The Battalion
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Vol. 93 No. 44 (12 pages)
1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993
Thursday, October 28,1993
alifornia fires destroy
omes, force evacuation
Suspected arsonist arrested in connection with blaze
The Associated Press
Wildfires driven by searing
desert winds torched thousands of
■nder-dry acres in Southern Cali
fornia on Wednesday, destroying
■cores of homes and forcing hun
dreds to flee in terror from
/ealthy suburbs and rural ham-
fcts. Six firefighters were injured,
| Jiree critically.
Among the evacuees were el
derly people carried on gurneys
from two convalescent homes and
patients at a hospital.
I One 3,000-acre fire threatened
tlie Wild Animal Park in northern
San Diego County, where
fookeepers evacuated 26 endan-
■ered California condors and four
• Andean condors.
I By midafternoon Wednesday,
II large fires fanned by hot, dry
Janta Ana winds gusting up to 70
i mph were burning from Ventura
Ijtounty to the Mexican border,
■he fires fed off vegetation baked
fo a crisp in the rainless summer.
I "We have what we call a blow-
pap condition at this time,” said
| Norm Plott, a Fire Department
spokesman in Ventura County,
where a 15,000-acre arson fire was
raging out of control.
A man was arrested Wednesday
afternoon in connection with one of
the worst blazes, which authorities
said was set by a transient.
In that fire, an estimated 45
homes were destroyed or dam
aged in the northeast suburb of
Altadena.
Overwhelmed firefighters ran
out of water and called for rein
forcements, and helicopters made
daring water drops in futile efforts
to douse burning homes.
Smoke and ash eclipsed the sun
over downtown Los Angeles, free
ways and schools were closed,
and wind-borne embers picked
out homes at random, quickly en
gulfing roofs in flame.
"They said, 'It's coming up the
. canyon! It's coming up the
canyon!' so we just got out of
there as fast as we can. I have
nothing but what I'm wearing,"
said Sandra Bohlen, whose three-
bedroom Altadena home burned.
As the 4,000-acre inferno ad
vanced, at least 500 homes were
abandoned. Some residents stayed
behind to hose down roofs.
A fire engine was destroyed in
Altadena, and one firefighter suf
fered smoke inhalation. Other fire
crews stood by helplessly as water
pressure dropped to zero.
Smoke forced St. Luke Medical
Center in nearby north Pasadena
to evacuate 74 patients, who were
transferred to other hospitals.
Two convalescent homes were
evacuated as flames reached their
doors. Elderly residents were tak
en to makeshift shelters at schools.
"It was burning on the grass
outside. It got up to the back door.
I don't know what happened
next," said nurse Ron Green.
In Riverside County, an
11,400-acre blaze damaged or de
stroyed 28 homes and buildings
near Winchester.
Four residents and one fire
fighter were injured, said Bob
Blatz, a spokesman for the Califor
nia Department of Forestry.
In Ventura County northwest
of Los Angeles, a 15,000-acre ar
son blaze destroyed a house and a
mobile home in the Santa Monica
Mountains and burned 12 miles to
the ocean.
Bush Library makes progress
undraising on schedule, $10 million already received
By James Bernsen
The Battalion
I Officials at.Texas A&M University said Wednes
day the George Bush Presidential Library Complex is
progressing well, with the designs almost finalized
nd one-fourth of the needed funds already received.
Don W. Wilson, executive director of the Bush
residential Library Center, said over $10 million
of the $42 million needed has already been collect
ed. Texas A&M will also contribute $40 million to
build the George Bush School of Government and
Public Service.
I Dr. E. Dean Gage, A&M interim president, said
the administration is pleased with the progress of the
library so far.
"It is going extremely well, both in terms of
ndraising and the development of academic pro
rams," Gage said,
p Tim Donathen, assistant vice-chancellor for facili
ties and planning, said construction is still scheduled
i to begin in the fall of 1994, and will be completed in
[January 1997.
I All that remains is to design the minor exterior
details, he said, which should be finalized in the next
month. An environmental impact study must also
be conducted before groundbreaking begins.
John Lindsey, regent and member of the George
Bush Presidential Foundation, said the plans for the
center look good and he is excited with the progress
that has been made.
"Progress has been excellent," he said. "I think
the architects are doing a superlative job."
Lindsey said Bush himself has had much input in
the process and has final say on the details.
"He wants the regents to be pleased and we want
him to be pleased," he said.
Wilson said the center will consist of the library
and museum building, a building that will house an
auditorium and conference center and an academic
building for the school.
The museum section is designed around the same
federal specifications as all other presidential li
braries, Gage said, but has some features that will
make it unique.
"We are very excited about the continuing devel
opment of the center and what it will mean to the Uni
versity," Gage said. "It will bring the kind of progress
that will expand the prestige of the University."
Stop and smell the flowers
Holly Organ, The Battalion
Barbara Schultz, a senior horticulture major from Floriculture/Horticulture Society booth in the
Seminole, Fla., arranges a flower display at the MSC Wednesday.
ikeway Master Plan awaits fate in hands of City Council vote tonight
"he Bikeway
[aster Plan was
lesigned this
summer to pro
vide bicycle facil
ities for citizens
of the College
itation area.
[f the City Coun
cil approves the
plan, the city
could be eligible
for over $1 mil
lion in federal
toney.
By Mark Smith
The Battalion
The College Station City Council
will vote tonight on a proposal to
make the College Station area more
bicycle-friendly.
The plan, called the Bikeway
Master Plan, was designed this
summer by officials from College
Station's office of Planning and
Zoning, the Texas Bicycle Coalition
and local citizens.
According to the proposal, if the
plan is adopted it will "provide
signed, marked bike facilities for
citizens of all ages bicycling for
both recreation and transportation.
These facilities will receive in
creased attention to bike-friendly
design and maintenance."
"The Bikeway Master Plan is
something to benefit the whole
community," said Ed Hard, trans
portation planner for the City of
College Station. "Not only will it
help the students who ride, but also
the recreational cyclist."
Danise Hauser, local coordinator
for the Texas Bicycle Coalition, de
scribed some of the benefits the
community could enjoy.
"Overall, the plan will reduce
congestion and the confusion with
vehicular right of way," Hauser
said. "It is so important for mo
torists and bicyclists to learn to
work together."
Pierre Dube, co-owner and gen
eral manager for Freebird's World
Burrito, said the plan will provide
more access to the University and
community, and safer facilities for
the cyclists.
"Sometimes it's kind of scary to
be a cyclist on the road," Dube said.
If the council does approve the
plan, the city could be eligible for
over $1 million in federal money
ear-marked for bicycle route de
velopment.
"There was a federal transporta
tion bill passed in 1991," Hard said.
"Now we're finally seeing this
money trickle down."
Hard said if the city gets the
money it would be a significant
amount, but would only be a small
portion of the overall cost.
"The federal money would be
great," Hard said. "But there is
going to be major construction as
part of this project and that will
raise the cost."
The main points of the plan in
clude seven miles of on-road
routes, lanes and off-road paths.
Bike routes are a part of the road
way, while bike lanes are separated
from car lanes by a solid white line.
Some other features of the plan
include actuated traffic signals,
bike bridges over currently impass
able creeks and bikeway crossings
under Texas Avenue.
Hauser said although the plan
does provide for bicycle traffic, the
important thing for people to realize
is that bicycles are classified as vehic
ular traffic, not pedestrian traffic.
"Society perpetuates this idea
that bikes are toys," Hauser said.
"They're not toys. They are entitled
to the rights and responsibilities of
traffic laws."
The key to shared roadways,
Hauser said, is the selection of ap
propriate facilities for bicycle trans
portation and the education of both
bicyclists and motorists on how to
share the road safely.
The Bicycle Coalition teamed up
with Freebird's World Burrito for a
petition drive to show the city
council the community's support
for the plan. The petition received
over 3,000 signatures, Hauser said.
Dube said he felt businesses,
such as Freebird's, are powerful
agents for change.
"We would like to affect positive
change," Dube said. "One of our
goals is to make Texas the most bi
cycle-friendly state in the country."
"Overall, the plan will
reduce congestion and
the confusion with ve
hicular right of way. It
is so important for mo
torists and bicyclists to
learn to work together."
-Denise Hauser,
local coordinator for the
Texas Bicycle Coalition
"Sometimes it's kind
of scary to be a cyclist
on the road."
-Pierre Dube,
co-owner of Freebird's
Inside
spsi
Gov. Richards: Government to repay Texas for super collider
Aggielife
•'Just for Jason,' William Shat-
ner's 'Star Trek Memories'
Page 3 & 4
Sports
•Lady Aggie soccer team
kicks off home tournament
Page 7
Opinion
•Editorial: Bike paths will
save lives and money
Page 11
Weather
•Thursday: Mostly cloudy,
highs in the 70s
•Forecast for Friday: Some
clouds, highs in the 80s
Weather
•Wednesday's winning
Texas Lotto numbers:
1,5, 14, 24, 35, 38
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Texas Gov. Ann
Richards said Wednesday she's been assured
by Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary that the
federal government intends
to repay Texas for its size
able investment in the abort
ed super collider project.
Richards was in Washing
ton this week to untangle the
complicated web left by the
death of the $11 billion giant
atom smasher and to lobby
for passage of the North
American Free Trade Agree
ment. Before leaving town,
she planned to meet with President Clinton and
White House chief of staff Mack McLarty.
The meeting with O'Leary had a dual pur-
Richards
pose: to ensure that Texas recoups its $400 mil
lion-plus investment into the super collider;
and to seek administration commitments to
salvage as much as possible of the work al
ready done on the project south of Dallas near
Waxahachie.
"She asked me to consider her my partner
in this effort, that she clearly understood that
the obligation was there and that they intend
ed to satisfy that obligation," Richards said at
a Capitol news conference after she met with
O'Leary.
"I think the Department of Energy is very
anxious to use the portions of the project that
they can complete within the money that they
have available to them," Richards said.
A leading collider supporter. Rep. Jim Chap
man, said congressional critics may be less con
ciliatory than the administration. "Everyone just
fervently hopes there's a way to do this without
litigation," the Sulphur Springs Democrat said
of his fellow collider supporters.
"But I'm not confident the Congress has the
judgment to recognize what's in the country's
long-term economic interest," he said.
Congress will provide $640 million this
year to terminate the collider under an agree
ment hammered out last week by congression
al negotiators and approved Tuesday by the
House. The Energy Department has estimated
the shutdown could top $1.1 billion, but critics
have attacked those figures are inflated and
suggested they will fight any costs they view
as unnecessary.
Some $2 billion has been spent on the
physics experiment under construction 35
miles south of Dallas. In addition to Texas'
$400 million contribution, the state has spent
millions more on building and upgrading
roads leading to the remote site.