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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 22, 1993)
State & Local Richards vetoes highway speeding bill' THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AUSTIN — Gov. Ann Richards completed reviewing the Legislature's work by vetoing several bills, including one that would have prevented highway speeding tickets under 70 mph from being reported to the driver's insur ance company. Richards had until midnight Sunday to complete action on measures passed by law makers during the regular legislative session that ended May 31. The bill by Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, would have prohibited the Texas Department of Public Safety from giving the names of speeders to other law enforcement agencies or insurance companies unless the driver was exceeding 70 mph on a state or interstate highway. "The effect of this bill would be to abolish speed limits between 55 and 70 miles per hour, causing an increase in traffic accidents, in juries, and deaths. It would also lead to esca lating auto insurance costs," Richards said in a veto message released Monday. Richards said that under the bill, federal highway construction funds could have been transferred to safety programs because Texas' compliance with national speed limits would have been reduced. In addition, she said, the bill would have been an administrative nightmare for the De partment of Public Safety because the agency would have had to establish two sets of records for speeding violations. "The 55 miles per hour speed limit has con tributed to an almost 50 percent drop in auto fa talities since 1981. The savings in lives alone is sufficient reason to veto this bill," Richards said. A message left for Craddick by The Associ ated Press was not immediately returned. Earlier, Craddick had said his bill wouldn't encourage speeding. He said it would allow people to drive as they already do without risking higher insurance rates because of speeding tickets. In addition, Richards vetoed measures that would have: — Allowed hospitals to commission peace officers. "The public safety would be better served if these hospitals would coordinate their efforts with local law enforcement agen cies," Richards said. — Allowed local governments to purchase insurance without having to go out for bids. — Stopped the state from paying the em ployee's portion of Social Security taxes for new state employees. Richards said this was not needed to balance the state budget, and would result in current state employees get ting paid more to do the same work as future state employees. Rep. Robert Junell, D-San Angelo, and chairman of the House budget-writing com mittee, blasted the veto by Richards. "This is the poorest public policy that the governor could possibly participate in. It is special inter est at it's very worst." He said Richards vetoed the bill because she promised the Texas State Employees Union that she would. The veto will cost state taxpayers $150 mil lion over the next two years, and make it that much more difficult to avoid a tax increase in 1995. Junell said. — Limited those who could participate in administrative hearings and judicial appeals of those hearings. — Allowed gas utility companies to include in the rate base federal income taxes that the companies may not have paid. A similar pro vision for electric and telephone utilities died and was replaced by a proposed study on the issue. Richards said gas utilities should be in cluded in that study. Environmental groups fight for tougher clean water laws THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Marl wire is lisabled 1 That should AUSTIN — Environmental groups are urging the Texas congres sional delegation to support tougher clean water laws, saying If state ranks high in toxic pollution. "The Clean Water Act will never achieve its goal of fishable aril swimmable waterways unless Congress adds some teeth to the pa per tiger that the law is right now," said Jonathan Felch, of theU.5. Public Interest Research Group in Texas. . Bgye t 0 "We need a new Clean Water Act that strengthens enforcement Ik t | u . prevents toxic pollution and expands citizens' right to know aboilP ross local toxic pollution," Felch said. Bi r The group on Monday released a study that said in Texas, indus-E] C lv j r|0 tries reported discharging 2.9 million pounds of toxics into surfatiB^r j ia ^ waters and 30.9 million pounds to sewage treatment plants. nea The state ranked fourth nationally in discharges to publicsewag; ent; j re s and 12th for toxic releases into surface waters, the report said. || ow (-p The environmental groups, including Public Citizen and ClearBrU up a Water Action, urged the Texas congressional delegation to suppoitHu star legislation that would establish a national water posting programir^g vo t e inform citizens about potential swimming and fishing dangers. jU f OT The bills also would strengthen enforcement by setting mandatoA n Lea minimum penalties for serious and chronic violations, prohibit profitlXestion from polluting, and strengthen a, citizen's right to sue polluters. State News Briefs Study indicates light drinking reasoning helps SAN ANTONIO (AP) - A new alcohol study indicates moderate drinking helps people maintain their thinking and rea soning skills longer into old age. But the chief researcher says that's not an endorsement for drinking. Dr. Joe Christian is a geneticist at the Indiana University School of Medicine. The findings were presented Monday at the annual conven tion of the Research Society of Alcoholism. Christian studied nearly 4,000 sets of male twins, for more than 20 years. Those who had one or two drinks per day scored higher on cognitive reasoning skills tests, compared to those drinking more or not at all, according to Christian. The researcher said there may be a connection between his study and one that indicates moderate drinking helps increase high density cholesterol, which wards off heart disease. fore the shooting began Saturday, Police said Monday that a 16- year-old juvenile has been arrest ed and charged with murder. He is being held at the Dallas Coun ty Juvenile Detention Center. Po lice are still looking for two other suspects. "The motive appears to be robbery," said homicide Detec tive J.S. Briseno. Illinois students hurt in bus wreck near Fort Worth Robbers kill two Dallas teenagers, third escapes DALLAS (AP) — Three teen agers were robbed outside a South Dallas nightclub and then taken to a secluded road where two of the youths were fatally shot, police said. The bodies of Charles Christo pher Lewis, 19, and Kendrick De- mond Lott, 18, were found late Saturday night by a passerby. Both men had been shot in the back of the head, police said. A 16-year-old Dallas youth who was with them told police that he escaped the attackers shortly be- FORT WORTH (AP) - As many as two dozen high school and college students from Illinois were injured Monday when two of their three buses were in volved in a chain-reaction colli sion, police said. The accident took place about 5:11 p.m. as the buses were northbound on I-35W, said Sgt. Gianni Ghilespi of the Fort Worth Police Department. A dump truck cut in front of the first bus, which was rear-end ed by the second bus as the dri- vers slammed on the brakes, Ghilespi said. The truck driver did not stop, but may not have noticed the ac cident, Ghilespi said. At least 17 students were tak en to hospitals for treatment of minor injuries, Ghilespi said. The students had spent more than a week in the El Paso, Texas, area and had been working with churches in Ciudad Juarez, Mexi co, said Pastor Bob Schmidgall of Calvary Temple Church in Naperville, HI. Schmidgall said up to 24 stu dents may have been hurt, but all were to be released after treatment. "The accident threw a few kids around," he said in a tele phone call from the church. "Twenty-four of the young peo ple were taken to the hospital for observation." 1,0 HT Grants for Graduate Students and Graduating |. --w- Seniors If you’re a U.S. citizen, you can perform research abroad in the country of your choice. To find out more, come to our Informational Meeting (listed below), or come by or call the Study Abroad Program Office at 161 Bizzell Hall West (845-0544). Wed. June 23, from 4:00-5:00 251 Bizzell Hall West Waco looks to forget Branch Davidian cult Mayor comments on overnight publicity during New York conference THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK - Visitors to Waco, Texas, can see the place where Dr Pepper was invented, the Texas Ranger museum, and — beginning next month — the city's new "natural habitat" zoo. But if Mayor J. Robert Sheehy had his druthers, they'd ignore the patch of scorched ground 15 miles outside Waco where reli gious zealot David Koresh and 77 of his Branch Davidian followers perished April 19, in the fiery cli max to a 51-day standoff with fed eral agents. "No, we're not going to put the Davidian compound on our list of tourist attractions," Sheehy said Monday after telling some 200 of his fellow mgyors, attending a New York conference, what it was like to suddenly find his city be come world-famous overnight as the home of a bizarre, violence- prone cult. "Most of us can only imagine how that kind of publicity can im pact on a city," said Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson, incoming president of the U.S. Mayors Con ference, who introduced Sheehy. While many Waco residents knew of the Davidians' existence, "most didn't know about the Bible-thumping, and the gun-tot ing, until the night before," Shee hy said, referring to the Feb. 28 raid by federal agents in which four agents and about eight cult members were killed by gunfire. "Needless to say, that changed our whole way of life in Waco," said Sheehy, a silver-haired lawyer who had been mayor of the central Texas city of 103,000 for 10 months when the crisis occurred. As the standoff continued, he recalled, Waco's hotels filled up with news media people from around the United States and abroad. People offered spare rooms to handle the overflow, and as the siege wore on, civic groups delivered food to reporters and law enforcers. But the civic pride of many res idents was wounded by reports describing WaVo as a negative Mark ■ Some ;led the 1( gories la ■•edible ■ition. mimbers But Mar me latel) nn maki place, Sheehy said. "I've found at least 50 percff.] Mark of the people don't know that&t. compound was 15 miles outsiB McG-\ of town," Sheehy said. "Mostpeplerud i pie thought it was part of doifNow, gr; town Waco." B not a Although being subjected however such scrutiny was difficult, SheeljMcGwin said, the siege had some posifp n / Of ei effects, among them that "theneifh 6 hotte people were with us long enoujB O ut o to get to know the city," andanf|p^ ens i V( sense of community developfifop 10 in among long-time residents. | lri battinj He said that in reflecting on:| a g e ' on experience, Waco decided tf|P es an( ! "we've got nothing that we h;fP n< l in R to apologize about. ... We artf 11115 anc i stronger city because of it." Bi cour s< | now by 1 Becau Campaign Continued from Page 1 Robert Walker, vice president of development for Texas A&M Uni versity, said a lot of good work goes on in the summertime and it's of ten a matter of catching up with people. "We continue to do a lot of visiting, contacting and cultivating dur ing the summer," he said. "We've had nothing but positive responses to the campaign. We feel good about it." "We've had nothing but positive responses to the campaign. We feel good about it." -Robert Walker, vice president of development Palinscar said although donations in the summer are smaller than in the fall, he is pleased with the progress to date and with the momen tum of the program in general, with which he credited Texas A&M University President Dr. William Mobley and former students. Palinscar mentioned a donation of over $350 million made by a sin gle donor to several out of state universities, the largest ever of its kind, and said he hopes this would spur others to do likewise. "It's tangible evidence of how important philanthropy is in this country," he said. Walker said they have every reason to believe the campaign will raise $300 million by August, $50 million over the original estimate. "The thing that is good about working with Aggies is that they don't have to be sold on the worth of Texas A&M," he said. "We're upbeat about the campaign and the kind of response we've had thus far," Walker said. "We're going to keep on keeping on." Engineering Continued from Page 1 four years. Minorities made up 10.3 percent of the College of Engineering in Fall 1992, ac cording to statistics from the Of fice of Admissions and Records. "I'm excited about the pro gram," he said. "Money is a problem (for most minorities), but their retention rate is better than the overall one." But Jan Rinehart, program coordinator for the College of Engineering, said minorities are still underrepresented in the college. "The role models are not there for them," she said. "It (the percentages of minorities) has increased and is better, but it is not anywhere near parity." In an effort to increase mi nority enrollment, the College of Engineering is also conduct ing the Summer Enrichment Ex perience in Engineering, which includes tours for potential mi nority students later this month, James said. In a news release. Chuck Bai ley, director of the Department of Transportation's Divisionc‘ Civil Rights, said the TxDOI program helps minorities who might not otherwise be able to afford a college education. "We want to diversify thee?: gineering field, and this offers: great opportunity for us to gel the best and the brightest," he said. By paying back the scholar ship through work, Bomarsaio the students are also gaining important experience in real world engineering. James agreed the prograir gives students valuable experi ence. "They're getting opportuni ties to learn about the highway department while in school,' James said. The program has helped 3' students so far, and 11 scholar ships have been awarded, Bomar said the first gradual? of the program, Raymond Navarro of Falfurrias, complet ed his studies in district office. "The number of engineering students overall is decreasing and this program is designed to encourage more minorities to enroll in civil engineering," Bo mar said. r^SCOTT & WHITE CLINIC, COLLEGE STATION Announcing Weekend Clinic Hours for Urgent Care 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Scott & White Clinic, College Station, is now offering weekend Clinic hours for urgent care by appointment \ only! The Weekend Clinic is conducted from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the Clinic Annex building located across the street (Glenhaven Dr.) from the main clinic. By Appointment Only (409) 268-3663 A Scott & WTiite Annex UNIVERSITY DRIVE EAST Scott & WTiite Clinic, College Station 1600 University Drive East The Battalion JASON LOUGHMAN. Editor in Chief MARK EVANS, Managing Editor STEPHANIE PATTILLO, City Editor DAVE THOMAS, Night News Editor KYLE BURNETT, Sports Editor MACK HARRISON, Morning News Editor ANAS BEN-MUSA, Aggie/ife Editor BILLY MORAN, Photo Editor Staff Members City desk — Jennifer Smith, James Bernsen, Michele Brinkmann, Reagan Clamon, Jason Cox, Lisa Elliott, Laura Haley, Janet Holder, Carrie Miura, Susan Owen and Geneen Pipher News desk — Lisa Borrego, Joe Holan, Susan Owen and Denise Wick Phofographers — Richard Dixon, Mary Macmanus, Nick Pena and Stacy Ryan Aggielife — Jacqueline Ayotte, John Bayless, Margaret Claughton and Jennifer Salce Sports writers — Roy Clay, Matt Rush, Mark Smith and Tom Sullivan Opinion desk — Shashi Nanjundaiah, Matt Dickerson, Tracey Jones, Frank Stanford and Robert Vasquez Cartoonists — Boomer Cardinale, George Nasr, Joe Reyes, Sergio Rosas and Paul Stroud Graphic Artist - Angel Kan Clerks- Grant Austgen, Alishia Holtam and Lisa White The Battalion (USPS 045-360) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fafl and spring semesters Monday through Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods), at Texas A&M University. Second dass postage paid at College Station, TX 77840. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion, 230 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University. College Station, TX 77843. News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in the Division of Studef 1 Publications, a unit of the Department of Journalism. Editorial offices are in 013 Reed McDonald Building Newsroom phone number is 845-3313. Fax: 845-2647. Advertising: For campus, local and national display advertising, call 845-2696. For classified advertising, cd 845-0569. Advertising offices are in 015 Reed McDonald and office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Fax: 845-5408. Subscriptions: Mail subscriptions are $20 per semester, $40 per school year and $50 per full year. To charge by VISA or MasterCard, call 845-261 1.