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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 1996)
• March 7,1996 nage rom Page 1 these areas are i the proposed udes creek and sments, enlarg- id building de- ands are created [ areas to slowly r into nearby ms. is are expected [lion a year for lext five years, a yearly budget ) fund drainage ed money comes that voters ap- >ring. No utility :ntly imposed for present the City a rate resolution lishing what the ty charge would ts if the plan is rings before the ie held in June, :il is expected to m in October, rage utility plan College Station vill include the vhich is expected ' month for a sin- dence. this fee is based int of run-off a es, which will be ay the square ildings on given leant lots will be amily residences same rate based ;e square footage imily residence, .ment complexes 3 based on the av- botage of a single it. al properties will ised on the actual ge of the struc- iven property, lliham, College ic relations and anager, said the 3 public’s input in •ates. aing our research zens to get their ! said. is conducted focus participants from 3 prone to flooding »se that are not. A ~vey is being con- eek. i said that ai ling affects only 3 city, everyone .ribute because s a community r to swallow if we a little piece of the pay the same police and fire .hough (most of imr had a fire in Vi campus con- ae drainage prob- 3ge Station. Nu- dings and large s prevent water ' into the ground, re run-off to sur- :as. d he hopes to ne- atually beneficial ith A&M. an impact that the as on the city, and don’t have the re- eal with that im- l. e a community solve, and since d of the communi- to work as a part- n.” lid negotiations irted, but the city izes the Universi- ns. to be sensitive to ity’s) budget cycle ire that they know re of their budget he said. aid A&M would >e College Station’s ling-utility payer, e are alternatives University, iton, vice president nd administration, icipates there will ions between the i University about ge program. “The proposed this to us lal way,” he said, r and the Universi- ved in several col- efforts, and this e one of them.” lid the city could empt the Universi- y drainage fees if eloped its own in. te law that allows this utility allows e who we want to 1 not exempt,” he LONG ROAD J.J. Matzke's dream of playing A&M baseball is now a reality. Sports, Page 6 TABOO TOPIC Nolen: Although it is illegal, a new law says abortion is not a suitable topic for the Internet. Opinion, Page 5 GOTHIC GROUP A&M students study the behavior of vampires and werewolves. Aggielife, Page 3 The Battalion n? SPy HIP 102, No. 109 (6 pages) Serving Texas A&M University Since 1893 Friday • March 8, 1996 A&M joins military in technology research Jlhe Center for Electronic Manufacturing will attempt to integrate technologies used for commercial and military purposes. !yCourtney Walker Iffi Battalion National military budget cuts have led Texas A&M to contribute to the tpening of a Center for Electronic Man ufacturing, which will produce electron ic products for both military and com mercial manufacturers. A&M joined the University of Texas at El Paso, the Georgia Institute of Technol ogy and Sandia National Laboratories in a partnership to integrate technologies once used solely for military purposes with the commercial electronic manufac turing market. Researchers from A&M’s Departments of Computer Science, Engineering Tech nology and Industrial Engineering are participating in the center’s creation. The same technology the military uses to make missile warheads and cir cuit boards will be used to make com puters, robots and televisions for com mercial manufacturing. Dr. Jorge V. Leon, principal research investigator from A&M and an assistant professor of engineering technology, said the same circuit board that operates a tank for the Department of Defense can also operate robots. Leon said the center’s goal is to in crease efficiency by developing technolo gies that military suppliers can use dur ing an armed conflict, such as Desert Storm, or use in the production of equip ment for the commercial market. “With budget cuts, the military cannot have a lot of equipment in stock sitting idle; we need to upgrade equipment for our dynamic environment,” Leon said. Three schools are involved in the cen ter, but Leon said he is trying to get oth ers in on the action. “We want to eventually get other schools involved in the program, but right now we are just starting the center, so it will take time,” Leon said. Brett Peters, a member of the A&M research team and an assistant professor of industrial engineering, said the De partment of Defense was looking for ex pertise from a university environment. A&M and other university faculty members responded to this need with a proposal and were given a grant. Leon said one objective A&M has for the program is the establishment of courses in electronic manufacturing so that students will have more attractive resumes when they graduate. “Currently, there is little to no curricu lum for electronic manufacturing, but in formation will be incorporated into the industrial and engineering technology classes because of research done in the center,” Leon said. Leon said that with the electronic in dustry flourishing, A&M must conduct research to improve education and job op portunities for students. Deadline to prepay tuition approaches JTexas Tomorrow Funds allows benefactors to pay tuition and fee costs now for future college students. Lisa Johnson k Battalion Though a new state program available through Texas A&M’s Student Financial Aid ice would not benefit current students, it mild make college more affordable for stu dents’ younger sib 1 ings. For a limited time, the state comptroller’s office is offering prepaid tuition and fee plans tostadents under the age of 18. The deadline lor purchasing a plan through the Texas To- smw Fund is March 31. This is the first time people have been ahle to purchase Texas Tomorrow Funds, which were originally proposed by* State Comptroller John Sharp in 1994. The Texas Legislature passed the bill during its last legislative session. Anyone may purchase a plan for a benefi- tiary, provided the beneficiary is under 18 [ears of age and a Texas resident at the time »tthe purchase. Non-resident children of Texas residents are also eligible. The plan pays tuition and required fees for students when they enter college. Food, hous ing and non-required fees not included. Beneficiaries must take advantage of the plan within 10 years of graduating from high school, or the funds are void. Should students decide not to go to college, the purchaser of the plan can name another beneficiary or re ceive a refund. The money will not be refund ed to the beneficiary. Carmen Luevanos, state comptroller’s of fice spokesperson, said these options are the best feature of the plan because they prevent student abuse of the funds. “The fact that the money reverts to the person who purchased the plan, rather than to the beneficiary is great,” she said. “That way, if a student graduates and decides to go off to some foreign land ‘to find themselves’ for a couple of years, they won’t have access to all that money that’s been paid in for them to attend school.” Four types of plans are available: a senior college plan, junior college plan, junior-senior college plan and a private college plan. The junior college plan pays for up to 64- hours worth of tuition and required fees at any state junior or community college and costs between $2,334 and $2,375, depending See Tuition, Page 2 Stephen McGinnis, a full-time supervisor at the ACC in Blocker, puts computer printouts in the slots as Ben Howard, a sophomore chemical engineering major and member of the Texas Aggie Band, picks up his English 210 project Thursday afternoon. Dole gains another win in New York ^Buchanan and forbes hang on in the GOP race. NEW YORK (AP) — Bob Dole 'on a landslide victory Thursday dhe New York primary, open- a resounding lead in the Re- Hblican presidential race. He id it was “time to start the fight Lf November,” but Steve Forbes •nd Pat Buchanan vowed to bat- ion in the upcoming GOP pri maries. “When it comes to picking the publican nominee, it’s over — ^ Bob Dole,” said Gov. George ■ataki, a Dole partisan. Dole cast his big win as an overwhelming statement of Re- oilcan unity” and said it was Oe for Republicans “to defeat il Clinton and return conserva- “veleadership to the presidency.” In an interview with The Asso ciated Press, Dole said it wasn’t for him to tell Forbes and Bucha nan to quit the race, but suggest ed they take a long look at the lopsided New York results. “Let’s move on and recognize it’s time to start the fight for No vember,” the Senate majority leader said. New Yorkers braved snow or chilly rain to vote, and many had a humdrum attitude about a race that was without a front-runner less than a week ago. “You pick because you have to, but it’s not much of a choice,” said Maria Avellino, a 22-year-old mother of three in Brooklyn who voted for Dole. New Yorkers voted for dele gates — not directly for candi dates — but a voter survey showed that 53 percent favored Dole, compared to 30 percent for Forbes and 14 percent for Bucha nan. As a result, Dole took a daunt ing delegate lead over Forbes and Buchanan: He won at least 90 of the 93 delegates on the New York ballots, bringing his national total to 380. Forbes had 72. Buchanan was third at 62, with 996 needed to clinch nomination. Tf the others want to stay in, they ought to focus on Bill Clinton and not kick me,” Dole told AP from Florida. Speaking via satellite to a New York victory rally, Dole chastised Clinton for vetoing GOP plans to balance the budget, cut taxes and reform welfare. But his rivals weren’t willing to quit, even as they acknowl edged the long odds. Forbes said he would contest the Super Tuesday primaries next week, move onto the big Midwest states up next and then make a major push in California at the end of the month. He con trasted his “vibrant vision of the future” with Dole’s “politics as Delegate totals Delegates who have pledged support for the Republican presidential candidates. A total of 996 is needed to secure the nomination. Dole 377 Forbes 72 Buchanan 62 Keyes 4 Uncommitted 16 Associate Press usual” but would not say how much more of his personal for tune he would pour into the race. Forbes blamed his resounding defeat on the New York GOP es tablishment — led by Pataki and See New York, Page 2 G.S. soldiers convicted for rape of Okinawa girl JThe sentence of 6 1/2 to fven years is considered •High by Japanese standards. NAHA, Okinawa (AP) — Three U.S. ser- %en were convicted and sentenced today s 61/2 to seven years in prison for raping 11 Okinawa schoolgirl, a crime that ignited '% of the harshest anti-American senti- ^tin Japan since World War II. The sentences, considered tough by J Panese standards, were handed down by a ?Pel of three judges at the Naha District %t. The verdicts, which can be appealed, 'Howed six months of unprecedented ^tests against the U.S. military bases on ^southern island. "This was an extremely heinous and bold Jhe,” presiding judge Shinei Nagamine ^ the court. “It was all the more serious ^use it was carefully planned.” None of the three GIs — Navy Seaman ’ 9 fcus Gill, of Woodville, Texas; Marine Pfc. Rodrico Harp, of Griffin, Ga.; and Ma rine Pfc. Kendrick Ledet, of Waycross, Ga. — showed any emotion at the sentencing. All three had admitted some involve ment in the attack, though only Gill had confessed to rape. "This was an extremely heinous and bold crime." — Shinei Nagamine presiding judge Prosecutors said the three forced the girl into their rental car on the night of Sept. 4 as she left a stationery shop after buying a school notebook. They beat and bound her as Gill drove to a deserted road in fields of sugar cane. The girl was raped there and aban doned. Still bleeding, she wandered to the nearest house and tearfully called home. Military police arrested Gill, Ledet and Harp two days later. The court sentenced Gill and Harp to 7 years, and Ledet to 6 1/2 years. The sen tences will be served in Yokosuka prison, just south of Tokyo. Rape causing injury car ries a maximum sentence of life in prison; prosecutors had asked for 10 years. The defendants have two weeks to appeal. All three confessed to some role in the at tack. Gill said that he raped the girl. Ledet and Harp denied raping her and said they helped abduct her only because Gill bullied them into it. The court, however, ruled that blood stains from the victim found on Harp’s un derwear proved that he, too, raped her. The judges concluded that Ledet was un able to go through with the rape after realiz ing how young the victim was, and therefore gave him a slightly lighter sentence. Japanese officials and citizens said the sentences were either justified or not harsh enough. “The penalty was too light, I almost wept See Rape, Page 4 A&M to increase Internet access with additional modems □ The University plans to increase the number of campus computer modems to 626 by Fall 1996. By Danielle Pontiff The Battalion The Texas A&M Computing and Information Service plans to improve student access to the In ternet by installing more tele phone-line modems for off-cam pus computers. A recent failure in the tele phone dial-up modem pool, which connects off-campus computers to the A&M computer network, prompted the decision. Dr. Dave Safford, CIS director, said the board of modems that ac cepts 48 telephone lines failed re cently because of an increased de mand for network access. The University has 386 mo dem lines available, Safford said, but studies conducted by CIS show that this number needs to be doubled to handle network traffic. “We have statistics on how many calls come into the system each day,” Safford said. “The numbers show we should have 800 modems available to handle the increased demand for net work access.” Three different levels of modems are available in A&M’s dial-up pool. The 28.8 kilobyte modem is the highest speed available, al lowing students to transfer 3,600 bytes of information per second. The 14.4 kilobyte modem trans fers 1,800 bits per second, and the 2.4 kilobyte modem transfers 300 bits per second. The CIS has approved, for im mediate purchase and installa tion, 96 more 28.8 kilobyte modems and will add another 144 in the fall. This will make 626 modems available to students and faculty by Fall 1996. Dave Duchscher, CIS network analyst, said expansion of the mo dem pool is necessary so that more people will be able to get through to the A&M network. “There is a lot of demand on the system,” Duchscher said. “Too many people are trying to get in. Students have modems but can’t do their work.” Feng-pin An, a sophomore mechanical engineering major who works in the West Campus Library computer lab, said it takes a long time to get into the A&M network from telephone line modems. “I can remember times when I’ve spent about two hours trying to get into the A&M system from my modem at home,” An said. “An increase in modem lines will reduce the computer lab load for network programs like Inter net. People who need to concen trate on other programs will have better access to the labs.” Safford said the modem expan sion will be paid for by a CIS cap ital fund that provides money for computer systems campuswide. The CIS plans to install 100 modems every 7 year for the next few years until there are up to 1,000 modems available for off- campus computers, Safford said. “More people will be able to work from their computers at home,” Safford said. “Our main concern is convenience for the students and faculty.”