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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 1994)
Frontiers local restaurants respond to possible nationwide smoking ban. 2 Opinion ELIZABETH PRESTON: Next time you all speak to your true loves, pretend they're from a different planet. Men and women need to understand they are not dating someone exactly like them. Page 9 Sports SMU Mustangs hold Aggies in 21- 21 tie on Saturday. Page 7 MONDAY October 31, 1994 Vol. 101, No. 46 (10 pages) 'Serving Texas A&M since 1893” NEWS RIEFS laitian peace still on hold for Aristide I PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Despite the thousands of U.S. Mldiers in Haiti, armed thugs still hold sway in some rural areas and many supporters of President Jean- Bertrand Aristide are afraid to go home, aid workers said Sunday. I The arrival last month of 16,000 U.S. soldiers on a mission to restore democracy has greatly improved security, especially in Port-au-Prince, pere the troops are concentrated, istide supporters who were in hiding under military rule now walk the eets of the capital without fear. It gives the appearance of being ry quiet, but there are still pockets violence and people are still being rassed,” said Sister Ellen Flynn of spice St. Joseph in Port-au-Prince, which offered shelter to fugitives ide r military rule. Aristide returned on Oct. 15, three years after being ousted by a coup. some of his supporters from rural areas remain in hiding because they fear revenge attacks by members of the old regime, Flynn said. Government to offer Isll-free AIDS hotline WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal pvernment is opening a toll-free lephone number Monday to provide atment information by telephone or mputer to people with AIDS, their imilies and health care providers. The HIV-AIDS Treatment [formation Service was scheduled to gin taking calls at 9 a.m. EST. The number is 1-800-HIV-0440 and the hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST londay through Friday. The service will be staffed by health formation specialists who are fluent in nglish and Spanish. Deaf access is iduded, and all calls are confidential. The service’s staff will not provide treatment advice. Staffers will, [owever, provide information the test research and treatment options to physicians and patients who call. Endorsements favor Hutchison, Richards DALLAS (AP) — If polls and wspaper endorsements are a sound dication, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey utchison is on an easy road back to 'ashington while the governor’s race mains too close to call. Gov. Ann Richards has won the lajority of endorsements from Texas iewspapers, but Republican George Bush boasts a strong showing, capturing support by the state’s two irgest newspapers. Polls over the past few months ave shown Hutchison, a Republican, rith a strong lead over Democratic hallenger Richard Fisher, a illlionaire Dallas businessman. The |iichards-Bush race, the polls fidicate, is a virtual dead heat with iny leads being smaller than the Inargins of error. Hutchison’s spokesman, David Beckwith, called her sweep of editorial board support unprecedented, especially for a Republican in Texas. Houston professor to resurrect cemeteries HOUSTON (AP) — All the Halloween hobgoblins have been exorcised in Burdette Keeland’s vision of a resurrected American cemetery. No more ghastly gray rows of comber tombstones. No more creaky, usting gates or weeping willows Swaying in the wind. i Instead, the spritely 68-year-old [Houston architecture professor imposes engraved sculptures, picnic tenches and rows of pink and purple irepe myrtles. Keeland says he’s not trying to subvert Halloween, but rather add life othe mythical home of wailing ghouls, lesh-eating zombies, black cats and verewolves howling at the moon. “I think it’s because of Hollywood. They make it spooky, and at night if fou come in here there are really going 0 be spooks. It ain’t going to happen,” Keeland said last week while walking at Houston’s Glenwood Cemetery. White House shooting leads to suspect Classified 8 Frontiers 2 Opinion 9 Sports 7 Toons 5 What's Up ~1> WASHINGTON (AP) — A Colorado man with a criminal past will be arraigned today on felony property damage and firearms violations following his frighten ing White House shooting spree. The possi bility of additional charges, including at tempted assassination, was left open. On Sunday, the day after the unset tling attack, yellow police tape stretched across the White House lawn and FBI agents armed with laser equipment con ducted an inch-by-inch search for bullets around the pockmarked mansion. The gunman, 26-year-old Francisco Martin Duran of Colorado Springs, re mained silent at D.C.’s central cellblock, his motives a mystery, his demeanor de scribed by the Secret Service as “com pletely flat.” Duran was released from a military prison in September 1993 after serving 2 1/2 years for felony assault, the Army reported. Colorado man, former soldier faces firearms violations, felony charges Described as unshaken by the tumult, President Clinton rested up during the day after his grueling Middle East tour and held to his plan to attend an evening gala at Ford’s Theatre, where President Lincoln was felled by an assassin’s bullet 129 years ago. Press secretary Dee Dee Myers said Clinton would proceed with business as usual, confident that the Secret Service can protect him and his family, but she added, “Generally, the number of weapons on the streets of this country is disconcerting to the president.” Duran, scheduled to be formally ar raigned before a U.S. Magistrate on Mon day, was charged early Sunday with will fully damaging federal property and pos sessing a firearm as a convicted felon. The first charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine, the latter 10 years and $5,000. The Secret Service held out the possibil ity that additional charges could be filed. “I would not eliminate assassination statutes,” said Special Agent Carl Meyer. Authorities searched Duran’s home and car to try to determine his intent. Several officials disputed a published report it was a “semi-suicide” note, al though the senior official said it could help determine a motive. The Army said Duran spent 2 1/2 years imprisoned at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., af ter he was convicted in March 1991 on charges of aggravated assault with a vehi cle, drunk and disorderly conduct, drunken driving, and leaving the scene of an acci dent. He was dishonorably discharged and released in September 1993. Duran’s neighbors said he never exhibit ed a violent streak to them. His wife, In grid, told officials he left home Sept. 30 to pick up materials for target practice and never returned. New information emerged about Du ran’s weapon as well, a Chinese SKS semi automatic rifle that, ironically, was pur chased Sept. 13, the same day Clinton signed into law the crime bill. Clinton had banned imports of the weapon in May and the crime bill outlawed magazines of the type Duran used. But neither action barred sales of gun merchants’ existing stock. "Bonfire IF bringing students together By Amanda Fowle The Battalion Old couches, barbecue pits and tents dot Bonfire site making the polo fields look something more like a make-shift colony than the traditional site. But then again, this year’s Bonfire is anything but traditional. Hundreds of students, former students, and com munity members have begun “rebuilding the hell outta Bonfire” after the first stack of logs was dis mantled Wednesday when it began to lean. And af ter four days, “Bonfire II” is almost complete - a tes tament to the volunteer effort that went into the monumental feat. Part of the reason the new stack has gone up so quickly is due to the many students who have never worked on building Bonfire before have answered the redpots’ plea for the student body to help build Bonfire in one week. John Shipp, Class of ’96, said he decided to come help rebuild Bonfire because he wants to help con tinue the tradition. “The fact that it has to be done is a big motivator to come out and ‘build the hell outta bonfire,’” he said. Jon Keller, Class of ’96, said he had never worked on Bonfire before because he never felt like he was needed. “We took it for granted that it would get done,” he said. Students who have experience from working on Bonfire in past years are also chipping in to help finish rebuilding it this week. Drew Isle, a former crew chief and Class of ’96, said many upperclassmen are working harder and more hours to rebuild Bonfire than normally would. “More of the older guys are coming out and work ing harder than they normally would,” he said. “It’s a matter of pride to get it finished.” Christi Rohan, Class of ’98, worked on Bonfire before it fell and has been working on rebuilding Bonfire even more since then. She said that all of the extra people working on Bonfire and the people who are working harder are helping rebuild the stack. “Those who were working hard before are work ing even harder and those who didn’t come out at all are coming out and working,” she said. Students and members of the community are try ing to make the students who are out working on Bonfire more comfortable. Area restaurants have donated food and drinks to the workers. Scott Bubier, a former crew chief and Class of ’94, said many of the residence halls have set up these make-shift colonies around Bonfire site to give the people working on Bonfire a place to take a break. “Instead of wasting time going home and sleep ing,” he said, “we have these tents set up for people to rest in.” Stew Milne/THE Battalion Students working on Bonfire II add another log to the stack on Friday night in their ef forts to rebuild Bonfire in time for Thursday’s burn. Smith returns to courtroom for misconduct charges By Michele Brinkmann The Battalion Former Texas A&M Vice President Robert Smith returns to the courtroom today after be ing reindicted on official miscon duct charges Thursday. A final pre-trial hearing is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. to day and jury selection is sched uled to start Tuesday morning in the 361st District Court. Two Class A misdemeanor counts of soliciting gifts from Barnes and Noble Bookstores Inc. while negotiating a contract with the company were dis missed at an Oct. 18 Brazos Comity pre-trial hearing. District Attorney Bill Turner refiled the indictment against Smith that same week. Smith was indicted in June and pleaded not guilty to the charges in late August. Judge Oliver Kitzman, who was appointed to hear the case this summer, granted a defense motion in October to dismiss all charges against Smith be cause of “fundamental defects” in the indictment. Smith’s attorney Dick DeGuerin, of Houston, said Turner missed some essential elements in the indictment. “It gave no notice in the in dictment that the contract was a government contract,” DeGuerin said. “There is also no indica tion that Texas A&M is a gov ernment entity.” “Everything the prosecution wants to prove must be stated in the indictment.” Turner said he had no objec tion to dismissing the charges and refiling the indictment be cause he wanted no questions about it on the Oct. 31 trial date. Turner did not change the See Smith/Page 10 SFA student government trying to cancel funding for gay, lesbian group DALLAS (AP) — Student government members at an East Texas university are trying to cancel funding of the school’s gay student association, charging that its mem bers could be breaking the state sodomy law. Stephen F. Austin State University’s Student Govern ment Association is scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to revoke the organizational status of the Gay and Lesbian Student Association. “The majority of GLSA members ... are gay and in or der to be a homosexual, more than likely you have violat ed 21.06 of the Texas penal code (the sodomy law),” said student senator Bryan Simmons, who has led the effort against the gay group. Simmons is chairman of an organization review board that this month voted 4-2 in favor of revoking the group’s charter. That recommendation goes before the 65-mem ber student government Tuesday. “We didn’t want to have a group on campus that might in some way champion violation of Texas law,” Simmons said. “What if (a national pedophile club) wanted to start a campus pedophile club? That’s as much against the law as homosexual conduct.” The sodomy law makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by fine, for consenting adults of the same gender to have See SFA/Page 10 A colony of bache lors is hanging out in the upper reaches of Kyle Field. For years, large numbers of Mexican free-tailed bats have made a home in the stadium and other buildings on the Texas A&M campus. The bats that stay in Kyle Field year-round are males, left behind each winter by the females and most of the other males. These other bats migrate to Mexico and mate there David J. Schmidly, campus dean of Texas A&M at Galveston and the author of “The Bats of Texas,” said. Schmidly said there may be thou sands of bats in the Kyle Field bache lor colony. George Baumgardner, assistant cu rator of mammals for A&Mb Texas Co operative Wildlife Collection, said the noise of a football game is not enough to rouse the bats from their roost. The bats come out at dusk to feed on in sects, he said. A&M’s associate ath letic director for facilities, said in Kyle Field, the bate roost m crevices on both sides of the stadi- /frf um where the ramps connect to the main concourse. “Bate can stay in a place a quarter inch wide,” he said. They are impossible to see in the narrow cracks, Pickard said. The bats can make their way into buildings through tiny cracks and ex pansion joints or up through el evator shafts. Bats have flown across the stage in Rudder Auditorium dur ing performances, Marc Chaloup- ka, senior stage manager, said. “I’ve seen them flying a couple of feet off the floor, just skimming above the stage,” he said. “They’re cute.” The last bat sighting in Rudder See Bats/Page 10