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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1988)
C F The Battalion Vol. 87 No. 126 USPS 045360 14 Pages College Station, Texas Tuesday, April 5, 1988 CAA accuses A&M of 31 rule violations By Tracy Staton Senior Staff Writer and Anthony Wilson Sportswriter I The National Collegiate Athletic Association has accused Texas football program with 31 vio- fttionsof NCAA rules and seven vio- fttions of procedure, according to a letter released Monday by University officials. The allegations range from minor lecruiting infractions to attempts by Ift&M coaches to conceal previous i NCAA violations. The final proce dural allegation said these violations are products of a mismanaged foot ball program. “It is alleged that the scope and nature of the violations in this offi cial inquiry demonstrate a lack of ap propriate institutional control and monitoring in the administration of the institution’s intercollegiate foot ball program,” the letter stated. But A&M Head Coach and Ath letic Director Jackie Sherrill dis counted the severity of the allega tions and seemed pleased to comply with the NCAA investigaion, which he expects will be completed before next season. “I’m glad it’s here,” Sherrill said. “We’re ready to expedite matters and get it over with. Since I’ve been here, this has been like a cloud hang ing over our heads.” In September 1985, A&M began conducting an internal investigation of its football program. The report was released to the NCAA in August 1986 but was not released to the public until April 1987, when several newspapers filed requests for the re port under the Texas Open Records Act. The heavily edited version that was released made little reference to allegations of recruiting violations. It did not refer directly to a previous allegation that former A&M quar terback Kevin Murray received pay ment from a former student for work he did not complete. Of the current 31 allegations, 24 are possible recruiting violations. Accusations include illegal visits and material inducements such as cloth ing, cash and promises of employ ment and medical treatments for rel atives of prospective athletes. The procedural allegations ac cused A&M coaches of deliberate vi olation of NCAA rules. Among these accusations is a possible at tempt to prepare former student athletes for an NCAA investigation. Sherrill downplayed the accusa tion of poor administration and fo cused his attention on the possible rules violations. “That’s just semantics,” he said about the procedural allegations. “They’re just playing with semantics. We need to be most concerned with the first 31 allegations.” But transfer quarterback Chris Osgood said he is worried about the possible ramifications of the allega tions. Osgood transferred last season from the University of Mississippi, which was penalized by the NCAA for rules infractions in 1987. When Osgood transferred to A&M, he was aware of the problems concerning Murray, but those problems didn’t concern him. “I didn’t think it was any big deal and that it would come down now,” Osgood said. “I wasn’t worried about that. I was just ready to change schools. I’ve been through it (allega tions of NCAA violations) before. I guess I can deal with it. “Hopefully, it’s not a big thing. In a way (it does scare me). I left a school that was on probation. It is See NCAA, page 12 rizona Senate convicts echam of ‘high crime’ PHOENIX, Ariz. (AP) — The izona Senate convicted Gov. Evan Mecham on Monday of two counts ij If wrongdoing, making him the first •i T.S. governor to be impeached and 1 lemoved from office in 59 years. I The vote on the first charge, that he attempted to thwart a death- threat investigation, was 21-9. Two- oiirds of the 30-member Senate was I itaeded for conviction. The vote au- ■omatically removed him from of- mre. I Mecham, who took notes in the Tenate chamber as lawmakers voted, Showed no emotion. The GOP-controlled Senate then convicted the first-term Republican 26-4 on a charge he misused $80,000 from a protocol fund by loaning it to his auto dealership. A motion to bar the 63-year-old Mecham from ever holding state of fice in Arizona received 17 votes in favor and 13 against, falling three votes short of the required two- thirds majority. The last governor to be im peached and removed from office was Henry Johnston of Oklahoma, who was removed in 1929. Assault victims file civil lawsuit against iflthlete for attack By Drew Leder Staff Writer B Two Texas A&M students and a i College Station resident filed a civil suit Friday against A&M football player Guy Broom to obtain exem- pplory damages for bodily injury and §|amage to an automobile that oc- ICurred during an incident in the Woodstone Shopping Center park ing lot January 30. . HThe suit was filed in the Brazos I County District Clerk’s office by T A&M students Walter Voigtman, a junior political science major, and 1 Mary Barclay, a senior elementary education major, and by Barclay’s j Husband Andy. It alleges that “Guy f Christopher Broom, standing ap- proximately 6 feet 6 inches tall and - weighing 275 pounds, intentionally, knowingly and recklessly caused bodily injury” to all of the plaintiffs. If The suit charges that in the early morning of January 30, Voigtman and the Barclay’s were attacked by U Broom after words were exchanged "J by Broom and Andy Barclay. The suit alleges that Broom injured Cj| Andy Barclay by “grabbing him and <2Jj| throwing him into the rear-end of 5j; the (Barclay’s) car, whereby Plaintiff Jc Andy Barclay struck his head and 8 ; shoulder on the bumper, knocking j him unconscious and breaking his l Collarbone.” I Mr. Barclay had two steel pins placed in his collar bone and several torn ligaments in his shoulder area ^paired a few days after the inci dent. B Voigtman and Mr. Barclay also spent time in the hospital because of l the injuries they received. The suit alleges that Broom threw Walter Voigtman into the Barclay’s open- car door and hit Mrs. Barclay in the face with his fist, knocking her unconscious. Broom’s action, according to the suit, was “extreme and outrageous, causing highly unpleasant mental re actions such as fright, horror, grief, shame, humiliation . . . and nausea.” The amount Voigtman and the Barclay’s will attempt to gain through the suit hasn’t been dis closed yet. Broom also faces one charge of aggravated assault and two charges of misdemeanor assault stemming from his part in the incident. Assis tant District Attorney Margaret Lalk said her office plans to ask a grand jury to file an indictment of aggra vated assault against Broom when a jury next convenes April 14th. Lalk said the civil suit will have no bearing on the plans of the District Attor ney’s office to file the indictment. If Broom is found guilty of the ag gravated assault charge, a third-de gree felony, he could face a sentence of between two and 10 years in jail or prison and a maximum fine of $5,000. The misdemeanor charges carry a maximum fine of $1,000 and up to one year in jail. Judge John Delaney of Brazos County’s 272nd district court said Broom probably will be officially in formed of the suit today and will then have 20 days to submit to the court a written denial of the charges or lose the suit by default. Delaney, who will preside over the case if it goes to trial, said a trial date will be set after a denial by Broom is re ceived. Monday morning’s closing argu ments came as the impeachment trial entered its sixth week. “The vote is 21 ayes, nine nos. Evan Mecham is convicted of high crimes, misdemeanors and malfea sance in office,” the trial’s presiding officer, Arizona Chief Justice Frank X. Gordon Jr., said. The Senate then began voting on the second count. Senators could then take another vote on whether to bar Mecham from ever holding state office in Arizona again. “The citizens of this state will not tolerate this evil insensitivity,” Dem ocratic Sen. Jesus “Chuy” Higuera said. He voted to convict the first- term Republican. Republican Sen. Jan Brewer said she felt Mecham made a serious er ror, but she added, “I do not think it is sufficient to remove him from of fice.” The voting began after a prosecu tor beseeched the GOP-controlled Senate to convict Mecham of im peachment charges, remove him from office and bring down the cur tain on this prolonged, embarrassing and bitter tragedy. The last cast Students cast their final votes in the runoff elec tions at Sbisa Dining Hall. Runoff elections were held Monday to fill Student Government positions in which no candidate received a majority vote in T’hoto by Edie Ingebritson the March 30th general election. Results of the runoff election are scheduled to be posted near the front door of the Pavilion at 5 p.m. today. Businesses reopen to end two-week strike in Panama PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) — Hundreds of shops and stores re opened to little business in Panama City on Monday, ending a two-week strike that failed to remove Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega’s grip on this tense nation. As the capital began regaining a semblance of normalcy, the United States prepared to send an additio nal 1,300 military personnel to Pan ama. The Reagan administration said the troops, scheduled to start ar riving Tuesday, would help safe guard the lives and property of American citizens. The U.S. State Department said U.S. Ambassador Arthur Davis suf fered “deliberate harassment” when his limousine was chased for two miles Sunday by a Panamanian mili tary patrol car. The Panamanian government denied the charge, but did admit that the ambassador’s car had been tailed in “strictly a police matter.” Justice Minister Rodolfo Chiari de Leon said the incident occurred when a patrol spotted “an exagger ated display of automatic arms car ried by civilian elements traveling in three vehicles” that followed the am bassador. Cynthia Farrell, a spokesman for the ambassador, acknowledged that U.S. security guards were following Davis in at least one other vehicle. She called it a routine precaution but declined to give details. In Washington, Phyllis Oakley, the State Department’s deputy spokesman, used the incident to step up administration criticism of No riega, commander of Panama’s 15,000-member Defense Forces and the power behind the government. “We consider any threat to the safety of the ambassador to be se rious, as always,” she said. “We will take the necessary steps to protect Americans. I am condemning the in cident from the podium. We regard the action as deliberate harassment.” Businesses began reopening in Panama City’s central commercial district, ending a strike by anti-gov ernment groups. However, many merchants were pessimistic about the economy, which has been crippled by cash shortages, anti-gov ernment unrest and U.S. sanctions. Manuel Lopez, who opened his furniture store for the first time since March 19, said his last sale was five weeks ago and he has been pay ing his employees partial wages. “We give them food, too,” Lopez said. “It has come to that.” The owner of an electronics shop said he reopened because competitors did, but asked, “Who is going to buy this kind of thing right now?” “This is a disaster,” said the shop keeper, who asked not to be identi fied for fear of reprisals. “We don’t know what’s going to happen. But when (Noriega) goes, things will im prove right away.” Panama’s banks have been closed since March 3, creating a critical cash shortage. The United States has fro zen Panamanian funds held in U.S. banks and imposed sanctions, in cluding withholding about $6.5 mil lion a month fees for the Panama Canal. Scientists unprepared for killer bees’ arrival By Karen Kroesche Senior Staff Writer ■ When the Africanized bees, or “killer bees,” arrive in Texas late next year, they won’t come swarm ing in like a dust storm wreaking death and destruction — but they will create some sticky problems for Bexas A&M researchers. B “The problem we have is that We re sitting here with a two-man in- Spection service and a huge problem approaching us,” says Dr. Fowden Maxwell, who heads A&M’s entomo logy department and a state advisory committee on Africanized bees. “We’re not presently geare^l up to the extent that we need to be to meet the threat of the Africanized bee.” H Regulation and research of bees in Texas historically has been in the hands of the A&M entomology de partment in conjunction with the ■exas Agricultural Experiment Sta tion. ■ That responsibility has raised “We’ve got really two bees that came from the same anscestry, but they’ve been selected differently. So the Africanized bee is just a honeybee with a personality problem. ” —John Thomas, A&M entomologist some frightening questions in light of the regulatory, economic and so cial problems the arrival of the Afri canized bees will create in the state. The threat of the Africanized bees, which are expected to arrive by late next year, has been exaggerated by the media and film industry, Maxwell says. The Africanized bees will be more numerous and more apt to sting than the European honeybee that Texans are used to, but the bee is not as bad as it’s made out to be, he says. “The term ‘killer bee’ is really a misnomer,” Maxwell says. “There have been some deaths associated with the Africanized bee, but it’s not nearly as bad as it sounds.” A&M entomologist John Thomas, who is in charge of the statewide ed ucation program on the Africanized bee, says it evolved from the same parent stock as the domestic bee, but was forced to develop extremely ag- ressive tendencies in order to survive in Africa. “We’ve got really two bees that came from the same anscestry, but they’ve been selected differently,” Thomas says. “So the Africanized bee is just a honeybee with a person ality problem.” Thomas says the public needs to be made aware of the aggressive na ture of the Africanized bee, but he agrees with Maxwell that the media tends to go overboard. “After the story in the Houston Post the other day ... I was bom barded with calls . . . mostly from el derly ladies, who honestly were scared to death,” Thomas says. “They knew that they were going to invade Houston. They were con vinced that they were going to kill lots of people. They wanted to know how far north they needed to move in order to be sure that they would not be in an area that could be in habited by this killer bee. Several of them admitted that they had already gone to their doctor and gotten tran quilizers.” However, Thomas says a ten dency not to release information on the bees would be just as bad as the sensationalism. “You can go overboard either way,” he says. “There are far more things that are much, much more hazardous than is the killer bee. By the same token, it’s important that people realize that if and when the Africanized bee arrives they are going to have to pay more attention to honeybees on a limb, to honey bees in a house, to honeybees in a hollow of a tree, because they’re not going to be the same honeybees that we have lived with for all these years that you can just ignore and walk by and bump, and not very likely get stung.” He says, “These bees will come and introduce themselves to you.” Thomas says only two people a year in Texas die on average from insect stings. He says he expects to see a slight increase in that number when the Africanized bees arrive, and that those who.are allergic — 0.4 See Bees, page 12 A&M system aids ailing Prairie View PRAIRIE VIEW (AP) — Five years ago, nearly 20 percent of the student body at Prairie View A&M University was on academic proba tion, buildings were dilapidated and the library was in bad shape. Administrators tried to improve conditions, but there was little money and little support from the state. “The school was regarded as a court of last resort,” said Elaine Ad ams, vice president for academic af fairs, who came to the school in 1983. “There was a negative attitude among the students as well as the faculty.” Now, things have changed. More than 17 multimillion-dollar construction projects have been completed. The Texas A&M Uni versity System, through a federally approved desegregation plan and endowment funds that, until 1984, couldn’t be used for Prairie View, has sunk $53 million into facilities. Another $30 million in construc tion is in the works. Enrollment has climbed from 4,495 in 1982 to 5,307 in the most recent semester. Between 1986 and 1987, the in crease was nearly 18 percent, the highest at any Texas college or uni versity. Minority enrollment — at Prairie View that means white and Hispanic students — also is up with whites making up nearly 10 percent of the student body. The changes at Prairie View are remarkable, observers say. “It’s a promise realized,” said Kenneth Ashworth, state commis sioner for higher education. When Percy Pierre was named university president in 1983, the school had fallen on hard times. Pierre and his staff launched an attack on several fronts, aided by the Texas plan, special legislative appro priations and a constitutional amendment giving Prairie View a share of money from the Permanent University Fund. The Texas plan is an agreement between the state and the federal government to integrate state uni versities.