The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 11, 1994, Image 1

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ol. 93 No. 112 (6 pages)
The Battalion
1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993
Friday, March 11,1994
hree finalists named for A&M president position
By Lisa Elliott
The Battalion
I A list of three candidates for the posi-
|on of president of Texas A&M was pre-
nted to Dr. William Mobley, chancellor
f the University System, Thursday by
e Presidential Search Advisory Com-
ittee.
The finalists are Dr. Ray Bowen, inter-
iin president of Oklahoma State Universi-
Dr. James Corbridge Jr., chancellor of
the University of Colorado at Boulder;
and Dr. Luis Proenza, acting vice presi
dent for academic affairs and research of
the University of Alaska System.
The list of candidates was sent to Mob
ley and the Board of Regents during a
workshop session Thursday in Laredo.
The three finalists were selected by a
20-member committee comprised of stu
dents, staff, faculty and representatives
from the Association of Former Students.
Brooke Leslie, judicial chair of student
government and a member of the selec
tion committee, said the committee was
looking for candidates who have a strong
academic history with a talent for leader
ship, a vision for the future and a good
relationship with students.
"An understanding of A&M is essen
tial, but bringing in fresh and new ideas
is also important," she said.
Leslie said the candidate who is select
ed as president will have a tough job
ahead of him for the first few months in
trying to undo the controversy the Uni
versity has been involved in recently.
"There's been a lot of controversy sur
rounding A&M lately," she said. "Who
ever is selected will come in with a lot of
package, but all three would be able to
handle it."
Bowen has a bachelor's and a doctoral
degree in mechanical engineering from
Texas A&M and a master's from the Cali
fornia Institute of Technology and, prior
to his appointment as interim president at
Oklahoma State, he was provost and vice
president for academic affairs at the uni
versity. He also served as deputy assis
tant director for engineering with the Na
tional Science Foundation and as dean of
the College of Engineering at the Univer
sity of Kentucky and was a professor in
the Department of Mechanical Engineer
ing at Rice University.
Corbridge has a bachelor's degree in
See President/Page 6
ice system in need
f redesign, officials say
[any offenders use loopholes to escape punishment
By Jan Higginbotham
The Battalion
I Pressure is rising on government officials to
get tougher on criminals, and some Texas
A&M University officials said the justice sys
tem is not designed to work for victims.
I Ben Crouch, associate dean of the College of
Liberal Arts, said the justice system is de
signed to deter those individuals who might
be public offenders.
I "Historically, the victim tends to be left out
of the equation," Crouch said. "Crime is a sit
uation in which the state ultimately becomes
the victim. If I kill you, the state moves as if it
is the aggrieved party."
I Crouch said loopholes exist in laws so that a
single person does not decide a criminal's fate,
tiie law does.
I "Those safeguards can be avenues whereby
offenders do get off," he said. "That is some
thing we have to accept in a system that is
ailed by laws not persons."
Bob Wiatt, director of the University Police
epartment, said the justice system is not the
controller of violence; it is society's problem.
I "The system is not responsible for all of so
ciety's problems," Wiatt said. "It is overbur-
4ened and overwhelmed by the number of
people committing crimes. The system is inca
pable of taking care of all these cases."
I Crouch said some criminals have to slip by
if the system is going to work.
I "If you remove the safeguards of a guilty
party getting off, you've removed the techni
calities for somebody who is likely to be inno
cent to get off," Crouch said.
People tend to expect too much from the
justice system, he said.
"We can't have a cop on every corner,"
Crouch said. "If we have to rely on police and
the courts to keep peace, we are in trouble."
Wiatt said it is a determined fact that the
justice system is weak.
"The system is weak to the point that crimi
nals know the system is working for them,"
Wiatt said. "The criminals know that if they
get 10 years, they are only going to serve one."
Wiatt said the weakness in the system stems
from the overcrowding problem in prisons
and the government must deal with that prob
lem.
"What the justice system is looking at is the
prisons should be used for violent offenders,"
he said. "We're looking at having minimum
security prisons for less violent offenders."
Beth Price, coordinator for the Citizens
Crime Commission, said building more pris
ons is not going to help.
"Prison is not a deterrent to crime," Price
said. "Laws need to be tougher. Legislators
need to change those laws that are no longer
effective and which make favor the criminal."
Price said current laws do more to protect
the criminal than the victim.
"Tine time is coming that society is tired of
being victimized," she said. "The majority of
the citizens have finally reached the point
where they can take no more."
Wiatt said a solution will not be found until
society realizes crime has gotten out of hand
and decides to deal with it.
"Society has got to deal with this and you
can't dump it on a small part of society in the
justice system," he said. "Nobody knows the
proper solution, because the proper solution is
going to take lots of money."
Israelis wound 16 Palestinians
after attack on Jewish enclave
The Associated Press
HEBRON, Occupied West Bank — Pales
tinians still angry two weeks after a Jewish set
tler massacred Muslim worshipers attacked
the main Jewish enclave with stones and burn
ing tires Thursday.
Israeli troops answered the attack, which
occurred after a curfew was briefly lifted, with
bullets and tear gas. Sixteen Palestinians were
wounded, one seriously, and two dozen were
treated for tear-gas inhalation.
Some of the protesters yelled "settlers out!"
and others set tires ablaze and rolled them to
ward army positions. Protests also erupted
near the Tomb of the Patriarchs where the
massacre took place.
Troops protecting the Beit Hadassah settler
compound fired tear gas, live ammunition and
rubber bullets into groups of Palestinians,
some hurling stones with slingshots.
The PLO has demanded that Beit Hadassah
and several other settlements be evacuated to
reduce tensions and clear the way for resump
tion of Israel-PLO peace talks.
Palestinian sources said Thursday that PLO
leader Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin were expected to meet in
Washington within two weeks to try to get
the talks back on track.
Israel rejected a pitch by Russian Foreign
Minister Andrei Kozyrev to gather all parties
to the Middle East peace talks in Moscow,
with Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon
Peres saying they had to focus on the agree
ments already signed.
But Kozyrev is due in the region Saturday
bearing a message from President Boris
Yeltsin to Israel and the PLO.
Thursday's unrest began after the army lift
ed the curfew for two hours to allow Palestini
ans to shop for this weekend's Id Al-Fitr holi
day marking the end of Ramadan, the holy
month of fasting.
Noam Amon, a spokesman for the 450 set
tlers in Hebron, said Palestinians used mosque
loudspeakers overnight to threaten the settlers
in Hebrew. "Your day will come, and we will
destroy all of you," he quoted the message as
saying.
Danny Hizmy, a Beit Hadassah resident,
said the army asked settlers to stay indoors
while the curfew was lifted, but several defied
the request to show they could not be cowed.
Also Thursday, Israeli troops shot and
killed an 18-year-old Palestinian, Moussa
Dawas, during a clash in the Deir el Balah
refugee camp in the occupied Gaza Strip, Arab
reporters said.
Monkey around
Fifth graders from Henderson Elementary School in
Bryan play on the jungle gym at Spence Park Thursday
afternoon. The children were on a field trip to visit the
Amy Browning/THE Battalion
Mimbres art exhibit as part of their social studies class
and were enjoying the park during their lunch break
before going to visit the military museum.
Wild West revisited
Texans question use
of harsh self-defense
to protect property
The Associated Press
HOUSTON - In the days of the
Wild West, the theft of a horse could
easily endanger one's life by stranding
the rider hundreds, perhaps thousands
of miles from food and safety. The so
lution? Shoot first, if it prevents the
theft.
But the recent fatal shootings of a
visiting Scottish businessman and a car
repo man in Houston has some raising
questions about the broad applications
of the Texas self-defense statute, which
allows homeowners to defend both
property and self with "deadly force"
during nighttime hours.
In Texas, crimes as minor as say,
egging a house, can legally be greeted
with gunfire — if the homeowner
proves his property or personal safety
is threatened.
"Compared to most states, it is very
harsh," said Robert Schuwerk, a Uni
versity of Houston Law Center profes
sor.
In the early 1970s states were asked
to adopt or tailor what became known
as the modem penal code.
"Almost every state is going to be
fairly liberal in protecting yourself,
your child, whatever," said Schuwerk.
"But most states take the view that
property is a much lesser issue than a
self-defense type of issue."
For instance, in New York, deadly
force can only be used to protect prop
erty in cases of arson or burglary. The
Texas law, in comparison,extends it to
include such minor offenses as theft
and criminal mischief during the night
time.
"Criminal mischief can be just about
anything," said Sandra Guerra, an as
sistant law professor at the University
of Houston and former Manhattan
prosecutor. "It can be egging your
house."
"It's very broad," Guerra says of the
Texas statute. "It gives homeowners
the right to deadly force in many more
situations that even involve trivial vio
lation of property rights."
In 19th century Texas, crimes such
as criminal mischief and theft of prop
erty were much more serious.
"If I were in West Texas and some
one stole my horse, I would probably
die," reasons Schuwerk. With a lack of
police force, property owners literally
had no choice but to take the law in
their own hands.
But in 1994, what is the threat?
Schuwerk gives an example.
"Say you've got this crazy guy in
the back yard, yelling and shouting
that he needs to make a phone call,"
explains Schuwerk. "...All you have to
believe is, that if you go out there, the
guy will take the gun away. Even if I
believe that I don't really need to use
deadly force, I can because I might get
hurt if I didn't."
Sound far-fetched?
On Jan. 7, Andrew De Vries, a visit
ing businessman from Aberdeen, Scot
land, was fatally shot in the predawn
hours by homeowner Jeffrey Agee.
De Vries and another Scottish busi
nessman, Sydney Graves, were wind
ing up a night on the town when the
shooting occurred. The two were being
driven back to their hotel by a man and
woman they had met when De Vries
for some reason wanted out of the car,
police said.
Graves got out too, and the two men
then started knocking on doors in
"It gives homeowners
the right to deadly force
in many more situations
that even involve trivial
violation of property
rights."
- Sandra Guerra,
assistant law professor
Agee's upscale west Houston neigh
borhood around 4 a.m. De Vries rang
Agee's doorbell twice, hiding each time
Agee came to the door. He then
jumped a backyard fence and banged
on glass doors. Agee, fearing for his
family's safety, shot De Vries. Agee
was cleared of the shooting by a grand
jury last month.
Then on Feb. 25, in the early morn
ing hours, Jerry Casey Jr. fired on Tom
my Dean Morris, whom he thought
was stealing his car. Morris was legally
repossessing the car because Casey was
three days late on a payment.
Inside
•A&M crushes SMU
Mustangs 85-66
•A&M women's tennis
beats Baylor
Opinion
•Landauer: Dealing with a
dislike of Barney
Page 5
Controversy arises over meaning of Iron Cross
By Geneen Pipher
Page 3
The Battalion
Some members of Texas A&M Universi
ty's German Club are upset over the group's
decision to include the Iron Cross on its T-
shirts, saying the cross is a Nazi symbol of
racism and white supremacy.
Julie Gray, a senior German major and for
mer treasurer of the German Club, in a letter
to The Battalion called the club's use of the
Iron Cross "offensive" and "belligerent".
The cross is a symbol of a "vicious, white
supremist war machine bent upon genocide,"
Gray said.
"The symbol has been used in the past
military history, but it was reissued during
the second World War by Adolf Hitler and
the Third Reich," she said. "What the Iron
"What the Iron Cross symbol
izes to most people today is
racism and white supremacy."
- Julie Gray, a senior German
major and former treasurer of the
German Club
Cross symbolizes to most people today is
racism and white supremacy, especially to
Jewish people. I just find that extremely of
fensive."
John Bartram, a senior German major and
president of the A&M German Club, said the
Iron Cross is an ancient Germanic symbol
that has been used by the German people
since 1190 and is in no way a symbol of
racism.
"Racism and Nazism are ugly to me," he
said. "I don't hate —I am not that kind of
person. The history of the Iron Cross goes
way back to medieval times and has never
been a symbol of white supremacy. It is a re
ligious symbol.
"It is the cross that the German knights wore
when they went off for the Crusades. The cross
was first made into a medal in 1813 and was
presented to soldiers to commemorate the free
ing of the German states from Napoleon."
Bartram concedes the Iron Cross was is
sued in 1939 by the Nazis, but maintains it is
not a symbol of racism, but a symbol of Ger
man heritage.
See German/Page 2