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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 1994)
employer benefj aving an incrf better undei uality managei jchnical progranij;| rid sometimes!! loses some oftl ous workers s gain their GEDi] rticipating in any of our empli qualified for be; ance to junior id, “but this ma know that we p someone bet r Cardina Mexican Election The results of Sunday's Mexican election will affect nations north and south of the border. L._ THE Page 12 /; Sports Opinion Cody Carlson takes over the reins of the Houston Oilers from departed Warren Moon. 1 Page 10 ION Michael Landauer: We don't have to be fanatical and pretend that a bad situation is a good one - unless we're masochists we're still going to feel the pain. 17 Page WEDNESDAY August 24, 1994 Vol. 93, No. 186 (18 pages) “Serving Texas A&M since 1893" Brief! Bank theft leads to highway manhunt hive suspects still at large after bank robbery murder ARE PitoUZ/861 EEtfED E/KE ftrioti.c 16 TO DO, I need NE TO BEUDJt I ALLTStoiZ X CcNSvstEH. A ppy Now? ahk our for their ess. n your next j h this coupon) it • Expires: OMWj a • 693-1706 A&M officials plead not guilty to charges Five Texas A&M University officials pled not guilty Tuesday to Class A misdemeanor charges of misconduct. Robert Smith, director of special operations, was indicted in June on two counts of soliciting gifts from Barnes & Noble Bookstores, Inc. while negotiating a contract with the company while he served as A&M’s vice president for finance and administration. Four other employees, Wally Groff, A&M athletic director; Penny King, assistant athletic director; Ronald Carter, manager of the chemistry department’s business and facilities operations; and Dr. John Wormuth, interim head of oceanography, were also indicted in June for tampering with government records, after describing alcohol purchases as purchases of food and beverages on state vouchers. Bill Turner, Brazos County district attorney, said Tuesday’s proceedings were routine. U.S. officials worry about Guantanamo WASHINGTON (AP) — As thousands of Cuban refugees pour into Guantanamo naval base, U.S. officials charged with maintaining peace at the camps are concerned about a volatile mix of heat, boredom and frustrated flights for freedom. A Pentagon official said the military was considering sending additional medical and security personnel to deal with the influx of refugees at the base, which normally houses about 5,000 military and civilian workers and their dependents. Defense Secretary William Perry, appearing Tuesday on several I morning television shows, called the remote 45-sqyare-mile base "basically a holding camp” and an "unattractive proposition” designed to discourage people from leaving Cuba. “There’s nothing, really, for them to do at Guantanamo. It’ll be a boring and frustrating activity, which is again one of the reasons we’re urging the people not to leave,” Perry said. By William Harrison and Jan Higginbotham The Battalion NAVASOTA, Texas - A manhunt for suspects from a bank robbery that left one elderly woman slain and a state trooper wounded in Normangee, Texas, crossed paths with cars traveling on Highway 6 Tuesday. The highway manhunt began after a plastic bag containing about $180,000 was found in the trees near a white, two- door Honda Accord abandoned on the side of a road near a small stretch of homes 10 miles south of Navasota. Police said witnesses described the suspects leaving the vehicle as two black men, one Hispanic man, one white man and one white woman. Witnesses told po lice that the suspects looked like clean- cut, college students. Rose Seachrist, a nearby resident, said she saw one of the suspects after checking her mail in the afternoon. She said the suspect approached her and asked for help. “I talked to one black gentleman in volved in the case,” Seachrist said. “He asked for fluid to put in his transmission. He said his car had broken down.” Seachrist said she told the suspect that she didn’t know anything about cars and referred the man to another neighbor. “He more or less walked away 30 min utes later,” she said. Seachrist said she then saw a succes sion of people walking south on the divid ed highway. “It looked like they timed leaving about five to 10 minutes apart,” she said. Earlier Tuesday, nine people allegedly robbed the Normangee State Bank at 10:30 a.m. wearing nylon stockings over their heads. The robbers wounded a state trooper in the small town northeast of Bryan as the getaway cars drove through a roadblock. The suspects later killed an elderly woman at a cemetery, Normangee Chief of Police James Weathers said. Weathers said Ruby Bottoms Parker, 82, may have seen the suspects as she was cleaning her husband’s grave. “I assume (the robbers) went there to change clothes or split up the cash,” Weathers said. “I assume she was there cleaning up her husband’s grave. “When they jumped out of their car, she apparently got scared and jumped in her car to leave. They somehow got her stopped, shot her in the head and took off in her car.” Weathers said four people, two locals and two from Houston, were apprehended in connection with the robbery and shoot ings. The others remain at large. “We feel pretty confident we’ll have them all racked and sacked before sup pertime,” Weathers said. However, early Wednesday morning Please see Robbery, Page 7 Campaign draws near goal Officials expect $400 million by end of August By Michele Brinkmann convince people, foundations and corpora- THF RaTI AI ION firmc +n rlryna+c* mrvrao\t ” cqiH ■> 5 at $6. /e you ter - Mary Hector > >rlal Student Gen Mexico’s new presi dent calls for unity MEXICO CITY (AP) — Faced with the weakest mandate of any Mexican leader in modem times, President-elect Ernesto Zedillo reached out to oppo- See related stories, Page 12 By Michele Brinkmann The Battalion Texas A&M’s Capturing the Spirit cam paign will reach 80 percent of its fund raising goal by Aug. 30. Fund raising for the Capturing the Spirit campaign began in 1990 to raise money for scholarships and other needs of the University. Dennis Prescott, deputy director of the campaign, said the University expects to raise $400 million by the end of August and plans to exceed the original $500 mil lion goal before the August 1996 target date. Prescott said that of the money raised, over $3.5 million has come from staff and faculty; the initial goal was $2 million. “We have been tremendously pleased with the support of the faculty and staff,” he said. A&M President Ray Bowen said al though faculty and staff at other universi ties contribute to fund-raising campaigns, the Texas A&M faculty and staff have been more supportive than most. Prescott said he considers Bowen the chief spokesperson and the chief fund-rais er for the campaign. Bowen said he plans to play as large a role as the Development Foundation wants him to in soliciting money. “I represent the University and try to convince people, foundations and corpora tions to donate money,” he said. Dr. J. Malon Southerland, vice presi dent for student affairs, said he also has a keen interest in the campaign. “I have been involved from day one in strategy and needs,” Southerland said. “I am proud and pleased of the progress that has been made.” Prescott said that after the University reaches its $500 million goal, other fund raising campaigns will be developed. “People need to realize fund raising is here to stay,” Prescott said. “This is the first of many campaigns.” He said there were two main reasons the Capturing the Spirit campaign was de veloped. Texas A&M started its fund-raising ef forts because the percentage of the Univer sity’s budget that comes from the state’s general revenue is declining, Prescott said, “We had to make up the difference in other areas,” he said, “ and fund raising is one of those areas.” Another reason for the creation of the Capturing the Spirit campaign was to make former students aware and interest ed in what is happening at the University. “We have something to be proud of here at Texas A&M and we want people to know this,” he said. “There are programs going on at A&M that former students do not know about.” lilll .rt's, < - - I Texas bullet train derailed OME n! nents on Tuesday to build a "govern ment for everyone.” "We are facing an historic opportuni ty to create a government for the com mon good in which the interests of all are recognized," said Zedillo, who won election Sunday to a six-year term. With 65.4 percent of the ballots qounted, Zediilo had 49.03 percent of the vote, an insurmountable lead over his rivals, but the lowest percentage ever for a ruling party presidential can- A didate. A v/ij The Sunday vote was widely seen Th l as a waters * ie< 1 ' n Mexican politics, Wlong-dominated by the Institutional Rev- f olutionary Party, or PRI, which has held ■ the presidency since its founding in 11929. ege Static ew Home, to $98,900, By Angela Heaves The Battalion The proposed Texas bullet train was permanently derailed last week, possi bly taking with it Bryan-College Sta tion’s opportunity for economic growth. The bullet train would have linked Fort Worth, Dallas, Bryan-College Sta tion, Houston; Waco, Austin and San Antonio. Michael Conduff, Bryan city manag er, said city officials are disappointed by the demise of the high-speed rail. “Bryan-College Station was going to be the central hub of the system, link ing large cities,” Conduff said. “We were excited about the economic im pact the bullet train would have on the cities, and we are disappointed it will not be occurring.” Having a stop in Bryan-College Sta tion would have added to the desirabili ty of the cities as a residential comma-. nity for Houstonians wanting to live outside of Houston and commute to work, Conduff said. The Texas High-Speed Rail Authori ty accepted a settlement Friday termi nating the high-speed rail franchise held by the Texas TGV Corp., the group in charge of getting investors for the project. The agreement rescinds the contract for the 200-mph train, calling for the corporation to repay all state tax dol lars spent on the project. The decision to ternainate the con tract came after Texas TGV failed to meet a Dec. 31 deadline for raising Please see Bullet Train, Page 7 ■ ■ - : ' ;■ 2S&&* StfSSgX&SS? VtS.tY-X'-.VAv: : ■ ■ Mm y&jS - . jtiii Stew Milne/THE Battalion Waves of crickets invade Wichita Falls A traffic nightmare Cars wait in line to make a turn on Sunday, the first day of move in for the cam pus residence halls. The first day of move in is traditionally a day of long lines of traffic. inancing emester fit your lifestj CONTACT; IANET WHITAKER 820-4100 WICHITA FALLS, Texas (AP) — [Waves of moisture-seeking crickets have invaded this city. ‘They’re attracted to light in the late summer,” said Emory Boring, a Texas A&M entomologist at nearby IVernon. ‘They increase out in the [field, run out of moisture, develop [wings and come to town.” A couple of consecutive mild ( winters have cricket numbers up in | general, he said, and some cooler- Ithan-normal nights in recent weeks I have them seeking warmth, too. In some spots, the onslaught I resembles something like a B-grade I horror movie. Former student replanted in B-CS jmssasgs Today's I Campus 2 | Classified 8 j Nation 14 | Opinion 17 i Sports 9 State 6 Appletree CEO purchases three stores in twin cities By Tracy Smith The Battalion A former Texas A&M student is coming back to his Aggieland roots after purchasing three Ap- pleTree grocery stores in the Bryan-College Station area. R.T. Kubicek, president and chief executive officer of Apple- Tree Markets Inc., acquired six stores in all. Kubicek’s purchase completed the disposition of the company’s assets by the former owner, a subsidiary of the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, Ltd., New York Branch. All six of Kubicek’s stores are in Texas, with two stores in Hous ton, one in Huntsville and three in Bryan-College Station. Richard Goeggel, vice president and treasurer of AppleTree, said the sale was necessary because 11 A&M, College Station team on recycling project Hi Stew Milne/THE Battalion The Appletree store in Culpepper Plaza is just one of three that for mer student R.T. Kubicek, Class of ‘67, bought in the B-CS area. federal banking laws will not al low a bank to own a private com pany for over two years or to put capital into it once it has control ling interest. Kubicek said AppleTree contin ued to market the stores this spring and did receive other of fers, but he decided to purchase the stores, which just happened to Please see Kubicek, Page 7 By Katherine Arnold The Battalion Texas A&M and College Sta tion have pooled their resources for a joint recycling project that began Aug.l. The program combines the re cycling efforts of the University and the city to improve both sys tems. The University will col lect magazines and newspapers that will be given to the city of College Station to recycle. In turn, white paper, comput er paper, colored paper and cardboard collected by College Station curbside and office recy cling programs will be given to the University to be recycled. Ron Giles, manager of work place recycling programs for the Texas Natural Resources Con servation Commission (TNRCC), said programs such as this are unusual and commendable. “We are excited about this program because there are not many like it in the state,” Giles said. “These cooperative efforts are valuable, and are held up as an example to other communi ties.” Katie Gibson, recycling coor dinator for College Station, said the idea for this program came about after she toured the A&M recycling facilities. “I realized that A&M did not have a large market for newspa per and magazine recycling, and that the University had a very large market for office paper and cardboard,” Gibson said. “This effort provides a unique way to create a partnership by exchang ing services.” Joe Sanchez, recycling coordi nator for A&M, said the joint ef fort will not require additional funding. “We will be able to use the ex isting recycling budget for both College Station and A&M to exe cute this program,” Sanchez said. “There are recycling con tainers in every office on cam pus, as well as in all of the Please see Recycling, Page 7