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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1994)
Opinion JOSEF ELCHANAN: Undergraduates have become the cash cow of academics. Very few of the professors in this university sincerely care about the needs or desires of the student body. Page 11 Sports The Aggies defeat Southwest Louisiana 76-69. Page 7 TUESDAY December 6, 1994 Vol. 101, No. 70 (12 pages) "Serving Texas AdrM since 1893” Professor s trial to open today free throw during Sunday. s wings able to hand the Ea iurth straight loss. It 14th successive NFC gles (7-6) rallied lall Cunningham’s chdown pass of the re Dallas lead to24- jrth quarter. - a 49-yard punt re- leff Sydner gave iia the ball on the 2, Darren Woodson ;d Cunningham's in it back 94 yards chdown that sealed suer INCE 1860 teuer gance istant ystal. tant to 60 feet). -5 -3 lost Diamond itches 10% off. LJ watches). WASHINGTON (AP) — Texas figures prominently in the GOP lament on Capitol Hill with the potion Monday of conservatives Dick ney as House majority leader and Tom Delay as majority whip. JArmey’s uncontested victory and htay’s triumph in a spirited three-way race give Texas the No. 2 and No. 3 slots in the House Republican ttierarchy. The two have pledged to Inplement the vision of Newt Gingrich, the fiery Georgian selected as speaker tjy thunderous acclaim Monday. ■ Delay, of Sugar Land, bested iPennsylvania Rep. Robert Walker and Florida Rep. Bill McCollum, earning Jl9 votes to Walker’s 80 and IlcCollum’s 28 in the secret balloting. ■ “It’s the first day of the rest of the revolution,” DeLay was quoted by aides as telling his colleagues in a bsed-door acceptance speech.. lapist executed in luntsville early today I HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A rapist who claimed responsibility for more than 100 attacks was executed liarly today for killing a Houston man [during a fight that broke out as he was [trying to rape the man’s girlfriend. ■ Herman Clark, 48, expressed love for family members and insisted in a al statement that he no longer was e "perverted, corrupt and evil human ing I was when I first came to death w 13 years ago.” By the power of Jesus Christ ... I have been transformed to a new creature,” he continued. ‘‘I know [absolutely for a fact I am a Christ-child and my Lord is getting ready to welcome me into his arms." " Clark prayed and began singing as the drugs began flowing into his arms 8(12:20 a.m. CST. Eight minutes later, he was pronounced dead. Clark was one of three condemned exas inmates expected to be put to |eath this week, making it the most ctive week for executions in the state eight years. Sludge improves soil, Tech scientists say EL PASO (AP) — Researchers extolled the benefits of using sewage sludge to fertilize land on a West Texas ranch Monday, even as activists questioned the scientists’ ties to a company directing such a project. Texas Tech scientists studying sludge use released a report indicating the application of New York City sludge has boosted the productivity of arid grassland on a )128,000-acre ranch in Sierra Blanca. I “It’s turning out exactly as we anticipated,” said Jon M. Masters, an attorney for MERCO Joint Venture, which runs the Sierra Blanca project and is also funding the Texas Tech study. MERCO has a six-year, $168 ifnillion contract to ship 400 tons of New York City sludge to Texas each day and apply it to the ranch some 90 miles southeast of El Paso. Drug ‘fry’ becomes craze in Houston HOUSTON (AP) — Formaldehyde is becoming a popular additive for 'Houston drug users, who add the fluid primarily used for embalming to POP nd marijuana, authorities say. The drug is known as "fry” or amp,” and its violent side effects can be worse than those created by other drugs, said Sgt. J.D. Williams of the Houston Police Department’s narcotics division. "As far as the actions of the abusers, this has got to be the worst, Williams said. “They’re by far the most violent. They don’t give up, and they don’t have any inhibitions. They’re like wild men.” Fry is created by mixing formaldehyde and PCP, an animal tranquilizer that enjoyed street use in the 1970s. A marijuana cigarette then is dipped in the solution, frozen and smoked. Formaldehyde, which is not a controlled substance, is believed to heighten the effect of the marijuana and PCP. By Michele Brinkmann The Battalion Opening arguments and testimony will begin to day in the trial of a Texas A&M professor accused of misrepresenting alcohol purchases as purchases of food and soft drinks. A six-person jury was selected Monday and open ing testimony will begin at 9 a.m. today in Judge Claude Davis’ County Court at Law #1. Dr. Don Hellriegel, a management professor, was one of four A&M employees charged in June on a Class A misdemeanor charge of tampering with gov ernment documents. Four other A&M employees were indicted on the same charge. Hellriegel, who has pleaded not guilty, was the first of the eight employees to go to trial. Two Texas A&M administrators, A&M Athletic Director Wally Groff and Associate Athletic Director Penny King, were placed on three months probation and ordered to pay a $250 fine after pleading no con test in October to the charge. Groff and King entered the pleas as part of an agreement reached with Brazos County District At torney Bill Turner. Both were given deferred adjudication, a form of probation that means no conviction will appear on their record if the three-month term is successfully completed. All of the charges came at the end of a 10-month investigation by the Texas Rangers and the FBI into questionable business practices at A&M. Turner told 29 potential jurors he plans to prove Sabrina Saladino, an academic business administra tor who was also charged in June with record tam pering, made a false entry on a government record and that Hellriegel assisted by encouraging, direct ing or aiding Saladino. Sam Rowland, Hellriegel’s attorney, told poten tial jurors that Hellriegel was never indicted by a See Trial/Page 2 GATT to bolster local economy, official says By Stephanie Dube The Battalion The passage of GATT (Gen eral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) will strongly benefit the local and national economy, A&M officials said. Dr. Julian Gaspar, director of A&M’s Center for International Business Studies, said GATT’s passage will reduce tariffs on trade by about 33 percent, in creasing the amount of trade be tween nations. “In general, GATT will give a boost to our production,” Gaspar said. “It will be similar to the im pact NAFTA (North American Tim Moog/THE Battalion Particle men John Flansburgh (left) and John Linnel! of They Might Be Giants perform at Rudder Auditorium Monday night. The band is known for the hits “Particle Man,” “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” and “Birdhouse in Your Soul” and is currently on tour with Frank Black. Free Trade Agreement) has on the United States. It will be very good for our country and Texas.” GATT involves 124 nations and will reduce tariffs on trade worldwide while also expand ing the rules of world trade into new areas. Dr. Gary Trennepohl, execu tive associate dean in the College of Business Administration, said GATT will be beneficial for the United States. “Things that promote trade benefit everyone in the long run,” Trennepohl said. “The general idea in lowering trade barriers is See GATT/Page 2 New buildings may cause parking plight By Amanda Fowle The Battalion The opening of the Wehner Building and the new library on West Campus in January has prompted some concern over po tential parking problems. Dr. Joe Townsend, associate dean of student development for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, said much of the concern is over where students will park. “We are going to have many more students who are coming to West Campus,” he said, “but there will be no extra parking.” Jane Dodd, head of the West Campus Library, said she is afraid students may have problems finding park ing on West Campus. “I am very concerned about where students Eire going to park out here when they come to use the librEiry,” she sEud. “There is great potential for parking prob lems with so many people coming to West Campus.” The Wehner Building will be the new home of the Texas A&M College of Business Ad ministration. Tom Williams, director of Parking, Transit and Traffic Ser vices, said he does not expect these parking problems. “I don’t anticipate the mass confusion that many people have been talking about,” he ssiid. Williams said students will See Parking/Page 2 Bills could affect college athletes, core curriculum Taking over the reins Today's BATT Aggielife 3 Classified 8 Opinion 11 Toons 9 Weather 9 What's Up 10 AUSTIN (AP) — College ath letes should reimburse universi ties for athletic scholarships once the athletes turn profes sional, and college students should pass a multicultural course to receive their diplomas, say state lawmakers who are proposing such legislation. Their proposals are among higher education bills filed that state lawmakers could debate when they convene in January. Rep. Brian McCall, R-Plano, is proposing that college athletes would have to reimburse their public alma maters for scholar ships once they turned profes sional and signed contracts worth $250,000 or more. McCall told the Austin American-Statesman that ath letes receive a quality educa tion at taxpayer-supported col leges and universities and should pay hack scholarships when they make it big. But critics say the bill could hurt recruiting at the University of Texas and Texas A&M Uni versity because private and pub lic universities elsewhere don’t have such provisions. Furthermore, they say it is wrong to single out college ath letes when other students re ceive academic, band or other scholarships. Such students, they say, often go on to earn big bucks in law, business or entertainment. “It’s ridiculous,” said Tom Penders, head coach for the University of Texas men’s bas ketball team. He said McCall’s bill is unfair to college athletes who endure public scrutiny and perform physically and academically dur ing their college CEireers. He said the bill could backfire and dis courage athletes, who generally contribute financially to their alma maters. “They work their tails off every day and have to put in hours and hours in the class room,” Penders said. “I don’t think they owe the university if they are fortunate enough to go pro.” McCall said that if UT or A&M officials oppose his bill, he will withdraw it. “It won’t see the light of day,” he said. Such opposition won’t discour age Rep. Ron Wilson, D-Houston, from advancing his three bills on higher education. Two bills focus on ethnic and cultural diversity. One of the two requires students who attend public colleges and uni versities to pass three semes ter hours in a course that fo cuses on two or more cultures or a specific U.S. culture. For instance, a student could choose a course in African Amer ican literature, Mexican Ameri can history or issues relating to the North American Free Trade Agreement, or a student could opt for courses that focus on Irish culture or world religions, such as Islam or Judaism. Blake Griggs/THE Battalion Spring Editor in Chief of The Battalion Mark Smith takes a look at the paper. Batt editor looks to good Spring '95 By Melissa Jacobs The Battalion When he’s not watching re runs of The Simpsons or cheer ing the Houston Rockets on to victory, Mark Smith spends his time at The Battalion. Smith, the spring editor-in- chief of The Battalion, said stu dents can look forward to a reader-friendly newspaper for the upcoming semester. Smith, a senior English and journalism major, said all the pieces are in place for a great semester. “We have enough staff mem bers coming back next semester and new people with fresh ideas for us to give the students and faculty of A&M a newspa per they can be proud of,” Smith said. He said he applied for the editor’s position because he thought he could improve the newspaper. “Basically, I thought I could do The Battalion some good,” he said. Jay Robbins, managing edi tor for the spring, has worked with Smith since September See Editor/Page 2