Sports
Highlighting A&M Soccer's five seniors
Page 7
Opinion
EDITORIAL: People who continuously choose leaders on the basis of a straight-line
ticket, should reconsider the rationale behind their votes.
Aggielife
The Texas A&M Wranglers get in the
swing of things Rage 2
TUESDAY
November 1, 1994
Vol. 101, No. 47 (12 pages)
"Serving Texas A&M since 1893”
College Station city
I manager resigns
I College Station City Manager Ron
I Ragland resigned Monday citing a
desire to seek new challenges.
I "It has been my pleasure to serve
i the City of College Station ... and it has
I been a rewarding and valuable time for
| my family and me to be a part of this
community," Ragland said.
Ragland has served as city
manager for the last six years and
was also the assistant city manager
for two years.
Ragland said that he had no
immediate plans to leave the
community, at least until the end of the
school year, but will be looking at new
opportunities in the private sector,
consulting and city management
I A search has begun to replace
Ragland whose resignation was
| effective Monday.
ADs Groff, King plead no contest
Judge orders fine, three months probation
By Michele Brinkmann
The Battalion
Two Texas A&M administrators were
each placed on three months probation
and ordered to pay $250 fines Monday af
ter pleading no contest to charges of tam
pering with government records.
A&M Athletic Director Wally Groff and
Associate Athletic Director Penny King en
tered the pleas as part of an agreement
reached with Brazos County District Attor
ney Bill Turner.
Groff and King entered their pleas be
fore senior judge Oliver Kitzman, a visiting
judge who is presiding over the trial in the
361st District Court.
Both were given deferred adjudication, a
form of probation that means no conviction
will appear on their record if the three
month term is completed successfully.
Groff said although the charges brought
against
him were
false, he
decided to
accept a
plea bar
gain.
“I feel
that I
would be
totally ex
onerated
being convicted of a crime, I have accepted
this arrangement.”
Groff and King were two of four A&M
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"I feel that I would be totally exon- June 6 for
eared if I went to trial. However, be- IjjB
cause the plea bargain will result in JL coho^pur
my not being convicted of a crime, I 1 Jf'|jRi chases as
have accepted this arrangement/' jj, mM of 1 ™ food!
- Wally Groff, A&M athletic director . ' flU drinks
and ice.
if I went to trial, and I have not taken this
decision lightly,” Groff said. “However, be
cause the plea bargain will result in my not
Four others were also charged but not
indicted because they opted not to go
through the grand jury process.
“It has been alleged that I made false
statements on the purchase vouchers,”
Groff said. “I did not originate the
vouchers, I made no entries on them,
and I did riot tamper with nor alter
them in any way.”
Groff said these invoices and vouch
ers were handled in the usual and cus
tomary fashion and in accordance with
longstanding University policy.
“I feel that it is unfair that innocent
University employees have been made to
suffer in order to bring a change to these
policies,” Groff said. “My every instinct is
to pursue vindication through every level
of our judicial system. However, my re
sponsibilities to my family, both finan
cially and emotionally, must take overrid
ing precedence.”
Jim James of Bryan, King’s attorney,
See Groff, King/Page 5
White House shooter to
have psychiatric tests
WASHINGTON (AP) — The man
accused of firing a semiautomatic rifle
at the White House was charged with
four felonies and ordered to undergo a
psychiatric exam Monday. Prosecutors
said a letter taken from his truck "raises
questions whether he is competent.”
I U.S. Magistrate Deborah Robinson
I refused to release the handwritten
| letter, which was taken from Francisco
I Martin Duran’s pickup. She ordered
| him returned to court Wednesday, after
the exam, for a competency hearing.
| U.S. Attorney Eric H. Holder Jr. said
authorities have a second letter Duran
| was carrying when he was seized
I outside the White House.
I Also found in the truck, according
I to prosecutors, was a shotgun, an
larsenal of ammunition, a gun
magazine, a machete, sleeping bags
and a stuffed animal.
Officials have previously indicated
the letter in the truck was an,
explanation of how Duran's
possessions were to be distributed to
his wife and son in event of his death.
I Russia to test all
I foreigners for AIDS
I MOSCOW (AP) — Russian
I legislators, trying to safeguard their
' country from the threat of AIDS,
| want to test all foreigners for the
virus and deport those who test
| positive or refuse testing.
The bill sailed through Russia’s
I usually fractious 450-seat Duma, the
I lower chamber of parliament, with only
I ihree deputies opposed. It must still be
| approved by the upper chamber and by
President Boris Yeltsin.
But the bill’s strong Russia-first
appeal, which reaches across deep
I political divides, makes passage likely.
I Many Russians blame the West for
Uerise in prostitution, pornography
j and other social ills since the collapse
ofthe Soviet Union. Some even accuse
| the CIA of creating the AIDS virus.
This is clearly a discriminatory
I measure aimed at foreigners,” Boris
, Mikhailov, a political scientist at the
'Russian Institute for USA and
jCanada, said Monday. "The
nationalist tendency in the Duma is
| petting stronger every day.'
Confusion still reigns
in Aristide’s Haiti
I —
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) —
I Re came home to a mess after three
I tears in exile. The National Palace was
teshed, the parliament fractured, the
i 'eluctant caretaker prime minister
mpatientto leave on vacation.
With this, President Jean-Bertrand
Jristide was supposed to build
democracy.
More than two weeks after Aristide’s
'eturn, confusion still reigns behind
ealace walls.
"You cannot expect it to be
workable just in 24 hours,” government
spokesman Jacques Gourgue said
Monday. "That’s not possible. No way.
Noway.
"You have to realize that everything
iias been totally disorganized and it will
'.ake a couple of weeks before things
can run smoothly.”
When Aristide and his contingent
arrived at the National Palace on Oct.
15, they found chaos.
Today's Bai-t
Aggielife
3
Classified
8
Opinion
11
Sports
7
Toons
10
Weather
10
What's Up
6
Jury selection begins
in A&M VP’s trial
By Michele Brinkmann
The Battalion
Jury selection begins today in
the trial of former Texas A&M
Vice President Robert Smith, who
is accused of using his public of
fice to solicit gifts.
Jury selec
tion is sched
uled to begin
at 9 a.m. in the
361st District
Court and the
trial is expect
ed to begin im
mediately af
ter.
D i c k
DeGuerin of
Houston,
Smith’s attor
ney, filed a motion to have
prospective juror^ fill out a
lengthy questionnaire because he
wanted to make sure the jury will
be fair to his client.
Because of the high level of at
tention put on Texas A&M and
Smith
its ongoing investigations during
the past year, DeGuerin said, the
attorneys in this case need to
take more care in selecting a jury.
“Mr. Smith has been specifical
ly mentioned several times,”
DeGuerin said. “The jury ques
tionnaire will help us. It is an en
lightened way of selecting a jury.
“This has been widely publi
cized in a relatively small com
munity,” he said.
The judge said he thought the
questionnaire was too long and
could be detrimental in the selec
tion process.
“This will confuse the possible
juror more than it will enlighten
you,” Kitzman said.
He decided to allow the
questionnaire because both at
torneys agreed to use it. How
ever, he said he will instruct
possible jurors on the funda
mentals of the law before they
answer the questions.
He encouraged both attorneys
See Smith/Page 5
Rift within GOP hampers
some election campaigns
WASHINGTON (AP) —
Prominent Republicans are re
jecting and undercutting their
own candidates in remarkable
fashion this year, exposing
fault lines within the party and
hampering GOP campaigns in
some states.
Republicans stand to make
substantial electoral gains next
Tuesday. Some prominent party
members are engaged in what
could amount to political fratri
cide in several states.
The latest Republican defec
tor is Los Angeles Mayor
Richard Riordan, who endorsed
Democratic Sen. Dianne Fein-
stein over the weekend. New
York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani
led the way last week with his
dramatic verbal embrace of De
mocratic Gov. Mario Cuomo.
Some Democratic candidates
are aggressively promoting
their independence from Presi
dent Clinton. That type of dis
tancing is more routine in a
midterm election year than the
high-profile defections plaguing
the GOP.
The crossovers are drawing
charges of treason from infuriat
ed Republicans and appear to be
helping create momentum for
some Democrats.
Oliver North’s Senate race in
Virginia has created a deep in
traparty rift and attracted the
most national attention. The
number of North’s GOP critics
grew last week to include Nancy
Reagan, who asserted the for
mer national security aide had
lied to her husband about the
Iran-Contra affair and couldn’t
tell fact from fantasy.
The North dispute is less sig
nificant than the two mayoral
See GOP Fighting/Page 5
Silver Taps
Silver Taps will he held in
memory of one Texas A&M
student tonight at
10:30
p.m. in
front of
the Acade
mic Building.
The campus
will be darkened
at 10:20 p.m. for
Rose Ann Rosales,
a sophomore busi
ness major from
Houston.
The Ross Vol
unteers honor
guard will fire a
volley salute and
buglers will
play a special
arrangement of
“Taps.”
Gallery previews Bush Library gifts
Gorbachev, King Hussein among contributors
By Lisa Messer
The Battalion
For the next seven weeks, vis
itors to the J. Wayne Stark
Gallery can get a sneak preview
of some of the many treasures
that will be displayed at the new
George Bush Presidential Li
brary and Museum.
“Head of State Gifts: High
lights from the George Bush Li
brary and Museum Collection”
showcases over 80 gifts Bush re
ceived from visiting world lead
ers during his term as president.
The collection ranges from the
simplistic to the elegant, from
displays of cultural talent to dis
plays of abundant wealth.
A brightly painted rock pic
turing the city of Managua dis
plays the folk art of Nicaragua,
and huge hand-woven rugs were
donated from Chad.
Gifts of grandeur include an
elaborately ornate leather sad
dle with a silver repousse pom
mel from Mexican President
Carlos Salinas and a silver, gold
and marble statue of a camel
and its rider from King Hussein
of Jordan.
Beverly Wagner, curator of
the University Center Galleries,
said the Cyclone tennis racket,
donated by President Roh Tae
Woo of Korea, and the model of a
51-canon frigate, donated by
President Mikahil Gorbachev
from the former Soviet Union,
which are on display, were two
of President Bush’s most fa
vorite gifts.
“President Bush loved to play
tennis,” Wagner said. “He used
that tennis racket very often.
He really liked the ship model,
too, because he kept it in his of
fice.”
However, most of the 40,000
gifts that President Bush re
ceived never belonged to him.
Wagner said federal law now
prohibits the president from per
sonally accepting any gift valued
at over $280.
Patricia Burchfield, curator of
the George Bush Library and
See Bush Gifts/Page 5
A porcelain candelabra given to
Bush by German President Richard
von Weizsacker will be one of the
displays in the Bush Library.