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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 26, 1996)
WttKKttKKKMtKmmmmmmmmmmmmarnm (Margraves granted change of By Melissa Nunnery [The Battalion — Ross Margraves, former chairman of the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, was granted a change of venue for his trial Thursday at a pretrial hearing at the Brazos County Courthouse. Margraves was indicted April 30 on charges of official misconduct for using an A&M airplane to go to Baton Rouge for his son’s graduation in Aug., 1993. Margraves resigned from the Board of Regents in April, 1994. David Berg, attorney for Margraves, said they wanted the change of venue be cause extensive media coverage could give potential jurors a preconceived no tion about Margraves’ guilt or innocence. Berg said news about Margraves has pervaded the community, and changing the county where the trial takes place should not be a diffi cult decision. “Why take the chance?” Berg said. “Let’s get a communi ty that’s not as affect ed by the University.” "It’s better to leave the community in which [the investiga tion] has occurred,” MARGRAVES Berg said. Approximately 15 of Margraves’ friends and business acquaintances tes tified Margraves could not get a fair tri al in Brazos County because it would be hard to find an impartial jury. John David Crow, director of athletic development, said he agrees. “You can’t get many people in Brazos County who haven’t heard, read or have an opinion about Margraves,” Crow said. Bill Youngkin, a witness for the de fense and practicing attorney in Brazos County, said Margraves cannot receive a fair trial in Brazos County because of the role A&M plays in the community. “The University has a central role in lives,” Youngkin said. “What happens there impacts many.” Red Cashion, A&M graduate, NFL referee and a long-time resident of College Station, also testified that Margraves could not get a fair trial in Brazos County. Witnesses for the prosecution testified they had not seen extensive media cover age of Margraves’ indictment or the in vestigation leading up to the indictment. The prosecution produced three wit nesses who said they thought Mar graves could get a fair trial and an im partial jury in Brazos County. Brazos County District Attorney Bill Turner said the witnesses who testified on Margraves behalf have all lived their lives in loyalty to A&M. Turner said the media coverage seems extensive to Mar graves’ defense team because “when something gets publicity at A&M, they talk about it.” Judge J.D. Langley, also a graduate of A&M, granted the change of venue because he said he wants ensure no matter what the verdict, both sides in the case feel they got a fair trial. venue Langley said the timing of the inves tigation and other charges related to the Board of Regents and A&M could cause Margraves to be convicted of something he did not do. “I’m not saying this community has a lynch-mob mentality,” Langley said. “For there to be justice, we have to have justice on both sides.” Berg was pleased with the court’s decision. “We wanted to make sure we moved it (the trial) out of Brazos County and we have,” Berg said. Turner said he believed potential ju rors in Brazos County would take their oath as jurors seriously and could make a fair decision. Langley must now decide where the trial will take place and whether he will hear the case. Shane Elkins, The Battalion OPEN UP AND SAY 'AH' JoJo gets his teeth cleaned by Linda Naranjo, a fourth year senior veterinary student, Tuesday at the Small Animal Clinic. New Mexico's Cass new Ag tennis coach the tennis program.” As a player for the Lobos, Cass was an All-WAC selec tion three times and an All-American doubles player in 1986. He was also the WAC Champion in 1986. In 1988, only two years after graduating, he was named head coach of New Mexico’s men’s tennis team, and three years later he took the Lobos to their first con ference title in 23 years. This season the Lobos were 17-8, going 5-2 in the WAC and finishing 15th in the national Rolex Colle giate Rankings. Cass said it was a difficult decision to leave New Mex ico, where he compiled a career record of 144-93. “I am very indebted to the University of New Mexico,” he said. “I’ve been very fortunate. It is a very, very diffi cult parting, but it’s a career move that I believe is the right one to make.” Cass has high expectations for the Aggie team next year. “I look forward to the challenge ahead,” Cass said. “We would like to take a small step closer to the top each year. There’s no doubt we’ll be going in with the mind set of winning a conference championship. “Kent left me with a great team. It’s my responsibility to develop them.” Cass also plans to boost the fan support as he did at New Mexico. “We had a lot of success there with the fan support,” he said. “I hope to put people in the stands and get them excited about A&M tennis.” By Ross Hecox The Battalion Three weeks after the retirement of legendary coach David Kent, Tim Cass was announced as the new head coach of the Texas A&M Men’s Tennis team Tuesday. Cass, who coached at the University of New Mexico for eight years, was named Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year five consecutive years and led the Lo bos to five consecutive WAC titles. Cass replaces Kent, who retired May 31 after 18 seasons at A&M. Kent was one of only nine Division I- A tennis head coaches to have more than 500 wins (516-223 career, 316- 161 at A&M), and he led the Aggies to their third consecutive trip to the NCAA postseason in 1996. “He coached with class and in tegrity, and I hope to learn some of the things he’s done and take it a lit tle bit further,” Cass said. “He left me CASS with a great foundation to build upon. There’s going to be some big steps for me to fill.” Cass said A&M’s support of its athletic programs and the construction of new tennis facilities helped him de cide to come to College Station. “It’s a tremendous university,” he said. “I like the commitment the University makes to all its (sports) programs and its commitment to a new facility for VI$(IAII2(N0 TH6 FlfTUie Viz Lab program focuses on computer art design By Ann Marie Hauser The Bat talion New York and California may soon be facing an influx of Aggies in the en tertainment industry. These prime locations for film and television are attracting graduates of the visualization program in Texas A&M’s College of Architecture. William Jenks, the founding direc tor of the Visualization Laboratory (Viz Lab), said the program is highly competitive and famous even outside the A&M community. “We are recognized by visual indus tries as one of the few places in the Vorld that offer a graduate program combining computer science and art design,” Jenks said. Jenks added the biggest challenge is staying on the cutting edge of tech nological developments with tight state budgets. See Viz Lab, Page 2 "Tiny" is an animated character created by Kevin Thomason in the Viz Lab. Terrorist bomb strikes U.S. facility in Saudi Arabia DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Striking at the heart of the United States’ military presence in the Per sian Gulf, a truck bomb destroyed an American housing complex, turning the eight-story building into a crum bling honeycomb. Eighteen Americans who bunked there were killed and more than 270 tvere wounded, 73 of them seriously. The Tuesday night attack, the dead- best ever against Americans in the Persian Gulf, seared off the front of the concrete building, spilling mattresses md chunks of concrete onto the ground Wow. Master Sgt. William Sine was walk- ‘ttg down a hallway toward the eleva tor when he was knocked to the ground by the force of the blast. “The lights went off ... and I realized the whole side of the building was falling,” said Sine, of Warren, Ohio. He said he quickly started to help care for the victims. “There were some people dead. I could feel a lot of blood on my hands and I knew it couldn’t be sweat be cause it was too thick,” he said from his bed at King Fahd Hospital where he was recovering from cuts on the thigh, face and arms. Hundreds of people rushed out into the streets. where the By Heather R. Rosenfeld The Battalion J kico de Gallo, a green-cheeked Amazon parrot who is on tempo rary stay at the small animal clinic in the School of Veterinary Medicine, is in good hands. The hands belong to Mark Drew, doctor of Veterinary Medicine, and his students. Dr. Drew, an exotic animals specialist, said he is never quite sure what he might see when he comes to work. “Most veterinarians deal with dogs and cats, ... but after that, almost every thing else is considered exotic,” Drew said. “We can see anything from taran tulas to elephants.” Two weeks ago, the clinic housed a two-year-old, privately owned lion named Sebastian. “He had a bone cyst condition,” Drew said. “Basically, Sebastian has arthritis in his knee, but he is back at home in Arkansas now.” Dr. William Moyer, head of the de partment of large animal medicine and surgery, said people travel from all over the country to have their animals treat ed at A&M. “They (clients) will cross state lines to come here,” Moyer said. “Most vet schools are a lot smaller, and they don’t even have people who do the kind of work Dr. Drew does.” Moyer said that Drew possesses a wide expertise. “All I’ve ever done as a living is look at horses. Not even cattle,” Moyer said. “Dr. Drew is just as qualified whether it’s looking See Animals, Page 2 Dr. Drew, an exotic animals specialist, handles a large iguana, one of the many exotic animals in the small animal clinic. See Bomb, Page 2