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Scott A. Hih
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'he Texas A&M Student Senate elected Tobin Boenig
1 : ipeah r of the Senate and Ray Hernandez speaker pro
tempore of the Senate at their meeting Wednesday.
- rese ardi,H®oenig ran unopposed, and Hernandez captured
lat 'I’p Z2 [votes to defeat Sen. Ryan Shopp, who had 17
' 11! rotfs, and Sen. Amy Aten, who had one vote.
Boenig said he is looking forward to serving his
Newly appointed students discuss goals,
plans for upcoming school year
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| llr I Jl’m really excited about the upcoming year,”
j S a<lw! Boenig said. “I will do my job to truly represent every
' ll " itujlent and every senator and make sure every sena
tor ps accountable.”
lusTt°r ® oen ig sa ^ t ^ le s P ea ^ er t ^ :ie senat;e rnust both
id
have both experience and vision.
a PP rf ■ said his experience as speaker pro tempore and
thelknowledge he gained will aid him during his up-
ion IV
coming term.
“There are some issues still hanging around that I’d
like to see cemented,” Boenig. “I want to see bills that
the Senate passed this year implemented.”
Boenig said he wanted a bill calling for extra read
ing days and wanted to implement the multicultural-
ism requirement.
He also said the Senate should be a proactive orga
nization and cited some of the issue he wishes to
work on.
Boenig said transportation needs to be improved
on A&M’s West Campus and the Senate should have a
student liaison on the Board of Regents.
Boenig has served as Senate internal affairs chair,
academic affairs chair and as an off-campus senators.
Ray Hernandez said one of his goals is to improve
relations with underrepresented groups on campus,
such as international students, disabled students and
graduate students.
“We have a tendency to forget about them because
of differences,” Hernandez said. “But if we forget
about them, we’re hurting ourselves."
Hernandez also said he wants to aid in the process
of restructuring the Senate Finance Committee and
bolster communication among the senators.
Hernandez said being named speaker pro tempore
was a good way to end his senior year.
“Considering the series of events that has occurred
in the past, I think this is a great way to end my se
nior year in the Corps,” he said.
In other business, Brooke Leslie was sworn in as
student body president.
She said she plans to carry through with her platform.
“During my campaign I talked a lot about making a
difference, ’ Leslie said. “1 pledge to each of you to do
just that. Thank you for supporting me. It will be an in
credible honor to serve you as student body president.”
Also Leslie, former Student Body President Brian
Walker, former Senate Speaker Russell Langley and
former Senate Academic Affairs Chair Ben Dale pre
sented Interim President E. Dean Gage with a plaque
thanking him for his service to Texas A&M.
Gage said he was overwhelmed by the sentiment.
“I can’t tell you what this means,” Gage said. “My
heart is truly with the students and academic programs.’
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earing up for Derby Days 1 Supreme Court member retires
Justice Blackmun leaves at 85, Clinton looks for replacement
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Clinton
promised Wednesday to choose a nominee
‘of genuine stature” to fill his second vacan
cy on a Supreme Court delicately split on ma
jor issues. He saluted retiring Justice Harry A.
Blackmun as a relentless defender of the
rights of everyday Americans.
‘‘The shoes are large,” Clinton said as he
wished Blackmun well in retirement and intensi
fied his search for a replacement. “The role that
he filled on this court is terribly important.”
Blackmun informed Clinton in January that
this would be his last year on the court, so the
president had a head start in his search for a
successor. ‘‘Yes, I’ve been thinking about it,”
Clinton said.
Clinton said he would fill the vacancy in
‘‘an appropriate and timely fashion,” but
aides said it probably would be several weeks
before an announcement.
There was a flurry of speculation, and ad
ministration officials did not dispute that Senate
Majority Leader George Mitchell was high on
the president’s list. Interior Secretary Bruce
Babbitt also was mentioned.
Mitchell said he had not received an offer but
would certainly consider one. Babbitt said he was
not interested and had relayed that to the presi
dent. “I very much want to stay put,” he said.
A handful of federal judges also were said to
be on Clinton’s list of prospective nominees,
including Appeals Judge Stephen G. Breyer of
Boston, a runner up to Ruth Bader Ginsburg in
Clinton’s first search. Others were U.S. District
Judge Jose A. Cabranes of Connecticut and Ap
peals Judge Richard Arnold of Little Rock, Ark.
Several female judges considered early in
Clinton’s initial search also are on the White
House list of prospects. And one administration
official floated a fresh name as a long shot can
didate: U.S. District Judge Ann Claire Williams
of Illinois, a 45-year-old woman named to the
bench by Ronald Reagan in 1985.
Solicitor General Drew Days also was men
tioned as a prospect, and some in the adminis
tration and Congress suggested Clinton might
tap Attorney General Janet Reno.
After 24 years on the high court, highlight
ed by his writing of the landmark abortion-
.rights decision, Blackmun said it was time to
move on and give someone else a chance to en
joy the “fantastic, intimate experience.”
“My goodness, 85 is old,” Blackmun said.
The search is being led by new White House
Counsel Lloyd Cutler, who is reviewing the
process used to build the prospects file and
could make fresh recommendations of his own,
a senior administration official said.
Cutler said both Mitchell and Babbitt were
prospects but also said Clinton’s working list
would “probably reach double digits ... I
think it really has to be a true search.”
From his comments, it was clear the White
House had done research on any possible road
blocks to naming a sitting senator to the court.
Cuder even left open the possibility that Mitchell
could remain a member of Congress after being
confirmed by the Senate. He added, “How politi
cally possible it is, I wouldn’t know.”
“My guess is you’re not going to hear any
thing in the next week or two,’ said Clinton
adviser Bruce Lindsey.
Clinton himself had little comment on his
search, saying it was “Justice Blackmun’s day.”
“1 will attempt to appoint someone of genuine
stature and largeness of ability and spirit to the
court,” he said.
Defense buyers charged in kickback scheme
Amy Munno and Andy Stoner paint their mascot Sigma to gain
spirit points for Sigma Chi Derby Days. Derby Days will end this
^eek and all proceeds benefit the Children's Miracle Network.
The Associated Press
DALLAS — Buyers for two ma
jor defense contractors routinely
funneled inside information to
several Texas and Oklahoma mili
tary suppliers in return for thou
sands of dollars in kickbacks, the
government alleged’Wednesday.
U.S. Attorney Paul Coggins an
nounced indictments naming 1 0
individuals and three companies in
the kickback schemes.
Coggins said buyers at Bell He
licopter Textron, Inc., and Vought
Aircraft Co. took money from mil
itary parts suppliers and in return
supplied inside information, in
cluding competitors’ bids.
Bell and Vought have cooperat
ed in the investigation and are
not targets of the investigation,
Coggins said.
Officials for Bell Helicopter said
they discovered the alleged scheme
and reported it to authorities.
Buyers implicated in the scandal
are Electro Enterprises, Inc. of Ok
lahoma City, C&A Electronics of
Dallas and Fli-Tech Manufacturing,
Inc., of Grand Prairie.
According to the indictments,
the defense procurement programs
involved in the prosecutions in
clude, among others, the Kiowah
Warrior Program for the U.S. Army,
the Air Force’s C-l 7 aircraft and the
Marine Corps’ V-22 Osprey.
“These cases are the result of
one of the most intensive investi
gations ever undertaken into de
fense industry kickbacks within
the Northern District of Texas,”
Coggins said at a news conference.
He called kickbacks on defense
contracts a “widespread practice
that corrupts the defense bid
process, inflates prices and de
stroys fair competition within the
defense industry.”
The two-year investigation in
volved cooperating witnesses and
undercover agents, as well as ex
tensive court-ordered wiretaps,
Coggins said.
residential nominee honored
olorado chancellor impressed by Aggie pride
y Kim McGuire
k Battalion
BThe third candidate interviewing
or the position of president of Texas
l&M University was honored at a re
ception Wednesday.
ftjames N. Corbridge Jr., chancellor
if]the University of Colorado, was
he guest of honor at a reception
lasted by Chancellor William H.
Mobley. He was interviewed last
week in Houston by members of
j&M’s Board of Regents and by the
’residential Search Committee the
:ek before.
The three presidential finalists in
dude Corbridge, Dr. Ray Bowen, in-
trim president of Oklahoma State
iversity, and Dr. Luis Proenza, act-
vice president for academic affairs
the University of Alaska System.
&
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The position has been vacant since
former president Mobley was ap
pointed chancellor.
Corbridge has been chancellor at
the University of Colorado since
1986. He has also served as vice
chancellor for academic affairs, dean
of faculties and interim vice chancel
lor for academic services.
Corbridge said he first visited
A&M during negotiations with the
Big Eight Conference. He is chair
man of the Association of Big Eight
Universities and Faculty Athletic Rep
resentative.
Texas A&M’s sense of pride im
pressed him most about this University.
“There is a great sense of pride
here,” Corbridge said. “And you
can’t say that about a lot of universi
ties. A&M benefits from the loyalty
and commitment of its association
of former students, faculty and stu
dent body.”
Corbridge said he was amazed by
the number of student organizations
and the level of involvement from
students.
“It's interesting students are fore
most in talking about Aggie lore,” he
said. “There’s nothing Tike having a
committed student body.”
Corbridge said he also admired the
emphasis A&M places on undergrad
uate education.
“Many times the undergraduate
education gets dropped by the way-
side,” Corbridge said. “The fact A&M
emphasizes that education puts it way
ahead of the game.
Corbridge got his bachelor’s degree
in English and American Literature
from Brown University and graduated
from Yale Law School in 1963.
Mandela insists South African
lections to go on as scheduled
he Associated Press
i! DURBAN, South Africa — Nelson Mandela rejected
y delay in elections in volatile Natal Province, saying
’ednesday that the army can end mounting bloodshed in
e three weeks before South Africa’s first all-race vote.
The ANC leader spoke to a national conference of African
itional Congress youth in the capital of Natal. In the past
ve weeks, more than 400 people have been killed in the
|bvince, which includes the KwaZulu black homeland.
The South African army sent in 700 soldiers Wednes
day in an attempt to quell the violence, bringing the en
tire deployment to 1,900. The 700 new troops gathered
J t Ladysmith in northern Natal; most were to be sent
Thursday to the area near Ulundi, the capital of KwaZulu.
“We found we had a need to get additional troops into
the area,” said army spokesman Capt. Kim van Niekerk.
“We were a bit thin on the ground.”
The scale of the bloodshed in Natal has convinced
some observers that it is futile to try to hold the elections
while a war is raging between supporters of the ANC and
the Zulu-based Inkatha Freedom Party of Chief Mango-
suthu Buthelezi.
President F.W. de Klerk ordered a state of emergency
last Thursday to end the political violence. Bloodshed
has increased in the weeks leading up to the election —
the first to include the black majority — as Zulu na
tionalists demanding sovereignty try to block voting in
their strongholds.
But Mandela was insistent that there be no delay in the
See Mandela/Page 14
Nation’s largest yearbook gets an editor
New Aggieland
chief predicts job
will be demanding
By Melissa Jacobs
The Battalion
The nation’s largest yearbook has chosen an
editor for next year. Diana Hodges, a sopho
more journalism major, has been named the
editor of the 1995 Aggieland, Texas A&M Uni
versity’s yearbook.
Hodges said she knows her new job will
be demanding.
“Even when you’re a regular staffer it’s de
manding,” she said.
“You have to worry about getting pages in
on time, on top of all your class work. I’m
juggling two sections right now, and that is
helping to prepare me for next year when I’ll
be juggling seven sections.”
Hodges applied for the position because
she eventually wants to work in magazine
publication, and she said this is a step in the
right direction.
“It’s such an important job, and I really
wanted the opportunity to play a big part in
the yearbook,’ she said.
Flodges has worked for the Aggieland for
two years. She has held the positions of resi
dence hall section editor, academic section edi
tor and organizations section editor.
Hodges said she was relieved when she
found out she got the editor’s position.
“The interview really made me nervous,”
she said. “I was the only one who applied for
the position, but if they don’t like you they
don’t have to hire you just because you’re the
only applicant.”
Hodges said she has wanted this position
for a very long time.
“It always feels good to get something that
you want,” she said. “I visited A&M when I
was in high school, and I wanted to apply for
the Aggieland then. The editor told me I
William Horrison/YAf Battalion
could apply but that they usually don’t hire
freshmen. 1 applied and got the position of
sectiop editor.”
Hodges said this year’s editor has done a
great job, and she doesn’t have any specific
changes in mind.
“But every year is different and I want to
capture the year,” she said.
Hodges said many people don’t realize how
important their yearbook is until it is too late.
“Often people don’t buy a yearbook and ten
years after they graduate they call the Ag
gieland and say they want one,” she said. “By
then it is too late and there is nothing we can
do to help them.”
After graduation Hodges wants to work for
a magazine.
“I’m a journalism major, but I hate to
write,” she said. “I love lay out designs. My
next goal is to work for Rolling Stone Maga
zine. The whole magazine industry is my next
stepping-stone.”