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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 1994)
rm Texas A&M _ _ W • Tne Battalion ficcr +02 hii 1 Kathy a. Rap and Ei 'HJtritioii lunch fro; r more at 845- pl'y and >n: Afro 'Icat I2:3i t Hall, ft iccca at iciern dane :illa Natl® i-m. inl{j on call ncicty: son of ' at 7:00 >93-872t n scnicc it and s. Items :er than ie desired Hines and will noth nave any ewsroom )fficial bat a iot bat] ted to U.S. n the to South it trough U Clinton tal r any Not. Corea an t itates, l statentf’S ,d it WOi/ Id threw ■ Nc»/ inteii®^ dofwl® Vol. 93 No. 115 (12 pages) Serving Texas A&M since 1893 Wednesday, March 23, 1994 Fort Bliss soldiers set for Korean deployment The Associated Press EL PASO — Soldiers at Fort Bliss on Tuesday were readying tons of military equipment, in cluding Patriot surface-to-air missiles, for a journey to South Korea as tensions rise with the Communist North. Up to 800 soldiers slated for deployment from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Air Defense Ar tillery of the 11 th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, also were trying to prepare themselves. Like Sgt. Allen Meade Jr., who likely will miss the birth of his first son. “We’re kind of sad because we don’t want them to go,’’ Meade’s wife, Darcy, who is ex pecting a son in April, told the El Paso Times. The weapons and other equipment will be loaded on train cars Wednesday to begin a month-long journey by rail and sea to North Korea, Fort Bliss Public Affairs Officer Jean Of- futt said. The equipment includes three to six Patriot batteries with eight launchers each, she said. A launcher has four missiles. Meade and die other soldiers from the Fort Bliss unit that fired the first Patriot missile in the Persian Gulf War will be deployed in the next few days, arriving in South Korea by air in about a month, Offutt said. She said a small advance group of soldiers trained in using the missiles would leave soon er to help set up batteries, with die rest arriving later. The 2nd Battalion was credited widi inter cepting six Scuds during the Persian Gulf War. The battalion is one of three in die 11th Air De fense Artillery Brigade at Fort Bliss, die home post for about 20,000 soldiers. Darcy Meade said Fort Bliss families had been expecting die South Korea deployment for three or four months. The couple has two daughters — Shower, 12, and Winter, 2 — and the baby will be named Allen Meade HI. The post received a “heads up” on the de ployment around 3:30 p.m. MST Monday, Of futt said. Secretary of State Warren Christopher said Tuesday that diplomadc efforts to end the nu clear standoff with North Korea have reached “a critical point,” raising the possibility of “progressively stronger measures.” North Korea called the U.S.-South Korean decision to deploy Patriot missiles a “declara tion of war,” but Clinton administration offi cials emphasized they prefer to gradually in crease the pressure without resorting to force. Retired Col. Berkeley Gillespie of El Paso, former Fort Bliss deputy commander, said he was pleased to see the Patriot being sent as a defense weapon. nission I Enjoy! Planned Parenthood offers reduced prices Long-term contraceptives made available for low-income women, college students Politics on the Southside IT mm By Eloise Flint The Battalion Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders has blamed the high cost of long-term contraceptives for depriving low-income women with the chance to prevent an unwanted pregnancy, but a representative of the Brazos Valley Planned Parenthood said they can easily be obtained at a reduced price. Norplant, a device inserted under the skin, and Depo Provera injections can be administered through Planned Parenthood at a much lower cost than any other clinic. Through Planned Parenthood, Depo Provera injections cost $30, and must be given every 12 to 14 weeks for effectiveness. The Norplant System, which lasts up to five years, is avadable for $450. On the other hand, the Norplant System can be implanted at the Scott and White Clinic for $545, and Depo Provera shots can be administered for $52. Dr. Kenneth Dirks, director of the Beutel Health Center, said birth control is an important issue at the health center. "We always have students coming in for advice on protection,” Dirks said. “We give them the whole range of choices from abstinence to the many forms that are available.” Dirks said neither Depo Provera or Norplant is available to students at the health center because of the unwanted side effects. “We do not provide them with those options, but we do advise them where to obtain them if they wish to,” Dirks said. According to public information from Planned Parenthood, both contraceptives sometimes result in headache, nervousness, dizziness and weight gain. A representative of Planned Parenthood doesn't believe side effects are the health center’s true reasons for not providing the contraceptives. “We have 60 people on Depo Provera, and a good 35 or 40 of them are A&M students.” - a staff member at Planned Parenthood “We have 60 people on Depo Provera, and a good 3 5 or 40 of them are A&M students,” said a staff member at Planned Parenthood who wished to remain anonymous. “I think the high cost to the institution is the reason they don’t provide them. We have girls coming in for their second and third injections, so I don't think it’s because of the side effects.” Dirks said if there are studies done that provide different information about the two forms of contraception, then health center officials might consider using them, but that isn’t likely to happen. "Birth control is an important subject that we are all interested in,” Dirks said. The fact that Planned Parenthood buys supplies in such large quantities allows them to provide the contraceptives at a lower price than other clinics. “At Planned Parenthood we buy supplies in mass quantities because every state has at least one,” said the staff member. “We buy millions of dollars of merchandise, so we get a big discount.” The spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood said the two forms of contraception are priced too high at other clinics. “Depo Provera was costing $2.50 previously, but once it was OK’d as a contraceptive device the price jumped 300 percent,” she said. “It is not a new drug, it has been on the market for some time but was not used for the same purpose.” The staff member said the high cost isn’t necessary because no new research was needed for the production of the drug; therefore, they don’t need to recuperate from research expenses. The Planned Parenthood staff believes it is unfair for any smaller organizations to compare costs because they don’t have the advantage of mass purchasing that Planned Parenthood does. m 1 tgpMSEMP jgPMwSP , TV, % Police Beat What's Up Pg- 3 Sports pg. 5 Opinion Pg- 7 Pg- 11 Board of Regents to meet today The Planning and Building Committee of the the Board of Regents will meet today at 2 p.m, and will discuss construction projects throughout the system. Regents will hear the initial construction plans for the equine reproduction center and bids on movable furnishings for the Business Administration building. The regents will reconvene Thursday at 10 a.m. Key agenda items include •establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a campus holiday. •establishing a $50 agricultural equipment access fee. •authorization to increase graduate student tuition. •approval of increased fees and new fees. iri srr ■ IA r Ev LEADER ■ riOr LZj Rif HERE Candidates for A&M student political positions display their campaign sandwich boards Tuesday afternoon in front of the David Birch/The Battalion Commons to garner support for the student elections scheduled for March 30 and 31. NASA to unveil final design for Russia-U.S. space station The Associated Press WASHINGTON —- This week NASA officials unveil yet another “final design” for the space station — the seventh to date and the first to include full participation by the Russians. The deal gives Russians some badly needed cash and Americans the benefit of Russian experience with long term space stays. But the arrangement may not go over so well in the House, where sentiment to scrap the project is growing. The six discarded plans were keyed to building an orbiting laboratory for pure, world-class science. The newest offering, however, will present the station for the first time as an instrument of foreign policy. Under a 300-page agreement signed in Moscow last December by Vice President Gore and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, Russia became a full partner in an international space station with the United States, 10 European nations, Japan and Canada. Lost in the smiles, self- congratulations and backslappings was the fact that the United States was horsetrading to stop Russia from sending sensitive rocket engine technology to India and to abide by the Missile Technology Control Regime. More than 20 countries signed on to the MTCR agreement not to export long-range missiles and missile technology. It was a good deal for the cash-strapped Russians. The United States agreed to pay $400 million (which happened to be the amount Russia said it would lose by canceling its contract with India) and will send 10 shuttle flights to the Mir space station through 1997 along with equipment and experiments the Russians need. The United States gets access to 20 years of Russian space station experience and the opportunity to have astronauts spend a total of 24 months on Mir. America’s space corps lags far behind its Russian counterpart in the long- duration flights that are precursors to interplanetary travel. The U.S. best is 84 days on Skylab; Russians have spent up to 366 days on Mir. NASA officials plan to outline the new design on Thursday, and next week, present it to Congress, a routine See NASA/Page 10 U.T. storeroom supervisor accused of supplying drugs to Hell’s Angels The Associated Press State leads nation in train/car accidents The Associated Press AUSTIN — A specially refurbished passenger train passed through Tuesday in an effort to urge railroad crossing safety in Texas, which leads the nation in collisions between trains and cars. “Sometimes you beat the train, sometimes the train beats you, but ... when it’s a tie, it’s deadly,” Gary Featherling, coordinator of Operation Lifesaver, said as the Union Pacific train traveled through Austin. Texas has the most track of any state in the nation — approximately 13,000 miles — and leads the nation in train and car accidents. In 1993, there were 399 collisions statewide that resulted in 5 5 fatalities and 139 injuries, according to Operation Lifesaver. Those numbers have been steadily decreasing since 1989, when there were 676 collisions, 93 fatalities and 361 injuries. Featherling said he believed a part of the reason for the decrease is through education efforts, such as Operation Lifesaver, which is a rail industry supported program to teach railroad crossing safety. Railroad Commissioner Barry Williamson said motorists should be cautious when approaching a railroad crossing. “The most important thing you can do is look, listen and you’ll live,” he said. Williamson said that most accidents between See Railroad/Page 12 AUSTIN — A drug manufacturing operation allegedly headed by a University of Texas storeroom supervisor supplied narcotics made with school- bought chemicals to the Hell’s Angels, federal authorities allege. A Drug Enforcement Administration undercover agent, testifying Monday at a federal court hearing, said the UT supervisor “used his position” to siphon off chemicals needed to make narcotics. “Based upon my investigation, there are ties to the Hell’s Angels” motorcycle gang, the agent said. “I beheve they are involved in die distribution of the finished product.” The agent, who asked not to be identified, charged that the supervisor, Michael Mott, 44, provided chemicals to another member of the drug ring to “cook” into speed. The speed then was distributed to contacts with the Hell’s Angels, the agent said. Mott is one of three people charged with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamines in the case, which focuses on activities at the campus-run warehouse that distributes chemicals for experiments and research at UT’s chemistry department. Cup o' squirrel Nick Rodnicki/TTie Battalion lean Longhofer, an employee in the wildlife and fisheries office, administers one of her bi-daily doses of squirrel vittles out of the second floor window of Nagle Hall. The squirrel comes calling at the window each morning at 7 and afternoons at 4.