Page
December 10, l!
1
e Battalion
olume 103 • Issue 71 • 12 Pages
[, “He doesn't w(|
s it now.”
the slain
i the front row
5 at her eyes w
her, Patti, and
vere in tears,
ney, Robert
entle cross-exai
hat Ron Gold
o, who is a
een him in 14
Fred Goldman
act.
;ted when Go!
tion.
? tools the Bu:
-trough his trainq g y \/y- ESLE Y Poston
. r : j The Battalion
have professional
>ed in hislineofvj j n year of the Rat and the Big
oiion is part d ^Conference, 1996 saw the students
aid administration of Texas A&M
rat involved, n ^ n } vers jty struggle with legal ques-
a human beinf | anc j enc } ure tragic accidents,
stance yourself it| Go Shibata
I On April 30, Go Shibata, a 23-year-
| d Japanese student, was struck and
lied by a southbound train near the
^creational Sports Center.
I University medics pronounced
3 j 35 ana Sl ibata dead on the scene. Shibata
^tended an A&M branch campus in
riyama, Japan, and wais admitted
Texas A&M-College Station in 1994.
The accident has been a catalyst
r the efforts to improve safety on
Friday, December 13, 1996
The Batt Online: http://bat-web.tamu.edu
1996 Refle
* jp?
Aggies face challenges, deal with changes
dest son Scottie
^kin’s disease du
i school. He dieci
i’s death
worse than losi
ng worse can haj
ened to him.”
i student workei]
ent at the UPD.
munications
iving piece ofhisi
i positive man wl
dace in his hear!
Ie always tells i
lelp.”
Wellborn Road.
Toby Boenig
Former Student Body President
Toby Boenig was partially paralyzed
following his graduation in May on a
rafting trip on the Guadalupe River
with friends. Boenig rolled out of the
raft and struck a large, underwater
rock, dislocating the C4 and C5 verte
brae in his neck.
Boenig’s injuries left him with lim
ited use of his legs.
Since the accident, Boenig has
been recovering at Warm Springs Re
habilitation Center in Gonzalez. To
day, he will return home and contin
ue his physical therapy on an
out-patient basis.
Although told he may not be able
to walk again, Boenig disagreed and
insisted that he would be able to
stand.
“Just today (Thursday) we walked
in the rolling walker for 102 feet,” he
said. “I’ve got a ‘For Sale’ sign on my
wheelchair.”
Boenig said his goal is to be rid of
the wheelchair by his birthday, Feb.
19 — one year after being kidnapped
by the Student Government Fish
Aides.
Boenig also plans to attend a
friend’s April 19 wedding with only
the help of a cane.
Greg White
Returning to College Station from
first Bonfire cut Sunday, Sept. 22,
Greg White, a sophomore civil engi
neering major, was killed when the
truck he was in rolled over and struck
a large highway sign. Nine other stu
dents were injured in the accident.
Eight of the students, including
White, were riding in the back of the
truck. The incident prompted Bonfire
redpots to take a stand against riding
to and from Bonfire cut site in the
backs of trucks. The Women’s Bonfire
Committee also responded by setting
up a rest stop between cut site and
College Station.
Residents of Aston Hall, White’s
dormitory, along with the Residence
Flail Association, organized a Greg
White Memorial Scholarship.
Aston residents have also joined
the fight to move a bill through state
Legislature that would change the
laws regarding riding in the beds of
trucks.
Reed Arena
A crane malfunctioned, crushing
a portion of the Reed Arena Special
Events Center superstructure Oct.
29, injuring three construction
workers.
Gen. Wesley E. Peel, vice chancel
lor for Facilities Planning and Con
struction, said the workers were all
able to return to work in a few days,
but the damage to the arena would
set the expected completion back
from Fall 1997 to Spring 1998.
The crash caused $4 to $5 million
in damage, which will all be covered
by insurance.
Peel said the contracting company,
Huber, Hunt and Nicholas, was re
quired to include builder’s risk insur
ance and liability insurance as a part
of the construction.
Currently, the damaged steel is be
ing removed and the extent of the
damage is being reevaluated with
each new piece that is moved.
Replacement steel has been or
dered from Virginia and should begin
arriving shortly after Christmas.
“They will be assembling it as it ar
rives,” Peel said.
In the meantime, work continues
oh areas of the arena that were not
damaged by the collapse.
“There’s a lot of work going on that
has nothing to do with the damage,”
Peel said.
See A&M, Page 10
Clockwise from top: The Aggie Band participat
ed in ESPNET's Battle of the Bands, photo by Stew
Milne. The destruction of Law and Puryear was
stalled with the dorms halfway torn down, photo
by Rony Angkriwan. Toby Boenig, former student
body president, was partially paralyzed in an acci
dent. photo by Rony Angkriwan. The Reed Arena
collapsed, injuring three workers, photo by Stew
Milne. Redpots march around Bonfire before it is
lit. photo by Tim Moog. Students can no longer
dunk their Aggie rings in pitchers, photo by Tim
Moog. The lunar eclipse will not return until the
year 2000. photo by Stew Milne.
840
on you
5 2/l/ 9 L
The Battalion
TODAY
fear in Review
John LeBas and
James Francis take a
Jook at the 1996 year
|n entertainment.
Aggielife, Pages 3,4
Around the World
Close to home and far away, 1996 made history
j P .
Look Back
Resenting a pictorial
Review of the Fall
1996 varsity sports
Scene at A&M.
Sports, Page 7
e *50.
-0697
sa
leport Card
ie Battalion's Editori-
ls Board grades various
\&M administrators
id organizations.
Opinion, Page H
By Melissa Nunnery and
Erica Roy
The Battalion
From the Centennial Olympics
to military sex scandals, 1996 can
be measured in a vast assortment
of worldwide events.
Unabomber
Federal authorities arrested Un
abomber suspect Theodore J.
Kaczynski, a former Berkeley math
professor, April 3 in Lincoln, Mont.
He is suspected of using letter
bombs to kill three people and injure
23 others between 1978 and 1995.
On Tuesday, Kaczynski pleaded
innocent to the charges of sending
a mail bomb that killed Thomas
Mosser, an advertising executive,
two years ago.
Saudi Bombing
On June 25, 19 American sol
diers were killed when a bomb ex
ploded near an American military
building in Saudi Arabia. A parked
truck exploded outside apartment
buildings at a military compound
near Dhahran, which housed
American, Saudi, French and
British troops.
Gene Lutz, a junior business
analysis major, was stationed in
Saudi Arabia after the Persian Gulf
War for Operation Southern
Watch. He said the June bombing
was especially disturbing because
he had once lived there.
Lutz described the bombing as
a breach of Saudi security on the
perimeter of the base.
“It bothered me that security
was lax enough that something
like that could happen,” Lutz said.
“It’s a natural progression for [se
curity] to get lighter.”
Lutz said he plans to return to
active duty when he graduates
from Texas A&M. He said if he is
stationed in Saudi again he would
be more aware of the threat.
“You’re going to be frightened
when you’re sent into hostile terri
tory,” Lutz said, “but it’s just part of
the job, one of the risks.”
Yeltsin Re-election
On July 3, the people of Russia
re-elected Boris Yeltsin as presi
dent. The election was Russia’s first
presidential vote as an indepen
dent country.
Voters were presented with two
distinctly different choices in the
election. Yeltsin endorsed a gov
ernment system, similar to a West
ern style of ? uemocrac>, while his
oppory^fit, Gennady Zyuganov,
promoted a revival of comlhunism
in Russia.
0|ga Cooke, an associate pro
fessor of Russian, said Yeltsfn and
his political allies nrnyMiwIyMaaJer
stability for Russi^gman
nisi forces^
“It’s veiymip JhilBTthat a Com
munist not be Flresident of Russia,”
Cooke said. f
“It’s better to have Yeltsin with a
coalition of refolkn-minded forces
... than Zyuganolwuiyith the Com-,
munists.”
Cooke said Russia’s staronrrity is
not only vital for the country’s rela
tionship with the United States,
but critical to international rela
tions as a whole.
“It’s absolutely crucial that the
stability in Russia be real,” she said.
Cooke said the United States
should continue to support Rus
sia’s attempts at a democracy and
free enterprise, but the U.S. should
not tolerate infractions against the
people of Russia.
'Tt’s very important if free enter
prise thrives in Russia,” she said.
“At the same time, we have to
continue to criticize them if they
violate human rights.”
Yeltsin bolstered his campaign by
asking Alexander Lebed, a military
general and third party presidential
candidate, to be his National Secu-
|jy Adviser in July. Lebed’s support-
switched their vote to Yeltsin af-
t# the two joined forces.
In October, Yeltsin released
febed from his office. The release
^was made after accusations that
Lebed planned to seize power with
help from the Russian military.
Airline Tragedies
On July 17, TWA flight 800 ex
ploded, killing all 229 people on
board and starting an investigation
which has yet to be concluded.
Clinton
The bodies of
some passengers
have yet to be
recovered.
Airport secu
rity nationwide
has been exam
ined and tight
ened as a result
of the explosion
and the specula
tion that a bomb
brought the plane down.
A spokesman for Easterwood
Airport said security there is better
than what is required by the Feder
al Aviation Administration.
He said all employees are re
quired to wear identification badges
and unauthorized personnel are not
allowed in restricted areas.
Airport procedures were already
being studied as a result of the
crash ofValuJet flight 592 into the
Florida Everglades just two
months prior. The May 11 crash
killed all 110 people on board.
See World, Page 6