The Battalion
Volume 1<B • Issue 130 • 12 Pages
The Batt Online: http:// bat-web.tamu.edu
Wednesday, April 16, 1997
f Take Back the Night
tally focuses on sexual violence, abuse
NOW led a march around campus after the discussion
Ryan Rogers, The Battauon
gt. Betty Lemay of the UPD crime prevention unit discuss-
sexual assault on the A&M campus at last night's rally.
By Joey Jeanette Schlueter
The Battalion
Rape, sexual assault and relationship abuse were
topics of discussion at last night’s “Take Back the
Night” rally at the MSC. The rally was followed by a
march around campus.
The rally’s purpose was to teach prevention of sex
ual violence and to inform women about the effects.
The Women’s Programs in the Department of
Student Life and the Texas A&M Chapter of the Na
tional Organization forWomen sponsored the ral
ly and march.
Representatives from Phoebe’s Home,a free
shelter for abused women and children that offers
meals, clothing, education and counseling, the Uni
versity Police Department, Student Counseling
Services and the Brazos County Rape Crisis Cen
ter addressed issues of sexual violence with about
100 people.
Becky Elkins-Nesheim, coordinator for Women’s
Programs, said the panel included a well-rounded
group of experienced women.
Ashley Peterson, law enforcement training
specialist for Phoebe’s Home, stressed the im
portance of educating the community and pre
venting sexual abuse.
“Sexual abuse is more than just physical and
sexual,” she said. “There is an emotional aspect
to it as well.”
Sherry Hostetter, counselor for the Brazos
County Rape Crisis Center, said only 10 percent
of sexual assault victims report the crime — most
never come forward.
“They bare the guilt, they bare the shame, and
they bare the embarrassment,” Hostetter said. “The
legal system makes them a victim again, putting
their word against the accused.”
Dr. Mary Ann Moore of Student Counseling Ser
vices at A&M was another panelist. She said some
female students come in with emotional problems
after being sexually assaulted.
“They lose their motivation to go to class or
work,” Moore said, “and they can’t do anything.”
Sgt. Betty Lemay of the crime prevention
unit for the University Police Department said
there have been four cases of reported date
rape on campus. Two other reported cases
were stranger rape.
“[For] every one case reported, there are 10
that are not,” Lemay said. “And the predator is
usually a student.”
See Rally, Page 5
House passes
diversity bills
Proponents say the
measure would give
all students a better
chance at college
admission.
AUSTIN (AP) —TheTexas House
|proved two bills Tuesday aiming
diversify enrollment at public
diversities in the wake of a court
jiling eliminating race as a factor in
[ollege admissions.
Supporters said the measures
Jiouldensure all students, regard-
lessofrace or ethnicity, would be
pra/?fed the opportunity to attend
|ol(ege.
But opponents called the legisla-
lon a back-door approach to
poring race-based preferences,
kin to those struck down last year
t'a federal appeals court.
"We’re giving preferences, and
fiat’s exactly what the Hopwood
Jase was all about,” said Rep. Char-
|eHoward, R-Sugar Land, referring
)the lawsuit in which four white
fudents argued the University of
fexas law school’s admissions poli
cy unfairly favored minorities.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals agreed, and state Attor
ney General Dan Morales since
has directed all public universi
ties to adopt race-neutral policies
for admissions, financial aid and
scholarships.
A bill Morales said would fit that
mold was tentatively approved by
the House Tuesday.
The measure establishes uni
form admission procedures, under
which universities would be re
quired to admit applicants who
graduated in either the top 10 or 25
percent of their classes.
After filling those slots, universi
ties would have to consider, in addi
tion to academic performance, race-
neutral factors such as economic
status and family background.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Irma
Rangel, D-Kingsville, said, “This bill
has nothing to do with picking one
student over another.”
But Rep. Frank Corte, R-San An
tonio, said the bill sends the mes
sage social status takes priority over
academics.
See Bills, Page 5
Pat lames. The Battalion
Class Act
Yves Racelina, an assistant lecturer in the Department of Modern Languages, teaches his French class on the
steps of the Coke Building Tuesday.
wards recognize diversity work
By I aura Oliveira
The Battalion
It was fitting the sixth annual Di-
lersity Awards fell on the 50th an-
Jiversary of Jackie Robinson’s
pakthrough in professional base-
fall, Kevin Carreathers, director of
he Multicultural Services Depart-
nent, said.
"Today we are not only honoring
fiir champions, but the nation is
plebrating how Jackie Robinson
poke through the color line in
paseball,” he said.
Nine diversity awards were pre
sented to Texas A&M students, ad-
linistrators and staff who made
fdvances for diversity on campus,
Is Robinson did when he became
Ihe first African-American to play
jnthe modern Major Leagues.
A committee of past award re
cipients and other staff members
from the Multicultural Services De
partment selected the winners
based on work they have complet
ed during the year.
Omega Delta Phi fraternity re
ceived the Student Organization
Diversity Award for community
service including working with
the Boy’s and Girl’s Club and tu
toring students at Bryan-College
Station schools.
Jose Villalobos, president of
Omega Delta Phi and a senior aero
space engineering major, said recog
nition for service is rewarding.
“It means that we are on the
right track and we are doing our j ob
as a service organization,” he said.
Nikki Guerra, a senior civil en
gineering major, received the Un
dergraduate Diversity Award.
Guerra participates in MEDALS,
Derek Demere, The Battalion
Nine awards were presented to students, administrators and staff who
made advances for diversity this year.
Primetime Posse and U-ACT and
serves as the executive adviser to
Minority Student Affairs for Stu
dent Government.
Guerra said her incentive to
promote diversity stemmed from
her isolation when she first came
to A&M.
See Diversity, Page 6
ent fire kills 300 pilgrims in Saudi Arabia
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MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Fires driven by
high winds tore through a sprawling, over
crowded tent city Tuesday, trapping and killing
pilgrims gathered for a sacred Islamic ritual.
The official death toll was 217, but witnesses
said at least 300 died.
Saudi Arabia said more than 1,290 pilgrims
were injured in the fire, which witnesses
blamed on exploding canisters of cooking gas.
Most of the dead were Indians, Pakistanis
and Bangladeshis, many of them elderly, wit
nesses told The Associated Press. Some were
trampled to death as pilgrims fled the fire on
the plain outside the holy city of Mecca.
“Men panicked and ran in every direction,”
said an Indian pilgrim who spoke to The Asso
ciated Press by telephone and identified him
self only as Irfan. Helicopters dropped water
from above while civil defense workers used
firetruck hoses against the flames.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims were
stranded after the fire destroyed an estimated
70,000 tents, which the pilgrims use for shelter
in the final days of the Hajj. Civil defense forces
from Mecca and nearby Jiddah and Taif rushed
to the scene, handing out tents and supplies.
Prince Majid bin Abdul Aziz, the royal fam
ily’s representative in Mecca, ordered new tents
be provided to all pilgrims affected by the fire,
Saudi television reported Tuesday.
King Fahd, the Saudi monarch, expressed
his sorrow for the victims and their relatives
and friends. “I ask that God gives them pa
tience to cope,” he was quoted by the Saudi
Press Agency as saying.
In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan
expressed “great sadness” over the pilgrims’ deaths.
The fire erupted shortly before noon as
Muslims gathered for the hajj, or pilgrimage,
were beginning to move to Mount Arafat,
where the prophet Mohammed delivered his
final sermon in the seventh century.
There, 2 million Muslims will stand togeth
er in prayer Wednesday in the climax of the pil
grimage to the Muslim holy sites.
The hajj has been the scene of several recent
tragedies, including the deaths of 1,426 people
in a 1990 stampede.
Less than an hour before the fire began Tues
day, security forces had thrown up a cordon
around the entire plain, closing it to new arrivals
to stop further overcrowding, witnesses said.
Democrats accuse
Gingrich of trying
to intimidate Reno
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate
Democratic Leader Tom Daschle
scorned House Speaker Newt Gin
grich on Tuesday as the “guru of
ethics” and accused him of trying to
intimidate Attorney General Janet
Reno into appointing a special
counsel to probe alleged campaign
wrongdoing.
Unrepentant, Gingrich likened
Reno’s behavior to that of John
Mitchell, a former attorney general
who was convicted as part of the Wa
tergate cover-up two decades ago.
The comments came one day af
ter Reno announced she would
continue to rely on a Justice De
partment task force to continue the
probe underscoring the partisan
tensions surrounding the issue.
Senior Republican congres
sional leaders, including Gingrich
and Senate Majority Leader Trent
Lott, have been sharply critical of
Reno’s decision.
Gingrich said at a news confer
ence during the day Reno’s decision
“is something you might have ex
pected from John Mitchell in 1973.”
Mitchell served as attorney general
under Richard Nixon and later
served 19 months in prison.
Asked to comment, President
Clinton said, “That cries out for an
answer, I guess, but let me say I
don’t have anything to add to what
I already said. She (Reno) had to
make a legal decision on a legal
question. She consulted her career
staff people there and made a deci
sion and that’s all I know. It should
not be a political matter. It should
be a legal matter, and that’s where
everybody ought to leave it.”
Clinton was in New York for a cer
emony at Shea Stadium honoring
baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson.
Daschle rebutted the very law de
signed to depoliticize controversy
had become politicized.
“The guru of ethics, Speaker Gin
grich himself, has now said it’s imper
ative that Janet Reno” appoint an in
dependent
counsel, Daschle
told reporters.
“For him to intim
idate her, for him
to put that kind of
political pressure
on her... borders
in my view on un
ethical behavior
itself,” he added.
Daschle’s
comment
about ethics was a reference to
Gingrich’s admission last Decem
ber he had violated House rules
following a long-running ethics
probe. The speaker also agreed to
pay a sanction of $300,000. A de
cision on how to make the pay
ment is expected shortly.
Gingrich
The Battalion
INSIDETODAY
FORE: Four A&M
golfers are helping their
teams prepare for the
Big 12 Championships.
Sports, Page 7
Aggielife.
Toons. . .
Opinion .
. Page 3
. Page 5
Page 11