K
State & Local
Igie Mothers are coming to town for their first ever Fish Camp.
Page 2
Opinion
FRANK STANFORD: Lip-locking is practically an Aggie pastime
because some horny, but brilliant CT came up with the idea.
Sports
B i THE Pa8<?7
•ATTAI. I ONI
Injured wide receiver hopeful
Aaron Oliver to return to the
Aggies in '95- ,c )b.
Page 5
FRIDAY
November 11, 1994
Vol. 101, No. 55 (8 pages)
“Serving Texas A&Msince 1893”
HMB
NEWS
RIEFS
jst may reveal brain-
;stroying Alzheimer’s
WASHINGTON (AP) — A simple
jst using eye drops may identify
itients with Alzheimer’s disease, a
ain-destroying disorder now
iliagnosed with certainty only after
iath.
Although medical science now has
lie to offer Alzheimer’s patients,
Huntington Potter of the Harvard
ledical School said the test could be
Iportant when new drugs for the
pease are developed. He said the
1st would make an early diagnosis
lissible, enabling patients to plan,
while they are still able, for the
levitable loss of mental ability.
■ Researchers at Brigham and
[omen’s Hospital in Boston and at
larvard report that an eye drop drug
felled tropicamide causes the pupils
in the eyes of Alzheimer’s patients
to dilate about four times more
ladily than those of patients without
le brain disease.
I Potter said that Alzheimer’s
Isease patients are so sensitive to
iropicamide that their pupils will
lange by about 23.4 percent, while
atients without Alzheimer’s have only
5 percent change.
Iducation chief wants
o stay in office
AUSTIN (AP) — State Education
ommissioner Lionel “Skip” Meno,
iho’s praised by Republican and
lemocratic education officials, said
hursday he’d like to stay on the job “if
le conditions were right.”
But he’s keeping his options
pen after Democratic Gov. Ann
lichards, who appointed him, was
aeaten by Republican Gov.-elect
Seorge W. Bush.
“I think this is an exciting position,
and it’s one where you have a
( tremendous opportunity to contribute,
and I’ve really enjoyed it. If it ends at
that, it ends at that,” said Meno, who
ame to Texas from New York and
ays he’d like to stay here even if he
hanges jobs.
Bush, who made education reform
leading campaign issue, said in
iHouston that he hadn’t made a
lecision about Meno but added, “I’m
to be fair.”
Accused ‘urban survival’
[killer denied witness
FORT WORTH (AP) — Defense
ittorneys who claim their client
as an act of “urban survival”
lad to send their case to the jury
vithout testimony from their most
ritical witness.
State District Judge Bill Burdock
ilocked defense attempts Wednesday
o have psychologist Raymond Finn
estify about how Daimion Osby, 19,
vas affected by living in a high-crime,
nner-city neighborhood.
Jurors heard closing arguments
md prepared for deliberations
Thursday in the capital murder case.
The ruling was a blow to the
defense, which in Osby’s first trial
irgued that he suffered from a kill-or-
)e-killed paranoia from growing up in a
ligh-crime urban area. A hung jury
orced a mistrial in that case.
“This was about the most critical
evidence we could present,” said
Dsby’s attorney Bill Lane.
Iraq abandons claims
on Kuwaiti territory
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Iraq on
Thursday abandoned territorial claims
to Kuwait that had origins in the
Ottoman Empire, hoping to win an end
to trade sanctions that have strangled
its economy.
The official Iraqi News Agency said
the National Assembly voted for “Iraq’s
recognition of the sovereignty of the
state of Kuwait, its territorial integrity
and independence.”
The statement also said Iraq
recognized and respected the
“inviolability” of new Kuwaiti borders,
demarcated by a U.N. committee after
1991 Gulf War.
Saddam Hussein’s ruling
Revolutionary Command Council
later endorsed the legislation,
according to a dispatch by the
agency, monitored in Cyprus.
Today's Ra
Classified
6
Opinion
7
Sports
5
Toons
3
Weather
3
What's Up
Xl: i-
Former A&M VP found guilty
Jury finds Smith guilty of soliciting gifts
By Michele Brinkmann
The Battalion
Jurors deliberated for more than seven
hours Thursday before finding former
Texas A&M Vice President Robert Smith
guilty of soliciting gifts for his wife, Pat
Smith, from a bookstore company.
The seven man-five woman jury decid
ed that Smith had bro
ken the law by soliciting
gifts as a public servant
while negotiating a con
tract with Barnes and
Noble Bookstores, Inc.
to manage the Texas
A&M campus bookstore.
The jury will hand
down Smith’s sentence
Friday morning. He
could face up to one
year in jail and $3,000
in fines if convicted of
the Class A misdemeanor.
Smith, 58, was found guilty of asking
Barnes and Noble to pay for his wife Pat
Smith’s airfare, ground transportation,
meals and entertainment during a June
Smith
1993 trip to the company’s headquarters
in New York City.
During the trip, Smith signed a con
tract that extended the time Barnes
and Noble would operate the campus
bookstore.
Smith was indicted in June and re-in-
dicted 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 indict
ed for any other trips because the statute
of limitations had expired.
Turner, the Texas Rangers and the FBI
began their investigations last year when
questions over the Barnes & Noble con
tract were raised in an anonymous letter
sent to Gov. Ann Richards.
Soon after the indictment, Smith was
demoted from his position as vice presi
dent for finance and administration to di
rector of special operations.
Dick DeGuerin, Smith’s defense attor
ney, said he was disappointed with the
verdict and plans to appeal the case.
“We will take this disagreement to a
higher court,” DeGuerin said. “We dis
agree over the law.
“We will not quit fighting,” he said.
“Mr. Smith has not violated the law.”
In a crowded courtroom, DeGuerin and
District Attorney Bill Turner delivered
their closing arguments to the jury.
DeGuerin told the jury the purpose of
the trip was to further the relationship be
tween Texas A&M and Barnes and Noble,
not to solicit gifts.
“Open your eyes and see what this is
about; he did not solicit for his wife,”
he said.
Pat Smith testified Wednesday that she
was not involved in the contract negotia
tions while in New York but thought she
was helpful in her “ambassador role” she
played to represent A&M.
“I was an extension of Robert’s efforts to
get the best deal for A&M,” she said.
“Robert does not tell me what goes on at
A&M businesswise.”
In his closing statements, Turner told
the jury to remember what the law
states concerning solicitation when
making their decision.
“We’ve got big business on one side and
government on the other side,” Turner
said. ‘We have a wedge in between; it’s
called the law.
> /V7 ffv';i" V7 ^>5 ' ' ,v '•>*
• / ' /- VT- ' -
' ' •• X '
Fotofest '94
Nick Rodnicki/THE Battalion
Texas A&M photography professor Susan Kirchman (right) discusse some of the photographs on display with Audrey Winkelblech,
junior environmental design major, at Fotofest ’94 held in the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.
“This is about how the government
operates.”
Turner said it wasn’t a common prac
tice among Barnes and Noble employees to
invite wives on business trips.
“It is important that Smith asked if the
wives could come because Barnes and No
ble almost never invite wives on trips,” he
said. “What do you expect someone with a
$10 million contract sitting on their table
to say when asked if the wives could come?
What can you say but yes?”
Turner said this trial was not about pri
vatization, against A&M entertaining or
about bringing spouses on trips.
“All the law is saying is don’t take a
spouse with you when negotiating a con
tract,” Turner said.
Turner said that in 1990 Smith was “on
the right track” when he reimbursed
Barnes and Noble for a trip he had taken,
but said that over the years “things start
ed to slide.”
In 1993 Smith paid back some of the ex
penses incurred on the New York trip be
cause that is when the FBI got involved,
Turner said.
“Smith gave no explanation of the pay
backs,” he said. “Smith is above explain
ing those things.
“Things just got out of hand.”
Letters pour
in for release
of Aggie
By Lisa Messer
The Battalion
Letters from around the world
are asking for the release of a for
mer Texas A&M student who
was kidnapped in Colombia sev
en weeks ago.
Thomas Hargrove, Class of’66
and head of the International
Center for Tropical Agriculture
(CIAT) Communication Unit,
was kidnapped on his way to
work Sept. 23 at a roadblock near
Puerto Tejada in the southwest
ern province of Colombia.
No group has claimed respon
sibility for Hargrove’s abduction,
and no demands have been
made.
Dr. Charles Self, head of the
Department of Journalism, said
it is beginning to be difficult for
family and friends to remain op
timistic.
“As I understand, there’s been
no word at all,” Self said. “It’s a
real mystery. They’re concerned
that there have been no demands.
See Hargrove/Page 2
NAACP reveals plan
to improve involvement
By Amanda Fowle
The Battalion
The Texas A&M student chap
ter of the NAACP revealed its 12-
point plan of action Thursday
that outlines ways A&M can in
clude African-Americans more in
University life.
Shawn Williams, chapter pres
ident, said he plans to present
the 12-point plan to the state leg
islature in January and urged
other members of the National
Association for the Advancement
of Colored People to go to Austin
with him to show their support.
“Someone needs to go to the
legislature to tell them that
A&M’s report card doesn’t look so
good,” he said.
Williams was referring to
racially offensive incidents this
semester involving the College
Republicans and students work
ing at Bonfire site.
“These instances have brought
us together,” he said, “and we
have to stay united through the
rest of the year.”
Farleshare Starks, vice presi
dent of the NAACP, said the
group wants minority students to
feel more welcome at A&M.
“Administrators brag about
their feeble attempts at in
creasing African-American en
rollment,” she said, “but it is
not enough.”
The plan calls for Texas
A&M to:
• expand minority scholarship
programs by increasing the num
ber, amount and duration of the
Presidential Achievement Award
Scholarships awarded per year;
• immediately restore the
NAACP’s cubicle in the Student
Program’s Office;
• improve graduation rates for
minority students;
• increase the number of
black faculty by subsidizing
their salaries through the
Provost’s office;
• implement degree require
ments for three or more hours of
education about the U.S. affirma
tive action groups;
• increase awareness of the
cases concerning racial discrimi
nation at Texas A&M;
• get state funding for the
Race and Ethnic Studies Insti
tute;
• establish a legal mandate for
a uniform reporting procedure for
cases of racism and discriminato
ry actions;
• conduct a survey of the sur
rounding community to assess
their perceptions of the minority
enrollment and opportunities for
minorities at A&M;
• create an African-American
Studies major and minor;
• make the Memorial Student
Center more representative of
minorities.
Brian Ingram, co-chair of the
NAACP’s political action commit
tee, said by implementing these
changes, A&M could be an exam
ple for the rest of the country.
“We have to show the school
and the entire nation that this
country cannot go on as it is,”
he said.
A&M reacts to election
College Republicans,
Aggie Democrats talk
about Tuesday's results
By Stephanie Dube
The Battalion
After a resounding Republican victory in
Wednesday night’s
election, local De
mocrats and Re
publicans agree
major changes in
government are
imminent.
Richard Stadel-
mann, College Re
publicans advisor
and chairman of
the issues commit
tee of the Republi
can Party of
Texas, said he is
excited about the
election results.
“The election
was an attack
against Congress
and incumbency,”
Stadelmann said.
“It was a clear re
pudiation of the lib
eral agenda Presi
dent Clinton has
had. Americans
lost confidence in
him because he
campaigned as a
new Democrat and governed as an old Democrat.”
Chad Walter, president of College Republicans,
said he was pleased with the election results.
aaffif
W&m
Election ’94
"I was disappointed
the voters went al
most blindy
by party
vote. But
they got
what they
want. The
ball's in the Republi
can's court now."
— Eric Gruetzner,
president of Aggie
Democrats
AP/Boto Btanchtnl
“Not one Republican incumbent in the House or
Senate lost,” Walter said. “That’s a call for the gov
ernment of this country to move to the right.”
Gary Halter, professor of political science and ad
viser for the Aggie Democrats, said the election, ac
cording to exit polls, was dominated mostly by white
men voting Republican.
“I think there was a lower turnout by minorities
who traditionally support Democrats and higher
support by white male Protestants,” Halter said.
‘The question is if this is really a revolution or just a
momentary change?”
Eric Gruetzner,
president of Aggie
Democrats, said he
was disappointed
with the election.
“I was disappoint
ed the voters went al
most blindly by party
vote,” Gruetzner said.
“But they got what
they want. The ball’s
in the Republicans’
court now.”
The Republicans
will present many
new proposals in Con
gress, such as a bal
anced budget amend
ment and an increase
in military spending,
he said.
Halter said, how
ever, that there will
be difficulties in the
relationship between
a Republican Con
gress and a Democra
tic President.
“As minority lead
ers, Bob Dole and
Newt Gingrich tried to make Clinton look as bad as
See Election '94/Page 2
AP/Bob Blanc hi nl
"Not one Republi
can incum
bent in the
House or
Senate lost.
That's a call
for the gov
ernment of this
country to move to
the right."
—Chad Walter,
president of College
Republicans
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