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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 1993)
26,19)1 1 forte Vol. 92 No. 139 (10 pages) The Battalion 1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993 Tuesday, April 27,1993 aq has ove tk nium,; the te said?? ; flown guard ■nt of a id U.N ; the lo- pons of er teair six-da; ivhatk 'rstand- Arson investigators THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WACO — A preliminary report by in dependent arson investigators released Monday supports FBI claims that the fire that destroyed the Branch Davidians' compound last week was started by the doomsday cult. "This fire started in the interior of the building in at least two separate locations at approximately the same time,” said Paul Gray, who headed the investigative team. "The team believes this fire was inten tionally set by persons inside the com pound. ... The two locations were signifi cantly distant from each other for us to conclude that they could not have been caused by the same ignition source at the same time.” Some of the nine survivors have claimed the fire began when a tank knocked over burning lanterns. Gray discounted their theory, saying investigators found that "the last possible time that could have happened ... (is) sig nificantly prior to the beginning of the fire.” Gray, an arson investigator from Houston, listed several factors that helped the fire burn the compound to the ground in less than 45 minutes. ''The building contained a large amount of unusually flammable materi als,” including bales of hay and several types of gaseous liquids, he said. The say Davidians started own fire compound also wps poorly constructed, had no firewalls and dry 30 mph winds were sweeping through the area. The FBI has said its snipers saw a cult member stoop down and start a fire, and that helicopters saw the blaze begin in three separate places at about the same time. "The information that's come out to day is of no surprise to us whatsoever,” said Joe Hanley, spokesman for FBI's San Antonio office, the region's division head quarters. Gray said investigators still had not determined if the cult members had spread fuel to speed the fire's spread. The building was virtually destroyed before firefighters even arrived on the scene. "By the time water was applied to the fire, the building was already totally de stroyed,” Gray said. However, the team concluded that because of the other fac tors, a quicker response "may have been inconsequential.” Gray's team, which includes three oth er fire specialists from California and Pennsylvania, will submit their findings to Attorney General Janet Reno and local federal authorities. Reno ordered the independent report to answer questions raised about the FBI's responsibility in starting the fire. Other authorities are still scrounging through the building's ashen remains, trying to find more clues for their investi gations and searching for more victims. Autopsies have been performed on 12 of the 44 bodies already pulled out and two have been identified. Four more lo cated within the rubble are expected to be sent Tuesday to medical examiners in Fort Worth. David Pareya, a McLennan County justice of the peace, said Monday the sec ond casualty was Shari Doyle, 18. Pareya said she had a gunshot wound to the head, but also contributing to her death were smoke and carbon monoxide poisoning and extensive charring. Doyle, whose corpse was found atop a cinderblock structure within the fortress, was the daughter of cultists Clive Doyle, who survived the blaze and is in good condition at Dallas' Parkland Hospital. ay$e ’ooks.! Ip mak ind will , butth pation’ ■nt Gov- 3V- r n r-in- WOK m: :ston idgei ;e havf ut Hal dr iw on wili ?ss. as rufi xhangt eir r® Wede- ig idea. 1 eceived jr own We atf ill scalf :o cattf .1 a sm rted kt ae hare I by 11* hat 2) or 18. rate, fa a I elei / scheti percea rcente# roldinj earlifi in m 3.5 pei d ail sia. Id ini he fin 1 ie thid d beh Swimming into summer NICOLE ROHRMAN/rhc Battalion Texas Senate bill improvement Officials consider bill for power plant on A&M campus By JENNIFER SMITH The Battalion Texas A&M and College Station officials will meet today in Austin with Sen. Jim Turner, D-Crockett, to discuss improvements to a Texas Senate bill that would help A&M construct a power plant on its cam pus. The bill, which was introduced on April 11, originally allowed A&M to create a non-profit corporation that would be allowed to sell tax-exempt bonds to build the power plant. But, College Station Mayor Larry Ringer said this would cripple College Station because the city is the only organization that can offer tax-exempt bonds. "We saw this as giving the private operator an advantage that they hadn't previously enjoyed," Ringer said. Turner said the lack of communication between the city and the University could threaten the progress of the bill. "Unless an agreement can be reached between both of these parties, this legislation is dead," Turner said. But A&M and College Station officials finally agreed on a resolu tion to the Senate bill Thursday, making it acceptable to both parties. "It (the resolution) removed the power of the University to create a non-profit corporation that would be able to contract or build a power plant using tax-exempt bonds," Ringer said. "We're satisfied with this." Today's meeting, which will be held in Turner's office at 4 p.m., was originally planned to be used to resolve differences between Col lege Station and the University. But now that a comprorpise has been reached, both parties will present it today to show Turner that they are in agreement. Texas A&M currently operates a cogeneration plant that produces approximately 70 percent of the electricity needed by the University. The remaining energy needs are supported by electricity purchased from Brazos Electric Cooperative. The new power plant is expected to have a positive environmental impact because it would burn natural gas to produce electricity, hot water, chilled water and steam. A&M Physical Plant Director Joe Suggs said the projected cost of the cogeneration facility will be between $75 and $125 million. Officials from Turner's office said the bill is expected to have few problems after this meeting. The three finalists bidding for the power plant are Tenneco and Brown & Root, CSA Energy Incorporated, and the city of College Sta tions ins a Joint venture svitVs the Texas Municipal Power Agency. Lap swimming at Cain Pool gives Annette Von Jouanne (left) a PhD student in Electrical Engineering from Seattle, Washington along with her fiance Alex Yokodhi (right) a three-time Olympic swimmer and PhD student in Chemistry from Lisbon, Portugal a chance to exercise and have fun in the sun. Their swimming coach Rick Walker swam for Texas A&M University and is still an enthusiastic supporter of the Aggies. Walker is currently head coach of the men's swimming team at Southern Illinois University. Anti-crime bill to benefit B-CS, Krueger says By STEPHANIE PATTILLO The Battalion One of the government's first responsibilities is to provide its citizens with protection against crime, said U.S. Sen. Bob Krueger, D-Texas, Monday at a press con ference at Easterwood Airport. Krueger is the co-sponsor of the Bradley Anti-Crime Bill that would strengthen police pro grams in cities that qualify for grant money, if passed. Bryan and College Station are two of 20 Texas cities that would qualify for grants, Krueger said. The program will work be cause funds to strengthen local police programs will be locally controlled, he said. "Law officers and community residents ought to be the ones who determine priorities," he said. "Each city, and for that mat ter each neighbor hood, has different problems, and each neighbor- h o o d knows what works and what doesn't." The republicans have accused this measure as being excessive, Krueger said. "This bill will put $200 million into programs to put police on the streets," he said. "I don't under stand why they are calling this pork." The bill's program guidelines include community and police training to iden- t i f y criminal and gang ac- t i v i t y , expand ed foot patrols and programs to help communities identify drug houses. The Combined Law Enforce Association of Texas (CLEAT), which represents 15,300 munipi- cal police officers and deputy "This bill will put $200 million into programs to put police on the streets ..." -Bob Krueger sheriffs across the state, officially endorsed Krueger Monday in his bid to retain his U.S. Senate seat. Krueger temporarily holds the seat vacated by Secretary of the Treasury Lloyd Bentsen. He is among 24 candidates vying for the open senate seat in the May 1 special election. Krueger called himself an "in dependent democrat" in contrast to Washington republicans who he said are in "lock-step" with each other and vote alike. Krueger also said he has cut his salary 20 percent since he has been in office and challenged Joe Barton, R-Ennis, and Jack Fields, R-Humble, two of his opponents, to do the same. Concealed handgun bill wins first shootout in Texas House THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AUSTIN — Licensed Texans would be allowed to carry con cealed handguns under a measure that won preliminary House ap proval Monday. The House voted 95-47 in favor of the bill. A final vote is sched uled for Tuesday. "I'm very pleased that we got it passed through this first hur dle,” said Rep. Bill Carter, R-Fort Worth and a sponsor of the mea sure. However, the bill would not go into effect unless approved by Texas voters under one amend ment added to the measure. The amendment by Rep. Curtis Seidlits, D-Sherman, would put the handgun proposal on a statewide ballot Nov. 2. If approved by the voters, the bill would go into effect in Janu ary. "This is an issue that is so big and so volatile that if it's going to happen, it's going to affect every one in this state," Seidlits said. "Let's give the people of this state the opportunity to debate this is sue.” The amendment was approved 77-63. But Rep. Ron Wilson, See Concealed/Page 6 Commencement tickets available May graduates can pick up their commence ment tickets starting today in the box office of Rud der Tower. Ticket distribution will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Distribution will continue on weekdays through May 13. In ad dition, tickets be picked up from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on May 14 and from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on May The following guidelines govern ticket distribu tion: ♦ Graduates do not need tickets for themselves. ♦ All others, except infants, will need tickets. ♦ Graduates must present either a student id or a valid driver's license with a photo to pick up tick ets. ♦ Each person must pick up and sign for their own tickets. ♦ Each graduate will be given up to six tickets, and can obtain an additional four tickets if they are available. If a graduate elects to pick up less than six tickets he or she cannot return later to claim ad ditional tickets unless extras become available. • Extra tickets will be distributed on a first- come, first-served basis. • There will be no replacement of lost or stolen tickets. • Tickets are for a specific ceremony and cannot be used for other ceremonies. The doors to G. Rollie Coliseum will open one hour before each ceremony. Student teachers and other students who may be off campus this semester can request their tick ets by mail. Individuals using this method should include their Social Security number, signature and a self-addressed stamped envelope. They also should specify the ceremony at which they will be graduating. Any questions relating to ticket distribution should be directed toward the Registrar's Office. New Mideast negotiations begin between Israel, Arabs THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - A new round of negotiations between Is rael and the Arabs is opening un der the watchful eye of the Clin ton administration, which may do more than just glance over the shoulders of the bargaining diplo mats. In its first brush with the in tractable Arab-Israeli dispute, the administration has declared its in tention to be a "full partner” in the talks without saying how U.S. involvement may differ from the coaxing and cajoling of the Bush administration. After a four-month recess, all the participants except possibly the Palestinians are understood to be eager to get down to the hard issues, and Secretary of State War ren M. Christopher has tried to encourage the Palestinians by saluting them as courageous and suggesting self-government could be the result. In a little noticed speech to Arab-Americans on Friday night, Christopher pledged that the United States would "actually be evenhanded” between Israel, its closest friend in the region, and the Arabs who are demanding ter ritorial concessions. Inside Lifestyles •"A call to Islam" Two students become Muslims Page 3 Sports •Baseball: Aggies host UT San Antonio today, 7 p.m. Page 7 Opinion •Column: tour of Ri
