ITU DENT ELECTION RUN-OFFS
^un-offs for student body president and other offices
vill begin today with absentee voting.
Page 2
INTERVIEW WITH DURAN DURAN
With a cover album, Thank You, hitting the stores this week, Duran Duran
keyboardist Nick Rhodes talks about coming out of the '80s and into the '90s.
Aggielife, Page 3
fol. 101, No. 125 (14 pages) “Serving Texas A&M since 1893
&M professors study violence in the workplace
Concern over workplace
I violence heightens after
five Corpus Christi refinery
orkers were fatally shot
by a former employee.
}y Lynn Cook
'he Battalion
A former employee of a refinery in
spection company walked into the
company’s main office, killed five em-
iloyees and then turned the gun on
iself Monday in Corpus Christi.
The Houston Chronicle reported
Jthat a former co-worker said James
jDaniel Simpson was an intelligent
jman who just didn’t fit in.
Violence in the workplace is a
jgrowing trend in America.
The Census of Fatal Occupational
jlnjuries, released this past October
jby the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Istated that in 1992 homicide was the
jsecond leading cause of death, behind
Itransportation-related injuries, in the
jnation’s workplace.
A recent Wall Street Journal arti-
jcle reported the Northwestern Na-
jtional Life Insurance Co. found 2.2
I million workers had been attacked in
I the workplace in a one year period,
from 1992 to 1993.
Dr. Ricky Griffin, professor of
management and director of the
; Center for Human Resource Man
agement in Texas A&M’s College
of Business Administration and
Graduate School of Business; Dr.
Anne O’Leary-Kelly, assistant pro
fessor of management; and David
Glew, a Ph.D. student in the De
partment of Management, will be
surveying the top 600 American
business companies to document
experiences of violence in the
workplace and how company offi
cials dealt with the incidents.
Griffin said their work began a
year ago when they interviewed
managers to see how they feel
about violence issues, and com
piled case histories of those who
committed violent acts.
Beginning in May, the group will
send surveys to the top Human Re
source Management officials in large
American companies, including most
on the current Fortune 500 list.
O’Leary-Kelly said most of what
the public hears about are the ex
treme cases where fatalities are
involved.
“I think we need to start defining
violence in the workplace broadly,”
O’Leary-Kelly said. “Often, we only
focus on it when something ex
tremely violent happens.
“There’s not a lot of hard data out
there on numbers of incidents of vi
olence or how severe they have
been. We only hear about the se
vere cases like what happened in
Corpus Christi Monday. But there
is reason to believe that smaller
events happen a lot.”
Griffin said individuals who com
mit a violence act in the workplace
fall into three general categories.
The first type, he said, is the
former employee who has been
fired or passed over for promotion.
“These people are likely to be
brooding over what happened to
them for months,” Griffin said.
“After the anger builds up, some
thing triggers them to do some
thing violent.”
The second type include individ
uals with a personal problem.
Griffin said estranged family
members or spouses are prone to
go looking for a persons at their
place of work.
The third type involves random
acts such as the 1991 massacre at a
Luby’s restaurant in Killeen, when a
man drove his truck through the
front of the restaurant and opened
fire, killing 24 people.
O’Leary-Kelly said there appears
to be a pattern to the personality
types who commit these crimes.
“It seems that most people who
commit these types of violent work
place crimes are white males who are
loners, and may have past military
experience or a fascination with
guns,” she said.
That trend, O’Leary-Kelly said,
only pertains to the most-violent sce
narios that receive media attention.
The survey, she said, will look at
all types of violence in the
See Workplace, Page 4
Lawmakers seek to toughen gun bill
AUSTIN (AP) — Reeling from
two separate shootings that killed
seven people in their city over a
four-day span. Corpus Christi law
makers vowed Tuesday to seek to
toughen licensing requirements in
the concealed handguns bill.
Rep. Vilma Luna, D-Corpus
Christi, said she would try to
amend the bill to increase train
ing requirements from the cur
rent 10-hour minimum to a 40-
hour minimum.
The bill, which passed the Sen
ate last month, is pending before
the House Public Safety Commit
tee, on which Ms. Luna sits. The
committee has already rejected an
amendment to increase training
requirements, but Ms. Luna said
she would try again when the bill
is considered by the full House lat
er this month.
‘ r My intention is to make sure
we re very careful and that this is
a well thought-out bill, and that
we put requirements 'in the bill
that are reasonable and make
sense and will help promote the
ultimate goal of making sure that
See Gun Bill, Page 4
Wednesday • April 5,1995
Faculty Senate
holds elections
□ The newly elected senators will
be confirmed on May 8.
By Tracy Smith
The Battalion
A&M faculty members elected 36 members to
the Faculty Senate Tuesday.
Twenty-two positions were unopposed and
three seats did not have nominees, thus requir
ing write-in candidates.
Dr. Mark Weichold, speaker of the Faculty
Senate and electrical engineering professor,
said the Faculty Senate is the reporting body to
the University president.
“While the Faculty Senate may play a be
hind-the-scenes role, our faculty members see
the importance of the job,” Weichold said.
“Many of our members enjoy what they do and
decide to serve more than one term.”
Twelve members were up for re-election
this year, all wanting to serve another three-
year term.
Weichold explained that senators can serve
additional terms, as long as they serve no more
than six years during a nine-year period.
“After sitting out for those three years, facul
ty members can then run again,” he said.
The voting procedure for the election involves
faculty members ranking their choices from one
to three, instead of just voting for one person.
If one person does not have a majority after
the first place votes have been counted, then the
second votes are tallied. This is done to elimi
nate the need for a re-election.
See Senate, Page 2
Two A&M students arrested,
charged with marijuana possession
□ The Center for Drug
Prevention and Educa
tion urges students
with drug problems to
seek help.
By Tracy Smith
The Battalion
; Two Texas A&M students
were arrested and charged by
authorities with the possession
of marijuana after a small
amount of the drug in a resi
dence hall room Monday night.
' University police arrested
freshmen Michael Shorter and
William Hodge Jr. In addition,
Cedric Rodgers and Lloyd
Crouch, who are not A&M stu
dents, were also arrested.
j| Bob Wiatt, director of the Uni
versity Police Department, said
the University police received a
report from a resident in Walton
Hall around 10:30 p.m. about a
strong marijuana smell coming
from one of the rooms.
When the police officers
: searched the room with the four
suspects, they found several
hand-rolled marijuana cigarettes.
“There were seven people in
the room,” Wiatt said. “Three of
the four arrested complied with
the officers; however, we did
have one who resisted.”
Wiatt said Crouch jumped out
of the second window when the
police entered the room. He was
caught and also charged with
evading arrest.
The suspects were transport
ed to the Brazos County Jail and
incarcerated there on misde
meanor offenses.
Kim Walters, coordinator of
the student judicial services at
the A&M conflict center, said
that although every case is miti
gated differently, the students
also face possible disciplinary
action as outlined in the Univer
sity regulations handbook.
Depending on the nature or
seriousness of the case, the reg
ulations state that cases involv
ing drug-related violations by
students will result in suspen
sion, dismissal or expulsion
from the University.
“We are also concerned with
educating the students about
drug abuse,” Walters said. “Stu
dents’ getting treatment, whether
in or out of school, is important to
us and hopefully will prevent any
recurring violations.”
Although Walters said the Stu
dent Conflict Resolution Center
doesn’t see a large number of
drug-related incidents, she thinks
there probably is more of a drug
problem on campus.
“We only get to deal with the
students who get caught,” she
said. “But, we think there are
quite a few students who don’t
ever reach this level.”
Walters suggested that stu
dents with a potential problem
get help before they get into le
gal trouble.
The Center for Drug Preven
tion and Education educates stu
dents about drugs and allows stu
dents to discuss their problems.
Helen Janss, assistant coordi
nator for the CDPE Rainbow
Center, said many students may
not know the effects drugs have
on the body.
“Marijuana can cause fatigue,
paranoia or possible psychosis,”
she said. “If anyone is con
cerned that they may have a
drug problem or one of their
friends has a problem, the cen
ter can provide help.”
Robyn Calloway/THE Battalion
Derby Dazed
Members of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority make posters to show their spirit for the Sigma Chi
sponsored Derby Days on Tuesday afternoon.
Congress considers overturning
□ A&M students and profes
sors react to the decision to
reconsider the ban, and NRA
and gun-control supporters
voice concerns.
By Brad Dressier
| The Battalion
The U.S. House of Representatives’ con
sideration of overturning the 1994 gun ban
J has prompted concern from members of the
| National Rifle Association as well as gun-
f control supporters.
Dr. Roy Fleming, an A&M political sci-
^ ence professor, said the most important is-
;• sue is achieving a balance between prevent-
^ ing crime and allowing citizens to hunt and
; bear arms.
“The real question is not if the gun ban is
| necessary or should be repealed,” he said.
| “It is how to achieve a balance between Con-
[> stitutional rights and safety.”
I Fleming said that currently there is a
handgun and rifle for every man, woman
I and child in the United States.
He said there are more gun-related
I deaths than automobile-related deaths.
“Concern,” Fleming said, “is a major issue
facing the American public.”
Jay Merkley, a lecturer in health and ki
nesiology and representative of the NRA,
said members of the NRA believe a burden is
being put on Americans.
“Members of the NRA believe that the
Second Amendment rights of law-abiding
Americans are being compromised,” he said.
Merkley said the 1994 gun ban was intend
ed to ban 19 semi-automatic weapons, but the
language of the ban is easily misunderstood
and misrepresented.
“The gun ban focus
es on the cosmetic ap
pearance of the
weapons,” he said. “It
targets the ban of cer
tain cartridges of
weaponry, threatening
the use of almost 200
semi-automatic
weapons.”
The NRA is also at
tempting to initiate in
stant background investigations prior to gun
purchases, similar to the checks recently
started in Virginia.
These background checks would allow
quick approval or disapproval of customers
by comparing their name and social security
number to criminal records and could possi-
1994 gun ban
bly take place over the telephone.
Bryan Jones, a University professor in po
litical science, said that while the instant
background check could be a good concept,
he is somewhat skeptical.
“My concern is that law-abiding individu
als who buy a gun in a moment of anger or
confusion would have easy access to a
weapon,” he said. “The current system un
der the Brady Bill allows a waiting period in
which such individuals may resolve their
problems in a less violent manner.”
House hearings will continue on the is
sues of gun control and the repeal of the
1994 gun ban. A hearing scheduled for to
day will discuss Second Amendment rights,
and will include testimony about interpre
tations of the amendment.
"The real question is not if the gun ban is nec
essary or should be repealed. It is how to
achieve a balance between Constitutional
rights and safety."
— Dr. Roy Fleming
A&M political science professor
House leaders seek elusive
GOP support for tax cuts
□ Tax-cut legislation is
the last key item in
the "Contract With
America."
WASHINGTON (AP) — On
the eve of a showdown. House
leaders worked Tuesday to coax
rebellious Republicans into line
behind tax-cut legislation, the
last key item in the “Contract
With America.”
President Clinton called the
measure too costly and said, “I
think we need to focus on the
deficit.”
House Speaker Newt Gin
grich countered that Republi
cans stand for “a lower deficit,
less taxes and a smaller
government. ”
Republican critics of the mea
sure fell into two groups: one fa
voring curtailment of a proposed
S500-per-child tax credit so few
er wealthy families would quali
fy; the other opposing a provi
sion to have federal workers pay
more into their retirement fund.
Several Republican sources,
speaking on condition of
anonymity, put the number of
shaky GOP votes — those op
posed or uncommitted — at 20
or so.
The GOP can suffer 12 defec
tions and still prevail if, as ex
pected, Democrats unanimously
oppose it. Even so, several lead
ership aides predicted that the
measure would pass.
Taxes aside, the House
unanimously approved a
separate item'in the “Contract
With America.”
It provides for increased
prison terms for anyone convict
ed on federal charges of child
pornography or prostitution.
In the Senate, Republicans
and Democrats wrangled incon
clusively over a bill to cut previ
ously approved spending by
roughly $15 billion.