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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 10, 1993)
The Battalion Vol. 92 No. Ill (12 pages) 1893 - A Century of Service to Texas A&M - 1993 Wednesday, March 10,1993 w AITING in AGO Day 10 Koresh becoming moody, FBI says Negotiations with the messian ic leader of a heavily armed reli gious cult are proceeding along ^two irreconcilable tracts'^ — one peaceful, one not — the FBI said today. FBI special agent Bob Ricks said Branch Davidian leader David Koresh goes from bel ligerency to peacemaker during talks aimed at ending the 10-day standoff. The FBI had been portraying the negotiations as positive, but Monday began discussing what it called "the dark side" of Koresh, who claims his name is "the sur name of God." While Koresh has amassed an arsenal that could includes rock ets and grenades, Ricks said the FBI has sufficient firepower to re spond. "I want it absolutely clear that we have sufficient firepower to re spond overpoweringly," Ricks said. "We have sufficient firepower, if we chose, to completely neutral ize this situation at any moment," Ricks said. "We do not choose to do that." The FBI said early in the siege that it was not planning to storm the compound. Ricks repeated that pledge today. 31 members are British, reports say As many as 31 British citizens are holed up with radical reli gious leader David Koresh, British government officials said Tues day. "Obviously, if we have British people involved we have an inter est," said David Parker, British consul from Washington who has been monitoring court proceed ings and news briefings in Waco for the past several days. Parker and Helen Mann, spokeswoman for the British con sulate in Houston, said that wor ried relatives of cult members had been contacting the British gov ernment. "We've had relatives of family members calling the Foreign Of fice in London," Mann said. "From those calls, we know that some 31 people in the compound are British citizens. There are indi cations others might or might not be in there as well." Relatives seeking custody of kids Relatives from around the world converged on a county courthouse Tuesday to seek cus tody of 21 children released from the besieged Branch Davidian compound, but a judge ordered all but three of the children to re main in the hands of the state. In wrenching, tearful testimo ny, the relative begged to be al lowed to take the children home, away from the group home the state has established for them. "I just want to take her out of here," said one father, William Nobrega, of his daughter, Natalie, 11. He said he wanted to "take her back to the family and friends that she knows, and not leave her in an environment where she has to think about the trauma she has been through." Nobrega, a Briton whose es tranged wife is still in the reli gious sect's compound, was one of two people who came from London for the hearing. He said his daughter had lived in England until last April, when his wife spirited her away while he was on vacation. State District Judge Bill Logue expressed sympathy for the rela tives. But he ordered the children held by the state office of Child Protective Services until it can complete evaluations of the rela tives' homes. The Associated Press Leaders ask community to fight gang problem By JASON COX The Battalion Civic leaders urged the community to get involved and emphasized the need for education to eliminate gang violence at the second organizational meeting of the Citizen's Crime Commission of Bra zos County Tuesday night. Dr. Paul Kingery, Texas A&M's Well ness Program director, said there has been a remarkable increase in violence over the past few years and "there is something unique about Texas" which makes it higher than the national average in the number of children carrying weapons. Kingery said youth violence in big cities is spreading to rural areas and offi cials are reluctant to acknowledge the problem because of the bad image it can create. Children disregard the school's poli cies and punishments for carrying weapons because to them it is not a mat ter of possible injury but of survival, he said. "We need schools and communities to participate in studying the problem." - Dr. Paul Kingery A&M Wellness Program director "We need schools and communities to participate in studying the problem," Kingery said. Dr. Ben Crouch, associate dean of Texas A&M University's College of Liber al Arts, said everyone has a different view of gangs and said it is a "mistake to con clude that all delinquents are gang mem bers." Crouch compared the levels of gang involvement to a target, saying the bull's eye represent hardcore members while the outer rings indicate lesser degrees of participation. See Community leaders/Page 3 Hittin' the slopes KEVIN IVY/The Battalion Freshman Roy Ford, falls after losing his balance during his Introduction to Snow Skiing class Tuesday morning on Mt. Aggie. Many Aggies will be hitting the slopes, as they travel north to go skiing for Spring Break. State Senate OKs $1.6 million bill for computer link of A&M System By JASON COX The Battalion A bill recently approved by the Texas Senate provides $1.6 million for the cre ation of an electronic database to link the schools of the Texas A&M University System. Two installments of $800,000 over the 1994-1995 school year will pay for staffing, equipment and software for the project. The A&M System plans to create a network that will allow students and fac ulty members of the A&M System to share access to periodicals and collabo rate on research projects. Sen. Jim Turner, the bill's sponsor, said in a prepared statement that because li braries are cutting back on subscriptions to important journals and periodicals the database can help System schools pool their resources. "The database will put students and faculty at each campus in touch with each other and with an expanding base of elec tronically stored information," he said. Kevin McHargue, an official in Turn er's office, said the College Station cam pus can expect to receive $250,000 for its part in the project. McHargue said he expects to see much more collaboration as a result of the pro ject. Dr. William Perry, associate provost and dean of faculties, said the major thrust of the bill is to improve access for other campuses. He said it is a measure to enhance access and resources across the System. Because libraries cannot subscribe to every book and journal. Perry said, the database will "gain some economy" as an efficient means of dispersing information. "As information grows, the access pro vided by electronics holds promise for the future," he said. Turner said the program will help A&M keep pace with the opportunities provided by today's technology. "Texas A&M is preparing to be part of a global information economy," he said. King testifies: T was trying to stay alive' ly coming to a stop. The testimony in the federal trial of four white policemen came two years af ter the March 3, 1991, beating that led to a state trial, acquittals and three days of deadly rioting. King, 27, said the officers asked at one point how he felt. "I said I felt fine. I didn't want them to know what they were doing to me was really getting to me. I didn't want them to have the satis faction." Under questioning by prosecutor Bar ry Kowalski, King insisted he never re sisted arrest and suggested that a woman state Highway Patrol officer who first tracked him down for speeding could have handcuffed him if Los Angeles po- See King/Page 5 Bush to attend Muster Ex-President wants to learn Aggie tradition By JULI PHILLIPS The Battalion This year's Muster will have a special guest. Former President George Bush sent a letter to the Muster committee confirm ing he will attend the April 21 ceremony, but committee members are concerned his presence may detract from it. "We are thrilled that he is coming," said Muster Chair Maureen Gannon. "But we are concerned that students will attend Muster to see George Bush and forget about the spirit of the tradition." Gannon said Bush also is concerned about upstaging the ceremony's message and said in his letter that he wants to be a normal participant and learn what Muster is about. "I think this is a great way to intro duce Mr. Bush to A&M and to its tradi tions," she said. "I just hope that his presence doesn't convey the wrong mes sage." Although he will be in attendance. Bush will not speak at the ceremony. The key-note speaker at Muster will be Jack Fritz, Class of 1953. He is former president of the Associa tion of Former Students and has been in volved with Muster ceremonies around the world. Fritz is also the originator of the Muster candle lighting ceremony. The Class of 1943 will be the guest of honor. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ANGELES — Rodney King took the witness stand Tuesday for the first time since his videotaped beating and said he was "attacked" by police officers, including one who screamed racial in sults and told him, "We're going to kill you." King, speaking in a soft voice, said he never attacked the officers accused of vi olating his civil rights. "I was trying to stay alive," King told the jury. He said that during the beating he was coughing blood out of his mouth. King's testimony was his first detailed public account of the night the black mo torist's speeding car was pursued by po lice officers and he was beaten after final- Easterwood receives funds for terminal improvements By JEFF GOSMANO The Battalion The Bryan City Council earmarked $100,000 in a meeting Tuesday night for improvements to Texas A&M Universi ty's Easterwood Airport. Councilmember Hank McQuaide, who voted in favor of the funding re quests, said airport upgrades are neces sary to facilitate private businesses and organizations that use the old airport ter minal. However, the money must be used for terminal improvements, he said. "I think, in the broad picture, the facil ities at the Easterwood Terminal are a disgrace," he said. "However, I do have reservations that if we fund this project, the University must carry through with its plans to improve the old terminal." See Easterwood/Page 5 'Keyed entry' crimes Thefts create security concerns By REAGON CLAMON The Battalion Theresa Harrington may never trust a locked door again. Harrington's VCR was stolen from her room in Hobby Hall during the Christ mas holidays. She believes she is a vic tim of what police call a "keyed entry" — a break-in accomplished through the unauthorized use of a key. "I'm not angry," said Harrington, a senior biomedical science major from Nederland. "I just feel kind of weird about somebody being able to walk into my room and take something." Two other thefts during Christmas break might also be the result of keyed entries, said University Police Detective Bill Wade. A 13-inch television was tak en from a room in Neeley Hall, and jew elry and a calculator were taken from Appelt Hall. Wade said no evidence of forced entry was found in any of the incidents. In most of the cases, the victims said they locked their rooms before leaving for the break. Resident advisers said they also double checked the doors. Police have no leads in any of the cas es. Wade said many crime prevention ef forts are futile against a thief with a key. Investigating these crimes is frustrating, he said, because most keyed-entry thefts leave few clues. Still, Harrington said she holds the University responsible for her loss. "I don't think there should be more than two or three sets of keys," she said. "I know there are at least four sets of keys floating around." Dan Mizer, assistant director of resi dence life, facilities and operations, said the extra keys are necessary to keep the University running. "When there's an emergency, like wa ter is gushing from underneath the door, we're obviously going to have to go in," Mizer said. "We don't want to go into a room, however, unless it's absolutely See 'Key entry' crimes/Page 2 Sports •Baseball: Aggies pummell Illinois State 12-3 •Basketball: Lady Aggies ready for SWC tournament Page 7 Opinion •Exploring the crimes of fashion: A&M offenses include cattle clothes, beltbuckies •Handy hints for having a happy spring break vactation. Page 10