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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 1994)
v1i( ro-brewery ready to churn out Homemade suds in B-CS. Page 3 Opinion Sports EDITORIAL: With Texas trailing a quick second in the number of illegal immigrants, it is important for Texans to understand that the problems of immigration will not be so'yed with a similar proposition for our state. Rage 1 3 Lady Aggies upsets #19 UH Cougars in five games. Page 9 THURSDAY November 10, 1994 Vol. 101, No. 54 (14 pages) "Serving Texas A&M since 1893” says lie did not violate 11 o policy ■ ifT ,.yX ■ Rn; ■" 11 i 1-19 | <)UJ$ t : lem / -1 ■ < Ts'i 1 ' ' O* /if/ anian warplanes ant to attack Iraq NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Tehran nt jet fighters to bomb an Iranian irdish base in northern Iraq on ednesday, the second attack ported this week on dissidents erating from Iraq. At least one person was killed and jfiree were wounded in the raid on the Iranian Kurdish base. It was the latest (Iranian incursion into the no-fly zone the West set up in northern Iraq to pect Kurdish dissidents from Iraqi ider Saddam Hussein. The air raid was the first this year i Iranian opposition bases in Iraq, jt there have been others against (Iranian Kurds and other opponents lince Tehran and Baghdad ended Ight years of war with a 1988 truce. ■ Wednesday’s air strike was unlikely to draw Iraqi retaliation lecause both Baghdad and Tehran have been fighting their Kurdish inorities, which have sought tonomy for decades. [ennedy son receiv- vg death threats I PROVIDENCE, R.l. (AP) — latrick Kennedy kept his distance lom cheering supporters and was Inder police watch on Election Day Ifter receiving death threats in the Inal weeks of his campaign, a flpokesman said Wednesday. I “You just can’t take any chances Ihen you’ve had two uncles Issassinated,” Kennedy’s pokesman, Larry Berman, said. The 27-year-old son of Massachusetts Sen. Edward !ennedy defeated Republican Kevin /igilante Tuesday for the open 1st listrict House seat by a margin of 54 jercent to 46 percent. Berman said Kennedy received :wo death threats, one by phone, the other by mail, at his East Providence campaign headquarters in late October. Snyder teen dies in accidental shooting SNYDER (AP) — Police are nvestigating the apparent accidental hooting death of a 14-year-old inyder girl who witnesses said was hot while another teen-ager was Maying with a gun. Basically it was some 14-year- kids playing with a weapon,” Lt. Steve Warren said of the Tuesday ncident. "It’s a terrible tragedy for )ur community.” Bobbi Jean Witte was killed in the ncident, which occurred while a iroup of children, ranging in age from ‘to 14, played in the front yard, Varren said. A 14-year-old boy who ived at the house went inside, eturned with a revolver and was horsing around ... spinning the er and pulling the trigger” when begun went off, he said. The gun was loaded with a single Juliet, and there had been some nention of Russian roulette, but the ouths weren’t playing it when the ihooting occurred, Warren said. Sr spins out of con- '©I for two hours MILFORD, Conn. (AP) — A iiiverless car spun in circles for nore than two hours Wednesday vhen the car shifted into gear after Is driver got out. Jeffrey Main, of West Haven, aid he pulled over and put the car into park because he was having Jfoblems with the brakes. After he got out, the car slipped into reverse the steering wheel cocked at an angle. lost the brakes, jumped out of the car and it started going around in circles,” Main said. The spinning car drew crowds of onlookers and caused a three-car Wash on Interstate 95 as drivers watched the scene. Police and fire officials finally stopped the car by surrounding it with large trucks and rushing it with three bucket loaders. Main was cited for driving without license, driving an unregistered vehicle and failure to properly set brakes. Ibday'fiiATr Classified 10 Extra Mail Call 12 Opinion 7 Toons 5 Weather 5 What's Up 11 mmmm By Michele Brinkmann The Battalion Former Texas A&M Vice President Robert Smith testified Wednesday he did not violate the Uni versity’s travel policy that prohibits employees from soliciting gifts while he was negotiat ing a contract with a company to take over the campus bookstore. Smith, 58, is accused of asking Barnes and No ble Bookstores, Inc. to Smith pay for his wife’s airfare, transportation while in New York, meals and entertainment during a June 1993 trip to the company’s headquarters in New York City. During the trip, Smith signed a contract that extended the time Barnes and Noble would operate the cam pus bookstore. Smith was indicted in June and re-in- Former VP says he reimbursed bookstore for part of expenses on New York trip dieted in October on a misdemeanor charge of soliciting gifts as a public ser vant in 1993 although he made several trips to New York between 1990 and 1993 with former chairman of the Board of Re gents Ross Margraves. He was not in dicted for the other trips because the statute of limitations expired. Soon after the indictment, Smith was demoted from his position as vice presi dent for finance and administration to di rector of special operations. Smith said he decided to reimburse Barnes and Noble for the 1993 trip short ly after he returned because of the “in tense campaign to call attention to travel expenses by the media.” Smith reimbursed Barnes and Noble $2,440 for his wife’s expenses. “The criticism heightened my aware ness,” Smith said. Smith said that shortly after the June trip he asked Janet Durrant, assistant to the vice president for finance and admin istration, to find out his wife’s expenses incurred on the trip. He reimbursed Barnes and Noble for part of the expenses on the trip. Smith said Don Powell, director of business services, first brought up the possibility of privatizing the campus bookstore in 1990. Texas A&M sent out the requests for proposals to bookstore companies. The A&M director or purchasing then looked over the proposals and gave his a summa ry to Smith. He said the Board of Regents then sug gested he have outside company analyze the proposals. They recommended Smith negotiate with Barnes and Noble. The regents then told Texas A&M Uni versity president William Mobley to nego tiate with Barnes and Noble. Smith visited New York in 1993 to ex tend the contract with Barnes and Noble. Smith said he did not learn he was be ing accused of committing a crime on the trip until June 29, the day he was indicted. Pat Smith, who concluded her testimony Wednesday morning, said the Barnes and Noble trip was the only trip she has at tended with Smith that a vendor paid for. “I go when I am invited to go,” she said. “The wives were not invited on the other trips.” Pat Smith testified Tuesday that nei ther she nor her husband solicited gifts from Barnes and Noble. “It was my understanding I was invit See Trial/Page 6 Safety awareness heightened after accident near Albritton By Stephanie Dube The Battalion After an A&M student was hit by a car in the intersection near Albritton Tower last week, officials are urging pedestrians to use caution when crossing the streets. Lt. A.W. Onstott, public information officer for the College Station Police De partment, said there have been 44 acci dents at the intersection of West Main and Wellborn, near Albritton Tower, since 1990. Fifteen of these accidents re sulted in injuries, he said. “The number of accidents is small com pared to most intersections,” Onstott said. “For example, the intersection of Joe Route Boulevard and Wellborn Road had 83 acci dents in the same time period.” Williams said. “The intersection is as safe as any other crossing, it just has more people than most.” Williams said the railroad worries him more than the actual vehicle intersection because students often run under the train signals when it is stopped rather than waiting for the train to leave. This can be very dangerous, he said. The actual vehicle intersection is not any more dangerous than the other fre quently used intersections, he said. How ever, students need to remember they are crossing off-campus, where right-of-way rules are different. “On campus, pedestrians have the right-of-way,” Williams said. “Wellborn Road is not on campus, so cars are not as alert to stop, especially if they have a "On campus pedestrians have the right-of-way. Wellborn Road is not on campus, so cars are not as alert to stop, espe cially is they have a green light. Pedestrians there should yield to vehicles with a green light." —Tom Williams, director of Parking, Transit and Traffic Services. Onstott said the Joe Route intersec tion may have more accidents because of greater pedestrian usage. “We put in a walkway, but it appears no one is really using it,” he said. Onstott said the accident at West Main Street occurred Nov. 2 when A&M student Deborah Krause was attempting to cross the intersection. According to the police report, the driver saw a yellow light and, upon seeing Krause, hit the car brakes but was unable to avoid hitting her. “Witnesses have said that as soon as the light changes, they step off the curb and often do not wait for the intersection to clear before they cross,” Onstott said. Tom Williams, director of Parking, Transit and Traffic Services, said pedes trian signals were installed at the inter section in 1993. “If people would use the push buttons and wait for the walk indicator, they would have a safe crossing, as long as the vehicles stopped at the red light,” green light. Pedestrians there should yield to vehicles with a green light.” Julianne Cantwell, graduate assistant in the Student Programs Office, said she has been concerned with the Albritton in tersection for a while. “It is important for people to under stand this is such a dangerous intersec tion and whatever the University can do would help,” Cantwell said. Cantwell said she wants people to be aware of the intersection and more care ful when crossing it. “If a car is turning right on a red light at Albritton, they may not see the stu dents crossing,” Cantwell said. It is safer for pedestrians to cross as a group, Williams said. “If they all wait for the signal and cross in mass, they will be safer,” Williams said. “There are usually acci dents when the group has already moved through and a single person comes up to the intersection late.” Amy Browning/THE Battalion Making a run for it Senior John Donley, a biomedical science major from Grand Prairie, tries his luck at the bungee run at the Campus American Tour in front of the MSC. Student Senate introduces legislation to change policy of yell leader elections By Melissa Jacobs The Battalion The Student Senate introduced legislation Wednesday night re questing that run-off elections be held for yell leader elections. Patrick Conway, off-campus senator, said in the yell leader election held two years ago, the two winning seniors combined did not have a majority of the votes. “And the two winning junior candidates had only 46 percent of the votes,” he said. Conway said only three votes separated senior candidates Bryan Bullington, who did not get elected, and Greg Riels, who did, two years ago. “To me, that shows it should go to run-off,” he said. The bill states that during yell leader elections, the four candi dates for senior yell leader who receive the greatest number of votes and the three candidates for junior yell leader who receive the greatest number of votes will enter a run-off election. The winners of the three senior yell leader positions and the two ju nior yell leader positions will then be decided by a plurality vote in the run-off election. A run-off election will not be held for senior yell leader if there is four or less eligible candidates and will not be held for junior yell leader if there is three or less eligible candidates. Conway said there has never been a run-off for yell leader elec tions, but he thinks students will turn out for a run-off election. “The constituencies I’ve talked to want to have a chance to vote in the run-off,” he said. Conway said he talked to Tim Sweeney, the yell leader adviser, who said the bill is feasible. “I’ve talked to Scott Torn quite a bit about this and he kept saying ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,”’ he said. “I think it’s slightly broke.” Conway said he realizes putting a person in a run-off election is another five or six days of campaigning. “Yell leaders should be willing to put out the extra time and ef fort,” he said. The bill was moved to the rules and regulations committee. In other business, the Senate adopted a resolution supporting the proposed action of PTTS to fulfill the need for more efficient campus transportation. Brenda Gray, Bus Operations Training Staff, said the current system will not meet the future needs of customers, especially since the College of Business moved to West Campus. Five campus bus routes were proposed, changing the routes but keeping some of the same names. The Rudder route will no longer go to Olsen Field, but will See Senate/Page 11 to bring 700 students to A&M campus By Amy Lee The Battalion More than 700 college students will be visiting the Texas A&M campus during the next two days, but they won’t be Aggies. They will be delegates representing their schools for SWACURH ’94. The Southwest Affiliates of College and University Residents Halls conference is a leadership conference with a twist, Kori Remmler, co-chair of the conference, said. “Our conference is camaraderie oriented,” she said. “You learn a lot, but you have a lot of fun.” The delegates are from Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. There will also be representatives from Monterey Tech in Mexico and one school in New Mexico attending. SWACURH is the first region of the national college and university residence hall association to adopt a school from Mexico. Texas A&M students have volunteered their time to help with the conference. Fifty of the volunteers will serve as small group leaders. “Small group leaders are like Fish Camp people and Orienta tion Leaders,” Jennifer Enos, director of registration, said. “Nobody in the group is from the same school. The directors lead discussions, ice breakers and show them where places are on campus.” See SWACURH/Page 6