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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 3, 1993)
The Battalion 1,93 No. 5 (20 pages) 1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993 tegents approve $1 billion operating budget By Stephanie Pattillo The Battalion Last week the Texas A&M University Sys- iBoard of Regents approved a $1.19 billion lating budget for the System, a 7.11 percent ase from last year. Although every school in the system re- jed an increase in their individual budgets 1993, system representa- essaid the increases had igto do with the institu- i'name changes. Effective Sept. 1, Texas A&I liversity became Texas i University-Kingsville, ipus Christi State became usA&M-Corpus Christi i Laredo State became as A&M International Uni- sity. Hie name changes were made to reflect the Stations' ties to the A&M System. The name changes did not affect the bud- this year because they (name changes) jenot final yet," Terri Parker, a system tewoman, said. Robert Furgason, president of Texas A&M- iipus Christi, agreed that there was no direct Itionship between the name changes and t (increase in the 1994 budget. 'Since we have become part of the System, is a strong desire to see our association j ough our name and capital," he said. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi received a 44.03 percent increase in their budget from last year. It received, along with Texas A&M Univer sity-Kingsville and Texas A&M International University, one of the greatest increases in the System, according to System reports. This can be attributed to the South Texas Boarder Region Development Initiative, said Penny Beaumont, vice chancellor for commu- "There was a feeling in the Legislature that higher ed ucation institutions in south Texas were traditionally under-served." - Penny Beaumont, vice chancellor for communications nications. The initiative was formed after criticism from state leaders and a lawsuit by the Mexi can American Legal Defense and Education Fund stating that adequate funding in South Texas universities has not been provided. "There was a feeling in the Legislature that higher education institutions in south Texas were traditionally under-served," Beaumont said. "There is a growing population in this area with a need for higher education." Furgason said, "It was designed to build programs at the universities in south Texas that other universities take for granted, such as a master's degree in history." Because of the initiative, Texas A&M-Cor- pus Christi and Texas A&M International Uni versity will grow from two- to four-year insti tutions and will enroll freshman and sopho more students, not just upperclassmen. Although the System budget for 1994 will total $1.19 billion, up from $1.11 billion, B.J. Crain, budgets office director, said the majority of the increase is a result of the dollars given through the south Texas initiative. "It looks like a 7 percent increase is great, but then you have to stop and con sider the south Texas mon ey that is a big part of the increase," she said. Crain said the other rea- son the increase for the Sys tem may not be as great as it appears is be cause the System continues to face require ments that cannot be funded. Dr. William H. Mobley, A&M's newly ap pointed chancellor, said areas such as depart mental operations, deferred maintenance, and utility costs are still underfunded. "Overall, we will not be maintaining cur rent service levels when we factor in inflation and enrollment growth," he said. But, Crain said, she doesn't want to down play the budget increase. "We went into the legislative session this See Budget/Page 3 Friday, September 3,1993 Convicted killer executed The Associated Press HUNTSVILLE — An ex-truck driver convicted of shooting to death one of two women he abducted was executed early Friday. Johnny James, 39, had been convicted of abducting two women. Both were shot, sexually assaulted and left for dead in a rural road side ditch in Southeast Texas. One victim survived despite three bullet wounds, including two to the head that left her temporarily blind. Chambers County District Attorney Michael Little said James de served to be executed. "He didn't have this long string of prior criminal acts that some on death row have, but he did have some very violent tendencies that we were able to show at trial," Little said. "I believe someone who carries on those types of activities forfeits his right to live," Lit tle said. James was pronounced dead at 12:17 a.m., eight minutes after the lethal drugs began flowing into his arm. He had no final statement. He kept his eyes closed from the time witnesses arrived in the death chamber. He coughed once and gasped once. Outside the prison, about two dozen demonstrators, including a handful of youths, sang "Happy Trails To You." About a dozen of them were death penalty opponents, who car ried candles. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down two requests for a stay, with the last coming less than three hours before he was executed. At 10:30 p.m. EDT Thursday, less than three hours before the lethal drugs were scheduled to begin flowing into James, the high court rejected a petition for a rehearing of an appeal. See Execution/Page 13 , fell leaders hope or safe celebration By James Bernsen The Battalion Texas A&M University stu- ilswill hold the first yell prac- ofthe year tonight, and A&M leaders said they hope it will r Aggie Spirit in a better light last year's first yell practice, lark Rollins, head yell leader, last year's yell practice was d by students attempting to across Kyle Field, who were tby members of the Corps Ladets and beaten, think there were problems some freshmen who didn't irstand it was bad bull to run tssthe field," Rollins said. The reason the Corps is there skeep people off the field." WWiatt, director of the Uni- % Police Department, said itprior to last year's incident, 'hashad few problems at yell ice. After last year's incident, he l,UPD officials sat down with dent Services and Corps repre- I datives to prevent another inci- also said UPD will have officers present to provide a deter rent but does not want to be op pressive. "It's supposed to be a fun thing, but we will have officers there to maintain order and deco rum," Wiatt said. Wiatt said UPD will issue cita tions to minors and arrest people who are intoxicated before, dur ing and after yell practice. "It's no freebie where you can do whatever you want," Wiatt said. "Anybody we see drunk, walk ing and driving, will be dealt with accordingly." Rollins also said alcohol has been a problem at yell practice. "A lot of times, people are drunk, and they're throwing up and making a scene," he said. "That's a problem, especially when parents are there. "Yell practice is basically a time to have fun," he said. "The students must realize that they're in college and should have responsibility. "The purpose of midnight yell is to generate spirit for the univer sity in general, and for the football game the next day," Rollins said. Midnight Yell tonight Texas A&M will continue an age-old tradition on Fri day night with its first Mid night Yell Practice of the season. The tradition, which oc curs the night before a foot ball game, will take place at Kyle Field. A&M's football season will open tomorrow after noon at 2:30 p.m. against Louisiana State at Kyle Field. Inside Sports 'A&M prepares to battle LSU in opener See Pullout Opinion fro/Con: Should America jfantcitizenship to U.S. 5orn children of illegal aliens? Page 15 Weather •Friday: mostly cloudy, widely scattered showers •Forecast for Saturday: nice and sunny for the game, highs in the 90s •Extended forecast: partly cloudy and highs still in the 90s Boot-scootin , Aggie style Kyle Bumett/Thc Battalion Brian Stevens (right) and Stampede perform before a crowd of Steven, a former A&M student, and his band were the opening act about 250 people Thursday night at Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheatre, for country muic star T.J. Sheppard. A&M nuclear reactors may shut down By Geneen Pipher The Battalion Texas A&M University may be forced to shut the doors of its two nuclear reactors be cause of a new congressionally mandated li censing fee of $62,100 on all university-run re actors. The total bill from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for Texas A&M's nuclear engineering department comes to $125,000 for its five-watt reactor located in the Zachry En gineering Building and its larger, one- megawatt reactor located west of campus. Dan Reece, director of the Nuclear Science Center and associate professor of nuclear engi neering, said university-run reactors have al ways been exempt from federal licensing fees. "Thirty-five years ago, in an effort to reduce the deficit, the Nuclear Regulatory Commis sion was supposed to collect licensing fees from all research reactors," Reece said. "At the time, the NRC exempted universi ty-run reactors because they cannot pass the fees on to anyone else, and they don't like to charge the students." A lawsuit resulted in the canceling of ex ceptions for all non-profit university-run reac tors said Reactor Supervisor Robert Berry. "It was a lawsuit not directly related to uni versity-run reactors, but it came down that all non-profit exemptions were canceled," he said. Berry said he is not sure whether the A&M reactors will be granted an exemption under the new guidelines. "The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is still formulating guidelines for exemptions," he said. "Once they have figured out what they are, both reactors will file individually for exemp tions. No one knows what the guidelines are yet so no one here knows what our chances are of getting exempted." Reece said if the University is not granted an exemption, the reactor in Zachry would al most certainly close. "The reactor would probably close instant ly, if not sooner," he said. "The other one might be able to stay open on the budget we have, but we would be look ing at a two-year wind down." "You have two years to institute a decom missioning, which is very expensive," Reece said. "TU just spent $5 million decommissioning shut down on their old reactor." The Texas A&M Nuclear Engineering De partment is supporting a petition submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by Cornell University pledging to fight the licens ing fees. "All the universities with research reactors, including the University of Texas, have gotten together and are fighting this thing together," Berry said. "There has been an article in Science Maga zine and an upcoming article in Nuclear News supporting our case." In a letter to the secretary of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Dr. Kenneth L. Peddicord, interim dean of the College of Engineering and director of Texas Engineering Experiment Station, said students and teachers have toured the facility to learn about nuclear science, and 13 universities in Texas and the southwest are served by the A&M reactors. Reece said the facilities are invaluable to the University and the approximately 200 under graduate and graduate students who use them. "Right now the nuclear engineering depart ment is in the top 10 percent in the nation in nuclear engineering, principally because we have the two reactors," he said. "I think our ranking would fall if we were to close." "I foresee that we could be number one or two in the nation if we keep on our present course," Reece said. "It would definitely affect the prestige of the University if they were to close." Reece said he is hopeful the reactors will re main open, but he can't be sure. "It would be a detriment to students and the University for the reactors to close," he said. "You can't beat hands-on experience when it comes to this kind of thing, and that is what they get here."