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The Battalion
Vol. 92 No. 173 (6 pages) 1893 - A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993 Wednesday, July 14,1993
University officials fight to keep records closed
A&M resubmits request to withhold results of Corps assault investigation
By JENNIFER SMITH
The Battalion
Texas A&M University officials dis
agreed with the decision of the state attor
ney general's office last week to open the
results of a Corps of Cadets sexual assault
and sexual harassment investigation and
have resubmitted their request to keep
the records closed.
Scott A. Kelly, assistant general coun
sel for A&M, said the issue in this open
records dispute is not that A&M is hiding
something, but that A&M is charged un
der FERPA guidelines to protect the edu
cational records of its students.
"It's not a question of do we have to re
lease it," Kelly said. "It's can we release it."
The Battalion filed an open records re
quest in March for the information after
A&M refused to release reports on the
University's hearings because it would vi
olate the Buckley Amendment.
The Buckley Amendment, formerly ti
tled The Family Education Rights and Pri
vacy Act (FERPA) of 1974, states that edu
cational records are private and belong to
the university. The student does have ac
cess to his or her records, but they are in
possession of the university.
Kelly said one of the two students in
volved in this incident has recently con
tacted the University requesting that the
information not be released.
In response to A&M's request for an
opinion, the attorney general's office or
dered A&M on July 2 to release the
records as long as the students' names are
not released, and they cannot be person
ally identified.
Kelly sent the documents back to the
attorney general July 9 because he dis
agreed with this opinion. Kelly said in a
letter to the attorney general that "the
hearing record of this student's discipli
nary hearing is, in its entirety, personally
identifiable to this particular student."
To support this claim, the University
sent two affidavits to the attorney general
from students who know the identity of
the two students. The University also said
there are statements within the hearing
records from 17 other students other than
those directly involved with the incident.
The letter states that A&M "has found
that the identity of the student accused of
violating university regulations ... is gen
erally known to many students on the
Texas A&M University campus."
"No amount of removing of words or
phrases from this disciplinary hearing
record can dilute or eliminate the person
ally identifiable characteristics of this par
ticular record."
In the letter to the attorney general's
office, Kelly said he had discussed the
case with Sharon Shirley, a program spe
cialist with the Family Policy Compliance
Office of the Department of Education.
"Ms. Shirley stated that 'even if one
student could identify the students in
volved, it would be an improper disclo
sure,"' as Kelly states in the letter.
Under FERPA guidelines, a university
may not release education records to any
one except the individual student or his
or her parents.
Kelly said the Department of Education
can deny or reduce funding to any institu
tion that releases information that the de
partment feels is an education record.
Kelly sent a letter to Shirley asking for
an opinion from her office as to whether
A&M can release the record of the hear
ing, release the record of the hearing
without names, release the records of the
hearing if the names are generally known
See Investigation/Page 4
Jury selection made
in Greenwood case
Bryan youth on trial for stabbing death
By JASON COX
The Battalion
A jury was selected Tuesday in the trial of Sherron Dante Green
wood, a 16-year-old Bryan youth accused of killing a classmate at
Bryan High School's Lamar campus last March.
Counsel for the defense and prosecution led potential jurors
through a series of questions in an attempt to pare their numbers and
establish their impartiality. Questions ranged from whether jurors
were affected by the fact that Greenwood is an African-American to
if they had already developed an opinion based on information dis
seminated by the media.
judge John Delaney, a district judge for the 272nd court, outlined the
processes for the guilt/innocence phase and the punishment phase of
the trial, both of which the jurors will take part in.
During the proceedings. Greenwood stared at his desk and spoke
only occasionally to his lawyer.
Greenwood is accused of the May 26 stabbing of 16-year-old Billy C.
Williams at Bryan High's ninth-grade campus.
Greenwood will stand trial as an adult and could face a penalty of
five to 99 years or life in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 if convicted.
During Greenwood's adult certification meeting, it was revealed that
the stabbing was gang-related.
The night before the stabbing. Greenwood and members of another
ang argued during a track meet. The next day, during a special class
a the school's cafeteria, another exchange ensued. According to testi
mony, Greenwood was the only member of his gang present.
Witnesses testified that Greenwood pulled a knife from his sleeve
and waved it at rival gang member, before moving toward Williams
and stabbing him.
Defense attorney Michelle Esparza intends to argue that Greenwood
acted in self-defense because he feared an attack from the rival gang.
Judge Delaney thanked jurors for their patience at the end of the
unusually long day. An official with Delaney's office said this is the
first time they have had such a high-profile case, and that anything
could happen.
The jury consists of nine women and three men. There is one
African-American on the panel.
Cain Park to be completed Friday
BILLY MORAN/The Battalion
Alberverto Garcia (left) of Bryan and Jaspar Davis of Groesbeck put next to Cain, the park is scheduled to be completed Friday and
the finishing touches on a section of concrete in Cain Park. Located dedicated before the first home football game in the fall.
I
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Rain continues disastrous flooding in Midwest
Des Moines faces 'critical situation
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Up to an inch of rain fell Tues
day within six minutes in the satu
rated Midwest, creating "extremely
dangerous" conditions in the Des
Moines area while the swollen Mis
sissippi surged against levees and
tore loose barges.
"This disaster is getting worse
by the hour," Illinois Gov. Jim
Edgar said.
President Clinton said he
would visit the region Wednesday
on his way back to Washington.
About 6,500 National Guards
men were on duty in Iowa, Illinois
and Missouri, where some 30,000
people were flooded out of their
homes along the Mississippi River
and its tributaries.
Heavy rain fell Tuesday in al
ready-saturated parts of Iowa,
Kansas and Nebraska. Wood Riv
er, Neb., got 3.3 inches of rain and
an inch fell in just six minutes at
Papillion, just south of Omaha,
the National Weather Service said.
Adel, Iowa, about 20 miles west of
Des Moines, reported 1.75 inches
in 20 minutes.
The extra rain was enough to
make streams rise again in cen
tral Iowa, threatening to restore
drinking water to more than
250,000 people in Des Moines
and its suburbs.
'The historic Valley Junction
district along the Raccoon River in
West Des Moines had dried out
Monday after weekend flooding,
but by midday Tuesday 4 feet of
water covered the district just as a
result of the rainfall inside the
protective levee.
"This is an extremely danger
ous situation," the National
Weather Service said.
Officials asked 3,500 people in
West Des Moines and nearby ar
eas of Des Moines to evacuate.
"Mother Nature did not deal
us a very favorable hand today,"
West Des Moines Mayor Dino
Rodish said. "We've got a critical
situation."
L.D. McMullen, general man
ager of the shut down Des Moines
Water Works, said water from the
Raccoon River had receded to
about 5 feet from the top of the
levee.
Asked if that would he sufficient
to hold back expected flooding,
McMullen said, "I don't know, our
plan is to continue to work."
Until drinking water is re
stored, the Corps of Engineers
and National Guard have set a
target of providing 2.5 million gal
lons of water per day to the city
and nearby communities.
That works out to about 10 gal
lons per day per person. As of
Tuesday, residents were allowed
up to 5 gallons of water at 60 distri
bution points, 2 gallons if they did
not bring their own containers.
Along Missouri's section of the
Mississippi, all or parts of river
towns from Alexandria, near the
Iowa line, to Cape Girardeau in
southeast Missouri have been hit.
An estimated 15,000 people were
out of their homes.
Wilson controversy subsides
By MICHELE BRINKMANN
The Battalion
Last spring's controversy
over Texas A&M's executive di
rector of the George Bush Presi
dential Library has diminished
on campus, and Director Don W.
Wilson says "all is quiet around
here now."
The investigation of Wilson
has been completed, but the for
mal report is still being drafted.
National Archives Inspector
General Floyd Justice said he
believes the report should be
completed within the next 30
days and Wilson will be noti
fied of the outcome of the in
vestigation when the formal re
port is completed.
Because of Wilson's privacy
rights, it is not certain if the re
port will be available to the pub
lic, Justice said.
Wilson received criticism for
granting former president
George Bush control of 5,000
White House computer tapes
from the Iran-Contra era shortly
before Wilson was appointed ex
ecutive director of the library.
"I have no idea what has be
come of the investigation, ! have
not been contacted at all," Wil
son said. "The National
Archives Inspector General was
supposed to conduct an investi
gation on the issue, but no
charges were filed against me, it
was just an investigation."
"It was a nothing story, peo
ple made a lot out of it that
wasn't really there," he said.
fering a
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•08. For
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Items
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If you
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S PORTS
•Racing great Davey Allison
dies in helicopter crash
•ALwins All-Star game, 9-3
•SWC update
Page 3
Opinion
•Editorial: Mandatory
minimums - cruel & unusual?
•Column: Don't you dare try
to stop Vasquez from singing
Page 5
Weather
►Wednesday: morning
cloudiness, partly cloudy
and hot in the afternoon
highs in the mid 90s
Forecast for Thursday:
artiy cloudy and hot,
ighs in the mid 90s
►Your Battalion extended
forecast: Same old stuff,
partly cloudy, highs in the
90s, lows in the 70s
Tomorrow in
TV networks agree to parental advisory plan
By JANET HOLDER
The Battalion
Television stations affiliated with the four
major networks say they have very few com
plaints about television violence, but members
of family activist groups say they are still con
cerned with the content of programming.
Last week, the four major networks ABC,
CBS, NBC and Fox agreed to The Advanced
Parental Advisory plan, which is designed to
protect children from televised violence. In
September, the system will put the following
warning at the start of programs the networks
decide are too violent for younger viewers:
"Due to some violent content, parental dis
cretion advised."
According to the Associated Press, the
agreement between the networks was worked
out under intense pressure from U.S. Sen. Paul
Simon, D-Ill., and U.S. Rep. Edward Markey,
D-Mass. Simon and Markey pursued a feder
ally imposed ratings system.
The agreement is seen by some as a way to
ward off governmental control of television
content.
"The industry should police itself so the
government won't dictate," said Raymond
Britton, program/operations manager of
KCEN-Waco, an NBC affiliate.
Lyn Wilund, director of operations at Bryan's
CBS affiliate KBTX-TV Channel 3, said,the sta
tion has had no complaints in the last four and a
half years concerning TV violence.
See Violence/Page 4
ABC
NBC FOX
ANGEL KAN/The Battalion
Barney:
Local parents and their
children describe how
the purple wonder has
affected their lives.
Reviews:
"The Element of
Fire, ” a fantasy novel
by A&M professor,
Martha Wells
&
Clint Black's
new album
"No Time to
Kill’’