The Battalion
1. 102, No. 166 (6 pages)
Serving Texas A&M University Since 1893
THE BATT ON-LINE: http://bat-web.tamu.edu
Wednesday • July 17, 1996
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■ WASHINGTON (AP) — Anxious to avoid
a fight with allies, President Clinton pro
duced a surprise compromise on anti-Cuba
Sanctions that delayed a final decision be
yond the November elections, yet won praise
l-om Cuban-Americans.
I The question was
■whether Americans
B/ould have the right
lo sue foreign compa
nies doing businesses
In Cuba on property
leized by the Castro
legime after the 1959
Jevolution. On Tues
day, Clinton granted
he right to sue but
hen imposed a six-
nonth moratorium on
ny legal action. The president could
xtend the moratorium in six-month
ntervals indefinitely.
America’s allies, who were outraged
it the threat of penalties, breathed a
igh of relief. And Cuban-Americans,
CLINTON
eager to increase pressure on Fidel Cas
tro, hailed Clinton’s decision as a step
in the right direction.
The net result was to delay a final de
cision on politically sensitive sanctions
until after the U.S. elections. Clinton’s
decision also defused an issue that could
have been a liability for him in Florida
and New Jersey, two states with large
Cuban-American populations.
Clinton said his action — with the
threat of lawsuits — should spur Ameri
ca’s allies to join the United States in
pressuring Castro to embrace democratic
and economic reforms. “By working with
our allies — not against them — we will
avoid a split that the Cuban regime will
be sure to exploit,” the president said.
Republicans cried foul. Presidential ri
val Bob Dole said Clinton was “trying to
have it both ways” with Cuba. “The bot
tom line is that President Clinton will
not allow American citizens any legal re
course in American courts for the proper
ty stolen by the Castro regime,” he said.
Bus route changes
because of road work
By jody Holley
The Battalion
Navigating the maze known as
Texas A&M has never been easy.
This summer, driving around cam
pus has become even tougher.
In June, one lane of Ross Street
between Ireland and Spence
streets was closed off so the Physi
cal Plant could check the under
ground utility lines for damage.
Charles Sippial, assistant vice presi
dent for the Physical Plant, said repair
plans will have to wait a little longer.
“We plan to get a camera that will
run through the drain lines to check
and make sure there are no broken
lines, but right now we’re still waiting
on the camera to get here,” Sippial said.
“We are planning to do an excavation to
see what it would take to repair the
lines if they are damaged.”
Tom Williams, director of Parking,
Transit and Traffic Services, said the
surface damage to Ross Street stems
from a flood in the late ’80s that
caused the pavement under the sewer
line to give way.
He said the Old Army bus route
has been changed to accommodate the
street’s partial closing. One of the bus
stops has been moved, but only across
the street to compensate for the one
way traffic.
“This has added time to the bus
route, but routes have been changed
before to accommodate construction,”
Williams said.
Melissa Fuss, a junior communi
ty health major, rides the Old
Army bus to work.
“Because I don’t use it that often,
the change really hasn’t affected me
at all,” she said.
Sippial also said other than repair
work, no street resurfacing projects are
taking place right now, but he added
tentative plans to resurface New Main
Street are on hold.
“We’d like to tear it up and make it a
grand entrance to the University to coin
cide with the Texas Avenue construc
tion,” Sippial said, “but right now it does
n’t look like the funding is available.”
Williams also said Lubbock Street
will eventually close and become a
controlled access area as part of the
library garage project.
“Next spring or summer, as we con
tinue to formalize and limit access,
Lubbock Street will be closed to allow
access to the library garage,” Williams
said. “This will make it more pedestri
an-friendly.”
“There was a plan to make Lubbock
a pedestrian mall, but the funds are not
available, so it isn’t an active project
right now,” Williams said.
Irvin apologizes to family, fans
IRVING (AP) — Brash, sometimes
arrogant Michael Irvin had to endure
the most humbling and embarrassing
day of his life.
Irvin apologized Tuesday to his
family, teammates and Dallas Cow
boy fans for a sordid scandal that in
cluded drugs and topless dancers.
Agonizingly, he faced almost as
many cameras and reporters as
team owner Jerry Jones did the
night he fired Tom Landry.
More than 30 mini-cams and 100
media members watched as Irvin
talked without notes about his mis
takes. There were no questions.
“I hurt to the bone,” Irvin said while
members of his family including his
mother. Pearl, and wife, Sandi, and his
two daughters looked on.
Baby Chelsea, still being bottle fed,
provided the only light moment for her
moist-eyed father, who was interrupt
ed several times by
her jabbering.
It gave the grim
Irvin his only
chance to smile.
Irvin even apolo
gized to his late fa
ther, who died
while he was a se
nior in high school.
“I’m not the man
my father was,”
Irvin said in a bare- IRVIN
ly audible whisper.
“There’s no getting around it,” he
said. “I was wrong. I was wrong.”
The star receiver was 40 minutes
late for his own press conference at
the Cowboys’ Valley Ranch headquar
ters hours after a judge sentenced
him to four years’ probation and 800
hours of community service for his
no-contest plea to a felony cocaine
possession charge.
“I’d like to apologize to my family,”
Irvin said. “I shall work on being a
better father. I shall work on being a
better husband.”
The center of a scandal involving
topless dancers, allegations of drug
and sex parties and a murder-for-hire
plot, Irvin said he will not report to
Cowboys training camp when it opens
Wednesday in Austin.
Instead, he said, he was going
to Miami to be with his wife
and children.
“I’m going home to talk with my
wife, and we’re going to decide what
well do from there,” Irvin said.
Family Medicine Center provides
residencies for med school graduates
By Ann Marie Hauser
The Battalion
Slew Milne, The Baitalion
GOING FOR A SPIN
Scott Meadows, a senior environmental design major, circles Albritton Tower Tues
day morning after returning from a ride to Caldwell.
Texas A&M University’s College of
Medicine realized a 15-year-old dream
on Monday with the opening of the
Family Medicine Center of the Brazos
Valley in Bryan.
Operated by the Family Practice
Residency Foundation, the clinic offers
a family medicine residency program
for medical school graduates.
Dr. Nancy Dickey, director of the
Family Practice Residency Program,
said patients will ultimately benefit
from this program.
“In a lot of ways, the patients get the
best of both worlds,” Dickey said. “Be
cause they’ve just graduated from med
ical school, the residents have the latest
science right at their fingertips, and the
supervising physicians have years and
years of experience to draw on.”
Residencies are three-year pro
grams where future physicians re
ceive additional training in special
ized medical areas.
Residents in the program assume a
dual role of caring for patients and at
tending formal classes and seminars.
Dr. H. David Pope, director of
the Family Medicine Center, in
corporated his own practice into
the Family Medicine Center and
works along with Dickey in super
vising the residents.
“Our job is to try and take care of
people,” Pope said. “This is an ideal
place to develop a Family Practice
Residency Program.”
To serve patients as efficiently as
possible, a laboratory, pharmacy and
X-ray equipment are available on the
premises.
Dr. Christopher Cole, a summa
cum laude graduate of the Ohio State
University College of Medicine, is the
first resident to the program and be
gan seeing patients on Monday.
Cole came to Bryan from Houston
where he had already completed a resi
dency in radiology and oncology.
Unhappy as a specialist, he recog
nized the need for doctors in family
medicine and decided to switch.
“It (family practice) is a better uti
lization of resources,” Cole said. “The
distribution of doctors is terrible. The
big city is too concentrated.”
The next resident will join Cole in
November, and eventually 16 or more
will fill the allotted 18 positions by
July 1997.
Dickey said many potential residents
have inquired about the program.
“People were interested in the pro
gram before it was even accredited,”
Dickey said. “We’ve been fascinated.”
Dickey estimates the clinic will
eventually have a patient population
of 10,000 to 15,000.
Medical students find residency
programs through various means
such as computer matching systems,
booths at medical fairs and
brochures.
Dr. Lamar McNew, a clinical pro
fessor of the Family Practice Residen
cy Program, said this is an exciting
and challenging time.
“It’s a blast,” McNew said. “They’re
(residents) excited about learning. Our
eagerness to teach is like sharks in a
feeding frenzy.”
Gore: Yeltsin looks ‘in good health’ Colonias project helps border residents
MOSCOW (AP) — Somewhat stiff and
slow-moving but quick with a smile, Boris
Yeltsin met with A1 Gore on Tuesday and
eased some of the concerns about his frag
ile health.
“He looked good to me,” said Gore, the
first Western leader to see Yeltsin since the
latest speculation about his health flared up
iiefore the July 3 presidential election.
The worries surged again Monday
when Yeltsin suddenly canceled a
planned meeting with Gore and went off
to a government health resort outside
Moscow. Aides described him as “very
tired” and in need of rest.
With slow, cautious movements, Yeltsin
Paced back and forth in the moments be
fore Gore came in to greet him at the re
sort. He was alert, grinning as he and the
U.S . vice president joked.
Monday’s postponement was the latest
® a string of no-shows that began near the
ond of Yeltsin’s vigorous campaign for a
second term. Since then, Yeltsin had been
seen only in official TV footage and careful
ly scripted Kremlin events.
“He seemed to be in good health, relaxed,
smiling and seemed very actively engaged in
fee subjects we discussed during our conver
sation,” Gore said after the meeting in
fiarvikha, seven miles from Moscow. Gore
left later to return to Washington.
Yeltsin’s meeting with Gore was his
first appearance before the foreign media
since falling ill last month with what offi
cials said was a bad cold.
Concerns about Yeltsin’s health are
sure to persist. He has had two bouts of
serious heart trouble in the last year, suf
fers from a bad back, and is prone — by
his own description — to bouts of drink
ing and depression.
Aides say Yeltsin is exhausted from the
grueling campaign schedule, but not sick.
The Clinton administration was a
strong supporter of Yeltsin’s re-election
bid against a Communist challenger.
Gore congratulated Yeltsin on his victory,
and praised his dancing at a campaign
rock concert.
“You learn all kinds of things when
you’re running for office,” Yeltsin replied
with a laugh.
Gore said the two had a “good conversa
tion characterized by a great deal of
warmth and personality.” He called the
talk “enjoyable.”
Gore also met Tuesday with Yeltsin’s
new national security chief, Alexander
Lebed. They discussed the political situa
tion in Russia and nuclear security issues,
the Interfax news agency said.
By Tauma Wiggins
The Battalion
The Texas A&M Center for Housing and Urban De
velopment has received national attention for assisting
low-income communities along the Texas-Mexico border.
The department was selected as the Most Significant
Sustainable Community Development Program in Texas by
President Clinton’s Council on Sustainable Development.
Colonias are small communities made up of to three
to 5,000 people along the Texas-Mexico border. Resi
dents developed these communities because of a lack of
low-income housing, according to a press release from
the College of Architecture.
David Ellis, assistant director for planning and eco
nomic development, said Colonias residents are hard
working and do not let their financial circumstances stop
them from providing a home for their families.
“I think one of the most rewarding things I’ve seen
is the people who live in the Colonias,” Ellis said.
“They are entrepreneurs at heart. They’re pursuing
the American dream — building their own town home
on their own lot. They’re not sitting around waiting for
someone to help them.”
Ellis said the ideology behind the Colonias program is
to provide these communities with services from which
they are isolated, such as community centers.
“The concept is simple,” he said. “What we do is work in
the Colonias. They are socially and economically isolated
and we try to reduce that. We build community centers,
but what’s unique is what goes on inside the building.”
Many programs have been implemented in the Colo
nias, ranging from health education and baby clinics to
boy and girl scouts and job training.
Martin Sanchez, economic development coordinator
for the Texas A&M Center for Housing and Urban De
velopment, said the Colonias Project is also responsible
for helping residents find job training and employment.
“With job training we’re not creating a dependency, so
when we start walking away from a community they can
work on their own,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez said in a study of a Colonias project in Lare
do by Kermit Black from the Center for Housing and Ur
ban Development, Colonias communities showed a high
er average income than the inner-city citizens of Laredo.
He said in the inner-city community, low-income
housing is relatively inexpensive but not a better living
arrangement than the Colonias.
“Low income-housing can be $500 to $600 a month,”
Sanchez said. “Do I want to live in a slum for that rate
or buy a piece of land that I will own? They (Colonias
residents) aren’t trying to be squatters, they are making
a rational choice.”
One problem many Colonias residents experience is
buying land at a cheap price, only to realize there are no
facilities such as running water, sewer systems or even
roads, Sanchez said.
Texas A&M has implemented 17 Colonias programs
along the Texas-Mexico border and is nearing comple
tion with its current project in Laredo.