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