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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 30, 1996)
lay • April 26,1 kets.” \ said S50 ii s friends have it he has seen • as much as $ d students skill at selling gradm. /iolates Universitj and those caiiglt isciplinary actii ffairs. m ceremonies will Friday, May 10,it lite Coliseum wiH s of Agriculture 1 Medicine. At i onies will be hell ges of Architecture , Geosciences at! udies, and Veteri le. from the Colley , Liberal Arts ari receive their dipt ng at 9 a.m. Sait SRRIMCi 1 FlfNI/VL EXA/VI SCHEDULE Friday, Mlay 3 Monday, May C» Tuesday, May 7 Wednesday, May B erj- (LASS FINAL CLASS FINAL CLASS FINAL CLASS FINAL MWF 5:45-7 7:30-9:30 a.m. MWF 9:10-10 8-10 a.m. MWF 10:20-11:10 8-10 a.m. TR 12:45-2 8-10 a.m. Hi MWF 8-8:50 10 a.m.-noon MWF 12:40-1:30 10:30 a.m.-l 2 MWF 3-3:30 10:30 a.m.-l 2 MWF 11:30-12:20 10:30 a.m.-l 2:30 paii TR 9:35-10:50 12:30-2:30 p.m. TR 8-9:15 1 -3 p.m. TR 3:55-5:10 1-3 p.m. TR 2:20-3:35 1-3 p.m. leu IR 11:10-12:25 3-5 p.m. MW 4:10-5:25 3:30-5:30 p.m. MWF 1:50-2:40 3:30-5:30 p.m. TR 5:30-6:45 3:30-5:30 p.m. t Neede looking for pols this summtt willing to take purses. You will time summer jot Wrong Role Rhea Perlman does not fit role in Sunset Park. AGGIELIFE, PAGE The Battalion Vol. 102, No. 139 (16 pages) Serving Texas A&M University Since 1893 Tuesday • April 30, 1996 Suspect suffers mental problems Australian massacre gunman officially charged with murder Shane Elkins, The Bm» ler, the first fek i the math depail es a presentalit! humor in teacte •iously considered!! re other issues tla d, “that he getssc 11 make in meetiri n.” \wn criticism, ( e made lig ay to teach anytfc hend the message, i, “it’s at lea lat’s a better way:! y, said that beans der discriminate should the; y is an important about a problem PORT ARTHUR, Australia (AP) — He slept by day, prowled by night, threatened visitors with his beloved guns and nonchalant ly cut the grass minutes after be ing told his father had drowned. The blond man cruised Tasma nia’s towns in a mustard-yellow Volvo hatchback with a surfboard strapped on top. He shared his bed with a pet pig. He once threatened to shoot two neighbors who dropped by his farm and of fered to buy raspberries. On Sunday, muttering to him self about “WASPs” and “Japs,” he rolled in to one of the area’s most popular tourist sites, un packed automatic rifles from a tennis bag and started shooting. By the time he was done, at least 34 people were dead: Some were shot down in their seats at a tourist cafe, their forks still raised to their mouths; others sat slumped in their cars. One little gild died struggling to hide behind a tree. Police sources and the Aus tralian Broadcasting Corp. iden tified the gunman as Martin Bryant, a 28-year-old man with no criminal record but a history of mental problems. He was hos pitalized, sedated and put under heavy police guard Monday in the same hospital where 18 of his victims were treated for gun shot wounds. On Tuesday, Bryant was for mally charged with murder at a hospital bedside court hearing. He was only charged with one count of murder, but police said additional charges would be filed soon. When asked, Bryant would not enter a plea. Judge Peter Dixon ordered him to remain in custody and to appear in court on May 22. Hospital officials said they had received anonymous death threats from people demanding that Bryant not be treated for his burns. “There is a lot of anger against what has happened,” said Lindsay Pyne, the hospital’s chief executive officer. Four of the 18 wounded, in cluding a Vancouver, Wash., man identified as Dennis Olson by a family friend, Debbie Burton, were discharged from the hospital with minor injuries. Five others were in serious condition. In the aftermath of Australi a’s worst modern-day massacre, workers carried the dead to a morgue, citizens gathered for evening prayer vigils and police puzzled over why someone would use assault rifles to me thodically pick off victims rang ing from 3 to 72 years old. Local media reported that Bryant had suffered mental problems and mood swings after a car accident three years ago killed the woman with whom he was living. But people who identified themselves as his neighbors said his threatening behavior was ap parent since his arrival four years ago in the farming community of Copping, outside the southeast ern Tasmanian town of Hobart. Veina Featherstone, 41, whose property abutted the man’s farm, said when her hus band first went over to introduce himself, “he had a go at my hus band and told him to keep off his property or he would shoot him.” “He used to sleep all day, and walk around his property and other people’s properties at night,” she said. “He was pretty scary. He fired a gun off at night.” The gunman told two women who wanted to buy raspberries from him as they had from the See Massacre, Page 6 HBBBH ' ^ Dave House, The Battalion PROJECT PASSION Andy Stepp, an architecture graduate student, puts the final touches on his Ar chitecture 606 project. Stepp and six other graduate students attempted to con struct a visual representation of Peter Gabriel's "Passion." The exhibit will be on display Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Langford Building C. Class of ’96 gives statue, endowment By Heather Pace The Battalion The Texas A&M Class of ’96 received more than 196 class gift ideas, including the donation of a gig ‘em-shaped fountain and the replacement of Rudder Auditorium’s orange carpet. The Class Gift Committee, after weighing its op tions, Saturday announced its decision to donate a statue titled “The Day the Wall Came Down” and to endow a portion of Fish Camp. The statue, designed by Veryl Goodnight, will be placed in front of the George Bush Presidential Li brary and wall memorialize the fall of the Berlin Wall. One of several donors of the $750,000 statue, the Class of ’96 will have a plaque in its name placed by the statue. Tricia Wolfe, a Class of ’96 elementary education major, said she is pleased with the gift because it will connect her class to the Bush Library. “It is something that will be here for the rest of the campus’ life,” Wolfe said. "It is really exciting that a part of our legacy is a part of a world legacy.” Former President Bush, upon hearing about the decision, was so excited he wrote a letter thanking the Class of ’96. Bethany Bumam, co-chair of the Class Gift Com mittee and a senior marketing major, said both components of the class gift will benefit A&M in several ways. “We are excited to be giving a combination of a statue and a living memorial back to the school in the form of an endowment,” Bumam said. “We are giving back to future Aggies and continuing Aggie traditions through Fish Camp efforts.” One of the goals for the selection process was to ensure that the gift reflected the spirit of the Class of ’96. Janel Schroeder, co-chair of the Class Gift Com mittee and a senior marketing major, said the gift will reflect well on her class because of the large number of people who will visit the library. “It will be great for our class to be able to come back to visit and see how our efforts made the stat ue possible,” Schroeder said. “By having the class be one of the donors, it will ensure that it is up to Ag gie standards for excellence.” Early in the year, the committee began the gift selection process by accepting suggestions from students and faculty members. After rejecting See Gift, Page 10 ry range ons and bonus, ire also needed, p.m., Mon.-Fii. kerview. Quiet hours begin round-the-clock ► Gwendolyn Struve, The Battalion Kathy Thompson, a freshman biomedical science major, studies outside her room in Hobby Hall to get away from the distraction in her room. She studies better in the hall especially when there are others in the hall studying the same subject. By Tauma Wiggins The Battalion As final exams approach, many students feel the need for quiet hours within Texas A&M residence halls is at a se mester high. Residence hall quiet hours regularly are 8:10 p.m. to 7 a.m., but they will extend to 24 hours beginning today. Many students said that quiet hours, when noise is not allowed in hallways and is to be kept at a minimum within rooms, are only loosely en forced throughout the semes ter but critical during finals. Ron Sasse, director of Resi dent Life and Housing, said his department has not been noti fied of any difficulties residents are having studying in resi dence halls, but he is available to students who want to discuss problems with quiet hours. Opinion varies across cam pus as to whether it is possi ble to study in residence halls even during theoretically “quiet” hours. Silvia Lopez, a resident of Neeley Hall and junior bio medical science major, said the regular quiet hours in her dorm are not strictly enforced See Quiet Hours, Page 10 A&M’s first sorority celebrates 25 years By Tauma Wiggins The Battalion Texas A&M’s first sorority, Omega Phi Alpha, celebrated 25 years of friendship, service and leadership last week. Amy Russell, president of Alpha Phi Omega and senior psychology major, said the ser vice sorority was created in 1971 as a sister organization to the all-male Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity. But Russell said that because Alpha Phi Omega is now coed and has more than 400 members, there is less drive for the organi zation to function as Alpha Phi Omega’s sister sorority. In the 1970s, few women at tended A&M, and the idea of a sorority on campus was met with opposition from department heads, Russell said. . She said petitions were pre sented to the dean of students, and with the support of the Alpha Phi Omega members, the admin istration eventually agreed to al low the sorority. The administration required that the sorority serve strictly as a service organization and have no housing requirements, secret meetings, initiation or hazing. Julie Bradford, Omega Phi Al pha pledge educator and senior journalism major, said Omega Phi Alpha currently has a spring and fall rush, but because of in creasing membership, may have only one rush in future years. “We have about 75 members,” Bradford said. “We’re growing so much that if we do have a huge fall class, we might only have one rush per year. We want everyone to feel like they can get to know each other.” Bradford said that though Omega Phi Alpha participates in social activities, including Bonfire Buddies and big sister-little sister programs, the sorority’s primary goal is service. Jennifer Simmons, Omega Phi Alpha second vice president and senior political science major, said 15 hours of service are required from members, but most mem bers exceed the required hours. Simmons said some of the pro jects members have volunteered their services for include Breast Cancer Awareness, the Big Event, Replant, American Cancer Soci ety, Phoebe’s Home and March to the Brazos. Michelle Moffett, a member of Omega Phi Alpha and junior ele mentary education major, said she has enjoyed the friendships as well as the service projects pro vided by the organization. She said the sorority does not have a traditional or secret initia tion but will hold a ceremony this week in which new members will become active. The ceremony in cludes singing, lighting candles and exchanging gifts. Supreme Court denies parental-notice for abortion About 12 percent of the more than one million abortions performed in the United States are for minors WASHINGTON (AP) — As three justices fumed over a “stealthful” abortion agenda, the Supreme Court refused Monday to revive a South Dakota law that required young girls to notify a parent before ending a pregnancy. The state law had been invalidated because it did not allow most girls to avoid telling a parent by getting a judge’s permission in stead. And the court voted 6-3 to leave those rulings intact. The action was yet another signal that the court, which in 1992 reaffirmed its landmark Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion, is not eager to plunge again into that divisive debate. The votes of four justices are needed to grant such review. Sharp disagreement resurfaced Monday as Justices John Paul Stevens and Antonin Scalia exchanged statements accompanying the court’s rejection of South Dakota’s appeal. At issue was the standard of review judges should use in deciding whether an abortion law is constitutional before it has been enforced. Writing for himself, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justice Clarence Thomas, Scalia said the issue “virtually cries out for our review” because of confu sion in lower courts. He added: “Today’s denial serves only one rational purpose: It makes our abor tion ad hoc nullification machine as stealthful as possible.” Stevens said any asserted confusion was based on “rigid and unwise” and “properly ig nored” language contained in an opinion Rehn quist previously had written for the court. A ruling on parental-notice laws could have had substantial practical impact. Of the more than one million legal abortions performed an nually in the United States since 1973, about 12 percent are for minors. “We are pleased that the best interests of South Dakota minors will be protected,” said Colleen Connell of the American Civil Liber ties Union. South Dakota Gov. Bill Janklow called the court’s action “crazy.” He said state law now requires girls to get a parent’s permission before getting their ears pierced but not before getting an abortion. “That makes no sense to me at all,” Jan klow said. And a state legislator who led the fight for the invalidated 1993 law promised to “go back to the drawing board” to come up with a new parental-notice law. Two issues loomed in the South Dakota case. One was whether a state can ban abor tions for unmarried girls under 18 unless a parent is notified. South Dakota was the only state in the union with a one-parent notifica tion law that limited its judicial-bypass option to cases in which a girl showed she had been abused or neglected. The court has not said definitively whether an abortion law requiring notification of just one parent needs a judicial bypass option to be constitutional. The 1993 South Dakota law, challenged by Planned Parenthood and a Sioux Falls abortion clinic, was struck down before it ever took effect.