Page 2
Emergency Medical
Services
"... Sometimes people look
at you a little weird when
you describe a job like this
as being a lot of fun."
Chief Dudley Wait
Page 15
"I am totally confused, but I’m
determined not to let on."
Toni Garrad, recounts her
experiences as a freshman and gives
tips to the Class of 1995
The Battalion
■ lol. 91 No. 3 USPS 045360 College Station, Texas
Jury convicts mother in
I HOUSTON (AP) — A jury Tuesday
lonvicted a Channelview woman of try-
?|igto hire a hitman to kill the mother of
daughter's cheerleading rival to fur-
ijier her own daughter's cheerleading ca-
•er.
I Wanda Holloway, 37, could face up to
ife in prison and a maximum $10,000
ine. Jurors, who deliberated for about six
ours before reaching a verdict, were or-
lered to return to court Wednesday
aorning to begin the punishment phase
ithe trial.
Holloway burst into tears after she
was convicted on the solicitation of mur
der charge. Relatives and friends sur
rounded her, shouting at members of the
media to stay away.
She also faced a lesser charge of solici
tation of aggravated kidnapping, but no
verdict was announced on that charge.
State District Judge George Godwin said
after Tuesday's proceedings that jurors
did not have to rule on both charges.
Shortly before the verdict was an
nounced in the packed courtroom, the
jury had reached a decision in the case.
But at that time, the judge told jurors to
"Serving Texeis A&M since 1893"
16 Pages Wednesday, September 4, 1991
murder-for-hire, cheerleading trial
reread the charges and reconsider their
decision.
They returned with their final verdict
about 20 minutes later. Godwin individu
ally polled the 12 jurors, and each agreed
with the guilty verdict.
Attorneys on both sides said they
could not discuss the case because of a
gag order imposed by Godwin at the start
of the trial.
"The gag order is still in effect, (so) we
can't say," said defense attorney Troy
McKinney.
"I'm pleased with the verdict so far,"
prosecutor Mike Anderson said.
Anderson told jurors in closing argu
ments that Holloway had every classic
motive to want Verna Heath, the mother
of her daughter's cheerleading rival, kid
napped or killed.
"This is not about cheerleading,
folks," Anderson said. "This is about
someone who hated someone so much
that it gnawed at her day and night.
"It ain't about cheerleading. It's about
not getting what you want, and it's about
getting it above anything else."
McKinney told jurors Holloway be
lieved initially that her former brother-in-
law, Terry Harper, was joking about hav
ing Heath killed.
"Never, anywhere on those tapes does
she say, 'Terry, please go do this for me or
go find someone to do this,"' McKinney
said.
Nearly 80 spectators crowded into a
cramped annex courtroom to hear the fi
nal arguments in the week-old trial. More
than half of the seats were filled with
friends and family of the Heaths and Hoi
See Cheerleader/Page 16
A brief thunderstorm Tuesday afternoon caused students to bring out the Tower and the Harrington Classroom Building. The scattered showers should
umbrellas. This umbrella belongs to a student walking between the Harrington continue through the end of the week, with highs in the high 80s.
Gorbachev
supports
reforms
MOSCOW (AP) - Mikhail S.
Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin on
Tuesday urged lawmakers to ap
prove sweeping changes in the So
viet government
— and Yeltsin
said Russia
should keep its
finger on the nu
clear button.
While main
taining he fa
vored elimina
tion of nuclear
weapons, and
calling for an
end to under- Boris Yeltsin
ground nuclear
tests, Yeltsin said nuclear missiles
from the Ukraine and Kazakstan
would soon be moved inside the
borders of his giant Russian re
public.
He also pushed for elimination
of the KGB department he said
was responsible for bugging the
telephones of millions of Soviets,
including his own.
"This is illegal," said Yeltsin.
"This is unconstitutional."
Gorbachev, Yeltsin and the
leaders of nine other republics on
Monday put before the Congress
of Deputies a broad proposal to
strip the Kremlin of most powers
and transfer them to the republics.
In speeches Tuesday, Gor
bachev and Yeltsin sought speedy
approval of the plan.
Gorbachev acknowledged
some could find fault with the
proposals. He said:
See Soviets/Page 16
Clashes in Yugoslavia threaten
European Community peace plan
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP)
- A renewal of fierce fighting in
volving Yugoslav soldiers, Croat
ian forces and Serb militants
threatened on Tuesday to scuttle a
new European Community peace
plan in Yugoslavia.
The Croatian stronghold of Os-
ijek and surrounding villages in
the ethnically-mixed Slavonia re
gion saw some of the heaviest
clashes Tuesday. At least 16 peo
ple were killed.
Associated Press photographer
Franz Pammer reported that Osi-
jek, 140 miles east of Zagreb,
echoed with constant submachine-
gun and light artillery fire Tues
day. The army blocked a road to
Vukovar, 18 miles to the south
east, he said.
He saw two air force planes
dropping bombs on neighboring
Bilje village, a last Croat
stronghold in the Baranja area
stretching north of Osijek toward
Hungary.
In the town of Beli Manastir,
Serbs claimed to have taken Bilje
and Mece, the last two Croat-held
villages in Baranja.
"Cease-fire, what cease-fire?"
said Zdravko Mrdza, a Serbian de
fense force officer in Beli Mannas-
tir. "Our Baranja is definitely free.
Baranja is Yugoslavia," he said, as
a big Yugoslav flag fluttered over
his head.
Pammer said he saw the bod
ies of 10 people killed in Bilje be
ing delivered to the Osijek hospi
tal, and six more bodies of people
killed in fighting in and around
Osijek.
Lt. Gen. Marko Negovanovic,
the assistant federal defense min
ister, said Croatian forces had
fired on an army base near Osijek,
wounding one soldier. He said
barracks in Osijek also came under
attack. He accused Croatian
forces of "flagrantly and crudely"
violating the cease-fire and denied
the army provoked incidents.
The 12-nation EC called an ur
gent international peace confer
ence on Yugoslavia in The Hague
for Saturday. It named Lord Car-
See Yugoslavia/Page 6
Secretary of State plans trip to Moscow
Baker will assess U.S.S.R.'s stability
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sec
retary of State James A. Baker III
will fly to Moscow next week to
gauge the dra-
matic changes
sweeping the
Soviet Union
and Mikhail S.
Gorbachev's
chances of
holding the
turbulent
country to
gether, U.S. of
ficials said
Tuesday.
He also is pondering a visit
to one or all of the three newly
independent Baltic Republics
James Baker
with which the United States is
re-establishing ties after more
than a half-century, the officials
told The Associated Press.
Baker also is likely to go to
the Middle East to try to advance
preparations for an Arab-Israeli
peace conference cosponsored
by the United States and the So
viet Union, said the officials,
who spoke on the condition of
anonymity.
An announcement is expect
ed Wednesday, after Baker con
fers with President Bush at the
White House.
The trip to Moscow will be
centered on a 35-nation human
rights conference that opens
Tuesday and runs through Oct.
4. Baker is expected to spend
three days at the meeting and to
hold talks with the new Soviet
foreign minister, Boris Pankin.
The country is in the midst of
changes that Gorbachev said
Monday put it "on the brink of
catastrophe." He has urged the
national Congress to approve a
reorganization plan that he
worked out with leaders of 10 re
publics.
It would establish an interim
government and pave the way
for a new kind of union in which
See Baker/Page 6
Phase I of CS park begins
JAY JANNER/The Battalion
Buddy Riley, a construction worker clears the way for a drainage pipe at
with Aztex Construction of Houston, Wolf Pen Creek on Tuesday.
By Mark Evans
The Battalion
Tractors are clearing land along
Wolf Pen Creek as work begins on
Phase I of a plan which will provide
College Station with 14 acres of new
park areas.
The L-shaped tract of land, near
the intersection of Dartmouth and
Holleman drives, backs up to Col
gate Drive in College Station. Wolf
Pen Creek flows through the center
of the park.
The plans include concrete trails,
a playground and an outdoor am
phitheater with seating for 5,000 peo
ple. The amphitheater will serve as
host to a variety of outdoor concerts.
Stephen Beachy, director of Col
lege Station Parks and Recreation,
said Tuesday the cost of Phase I will
amount to almost $2 million.
Funds for the project will come
from existing bond programs, a
grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department,
the Astin Trust and hotel/motel funds.
In the past. Wolf Pen Creek has been plagued by
drainage problems. The creek often overflows its
banks and floods nearby business and residential
properties.
The portion of the creek on the western side of
Texas Avenue has proven a liability to the area,
Beachy said. Developers backed buildings right up to
the channel, he said, making maintenance difficult.
Beachy said College Station hopes to head off
similar problems which could occur around the less-
developed eastern portion of the creek.
"The idea of the master plan was to take the creek
downstream from Texas Avenue in an area that is at
this point essentially undeveloped and try to plan out
how that development should occur over the next
several years," Beachy said.
The park also will become home to the various
festivals and concerts normally held in Central Park.
Both the Jazz Festival and the Folk Festival will move
to the outdoor amphitheater which borders on the
creek.
In addition, the facility will house a symphony
orchestra and provide a stage for theatrical groups.
"It's going to provide a facility for outdoor con
certs and performances that we don't have now,"
Beachy said. "Anytime we do that now (hold out
door events), we have to put up a tent and a stage."
Beachy said College Station would like the com
pleted project to entice businesses to invest money in
the eastern section of the city.
"Hopefully, it will stimulate economic develop
ment in that particular area of town that has been va
cant and encourage businesses to build there,"
Beachy said.
If Phase I is successful. College Station will look
into developing a Phase II further down the creek
with some ideas suggesting additional lakes, trails, a
museum, a library and a botanical gardens, Beachy
said.
No further plans, however, have been decided on,
he said. Future plans depend upon the support of the
City Council and voter approval.
Bids for construction of the project will open on
Sept. 17. College Station will consider submitted bids
Sept. 26. Workers presently are rerouting sewage and
electrical lines to make room for the lake.
Beachy said completion of Phase I is expected
sometime during the spring or summer of 1992.