The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, June 01, 1994, Image 1
1994 B Guest column "The claim that the Second Amendment guarantees private citizens the right to bear arms is completely unfounded." Page 5 THE Police Beat Theft of Service, MSC- Approximately $1,000 jn unauthorized calls were made to adult entertainment numbers Page 2 Weather Wednesday and Thursday: Partly cloudy, highs in the 90s , lows in the 70s and chances of evening showers — National Weather Service WEDNESDAY June 1, 1994 Vol. 98, No. 148 (6 pages) “Serving Texas A&M since 1893” IHostenkowski indicted on 17 felony counts JL Illinois representative charged with riisuse of $700,000 in public funds j ,WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Dan Ipcstenkowski was indicted Tuesday on felony counts alleging he plundered Mearly $700,000 from the government, (Using public funds for personal gain, ivishing gifts on friends and having iost employees kick back paychecks to is office. The 49-page indictment portrayed a greedy Rostenkowski, not the influen tial deal-maker generally described. U.S. Attorney Eric H. Holder Jr. de scribed his conduct as a “betrayal of the public trust for personal gain.” Rostenkowski lost his chairmanship of the House and Ways Committee the moment the indictment was returned. According to the charges, the Illinois Democrat placed workers on the public payroll to take pictures at his daugh ters’ weddings, remodel his Chicago home, keep the books for the family in surance company and mow the lawn at his vacation home. He bought custom-painted chairs, crystal sculptures and fine china for his pals, paying with public funds, the in dictment said. And he obstructed jus tice, it added, by telling a witness to withhold evidence from the grand jury. As he was replaced by Rep. Sam Gib bons, D-Fla., under House Democratic Caucus rules, Holder was telling a news conference that Rostenkowski engaged in a “very reprehensible, very offensive” pattern of corruption for more than 20 years. Rostenkowski issued a statement Monday night pledging to fight the charges and remain in Congress. “I did not commit any crimes,” he said. He stayed out of public sight Tues day. President Clinton issued a statement saying, “Like all Americans, Chairman Rostenkowski has the right to contest the charges made against him and to have his day in court. Chairman Ros tenkowski and others have helped cre ate real momentum for health care re form, and I am confident that legisla tion will pass this year.” There were reports that Rostenkows ki was considering replacing his defense attorney, Robert S. Bennett, who also is a private lawyer for President Clinton. Holder said Bennett still represented the congressman as of the time of the indictment. Bennett did not return tele phone calls. Please see Rostenkowski/Page 6 Looking back. . . and ahead As he leaves office. Gage reflects on nine months as interim president S. O ne period of transition at Texas A&M is com ing to an end today and another is just beginning. Dr. E. Dean Gage is stepping down after serv ing as interim president for the past nine months and the University’s 21st president is taking over. Gage became interim president Sept. 1 af ter previous president Dr. William Mobley was promoted to A&M System Chancellor. Dr. Ray Bowen was confirmed as A&M pres ident on Friday by the A&M System Board »f Regents. ™ W88S88 By Jan Higginbotham The Battalion Gage said he enjoyed meeting and work ing with so many wonderful people both on and off campus. “I’ve enjoyed having close working rela tionships with student leaders and the facul ty,” he said. “I accept that I have been great ly honored to serve in this interim position.” The hardest part of his job, he said, was dealing with A&M’s negative publicity in re cent months. “I have two words—crisis management,” Gage said. “I attempted to get input from appropriate units and people of the Universi ty and to seek their counsel to make the best decision. “It wasn’t easy to deal with because I am a person who is always optimistic and posi tive,” he said. Gage said he hopes the negative publicity will not have an adverse effect on the school’s image. “There have been so many positives that I hate for those negatives to overshadow the positive things which have happened,” he said. When Gage took over, one of his main goals was to not allow the interim period to cause instability. He said his goal was ac complished. “There is more stability at the present time,” he said. “I’m pleased with the changes we’ve made to strengthen many of the operational and educational areas. Those things far outweigh some of the nega tive things that have happened.” Now that his term as interim president is officially over, Gage will take some time off to spend with his family. He said he and his wife, Kathy, will spend Stew Milne/ The Battalion most of the next month helping his youngest daughter Nicole prepare for her July wedding. Gage said his family played a large part in his decision to withdraw his application for the position of president. “After six years of these 14 and 16 hour days and very few, if any, free weekends, my wife and I made a family decision to be able to spend more time with our two daughters and with each other,” he said. “It was a very personal, family decision.” In the fall, Gage will visit a number of universities to evaluate programs similar to A&M’s Center for Executive Development, which he will head in the spring. Gage will also be developing a leadership class he will teach in the spring through the department of management. “I’m sure I am going to miss this job and my previous position as senior vice president Please see Gage/Page 6 Rebel fighters trap Rwandan troops in capital Bowen takes over as A&M president today Dr. Ray Bowen begins his term as the 21st president of Texas A&M University to day. Bowen’s appointment was confirmed Friday by the A&M Board of Regents, who of fered him the job on April 14. He succeeds former A&M president Dr. William Mobley, who took over as System chancellor in September 1993. Dr. E. Dean Gage has served as interim president since Sept. 1. Bowen, Class of ’58, told The Battalion in a previous interview that he hopes to find solutions to all issues facing the University. “With all the issues to deal with, my broad goal is for the students to become comfort able with me and understand that I am concerned with all their needs,” Bowen said. Interim government in retreat as ethnic massacres continue GITARAMA, Rwanda (AP) — Rebels cut off the last avenue of retreat Monday for government troops caught in the capital Ki gali and overran a vital army barracks near Gitarama, the in terim government’s stronghold. Rwanda’s interim govern ment retreated to Gitarama, about 25 miles southwest of Ki gali, ahead of a rebel advance into Kigali last month. The government’s barracks at Ryanza, about 19 miles south east of Gitarama, has fallen to the rebels, a visit there Monday showed. But the government has tot fled Gitarama, contrary to rebel claims. However, a U.N. source said earlier on condition of anonoymi- ty that the fall of Nyanza would be seen as a major blow to the army’s ability to defend the inter im government stronghold at Gi tarama. Government troops had rushed reinforcements recently to areas surrounding the city. Reports of massacres in Rwanda continued. About 200,000 people have been killed and an estimated 2 million displaced since Rwanda’s ethnic bloodletting began after its president was killed in a mysterious plane crash April 6. Most of the dead were minority Tutsis and Hutu opponents of the government. They were killed by the presidential guard, some military units and civilian gangs organized by extremist Hutu politicians. The massacres shattered a cease-fire that the Hutu-domi nated government and the Tutsi- led rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front signed in Tanzania last August. It was not known whether the rebel advances would have any effect on the massacres. But there are now fears that killing could increase in areas threat ened by the rebels. The govern ment holds western Rwanda and areas in the south that had large Tutsi populations. The rebels hold areas in the north and east New Liberal Arts dean focuses on student needs By Monique Lunsford The Battalion Dr. Woodrow Jones Jr., dean of the College of Liberal Arts, says the college has always been responsive to the needs of its students and he wants to contin ue this tradition as well as ex pand the college’s focus beyond Texas A&M University. Jones takes over today as the University’s first African-Ameri can dean in its 118-year history. He was appointed by the Texas A&M Board of Regents on Fri day. “Our vision is to prepare the college for the 21st century. For me, that means expanding our research to include things that will benefit Texas,” he said. He said students are the cus tomers of a university and need to be treated with respect be cause they are the future. Jones said a major task on his agenda is restructuring the education of liberal arts stu dents. “I believe in student-cen tered education,” Jones said. “We need to think of alterna tive ways of teaching such as distant learning and an empha sis on independent learning, and get away from the lecture system. “I think tutorials are a nice way to do this,” he said. “Stu dents could be in groups of seven or eight where professors super vise but don’t lecture.” For students who fear walk ing into classes of 100 or more students, Jones proposes anoth er solution. “I would like to get students into smaller classes with inti mate contact with the profes sor,” he said. “I think freshmen and sophomores should have the same advantages as juniors and seniors to be in the smaller classes. That is our goal and our trademark. We can’t lock people into big rooms any more.” Jones said a strong area in the college’s interaction with students has been im provements in the advising system. But he wishes to in crease involvement by emphasiz ing career counseling and preparing students for a compet itive job market. He also aims to coordinate in ternships for students, as well as continue to support faculty re search. Although Jones is optimistic about the college’s potential, he said the main stimulus of change cannot be ignored. “Each administrator battles uncertainty about resources,” he said. “ I have to be very efficient in the use of resources in order Please see Jones/Page 6 Jones of Kigali. Rebels reportedly have been advancing on Gitarama from the east and the south. An Associat ed Press photographer who was in Gitarama on Thursday saw government workers stacking boxes of files, equipment and luggage outside the door of the government buildings. The rebels’ seizure of the Nyanza barracks came as they and the army began U.N.-medi ated cease-fire talks. After an opening session of more than five hours, U.N. spokesman Ab dul Kabia said the sides agreed to meet again Thursday. In Kigali, Kabia said the rebels raised serious concerns about continuing ethnic mas sacres, radio broadcasts inciting Please see Rwanda/Page 6 Supreme Court: ‘Inappropriate’ groups can be barred from government events WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed government-sponsored events such as fairs, festivals and parades to bar “inappropriate” groups from participating. The court turned down the appeal of anti-abortion group that said its free-speech rights were violated when it was excluded from the 1990 “Great Pumpkin Festival” in Frankfort, Ky. The justices also acted in two other free-speech cases. In one from Macomb, Ill., they ruled that public employees may be fired for making insubordinate statements even if some of their statements were constitutionally protected. The 7-2 ruling, however, said public employers sometimes must investigate first to find out whether only protected speech was in volved. In a case from Cobb County, Ga., the court refused to let the Ten Commandments be posted in a county courthouse. The court, which previously banned the commandments from classroom walls in public schools, left intact rulings that forced Cobb County officials to remove from their courthouse complex a three-by-five-foot framed panel containing the Ten Commandments and teachings of Jesus. In the rejected appeal, county officials said: “The judicial branch of our government has been allowed to coerce the American people into an amoral straitjacket which has begun to tear our society apart at the seams.” Comics 6 Classifieds 4 Opinion 5 Sports 3