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TODAY
TOMORROW
I th YEAR • ISSUE 132 *12 PACES
COLLEGE STATION • TX
WEDNESDAY • APRIL 22 • 1998
EWS
Briefs
See Page 3
See Page 7
opinion
‘fines: Airlines must take
es in debate over in-flight
iking.
See Page 11
online
[p://battalion, tamu.edu
ik up with state and na-
nal news through The
le, AP’s 24-hour online
vs service.
Holocaust survivor shares war story
bestows 1998
jversity Awards
'exa^ A&M University paid trib-
Tufcsday in the 1998 Diversity
irds ceremony to members of
campus community who are
poting understanding and the
ed ition of diversity.
Id provost’s office recognized
:y Amato, computer science pro-
pr, L.S. “Skip” Fletcher, me-
licd engineering professor and
IHn Stark, educational admin-
itic professor, for their efforts.
Also recognized were the De-
I Bnt of Animal Science and the
rylMays College & Graduate
5ol of Business.
Department of Multicultural
Hs presented the following in-
■ls and organizations with
H — undergraduate Tamara
business graduate student
Davis; and Donna
^Khe, support staff member.
|Hie Center for Academic En-
IBnent; Sallie Sheppard, asso-
IB-ovost for undergraduate pro-
S and Mary Broussard,
^Bator of special programs, of-
pf he associate provost for un-
^riluate programs.
it school to host
line health lectures
|B wives’ tales aside, cats are
lorn with nine lives. They fall prey
^Hide range of ailments, from
liess to brain tumors,
pielpfeline health professionals
I nch health care challenges,
ege of Veterinary Medicine is
its annual Feline Medicine
slum Saturday and Sunday,
college will host the sympo-
> part of its Veterinary Contin-
ucation Program.
/eterinarians who attend will re-
re 10 hours of continuing educa
ted it.
The symposium is made possible
support of Cook Veterinary
ts, Inc. Tuition for the sympo-
iis $235.
imer student
mates scholarship
An $11,000 scholarship with
ling College of Agriculture De
ment Council funds has been
ted to Texas A&M University,
b and Margaret Palm of Nacog-
esare providing the scholarship
Ldents in the Department of
|y Science. Bob Palm is the se-
ce president for Pilgrim’s Pride
Ration and a 1965 graduate of
jA&M.
fe wanted to give more than just
tie," Palm said.
he is something that the Palms
definitely given to A&M. Last
jthey were named Texas A&M
Its of the Year.
N S I D E
worth soundtrack offers
ling new in rap music,
provides decent
(ground beats.
By Amanda Smith
Staff writer
Sol Wachsberg told students how
he survived the Holocaust and of
his experiences beginning as a 14-
year-old boy in a Jewish concentra
tion camp in Germany Tuesday on
the Texas A&M campus..
As a 72-year-old resident of
Houston, Wachsberg said his sur
vival hinged upon his youth and his
movement from camp to camp.
“I had an advantage because I was
a 14-year-old teenager,” Wachsberg
said. “Those people who were mar
ried and had families broke down at
the very first. And I made 11 different
camps and this may have been the
reason that I have survived.”
Wachsberg said the Germans
launched their initial attack when
he was 13 years old living with his
family in Poland, only a few miles
from the German border.
“The Germans bombed our
Far Right: Heather Teel,
Class of ’99, holds a candle
for Devi Jean Spencer, Class
of ’68.
Right: Gene Stallings,
Class of '57, gives the
Muster address in Reed
Arena last night.
Below: The Ross Volunteers
fire volleys after the lighting
of the candles.
towns and we had casualties in the
first hours of the war,” Wachsberg
said. “The Germans overran us im
mediately. They were the most
ruthless people on earth. They were
murderers with no feelings inside.”
Wachsberg entered his first camp
in 1940, where he said he faced freez
ing weather and near starvation.
“Many of us worked on the streets
and worked for Germans,” Wachs
berg said. “We waited seven and
eight hours to a get a half a loaf of
bread in zero-degree temperatures.”
Wachsberg’s next move was to
the concentration camp at
Auschwitz and a year later to an ad
jacent camp at Bobreck, where he
remained from 1941 to 1942. He
said the conditions varied from
camp to camp but most were over
crowded, unsanitary and ridden
with dysentery and typhus.
“During the 53 months I was in
concentration camps, I moved to
transition camps where I could get
a little better before I faced the
next,” Wachsberg said. “In one of
the camps, if you wanted to go to
the bathroom, then you had to go
with only your shoes and no
clothes. You might have to walk
one-quarter to one-half a mile.”
The camp at Faulbrik did not
have any sanitary facilities and was
crowded with more than 8,000 peo
ple, Wachsberg said.
“The camp was one very long
building with one bathroom,”
Wachsberg said. “We couldn’t wash
ourselves, but there were hundreds
who did not even get up in the morn
ings. They had died the night before.”
Allen Wayne, a Holocaust sur
vivor and a Houston resident,
joined Wachsberg to answer ques
tions from the audience.
Wayne said he spent time in six
concentration camps and a work
camp.
“We were not treated as people
in the camps,” Wayne said. “Every
one had a number and they were
called by their number.”
Wayne entered the concentra
tion camps at age 9 and said he sur
vived at Auschwitz because his fa
ther and brother lifted him up a few
inches off the ground when the
guard made the inspection.
“I told the guard I was 15 and he
passed me by,” Wayne said. “You
were disposed of, shot to death,
hanged or beaten if you were not
needed. What I can’t understand is
how some of the most enlightened
people in Europe could stoop to such
bestiality.”
Dr. Ar nold Krammer, an A&M his
tory professor, said he has worked to
bring in speakers of history during
his 24 years at the University.
“I think history is a living subject,”
Krammer said. “I am a firm believer
that if you can find people who ex
perience things that it’s important to
learn first hand to ask questions and
to turn back the clock. The students
RYAN ROGERS/The Battalion
Sol Wachsberg, a Holocaust sur
vivor, speaks Tuesday to students.
can’t get this from a history book.”
Kristin Lodholz, a student in
Krammer’s history 106 class and a
freshman education major, said hear
ing Holocaust survivors speak pro
vides a new perspective on history.
“Reading about what somebody
went through and hearing a person
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W;y.- •
Students celebrate
Earth Day at A&M
3s A&M Baseball Team
is Cougars to 10th inning
loses 9-7.
By Kelly Hackworth
Staff writer
Today marks the national celebration of
Earth Day and several events are planned
at Texas A&M this week to celebrate.
Joanne Skidmore, president of the Texas
Environmental Action Coalition (TEAC)
and a senior bio-environ-
mental sciences major
said many events are
planned to celebrate
Earth Day Week.
Events include a
performance by
Darryl Purpose, a
nationally recog
nized folk singer
and acoustic guitar
player, on Wednes
day from 11 a.m.
to 1 p.m. at Rud
der Fountain.
Thursday activ
ities include ex
hibitors such as the
Animal Humane So
ciety, Aggie Zoological
Society, Habitat for Hu
manity and Aggie De
mocrats. Artwork from a
local school with drawings
of the spirit of recycling will
also be displayed.
Saturday is the State Beach
Cleanup sponsored by Gary Mauro, Texas
land commissioner. TEAC and Environ
mental Issues Committee (EIC) members
will travel to Bolivar Peninsula in Galveston
to participate.
Also on Saturday, the BrazosValley com
munity will celebrate Earth Day with a free
Earth Day ‘98 festival at Simpson Drill Field
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The festival will take
place at the end of the field near the All-
Faiths Chapel. More than 25 exhibitors
with different activities for children of all
ages are planned.
The festival is cosponsored by the Texas
Environmental Action Coalition and Col
lege Station Baha’i Communi
ty with assistance from
the Friends Just Peace In
stitute. Other sponsors
include the Unitarian
Universalist Fellow
ship, Kinko’s Copies
and Cafe Eccell.
Ande Bloom, co
ordinator for the
Earth Day festival,
said the festival
provides an oppor
tunity for the com
munity to express
its concerns about
the environment
with one voice.
“There are a lot of
things we can individ
ually do, but there’s
even more when a group
of 2,000 people are all
working toward a better en
vironment,” she said.
Dr. Mike Manson, TEAC fac
ulty advisor, said it’s important to
keep the environment in mind.
“We want people to keep things off the
back burner and realize these are ongoing
issues which require constant vigilance.”
The rain date for Saturday’s event is May
2 at the Texas A&M Archery Fields (next to
the Bonfire site).
Derby Days to kick off
Sigma Chi sponsors event to benefit Brazos County
By Kelly Hackworth
Staff writer
The 22nd annual Derby Days sponsored by
the Sigma Chi fraternity benefiting the Chil
dren’s Miracle Network and The Brazos Food
Bank begins tomorrow.
Each participating Texas A&M sorority
brings 200 canned goods to benefit the Brazos
Food Bank.
Adam Bitner, member of Sigma Chi and a se
nior industrial distribudon major, is one of the
“Derby Daddies,” the coordinators of the event.
He said the best part of Derby Days is that the
money raised for Children’s Miracle Network
stays in Brazos County. This year’s Derby Days is
expected to bring in $8,000, Bitner said. Sigma
Chi also donates $100 to each participating
sorority, he said.
“The fact that all money stays local and helps
those in Brazos County is great,” he said. “The
sororities are all working toward a common goal
and doing well for the community also.”
The event begins with the Queen’s Entrance
and Queen Interviews at the Sigma Chi house
on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. with a kickoff party
at Barracuda Bar beginning at 8 p.m. Friday
night events include skit night at Hurricane
Harry’s with a concert following. The sorority
banner contest will also be on Friday with
judging at 3 p.m. on sorority row.
Saturday is game day beginning at 2 p.m. at
the Sigma Chi house. An awards party will fol
low at 9 p.m. at the Tap.
Sororities are given a certain number of
Please see Derby on Page 6.
Undercover operations attempt
to curtail alcohol use in minors
By Amanda Smith
Staff writer
Minors purchased alcohol with the consent of
the College Station Police Department, in the lat
est undercover operations designed to deter al
cohol sales to individuals under the legal drink
ing age of 21.
Major Mason Newton, the officer coordinat
ing the programs, said there is a need for contin
ued efforts to combat alcohol and “loud party”
problems within College Station, after the pro
gram ended last September.
“It’s evident that we need to keep checking
with the stores and bars,” Newton said. “We need
to make sure that stores and bars maintain com
pliance with the law. We found out that a major
ity of the violations are minors who are getting
the alcohol from their older friends.”
People of age to buy alcohol who give alco
hol to a minor may receive a fine of up to $500.
Newton said the problem is of concern to law
enforcement agencies but was a secondary
concern in the recent programs, which target
ed monitoring alcohol sales at College Station
alcohol retail stores and bars.
“There are a lot of bar tenders and store
owners that do a real good job (on alcohol sales
enforcement),” said Newton.
Three high school students and three college
students under 18 participated in the program
and accompanied the undercover police into
the local bars and alcohol retail stores to at
tempt to purchase alcohol.
Of 186 attempts made by these volunteer
Please see Alcohol on Page 6.