KILTS AND CLUBS The A&M women's golf team is raising money for a trip to Scotland this summer. Sports, Page 7 UP IN SMOKE Littlefield: Cigarettes negatively control people's lives and take away their freedom. Opinion, Page 9 PASSION FOR TEACHING Dr. Rick Rigsby receives two awards in recognition of his teaching. Aggielife, Page 3 'bl. 101, No. 143 (10 pages) : 'v ; . n - ' .w 4 "Serving Texas A&M since 1893†Tuesday • May 2, 1995 LT ■: LAMIU bill halted in committee A ss ie Parents of the )r. Thompson says &M will do whatever necessary to keep exas A&M Interna- onal University. v^Brad Dressier 4E Battalion lie bill proposing that Texas 8bM International University in aredo be transferred to the IJni- jrsity of Texas System has hit a and-still in the House Higher diication Committee. _Benate Bill 11, proposed by sn. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, aickly passed the Senate in [arch, but has faced strong oppo- tion by the Texas A&M System administration and the Friends of Texas A&M International Univer sity Association. The bill calls for the univer sity to be transferred to the UT System, and its name be changed to the University of Texas International. Zaffirini also tacked the transfer proposition onto Senate Bill 1298, which calls for the Baylor College of Dentistry and East Texas State Univer sity to be transferred into the A&M System. It passed the Senate. The House Higher Ed ucation Committee, howev er, amended the bill to exclude the TAMIU transfer. The bill must now go to a joint committee for negotiation. Dr. Barry Thompson, chancel lor of the Texas A&M University System, said the A&M System is prepared to oppose any efforts to lose TAMIU to another system. “We will hold on to the Laredo school at all costs,†he said. “Currently, the A&M System is trying to antici pate moves by legislators to use any tricks or sneaky behavior in an effort to get TAMIU transferred.†Prospects of the bill passing the committee cur rently look doubtful. Danny Salinas, president of the Friends of TAMIU Associa tion, is distressed with the divi sion, and she mentioned that those involved should work to gether for the best interests of the TAMIU students. “She made a point of saying that if people have had, and still have, problems with TAMIU being in the Texas A&M University, they should address the problems directly and work together to solve the problems,†he said. Randy Blair, a member of the Friends of TAMIU Association, attended the April 18 committee hearing about the bill, and said that no one presented any evi dence that TAMIU would be bet ter off in the UT System. Year announced Sunday □ james and Shirley Bilhartz have five children who have graduated from A&M. By Eleanor Colvin The Battalion If anyone actually could bleed maroon and white, James and Shirley Bilhartz, the 1995-96 Ag gie Parents of the Year, would. The couple was recognized at the Parents’ Weekend All-Univer sity Awards Ceremony for their dedication to both Texas A&M and their family. Susan Bilhartz, the couple’s daughter and a freshman busi ness administration major at Texas A&M, said she and her sib lings had always wanted to nomi nate their parents for this award. “My sister, brothers and I wanted to do this for a long time, but we wanted to wait until we were all Aggies (five other Bil hartz children have also graduat ed from A&M: James Jr., Class of ’78; Dale, Class of ’80; David, Class of ’81; Anna, Class of ’89; and John, Class of ’91. “Being a freshman, I was a lit tle worried about trying, but I fig ured we’ve only got three more years to get them nominated.†She said her parents always See Parents, Page 6 Bart Mitchell/THE Battalion All in a day's work Firefighters from Monsanto Chocolate Bayou practice putting out gasoline transport tanker fires on Monday afternoon at Breyton Fire fighting School as part of their industrial firefighting training. Changes in housing to prevent vacancies □ The percentage of rooms available for in coming freshmen has been increased for this fall. By Wes Swift The Battalion The Department of Resi dence Life and Housing is changing its procedure for housing arrangements in an ef fort to eliminate vacancies in the residence halls. The changes come in re sponse to the abnormally high number of vacancies this past fall, when late cancellations left 636 open spaces in Corps and non-Corps residence halls. Ron Sasse, director of the Department of Residence Life and Housing, said the Depart ment is using several new pro cedures and tools to cut down on the vacancies. “First, we’re going to use the cancellation numbers from last fall as a basis for this year,†Sasse said. “We’re also offering more spaces initially.†Sasse said the cancellation date will be moved from July 30 to June 1. Students cancel ing their reservations after this date will lose their deposit. He said the department will alter the proportions of spaces that are offered. Previously, freshmen were allotted 80 percent of the avail able spaces, while transfer stu dents and students moving from off-campus housing re ceived 10 percent. Now freshmen will be allot ted 90 percent with transfers and returning students each re ceiving 5 percent. Owen Ross, 1994-1995 Resi dence Hall Association presi dent, said he was glad to see the changes in the procedures. “Last fall there were fewer freshmen, of course,†Ross said. “That had a particularly hard effect on the non-air-condi tioned dorms. There were all these vacancies, and when freshmen saw there was a chance to get into an air-condi tioned hall, they moved.†Jennifer Enos, a member of the Student Housing Input Committee, said she had heard of several dorms affected by the mass cancellations. Puryear and Law were considering clos ing some of their ramps be cause of empty rooms, and a number of international stu dents were moved into Walton to fill the vacant rooms. Enos said the vacancies de creased the spirit in some of the halls. “I guess that when you have fewer people, you have fewer people to motivate,†Enos said. Ross said the changes have met little resistance in the halls. Enos said she was not cer tain what effect the changes would have. “I think moving up the can cellation date will help to a point,†Enos said. “But some people will have to cancel, so they’ll go ahead and do so, even if they lose their money.†Sketch of John Doe No □ Officials at the bomb site decide that it is time to begin using heavy machinery to re move bodies. f: OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The FBI released yet another sketch of the elusive John Doe 2 on Monday as agents chased clues in Arizona, Oklahoma and a Kansas lake where the Oklahoma Pity bomb may have been mixed, i Outside the shaky ruins of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, officials acknowledged the inevitable: It is time to give [Up the search for signs of life and switch to heavy machinery to remove bodies. . “I think they need to do what ever is necessary to ensure the safety of the rescue workers,†said Jim Texter, whose wife, Victoria, was still missing. “Nobody wants to be responsible for more hurt.†| The death toll reached 137, including 15 children. About 50 people were missing. FBI agents also sought as ffwitnesses†two men who in re cent months stayed at a cheap Arizona motel near one used by bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh. The two men may also have spent the night of the bombing in a motel 180 miles from Oklahoma City. Outside Junction City, Kan., where the Ryder truck that car ried the bomb was rented, agents searched the woods and sent divers into Geary State Fishing Lake looking for evi dence that materials for the bomb were mixed nearby and that tools and equipment used in the mixing were thrown into the water. The search was prompted by witness reports of a Ryder truck at the site after April 17, the day McVeigh allegedly rented his Ryder truck, said a senior feder al official in Washington, speak ing on condition of anonymity. McVeigh is under arrest on charges of building the ammo nium nitrate and fuel oil bomb that exploded April 19 in front of the federal building in the worst domestic terrorist attack in U.S. history. Investigators have found a receipt for one ton of ammoni um nitrate in a search of Terry Nichols’ house in Herington, Kan., the Washington official said. The receipt bore a finger- 2 updated print of McVeigh’s, the official said. The receipt could establish a link between the bombing and Nichols, a friend of McVeigh’s now being held as a material witness. Meanwhile, the FBI hoped a third sketch of John Doe 2 — the man who was with McVeigh when he allegedly rented the truck — might bring new leads. In the new, profile view, the sus pect appears stocky and wears a baseball cap. He is very tan and muscular and may be a weightlifter, FBI agent Weldon Kennedy said. Acting on information gath ered around Kingman, Ariz., the FBI also searched for a 1981 white Thunderbird with Arizona license plate JWK923, believed to be driven by Gary Allen Land and accompanied by Robert Jacks. “We are looking for a possible witness to the bombing,†the fed eral official in Washington told The Associated F*ress. An FBI bulletin reported that Land was last seen April 24-25 at a motel in Vinita, Okla., said Sgt. Dave Myers, spokesman for the Arizona De partment of Fkiblic Safety. Surgeon general conformation looks difficult, officials say O Dole says the problems with Henry Foster's nomination were caused by the White House. WASHINGTON (AF) — Buffeted for months by abortion foes and other critics. President Clinton’s surgeon general nominee declared himself primed to “define who Henry Foster is†at a Senate hearing Tuesday. Administration officials conceded confir mation still looked difficult. Brushing off questions about Foster’s abor tion record, Clinton called him a “pro-life, pro- choice doctor†on Monday. And the president added, “If we can’t confirm Henry Foster to be the surgeon general of the United States, what kind of person can we confirm?†But Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, who has said he may not call up the nomination for a vote even if it gets out of committee, said the White House had caused whatever problems there were. “This is not about abortion. This is about credi bility. This is about telling the truth. This is about the White House leveling with the American peo ple and not letting it drip, drip, drip out as the American people find out,†said Dole, who is run ning for president. Foster smiled and joked at Monday’s Capitol Hill news conference, surrounded by teen-agers who are enrolled in his “I Have a Future†pro gram back in Tennessee and who rode a bus to Washington to show their support. He said he was ready for the tough grilling he’s likely to get Tuesday before the Senate Labor and Hu man Resources Committee. “Am I intimidated? No. And I’m not being immodest. I'm not being cocky,†the 61-year-old obstetrician-gynecologist said. He said he looked forward to the hearing '“because that is the place where I get the chance to define who Henry Foster is.†"If we can't confirm Henry Foster to be the surgeon general of the United States, what kind of person can we confirm?" President Clinton Ever since President Clinton put his name forward in February, Foster has been under at tack from conservative groups and lawmakers — primarily over the fact that he performed abortions and gave several different answers about how many.