on what the medical team had learned in Sarajevo. Clinton — who late Saturday issued a statement con demning the "cowardly act" and calling for engaging al lies on next steps — was not likely to take any steps with out consulting with NATO partners, the official said. In Munich, Germany, Defense Secretary William Perry said that the United States would not invoke air strikes unilaterally, noting the difficulty imposed by the pres ence of 28,000 lightly armed U.N. peacekeepers in Bosnia. Perry denounced the attack on civilians in Sarajevo as an "unforgivable incident" but suggested air strikes would have limited value in ending the civil strife. He called instead for a negotiated settlement. "It is time for responsible leaders among the warring factions to step forward and be counted. It is time for the international community to stand together and bring the maximum pressure to bear," Perry told a military confer ence in Munich. Perry's remarks seemed to back away from comments the day before when he suggested "stronger action, in cluding air strikes" might be warranted to prevent the "strangulation" of Sarajevo. Senate Republican Leader Dole suggested it was time for air strike against Serbian positions. "1 think it would certainly send a strong message to Belgrade," Dole told NBC-TV. "Let's send a signal to the Bosnian Serbs and the Serb leadership in Belgrade that we mean business," Dole said. He also called for lifting the Western arms embargo so weapons could be sent to Bosnian Muslims to defend themselves against Serb attacks. "I think there'd be support for the president if he used that option," Dole said. "My view is (that) if he's pre pared to do it, he'd have strong bipartisan support in the Congress." Students become wary of man selling magazines in dorms By James Bernsen The Battalion Students in Texas A&M residence halls may have fallen prey to a suspi cious salesman offering magazines to students in their rooms. R.J. Wittman, a senior civil engineer ing major, said he was approached Thursday by a man claiming to be a vet eran paying his way through college by selling magazines. The man came into Wittman's room in Law Hall and convinced him to buy a magazine. Wittman became suspicious when the man asked him to write a check out to him, rather than the magazine company, but he wrote the check anyway. The man continued to sell magazines throughout the building, sometimes hav ing the check written to New River Sub scriptions, a Virginia Company. Nathat Pekar, a sophomore biomed ical science major who bought a maga zine, became suspicious and called the Better Business Bureau of Virginia, who said the company was legitimate as far as they knew. But when Pekar called the number for the company, he was given a different address from the one on the receipt. Pekar said he was told specifically to write a check out to the man's supervi sor, not the company. But Evan Palomeque, a junior indus trial engineering major, said he was told by the same man to write a check out to the company. Wittman decided writing the check was a bad idea, tracked the man down, and got his check back. He then called University Police, who had already received a call from the resi dent director of Puryear Hall. UPD picked him up as he continued to solicit in the hall. Bob Wiatt, director of the University Police Department, said the man had been caught once before in Lubbock for the same thing. There was no proof the man had com mitted a crime besides soliciting without a permit, so he was released with a warn ing, Wiatt said. "I hope that in this case, he's legiti mate and sends the magazines," he said. "It's just a bad deal and that's why we don't let these people on campus." Wiatt said the man, one of several so licitors picked up that day, did have identification in the name of the sub scription company, but may still be a con-artist. "The only way you can tell is wait and see if the subscriptions come in, and by then, it's too late," he said. See Scam/Page 4 Men's, women's basketball beat Tech Members of the Lady Aggies basketball team are surrounded by member's of the men's team and fans during a celebra- Kyle Bumett/The Battalion tion after the Lady Aggies 67-64 victory over fourth ranked Texas Tech on Saturday. See related story on page 5. Clinton's health care plan Medical schools face funding freeze By Eloise Flint The Battalion Health care reform could vastly limit the number of areas medical students are able to specialize in, said College Station Cardiologist Dr. Jim Rohack. Rohack, a consultant to the Texas Medical Association, said the federal and state governments currently subsidize be tween $50,000 and $60,000 per medical student. If the current health care reforms are put in place, academic health centers will take a large hit and funding will not in crease, he said. "The plan has looked at taxing to create a large pool for academic health centers," Rohack said. "New schools, a la A&M, will not get any more money." Rohack said the Clinton plan tries to require 50 percent of graduates to sign a contract promising to practice primary care. The primary care system includes general medicine and general pediatrics, but the big question, Rohack said, is whether or not that includes obstetrics and gynecology. "When a survey of women was taken, they consider their ob-gyn to be their primary doctor," Rohack said. Reducing the number of residency slots available to gradu ates of American medical schools will also narrow the field of choice, Rohack said. The number of residency slots will decrease from a current 140 percent to 110 percent of graduates. Rohack said the decrease in residency slots available is be cause of the current number of slots, which allow for more residencies than there are graduates. The government will reimburse graduate programs 170 percent if they are in general medicine, but they will com pletely reduce those which specialize. "This basically eliminates sub-specialty or specialty pro grams," Rohack said. If students want the ability to choose their specialty, branch of medicine and size of community Rohack said they need to communicate with legislators by writing letters. pr s 5 B L A.C K ME R1 TA<S E -slave, senator helped found University wr. By Lisa Elliott The Battalion ost students at Texas A&M have never heard of 1.Matthew Gaines. They know nothing about his fight to help establish the Agricultural and Me chanical College of Texas more than a 120 years ago. Perhaps the reason stu dents know nothing about him is be cause he was a former slave. Gaines was unusually educated for a black man in that time period. His hatred of slavery led him to become a minister to counsel other slaves. He escaped his bondage several times and was always returned. During the Reconstruction he was elected to the Texas Senate where he was the most vocal black in the Legis lature. He pushed for free education and felt strongly that children of all races, religions and genders had a right to an education. Gaines is best known for his efforts to make Texas A&M racially integrat- See Gaines/Page 3 Inside - Sports •Lady Aggies shock Raiders •Tech athletic director apologizes for brawl Page 5 Opinion •Megliola: Access Challenge offers opportunity to understand •Editorial: Tech's security problem a warning to us all Page 7