lay • September
rvives
atch
The Battalion
ilume 103 • Issue 6 • 12 Pages
Monday, September 9, 1996
The Batt Online: http://bat-web.tamu.edu
one was for Tim. Tt
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ahy said: “I feel
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ay.”
one who watchei
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ing on and on. Hen
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1 tiebreaker, recei
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k to win the nextpi
of people saw things
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racone, Sampras’c
rid. “Alex Corretja
of credit for whath
e did, there are no
hlarating to watch.
VISC Open House
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him at a couple of
■d, but he was mott
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;aid. “At 3-3 in the
ved at 124 mph. If
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kes us work very
said. “They have
oach who knows
other team’s weal
to be focused w
eighth-ranked pi
ir heads.”
agree that this will
e a game to watcl
) the Aggies w
their sole loss at
Crimson Tide wai
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nock the Ladyi
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that their win
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ong.”
By Laura Oliveira
The Battalion
The Texas A&M Zoological
iety showed off its milli-
le, Cepheid Variable gave
tin foil for protection
inst orbiting mind-control
ers and Dr. J. Malon
itherland, vice president
student affairs, screamed
elunch, free lunch!”
guy is pretty specii [w a u a common
eople do special
Corretja, who broke
: to lure students to their
anizations.
jed after the match p}jj s was t | lc scene Sun-
ed away, was amaj
at the MSC Open
use, sponsored by MSC
public relations.
Almost 300 organizations
participated, and Souther
land said the turn out was
record-breaking.
"I’ve never seen this
many (students),” he said.
“It’s been awesome.”
Nearly 7,000 students had
wandered through the maze
of tables by 5 p.m. and peo
ple were still pouring in.
The crowds created a bit
of a chaos and annoyed
some students.
Lily Zhang, a freshman
See MSC, Page 12
Dave House, The Batialion
Lisa Kelley, an agricultural
development major, tries to
find volunteers for the Aggie
Recruitment Committee.
Class of ’69 dedicates memorial
By Wesley Poston
The Battalion
Dedicating a living
memorial of trees and a
special plaque on Saturday,
the Texas A&M Class of ’69
honored 11 of its members
who lost their lives in the
Vietnam War.
The triangular memorial
lies west of the Quadrangle
near the corner of Joe Routt
Boulevard and Coke Street.
The names, ranks and
hometowns of the fallen
Aggie soldiers are etched in
the plaque with the follow
ing inscription:
“This Memorial Site is
dedicated to honor those 11
fellow classmates who made
the supreme sacrifice while
defending American ideals
of freedom and democracy
during the Vietnam Era.”
Families and classmates
of the soldiers gathered at
the §am Houston Sanders
Corps Center for a reception
preceding the dedication.
The guests reminisced and
viewed the many exhibits.
Youngsters studied pic
tures of cadet life and gazed
into cases of medals and
sabers, while other guests
talked in small groups about
old times and shared mem
ories of the absent.
Marvin Fletcher, class
agent for the Class of ’69,
said since the project to
build the memorial began
two years ago, $14,000 in do
nations has been raised.
Half of the money was
needed for the construction
and the other half will be
used for maintenance.
Col. Jim Ray, the guest
speaker and a former pris
oner of war, discussed the
lesson to be learned from
“the 11 who paid the ulti
mate sacrifice.”
“These men were willing
to follow the prescriptions
laid down in the Bible, in
the Gospels,” he said, quot
ing the verse inscribed at
the entrance to the Quad,
John 15:13.
"Greater love hath no
man than this, that he lay
down his life for his friends.”
Ray also alluded to Presi
dent Abraham Lincoln’s
dedication of the battlefield
at Gettysburg.
See Memorial, Page 12
Pat James, The Battalion
Cindi Ericson, a senior politi
cal science and international
studies major, cuts the rib
bon at the Memorial Site.
Flood threat continues
on devastated N.C. coast
lintenance Fee
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Jse of ‘date rape drug’ reaches Brazos County
Worth the Wait
Dave House, The Battalion
Senior accounting majors Wendy Marker, Reagan Harrison and Melissa Love
kick back and watch football to pass time while waiting in line for tickets to
the UT game.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Their neighbor
hoods in tatters but their resolve largely in
tact, residents of hurricane-battered areas
turned Sunday to cleaning up formidable
messes, watching swollen waterways and ad
justing to life without electricity. At least six
people were still reported missing.
Four electric utilities reported a total of
596,000 customers still without power. Water,
and especially ice, remained crucial com
modities and lines formed at stores offering
supplies — many for free.
With many areas flooded with sewage-
tainted water and thousands of trees on the
ground, life was hardly returning to normal.
But, on a muggy, torrid day, people ventured
out with rakes and chain saws, and utility and
municipal crews and private tree-clearing
contractors plied the streets and back roads.
Hurricane Fran slammed into coastal
North Carolina late Thursday and turned
north, cutting a capricious swath of destruc
tion as far inland as Raleigh and Winston-
Salem before flooding Virginia and West
Virginia with heavy rain.
The storm and its aftereffects killed at least
22 people — 17 of them in North Carolina —
mostly by falling trees, flooding and traffic ac
cidents. The Federal Emergency Management
Agency had declared 34 North Carolina coun
ties disaster areas as of Sunday afternoon.
A 60-member team on Topsail Island, in
the hardest-hit coastal region, searched for
five people reported missing, emergency offi
cials said.
On evacuated, sealed-off North Topsail
Beach, state Emergency Management
spokesman Tom Hegele described by tele
phone a scene of devastation: trailers
stacked atop each other, collapsed houses,
cars buried in sand.
In Washington, U.S. Agriculture Secre
tary Dan Glickman planned a trip for today
to inspect storm damage and flooding. The
department has a number of assistance
programs that could aid hurricane victims,
including an emergency food-assistance
program.
Evacuees jammed hotels across the state’s
central region. One Raleigh Ramada Inn also
held 62 tree surgeons from Alabama.
The Winn-Dixie supermarket chain gave
away six truckloads of ice in Raleigh alone
during the weekend before running out, and
was still handing out water — two gallon bot
tles per adult — on Sunday afternoon.
The hardest-hit electrical utility was Car
olina Power & Light, which serves the eastern
part of the state; it reported 432,000 cus
tomers without power as of Sunday morning.
By Marissa Alanis
The Battalion
The illicit use of Rohypnol, a seda-
e ten times more powerful than
ium, has entered the college scene
d touched the Bryan-College Sta-
n area.
Three reported sexual assault cases
:urred in Brazos County last June, in
ich Rohypnol may have been used.
Also known as “roofies,” “rophies”
1 the “forget pill,” Rohypnol creates
enhanced intoxicated feeling when
nbined with alcohol. This combina-
n causes memory loss and impairs
gment once in the body for at least
2 hour.
However, the euphoric feeling lasts
eral hours. It is during this period
t females are most vulnerable to
rape, giving the drug its nickname: the
“date rape drug.”
Because of the drug’s tiny size, it can
easily be slipped into any type of drink
in a discreet manner. Rohypnol is
odorless, tasteless and colorless.
Dr. Dennis J. Reardon, coordinator
of Alcohol and Drug Prevention Pro
grams for the Texas A&M Department
of Student Life Programs, said when
combined with alcohol, Rohypnol pro
duces a multiplicative effect that can
be fatal.
“For instance, if you were to mix one
beer with one Valium, you wouldn’t get
the combined effects of just one beer
and one Valium,” Reardon said. “In
stead, you get a multiplication effect of
the two drugs that is unpredictable.”
Reardon said the human body sys
tems that respond are expected to ad
just to the Rohypnol and alcohol at the
same time.
“This is why it is so dangerous,”
Reardon said. “They may have a life-
threatening crisis occur as a result of
the alcohol and Rohypnol.”
Because victims are often unable
to identify their attackers due to
memory loss induced by the drug,
potential offenders can use Rohypnol
to their advantage.
Linda Castoria, executive director at
the Brazos County Rape Crisis Center,
said each of the sexual assault victims
described similar conditions about
feeling “out of it.” They left their drinks
unattended and could not Remember if
they drove or where they went.
“They don’t know what hit them,”
Castoria said. “It literally puts them out.”
Castoria said since the three victims
had similar responses relating to the
effects of Rohypnol, there is a strong
possibility the drug was used.
Castoria said it is difficult to deter
mine if Rohypnol is used in rape cases
since it does not stay in the body for a
long period of time. A drug test has to
be done within 48 hours, but even
then, medical examiners may not
know what drug to look for.
Bert Kretzschmar, supervisor of the
University Crime Prevention Unit, said
in sexual assault cases where Rohypnol
is used, victims may not want to report
it to authorities.
“In the case of Rohypnol, they may
not remember and they want to forget
about it,” Kretzschmar said. “They don’t
want to report it. They’re in denial.”
See Date rape, Page 12
igil r
iWfssw., • .
he Battalion
TODAY
lith House
n students combine
itholicism and daily
ores to create a
iritual community.
Aggielife, Page 3
> r r
XAIl
nior center Calvin
lins quietly leads
U offensive line
to battle.
Sports, Page 7
ON • 693-
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tile Glory
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RTUNITY Letrf U|)) F j sh , Run
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1 tw Corps policy
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running on the
adrangle.
Opinion, Page 11
Alvis encourages graduate
students to get involved
By Ann Marie Hauser
The Battalion
Former jobs with General
Electric, Houston Lighting
and Power Company and Pa
cific Northwest Laboratories
John Alvis, presi
dent of the Grad
uate Student
Council, wants to
work together
with Student
Government to
achieve shared
goals.
could not keep John Alvis
away from College Station.
When he is not working
on his dissertation in health
physics, Alvis is tending to
his duties as president of the
Graduate Student Council.
Alvis, who is entering his
third year of the nuclear en
gineering doctoral program,
said he left his job because
he was discouraged with the
progression of his career.
“I always wanted to
teach,” he said.
A native of College Sta
tion, Avis received both his
undergraduate and master’s
degrees in nuclear engineer
ing from Texas A&M.
As CSC president, he sees
an opportunity to give
something back to A&M.
With two research pro
jects and his position with
the CSC, Alvis faces a chal
lenging semester.
“It’s going to be busy,”
Alvis said. “But I have a
good group of officers that I
can delegate a lot of re
sponsibility to.”
Alvis was elected presi
dent last spring after serv
ing the CSC as department
of nuclear engineering rep
resentative.
Alvis said there is more
to a university than acade
mics and he wants gradu
ate students to become
more involved.
Alvis said a lack of com-
Douglas aims to maintain
diverse student population
By’Melissa Nunnery
The Battalion
The staff, students and
faculty of Texas A&M wasted
no time in making an im
pression on Dr. Ronald G.
mitment is a problem
among graduate students
because of the many pres
sures they face.
“Grad students have a
tendency to be isolated from
See Alvis, Page 12
Douglas, executive vice
president and provost.
Douglas accepted the of
fer to become the Universi
ty’s second highest-ranking
official, he said, because he
is interested in undergradu
ate studies and was im
pressed by the school.
“What I learned in visiting
was [A&M] has a wonderfully
talented, motivated student
body and a strong faculty do
ing wonderful research and
scholarship and that is dedi
cated to teaching,” he said.
“I’ve been able to appreciate
how true it all is.”
Douglas, who assumed
his new title only six months
ago, came to A&M from
State University of New York
— Stonybrook. There he
served as dean of science
and vice provost for under
graduate studies.
Douglas grew up in
Cincinnati, Ohio. He at
tended Illinois Institute of
Technology in Chicago. He
holds a doctorate in math
ematics from Louisiana
State University.
As a mathematician, Dou
glas likes to keep up with his
research and stays involved
in scientific policy issues.
Douglas said he has not
seen many changes in his six
months at A&M. However,
he is interested in the im
pact of some current issues.
He is concerned about
the cost of education, fac
ulty salaries and the Hop-
Dr. Ronald G.
Douglas, execu
tive vice presi
dent and provost,
is concerned
about the effects
of the Hopwood
decision.
wood decision, a federal
court decision which struck
down using race as a basis
for admission to Texas,
Mississippi and Louisiana
See Douglas, Page 12