The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, June 01, 1994, Image 1

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    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