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^ -^'A. i' ''’• '' .®fc v- i .4! < *kv . >,1'^ ailtf*illiii!!l NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE < s , ' i, - ^ ^ ■ 4 ' '' /rW^B-W Texas A&M "W - ^ M » "W • The Battalion |ol. 93 No. 133 (12 pages) Serving Texas A&M since 1893 emocrats offer health care compromise Associated Press WASHINGTON — Senate Majority lader George Mitchell sparked fresh debate dong fellow Democrats by suggesting lavs to make President Clinton’s health care Ian less costly. The White House said it Isn’t endorsing any compromises. ^iRep. Pat Williams, D-Mont., said Mon- dk the House subcommittee he chairs |ill begin work Thursday on a version jat does not include one of the most con- iversial elements of Clinton’s plan. I Alliances envisioned in the Clinton plan 4ould pool large groups of people to give tlem purchasing clout in buying health isurance at better prices than they could ■gotiate individually. I Clinton press secretary Dee Dee Myers lelcomed Mitchell’s alternatives to the iisident’s plan as “yet another sign that |ings are moving along.’’ And Sen. Jay Rockefeller. D-WVa., said Mitchell had Senate majority leader outlines possible scenarios; White House says it won’t endorse compromises “established himself as someone who’s going to ram (reform) through the United States Senate.” “Mitchell did a real fine job of outlining three different versions of employer man dates,” said Sen. John Breaux, D-La., whose plan would avoid forcing any business or in dividual to buy insurance. “I don’t think there’s a majority of support for mandates before we move on (other) reforms.” All of Mitchell’s alternatives would re tain Clinton’s idea of making employers help pay for their workers’ coverage. They would lighten the burden by tinkering with the benefit package, the subsidies and the employer snare. He got help from senior White House advisers in framing his options for less ex pensive ways to achieve health coverage for all Americans. Ira Magaziner, the senior White House adviser wdio took part in the Democrats’ discussion at a weekend retreat, said of Mitchell’s suggestions, “They were scenar ios more than proposals. He was using them to get a discussion going.” As for the House bill drafted by Williams, the Montana congressman said states would perform the function of al liances and could do so either by creat ing mandatory consumer purchasing co operatives, voluntary cooperatives or no cooperatives. His proposal would also provide more generous subsidies for all small businesses, with the majority of assistance going to businesses with 25 or fewer workers. Unlike the president’s plan, Williams would exclude all such businesses from his cooperatives. They would run their own health coverage, but pay a 1 percent payroll tax. His proposal also would provide subsi dies to low-income workers up to 200 percent of the poverty line instead of 150 percent as in Clinton’s plan. He said his subcommittee would vote not only on his draft but on a single-payer plan, like the Canadian system, in which the gov ernment pays most bills, without co-pay ments for all women of childbearing age. Williams said that his proposal would cost $15 billion to $30 billion more than the president’s over five years but that it would be worth it. The Democrats spent much of Saturday discussing Clinton’s plan and alternatives at a Williamsburg, Va., retreat. Clinton joined them that evening and urged them to press forward on health reform and other issues. The president did not take E art in the talk of possible compromise on ealth reform, an aide said. Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said “no commitments were made” on the shape of health care reform. “We agreed to additional sessions,” said Daschle, co-chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee. “We are working on building a consensus around the princi ples the president has outlined,’’ said Daschle, who is a candidate to take Mitchell’s post when the Maine Democrat retires at the end of the session. Supreme Court may renew ban mi guns near school grounds 'he Associated Press 0737 WASHINGTON — The Supreme !ourt stepped into the national de- ate over gun control Monday, say- ; it will consider reviving a feder- ian on possession of guns within 100 feet of any school. The justices agreed to decide /hether a federal appeals court rred when it essentially threw out he 1990 Gun-Free School Zones \ct as unconstitutional. The Clinton administration is tsking the high court to reinstate both the law and the conviction f a former San Antonio, Texas, high school student who admit ted he took a gun to school in March 1992. Alfonso Lopez Jr. told authori ses he was to be paid $40 for de- [livering the gun to someone else to use in a gang war. Dennis Henigan of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence ex pressed hope Monday the court will reinstate the law. Gun vio- ence at schools has become a na- ional problem, Henigan said, adding that the 1990 law was a sensible public safety measure.” More than 200,000 children car ry firearms to school every day, ac cording to Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., sponsor of the invalidated law. Larry Pratt of the Gun Owners of America said the lower court was correct in throwing out the law. Lopez’s conduct already was banned by other state and federal See Gun Ban/Page 12 ielife Opinion Sports What's Up Pg.3 Pg. 11 Pg.9 Pg- 8 A kiss is just a kiss Jason Welbom/y’/ip AanielunJ Brad Stevenson, a junior sports management major from Houston and Barbie Ander son, a sophomore accounting major from Fort Worth, take part in the United Way Kiss Off at Kyle Field on Saturday. Aggies for Richards, Bush hope gubernatorial debate informs undecided voters By Nicole Cloutier The Battalion Members of Aggies for George W. Bush and Aggies for Ann Richards will face off in a debate Tuesday in an attempt to inform voters about the two guberna torial candidates and their platforms. The debate, which is being sponsored by the League of Women Voters, will be at 7 p.m. in Room 601 of Rudder Tower. Bo Armstrong, debate coordinator and one of the five people representing Bush at the debate, said he hopes mudslinging will not be a part of this race as it was in last week’s runoff between Jim Mattox and Richard Fisher. “This has been one of the best efforts between these two parties to work to gether.” Armstrong said. “It has really gone very smooth working with the other party.” Suzanne Chase, a representative for Ag gies for Richards, said she hopes the de bate attracts a variety of attendants. “We hope to reach more people who are seeking to get informed about the is sues like crime and education,” she said. “We both decided that it was not go ing to do anyone any good to fill the room up with Aggies for Richards or George Bush because they have already made up their minds who they are going to vote for.” Both Armstrong and Chase said the de bate is targeted towards voters who are not decided, although everyone is invited. “This is really a great chance for them to get to the issues,” Armstrong said. Coordinators of the debate plan to ad dress several issues that are important to Texans, including crime, education, taxes and spending, gun control, social family values, welfare, jobs and juvenile crime. Armstrong said if this debate is a suc cess, another debate will be planned for later in the year. Both organizations will send represen tatives who will address the issues and elaborate on the candidate’s position. An open forum is scheduled following the debate to allow audience members to question the representatives. South African officials allow Zulu leader’s party into election The Associated Press PRETORIA, South Africa — A break through agreement to resolve South Africa’s political crisis appeared imminent Monday when Zulu leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi dropped his demand for a delay in next week’s election. Buthelezi, President FW. de Klerk and African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela may approve Tuesday a proposal that would bring Buthelezi’s Inkatha Free dom Party into the April 26-28 election, said a government source close to the talks. Ending the Inkatha boycott would be a key to ending violence between pro -and anti-election forces that has killed hun dreds of people and threatened to make voting impossible in some parts of the country. “I can say the discussions have gone very well,” Buthelezi said after several hours of talks with de Klerk. He added that he hoped to have an announcement Tuesday “that might be very positive.” One of Buthelezi’s conditions for tak ing part in the vote has been a delay in the election, hut on Monday he conceded that ANC and government opposition to a postponement made this impossible. “I don’t think there is any possibility of postponing the election, although I would prefer a postponement, but I am a realist,” Buthelezi said. Lecturer warns of future climate changes North says greenhouse gases responsible for temperature rise ^ I . ' ■. - Amy Browning/yy/t* Battalion Dr. Gerald R. North, professor of meteorology and oceanology, ex plains climate systems as a part of the University Lecture Series. By Melissa Jacobs The Battalion A faculty lecturer told students and faculty members during a University Lecture Series Monday night that the climate system has undergone drastic changes. Dr. Gerald R. North, director of the Climate System Research Program at Texas A&M University, said the climate system is a com plicated subject. “Probably the closest thing to it are biological systems,” North said during the program, “Climate Change in the Last Century: Forced or Natural?” North, a distinguished profes sor of meteorology and oceanog raphy, explained the greenhouse effect is heating due to gases in the atmosphere. He said there is abundant evidence the climate is Warming because of increasing concentrations of greenhouse gas es in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases. “Modern climate models say doubling carbon dioxide leads to a warming of about 2 to 40 degrees Celsius,’ he said. North said problems he has en countered in his research include biases in ways of measuring the earth’s temperature. The tempera ture of ocean water was once mea sured by lowering a pail into the water and measuring the tempera ture of the water in the pail, he said. Whether the pail was made of canvas or wood could make a difference in the temperature. “Also, the center of an urban area is much warmer than that of a countryside,” he said. North said the effect that aerosols have on the atmosphere is still a question. “We don’t know what they are doing to the heat budget of the planet,” he said. “Once the aerosol gets above the stratosphere it stays there a couple of years.” North said the climate change will result in higher tempera tures, lower precipitation, an in crease in the sea level by about a foot or two and changes in the frequency of hurricanes. ‘A model suggests that in Texas. there would be less precipitation,” he said. “It is likely that the hur ricane frequency will change, but we don’t know which way.” North said there are a lot of problems left with climate research. “There are enough problems to keep me here a while,” he said. “A realistic goal is that we will ac tually know where the error bar is in ten years. The government thinks we should be there now but we have a long way to go." Gorazde falls to Serbs despite cease-fire pact The Associated Press SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Confounded by Bosnian Serb guns they cannot silence, international mediators and UN. officials ac knowledged Monday there was nothing they could do for the terrorized Muslim enclave of Gorazde. “The town is at their mercy,” said the U.N. commander for Bosnia, Lt. Gen. Sir Michael Rose. "We are on the edge of a major humanitari an catastrophe.” While Serb artillery pounded Gorazde, U.N. officials said Serb leaders had committed yet again to a cease-fire and the deployment 'of U.N. troops in the eastern enclave, home to an estimated 65,000 people. But there was no immediate sign it would be anything different from other broken pledges in recent days. Russia’s special envoy, Vitaly Churkin, lashed out at Serb leaders after a weekend of trying to negotiate a halt to the fighting at Gorazde, saying he had never heard so many broken promises. Churkin offered little hope to the thousands of refugees huddled in the ruins of Gorazde trying to escape explosions and bullets from snipers and machine guns. “In my view, there is very little way to control the sit uation,” he told reporters in Zagreb, Croatia, and predicted a bloodbath if Serb troops moved into the town. In Washington, President Clinton played down the possibility of further air attacks on Serb forces around Gorazde. He renewed his call for an end to the U.N. ban on arms shipments to Bosnia’s Muslim-led government. U.N. officials said there would be little gained by calling in more NATO air strikes like the limited raids over the past week that did not blunt the Serb offensive. The only military officer in Gorazde to guide NATO planes was among seven British officers evacuated at dawn, U.N. officials said. Hampered by that muddled sense of purpose and lack of will, the Unit ed Nations could do little but express outrage at the Serb attacks on Gorazde, one of six “safe areas” declared by the Security Council a year ago.