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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
■ ”. \
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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