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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 1995)
T A M U i n A Sc WL U N V R T v SHOOK UP A&M Soccer freshman Nicole Shook has opposing teams shaking their heads. Sports, Page 7 Car trouble Shoot it Ibl. 102, No. 38 (12 pages) Established in 1893 Wednesday • October 18, 1995 Beckcom: Owning an to Paintball wars gain % automobile can be more popularity among trouble than it's worth. adventure-seekers. X i r mi ■ Opinion, Page 11 Aggielife, Page 3 ■ ”. \ ir " -' 1 §> ssociate chairs appointed o fee allocation committee 5 un oTwo graduate students were appointed as part of a :ompromise between CSC nd Student Government. y Tara Wilkinson [he Battalion The Texas A&M Graduate Stu- lent Council and the A&M Student Jovernment reached a compromise ist week regarding future activities f the Student Government Student services Fee Allocation Committee. On Oct. 3, the GSC passed a reso lution calling for disbandment of the Jee allocation committee and dis missal of Kelli Harman, committee hairwoman, because of bylaw viola- ions regarding graduate student representation on the committee. Fee allocation committee bylaws specify that three graduate stu dents should serve on the commit tee. However, prior to the GSC res olution, committee business was conducted this semester with only one graduate student member. The day after the GSC resolution was passed, Student Government rep resentatives reacted by appointing two graduate students to the commit tee. However, they refused to consider removing Harman as chairwoman. Stepheni Moore, GSC president, maintaining her position that Har man should be removed, filed a re quest for a University investigation into the committee’s activities. However, Moore said that after discussions with Toby Boenig, A&M student body president, and Dr. J. Malon Southerland, vice president for student affairs, she realized the GSC requests were not likely to be granted in their entirety. “It became very apparent over time that the administration wanted Toby and I to solve the problem our selves,” Moore said. “And we did.” As part of the GSC and Student Government compromise, which was proposed by Boenig, two associ ate chairs were appointed to assist Harman. Shelly McKee, GSC finance chair and a graduate poultry science stu dent, was appointed to one of these positions. “Her name was put forth by the Student Government, not by GSC,” Moore said. The other associate chair, Stephen Kindrick, a biomedical See Chairs, Page 10 V I Jing "A Evan Zimmerman, Tut Battalion \ FISH OUT OF WATER Freshman Kon Gabel, a member of Squadron 1 3, looks at feeder fish at a local pet store Tuesday afternoon. Evan Zimmerman, Thf Battalion Best-selling author Christina Hoff Sommers addresses an audience at Rudder Theater Tuesday night. Sommers calls for radical feminist movement change □ The best-selling author said women are not oppressed in today's society. By Heather Pace The Battalion The frightful turn that radical feminists have taken through misinformation has led to the destruction of the feminist move ment, Christina Hoff Sommers said last night in a speech presented by the College Republicans in Rudder Theater. Sommers, the author of Who Stole Fem inism?, said many radical feminists are so angry that they “simply want propaganda value” and are not concerned that their facts are inaccurate. These inaccuracies cause enraged women to engage in male-bashing as women espouse statistics they think are based in truth, Sommers said. Sommers said the male-bashing that re sults from misinformed feminists should cease because women must enlist the help of men to make further gains. “Women are not helped by these lies, she said. These statistics give us a wrong idea of how to best address society’s problems.” Joshua Rocca, a junior electrical engineering major, agreed with Sommers, saying that “feminism today is anti-male.” See Sommers, Page i o Medical examiner testifies in Shamburger murder trial □ A friend of Lori Ann Baker told the court the Texas A&M student had known Shamburger. By Lily Aguilar The Battalion A medical examiner testi fied Tuesday that Ron Shamburger may have tried to remove a bullet from Lori Ann Baker’s head in an at tempt to cover his tracks. Shamburger could face the death penalty if he is found guilty of the Sept. 30, 1994 murder of the Texas A&M accounting major. Dr. Robert Bux, a med ical examiner and forensic pathology expert, performed Baker’s autopsy. He deter mined Baker died from a gunshot wound to the head, not from the gasoline fire set in her room. Bux said the fire charred Baker’s feet and calves, but the bums vere inflicted af ter her death. He said at least one other injury was inflicted on the body after Baker was dead. Prosecutors charge Shamburger cut Baker’s head with a knife in an at tempt to remove evidence of the bullet. Bux alsp said the exit wound on the back of Baker’s head appeared irregular, as if it had been sliced open. “The exit wound was not the result of a bullet. Some thing sharp caused the wound,” he said. Barry Wilkerson, a Col lege Station police officer, testified Monday that he discovered bundles of hair lying beside and beneath Baker’s body, which he be lieved were cut with the scissors and knives also found on her bed. Chris Kelley, a mechanical engineering student at Texas A&M and Baker’s boyfriend, said Monday he had given Baker a set of knives while they were dating. Baker’s set, which was missing two knives, was then entered into evidence. Prosecutors asked Bux if the two knives found in Baker’s bed could have caused the unusual exit See Shamburger, Page io j Football players, coaches react positively to Regents’ decision □ The players said the grass field is easier to maintain and may reduce injuries. By Tara Wilkinson The Battalion Texas A&M football players are pleased with a Board of Re gents decision made Friday to re place the artificial turf of Kyle Field with natural grass in time for the 1996 football season. Switching from turf to grass, a nationwide trend in college football, is supported by some who say that grass is safer than turf. Others say the perception that fewer injuries occur on grass is unproven. Aaron Oliver, A&M wide re ceiver and a sophomore construc tion science major, said he is relieved that he will get to play on a grass surface next year. “I’ve been praying they’d put grass in there,” Oliver said. “Some say it hasn’t been proven that there’s any difference between the two, but there really is.” Oliver said practicing day after day on turf, a much harder surface than grass, puts strain on players’ feet and leg muscles and caus es a painful condition known as “turf toe.” Players develop “turf toe,” toes that bleed underneath the toenails, causing the toenails to eventually fall off, from con- "Those early games and practices are almost unbear able on turf." — /R. C. Slocum head football coach stantly slamming their toes into the turf. Reggie Brown, A&M outside linebacker and a senior manage ment major, once suffered a con cussion from hitting his head on the turf. He said such an injury would not have happened on nat ural grass, because it is softer. "I've been praying they'd put grass in there." — Aaron Oliver A&M wide receiver “Turf is also bad on your knees, even just running on it,” Brown said, “because it doesn’t give.” Oliver and Brown said one of the reasons grass has not al ready replaced turf on Kyle Field is that grass is more diffi cult to maintain, especially dur- mg ing bad weather. Eddie Jasper, A&M nose guard and a junior agricultural development major, said another factor contributing to players’ preference for grass is that turf, with its asphalt base, , attracts heat. “When we played 'Jij against LSU it was 120 il® degrees on the field,” Jasper said. “You start getting cramps, even in your fingers, because of water loss.” R.C. Slocum, head football coach, said artificial surfaces get 20 percent hotter than grass. “Those early games and practices are almost unbear able on turf,” Slocum said. Because the Board of Re gents’ decision to replace turf with grass puts A&M on the cutting edge of football trends, Slocum said it will boost re cruiting efforts. “I’m thrilled to death and very appreciative of the fact that the Board recognizes what’s going on in college football,” he said. “Al though there haven’t been con clusive studies done, there is the feeling and perception that nat ural grass is safer.” Seven Division I-A teams, in cluding A&M and Southern Methodist University, have de cided to switch from turf to See Decision, Page io