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