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1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993 Tuesday, February 8,1994
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Bomb threat delays progress in Hutchison case
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The Associated Press
FORT WORTH - U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
pleaded innocent in court Monday of criminal ethics
:harges, but the first day of proceedings in her trial
tvas delayed because of a bomb threat.
Judge John F. Onion Jr. began consideration of
pretrial motions at 9 a.m. But just 30 minutes later, he
;aid "an emergency has arisen" and postponed the
rial until later in the afternoon.
A person claiming a bomb had been planted in the
Tarrant County Criminal Justice Center called the sher-
ff's department about 7:30 a.m., said Lt. G.M. Hendrix.
The threat was not related to Mrs. Hutchison's tri
al, but instead involved a trial of anti-abortion pro
esters, Hendrix said.
Hendrix said the caller threatened the "baby-killing
udge" and said a bomb would go off at 11:11 a.m.
Hutchison and her attorneys left the courtroom
about 9:30 a.m. All nine floors of the justice center
were evacuated shortly thereafter.
Two sidestreets beside the justice center were then
docked off from traffic, fire trucks were on hand and
he bomb squad arrived. But no bomb was found
Hutchison gets Aggie yell farewell before beginning of trial
By Jennifer Smith
The Battalion
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison received an Ag
gie farewell when she left her Washington D.C., of
fice Friday to begin trial on ethics charges in Fort
Worth.
Dave Beckwith, a spokesman for Hutchison, said
the senator's entire Washington staff surprised her
by organizing an Aggie yell practice in her office.
Hutchison, a former cheerleader for the Univer
sity of Texas, was delighted by the yell practice, but
questioned its appropriateness because she attend
ed A&M's rival school.
Beckwith said there was little discussion about
which school's cheers would be used to show sup
port for Hutchison.
"There's no place in the world with spirit like
Texas A&M," he said.
Beckwith said A&M's cheers also were used be
cause Republicans have traditionally received such
strong support from A&M.
Anne Dumesnil, Class of '93, a staff assistant to
Hutchison, thought of the idea of holding a yell
practice for the senator, and served as a yell leader
for the 25-member staff.
Dumesnil said she prepared sheets of yells to ac
quaint the staff members with the A&M tradition of
yell practice.
"They even humped it," she said.
Instead of yelling "Farmers Fight," they yelled
"KBH Fight." And instead of yelling "Beat the Hell
Outta Texas," they yelled "Beat the Hell Outta Ron
nie Earle," referring to the Travis County district at
torney in Hutchison's case.
and the building reopened around 11:30 a.m.
Before the postponement, Hutchison, seated in
the courtroom next to her lead attorney, Dick
DeGuerin, waived an arraignment and pleaded in
nocent to all charges.
"She wants to say in front of the jury, 'I'm not
guilty,"' DeGuerin said.
Hutchison was tight-lipped toward reporters'
questions about the trial as she entered the court
room with her attorneys and husband, Ray. When
asked whether missing Senate business concerned
her, she responded: "Oh, of course it does. It makes
me feel terrible that I'm going to miss votes."
According to indictments handed up by a Travis
County grand jury, Hutchison, 50, used state funds,
state employees and state computers for her cam
paign, and then altered records as part of a cover-
up.
Hutchison, a Republican, was state treasurer from
January 1991 to June 1993.
See Trial/Page 12
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TEXA:.S ASs/vV
Trials, tribulations of
first black students
By Jennifer Smith
The Battalion
f ames Courtney felt like a fish out of water when he
| stepped onto the Texas A&M campus in the early
/ 1960s.
Courtney, one of the first black students admitted to
Texas A&M, said he saw only a "handful" of blacks walking
around campus.
Although there were no riots, protests or blocked doors
by the governor, Courtney was hardly welcomed to the
University by his white peers.
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His worst experience with racism at
A&M was being forced to hear and sing
"nigger j‘odys." A jody is a song sung in
unison by a military outfit as they run
or Walk in formation.
— Samuel Williams, former black student
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"We weren't wanted, especially by the majority of stu
dents," he said.
Courtney said the black students' presence was hardly
noticed by most students most of the time.
"But there were times when I was spat on," he said.
"Students knocked books out of my hand and sometimes
wouldn't speak to me."
Courtney said many students looked through him and
not at him.
Samuel Williams was barely 17 when he came to A&M in
the fall of 1964. He was one of only three black students in
the Corps of Cadets, which was still mandatory for A&M
students at the time.
"Some people treated you well," Williams said. "Some
people kept you at arms length."
Williams said his worst experience with racism at A&M
was being forced to hear and sing "nigger jodys."
A jody is a song sung in unison by a military outfit as
they run or walk in formation.
Cadets in Williams' time would sing jodys filled with
racial slurs and derogatory lines.
The demands of the Corps put even more pressure on
Williams and other black cadets.
Besides being able to get away with regular hazing,
Williams said Corps members could go even further and get
away with it.
For personal reasons, Williams did not finish his four
years in the Corps. He left school and came back as an ath
lete where the discrimination was even worse.
He and J.T. Reynolds were the first blacks on A&M's
football team.
"They didn't want us there," Williams said. "They were
told to get rid of us."
Williams was not allowed to play, despite being told he
was the best wide receiver in the Southwest Conference.
Many blacks folded under the pressure of being minority
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See Students / Page 12
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J§ Candlelight vigil tonight
a *’ for AIDS-affected families
p A candlelight vigil will be held at 9 p.m. tonight at the All Faiths
„ Chapel on the Texas A&M campus to show support for the individuals
and families that have been affected by AIDS and HIV.
j*/333'' Everyone is invited to the vigil, and attendants will be given candles
to light.
)»/205'‘ The ceremony not only recognizes those who have been affected by
tine disease, but it also acknowledges the impact AIDS has had on the
)*/270' lives of everyone.
, ; Brian Walker, student body president, and Dr. Kenneth Dirks, direc-
l*/ 643 tor of A.P. Beutel Health Center, will speak at the vigil.
I The vigil is part of AIDS Awareness Week.
nunW
Got a little story for you ...
Ream Nuhavitza/The Battalion
Rose "Red Elk" Hardman speaks in the MSC Flag Room to children tion to celebrate the opening ceremony for Native American Week,
from kindergarten through second grade from Bryan's Education Sta- Feb. 7-12.
Clinton credits Houston crime decrease
with mayor putting more police on streets
The Associated Press
HOUSTON — President Clinton praised
Houston Mayor Bob Lanier for putting more
police on Houston's streets, resulting in a
dramatic decrease in the city's crime rate.
"He's given America its best reason for
passing a crime bill," Clinton said at a lun
cheon address before nearly 1,000 members
of the Greater Houston Partnership, a group
of city business leaders.
"We know this is an issue without party
or racial or economic labels," Clinton said.
"If you have more police on the street... they
will not only catch criminals quicker but they
also will deter crime."
Clinton used the Lanier example to push
his own crime package, which he promises
will add 100,000 more officers to the nation's
streets.
The president, who arrived in Houston
Sunday for a Democratic Party fundraiser,
began his day Monday with a jog through
Hermann Park with several members of the
Houston Police Department.
"I think we both did all right," Officer
Michael Jones said. "I guess I was so
pumped up."
"He was setting a good pace," another of
ficer, Lawrence Mouton, said. "I just hope I
can do that when I reach his age."
Later in the morning, Clinton met with
Democratic supporters.
"He took time with everybody," Mary Al-
mendarez said. "We really loved it."
He also planned to tour some of the train
ing facilities at Johnson Space Center before
flying to Shreveport, La.
Ironically, his visit to the NASA center
Monday coincided with release of his budget
for next year which would cut the space
agency by $131 million, the first cut in the
NASA budget in 21 years.
In his speech, Clinton touted his adminis
tration's efforts in getting a budget deficit re
duction measure passed last year. Without
approval of the package, the North American
Free Trade Agreement never would have
passed later in the year because everyone in
Washington would have become bogged
down in the deficit matter, he said.
He also put in a pitch for his health care
program, saying there would be no ultimate
solution to the federal deficit until skyrocket
ing costs in the Medicare-Medicaid programs
are resolved.
President Clinton was in Houston as part
of a three-day Southern swing designed to
fatten the Democratic Party coffers and pro
mote his new federal budget.
The President was expected to raise $2
million dollars Sunday night at a glitzy Texas
Presidential Dinner and Gala at Houston's
Wortham Center, the money is to be divided
between the Democratic National Committee
and the Texas Democratic Party.
Clinton is trying to build support in Texas
where his approval ratings dropped into the
20s last year before rebounding to 50 percent
range in recent months.
HIV-infected women inform
students of life with virus
By Angela Neaves
The Battalion
Two Houston women offered Texas A&M students a first hand ac
count of what life with HIV is like during a presentation sponsored by
the HIV/ AIDS Committee.
The women, Amy Dolph and Geri Briggs, are representatives from
the AIDS Foundation of Houston. They have given presentations to
both junior high and high school students.
Dolph said she became infected with the human immunodeficiency
virus through heterosexual intercourse with her second partner. She
discovered she had the virus when she was 18 years old.
After donating blood, Dolph received a certified letter from a blood
bank telling her HIV antibodies had been discovered in ker blood.
Dolph said she tries to stay healthy while still enjoying her life.
"If you are putting yourself at risk and get infected with this virus.
See AIDS / Page 12
Inside
lllillliiM
Aggielife
•Behind the scenes of AIDS
Awareness
Page 3
Sports
•Lady Aggies break in AP
Top 25
Page 8
Opinion
•Editorial: New Bonfire wake
up policy a waste of time
Page 11