Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 1997)
D The Battalion ? jy e > ¥ 1 : J.J 1.1 s JLl .a Hi H Wednesday • January 22,15* Dave House, The Battalion S WG0 pi FI 0 Upl Erin Walker ’ an A&M em P |o y ee for six years, sweeps away the leftover sand between Ireland and University Drive from the ice storm last week. ► This day in history Today is Wednesday, Jan. 22, the 22nd day of 1997. There are 343 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Jan. 22,1917, President Wilson pleaded for an end to war in Europe, calling for “peace without vic tory.” By April, however, the United States also was at war. In 1901, Britain’s Queen Victoria died at age 82. In 1922, Pope Benedict XV died. He was succeed ed by Pius XI. In 1938, Thornton Wilder’s play “Our Town” was performed publicly for the first time, in Princeton, N.J. In 1953, the Arthur Miller drama “The Crucible” opened on Broadway. In 1957, suspected “Mad Bomber” George R Metesky, accused of planting more than 30 explosive devices in the New York City area, was arrested in Wa- terbury, Conn. In 1970, the first regularly scheduled commercial flight of the Boeing 747 began in New York and end ed in London some 6 1/2 hours later. In 1973, in its Roe vs. Wade decision, the Supreme Court legalized abortions, using a trimester approach. In 1973, former President Johnson died at age 64. In 1995, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy died at the fam ily compound in Hyannis Port, Mass., at age 104. Ten years ago: Pennsylvania treasurer R. Budd Dwyer, convicted of defrauding the state, proclaimed Today's birthdays Trn) KANM 99.9 FM Cable The Alternative \Vf/ DJ Information Meeting S®l^« DJ Positions Available Creativity Welcomed No Experience Necessary Everyone Invited to Apply Thursday, January 23, 1997 7:00 p.m. MSC room 206 Campus Memorial to be held for A&M fire victim Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in a case involving a former admissions policy at the University of Texas Law School. A memorial service will be held Thursday night at 7 o’clock at the All Faiths Chapel for a Texas A&M stu dent who died last weekend in an apartment fire. Paul Meloeny, a sophomore elec trical engineering major from Seabrook, Texas, died of smoke in halation early Saturday morning in his apartment. Information on funeral and burial services is pending. Legislature changes license requirements Aggi lie appears on talk show as 'hero' Eagle Scout and Texas A&M Uni versity student Rudy Gonzalez was featured on The Gordon Elliott Show Tuesday. The program, titled “Heroes of the Hood," aired on UPN/WB cable chan nel 17 (KAKW). Gonzalez, a sopho more business major and a former gang member, discussed how his life changed with the help of the Boy Scouts of America. Gonzalez's story was featured in the Nov. 13, 1996, issue of U.S. News and World Report. ► State Morales may give opinion on issue his innocence at a news conference before shooting himself to death in front of horrified spectators. Five years ago: President Bush named Andrew H. Card Jr. to be transportation secretary. The space shuttle Discovery blasted off with seven astronauts. One year ago: The White House announced that First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton had been subpoe naed by the Whitewater special prosecutor to testify before a grand jury investigating the mysterious dis covery of her law firm billing records in the White House residence. OJ. Simpson testified for the first time since the killings of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend, Ronald Goldman, as he gave a videotaped de position for a wrongful death lawsuit. AUSTIN (AP) — Pressed by higher education officials for a legal opinion on affirmative action, Attorney General Dan Morales says he may give one but suggested some administrators want “political cover” on the issue. A legal opinion would carry the force of law, unlike guidelines Morales issued last year after an anti-affirmative action court ruling. Morales has been hesitant to issue a formal opinion, but said Tuesday he is seriously considering doing so. The Texas Higher Education Coor dinating Board and the University of Houston have asked for an opinion regarding race-related financial aid, which is provided for in state law. The attorney general said such an opinion would be general and re semble his guidelines. “A lot of time and a lot of thought and a lot of research went into the preparation of that document, and I would suspect that a formal opinion would not vary much at all from what we have already spelled out,” Morales told The Associated Press. The guidelines came after the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a 5th U.S. PLANO, Texas (AP) — Texas dri vers soon will be helping the state track down deadbeat parents. Beginning Feb. 3, anyone applying for a Texas driver’s license or a renew al must show proof of a Social Securi ty number. Only drivers renewing their licenses by mail will be exempt. The requirement, approved by the legislature in 1995, is part of Texas Attorney General Dan Morales’ effort to enforce court-ordered child sup port payments. By cross-referencing Social Security numbers in driver records with the Social Security num bers of delinquent parents, Morales’ office hopes to find valid addresses for people and make them pay. “I think it will help immeasurably,” said Alicia Terry, a spokesperson for Morales' office. “Nine times out of ten, people will put their right infor mation down on their driver’s license because they’re literally dealing with someone that can arrest them. A lot of people that owe child support have a Texas driver’s license." Recent figures show that fewer than 180,000 people paid child sup port in November out of some 400,000 who owed it, Terry said. Adding to the state's collection prob lems is that some parents evade the law by moving from town to town and work without paying taxes so their wages aren’t garnished. But not everyone is comfortable supplying the nine-digit federal re tirement-system number to the state Department of Public Safety. “I don’t like the idea because it’s more government intrusion,” said Channing Corn, 26, a software engi neer waiting in line at the Plano office Tuesday to renew his license. “I think it’s another excuse to get more num bers assigned to me. Texas driver’s licenses will not dis play the Social Security number at all. It will appear only in computerized records and given only to the Child Support Division of the attorney gen eral’s office, Chernow said. inmates will be released eart must be stopped this session.' “It takes a bizarre formula| releases violent offenders," ai Sen. Jerry Patterson, R-Pasader The two have authored a billto the socalled “mandatory release' gram the state started when pr,$ were bulging at the seams an: more cells were available. According to the Texas De; ment of Criminal Justice, the quires that when an inmate's - served, added to his “goodti credit earned equals his total tence, the prisoner is mandator leased to supervision by a part: ficer. Such supervision is to cent until the full sentence is served Whitmire said the law was pas: Vlale GU in 1977 and once helped man ame the prison space during the overcrow 9, it bee crisis in the 1980s. It name, By Th began \&M Co ► Nation House punishes Gingrich in vote The Sing oding tra yperfon WASHINGTON (AP) —lnada> dishonor for Newt Gingrich,C House voted for the first time | game tl llteam it [ship. Thi ry still-1 :h legenc 11, the K< rick’s C history to discipline its speakers y.Theyh ethical misconduct. After montl of partisan strife, the vote was ipe Chi lopsided 395-28 to reprimandG grich and impose a $300,00 penalty. “The penalty is tough and unprec; jdetsarec holding dented," ethics committee Cte woman Nancy Johnson, R-Conn.,$cJ)ns. The v at the start of a 90-minute debated : t group, publicans and Democrats agreedr Gingrich had done wrong and admte it, but they clashed over the gravity his misbehavior. The partisanship that permeate: the two-year investigation wasui» ( minished Tuesday despite theo«- 10Se w h ( Legislators target release program whelming vote. At one point, Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., questionee whether Gingrich was “ethicallyfit'to continue as speaker. After two years of denials grich confessed to committee find ings that he failed to “seek arid fol low” legal advice that wouldtoe warned him not to use tax-exew) projects to further partisan goals. re ej]t< He also agreed mat he sfro. ; have known statements submitter „ We ion on T lecial ar Sullivan The ictuates b and 60 rs, is lool lale stude ily with e: nging volt ositively ;nt the m ent body Iniversity. David K actor o inging las condi year and under his name — denying his poll ical organization's connection to tbj tax-exempt activities — were “inaj curate, incomplete and unreliable. AUSTIN (AP) — Prison inmates no longer would be released automati cally before their full sentences are served under a bill introduced Tues day in the Texas Senate. “That’s nuts,” Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, said of a mathematical formula that determines when some ictively im fnment or 11 the gu ms and r tienwetn 1 Kipp sai Correction A mistake was made in a Page) 100 mal 10 story in yesterday's Battalion jpe of the ] The colonization period for the net sorority, Delta Gamma, will be a mini-rush for pledges and officer ie chair of • kenior m Weather Today Tonight Tomorrow Highs & Lows Today’s Birthdays: Actress Ann Sothern is 88. For mer Sen. Birch Bayh, D-Ind., is 69. Actress Piper Lau rie is 65. Former Delaware Gov. Pierre S. du Pont IV is 62. Author Joseph Wambaugh is 60. Actor John Hurt is 57. Country singer-musician Teddy Gentry (Al abama) is 45. Rock singer Steve Perry is 44. Hockey Hall-of-Famer Mike Bossy is 40. Actress Linda Blair is 38. Rock singer Michael Hutchence (INXS) is 37. Ac tress Diane Lane is 34. Actor-rap DJ Jazzy Jeff is 32. Actress Olivia d’Abo is 28. Rhythm-and-blues singer Marc Gay (Shai) is 28. Actor Balthazar Getty is 22. e first tw bras a Sir e title of” mesters, Id man.” I “The bu J being Wets,” Tonight’s Expected Id ^ en ‘whip 47°F Today’s Expected Higt 72°F Clear skies and pleasant. Light North winds. Increasing high clouds. Light and variable winds. Partly cloudy. Southeast winds around lOmph. Tomorrow’s Expected High 70°F Tomorrow Night’s Expected Low 54°F One of t the Sin pee ofwc Information courtesy of TAMS0! ALPHA PHI a social sorority INVITES YOU to our Spring rush Jan 21-23 Tues. Jan. 21 join The Ladies of A(J) for Open House with slide show & refreshments at the Col- lege Station Conf. Center Rm. 127 at 7pm Wed. Jan. 22 join us for bowling and billiards at 7 pm in the MSC ^ Thurs, Jan. 23 By invitation only ^4 $ For More Information, Please Contact: ^ Melissa 846-7188 The Bat Rachel Barry, Editor in Chief Michael Landauer, Executive Editor Wesley Posten, City Editor Tiffany Moore, Managing Editor Kristina Buffin, Sports Editor Stew Milne, Visual Arts Editor Alex Walters, Opinion Editor John LeBas, Aggielife Editor Chris Stevens, Web Editor Jody Holley, Night News Editor Tim Moog, Photo Editor Helen Clancy, Night News Editor Brad Graeber, Cartoon Editor News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in the Division^ Student Publications, a unit of the Department of Journalism. News offices are in 013 Reed McDona* Building. Newsroom phone: 845-3313; Fax; 845-2647; E-mail: Batt@tamvml.tamu.edu; InternetAd- dress: http://bat-web.tamu.edu. Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion. Fof campus, local and national display advertising, call 845-2696. For classified advertising, call 845- 0569. Advertising offices are in 015 Reed McDonald, and office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Fax: 845-2678. Subscriptions: A part of the Student Services Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up a single copy of The Battalion. Mail subscriptions are $20 per semester, $40 per school year and $50 perfu# year. To charge by Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express, call 845-2611. The Bahalion (ISSN #1055-4726) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and spring^ mesters and Monday through Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77840. Po 51 ' master: Send address changes to The Battalion, 015 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M Univeisity College Station,TX 77843-1111.