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The Battalion
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1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993
Thursday, December 9,1993
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Sen. Hutchison indicted again on ethics charges
The Associated Press
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AUSTIN - U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey
ilutchison, R-Texas, was indicted
vithhisspor a second time Wednesday on
thics charges stemming from her
l/2-year tenure as state treasurer.
Assistant Travis County Dis-
ict Attorney Steve McCleery said
a grand jury handed up indict-
ents alleging the same charges
s a previous grand jury did on
pt. 27.
Hutchison, 50, who became the
. Jirst woman senator from Texas
u tour scMy winning a special election June
4rs. AmedB had been indicted in September
n four felony counts and one
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misdemeanor charge.
She was accused of using Trea
sury employees to perform per
sonal and political chores on state
time and of attempting to cover
up the activity by destroying com
puter records containing the em
ployees' work files.
On Oct. 26, those charges were
dropped after Hutchison's
lawyers discovered that a grand
juror who investigated her case
faced an outstanding theft charge,
thus making him ineligible to
serve on the panel.
Travis County District Attor
ney Ronnie Earle took the case to
the second grand jury, which also
We're almost ho?ne free'
Hubble space telescope
repairs nearly complete
The Associated Press
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Final exam schedule
7:30-9:30 a.m.
10a.m.-12 noon
12:30-2:30 p.m.
3-5 p.m.
Friday, December 10
Classes meeting MW 5:45-7 or later
Classes meeting MWF 8
Classes meeting TR 9:35-10:50
Classes meeting TR 11:10-12:25
8-10 a.m.
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
1-3 p.m.
3:30-5:30 p.m.
Monday, December 13
Classes meeting MWF 9:10-10
Classes meeting MWF 12:40-1:30
Classes meeting TR 8-9:15
Classes meeting MW 4:10-5:25
8-10 a.m.
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
1-3 p.m.
3:30-5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, December 14
Classes meeting MWF 10:20-11:10
Classes meeting MWF 3-3:50
Classes meeting TR 3:55-5:10
Classes meeting MWF 1:50-2:40
8-10 a.m.
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
1-3 p.m.
3:30-5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, December 15
Classes meeting TR 12:45-2
Classes meeting MWF 11:30-12:20
Classes meeting TR 2:20-3:35
Classes meeting TR 5:30-6:45 or later
"I am relieved that we can finally
get to court. The truth will reveal
that no wrongdoing occurred at the
Treasury during my tenure there."
-Kay Bailey Hutchison,
U.S. Senator
handed up four felony charges
and a misdemeanor count.
Also charged for a second time
were two former aides to Hutchi
son, Mike Barron and David Criss.
They were accused of official mis
conduct. Their earlier indictments
also had been dismissed.
Hutchison has denied any
wrongdoing and called the inves
tigation a Democratic plot to
weaken her re-election chances.
She filed Friday to seek a full, six-
year term in next year's elections.
"This is a sad day for Texas
and its political system. At least, I
am relieved that we can finally get
to court. The truth will reveal that
no wrongdoing occurred at the
Treasury during my tenure there,"
she said in a written statement.
"A fair and nonpartisan jury
will agree, and the political moti
vation of this prosecution will be
exposed," she said.
McCleery insisted that the in
vestigation had nothing to do
with politics.
"This case is not about politics.
This case is about ethics and hon
esty in government. As the evi
dence comes out in trial, that will
be apparent," he said.
The charges against Hutchison
carry a maximum of 51 years in
prison.
Hutchison's lead attorney, Dick
DeGuerin, said he would seek to
start the trial before Christmas.
The indictments allege Hutchi
son used state employees and
equipment for political and cam
paign purposes and then de
stroyed records in a coverup.
She was indicted on charges of
official misconduct, tampering
with evidence and tampering with
governmental records.
Aggies shock UNLV, 68-62
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Menthf SPACE CENTER, Houston — With its new eyeglasses installed, the
I un j e| : J j Tubble Space Telescope's repairs were nearly complete Wednesday
ad interfr inc ^ s P acewa ^ er Jeffrey Hoffman exulted: "We're almost home free.'
«. Only a few tasks remained for the fifth and final spacewalk
later twfi vem ^^ t ~ t ^ ie t ^ r< ^ ^ or the team of Hoffman and Story Musgrave.
f intv la l! Happy NASA managers planned to mark the end of the sky-high re-
* pair effort with two events as symbolic as they were vital: raising the
telescope's orbit slightly and spreading its new solar wings.
'We've got basically a new telescope up there," said Hoffman, an as-
onomer. "It's going to be real exciting for the astronomical communi-
y and for the whole world to see what Hubble really can do with a
;ood set of eyeballs."
Hoffman and Musgrave were to install an electronics unit for one of
he solar panels put in place Monday and another electronics box. The
lob was time-consuming because of the difficulty of making electrical
onnections with clunky space-gloved hands.
The astronauts also had an unforeseen task, installing a cover, hand-
ade inside the Endeavour cabin from an insulated blanket, for a mag-
) a se<MB ie * :ometer ' w hi c h helps guide the telescope by measuring Earth's mag-
abltii net ’ c held. Two sides of the magnetometer enclosure, high on the tele-
M ‘ scope, came off in Hoffman's hands when he worked with it earlier.
Toward the end of their work in the cargo bay, a ground command
[was to unfurl the solar panels installed earlier in the week. The wings,
as wide as the telescope is tall, are made of huge sheets of fiberglass-re
inforced Teflon held in place by metal struts.
They gather energy from the sun and channel it to batteries that
power the telescope's instruments.
Shuttle commander Richard Covey had been so stingy in his use of
shuttle fuel that enough was left to carry the telescope to an orbit four
miles higher — 369 miles.
The Hubble, which is to be released from the Endeavour early Fri
day, has no propulsive power of its own. The boost is desirable because
its altitude degrades over time.
Kyle Bumctt/rhc Battalion
Damon Johnson, a junior forward on the A&M basketball team, White Coliseum Wednesday night. The Aggies battled back from a
celebrates an Aggie victory over UNLV with some fans at G. Rollie 1 6-point deficit to claim the win. See story on Page 3.
Gunman 'brimmed with racial hatred'
Jamaican citizen targeted Asians, Caucasians in subway shooting spree
The Associated Press
MINEOLA, N.Y. — The gunman who turned
a commuter rail car into a terror train brimmed
with racial hatred and targeted the suburbs be
cause he didn't want to embarrass New York's
black mayor, authorities said Wednesday.
All those shot were white or Asian — two of
the groups disparaged in four pages of rambling
handwritten notes taken from the gunman after
Tuesday's killings aboard the 5:33 p.m. Long Is
land Rail Road train out of Penn Station.
Colin Ferguson, a 35-year-old naturalized
citizen from Jamaica, was held without bail
Wednesday after his arraignment on four
counts of murder and a weapons possession
count. The heavyset black man did not speak
or enter a plea at the hearing.
The notes listed the "reasons for this: Adel-
phi University racism, EEOC racism. Work
men's Compensation Board. Racism of Gov.
Cuomo's staff ... Additional reasons for this:
Caucasian racism and Uncle Tom Negroes."
He also cited "Chinese racism."
Without saying a word, he opened fire on
other riders just before the train arrived at a
suburban Garden City station. Calmly walking
up the aisle, he blasted away for three horrific
minutes, pausing only to reload.
"He would turn one way and shoot, then
turn the other and shoot, and I thought to my
self, 'This can't be happening,' " said Carl Pe
tersen, a banker who was seated near the front
of the car.
"He would turn one way and
shoot, then turn the other and
shoot, and I thought to myself,
'This can't be happening/ "
-Carl Peterson, witness
When the shooting ended, four people were
dead, 19 wounded by gunshots and two others
hurt in the crush. A fifth person died Wednes
day, and one of the wounded was being kept
alive on a life support system.
The gunman unloaded 30 to 50 rounds as he
walked through the third car of the train, said
Assistant District Attorney Barry Grennan. He
had apparently stopped to reload his 9mm
Ruger semiautomatic when three commuters-
jumped and subdued him, authorities said.
One of his captors quoted him as saying,
"I've done a bad thing," according to the
Daily News.
Grennan said it appeared Ferguson began
preparing for the crime more than 15 days ago.
The carnage could have been worse; the
gunman brought aboard a small canvas bag
filled with 100 more rounds of ammunition
for his 16-shot weapon, enough to shoot
dozens more of the 90 passengers aboard, au
thorities said.
Ferguson purchased the $324.74 handgun in
California after complying with a 15-day wait
ing period, said spokesman John O'Brien of
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
"I consider this an outrageous crime moti
vated by bias," said Nassau County District
Attorney Denis Dillon.
The railroad was investigating reports that
the train's engineer told conductors not to
open the doors when the train stopped at the
station, trapping commuters inside, said LIRR
spokeswoman Susan McGowan.
Ferguson, who lives in Brooklyn, boarded
the train in New York City's borough of
Queens, quietly speaking with the conductor
at one point about his ticket, said Nassau Chief
of Detectives Richard Fiero.
Post Oak Mall steps up security for holidays
By Jennifer Kiley
livers'^
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The Battalion
Malls attract more shoppers and thieves
during the holiday season, and College Sta
tion's Post Oak Mall is no exception.
Ann Kyle, general manager of Post Oak
Mall, said more security guards are hired dur
ing the holiday season to solve this problem.
"We definitely hire more security during
December," Kyle said. "We put as many secu
rity officers on duty as we can. We also hired
four deputy sheriffs."
Raymond McCarver, Post Oak Mall chief of
security, said the most common crime committed
during the holiday season is burglary of vehicles.
Customers should lock packages in the
trunks of their cars and not leave them in
plain sight."
"We provide constant inside
and outside patrol."
-Raymond McCarver,
Post Oak chief of security
McCarver also said shoppers can avoid be
coming crime victims by not getting over
whelmed by shopping and paying attention to
their surroundings and their children.
"If someone is shopping with children, they
should make sure the kids are well attended,"
McCarver said. "We have a lot of lost children
during this time of the year."
Kyle said shoppers who are victims of a
crime should report the incident immediately.
"If there is a security problem, shoppers
should go to the customer service booth or to a
store and have an employee contact security,"
Kyle said. "Too many people do nothing
when they are involved in a crime."
Post Oak Mall also offers services to its cus
tomers to prevent crimes.
"We provide constant inside and outside
patrol," McCarver said. "If anyone has an
abundance of packages, we will escort them to
their vehicle. We will do pretty much any
thing we can to make them feel safe."
Dorothy Miller, shopper and College Sta
tion resident, said she is aware of the need
for more security during December, but she
is not concerned.
"I can tell the security is increased now,"
Miller said. "That is wonderful. I never wor
ried about being robbed or attacked or any
thing while I am shopping, but it is nice to see
they are working to prevent it."
Inside
Sports
•A&M shocks UNLV, 68-62
in come-from-behind victory
Page 3
Agpelife
►Texas A&M student elected
as national FFA president
Page 5
Opinion
►Editorial: Students need a
dead week, not a dead day
Page 11