106 YEARS
October 22, 1999
College Station, Texas
Volume 106 • Issue 39 • 10 Pages
ush shares Best
rmer president shares letters,
mgesfrom new autobiography
tef-
BY ROLANDO GARCIA
The Battalion
Ranging from the poignant to the per-
and on to the historical, the letters
er President George Bush read to a
ing-room only audience last night,
ed many of the personal and profes-
Kl highlights of his life.
Be crowd of the 600-seat auditorium
red to hear Bush discuss his latest
All the Best, a collection of some of
Id letters and diary entries Bush said
d serve as his autobiography,
le first letters he read were addressed to his
er when he was serving as one of the
igest aviators in the Navy during World
at age 18. He wrote that he was not afraid
ath, only the sorrow it would bring othere.
|n this war, everyone was united, and
kind of expression was typical of kids
wanted to serve,” Bush said,
lush’s voice wavered as he read a letter
mate in 1944 to the mother of a Navy
tmate who has was missing in action.
“We learned what it was like to lose
friends,” he said.
Other letters he read spoke of his love
for then Barbara Pierce, his wife, and of his
decision to move his young family to Texas
and try his luck in the oil industry.
Some letters were deeply personal, like
one he wrote to a friend not long after his
young daughter had died of leukemia.
“We still miss our Robyn,” Bush said.
“Bar and I still remember the beauty and
charm of our little girl.”
Bush also touched on his extensive po
litical career that began in Congress and
culminated to the White House. In partic
ular, Bush spoke of the difficult time dur
ing the Watergate scandal when he was
chairman of the Republican Party.
“Bob Strausse [Democratic chairman]
said my job was like making love to a guer
rilla; you don’t stop until the guerrilla
wants to,” Bush said. “That’s how 1 felt.”
The letters he read from his time as chair
revealed both an admiration and a growing
disillusionment with President Richard Nixon.
Bus Ops debriefs
drivers on crisis
KIMBER HUFF/The Battalion
Former president George Bush reads letters
and passages from his new autobiography,
All the Best.
Bush capped his hour long speech with
some letters he wrote during the most dif
ficult time of his presidency, including one
he wrote to Chinese leader Deng Xiouping
following the 1989 Tiananmen Square
massacre.
Bush said relations between the two
countries were tense and he had been un
able to talk to Deng by telephone, so he
wrote his old friend a letter that dealt both
with China’s harsh crackdown against pro
testers and of the need to maintain U.S.-
China relations. Deng, who had known
Bush since his days as ambassador to Chi
na, responded immediately and secret
diplomatic contacts resumed.
“Personal diplomacy is important, be
cause you’re less apt to have two ships pass
in the night through lack of understanding
if you know each other,” Bush said.
BY BROOKE HODGES
The Battalion
Monday’s fatal accident in which a
Texas A&M shuttle bus collided into the
driver’s side of an automobile at the in
tersection of George Bush Drive and Well
born Road is the first causality in Bus Op
eration’s 17-year history.
Gary Jackson, manager of Bus Opera
tions, said the service averages less than
five accidents for every 100,000 miles.
From the accidents that do occur, many
people involved in the accident leave the
scene without injury.
“We had a guy run his car underneath
a bus, and he walked away without a
scratch,” he said. “We have never had
anyone that is riding the bus get injured
in an accident.”
Jackson said students who serve as
drivers might experience psychological
difficulties because of the accident that
occurred early Monday morning.
Jackson said a crisis debriefing aimed
at providing assistance to those drivers
was held last night by Student Counsel
ing Service.
Jackson said the debriefing was held
because of concerns expressed by some
drivers suffering from what is known as
“it could have been me” syndrome.
Tlent Nichols, a bus driver and a junior
management major, said he drove a bus
Monday afternoon, and many of his pas
sengers were frightened because they had
heard about the accident.
“They kept asking me about the acci
dent,” he said. “I didn’t really know any
details, just that it happened that morn
ing. One girl even told them to stop talk
ing to me because I had to concentrate.”
Nichols said Bus Operations does a
good job of training drivers to be more
alert and aware of their surroundings
along with other drivers.
“They teach you to drive defensively,
and that intersection [of George Bush Dri
ve and Wellborn Road] is bad,” he said.
“Those buses are hard to stop.”
Nichols said he knows the driver who
was involved in the accident and she
seems to be doing well.
“She is doing OK; she realizes it was
n’t her fault,” he said, “[but] she is hav
ing a hard time dealing with it.”
rganization to host
inference for Latinas
BY KENNETH
MACDONALD
The Battalion
)mega Delta Phi, an
A Hispanic service and
al organization, will
1 second annual
na Conference in the
and Rudder Tower
iplex this weekend.
Ibert Mares, co-director
I he Latina Conference,
lident-elect of Omega
la Phi, and senior envi-
jnental design major,
| the conference, which
I focus on the accom-
hment of latinas, will
ature two keynote speak-
and several workshops
continuing Hispanic
Cadetship.
■The idea is to put the
Itlight on latina achieve-
Int and let them know
hi they are appreciated,
nri there is a future [for
iem],” he said.
■Mares said the confer
ence began in September
as an appreciation day
workshop for mothers
Iomega Delta Phi. It was
■gthened to a two-day
anvention last October.
|“There was so much posi-
le feedback that we decided
oinvite all latinos and extend
[conference,” he said.
Two hundred partici-
mts from 25 area univer-
o lies participated in last
^ ar’s function with ap-
bximately the same num-
r expected this year. Or-
inizers said some people
will be coming from as far
way as California.
Mares said 75 percent of
the participants are female.
Topics of discussion in the
various workshops will in
clude latinas in politics, engi
neering, gender communica
tions, bilingual education,
media and journalism.
The final keynote speak
er will be Regina Montoya
Coggins, the national presi
dent of Girls Inc., formerly
the Girls Club of America.
Mares said Coggins plans to
run for a congressional po
sition in 2000, representing
the fifth congressional dis
trict in Dallas. She will
speak at the conference Sat
urday night.
In addition to the speak
er, a local high school lati
na will be presented with a
$500 scholarship at the
banquet.
Sticks and stones
JR BEATO/Thh BATTALION
Stacey Barnett, a senior international marketing major, plays cover point, a defensive
position, for the Women’s Lacrosse Club Team Thursday. The team has been practic
ing everyday on O.R. Simpson Drill Field in preparation for the Fall Classic Tournament,
Nov. 13 and 14.
Glass, artifacts
mark galleries’
anniversary
BY STASIA RAINES
The Battalion
The MSC Forsyth Center Galleries is celebrating its 10th an
niversary by having glass works and other artifacts on display in
the MSC today and tomorrow.
To commemorate the event, the galleries will also be hosting
several programs beginning with a presentation of artist Benito
Huerta’s work today at 5 p.m. The events will continue with an
informal presentation of the glass art exhibit in the J. Wayne Stark
University Center Galleries.
Tim Novak, director of the Forsyth Galleries, said the celebra
tion offers an opportunity to see a glass exhibit.
“Texas A&M has one of the finest examples of glass work in the
country, ” he said. “This really put A&M on the map in the area of art. ”
Novak said he is looking forward to the, “The Portland Vase,
Re-interpreted,” lecture tomorrow by David Whitehouse. White-
house is the director of the Corning Museum in New York.
“If nothing else, I would really encourage people to come and
hear Mr. Whitehouse’s talk at 2 [p.m.],” Novak said. “He is a
world-renowned expert in antique glass and an excellent speaker. ”
Donny Hamilton, director of the Conservation Research Labo
ratory at A&M, will host a tour of the Nautical Archaeology ex
hibit featuring artifacts recovered from Port Royale, Jamaica, and
the La Salle ship. Hamilton said he hopes the tour will better ed
ucate people about precious artifacts.
“I hope people will develop a greater appreciation for artifacts
and learn how to preserve them in the future,” he said.
Novak said the celebration is an opportunity to reflect on the
improvement of the art and it’s value showcased on the A&M cam
pus during the last 10 years.
“Eleven years ago, there were no art museums on campus,” he
said. “I think that the progress of art on campus is well aligned
with the Vision 2020 plan of A&M.”
Nathan Cray, executive vice president of MSC programs and a
senior mechanical engineer, said the galleries serve as an essen
tial part of getting a well-rounded education.
“It is incredible that we have these galleries on campus,” he
said. “Broadening your horizons through art appreciation is a crit
ical part of the business world. ”
INSIDE
Sudanese student tells of flight
from war-torn African country
BY STUART HUTSON
The Battalion
In 1983,11-year-old Justin
Maker’s village in Southern
Sudan was burned while
members of his family were
either killed or raped; Maker
escaped with only his life
and his story of a battle be
tween two cultures which
has lead to the deaths of two
million people at the hands
of starvation and war.
Maker, one of nearly
300,000 Southern Sudanese
refugees, told the tale of his
flight from the war in Sudan,
the largest country in Africa,
to America at a lecture by
Students for Peace, a social-
justice issue group at Texas
A&M last night.
Cesar Ricci, the confer
ence speaker, a member of
Students for Peace and a ju
nior plant and soil science
major, said the battle in Su
dan between the northern-
controlled Islamic govern
ment and the rebel tribes of
Southern Sudan began after
the British evacuated the
country in the ’50s. Britain,
who had controlled Sudan
since the 1700’s, left an unre
solved conflict between the
educated and advanced Arab
population and the poor and
uneducated African population.
“The civil war then really
began in 1983,” Ricci said.
“Since then it has really been a
one-sided war with the bulk of
the people dying, being civil
ians from Southern Sudan.”
Ricci said the war has
been an attempt on the part
of the government in North
ern Sudan to control the oil-
rich land in the South by
means of ethnic cleansing,
starvation and slavery.
“The North has been try
ing to replace the tribal cul
ture of the South with their
own Islamic culture by starv
ing and enslaving the south
ern civilians,” Ricci said.
Mohamed Ibrahim
Mostafa, president of the
Muslim Student Association
and a graduate student in
electrical engineering, said
the Islamic belief supports
freedom of religion and
peace among individuals.
“Everybody has the right
to live in peace under the pro
tection of the umbrella of Is
lam,” Ibrahim Mostafa said.
Ricci presented several
photographs of the starving
Sudanese in conditions of ex
treme poverty and famine.
“This is not a starvation
induced by the acts of God,”
Ricci said.
Ibrahim Mostafa said
much of the starvation comes
from southern tribal militias
who use the tribe’s food to
support their attacks against
the Northern government.
“The starvation does
not all come from the acts
of the Muslim govern
ment,” he said. “That is
something the Western
media tends to portray.”
A&M language program
commemorates 25th year
BY MATT LOFTIS
The Battalion
The English Language Institution of Texas
A&M (ELI) is celebrating its Silver Anniversary
today in commemoration of 25 years of oper
ation. The ceremonies include a luncheon, lec
tures, dinner and entertainment.
Patricia Harris, acting assistant director of
ELI, said the institute’s focus is the intensive
English language classes and cultural studies.
She said the program accepts students from
around the world and prepares them to com
municate and learn in English.
Harris said only 100 students were enrolled
in the program when it began but now has 500.
“We have at least 200 students every se
mester from 40 different countries and about
90 percent are already Aggies or planning to
enter A&M,” she said.
Harris said international students learn the
English language through up to three levels of
proficiency. Included in the program are cul
tural outings, which include at least one trip
out of town, conversation partners from the
A&M student body, usage of language labs and
cross-cultural seminars to learn about the cul
ture of their peers.
“We definitely contribute to diversity,” she
said. “About a third of our population come
from Asia, another third from Latin American
countries and a substantial part of the other
third come from Muslim countries.”
The anniversary celebration will begin today
at 9:30 a.m. with registration at the Bush Pres
idential Conference Center. Seminars will com
mence at 10 a.m. and entertainment will be pro
vided by the Aggie Wranglers Dance Team.
Harris said the general public is invited to
come and take part in the lectures.
Lectures will be held in the afternoon.. Har
ris said speakers included such notables as Nor
man Borlaug, distinguished professor of inter
national agriculture, soil and crop sciences and
Nobel laureate; Albert Cotton, distinguished
professor of chemistry; and William Perry, ex
ecutive provost of academic affairs.Harris said
the keynote speaker for the evening will be
Pablo Marvin of Mexico City, associated with
the ELI distance learning program.
The event will end with a reception at 7
p.m. in the MSC, followed by dinner at 7:30.