FIELD OF DREAMS
Texas A&M softball pitcher wears
out opposition.
Sports, Page 11
TAKING THE REIGNS
JEFF FOXWORTHY
Guest Column: The Republicans have made
Comedian brings redneck humor to
many achievements in the first 1 00 days.
Bryan-College Station.
Opinion, Page 15
Aggie!ife, Page 3
THE
Vol. 101, No. 141 (16 pages)
"Serving Texas AdrM since 1893
Friday • April 28, 1995
Panel discusses race relations at A&M
□ The conference ex
amined ways for stu
dents to improve race-
related situations.
By Eleanor Colvin
The Battalion
Participants in the Texas
A&M Conference on Improving
Race Relations Thursday said
educating students on the im
portance of diversity and ethnici
ty is the solution to race-related
problems at Texas A&M.
Dr. Gail Thomas, director of
the Race and Ethnic Studies In
stitute, said the conference was
organized by RESI and the stu
dents in the Sociology of Minority
Groups class so that students, fac
ulty, staff and the Bryan-College
Station community could talk
candidly about race relations.
“We encourage participants to
assume owner
ship of the issues
presented here,”
she said,“and
work hard to
find solutions.”
Panelists dis
cussed interra
cial relation
ships, student
leadership and
the future of
race relations at
Texas A&M and
the United
States.
Dr. Patricia
Larke, associate professor of
multicultural education, said
that as people educate them
selves, they become more toler
ant of interracial relationships.
“When speaking of interra
cial relationships, I couldn’t
just speak of the male and fe
male aspects of it,” she said. “I
have to get to the core of the is-
Eddy Wylie/THE Battalion
Panelist discuss diversity Thursday.
sue — what causes us to think
differently and not appreciate
one another. We must learn to
accept, respect and understand
one another.”
Larke said education is the
only way to reach the core of the
issue and improve race relations.
“We must learn to be critical
thinkers,” she said. “We take so
Parents’ Weekend begins today
□ Parents' Weekend is designed to
show parents how important A&M
is to their children.
By Tracy Smith
The Battalion
During Parents’ Weekend,which kicks off Friday,
A&M parents will get the chance to see why their
children chose A&M with programs geared toward
educating parents about A&M traditions.
Liz Bennon, an elementary education major, said
events will be held throughout the weekend. She
said most of the activities will show Aggie par
ents why their sons and daughters decided to
attend Texas A&M.
Hope Siegele, chairwoman of the Parents’
Weekend committee, said the weekend will
let parents experience life at A&M.
“The main purpose of the weekend is to
let Aggies bring their parents to A&M and
let them get a feel for the traditions and
spirit that Aggies hold,” she said. “One day
would not fulfill that need.”
A variety show will start the weekend
on Friday, followed by a Yell Practice
and the RHA Casino Night in the MSC.
Siegele said the yell practice usually has a large
turn-out.
“The QT Army-style Yell Practice is one of the
most heavily attended events,” Siegele said. “It
shows the tradition of yell practice and lets parents
see the Corps do a short performance.”
Siegele said the yell practice is the first time that
the newly elected yell leaders will perform. The
practice also brings 20 former yell leaders from as
far back as 1945, she said.
Saturday, the Bevo Barbecue kicks off at 11 a.m.
and continues throughout the afternoon, with A&M
organizations such as the Aggie Wranglers perform
ing for parents and students.
“The barbecue is probably the most popular
event we have planned,” Bennon said. “But over
all the whole weekend usually proves to be a suc
cess. A relaxing weekend for the students and
parents is what we have planned.”
The Aggie Moms’ craft show in Duncan
Hall will be Friday and Saturday. Buffets
will be served in the Commons and Sbisa
Dining Centers Sunday.
The weekend will end with the .All-Uni
versity Awards Banquet in Rudder Audi
torium. Corps awards, academic awards
and A&M spirit awards will be given at
the banquet.
Bombing destroys faith in
U.S. security, speakers say
□ The survivors of the
Oklahoma City bomb
ing are showing signs
of Post Traumatic
Stress Syndrome.
By Wes Swift
The Battalion
The bombing of the Alfred P.
Murrah Federal Building last
week will dramatically change
the way Americans think about
their safety, two experts on ter
rorism said during a lecture in
Rudder Tower Thursday.
Gene Blackwell, a consultant
on security and terrorism, and
Dr. M. Paige Powell, an assistant
professor of educational psycholo
gy at Texas A&M, discussed how
the terrorist attack shattered the
security of Americans.
Blackwell called the attack the
biggest tragedy in the United
States, and said it will fundamen
tally change Americans’ view of
safety in their homeland.
“We have a
war zone in the
United States,
for the first time
since the Civil
War,” he said.
Powell said
the bombing has
destroyed Ameri
cans’ security
and faith.
“This shows us that bad things
can happen to good people,” Pow
ell said. “This happened in the
heart of America. We can see this
happening in New York. We can
see this happening in California.
We can maybe even see this hap-
much information for granted,
and thus have no knowledge
base of other ethnic groups. Re
searching issues and other eth
nic groups is a part of one’s edu
cational responsibility.”
Panelist Ivan Palacios empha
sized the importance of respect.
“Texas A&M is far from a
world-class university in terms
of race relations,” he said. “We
won’t be, until we can look to the
person on the right and left and
honestly not stereotype them.”
Several student panelists dis
cussed the importance of remem
bering one’s cultural identity.
Panelist Chris Alvarado said
his heritage is an important part
of how he defines himself.
“I prefer to call myself a Chi-
cano, not a Hispanic, because it
is more reflective of my cul
ture,” he said. “I say Chicano
to show that I am not Spanish
See Panel, Page 1 4
Quantum cosmology expert
speaks to filled lecture nail
pening in Houston. But not in
Oklahoma City.”
Powell said that no previous
terrorist acts impacted Americans
the way this recent attack has.
She explained that the recent
This shows us that bad things can
happen to good people."
— Dr. M. Paige Powell,
assistant professor ofeducational psychology
bombing of the World Trade
Center and Pan Am Flight 103
over Lockerbie, Scotland, did not
strike the chord in Americans
that Oklahoma City did.
See Faith, Page 1 6
Q Dr. Stephen Hawk
ing from Cambridge
University discussed
quantum cosmology
and black holes.
By Gretchen Perrenot
The Battalion
More than 380 people filled
the main lecture hall of the
Chemistry Building Thursday to
learn about quantum cosmology
from the field expert.
Dr. Stephen Hawking, profes
sor of physics at Cambridge Uni
versity, England, presented
technical information on quan
tum cosmology and black holes.
Hawking holds the same chair at
Cambridge that was held by
Isaac Newton.
Hawking is the author of the
best-selling book “A Brief Histo
ry of Time.” The book is also the
subject and title of a recent mo
tion picture.
Ronald Allen, professor of
physics, said Hawking is one of
four great scientists: Galileo,
Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein
and Stephen Hawking.
“That’s why there is so much
excitement about him speaking
here,” Allen said. “He’s the fore
most in his field and there are a
lot of intelligent people studying
quantum cosmology.”
Hawking said he pursued the
subject of cosmology and black
holes because of the lack on in
formation on them.
“Until the 1920s, the only im
portant cosmological observation
was that the sky at night is dark,”
he said. “But people didn’t appre
ciate the significance of this.
See Expert, Page 14
isiite
4L-
Nick Rodnicki/THE Battalion
Heads up
Jay Jackson, a junior math major, practices his soccer skills on Simpson Drill Field Thursday
afternoon.
Investigators search for Arizona license plate connected to bombing
□ The FBI is concerned that
without finding John Doe No.
2, there could be another
bombing.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Investigators
issued an alert Thursday for a missing clue
in the federal building bombing — Arizona
license plate LZC646, tags that may have
fallen off suspect Timothy McVeigh’s get
away car.
One possibility, said a law enforcement
source, was that the plate may have been
shifted to another vehicle used by the sus
pect known as John Doe No. 2. And it is
feared that John Doe No. 2 may strike again.
At a hearing for McVeigh, FBI Agent
John Hersley said his “primary responsibili
ty is to find the other subject to prevent an
other bomb from going off.”
But in a possible snag for the governmen
t’s case, Hersley also testified that three wit
nesses to the bombing couldn’t identify
McVeigh for certain in a lineup.
The death toll in the nation’s largest ter
ror attack, meanwhile, passed a grim mile
stone: More than 100 bodies have now been
found in the rubble of the Alfred P. Murrah
Federal Building.
At the hearing at the federal prison 30
miles west of Oklahoma City where McVeigh
is being held, his lawyers renewed their re
quests to drop out of the case and for a
change of venue. U.S. Magistrate Lion How
land denied both requests for now.
Defense lawyer Susan Otto bolstered her
plea to be let out of the case by reading a list
of 10 people she knew who were killed in the
blast and an eleventh who was still missing.
Her colleague, John Coyle III, has also said
he knew someone killed in the blast.
“We heard it, we smelled it. We lived
through it,” Otto said.
Hersley testified at the hearing that three
witnesses who thought they saw McVeigh
outside the building before the bombing
were not able to conclusively pick him out of
a lineup. He said explosives residue was
found on McVeigh’s clothes after his arrest.
McVeigh followed the proceedings intently.
See Plate, Page 14
% —
AP Photo
Thomas McVeigh, a suspect in the Oklahoma City bombing, is es
corted from the courthouse in Perry, OK.