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Tuesday and Wednesday, fair at night with sunny and
very hot days. Lows in the 70s., highs from TOO to 108.
— National Weather Service
Sports
Slocum gives his opinion about
moving The Cotton Bowl.
Page 3
Opinion
Columnist Stavenhagen says college students tend to
overlook the wisdom of age, preferring the familiarity
of their own flock. Page 5
Bowen names Gaston
interim finance and
administration vp
MMMHMMnMMHMMNI
Texas A&M University President
Dr. Ray Bowen on Monday named
Dr. Jerry Gaston as interim vice presi
dent for finance and administration.
He replaces Dr. Robert Smith, who
was re-assigned two weeks ago to
the position of executive director of
special operations.
In his new position, Gaston will
oversee departments that are respon
sible for athletic compliance, business
services, food services, Physical
Plant, parking, human resources, fis
cal affairs, procurement and materials
services, operations analysis and the
University police.
He will evaluate the structure of
the finance and administration divi
sion for possible reorganization.
Gaston arrived in College Station
in 1981 as professor and head of the
sociology department. Most recently,
he has served as executive associate
provost, second-in-command of
A&M’s academic programs.
“I have spent much of my time in
the provost’s office promoting plan
ning and cooperation,” Gaston said. “I
look forward to bringing the same
commitment to the Division of Fi
nance and Administration.”
A&M greeks petition
to try teen as adult
Texas A&M's chapters of Alpha
Kappa Alpha sorority and Alpha Phi
Alpha fraternity are collecting signa
tures for a petition to try 15-year-olds
as adults.
The petition was started as a re
sult of the May 23 murders of Regi
nald Broadus and Crystal Milfer, two
A&M students, in DeSoto. One of the
two suspects that were arrested in the
case was 15.
The petition can be signed in the
Office of Minority Student Services in
Harrington 108X on Tuesday from 8
a.m. to 5 p.m.
A&M prof named
leader of TSCPA
Texas CPAs named a Texas A&M
University professor as a leader of the
Texas Society of Certified Public Ac
countants (TSCPA) during a recent
annual meeting of the 31,000-mem
ber organization.
Larry Gene Pointer will serve as
treasurer-elect of the TSCPA Execu
tive Committee.
The committee manages pro
grams and activities designed to
strengthen professional and ethical
standards of the membership in order
to protect the interest of the public.
Pointer, an associate professor in
the College of Business Administra
tion, has been a TSCPA member
since 1975. He is also a past presi
dent of the Brazos Valley Chapter.
TSCPA is a non-profit organization
dedicated to promoting professional
ism among CPAs and influencing ex
cellence in education.
With 31,000 members, the TSCPA
has the largest in-state membership
of any CPA organization in the nation.
Senators set goal for
health care coverage
WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite
President Clinton’s renewed pressure
for a health bill that covers all Ameri
cans, senators predicted Monday the
Finance Committee would reject em
ployer mandates and adopt a plan
that stops short of universal cover
age.
Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-
N.Y., the chairman, said his mind
wasn't made up on whether to pro
pose mandates in the bill that the
panel will begin voting on Wednes
day.
Democrats John Breaux of
Louisiana and Kent Conrad of North
Dakota predicted the panel would re
ject a proposal for standby mandates
on employers and vote for a plan
modeled on the one crafted by their
bipartisan group.
"We believe very strongly that
when you get up toward 95 percent,
it’s very close to universal coverage,”
Chafee said after a private Finance
Committee meeting to discuss his
proposal.
Classified
Comics
Opinion
Sports
Not so for ‘happy hours’
MADD campaigns to ban Texas drink specials
AUSTIN (AP) — The state chairman of restaurant owners maintain the price of a “It has some merit. This ordinanc
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TUESDAY
June 28, 1994
Vol. 93, No. 164 (6 pages)
“Serving Texas A&M since 1893”
Grand jury
hears Ranger
AUSTIN (AP) — The state chairman of
Mothers Against Drunk Driving on Monday
urged the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Com
mission to ban “happy hours” in Texas.
“Happy hour in Texas induces people to
drink more, turns more drunk drivers out on
the road and causes fatalities,” said Kirk
Brown, who heads the
state’s MADD chapter.
“It’s not a happy situ
ation for the victims or
the victims’ families.”
Officials with the
Texas Restaurant As
sociation oppose MAD-
D’s efforts and say the
current regulations on
happy hours are
strong enough.
The two sides agreed
after a public hearing Monday to meet and
discuss a possible compromise. The earliest
the TABC is likely to consider any new regu
lations is in August.
Brown proposed a regulation to the three-
person commission aimed at gutting the ap
peal of happy hours: reduced drink prices.
The proposal requires that bar and
restaurant owners maintain the price of a
drink for weeklong intervals, thus wiping
out the one-day or even hours-long drink dis
counts that often attract customers.
“We are asking for a posted price and you
can change it weekly,” Brown said. “So if the
bar has a price for a beer of a penny, they have
"Happy hour in Texas induces people to drink more, turn
more drunk drivers out on the road and causes fatalities."
— Kirk Brown, head of the Texas MADD chapter
to sell it to everybody for a penny all week.
They can’t afford to do that financially.”
Brown said the regulation would help
eliminate a preponderance of penny beer
specials in college bars across the state.
Randy Yarbrough, assistant administrator
of the TABC, said MADD’s proposal is based
on a law already in effect in Massachusetts.
It has some merit. This ordinance has
worked well in Massachusetts,” Yarbrough
said. “It’s not something that has been thrown
together by any means. I am sure the commis
sion will give serious consideration to it.”
Richie Jackson, executive vice president
of the Texas Restaurant Association, said
there is no evidence to
show that drunken dri
ving accidents increase
during the times of
happy hours specials.
Jackson said MADD’s
recommendation would
punish restaurant own
ers who often create fes
tive themes to attract
customers based upon
drink discounts.
“We would lose the
ability to creatively merchandise our prod
ucts,” he said.
Jackson contends that MADD’s underlying
effort is to stifle the advertising of alcohol.
“They are prohibitionists who fight to ac
complish their purpose of diminishing promo
tion and merchandising under the guise of try
ing to diminish consumption,” Jackson said.
By Michele Brinkmann
The Battalion
A Brazos County grand
jury began hearing evidence
from the Texas Rangers
Monday, marking another
phase of a 10-month investi
gation into allegations of
misconduct by Texas A&M
officials.
The grand jury is expected
to make any decisions about
possible indictments Tuesday
or Wednesday.
The jury met from 8:30
a.m. to 7 p.m. and heard tes
timony from 10 people, in
cluding law enforcement offi
cials.
Brazos County District At
torney Bill Turner would not
confirm earlier media reports
that 23 invitations were
handed out, nor would he say
whether any subpoenas were
issued.
Please see Rangers, Page 6
Flying around the world
Former student
attempts to break
helicopter record
By Jan Higginbotham
The Battalion
A former Texas A&M student
will take to the skies today to
set a new around-the-world
speed record.
Ron Bower, Class of ’63, is
combining his love of helicopters
and flying and is planning stops
in 21 countries en route to set
ting a speed record for an
around-the-world flight in a Bell
206B JetRanger helicopter.
Bower was making last
minute preparations Monday af
ternoon and said he would leave
Fort Worth shortly after 9:00
a.m. today to begin his journey.
“I’m excited and ready to go,”
he said. “It’s a well-planned
trip. It’s been a major effort
with planning everything and
preparing for any emergencies.”
Bower said in a recent news
release that the thought of mak
ing the trip never crossed his
mind until last summer.
“If you had told me this time
last year that in one year I would
be planning a helicopter trip
around the world and an attempt
to set a new world record, I would
have never believed it,” he said.
Ross Perot Jr. and Ray
Coburn, a professional helicopter
pilot, set the only official record
setting helicopter flight around
the world in the summer of 1982
using a Bell 206 LongRanger.
The two men made the trip in 29
days and 3.1 hours.
The helicopter, owned by Per
ot, is on display in the Smith
sonian Air and Space Museum.
Bower said he was influenced
by Dick Smith, an Australian
helicopter pilot, who made a solo
helicopter flight around the
world during the summers of
1982 and 1983.
Bower’s trip will include stops
in the capital cities of, 21 coun
tries in North America, Western
Europe, Scandinavia and the
former Soviet Union.
About 75 stops are planned
for fuel.
Dr. Bob Bower, Ron Bower’s
brother and president of Texas
Digital Systems in College Sta
tion, said he is excited about his
brother’s plans.
“He’s got an excellent chance
of breaking it if he doesn’t face
any weather problems or politi
cal challenges,” Bob Bower
said. “I’m glad that he’s doing
it and not me.”
Bob Bower, Class of ’61, and
Robert Bower, his father and
member of the Class of ’32, will
be among a group of people who
will meet Ron Bower today at
Easterwood Airport in College
Station as he starts his journey.
“I’ll be very proud of him,” Bob
Bower said. “I know how much it
means to him. I’m not worried at
all because I know he’s a good pi
lot. He has enough experience
under his belt to do it.”
The trip is scheduled to take
just over 200 flight hours,
amounting to 27 days.
The former A&M student has
been planning the trip for eight
months and has undergone
ground, flight and instrument
training, as well as water sur
vival training.
Ron Bower has experience in
international flying. He has
flown in 22 countries and flew
Bell UH-1B “Huey” gunships in
combat during the Vietnam
Wars.
He has over 6,000 accident-
free hours of flight time.
He is co-founder and vice
president for Helicopter Market
ing and Operations for Austin
Jet International in Austin.
Stew Milne/THE Battalion
A muddy venture!
Sheri Fossler (above), a junior biomedical
sciences major, pulls herself along under a
wire screen Monday as part of the Venture
Dynamics kinesiology class.
Meanwhile, Fossler’s classmate Camille
Sproul (right), a senior psychology major,
crawls through the mud as she makes her
way under a wire and wood obstacle.
The class tackled Texas A&M’s stamina
course Monday. Students crawled through
mud puddles, jumped over logs and
crawled up creekbeds all in the name of
fun. By the end of the morning, the entire
class was coated in mud from head to toe.
The Venture Dynamics class emphasizes
teaching students communication skills and
teamwork while leading them through
A&M’s challenge course.
A&M s
seminar links U.S., Mexican federal agencies
State & Local
By Craig Lewis
The Battalion
Texas A&M University broad
ened future possibilities of re
search and education this sum
mer through a Faculty Study
Abroad Seminar held in Mexico
city.
Dr. Gabriel Carranza, director
of the program, said interest for :
continuing the program is strong.
“We had a meeting and the
program was such a success that
the University wants to continue
it,” he said.
He said that the program pro
vided A&M faculty with unique
experiences and opportunities.
Johanna Roman, assistant di
rector of the program, said the
purpose of the seminar was much
deeper than its origin as an ex
tracurricular activity.
'Through this, a lot of collabo
rative programs will develop,” she
said.
The summer seminar, held
May 15 to 24, was the first of its
kind and Roman said it was a pio
neering effort.
“This was really a pilot pro
gram,” she said.
Faculty members who enrolled
in the seminar were required to
include a full report of their goals,
basic language training in Span
ish and an agreement to expand
their departments towards Mexi
can researchers.
“They (the participants) are
expected to develop programs
with their Mexican colleagues
within one year from the semi
nar,” Roman said.
Only faculty members with lit
tle or no previous contact with
Mexican institutions were accept
ed. The seminar, which used
$12,000 of internal funding by
the University, was established to
act. as a catalyst for future collabo
ration between the two countries.
Dr. James Gramann, associate
professor of the Department of
Recreation, Parks and Tourism
Science, said he established many
contacts through the program.
“The general purpose was to
increase the linkages between
Texas A&M University and Fed
eral Agencies in Mexico,” he said.
“We are interested in establishing
some sort of exchange program in
the area of international tourism
in the department.”
Gramann said the North
American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) was a heavily-discussed
topic. “With NAFTA and with the
proximity of Mexico to the United
States, we really need to put a
greater focus on Mexico,” he said.
Dr. Karen Snowden, associate
professor of veterinary pathobiolo-
gy, said the trip offered her many
benefits.
“My benefits were in language
training, broadened exposure to
the Mexican people and the Mexi
can culture, and some specific re
search contacts for me to pursue
some collaborative research in my
area of expertise,” she said.
Dr. Maria Barrufet, assistant
professor of petroleum engineer-
;mg, warned that the program will
remain beneficial as long as it is
maintained.
“They (Texas A&M con
stituents) need to show that they
were really interested and that it
wasn’t a fleeting or one-time in
terest,” she said. “If not, you re
not going to get anything.”