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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 29, 1995)
Aggie baseball team stands two wins away from the College World Series. See story on Sports, Page 3 u N E R T Y :Vbl. 101, No. 147 (8 pages) Established in 1893 Monday • May 29, 1995 "exas Senate suspends expansion bill □ The Baylor College of Den tistry and East Texas State Uni versity will become part of the A&M System in September 1996. The University of Central Texas will not become part of the System. By Katherine Arnold Tut Battalion I The Texas Senate suspended a bill Satur day that would have made the University of Central Texas the newest addition to the Texas A&M University System. ■ This action came after the Texas Legisla te • approved bills earlier this month to make th< Baylor College of Dentistry and East Texas State University a part of the System. ■ Terri Parker, director of communications for the System, said they wanted to make the University of Central Texas, a private school in Killeen, a part of the A&M System. “There is a high demand for higher educa tion in that community,” Parker said. “Cen tral Texas would be a great small school to have in the System.” The University of Central Texas is a junior- senior- and graduate-level school. If the Senate had ap proved the bill, the school would have been renamed Texas A&M Uni versity-Central Texas. The bill was proposed by State Rep. Layton Black in March. Parker said the main opposition to the bill came from Mary Hardin Baylor University, located near Killeen, and from David Sibley, a Republican sena tor from Waco. The 74th Legislature ends tonight at mid night, so no further action can be taken to reintroduce the bill. The Legislature recon venes in 1997. Mary Nan West, Texas A&M Board of Re gents chairman, said the University of Cen tral Texas was looking to join the System. “It just made sense to have a central Texas school in the System,” West said. West said the acquisition of the Baylor College of Den tistry and ETSU will go into effect on Sept. 1, 1996. “We are delighted to have these schools in the System,” West said. “They really fit with the goals and opportunities in the rest of the System.” “We will begin to adapt and adopt policies to be consistent with those * of the System,” Morris said. We will start participating in every possible board meeting and system meeting so we can to prepare for the merger.” Morris said joining the System will facil See Senate, Page 8 Construction on Bush library to begin within one month □ Manhattan Con struction Co. will be gin initial building of the Bush Presidential Library this summer. By Wes Swift The Battalion The Texas A&M Board of Re gents awarded a multimillion dollar contract to build the George Bush Presidential Li brary Center to a Houston-based construction company during a May 25 special meeting. Manhattan Construction Co. beat out seven other firms for* the $47.3 million contract for construction of the 316,663 square-foot building that will house the presidential library and several Texas A&M acade mic departments. Gen. Wesley Peel, vice chan cellor for facilities planning and construction, said con struction should begin within one month, depending on the speed of the contractors. “The contractors have 15 days to sign the contract, then return it to us,” Peel said. “Af ter that, weTl sign the con tract, and after that, they have 10 days to proceed. I would say that construction should be started in no less than 30 days.” Peel said the center would probably be completed by Fall See Library, Page 8 Nick Rodnicki, The Battalion GO, SPEED RACER, GOl Sophomore business major Matthew Acock takes a short break before racing his formula racer at the Lone Star GP4 Regional/National and IT Sprint Races held at Texas World Speedway Saturday and Sunday. Tudents adjust to A&M’s summer changes Students with meal plans can use the Commons dining facility. Li braries and computer labs will keep lormal hours. |By Michael Simmons he Battalion Although students may have to make minor fschedule changes this summer to accommodate for lew campus programs and expansions, many ac tivities and programs will continue regularly. Ron Beard, interim food services director, said Ithe expansion of the Vet Snack Bar and the addi- |tion of a snack bar in the new recreational sports luilding are slated for this summer. Beard said the Vet Snack Bar, located in the [Veterinary Medicine complex on West Campus, {will be expanded to accommodate 150 people. ‘We’ve been dragging our feet a little bit,” [Beard said, “ but I expect the [Vet] snack bar to [open in seven to 10 days.” The Commons dining facility will be open to ac- | commodate both new student conferences and stu- | dents with meal plans. The Underground market also will be open to students this summer, but Sbisa will be closed in order to perform general up- |keep of the facility. Jennifer Evans, summer housing coordinator, I said approximately 1,300 students will be living in Northside residence halls this summer, slightly [more than in previous years. Although fewer activities take place in the [summer than other semesters. Heather Huntley, i executive vice president for programs, said the i MSC anticipates several noon programs at Rud der Fountain. The MSC will also host a domino tournament and a dinner theater performance of “Marne.” Huntley said the MSC Dinner Theater, Stage Center and the Aggie Players will put on a show together in Rudder Theater for the first time. The musical production “Marne,” the story of a wealthy New York woman during the Roaring ’20s, will have several showings starting June 15. Other summer activities include recreational sports. The recreational sports department will of fer a variety of summer intramural activities, in cluding basketball, volleyball, softball, racquetball and tennis. The Read building will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The off-campus bus routes will run their nor mal schedules, every 15 to 20 minutes, but only Rudder, Old Army and Fish Camp routes will run on campus. Sterling C. Evans Library will keep normal hours of operation during the summer. All computer labs will reopen today and will op erate under normal hours all summer. Police continue investigation of May 4 sexual assault at A&M Research Park □ The University Police believe the attack earli er this month and an at tack in January were made by the same man. By Scott McMahan The Battalion The University Police Depart ment is searching for the suspect in the second reported sexual as sault at A&M this year. A 21-year-old student told po lice she was sexually assaulted while jogging alone from Re search Park on Horticulture Road May 4. The student said that shortly before 9 p.m. her attacker knocked her down and dragged her down an embankment and across a creek at knifepoint. She was taken to an area where UPD believes the assailant had previously prepared an area and raped her. The assailant held her for about an hour before she was released. Bob Wiatt, director of the UPD, said the victim’s descrip tion of her attacker closely re sembles one given by the victim of a similar sexual assault near Olsen Field Jan. 30. Because of the similar descriptions and similar methods of operations, UPD believes the same man committed the two rapes. During the attack, the victim cried out when she thought she heard people in the distance. The police still have not found anyone who may have heard her that night. Wiatt said that police are looking for anyone with information. “It’s been in the news,” he said. “All we can do is get some assistance from the person who may have heard her.” Wiatt said the University po lice are still looking for suspects who fit the victims’ descriptions by networking with other police departments and other agencies. “We are tracking down people who may have done similar things and were in the area,” Wiatt said. Wiatt said if they find a sus pect, having the victim identify the attacker is a difficult task be cause of the trauma that victims face when seeing their assailants. The attacker is described as a white man, age 20 to 22, 5 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 160 to 170 pounds. He has a medium to toned build and medium-brown hair that is short on the sides, full on top and flops over the forehead. The suspect was wearing a white T-shirt with a print on the front, shorts a few inches above the knees and white run ning shoes. Dr. J. Malon Southerland, vice president for student af fairs, said the Texas A&M Asso ciation of Former Students is of fering a reward of up to $10,000 for individuals who provide in formation leading to the arrest and conviction of the assailants. “Texas A&M is obviously concerned about the continued safety of our students, faculty and staff, as well as other visi tors,” Southerland said. “I strongly urge everyone to exer cise normal to extraordinary caution by being aware of their surroundings and what is hap pening around them and by not placing themselves in what could be dangerous situations.” Anyone with information should call UPD at 845-2345. Callers can remain anonymous. | The University Police Depart ment and the Brazos County Rape Crisis Cen ter offer several methods of rape prevention: • Stay alert; be aware of your sur roundings. • Remain calm. • Walk quickly and against the traffic, and never hitchhike. • Walk in open areas away from walls, shrubs, doorways, alleys or unlighted walkways. • If you suspect you are being fol lowed, go to a safe place quickly and call for help. • If a car pulls up next to you, run in the direction that the car came from. The driver will have to turn around to follow. • Travel in pairs. • Take a self-defense class from UPD or the A&M kinesiology department. If attacked: • Talk - say anything that may allow you to escape. • Scream for help. • Fight - aim for sensitive parts of the body: groin, eyes, windpipe, kneecap. The first blow is very important and must be accurate, because you may not have a sec ond chance. • Submit — submitting is not the same as consenting, and it may be the only way to save your life. Do not allow an attacker to tie you up. At that point, you will lose all op tions to escape. • Run - your main objective is to get away. Look for crowds, lighted houses or a busy street. • Remember - If persuasion and resistance do not work, concen trate on identity: age, height, hair color, eye color, scars or birthmarks, clothes, car and li cense plate number. • Mace and pepper spray are other options during an attack. Stew Milne, The Battalion Sbisa Dining Hall will be closed during the sum mer. The Commons will be available to those resi dents living on Northside. The police sketch on the left matches the descrip tion of the Jan. 30 attacker whose crime is reported to have been committed near Olsen Field. The po lice sketch on the right matches the description of the May 4 attacker whose crime is reported to have been committed on Horticulture Road. Both are described as being white males in their early 20's with brown hair and a medium build. Due to case similarities, police are exploring the possibility that the two sketches are of one single actor.