Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 1993)
:tober22- The Battalion n which'.! issy secty eneighbc : ii ' s pro-Arl )nt forci d the infJ 5 checkinJ was oneJ ; denoiintj r efusedi;| ; in which.1 point to ; r the con]): iblic. Hon*] ked byati ^esdune Valley. '* u y tjiool' Vol. 93 No. 41 (8 pages) 1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993 Monday, October 25,1993 Margraves targeted by DPS probe w eekend rap-up enjoy sm eir hometoJ . 'JH , some isrJi said so fc signers i ere aren n which hi visit Way iem. all the his?j astern Wall. i unempfea heads as thr sorters toti equired at is U.S. promises aid to Kazakhstan ALMA-ATA, Kazakhstan — Secretary of State Warren Christo pher brought a pledge of in creased U.S. aid to this oil-rich former Soviet republic Saturday, hoping it would provide an in centive to get rid of more than 1,000 nuclear warheads left over from the Cold War. Kazakhstan is to receive $85 million to dismantle the warheads from long -range missiles and ship them to Russia. To qualify, it also must carry out a pledge to sign an international treaty de signed to stem the spread of nu clear technology. Christopher was also ready to promise President Nursultan Nazarbayev a boost in aid to $140 million for the fiscal year that be gan Oct. 1. This includes $15 mil lion to reverse environmental damage to the Aral Sea, U.S. offi cials said. ners cautin return nexlij funds loped to ar“ itions aboutj >y observin; -light spec: nmic parti; he collide; tunnel, unhappine; iaid Sen. "Texas hai ? proud offl j ,g to get toil' has lost a irtant foritsf is of tunnei:; nmplex of Id Texas to be repaid for super collider AUSTIN — Gov. Ann Richards said Friday that Texas has a money- back guarantee from the federal government over the super collider. Richards said the state will pursue “whatever is necessary" to make the U.S. government re imburse the state for what Texas has paid into construction of the atom smasher that was shut down by Congress. She declined to put a dollar amount on how much Texas has spent on the project near Waxa- hachie, but super collider offi cials say more than $400 million of a $1 billion state bond issue has been expended. Richards said she will meet next week with Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary and possibly Pres ident Clinton on where to go from here. facilities e:ff r site 35 3ome 2,0i ; and other;; | ow must pi nout these 13,000 job;:: jd to the ate h would lia largest sciea: tempt to md | I maximize: 1 use to be ml j ty," said ]o.1 U v wenttoel se conferee;., isure maxim* employees" | others affeSj ■ crafts, day ailing from; 1 round jve the yo'jf 'its hope t ut," Polk ss e hope to £ xp 10/31® UT School of Law subject of lawsuit AUSTIN — Four white appli cants denied entrance to the Uni versity of Texas School of Law are suing, saying minority students with lower academic credentials were admitted. "The injury is not that they didn't get into law school," said Terral Smith, a lawyer for the ap plicants. "The injury is that they didn't get to compete equally for positions in the law school.” U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks refused to end the reverse-dis crimination case Thursday and in dicated it would likely go to trial next summer. Smith contends the law school "has a target" for minority admis sions, with minority enrollment hovering at 14 percent of the total enrollment over the past four years Juvenile attempts theft by pellet gun PASADENA - A 12-year-old Pasadena boy has been arrested for allegedly trying to rob a restaurant with a pellet gun. The sixth-grade student walked up to the drive-through window of a Checker's Restau rant Wednesday and motioned to an employee with the gun, ac cording to Pasadena authorities. That person then went to the back of the restaurant and called police, A police officer who hap pened to be near the restaurant chased the boy and caught him on nearby school grounds, au thorities said. The youngster, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, has been referred to Har ris County juvenile authorities. By Jennifer Smith The Battalion Texas A&M University System Board of Regents Chairman Ross Margraves called allegations that he has personally benefited from several of the system's business deals " bull" and the anony mous letter containing them "hateful." See Editorial Page 7 A&M System Board of Regents Chairman Ross Margraves has described an anony mous letter, which makes allegations against him, as "bull" and "hateful." This letter, which makes sweeping al legations against Margraves, was sent to members of the A&M System Board of Regents about a month ago. Margraves took the letter to Gov. Ann Richards, whose office forwarded the doc ument to the Department of Public Safety. The Texas Rangers have been investigating the letter for about two weeks. The Associated Press reported Sunday that sources close to the investigation say the Texas Rangers are investigating whether Margraves had a role in helping award a contract in June to A&M booster Rod Dockery for a book commemorating 100 years of Aggie football. The AP reported the letter also con tained allegations questioning Mar graves' involvement in the awarding of the contract for the Texas A&M Bookstore to Barnes and Noble. Margraves said he receives four or five anonymous letters a month, and he usu ally throws them away. "But when you accuse a member of the Board of Regents of a wrong doing, then I take it to the Governor," Margraves said. "This letter makes serious allegations." A representative with the DPS said the investigation is well underway, and re sults will be announced as soon as the in vestigation is complete. "We will take our findings to the ap propriate district attorney," the represen tative said. "Or if nothing is found, will will reveal this information too." Margraves said he meets with represen tatives from the DPS "periodically" to be informed of the investigation's progress. "There's a good chance we will never find out who wrote the letter," Margraves said. "It's just very unfortunate that some people have to conduct their busi ness this way." DPS Director Col. James Wilson told the AP Margraves "has cooperated fully." "Ross Margraves has been up front and concerned about these things and im mediately made contact with us and of fered his assistance in trying to resolve Watch your back ... Kevin Ivy/The Battalion Texas A&M rugby first team member, Leo Perez, pulls away Texas' second team 21-12. The rugby team takes on the from a Southwest Texas player in a 19-10 loss Saturday af- Old Maroon rugby team (a former A&M student team) Satur- ternoon. A&M's second team went on to beat Southwest day at 2:00 p.m. at the rugby field. these matters," Wilson said. James Bond, interim general counsel for the A&M System, told the AP an in ternal inquiry also is being conducted. "The letter elevated the need to make some checks," Bond said. "But no pattern has turned up other than an awarding of contracts in a very objective process." Margraves admitted to the AP Sunday that Barnes and Noble paid for him and Robert Smith, A&M vice president for fi nance and administration, to travel to New York to complete the deal. Margraves said there were at least four trips in July 1990 including stays at the Waldorf Astoria and the New York Helms- ley Hotel, which are considered two of the city's finest hotels, meals, limousine service and tickets to Broadway shows. Margraves called this practice "stan dard procedure" and said saw nothing wrong with it. Sarah Woelk, of the Ethics Commis sion in Texas, told the AP that these type of trips were legal in 1990. "The law is much more restrictive now," Woelk said. "A lot of trips that were legal then are illegal now." Open records requested in System chair investigation By Michele Brinkmann The Battalion Ross Margraves, chairman of the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, is the subject of open records re quests filed by the the Associated Press and The Battalion. Chip Brown, a reporter from the AP office in Austin, filed a 13-item request Oct. 7, and The Battalion filed a request Friday identical to Brown's request. The University responded to Brown's request with a letter stating he must con tact each office involved in the request. Brown has requested information from the offices of Margraves, Robert Smith, vice president of finance and ad ministration, Wally Groff, A&M athletic director, Gen. Wesley Peel, vice chancel lor of facilities, planning and construc tion, Rex Janne, director of procurement and material services, Joe Sugg, director of maintenance contracts and Greg An derson, director of treasury services. Most of Brown's requests involve records, memorandums, reports and cor respondence during Margraves' term that began in 1989 and will end in 1995. Some of the other people and agencies mentioned in the request are Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Merrill Lynch, ARA Services, Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros, Barnes & Noble and A&M regent mem ber John Lindsey. See Records/Page 3 Super collider shutdown devastates physicists By James Bernsen The Battalion The congressional vote to shut down the superconducting super collider is a serious blow to the future of science, a Texas A&M physics professor said Sunday. Dr. Peter McIntyre, who has promoted the super collider since 1983, co-authored the Texas site proposal and helped devel op the design for the project, said the de cision seems to be part of an alarming trend in government against science. "The future of our civilization hinges, in the long-term, on our ability to see beyond the present and sustain a constant level of support of science," McIntyre said. Congress, in the last few years and particularly in this administration, he said, has had a declining ability to under stand science. "If we decide as a society that that (science) is of no use to us, we are doomed as a society, and Congress is moving in that direction," McIntyre said. "That worries me." Congress is only concerned with things that will result in short-term bene fits, he said. McIntyre said the super collider emerged out of a lengthy period of self- examination in high energy physics. He said a similar collider in Batavia, Ill. and another near Geneva, Switzerland will not be able to do what the Texas one would have. "Each has contributed very fundamental new knowledge," he said. "But what we're searching for, primarily the top quark, are beyond the reach of those colliders." McIntyre said the decision will also threaten the future of cooperative projects between the U.S. and other nations. "A few years ago, the Japanese com mitted to the space station and delivered. The House killed it, so they were not like ly to help with the SSC," he said. "The perception is that the U.S. cannot commit to a project, and we've just proven those fears were justified. "That's not the way science funding works in other parts of the world," he said. "Others evaluate a program, make value judgments, and make a decision, and once that's made, it's honored." The decisions of one congress are not allowed to tie the hands of another so projects like this are killed after having been started, McIntyre said. The project has already cost $2 billion. and is one-fifth complete. "Congress could have submitted an or der to re-evaluate the project to the de partment of energy," McIntyre said. "But they just killed the largest science project in history. "People don't see the long-term bene fits," he said. "It's like some of the progress in chemistry and electromagnet ism in the last century that we now take for granted. It was viewed that way too." The cancellation is also a major blow to Texas A&M, McIntyre said, because the University has committed to bring ing in faculty with expertise in high-en- ergy physics. "It's personally agonizing, agonizing for the university, a deep blow to the state and a bitter blow to the national and world wide science communities," he said. Hutchison aides to assist Treasury inquiry The Associated Press Associated Press DALLAS — The second of two aides indicted along with U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison says he will assist prosecutors in their investigation of alleged wrongdoing within the state Treasury, according to a published report. Chris Gunter, an attorney for former Deputy Treasurer Michael Barron, says his client will cooperate with Travis County District Attorney Ron nie Earle in his probe of the Treasury under Hutchison. "He has cooperated up to this point and intends to co operate fully and complete ly," Gunter said in Sunday's Hutchison editions of The Dallas Morning News. Another indicted Hutchison aide, David Criss, said in published reports Saturday that he "won't be the scapegoat" and also would coop erate with prosecutors. Hutchison, 50, was indicted last month on charges of using state employees and equip ment for political purposes while serving as state treasurer, then destroying records as part of a cover-up. She resigned her 21 / 2-year tenure as treasurer after winning landslide election to Lloyd Bentsen's vacated Senate seat June 5 over Demo crat Bob Krueger. Criss and Barron also were indicted on charges of official misconduct. Their promises to help in the Treasury probe come just days after Earle announced he would seek to throw out the indictments because a grand juror was found to be ineligible. Inside Campus •Revised student financial aid forms easier to use Page 2 Sports »"He's going to do it again!" McElroy stars as A&M dominates Rice, 38-10 Page 5 Opinion •Column: computers pose threat to personal privacy Page 7 Weather ► Monday: partly cloudy, high in the 70s near 80 ►Forecast for Tuesday: partly cloudy, not too cold Texas Lotto •Saturday's winning Texas Lotto numbers: 10, 39, 14, 1, 48, 50