Opinion
A&M hires new coach
Columnist Chris Cobb says the U.S. has become
a country of sound bites. Page 5
Candi Harvey from Tulane takes over as head
coach of the Lady Aggie basketball team.
Weather
Wednesday and Thursday will
be fair to partly cloudy, highs in
the middle to upper 90s.
— National Weather Service
the
tS AIIALIO N
TUESDAY
July 5, 1994
Vol. 93, No. 167 (6 pages)
“Serving Texas A&M since 1893”
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Sriefs Carelessness blamed for wrecks
More than 60 die on highways during July 4th weekend
iM task force to
isstigate professor
teas A&M has asked a task force
under whether personnel action
dbe taken against distinguished
istry professor John Bockris,
“Philadelphia Project"
to make gold from mercury
110-member committee, which
ijiven until Sept. 1 to report its
figs, is charged with ensuring
•[lamentation of the
jimendations of the internal audit
jrtofthe Philadelphia Project and
•aport of the ad hoc committee on
Sand grants.”
Robert Kennedy, vice president
[search and associate provost for
iiuate studies, will head the
[mentation task force.
Ite request comes three months
In Texas A&M auditors found
ged violations of University policies
fin the project.
Ihe panel also is to recommend
rther any personnel-related
noistrative action is needed as a
al of the audit.
Ihe task force will present its
mgs to Dr. Benton Cocanougher,
■lim senior vice president and
M He will then report to A&M
Went Ray Bowen, who will make
[final ruling in what personnel
Kn is taken.
Tie committee met for the first time
sweek and will meet again in two
DALLAS (AP) — Careless
ness, not alcohol, caused three
accidents that killed 31 people
Sunday, authorities said.
“If there’s a common denomi
nator, it looks like a matter of dri
ver alertness more than anything
else,” Mike Cox, a spokesman for
the Texas Department of Public
Safety, said Monday.
The DPS had estimated that
31 people would die on the long
holiday weekend on Texas high
ways. By Monday afternoon, the
count had reached 61, with 43
people killed on Sunday alone.
The elements were tragically
similar in three accidents that
killed 31 people. Vehicles crowd
ed with families were making
hours-long trips without using
seat belts.
In one accident, 12 children
were piled into the open bed of a
pickup truck, a violation of
Texas law.
A collision between a family
van and a tractor-trailer truck
on Interstate 20 just west of
Weatherford claimed 14 lives.
Two other accidents killed 11
people near Snyder, 70 miles
northwest of Abilene, and six
people near Ballinger, 50 miles
south of Abilene.
In the Weatherford accident,
the van driver pulled from the
side of the highway into the
truck’s lane, apparently not
seeing an oncoming 18-wheeler,
Cox said.
The driver of a pickup truck
that crashed near Snyder failed
to yield the right of way to one
truck-tractor towing another.
And in Ballinger, the driver of
a 1981 Lincoln Town Car that
slammed into an overturned
semitrailer told authorities he
had fallen asleep at the wheel
and did not see or hear the flash
ing lights and siren of a trooper’s
car already at the scene.
“On holiday weekends, it
seems people attempt to get the
most bang for their buck and
try to get where they’re going
in a way that is almost as dan
gerous as drinking and dri
ving,” Cox said.
“Once you’re fatigued,” he said,
“your mental alertness has
dropped and you’re more likely to
make mistakes, overlook some
thing or fall asleep at the wheel.”
But disregard for simple safe
ty precautions added to the car
nage, Cox said.
All of the vehicles were
crammed with passengers. The
1977 Dodge van had 18 people
inside. The Lincoln Town Car
carried eight passengers, and
the pickup truck involved in the
accident near Snyder had three
adults in the cab and 12 children
crowded into its open bed.
None of the passengers of
the Lincoln Town Car nor the
three adults in the pickup truck
cab were wearing seat belts,
authorities said.
“I saw several accidents yes
terday where victims could have
survived if they’d been wearing
safety belts,” Cox said.
All three adults and eight of
the 12 children piled into the
bed of the pickup truck died in
the crash near Snyder, renewing
attention to a Texas law that for
bids children from riding in the
back of pickups.
State Sen. Steven Carriker,
who supported final passage of
the bill in 1989, said the law is
largely ignored in rural areas.
His district includes the area
where the accident occurred.
“It’s quite common to see
large families traveling in this
manner,” Carriker, D-Roby, told
The Dallas Morning News.
Cox, noting that more than 20
of those killed Sunday were chil
dren, warned that parents must
take responsibility for their chil
dren’s safety.
“There’s nothing more pre
cious than a child. You need to
have them buckled up,” he said.
“As a parent myself, I can’t con
ceive doing something that
would risk the life of my little
daughter. What can be more im
portant than a person’s child?”
Texas traffic tragedies
TEXAS
Y.
Wichita Falls
OKLA.
Snyder
84)
6441 Hermleigh
Van hit by
18-wheeler
Im
port
Worth,;
Weatherford
Tractor-trailer rig
and vehicle crash
Ballinger
Auto hits overturned
tractor-trailer
ansportation grant
warded to A&M
lexas A&M University’s Southwest
lijional University Transportation
liter has been awarded a grant of
imilion by the U.S. Department of
msportation.
fends from the grant will be used
icmduct transportation research on
pal needs and national priorities,
tach results will be used to
Wop • projects and advance
Terican technology.
Hie money will also be used to
;»act and educate students who
»e shown interest in the field of
ansportation.
This federal money will be matched
an additional $1 million from the
aleofTexas in funds from the state’s
overcharge program.
The Southwest Regional University
ansportation Center is located at the
was Transportation Institute in
lege Station.
Economists say no
raise in interest rates
WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite
’edollar's troubles, many economists
Sieve that top policymakers at the
ideral Reserve will not raise interest
ales this week to defend the
teenback, deciding instead to put the
omestic economy ahead of global
wrency concerns.
This ymw, however, is not
liversal. There are some analysts
lo think the central bank will boost
ales, but wait until the unemployment
sport is released Friday so that it will
aok like the central bank is
asponding to the domestic economy
and not the whims of international
srrency traders.
Whatever happens, financial
larkets will be closely watching as the
tentral bank’s top policy-making
jroup, the Federal Open Market
Committee, meets behind closed
ioors Tuesday and Wednesday to
'eview the economy and decide its
text interest rate moves.
Bloody evidence not
needed against O.J.
LOS
Prosecutors could still make a case
against O.J. Simpson without bloody
evidence taken from his property and
ford Bronco, but would have to rely
more on scientific tests, experts’
testimony and crime-scene clues,
attorneys say.
“It’s clear they’re developing other
evidence, but certainly a major gaffe
by the police which would result in the
ioss of the evidence at Mr. Simpson’s
borne is something that the
prosecution can ill afford,” said Myrna
Raeder, a professor of trial advocacy
and evidence at Southwestern School
of Law.
Money pyramids
Officials warn B/CS residents
Bart Mitchell/THE Battalion
‘Bombs bursting in air.
Last night at Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater, spectators celebrated Independence Day with a free
concert and fireworks display. Approximately 5,000 people took part in the festivities that began at 8
p.m and ended 10:30 p.m. The fireworks could be seen from many areas of College Station.
Three Texans survive crash
foe lay's B.
YTT
Classified
4
Comics
6
Opinion
5
Police Beat
2
What's up
6
(AP) — Dorian Doucette had
just completed basic training
and was headed home to Bay-
town for the first time since en
listing in the Army.
Stanley Williams of Dallas
flying home with his wife, Lori,
to be by the side of his mother,
who is dying of cancer.
All three Texans narrowly
escaped death when USAir
Flight 1016 slammed into a
field in Charlotte, N.C., Satur
day night.
At least 37 people were
killed when the plane crashed
while making its second ap
proach for a landing at Char-
lotte-Douglas International
Airport. Doucette and Williams
were among just 20 survivors.
Doucette, 20, was in critical
condition Sunday at the burn
center at the University of
North Carolina Hospitals in
Chapel Hill.
He is suffering with burns to
more than 60 percent of his
body, mostly below the waist
and on his back, said his sister,
Renita Doucette.
“He’s a fighter,” she told the
Houston Chronicle. “They tell
us he’s coherent and answering
questions, so we think he’s go
ing to be OK.”
Williams, 29, was in fair con
dition at Carolinas Medical
Center in Charlotte, where he
Stanley and Lori
Williams of Dallas
and Dorian Doucette
of Baytown escaped
USAir Flight 1016
Saturday night. Only
20 people survived
while 37 died in the
crash.
was admitted with severe cuts
and bruises. His wife, Lori
Williams, 23, was in good con
dition with a mild concussion
and a broken foot.
“I’m real sore, and I have a
lot of stitches,” he said.
Doucette is an Army commu
nications specialist who had
just finished basic training at
Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C.,
and was attending school at
Fort Gordon in Augusta, Ga.
Doucette was en route home to
Baytown for the Independence
Day weekend when the plane
crashed, his sister said.
This was to be his first visit
home since enlisting, and he
was excited about seeing his 5-
month old son, Daunte, his sis
ter said. '
Williams, 29, an Army air
traffic controller stationed in
German, was flying with his
wife just behind the wing of the
DC-9-30 when he became con
cerned about what he was see
ing outside his window.
The plane “popped out of a
cloud and began descending at
a 45-degree angle,” he said.
The next thing he remem
bered was paramedics unstrap
ping him from his seat.
“The people seated behind us
didn’t make it,” Williams told
The Dallas Morning News in a
telephone interview.
His mother has been given
about two weeks to live, said
Williams’ brother, Glenn
Williams of Jacksonville, Ark.
“We’re going to be cutting it
really close getting them home
to Dallas,” the brother said.
“Stanley is pretty banged up.”
By Jan Higginbotham
The Battalion
Pyramid schemes, similar to
one which plagued Texas A&M
University last spring, are be
coming common throughout the
Brazos Valley and the country.
Larry Lightfoot, executive
director of the Better Business
Bureau of the Brazos Valley,
released a statement last week
warning businesses and con
sumers of the
dangers of get
ting involved in
the schemes.
“These so-
called giving
networks are
blanketing the
country with
their false
promises,”
Lightfoot said.
In April,
Texas A&M of-
ficials began in
vestigating a pyramid scheme
involving A&M students.
In the scheme, students were
asked to invest $100 in hopes of
earning a $900 return as they
recruit other investors and move
up the pyramid.
Lightfoot said the latest ver
sion of the scheme asks individu
als to fill 15 pyramid slots. A
$1500 contribution goes to the
person on top of the pyramid.
When all of the slots are filled,
the pyramid splits and a new per
son moves to the top. Investors
are expected to recruit other indi
viduals to improve their own
chances of moving up through the
pyramid and collecting money.
Lightfoot said the scheme is
dangerous because it is so easy
to lose money.
“As the pyramid grows rapidly,
"These so-called giving
networks are blanket
ing the country with
their false promises."
— Larry Lightfoot,
the early recruits may make some
money,” he said. “But as the pool
grows, those at the bottom are
left holding the bag-having given
their money, but having no one
left to recruit.”
James Lindholm, an officer for
the University Police Depart
ment, said in a previous interview
with The Battalion that such end
less chain schemes are illegal.
Individuals involved in the
schemes can be
charged with a
Class B misde
meanor, pun
ishable by a
fine of up to
$1500 and/or a
jail term of up
to 180 days.
One student,
/• who refused to
executive director of Bdd gi ve his name
of Brazos Valley because of his
J J involvement m
the scheme on
campus, said it would be difficult
to catch anyone involved.
“You can catch them, but how
will you prove anything?” he said.
The student said the amount
of money involved in pyramid
schemes is overwhelming.
“In one night, I had lots of
money go through my hands,” he
said. “When it hit here, it was
new, so everybody wanted to get
in on it.”
Lightfoot said individuals
need to be careful of getting in
volved in the chains.
“People want to believe their
friends or relatives, but most of
all they want to believe they are
getting something for nothing,”
he said. “Of course they end up
getting nothing when the pyra
mid breaks down and their hard-
earned money is long gone.”
fig - r y> X' < V 'i y :
A Fiery Fourth
Heat, high winds
keep firefighters
busy in W. Texas
DALLAS (AP) — The
Fourth of July time was hardly
a time for firefighters to relax,
particularly in West Texas,
where thousands of acres in
brush fires were burning.
Hot weather, high winds
and low humidity made Inde
pendence Day 1994 the equiva
lent of Christmas at the post
office for firefighters in the
Amarillo area.
In the Panhandle, tempera
tures reached only 98 degrees
Monday, but the humidity
dropped to 17 percent, with
steady winds of 25 to 35 mph
and gusts up to 40 mph, the
National Weather Service said.
All three factors contributed
—
to grass fires.
In Armstrong County, just
southeast of Amarillo, a fire
that began during a lightning
storm Saturday continued to
burn, consuming more than ;
13,000 acres of grassland and
forcing officials to declare a
state of emergency Monday.
Fire officials set up a com
mand post near Goodnight,
about 40 miles southeast of I
Amarillo.
The Texas Forest Service’s
Rre control department joined |
forces with fire crews from sur
rounding counties and cities to
help control the blaze, sum- |
moning an Army helicopter to
douse inaccessible areas of the
countryside, the spokesman
said.
In Amarillo itself, fireworks |
sparked blazes across the city
and in both Potter and Randall
counties, officials said. .?
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