fovember 3, 1994
Ltum
rs Poll
rial Race
Republican Tex
Tan Morales was
latest poll, com-
iblican state Dis-
5an Marcos cam-
^ she has sensed
jrnaround about
^ou can’t define
e makes a lot of
s undaunted by
ocrats
'hristian Coali-
:ation director
lam told a Sep-
strategy session
■,es.
a. Democratic
e Stuart Price
is full of "mis-
his views on
al prayer and
, and he has
churches not
tic candidates
lieutenant gov-
Carolina have
their views on
istorted, and
iidates in New
criticized the
ate.
„ampus
A cable to drop independent Dallas
/station, disappointing B-CS residents.
Page 2
Opinion
THE
MELISSA MEGLIOLA: We have become a society that is self-
protective to the point of destruction. We're scared and
emotionally sterile. Looking the other way doesn't even hurt
much anymore. Page 9
lllllil
Sports
A&M stuns U.T. in video
game shootout.
Page 7
FRIDAY
November 4, 1994
Vol. 101, No. 50(10 pages)
“Serving Texas A&M since 1893 "
Briefs Smith hearing produces letter as evidence
: ire rolls through
igypt, killing 167
DURUNKA, Egypt (AP) — In a
eak chain of events, a fuel train
[erailed on a rain-loosened track
[nd sent "winds of fire” coursing
Irough this southern town. The
iferno killed at least 167 people
nd left thousands homeless.
At least 30 others died
Wednesday as what newspapers
ailed the heaviest rains in 60 years
ished normally arid Egypt. Flooding
wept hundreds of miles across the
ountry, from the Sinai Peninsula in
le north to the ancient temples of
uxor in the south.
In Durunka, 200 miles south of
lairo, a train carrying fuel oil derailed
mid torrential rains as it headed to a
overnment oil depot early
filednesday. Ignited by electric wires,
I e burning cargo was carried on flood
aters into the town of 22,000 people,
any people died as they slept.
"It was like winds of fire coming
■own the mountain,” said Mohamed
[bdel-Rahman, who managed to
Iscape with his wife and seven
:hildren before his house was
lestroyed. "I thought it was a volcano."
Interest groups hand
out voting scorecards
WASHINGTON (AP) — Interest
groups running the gamut from the
American Civil Liberties Union to the
Christian Coalition are issuing
congressional voting scorecards to
help voters decide which lever to pull
on Election Day.
The scorecards, which track
specific votes taken during the 103rd
Congress, generally give members of
Congress scores from 0 to 100.
High scores are obviously prized by
lawmakers, who crank out glowing
press releases to tout their credentials
as defenders of the federal purse
strings, supporters of family values or
protectors of the environment.
There won’t be any ratings praising
members of Congress for their liberal
track records, however.
In a year when the word liberal is
anathema to the re-election hopes of
many Democratic incumbents, one
venerable liberal scorecard will remain
on the sidelines until after Election Day.
Boy runs away from
HIV positive mother
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A woman
#ho has tested positive for the virus
fiat causes AIDS was briefly reunited
#ith her 12-year-olpj son, but the boy
ran away only a few hours later,
officials say.
An appeals court had ruled
earlier this week that Cosima Midha
had custody of her son, Leopold,
and could take him with her when
she returns to France.
The boy had been the object of a
controversial custody battle that
centered on the woman testing
positive for HIV.
San Antonio police talked with the
hoy’s father, Deepak Midha,
Wednesday night in an attempt to find
tie boy. The father told authorities that
tie boy had not contacted him since he
led from a hotel where he had been
staying with his mother while waiting
fora flight to France today.
Godzilla celebrates
40th birthday in Tokyo
TOKYO (AP) — After 40 long,
hard years on the job, your average
mutant reptile might be thinking
about retirement.
Not Godzilla.
At a 40th gala birthday party thrown
in his honor Thursday by Toho Co., the
studio that unleashed Godzilla on the
world, the giant fire-belching lizard left
no ambiguity about his plans.
“Hey, I’m young for a monster!”
he said, beating his chest. "Don’t
worry, I’ll be stomping my way
through a lot more films.”
Some 500 fans were selected
from a pool of almost 6,000
applicants to take part in the
festivities at Toho’s No. 9 Studio,
where most of the 21 Godzilla films
were made, including the newest
one, "Godzilla vs. Space-Godzilla,”
set for release in Japan Dec. 10.
Today's E
>ATT
Classified
8
Campus
2
Opinion
9
Sports
7
Toons
5
What's Up“
■m-
6
Questioning focuses on entertainment
practices while negotiating contracts
By Amanda Fowle
The Battalion .
The contents of a letter written by
Robert Smith to a vice president for Barnes
and Noble Bookstores, Inc. could prove to
be key evidence in the trial against Smith,
a former A&M vice president.
Smith is accused of soliciting trips to
New York for himself and his wife while
negotiating contracts with Barnes and
Noble.
The letter was given to FBI special
agent Joe Carmike June 24 by Barnes
and Noble executives while he was inves
tigating allegations of misconduct by the
A&M administration.
The court will determine next week if
the letter can be released to the public
since it is evidence and the trial is still in
progress.
The questioning during Thursday’s
hearing centered on Barnes and Noble’s
practices of entertaining business clients.
The Barnes and Noble executives said
that although they never invite the
wives of their clients, they do not mind
if they come.
Smith made several trips to New
York, along with former Board of Re
gents chairman Ross Margrave, to nego
tiate A&M’s contract with Barnes and
Noble. Smith’s wife, Pat, went with him
on some of these trips.
The Smiths and the Margraves were
treated by Barnes and Nobles to Broadway
shows, French dinners, limousine rides and
yacht tours of Manhattan Island.
Barnes and Noble paid for nearly all of
Smith’s and Margrave’s expenses on the
trips between 1990 and 1993. Barnes
and Noble spent $37,838.67 on entertain
ment and accommodations for Smith and
other A&M administrators.
Barnes and Noble spent $12,610.24 on
the trip the trial is questioning. The
Smith’s reimbursed Barnes and Noble for
$2,441.56 of the money spent on the trip.
Dick DeGuerin, Smith’s attorney, said
that much of the money Barnes and Noble
spent on these trips was for festive dinners
and included executives from the company.
DeGuerin said that the alcohol bill
made up a large portion of these bills.
Pat Smith does not drink, DeGuerin
said.
The attorney, who represented Sen.
Kay Bailey Hutchison and David Koresh,
said that Smith’s having his wife come on
these trips with him was necessary.
“Pat Smith and Robert Smith are a real
pair,” he said. “She is a real asset to him.”
DeGuerin said that the trips were not
for pleasure, but for business.
He said that when Barnes and Noble
executives visited Texas A&M, they were
treated well also.
Patrick Maloney, vice president for
Barnes and Noble, said that out of the
more than 100 contracted accounts he
handles, only two, The University of Ok
lahoma and Texas A&M, have come to
New York to negotiate their contracts.
Barnes and Noble President Alan
Kahn said that Smith was a good negotia
tor for A&M.
Kahn said that A&M is one of Barnes
and Noble’s most important accounts.
The contract gives A&M $1.5 million or
11 percent of the bookstore’s sales annual-
See Smith, page 4
Burning
Desire
(Above) The t.u. frat
house/outhouse burns
atop the ‘94 Bonfire.
(Left) The Redpots march
in carrying the torches that
will ignite the 1994 Aggie
Bonfire.
Photos by Stew Milne/THE Battalion
Administration looks
to raise faculty salaries
By Amanda Fowle
The Battalion
Texas A&M’s administra
tion is making higher faculty
and staff salaries its top prior
ity for the January legislative
session, A&M officials said.
Administrators are afraid
that A&M is losing employees
because their salaries are not
competitive with other univer
sities, the officials said.
Texas A&M pays its faculty
and staff 92 percent of the av-
erage
salary
paid
to fac-
u 1 t y
and
staff
at oth-
e r
u n i -
versi-
ties in
i t s
peer
group,
a c -
cording to a summary pro
duced by the Office of Plan
ning and Institutional Re-
S69.I*ctl
A&M President Dr. Ray
Bowen said the University has
not been able to increase salaries
because it has not received any
increase in state funding in the
past several years.
“For reasons we cannot con
trol, we are overcommitted to
other things,” Bowen said.
Salaries are determined by
the University president and
chancellor and then approved
by the Board of Regents.
Bowen said that increasing
salaries is a key consideration
for the administration.
“Of all of the issues that are
out there,” he said, “this is the
most important.”
Dr. Barry Thompson, A&M
System chancellor, said he will
push for increased funding at
the legislative session so that
A&M can offer its faculty and
staff competitive salaries.
“We have a large number of
faculty and staff retiring that we
will need to replace,” he said. “I
want to have competitive
salaries so that we can attract
the best and the brightest.”
Thompson also is concerned
with retaining current faculty
and staff.
Dr. Bill Perry, dean of facul
ties, said the University has not
been able to offer substantial
raises for the past few years.
“We have not had enough
money budget-wise to offer
merit increases,” he said.
Thompson said that in the
last
state leg-
i slative
session,
universi
ties re
ceived a
five per
cent in
crease in
funding,
but pris
ons re
ceived a
150 per
cent in
crease.
He said Texas is ranked
ninth out of the ten most popu
lous states in the amount of
funding it receives.
“My concern is that our
salaries should be competitive
with other state universities.
“Only Georgia rates behind
us in the amount of money
they receive,” Thompson said.
Thompson is counting on
the University’s receiving in
creased state funding so that
A&M can increase its salaries.
“Hopefully, we can convince
the legislature to increase our
funding,” he said.
Bowen is optimistic that A&M
will receive more state funding.
“We anticipate cooperation on
their part,” he said. “We’ve been
getting mixed signals, though.”
A&M submitted a budget in
April, having been asked to as
sume it would receive no new
funding.
“But we have also heard that
there is a good chance we will re
ceive new money,” Bowen said.
"We have a large number of fac
ulty and staff retiring that we will
need to replace. I want to have
competitive salaries so that we
can attract the best and the
brightest."
—Dr. Barry Thompson, System Chancelbr
Residence hall students reminded
about safety precautions, procedures
By Stephanie Dube
The Batealign
In response to a recent as
sault and other incidents in
residence halls, A&M officials
are taking the opportunity to
remind students about basic
safety precautions.
Chareny Rydl, associate di
rector of student affairs for resi
dence life, sent a letter to all res
idence hall students Oct. 24,
outlining basic safety procedures
they should remember to follow.
Rydl said she felt this was
an opportune time to send the
safety letters because students
are more concerned about safe
ty following several recent
murders off-campus.
“The incidents in the halls
aren’t more numerous,” Rydl
said. “These are the same type
that have happened in years
past. We just need to reinforce
the safety issue because of what
has gone on this year.”
Recently, a student in Dunn
Hall was assaulted, Rydl said.
An unknown person entered
the student’s room, and after
binding and gagging the stu
dent, the assailant hit and
kicked him, she said.
“The door wasn’t locked at
the time,” Rydl said. “We don’t
know if the assailant was a res
ident or not; the student did
not see the individual. The vic
tim was not seriously injured.”
The other reported incidents
did not involve assaults, Rydl
said. These involved people be
ing in the residence halls who
did not belong there. The inci
dents included strangers enter
ing students’ rooms and suspi
cious activity in thil hallways,
she said.
“The other incidents were
traumatic in a different way,”
Rydl said. “They created a lot of
emotion and concerns. For exam
ple, people do not like to wake up
and see someone they don’t know
standing in their room.”
Lt. Bert Kretzschmar, crime
prevention specialist for the Uni
versity Police Department, said
there are many features that
make today’s residence halls safer
than they were in the part.
See Safety, Page 4
Alibi not believed: mother to be
charged with sons’ double murder
UNION, S.C. (AP) — The
mother who said a carj acker
dumped her on a lonely road and
drove off with her two young sons
in the back seat was arrested
Thursday, when the car was
found in a lake with two bodies in
it, police said.
Susan V. Smith, who had
made tearful pleas on national
television for the boys’ return,
is in custody and will be
charged with two counts of
murder. Union County Sheriff
Howard Wells said.
The nine-day search for 3-
year-old Michael and 14-
month-old Alex, ^which
stretched from Georgia to Seat
tle, ended where it began, in
John D. Long Lake near where
Smith told police a gunman
forced her from the car Oct. 26
and drove away with the boys.
Divers had searched the
lake several times during the
past few days, and police cor
doned off the area Thursday.
The identities of the bodies
in the burgundy 1990 Mazda
would have to be confirmed
through an autopsy, Wells said,
and Mrs. Smith was scheduled
to be arraigned Friday.
There had been several re
ports before the news conference
that Mrs. Smith confessed.
Dozens of people crowded
around the outside of the county
courthouse and many gasped as
Wells said she would be charged
with murder. Several sobbed.
“If she didn’t want those chil
dren, she could have given them
to me or any other mother in
Union. We would have taken
them,” said Karen Huss, the
mother of two sons, ages 2 and 4.