995
i
THE YEAR IN REVIEW
Take a look back at the Lady Aggie ten
nis team's season.
Sports, Page 7
MIND YOUR MANNERS
Diener: Finals inspire rude behavior — don't
forget that all students are taking tests.
Opinion, Page 9
STUDY ABROAD
Programs take students out of the
classroom and around the world.
Aggielife, Page 3
ime
/bl. 101, No. 144 (10 pages)
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“Serving Texas AdrMsince 1893'
Wednesday • May 3, 1995
hockley leaves for Houston rehabilitation center
and) The 26-year-old A&M stu-
lent was injured in a bicy-
and ac cident in February.
and y Wes Swift
he Battalion
^■"revor Shockley, dressed in maroon
nd white, flashed a quick “Gig 'em”
l.gn for the cameras Monday as he was
iken from his second-floor room at
razos Valley Medical Center on a
| ;retcher to a waiting ambulance.
It was the latest part of the journey
lat has taken Shockley, a 26-year-old
nimal science major from Montgomery,
■om a tragic bicycling accident on West
ampus in February to The Institute
ir [Rehabilitation and Research at the
Texas Medical Center in Houston,
where he will undergo treatment.
Shockley was granted a 30-day
scholarship by TIRR and was given
another 30-day scholarship by the
Texas Rehabilitation Commission.
The two gifts will pay for more than
$100,000 in medical expenses.
Joe Shockley, Trevor Shockley’s fa
ther, said it felt good to finally be going.
“This is great. We’ve wanted this
for three months,” he said. “It’s really
been a struggle.”
Suzanne F*resley, a senior sociology
major who helped organize a benefit for
Shockley, expressed similar feelings.
“This is so wonderful,” Presley said.
“Just to see his progress is great.”
Shockley was riding his bicycle on
Agronomy Road Feb. 1 when a stopped
bus pulled away from the curb and
turned left onto Soil and Crops Circle.
When Shockley made a sharp turn to
avoid hitting the bus, his tires came out
from under him. He slid under the bus
and the double rear tires rolled over him.
Shockley was rushed to Brazos Val
ley Medical with severe injuries to his
head, body and legs.
Joe Shockley said the first few days
were critical to his son’s life.
“For those first 72 hours, we didn’t
know if he would live,” he said. “But
not only did he survive, but he’s getting
back to a normal life.”
Family members said Shockley has
slowly regained the use of his voice
and has limited use of his limbs. He
recognizes voices, can respond to ques
tions with simple words and eat food
by mouth again.
“His brain is working,” Joe Shock-
ley said. “But it’s just not working
with his body.”
But that was more than many
doctors expected.
Joe Shockley proudly told the story of
a neurosurgeon familiar with the case
who recently visited his son. The doctor
stood staring for several moments look
ing at Shockley, and finally spoke.
“He’s doing extremely good,” the
doctor said.
The elder Shockley took that as an
encouraging sign.
“Neurosurgeons are usually very dark
because they don’t want to give anyone
false hope,” Shockley said. “But here he
See Shockley, Page 6
Tim Moog/THE Battalion
Trevor Shockley prepares to move to
Houston to undergo treatment at the
Texas Medical Center.
Nick Rodnicki/THE Battalion
Standing tall
'he Twelfth Man statue, being protected by a wooden enclosure, awaits the addition of the dedi-
jtion wall. Palomares Construction Co. plans to be finished with construction by May 30.
r
Simple procedures can safeguard home, officials say
and coin-operated machines.
□ Students should bur
glar-proof their homes
before leaving for the se
mester break, police say.
By Tracy Smith
The Battalion
Locking doors, closing windows
and watching for suspicious be
havior could help the College Sta
tion Police Department lower the
total number of burglaries, police
officials said.
According to College Station Po
lice statistics, burglary is up 8.5
percent from last year, with the to
tal number of offenses increasing
from 224 in 1994 to 243 this year.
These include burglary offenses
of dwellings, buildings, vehicles
Lt. Scott McCollum, administra
tive lieutenant for the College Sta
tion Police Department, said many
habitation offenses occur when peo
ple are out of town and the homes
appear empty, making the
two weeks between the
spring and summer se
mester a possible risk.
Students going home
for the two weeks, he
said, should take the
necessary precautions to
secure their houses or
apartments.
“Criminals will usually
avoid places that have taken the
time to lock the doors, secure win
dows and place other security de
vices around their home,” he said.
“The number of burglaries could
possibly be lowered if students
would make things a little more
difficult to break into.”
McCollum explained that crimi
nals usually avoid houses that will
be time-consuming to break into
because there is more time for
the criminal to be caught.
“They will avoid these
places and find some
where that is more op
portune,” he said.
Having someone
watch the house and
pick up the newspapers
and mail, McCollum said,
can help make the house look
lived in. People also should in
vest in timers for their lights,
television and radio, he said.
See Home, Page 6
Running to face trial for charges
of falsifying government records
□ The hearing is set for May 15 to de
termine if the defendant is guilty of
disguising the purchase of alcohol as
food and beverages.
By Gretchen Perrenot
The Battalion
The last of the Texas A&M employee hearings con
cerning the tampering of government records by dis
guising the purchase of alcohol as food and beverages
is scheduled for May 15.
Vicki Running, secretary to the University System’s
Board of Regents, is the last defendant of almost a
dozen A&M employees involved in the incident.
Running will go on trial for charges of eight counts
of falsifying government records.
She was indicted in February 1994 on charges of fal
sifying purchase vouchers and altering state records.
Brazos County District Attorney Bill Turner said
Running has requested a jury trial.
The hearings of Dr. John Wormuth, an oceanogra
phy professor, and Ronald Carter, chemistry depart
ment business manager, were held Monday.
Turner said the hearings called for Wormuth to
pay a $150 fine and Carter a $500 fine.
They each received three months deferred adjudi
cation, meaning no conviction will appear on their
records if they follow probation conditions.
Wormuth and Carter entered pleas of no-contest
to the charges of falsifying government records,
Turner said.
When originally indicted in June of last year, the
two pleaded not guilty.
Wormuth had said then that he would try plea
bargaining, which is a negotiation between the dis
trict attorney and the criminal defense lawyer.
Turner said the results of the hearing are similar
to the results of previous hearings.
Allegations against the other employees involved
in the incident have resulted in similar fines and
probations.
Wally Groff, athletic director, and Penny King, as
sociate athletic director, also pleaded no contest and
were placed on three months probation and charged
$250. They were both given deferred adjudication.
A jury convicted Dr. Don Hellriegal, a manage
ment professor, of six counts of falsifying documents.
Hellriegal was sentenced to 30 days probation and
fined $200 in court fees.
Robert Smith, former A&M vice president of finance
and administration, was found guilty by a jury of solic
iting gifts for his wife from Barnes and Noble Book
stores, Inc., which manages the campus bookstore.
The charges against Sasha Walters, an adminis
trative assistant in the Board of Regent’s office, and
Sabrina Saladino, an academic administrator for the
management department, were dismissed by the
Brazos County District Attorney.
All of the charges resulted from an investigation
by the Texas Rangers and FBI into questionable
business practices at A&M. An anonymous letter
was sent to former Gov. Ann Richards concerning the
alleged wrongdoings.
Ross Margraves, former regents chairman, re
signed as a result of the investigations.
}er iTwo men taken into custody in
Missouri as bombing witnesses
□ One of the men slightly
resembles the sketch of
John Doe 2.
jZZa OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — FBI
agents hunting the elusive “John
Doe 2” raided a Missouri motel
Huesday, capturing two men who
traveled a path of cheap motels from
Arizona to Oklahoma that paral
leled the movements of bombing
suspect Timothy McVeigh.
I Gary Alan Land and Robert Jacks,
60 — objects of an FBI all-points bul
letin — were arrested at daybreak in
( Kliyj Carthage, Mo., as material witnesses
lllill in the Oklahoma City bombing.
^ Land, a 35-year-old drifter with a
record of petty crimes, bears a pass
ing resemblance to the heavyset,
square-jawed figure in the sketch of
John Doe 2, wanted in the nation’s
worst domestic terrorist attack.
izza
frsCTJOif
order,
iatti’s-
Asked if Land could be the mus
cular, tattooed John Doe 2, FBI
spokesman Dan Vogel said: “We
don’t know that. We have not deter
mined whether he is or not.”
Later in the day, a law enforce
ment source in Washington, speak
ing on condition of anonymity, said
federal investigators might release
Land and Jacks because authorities
were having trouble finding grounds
to hold them.
The death toll from the April 19
explosion reached 140 on Wednes
day, including 15 children. About 40
people were missing.
Investigators also pursued leads
in Arizona, Oklahoma and Kansas,
and a federal grand jury investigat
ing McVeigh’s case heard testimony
Tuesday in Oklahoma City.
The FBI has described John Doe
2 as a possible weightlifter. Land’s
See Suspects, Page 6
Former student establishes endowment fund
O Dr. C. Clifford Wendler
set up the endowment fund
for the Sterling C. Evans Li
brary and the Department
of Architecture.
By Stephanie Dube
The Battalion
An A&M graduate has established an
endowment fund for art and architecture
at the Sterling C. Evans Library and the
Department of Architecture.
Dr. C. Clifford Wendler, Class of ’39,
will continue to add to the funds for the
endowment, which will be available after
his death.
Charlene Clark, development and pro
motion coordinator for the Sterling C.
Evans Library, said Wendler worked in
the Cushing Library when he attended
Texas A&M.
“He worked very closely with Thomas
Mayo, who was then director of the li
brary,” Clark said. “Mayo influenced
many lives and Clifford was one of them.
He had the highest regard for Mayo and
wanted to do something to acknowledge
what Mayo had done for him.”
Clark said the endowment was well-
timed because it coincides with the reno
vations to Cushing Library that will begin
this summer.
Clark said she is more excited about Dr.
Wendler’s relationship with the library
than about the endowment itself.
“He is a wonderful person to meet,”
Clark said. “The friendship with Clifford
is just as exciting as the gift to us. This
endowment really does celebrate our dis
covery of our friendship with Clifford.”
Wendler became interested in architec
ture when he saw the name of the dean of
the College of Architecture, Dr. Walter V.
Wendler, in the Texas Aggie magazine.
Walter Wendler said Clifford Wendler
had been looking for his long-lost cousin,
who was also named Walter Wendler.
Walter Wendler said that although he
was not the cousin, Clifford Wendler still
came to A&M and visited the architecture
college, which sparked his interest in sup
porting the college.
“Clifford had originally wanted to study
architecture at A&M in the mid-30s,” Wal
ter Wendler said. “But Ernest Langford,
who was then head of architecture, told
him he should find another career choice
because the job opportunities were limited
then. So we sent little Clifford away.”
Wendler received a bachelor’s degree in
agricultural administration from A&M and
his Fh.D. in computer system design.
Wendler served as the chair of the
quantitative analysis department at
Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Once Wendler retired, he began to
paint. His depictions of hill country scenes
are on display in the second floor of the
MSC until May 13.