Opinion
LYNN BOOMER: The transition from high school to college is
arguably a universally difficult change. You leave everything you're
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your daily routine, whatever. Page 11
ALION
Sports
The A&M swimming and
diving team travels to
Nebraska.
Page 7
THURSDAY
November 17, 1994
Vol. 101, No. 59 (12 pages)
“Serving Texas A&M since 1893”
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president to wear
^jie maroon tonight
niversity of Texas Student
ssociation President John Black
ill be in College Station tonight
earing the maroon and white of
e|as A&M.
prooke Leslie, A&M student body
jjsident, said Black will be at the
ie Chicken tonight to keep up his
nd of a bet made between the
•Qsidents of the rival schools.
Jefore the A&M-UT game Nov. 5,
lick and Leslie bet that the
■jjsident of the losing school would
Re to wear the winning school’s
jlprs for one full day.
Teslie said she was planning to
id a 12th Man jersey for Black to
ear during his appearance at A&M.
said before the game that
bet was made to foster
endship and camaraderie between
a two schools.
A&M president selects search
committee for V.P.-Provost
)up wants excess
llutonium destroyed
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ASHINGTON (AP) — The United
jtes should take its excess plutonium
kpile and bake it into glass logs to
nre that the fissile material can’t be
fed to make new weapons, a
learch group said Wednesday.
jThe government may have as much
1100 tons of plutonium in its
fentory either in weapons, waste
weapons plants or from nuclear
jrheads dismantled at Texas’ Pantex
near Amarillo.
The plutonium, which has a half-life
24,0 0 0 years, can be stored —
ich poses some risks. Or, it can be
fmanently disposed of through
itrification or being used to fuel
liuclear power reactors.
. The Institute for Energy and
Environmental Research contends in a
lew report that the United States must
lake steps quickly to vitrify its excess
plutonium as a way of encouraging
othe' countries — especially Russia —
to do the same.
|udge orders new trial
)r death row resident
(HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge
; ordered a new trial for a 12-year
i row resident convicted of killing a
||ice officer, saying prosecutors and
lice on the case “became merchants
!| chaos.”
Ricardo Aldape Guerra, 32, was
ivicted in the July 1982 death of
jston officer James Harris, who was
in after he stopped a car carrying
Mexican citizen and a companion,
jerto Carrasco Flores.
But in a 45-page order highly critical
wlice and prosecutors, U.S. District
Ige Kenneth Hoyt on Tuesday gave
e state 30 days to retry Aldape
erra or release him.
Aldape Guerra has steadfastly
intained the fatal shots were fired by
•rasco, who was killed in a shootout
h police. His incarceration has
erked protests on both sides of the
-Mexico border.
overnment reports
fmall rise in CPI
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer
ces rose just 0.1 percent last
(nth, the best inflation performance
jee spring, the government reported
a day after the Federal Reserve
aised interest rates to dampen
ptionary pressures.
Fed critics quickly seized on
dnesday’s benign inflation report —
rgy and clothing prices actually fell
as proof the central bank had
dlessly increased the threat of
[(cession by voting the biggest
ease in interest rates in 13 years.
■"Inflation is not a threat,” said
fry Jasinowski, president of the
tional Association of
mufacturers and a leading Fed
ic. "The Federal Reserve’s
ressive increase in interest rates
terday was unnecessary.”
|The central bank, making its sixth
largest rate boost this year, raised
| key rates by three-fourths of a
ireentage point. Major banks followed
ediately, raising their prime lending
ate to 8.5 percent, meaning that
owing costs will go up for millions
mericans.
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By Michele Brinkmann
The Battalion
Texas A&M President Ray Bowen selected a 23-
member committee to help in the nationwide
search to find A&M’s next executive vice president
and provost, the second-ranking administrator and
chief academic officer of A&M.
Bowen chose Dr. Patricia Alexander as chair
woman of the committee, which includes faculty,
staff and students. Alexander is interim head of
the Educational Psychology Department and a for
mer speaker of the Faculty Senate.
Alexander said the search committee is looking
for a person with vision to take the job.
“Otherwise they can’t lead this University,”
Alexander said.
Alexander said women and minorities are being
encouraged to apply.
“We are being careful about trying to reach out
to the University, the System and to the nation to
get the best pool of candidates,” Alexander said.
Texas A&M University has never had a woman
or a minority to hold the provost position.
Bowen said although he will choose a person
who meets all of the written criteria, he also wants
See Provost Search/Page 2
Legett target of Puiyear,
Law resident take-over
By Amanda Fowle
The Battalion
Some on-campus residents
who will lose their homes this
summer when Law and
Puryear Halls are destroyed
will be moving into Legett Hall
if Texas A&M administrators
support a decision made by the
Residence Hall Association
Wednesday night.
The RHA approved a proposal
to convert Legett Hall, which
currently houses women, into a
hall for men.
Law and Puryear residents
said there are not equal housing
spaces available for men and
women on campus now, and that
when Law and Puiyear are de
stroyed, there will be an even
greater discrepancy.
When these halls are de
stroyed, 402 spaces for resi
dents will be lost. Legett Hall
has 188 spaces.
The Board of Regents decided
See Legett/Page 2
A TIME TO WALK...
By Amy Lee
The Battalion
The Class of ’95 will die today, but seniors are hoping that their death will be
a clean and solemn occasion.
After months of trying to return Elephant Walk to the Old Army style of
making the tradition a peaceful event, the senior class will begin its walk of
memories today at 1:35 p.m, 95 minutes after noon.
“I am hoping that the juniors respect the tradition,” Tracy Kennedy, Class of
’95 vice president, said. “I hope they let the seniors walk in peace.”
Pat Patterson, a member of the Class of ’26 who was involved with the first
Elephant Walk, will help kick off the event as he talks about how the tradition
started almost 70 years ago.
“I don’t think that any other school could have this kind of tradition,” Cody
Burke, Class of ’95 president, said. “But at A&M it can. A&M is such a special
place. Elephant walk is a time for us to reflect.”
See E-Walk/Page 2
Battalion File Photos
Doctors warn alcohol’s health
benefits may be overstated
DALLAS (AP) — Doctors have
some sobering news for those who
think a little alcohol is good for
their health: Anything more
than a drink a day may be
too much of a good thing.
Men who had two to
four drinks a week had
the lowest rate of death
from all causes during an
11-year study, the re
searchers said Wednesday.
Many studies over the
past 20 years have shown that
people who drink moderately re
duce their risk of dying from
heart disease by about 40 per
cent. The evidence has become so
convincing that some heart spe
cialists have cautiously rec
ommended moderate drink
ing for good health.
But while heart disease
is the nation’s No. 1 killer,
it is not the only one. Some
fear that alcohol’s benefits
for the heart could be offset
by its other hazards, such as
cancer and accidents.
See Alcohol/Page 9
Affirmative action not to be feared,
M.L. King Center director says
By Stephanie Dube
The Battalion
Certain segments of society are not allowed ac
cess to the same opportunities as others in society,
the director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center
for Nonviolent Social Change said.
“Affirmative action means it’s somebody else’s
turn now,” Gerri Allen said Wednesday night.
“The errors of the past have to be corrected. Affir
mative action will be over when the power struc
ture looks like America looks.”
Allen said people should not be scared of affir
mative action, and should not assume affirmative
action involves simply hiring any minority.
“The assumption that the minorities and
women hired just can’t be qualified, but are hired
solely on the basis of race or gender, is ridiculous,”
Allen said. “Industry and commerce want quali
fied people; they want their companies to thrive.”
Anyone who does not receive a promotion, job or
scholarship because of affirmative action should
simply look for another opportunity, she said.
“Those who feel they have been affected nega
tively by affirmative action should not just sit and
pout and sulk,” she said. “They should look for
new opportunities.”
Allen said students should work for what they
See Affirmative Action/Page 2