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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 1994)
bruar •6850. le forChrj, fmm 1 ' or mation;| The Battalion ^ol. 93 No. 102 (6 pages) s Portationt 8 Luncheo; ie Hawki ing" at or conferi Buildinj call An 1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993 Friday, February 25,1994 of Regents secretaries face tampering charges By Kim McGuire ^ Associal The Battalion Two secretaries for the Texas A&M Board of Re- /"VQuints were indicted Thursday on felony record tam- 9 s StUM®,g charges, and the Texas Rangers and FBI contin- 3°7974 10llG n§ investigate allegations of administrative miscon- A grand jury returned indictments against Vickie 1e i areiflBuHg, Board of Regents secretary, and Sasha Wal- ntnltun ^ Board of Regents administrative assistant, for al- Student Ci'CTiiy altering state vouchers given to a reporter for a ufairsFritpl defunct alternative newspaper, Brazos County ” m _ore ir!:;^i c t Attorney Bill Turner said. 9 845-1515 fWunning was charged with eight counts of falsify- ig government documents by misrepresenting alco- TraditioiiKuj-chased on state vouchers as purchases of food g at 5:00p:B so ft drinks, Turner said. Walters is charged with p.m. <v ub, 607 Tf I formation & the same conduct in a seven-count indictment, he said. The Battalion also obtained copies of purchase vouchers in January from the Board of Regent's office reflecting multiple sales of "food, soft drinks, ice and cups" for the Board from Ruffino Catering. Similarly, the office provided corresponding re ceipts from J.J.'s Package Stores that itemize alcohol purchases billed to the Board of Regents office. Ruffino Catering is listed at the same address of J.J.'s Package Stores and is owned by J.J. Ruffino. The use of state funds to purchase alcohol is illegal. Bob Wiatt, director of University Police. Depart ment, said warrants will be issued for the two women's arrest this morning at the Brazos County Sheriff's Office. "They've agreed to turn themselves in tomorrow," Wiatt said. "They'll probably go through the booking process and make arrangements with their attorneys to post bond." Wiatt said Running and Walters could face up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted on the charges. The University released a statement saying the Texas A&M System was "shocked and disappointed" that the action occurred and will cooperate with the Brazos County grand jury and the Texas Rangers in the continuing investigation. Ross Margraves, chairman of the Board of Regents, said he was saddened by the matter. "I've known these two women since I became a re gent five years ago and have known them to exhibit nothing but high moral character," Margraves said. "Every board member loves them, supports them and will continue to do so even if they're convicted." He said the women were indicted for a practice that has been going on for years. "They were only handling things the way they had been handled prior to them," he said. "This is a matter that has been around for years. Not that it makes it right, but it was not a conspiracy to evade the law." Margraves said he had talked to Running Thursday afternoon and said she was devastated. "I'm 100 percent confident they'll be cleared, though," he said. However, the indictments have left some students less optimistic. Student Body President Brian Walker said A&M should not tolerate such behavior. "It's a very positive thing that Bryan-College Station are pursuing the purchases," Walker said. "If some thing wrong has been done, the law broken, then I hope the University Board can find appropriate mea- See Secretaries/Page 2 Associjlieq slamic xm. al ll informatii &M to go 'Big' time By Mark Smith The Battalion ats: CDAJfte Texas A&M Board of Regents voted unanimously for the Board's conference call Thursday to accept the homa al ivitation to join the Big Eight Conference, on Petrole; Monday the Big Eight offered A&M, the University of Formore:'i«s, Baylor and Texas Tech the chance to join the confer- at822-9Hi|. ■he acceptance makes A&M the second of the four Hols to accept the Big Eight's invitation. The Baylor latulionfcjjar) of Regents voted Wednesday to accept the invita- rofit stolon. nd activitislln order for the merger to take place, the UT and Texas nitted nol ech University boards will have to accept the invitation, n advance he UT and Tech boards will meet today to discuss the of- Applica:: ir. ices are«t"We are proud to have been asked and enthusiastic it be f do tot joining a conference with these eight great universi- iveanyq^es," A&M Interim-President E. Dean Gage said. "This newsrooiJi|vv alignment not only offers new opportunities for all 12 ' Hersities in men's and women's intercollegiate athletics, Hurther establishes an even closer relationship in the ar- -as of teaching, research and public service." fhe acceptance by the board is only the first part in the •ss for A&M to enter the Big Eight, Gage said, his is really just a first initial step," Gage said, ve just given them an answer to their invitation." ■espite leaving, A&M Athletic Director Wally Groff feels empathy for the remaining schools of the South west Conference. "Aggies are traditional," Groff said. "I'm an Aggie and I believe in tradition. But change is inevitable. "Change is always difficult, especially when you're talking about a relationship such as the Southwest Confer ence. I feel this is in the best interest of Texas A&M Uni versity." Ross Margraves, A&M board of regents chairman, wished the invitation could have been extended to all eight members of the SWC. "Everyone at Texas A&M was disappointed that it (the invitations) did not include all of the current members of tire Southwest Conference," Margraves said. "It was a dif ficult decision (to accept the invitation), because of our long standing relationships with the schools not invited." Even without the other four schools of the SWC, the merger would create a conference where every sport would be one of the strongest in the nation, Groff said. "If you look at football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, I think it will be strong viable conference," Groff said. A&M's coaches think the move to the Big Eight will im prove Aggie sports. "This option holds a lot of promise," head football coach R.C. Slocum said. "It seems to have a natural align ment and it will give us more exposure playing in different states." If the merger takes place, the new 12-team conference would begin competition in the 1996-97 football season. Victim continues testimony jury expected to decide today who attacked former student By Angela Neaves The Battalion the victim of an assault contin- ed to testify Thursday in a civil Jourt case involving five Texas A&M tudents and former students. On April 9, 1992, John Morris Valker, a former student who is cur- i llrtly attending Sam Houston State I diversity, and two women left a I Allege Station night club and were allowed by four men to Redstone Hrtments, where Walker was as- aulted. |.A jury will decide if Walker was ssaulted by only 23-year-old Kevin Neil Ormsto, of College Station, or if three of Ormston's friends, Stephen Swan, a senior finance major, Grego ry Pappas, a graduate agricultural economics student and Earl Dyke, a former A&M student, also partici pated in the fight. Walker is suing to recover his medical bills, clothing costs and punitive damages. Walker testified that although he did not see the faces of the men who beat him, he is positive more than one person participated in the as sault. "After I got out of the car I saw a group of men approaching me," Walker said. "I took one punch and went down. From then on I protect ed my head until they finished hit ting and kicking me." Walker suffered a broken nose, a gash under his left eye, bruised ribs and a large bump on his head, he, said. The left side of his face re mained swollen for several days. Walker said. "My nose was swollen and I couldn't breathe," Walker said. "I saw a specialist twice to correct the problem." Chris Kling, the prosecuting attor ney, said Walker is suing for a multi million dollar figure. The jury will announce its deci sion at 9 a.m. Friday. Ilders attempts to snuff out tobacco industry The Associated Press BVASHINGTON — Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders abeled smoking an adolescent addiction Thursday and leuso'd the tobacco industry of trying to convince teen- gers that cigarettes will make them sexy and successful. ^Elders also urged the Federal Trade Commission to Ira v the curtain on RJR Tobacco's Joe Camel cartoon id|, which have just added a Josephine Camel to the cast 'Characters. B'Smoking is not just an adult habit. It is an adolescent ddiction," said Elders. ^■he report also chronicled the marketing practices of he tobacco industry, from the chocolate cigarettes of yore, to the Marlboro man, to sponsoring race cars and peddling lighters, T-shirts, beach blankets and camping gear emblazoned with tobacco brands. Elders said teen-agers who smoke, run higher risks of experimenting with alcohol and drugs, doing poorly in school, fighting, engaging in unsafe sex and even at tempting suicide. Fler report said the average age when smokers tried their first cigarette is 14.5 years, and more than 70 per cent of those who become daily smokers acquired that habit by age 18. Elders said the $4 billion the tobacco industry spends See Smoking/Page 6 Backyard barbecue Amy Browning/THE Battalion Erich Peterson, a freshman mechanical engineering major from Humble, takes advantage of Thursday afternoon's sunny sky and mild temperatures with a barbecue outside Puryear Hall with friends. Temperatures are expected to remain in the 60s Friday. Sports •Profile: All-American [Jennifer McFalls Inside Page 3 Opinion HPro/Con: Should nudity be ■ allowed on network TV HBooher: Economic, social ■ status key issues in gender ■ equality Page 5 Retreat targets cultural awareness among leaders By Melissa Jacobs The Battalion Many Texas A&M student leaders will attend a retreat in Snook, Texas this weekend to pre pare them for dealing with some of the diversity issues they are likely to face. University Awareness for Cul tural Togetherness (U-ACT) brings together current or future leaders from student organiza tions. The Interfraternity Council, MSC Hospitality Council, Excel lence Uniting Culture, Education and Leadership (Excel) and the Aggie Orientation Leader Pro gram, are a few of the organiza tions that will be represented. Trey Lary, MSC Council presi dent-elect, said the retreat is the best way to promote diversity, and he hopes to gain an under standing of all the groups on cam pus. "We need to know how to bet ter address different groups and get a general awareness of differ ent cultures," he said. Sheri Schmidt, student devel opment specialist with the Depart ment of Multicultural Services, said the group will discuss what student leaders can do to help their organizations, and each par ticipant will be asked to set con crete goals for their group. "We ask them to give an as sessment of their own culture and cultural values," she said. "It is really a very intense experience, and it can get very emotional." Schmidt said they like to have a wide cross section of students rep resented at the conference. "We usually have representa tives from student government, and we're hoping to have some Corps members, if their schedule permits," Schmidt said. Richard Stadelmann, associate professor of philosophy and hu manities, said programs such as the U-ACT retreat are an alterna tive to the required multicultural classes. "Only certain cultures are rep resented in the required courses at universities across the country," he said. "Several of the required courses have created great hostili ty. A number of voluntary pro grams would be better than a re quired course as these programs allow for more political correct ness." Schmidt said A&M's proposed multicultural class requirement will not be discussed at the re treat. "There are many parts to multi- culturalism," she said. "Only one part is curriculum and that is not what we are focusing on." See Retreat/Page 6