Vol. 93 No. 16 (10 pages)
The Battalion
1893 - A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993 Monday, September 20,1993
W eekend
rap-up
J Hijackers sought
| shield from Iran
OSLO, Norway (AP) — Three
men charged with hijacking a
Russian airliner said they picked
Norway as their destination be
cause they hoped it would shield
them from torture in Iran, their at
torney said Friday.
The men have asked for politi
cal asylum, but face up to 21 years
I in prison if they are tried and con
victed of hijacking in Norway.
In a closed session, a prelimi
nary court ordered the men held
for eight weeks pending an inves
tigation.
The men were charged with
using grenades to hijack an
Aeroflot Tu-134 with 58 people
aboard after it took off on
Wednesday from Baku, Azerbai
jan. The jet was forced to fly to
Kiev, Ukraine for refueling and
then to Norway, where the men
surrendered on Thursday.
Exchange student
killed in Florida
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - A 17-
vear-old exchange student from
Turkey was found dead Saturday
in bushes near the home where he
was staying. His belongings were
scattered nearby.
Homicide detectives were in
vestigating the death of Mahmet
Bahar, who was discovered by his
roommate and an early-morning
jogger in an affluent, residential
neighborhood, police said.
Police believe Bahar, of An
talya, Turkey, died late Friday or
early Saturday and that a struggle
was involved. Neighbors who
saw the body told The St. Peters
burg Times that the teen-ager ap
peared to have been beaten.
"There was some minor trau
ma to the victim, I don't know
what," police Cpl. D. Simonson
said. "Tne victim's vehicle was at
the scene and there were other
personal items scattered nearby."
East Texas waste
facility may close
DALLAS (AP) — In what was
termed an extraordinary move, the
Texas Natural Resource Conserva
tion Commission will consider
shutting down an industrial waste
processing facility in East Texas.
"It is very unusual and as far
as I know, it has not happened be
fore. It's actually more than un
usual. It's extraordinary," Deputy
Executive Director Ken Ramirez
said Saturday.
The TNRCC charges that
Gibraltar Chemical Resources Inc.
in Winona has a history of mixing
incompatible wastes, causing re
actions that contaminate the soil,
groundwater and air.
The new commission is a merg
er of the Texas Water Commission,
Texas Air Control Board, and th -ee
Health Department divisions.
| Barney bashers
given fine, curfew
GALVESTON (AP) - Three
boys who attacked a Barney the
Dinosaur impersonator at a
Kmart grand opening have been
fined $200 each and given a 6
p.m. curfew.
I The three boys — ages 10, 11
and 12 — are well known to the
Galveston Police Department.
"They harass their neighbor
hood and terrorize the whole city,"
said Harold A. Beasley, a juvenile
officer. "They run together. Every
time you see one, look behind him
and you'll see three more."
A fourth boy, whose age was
not released, was being held in ju
venile detention on another of
fense and did not appear at
Wednesday's municipal court
hearing. He has four robbery
charges pending against him, ju
venile authorities said.
-The Associated Press
Regents authorize two research centers
By Lisa Elliott
The Battalion
The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents
established Friday afternoon a Texas Center for Climate
Studies and a Center for Texas Beaches and Shores.
Both Centers will be created within the College of
Geosciences and Maritime studies.
See Related Stories, Page 10
The Center for Climate Studies will initiate, encourage
and support climate-related programs in research and ed
ucation. It will work in connection with other similar pro
grams already in existence in Texas and the nation.
The Center for Texas Beaches and Shores will re
search problems related to the loss of shoreline and eco
logical damage to coastal conservation areas. The center
will be located on the Texas A&M-Galveston campus.
In other business, the Board of Regents approved au
thorization for a master of science degree in life-cycle en
gineering operations management.
This program will be operated by the College of Engi
neering, College of Business Administration and Gradu
ate School of Business.
Interim University President E. Dean Gage said the new
program bridges two highly important fields of studv.
"This is one of the most exciting degree programs that
will be presented to the Board for a long period of time,"
he said.
The University will receive help from the government
in setting up the degree program for the first three years.
The Board also took action on the following items
during its Friday meeting:
• The Board gave sole responsibility of the Aggie Se
nior Ring to the Association of Former Students.
The Association will have all rights to the markings
associated with the senior ring, although the University
will retain the right to use the designs for marketing
purposes.
• Regents gave the University president the right to
name buildings and other entities in the George Bush
Presidential Library without getting approval from the
Board.
Previously, any naming of items would have to be put
on the Board agenda and await a vote from the Board.
• The Board approved the appointment of Fred M.
Heath as dean and director of the Sterling C. Evans Li
brary and Dr. C. Roland Haden as Vice Chancellor for
Engineering, Dean of the College of Engineering and
Professor or Electrical Engineering.
73-0: Enough said
Darrin HUI/The Battalion
Junior yell leader Scott Torn is carried to the Fish Pond for a Saturday. The Aggies will take on the Texas Tech Red
yell practice after the 73-0 victory over the Missouri Tigers Raiders in Lubbock Oct. 2.
Convicted felon
awaits clemency
recommendation
The Associated Press
HOUSTON — A Tomball woman is
hoping to benefit from a new state law
that awards clemency to certain family
abuse victims who killed their abusers.
If Becky Wardlow is granted clemen
cy, she would be the first to benefit from
the law signed by Gov. Ann Richards in
1991.
Several domestic violence experts in
Texas are appalled that no one has been
granted clemency even though the law
has been on the book since that time.
Other states with similar programs,
such as Ohio and Maryland, have
processed numerous cases in the past
few years.
"I'm not only surprised. I'm
shocked," said Toby Myers, a psy
chotherapist and director of the Pivot
Project, a Houston treatment group for
batterers. "The fact is many of these
women had never (before killing their
abusers) even been to the principal's of
fice."
Joseph Ober-Hauser with the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice said
about 175 women, out of 500 screened,
have met the standards of domestic
See Clemency/Page 2
Corps of Cadets
Hall of Honor recognizes eight former cadets
Room named for
deceased Aggie
By Kevin Lindstrom
The Battalion
Texas A&M University officials, fami
ly and friends celebrated the accomplish
ments of the late Lt. Gen. Andrew David
Bruce with the dedication Friday of a
room in the Military Sciences building.
Bruce, Class of '16, served for 37 years
in the U.S. Army.
Assigned the task of finding a way to
stop German tanks during World War TI,
Bruce created the Tank Destroyer Center
and founded Fort Flood in April 1942.
After Bruce retired from military ser
vice in 1954, he served at the University
of Houston as its president from 1954-56
and as chancellor from 1956-61, earning
state financial support and academic ac
creditation for the university.
The room dedicated in his honor will
feature a display of his life and career.
Included in the display are articles from
the Temple Daily Telegram that cover
his military and civilian career, a display
of Bruce's medals and his Ross Volun
teer cap from his days as a cadet at
A&M.
"Gen. Bruce was clearly an outstand
ing Aggie, not only during his military
career, but in the civilian sector as well,"
said Maj. Gen. Thomas G. Darling, com
mandant of the Corps of Cadets.
In a ceremony Saturday morning, the
Corps of Cadets inducted Bruce and sev
en other former students into the Corps
Hall of Flonor, located on the north wall
in the Sam Houston Sanders Corps of
Cadets Center.
"The display here represents the life
and contributions of one of the most fa
mous and prominent Aggies of all time,"
said Dr. J. Malon Southerland, interim
vice president for student services.
"Gen. Bruce was extraordinary, hav
ing distinguished himself in the two
world wars and throughout his military
career, then all of his great work for the
University of Houston during a time of
dynamic growth for that university."
Born in St. Louis, Mo., Bruce received
a bachelor of science degree from Texas
A&M in 1916.
In 1917, he began his career in mili
tary service as a second lieutenant in the
U.S. Army.
He was the first A&M infantry officer
to attain the rank of lieutenant general,
and he introduced several methods of
military instruction that were later
adopted by the U.S. Army.
Bruce was designated an A&M Dis
tinguished Alumnus by Texas A&M
University and the Association of For
mer Students in 1968.
Ceremony held
for inductees
By Jennifer Smith
The Battalion
The Texas A&M University Corps of
Cadets honored eight former cadets Sat
urday during the inaugural ceremony of
the Corps Hall of Honor.
Lt. Col. Donald R. Henderson, direc
tor of the Corps Center, said the in
ductees exemplify the Aggie spirit.
"This is a long overdue way of pay
ing tribute to the Corps," Henderson
said.
Mary Helen Bowers, deputy director
of University Relations, said the former
cadets who are being honored have dis
tinguished themselves in many different
ways.
"Four of the inductees had very dis
tinguished careers in the military, and
the other four men served with distinc
tion in the military, but they built their
careers in civilian life," Bowers said.
Corps Commandant Maj. Gen.
Thomas G. Darling served as master of
ceremonies and presented the former
cadets with honorary plaques.
"It is our hope that this Hall of Honor
will provide inspiration to all Aggies —
past, present and future," Darling said.
The inaugural honorees include Lt.
Gen. A.D. Bruce, Class of '16; Dr. Sam
Houston Sanders, Class of '22; Gen.
Bernard Schriever, Class of '31; Maj. Gen.
James Earl Rudder, Class of '32; Olin E.
Teague, Class of '32; Lt. Gen. Ormond R.
Simpson, Class of '36; Lt. Gen. Jay T,
Robbins, Class of '40; and Oscar S. Wy
att, Class of '45.
Four of the recipients, including
Bruce, Sanders, Rudder and Teague,
were honored posthumously. Members
of their families accepted their awards.
"We are pleased that our inaugural
class is such a prestigious group, repre
senting excellence in areas that all Ag
gies hold dear," Darling said.
Darling said in future ceremonies the
number of inductees will be limited to
four cadets instead of eight.
Henderson said the idea to create the
Hall of Honor came when planning the
Corps Center.
Nominations were opened last spring
for the first inductees into the Flail of
Honor, and nomination forms were
available to former students, A&M clubs
and readers of the Texas Aggie Maga
zine. A committee consisting of cadets,
former students and faculty members
chose the inductees.
Qualifications for the Hall of Honor
include being a member of the Corps of
Cadets, living a life that exemplifies the
Aggie spirit and possessing the values
upon which the Corps was founded.
D-FW airport faces safety issue
The Associated Press
FORT WORTH — A $6 million radar system
designed to go on line at Dallas-Fort Worth In
ternational Airport in November has been rid
dled with safety problems at other airports and
has some controllers fearing it could lead to acci
dents, according to a published report.
When the system — called Airport Surveil
lance Radar-9, or ASR-9 — goes into effect, D-
FW controllers will use it to guide flights into
and out of the airport in all kinds of weather.
No accidents have been linked to use of the
radar system at any airport. But the Federal Avi
ation Administration acknowledges the system
has had problems at about half of the 62 airports
where it is in use, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
reported Sunday.
The computerized, high-tech system has occa
sionally failed to discern between two aircraft
flying close to each other, instead showing them
as one target on the controller's screen. And it is
so sensitive that it picks up objects on the
ground. When controllers adjust it to remove the
clutter, it misses small airplanes.
Because some D-FW controllers say they're
concerned about the new radar, the present sys
tem will stay on line for at least 90 days to make
sure the new system works properly, said Lee
Wong, the FAA's assistant director for facilities
and equipment in the Southwest Region.
D-FW controller Mark Pall one said controllers
will be able to switch instantly to the old system
if problems occur with the new one.
"There's no way we'll compromise safety for
any reason at all," he said. "The new radar won't
be accepted until everyone's satisfied with it."
The new system is intended as a major im
provement over prior systems, including the
ASR-8 radar in use at D-FW, said FAA
spokesman Ronnie L. Uhlenhaker in Fort Worth.
tt ♦ ~g
Inside
Campus
IFC sees largest fraternity
rush in A&M history
Page 2
Sports
►A&M devastates
Missouri, 73-0
Opinion
Page 5
•Government takeover in
Vidor good sign
Page 9
Weather
►Monday: partly cloudy,
20 percent chance rain
►Tuesday: partly cloudy,
highs in mid-90s
Texas Lotto
►Saturday's winning
Texas Lotto numbers:
2, 22, 32, 35,45, 47