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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 1993)
* f Vol. 93 No. 22 (8 pages) The Battalion 1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993 Tuesday, September 28,1993 re during tht o refine then ual Develop. I Ham Drapei ons between rope and the ; that all peo- •ultu res, even mi Barghm iuate student psto icatinj ning NCAA tall program scandal first Aggies wrote the paper of tely bringing side world in Aggies. Not mg has such . Back then, 1 backbone to , since lost its NCAA as an nncy. He for- latively light )sters persist- and received A is inconsis- s to that, er conduct in me from for- wing NCAA he guts to re am - losing FCU history, from recruit- eft might be p by Coach pies don't lie, allow the ac- x. Gilbert. R icky Dobbs Incite student .845-0721 .845-26% .845-26% .845-96% .845-4511 .845-78% ms - ter. Ifyouneed ose $12*/15*' $12W $75*/82" $50*/55*' $35*/40“ $35*/40“ $25*/30” $45*/48** ion community or DlV hrough the ; runners : stairs). ipics. Grand jury indicts Hutchison on misconduct charges The Associated Press AUSTIN — A grand jury Monday handed up indictments against U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and two former aides, charging them with official miscon-. duct during her 2 1/2-year tenure as state treasurer. Hutchison was charged with official misconduct, tampering with governmen tal records and tampering with physical evidence. All are felony charges. Hutchison defeated appointed Democ ratic Sen. Bob Krueger in a June 5 special election to become the first woman sena tor in Texas history. She had been elected treasurer in 1990. Also named in the indictments that fol lowed a 3 1/2-month investigation were Michael Barron, for mer deputy treasurer, and David Criss, who was planning director for the Treasury. Barron was charged with official misconduct, tamper ing with governmen tal records and tam pering with physical evidence. Criss was charged with official misconduct. Hutchison, a Republican, has denied any wrongdoing and accused District At torney Ronnie Earle, a Democrat, of con ducting a political witch hunt. Hutchison's spokesman, David Beck with, didn't immediately return calls. But Texas GOP executive director Karen Hughes called the charges politically mo tivated. "I am sickened but frankly not sur prised that a grand jury made up of De mocrat primary voters is trying to win through the judicial process what they were unable to win in the last election. This is a new low for partisan double standards in state government," Hughes said. But Saadi Ferris, foreman of the grand jury, disputed the charge. "The grand jury has deliberated on each and every occasion with indepen dence of politics and political persuasion; independence of the district attorney and his staff; independence of the news media and all outside influences," he said. Since shortly after Hutchison's June 5 victory, the grand jury has been looking into allegations that Treasury employees were used to conduct political and per sonal errands for her, and whether docu ments were destroyed in a cover up. The indictments handed up Monday accused Hutchison of using state employ ees, facilities, equipment and supplies for "her personal benefit." The indictments also accused her of destroying computer records from the Treasury. Earle's office had raided the Treasury June 10 and issued more than a dozen subpoenas for current and former agency workers. More than 30 former Treasury aides and Hutchison campaign operatives went before the grand jury during the probe. The senator denounced the inquiry as a politically motivated conspiracy by Ear le and other Democrats to derail her polit ical career. Citing the fact that she would be at the top of the state's Republican ticket in 1994, Hutchison said Democrats were stooping to the lowest level to keep her from leading a strong GOP showing next fall. Earle said Hutchison's claims that his office was leading a partisan attack was a standard rebuttal from a public official under investigation. "Every one of them says it's political, whether they are Democrats or Republi cans," Earle said. Making Aggies laugh Battalion cartoons create traditions By Susan Owen The Battalion O ver the years, several of The Battalion's cartoonists have de veloped unique and influential views of Aggieland. Three of them have given Texas A&M students a sympathizing voice, a reason to support Aggie sports and a symbol as instantly recogniz able as the University seal. In 1938, the first version of the character who would become Ol' Sarge appeared in The Battalion Humor Magazine, drawn by Pete Tumlinson, Class of '42. Named Magarkin, he was a prison convict rejected from Alcatraz and sent to A&M. This "tough guy" became a regular character in Tumlinson's strip, "Fish Blotto." "Fish Blotto f ' was a hapless underclassman in the Corps of Cadets, harassed by upperclassmen like Magarkin. "I was partly inspired by the A&M tradition," Tumlinson said. "Sergeants are supposed to be pretty tough, you know." Tumlinson said he only remembers drawing Magarkin once with sergeant's stripes. "Somebody else promoted him after 1 was gone, I think," he saia. Tumlinson served as an Air Force pilot in World War 13, then re turned to A&M in 1945. He kept up his strip even after he graduat ed a year later and moved to Bryan, but eventually he left to work as a cartoonist in New York. He later drew cartoons for the New York Post and Timely Comics, which became Marvel Comics. Aiter Tumlinson left A&M, decals appeared using a square- jawed sergeant as a symbol for the school. "In the '50s and '60s, you'd see cars driving around with these decals of OF Sarge," he said. Tumlinson said he "never heard any more about it" until he was invited back for an anniversary celebration in 1988,50 years after his prison convict first appeared at A&M. GIGEMAG magazine spon sored a special brochure that reprinted many of the old Fish Blotto cartoons. The longest-running Battalion cartoon was "Cadet Slouch," which appeared for 33 years, from 1953 to 1985. Dr. Jim Earle, Class See Cartoons/Page 8 • Monday: The Battalion vs. The Administration • Tuesday: Cartoonists of The Battalion • Wednesday: Fired Editor Thomas DeFrank • Thursday: The Battalion Anniversary Issue The Battalion 1893-1993 Oh, did I spit on youse? youse’Il gret used to it. Well, Fish Blotto (above) began the tradition of OF Sarge when the strip began in 1938. dp (below) has been a feature in The Battalion since 1977. ARKANSAS ANP TcO BSAT i, u* ^ MDt.u AtfD ARMdStiSEATSnfy • ; A\ SWTCV, M/D t.u BeK UH; .• J I .A AND UH B£rATJ ARKANSAS;- BAYLOR B£AT3 Tcu; AND ARKANSAS AMDt.U . ws cak oo tr, At- BRAT VAylo^ ' SuT Beat5 tech ; AMD EVEMOHg 8BATS RicE; T AMD WS vnu THE REST OE r OOR. CrAHPb . )77CBM MERE 77/£ C.H-AMPS AqO GO TO TUB WUCCTfctd BOU>/~ /fM JkG>S, YOU C/MV J70 MT ... W£'B£ B£MMP YOU ML 1H£ WAY Committee narrows search for V.P. to six By Lisa Elliott The Battalion The search for a new vice president of student services at Texas A&M University has been narrowed to six individuals. Ron Sasse, A&M's director of student affairs and chairman vice presidential search committee, said the list consists of the six most qualified applicants. The finalists are: • Dr. William A. Bryan, vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. • Dr. Richard Correnti, vice president for student affairs at Florida International University. • Dr. William Harmon, vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. • Dr. David Markee, vice pres ident for student services at Northern Arizona University. • Dr. Malon Southerland, inter im vice president for student ser vices at Texas A&M University. • Dr. Martha Sullivan, vice president for student affairs at Tulane University. The position became available after former vice president of stu dent services, John J. Koldus, re tired last summer after 20 years at A&M. The committee held an open forum in June to get student in put on the replacement of Koldus. Some students ex pressed concern the new vice president should come from the University community; others suggested the position be filled by a minority or a woman. Sasse told The Battalion in June that the forum was helpful and gave the committee ideas and points to consider. Jan Winniford, assistant vice president for student services and a member of the committee, said the ideas given by the stu dents were taken seriously by the committee. "We had a meeting after the forum in which we summarized the major themes that were pre sented to us," she said. Sasse said the most important qualities in the applicants they considered were the individuals' dedication and commitment to students. Winniford said they are look ing for someone who can get along well with others, be a good public relations representative and possesses leadership abili ties, as well as total dedication to the students and to the Universi ty- "We want someone with a vi sion of where we need to go in the next century," she said. Sasse said Interim University President E. Dean Gage has ap proved the list. The search committee is in the process of setting up interviews with each of the finalists. The in terviews will begin in early Octo ber, he said. "I'm hopeful we can get the interviews done before the se- mestef is over," he said. "Whether it's realistic or not is totally up to the applicants." Sasse said, ideally, the new vice president should begin working by the beginning of the spring semester, but that de pends on the individual and how well the move will fit into their schedule. Sasse said he is very confident about the choices for finalists. "We believe we have assem bled an excellent group of candi dates and look forward to meet ing each one of them personally during their visits to the cam pus," he said. Once a final decision is made, it will be subject to approval by the Board of Regents of the Texas A&M University System. Resident near Alamodome found with high levels of lead The Associated Press SAN ANTONIO — Health officials have detected high levels of lead in one residen t living near a landfill adjacent to the Alamodome. The director of the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District said Sunday that when blood tests re vealed lead levels high enough to pose a health risk, the department began an environmental assessment and investigated personal histories to try to pinpoint the source. "We have tested about 70 to 75 people, and we don't have all the reports yet. But samples we've looked at so far have shown only one elderly gentle man — no children with significantly elevated lead levels," said Dr. Fernando Guerra. About one month ago, letters and fliers went out to residents in the Alamodome neighborhood stating that tests would be available at some health department clinics. Tests were being financed with $10,000 from the dome construction budget, officials said. "We don't have the resources to test every house hold," said Guerra. The project began after residents near the dome complained about 45,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil buried on the southeast comer of dome property. A report on the tests will be released within two weeks when all the results are in, said Guerra. He said the unidentified man who tested positive may have been exposed to lead at work. State Sen. Frank Madia, D-San Antonio, wrote Guerra on Friday to urge that hair samples be taken from Alamodome-area residents, particularly children who attend Herff and Douglass elementary schools. Douglass Principal Mardretta Clack, during'a neighborhood meeting Wednesday on the landfill is sue called by Madia, demanded that all 1,000 students in the two elementary schools be checked for lead poi soning. "Fm not sure that (testing the schoolchildren) really is going to provide significant information beyond what we already know- that there is a population of children spread throughout the city who nave been ex posed to lead," said Guerra. Guerra said that lead contamination can arise in several ways, including lead-based paint flaking from homes in older neighborhoods. Since its summer opening, the Alamodome has been the venue for a number of events, including the WBC welterweight title fight between Pemell Whitak er and Julio Cesar Chavez earlier this month. The U.S. Olympic Festival was also held at the dome in July. A Dallas Cowboys-Houston Oilers exhi bition game and another between the Oilers and New Orleans Saints were also played there. tal Airline! 'ssary. Win' re info, call St Alcohol drug of choice for Aggies, official says "Society promotes alcohol and drug use, but people don't look at what is going to happen if they become addicted." - Micki Baudoin, director of chemical dependency at the Desert Hills Center for Adults, Youth and Families By Jan Higginbotham The Battalion Although recent studies indi cate that the popularity of mari juana and LSD among high school students has been on the rise, one Texas A&M University official said the drug of choice for college students is alcohol. Dennis Reardon, coordinator for the Center for Drug Preven tion and Education, said because Texas A&M is a conservative school with students coming from conservative backgrounds, problems with illegal drugs are not as evident in the student body. Reardon said only a small per centage the A&M student body uses the illegal drugs that have been prevalent in other parts of the country. Micki Baudoin, director of chemical dependency services with the Desert Hills Center for Adults, Youth and Families, said among the percentage of college students using drugs, LSD, Ec stasy and other designer drugs are the most popular. "These drugs are party drugs. They are seen as social drugs," said Baudoin. "That is w r hy they are appealing to college stu dents." Baudoin said the accessibility of these drugs makes them espe cially appealing. "They are relatively easy to make and to get a hold of," Bau doin said. Baudoin also said the con sumption of alcohol has in creased significantly. "The unfortunate thing about it is that people tend to look at alco hol consumption among college students as a phase and not an ill ness," said Baudoin. "The denial is very difficult to overcome." Reardon said new hybrids of marijuana have developed in re cent years, making it a stronger drug. See Alcohol/Page 3 Inside Sports •Sam Adams named as finalist for Lombardi award •Clay: SWC can still make it on its own Page 6 Opinion •Vasquez: Looking at life through another's eyes Page 7 Weather •Tuesday: sunny and warm, highs in 80s, lows in 50s to near 60 ►Wednesday: sunny, a little warmer, highs near 90, lows in 60s ► Extended forecast: fair sky, highs around 90, lows in 60s