The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, August 24, 1994, Image 1

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Mexican Election
The results of Sunday's Mexican election will
affect nations north and south of the border.
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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
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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-
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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.”
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Texas bullet train derailed
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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.
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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
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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