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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1995)
30, 1995 he first ' e got off finished 3, whose f A&M is exas and going to Practice lightly.” /ol. 101, No ; 84 (14 pages) AGGIES VS. SMU The men's basketball team hopes to bounce back from Saturday's loss against TCU. Sports, Page 10 STUCK ON SENSATIONALISM Americans are captivated by stories like the OJ. Simpson murder trial. Opinion, Page 13 “Serving Texas AdrM since 1893” THE VINYL REVIVAL Bands such as Pearl Jam are helping vinyl albums make a comeback. Aggielife, Page Tuesday • January 31, 1995 ■: rnament itational 5 at the ■nter. In- >ara and town to es in the quality y in the ekend,” ild be a f us.” ss of the ch Kent pcoming ) have to ie same '’s team pcoming ive us a st show the con- e of the n.” rds in Wag- the San •ched to on an 8- is one of cted by hargers i a line- iphries Eric Bi- the 13. percent lis year - three in Car- 8-10. 17 com- •ds and or most best in s Doug half of Parsons funding □ Funding reductions will not affect members' annual dues. By Gretchen Perrenot The Battalion The funding Parsons Mounted Cavalry receives from the Fiscal Department may decrease by up to half the current amount for a second time in 1997. The current $25,000 of fund ing is almost half of what the Cavalry received from the Fiscal Department in 1992-1993. Col. Don Johnson, assistant commandant for the Corps of Cadets, said funding was re duced because A&M’s invest ment interest has gone down, causing a decrease in money available for funds. The Cavalry is not the only A&M group whose funding has been affected, Sgt. Maj. Tom Epting, assistant recruiting co ordinator and adviser for the Cavalry, said. Cavalry members’ annual dues, another source of the Cav alry’s annual funds, will not be increased to supplement any Mounted Cavalry faces reduction funding problems, Epting said. Members’ dues range from $60 to $100 a year, depending on the student’s classification. The Cavalry also receives funding from the Memorial Stu dent Center bookstore and the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs. These funds will also not be affected, he said. To supplement funds, the Cavalry set up a daily opera tional fund and endowment fund several years ago. Anyone can contribute mon ey and equipment to the Caval ry’s need. Members of the Cav alry are asked to solicit help to ward these funds from others, especially former members, Epting said. The daily operational fund has a goal of $50,000 a year to pro vide for the operational mainte nance, feeding, travel, insurance and veterinary expenses. The endowment fund, which has a goal of $1 million, cur rently has about $51,000 and was set up for the Cavalry’s fu ture expenses. “Ultimately the Cavalry wants to be totally self-support ing,” Epting said. “We’re a long way from that goal.” The initial endowment fund was established by the Parsons Mounted Cavalry Association(PMCA), a group made up mostly of current and former members and their parents. “The PMCA helps us in a lot of ways,” Epting said. “They feed us on Corps trips and at livestock and rodeo shows.” Epting said that one way or another, there will always be a Cavalry. There will also not be a re duction in the size of the Cav alry because of reduced fund ing, he said. The Cavalry’s expenses have gone down because of a substan tial reduction in insurance costs, inventive budgeting such as finding a less expensive pasture for the horses during the sum mer and Cavalry members doing their own hay hauling, he said. An additional donation from the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs aided the the Cavalry’s recent participa tion in the state governor’s inau gural parade. HH Roger HsiehfTHE Battalion The famous Parsons Mounted Cavalry stables are located off Highway 2818. * * * * 25** 23** )5** * * f: (< K K !< * 8** 5** •s Proposed federal budget cuts threaten KAMU, other public 1 V stations □ The Corporation of Public Broadcasting faces elimination of funding. By Brad Dressier The Battalion Public broadcasting stations like KAMU will face major changes if calls to eliminate funding to the Corporation of Public Broad- | casting(CPB) are carried through. | If the federal funding is cut, the smaller sta tions such as those at Texas A&M would most likely have one option, to gain local sponsors for all the programming, KAMU officials said. Only 10 percent of the programming at local public broadcasting stations is supported by local sponsors. Local public broadcasting relies on the CPB for the majority of its funding. See Editorial, Page 13 Dr. Richard Schaefer, assistant professor in the Department of Journalism, said federal hinds are directed through the CPB to the local stations. “The majority of the federal funding is seed money put toward local programming,” he said. “The money is used to purchase the ne cessities such as scripts, sets and equipment.” Schaefer said federal funding allows quality shows to air that might not otherwise survive in the world of commercial broadcasting. “The problem with commercializing the public broadcasting industry is essentially that the programming has not been proven to sell products,” Schaefer said. “If the programs do not draw enough of a purchasing audience, then commercials are not a true option.” David J. Brugger, president of the Associa tion of America’s Public Television Stations, said public television is a beneficial return on federal tax dollars. “For about 80 cents per person, 99 percent of American households with television receive the highest quality noncommercial broadcast programming and services available anywhere in the world.” The local Educational Broadcast Serviees(EBS) has provided a number of ser vices to the surrounding community for 29 years in the areas of instruction, research and public service. Among the services offered are KAMU, the Trans-Texas Videoconference Network and Texas A&M classes via satellite. The 1994 total budget of $1.6 million for BBS came from four major areas. University support, income from audio and video produc tions for outside clients and viewer donations provided part of the funding, while Federal Community Service Grants provided approxi mately one third of the total funding for EBS. During the 1994 fiscal year, KAMU received 28 percent of its funding from federal grants, 28 percent from the University, 17 percent from contract productions and 17 percent from viewer donations. Bush works to find support for proposed Mexican rescue package Governor meets with Clinton, other governors, members of Congress in Washington WASHINGTON (AP) — During his first official trip to the nation’s capital since becoming gover nor, Texan George W. Bush is focusing much of his attention on rallying support for a plan to shore up Mexico’s battered peso. In town for the winter meeting of the Nation al Governors Association, the Republican has been making the case for the $40 billion loan- guarantee package with members of Congress and other governors. “A lack of confidence in Mexico and its currency will be disastrous for Texas,” Bush said Monday in a sitdown with Texas reporters. As a border state, Texas would be directly hit by a long-term Mexican economic setback. Bush noted, pointing to the twin dangers for Texas of rising ille gal immigration and declining exports to Mexico. “I have taken what I believe is a very strong pro-Texas position in regards to making sure that our neighbor to the south is provided enough well- collateralized credit to get them over this short term crisis,” the governor said. The Clinton administration’s proposed rescue plan — amounting to the United States cosigning Mexico’s loans, with Mexican oil revenues pledged as collateral — has suffered an erosion of support on Capitol Hill in recent weeks. President Clinton’s failure to line up Democrat ic support is being blamed for the tepid support in Congress, where skittish Republicans also are withholding their backing. “I realize it is not politically popular back home,” Clinton conceded Monday in a speech to the nation’s governors. “It’s a rather complex issue but it is clearly in the interests of American work ers, American businesses and the United States See Bush, Page 7 Bart Mitchell/THE Battalion Searching for the perfect one... Nathan McFall, a sophomore business adminis- dants for sale in the MSC breezeway. The sale tration major, examines one of hundreds of pen- will continue through the week. Two Texas inmates executed early today First multiple execution in 44 years HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — Two convicted killers were executed early today 88 min utes apart, marking the first time in 44 years Texas carried out back-to-back capital pun ishment on the same day. Clifton Russell, 33, con demned for the robbery-murder of an Abilene man in 1979, was the first to be strapped to the death chamber gurney. He was followed nearly an hour and a half later by Willie Williams, 38, sentenced to die for a 1980 robbery-murder at a Houston convenience store. “I want to thank my friends and family for sticking with me through all this,” Russell said in a final statement. After a couple of deep breaths and a single gasp, there was no further move ment. He was declared dead at 12:29 a.m. CST, eight minutes after the lethal drugs began flowing into his arms. A crowd of about 40 people, most of them students from nearby Sam Houston Universi ty, applauded and cheered as witnesses emerged from the prison. A few people carried candles to protest the punish ment. Corrections officials removed Russell’s body from the cham ber, replaced the needles and tubes that carried the lethal chemicals and changed the gur ney sheet while Williams was driven the 15 miles from the Ellis I Unit prison, home of death row, to the Walls Unit in downtown Huntsville, where the death chamber is located. “Time never was without love and peace in Islam,” Williams mumbled quickly in his brief final statement. He gasped once, coughed a couple of times and wheezed as the drugs took effect. Eight minutes later, at 1:57 a.m., he too was pronounced dead. By the time of his punish ment, the crowd outside had dwindled to just a silent hand ful of death penalty opponents carrying candles. ‘What is remarkable about this situation is not that two people were executed this evening, but that for a com bined 29 years the people of the state of Texas were waiting for justice to be done,” Drew Durham, an assistant attorney general, said.