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The Battalion
Vol. 92 No. 134 (12 pages)
1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M - 1993
Tuesday, April 20,1993
Koresh leads cultists to fiery suicide
B p?/;-;.
illllil
KYLE BURNETT/The Battalion
The cult compound at Mt. Carmel before it was destroyed by fire
Monday. The blaze, set by Branch Davidians at 1 2:06 (-ST, spread
rapidly and consumed the entire compound within the hour. See
related stories on page four and five.
University
groups raise
Earth Day
awareness
By CHERYL HELLER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WACO — Doomsday cult
leader David Koresh's apocalyptic
prediction for his followers came
true Monday when a raging fire
destroyed the compound where
he had held federal agents at bay
for 51 days.
The fiery end to the standoff
surprised the FBI, which said Ko
resh had repeatedly promised
there would be no mass suicide.
"I can't tell you the shock and
the horror that all of us felt when
we saw those flames coming out/'
FBI special agent Bob Ricks said
late Monday. "We thought, 'Oh
my God, they are killing them
selves/"
"We can only assume that
there was a massive loss of life,"
Ricks said. "It was truly an infer
no of flames. It would be very sur
prising if any of the names not
read survived," he said after read
ing a list of nine people that did
not include Koresh. The youngest
survivor was 16 years old, Ricks
said.
The FBI previously had said
two of the women in the com
pound were pregnant, one of
whom was due to deliver in May.
They apparently were not among
the survivors.
Only preliminary efforts had
been made to identify any bodies
Monday, FBI spokesman John
Collingwood said in Washington.
"We have sent some forensic
experts and our disaster team out
to help identify victims," he said.
"I doubt if anything will happen
tonight until daylight tomorrow."
More than nine hours after the
blaze started, water still was being
poured on the rubble, which was
illuminated by one powerful spot-
light.
Four of the survivors were hos
pitalized with burns and broken
bones; five others were in custody
in the McLennan County Jail
where they were being held as
material witnesses, said sheriff's
Lt. Johnny Mynar.
Bonnie Haldeman, Koresh's
mother, blamed the FBI for the
tragic end.
"I don't know what David
did," Haldeman said by tele
phone. "I can't answer for the
people in there or for what they
did. I don't know what they were
thinking. I just know it's a tragic
situation that shouldn't have hap
pened from the very beginning."
"There were law-abiding. God
fearing people in there. They
didn't hurt anybody. It's ridicu
lous. They're gonna' pay," Halde
man said in a quivering voice.
Texas Department of Public
Safety spokeswoman Laureen
Chernow said the Texas Rangers
will investigate the compound site
in conjunction with federal agen
cies.
She said she wasn't able to dis
cuss details of what they might be
looking for.
Twenty-one children left the
compound early in the standoff,
and child welfare officials began
Monday notifying some of the 11
See Koresh/Page 4
ents-
3
The Battalion
The Environmental Issues
Committee (EIC) of Student Gov
ernment and the Texas Environ
mental Action Coalition are spon
soring an Earth Day Extravaganza
at Texas A&M beginning today.
The event, which will continue
through Thursday, is being held to
raise awareness of the serious
problems facing the environment
and to celebrate the progress that
has been made since the first Earth
Day 23 years ago, said EIC mem
ber Carrie Thompson.
"We need to raise environmen
tal awareness and activity at Texas
A&M," she said. "Hopefully, this
event will get people interested."
The Extravaganza kicks off to
day at 11:30 a.m. with an opening
ceremony at the Rudder Fountain
area. Student Body President
Steve Beller will speak about envi
ronmental progress at Texas
A&M, and Kathleen Krueger, wife
of U.S. Sen. Bob Krueger's, will
also deliver a speech.
The yell leaders and Reveille
will be at the ceremony, and the
band Id will perform.
Information tables and game
booths sponsored by 15 campus
organizations will be in the area
throughout the three days.
Four speakers will discuss vari
ous issues' at the MSC Flagroom
on Thursday. H. K. Pitts from the
Big Cats Society will speak at 11
a.m. Texas A&M Energy Manager
Charles Darnell will follow at
noon. Dr. R. Douglass Slack, pro
fessor of wildlife and fisheries sci
ences, will discuss endangered
species at 12:30 p.m., and Dr. John
Huckabee from the Jesse Jones Na
ture Center in Houston will speak
at 1 p.m. Various bands will per
form throughout the day.
A New York shine
/illlffl
m * ^
:
ROBERT I. REED/The Battalion
Joseph Davis from New York shines senior boots required to shine five pairs of boots, but he shined
on Monday after he lost a bet to an Aggie 16 pairs instead. Part of the agreement is that
graduate. The bet involved the outcome of the Davis would be paid $20 for each pair of boots he
A&M-Texas game last November. Davis was shined past the required five.
Aggies #1 again
Baseball team still on top,
ranked first in college polls
Despite losing to Baylor in the first game of a doubleheader Sat
urday, the Texas A&M baseball team held on to its number-one
ranking Monday.
The 40-6 Aggies are ranked first in both the Collegiate Baseball
and the Baseball America polls, ahead of North Carolina State,
Louisiana State, Texas and Wichita State.
The USA Today/Baseball Weekly coaches' poll had not been re
leased at press time.
The Aggies will defend their top ranking today at 7 p.m. when
they take on the University of Texas-Arlington at Olsen Field.
See related story on page seven
Student crashes car
into sorority house
Vehicle hits house's support columns;
causes $50,000 in damage, officer says
By GENEEN PIPHER
The Battalion
The Delta Zeta Sorority House
at 1501 Olympia Way was rocked
early Saturday evening when a
Texas A&M junior crashed her car
into the front of the house.
Courtney Anne Thompson, 20,
drove her black Honda Accord
EX around the corner of Dominik
and Olympia Way.
According to witnesses, she
The College Station Police and
Fire Department arrived at the
scene within minutes and admin
istered a motor-coordination test
on Thompson. After refusing to
take a breathalizer test, she was
arrested for driving while intoxi
cated and taken to jail.
"She was also given a citation
for failure to control speed. The
results of the blood test will not be
available for at least three weeks,"
said Lieutenant Onslott, an Infor-
mation Officer
lost control of
the vehicle, "Except for a scrape on the
th e d gas^in? knee, the woman was not
stead of the hurt. She was very lucky.
collided with Actually, I'm amazed that
one of the mac [e it all the way
house s two- J
story support back to tOWU . . ."
columns and
then the -Officer Kunkel, CSPD
house's front
wall.
One witness, who wished to re
main anonymous, said Thompson
took the corner going about 35 or
40 MPH.
"She hit the curb on the right
side of the street, sped up the
[Delta Zeta's] walkway, hit the
left support column and smashed
into the brick wall," the witness
said. "The column fell onto the
hood of her car and rolled off. A
moment later, I saw her jump out
of her car and start to run down
the street."
with the Col
lege Station
Police Depart
ment.
Although
the damage to
the house was
considerable,
Thompson es
caped the acci-
dent without
any major in-
juries.
"Except for a scrape on the
knee, the woman was not hurt.
She was very lucky. Actually, I'm
amazed that she made it all the
way back to town, it is almost a 20
mile drive from Snook to College
Station," said Officer Kunkel of
the College Station Police Depart
ment.
Civil engineers were called in
to determine the stability of the
house without the second support
See Sorority House/Page 5
The Cow Hop to move from Northgate after fifteen years
By HEATHER WINCH
The Battalion
After 15 years of service on Northgate,
The Cow Hop restaurant will move its
business to the Albertson's Shopping Cen
ter this summer.
Co-owner Jim McGuire gave several rea
sons for deciding to move the restaurant
which included:
•University's on-campus franchising.
•Proposed building of a new food court
in the Underground on the University's
north side.
•Opening of new restaurants and clubs
in the community.
•Parking problems along Northgate.
•Drop in overall sales and customers
along the strip.
Economics drives owner to move restaurant to
Albertson's Shopping Center later this summer
The owners expect the new restaurant to
be open by Aug. 1.
"It's just an economic decision mainly
because we have got to compete with what
is around in town, and if you don't com
pete, you are not going to do well,"
McGuire said. "If I didn't think that we are
going to do better there than here I
wouldn't move."
Cow Hop manager Charles Hood said
talk of a new food court in the Under
ground, featuring national fast food
chains, has hurt Northgate merchants.
"Walk-up business used to be our main
source of income, but basically the Univer
sity is keeping all the money on campus . . .
our walk up trade has shrunken quite a
bit," he said. "Everyone here has felt it."
McGuire said the increasing number of
businesses in Bryan-College Station has
also cut revenue for Cow Hop. Recent
club openings and the arrival of more chain
restaurants in the area has decreased the
number of students that Cow Hop has pre
viously served.
"College Station is not the same town it
was 15 years ago when this place was start
ed," McGuire said. "It is not even the same
town it was five years ago. With all the
new chains moving into town you can't
rely 100 percent anymore on the student
trade.
"We've got the same number of students
that we had say two or three years ago, but
there are a lot more new restaurants in
town," he said.
McGuire said parking and towing have
also caused problems along Northgate.
"The towing that has been going on over
here the past couple of years has hurt the
whole area," he said. "Once you chase peo
ple away it's difficult to get them to come
back. Nobody wants to be looking over
their shoulder to see if there is a tow truck
around."
The new location, on South College Av
enue, will feature pool tables, two dining
areas with a TV room, video games, tap
beer, a larger menu and increased parking.
Lifestyles
►Robert Earl Keen to perform
at Muster Barbecue
Page 3
Sports
►Plumer: Stop the Olsen attacks
►Baseball: Top-ranked Aggies
to host UTA tonight
Page 7
Opinion
►Column: Feducia's farewell
column; you heard it here first
Page 11