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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 26, 1997)
The Battalion ; i : b ■ : " i i g Paji Wednesday • March 26, Nation Inmates move to higher grounds ANGOLA, La. (AP) — About 3,000 inmates were temporarily evacuated to higher ground Tuesday as waters from the swollen Mississippi River threat ened to undermine a levee protecting the nation’s largest prison farm. “We don’t gamble with the lives of inmates," Warden Burl Cain said after the early morning move to a tent city on the only bit of high ground on the 18,000-acre Louisiana State Penitentiary. As the inmates made the uphill climb, many could not help noticing a block-long trail of red ants going in the same direction. The inmates were returned to their regular dormitories 10 hours lat er, after they piled on 30,000 more sand bags to stabilize the 21-mile- long levee that has held since the turn of the century. “It is wet, it is soaked, but it is stable,” Cain said. He added that if the river creates more problems, an other evacuation would be ordered and could involve all of the prison’s 5,000 inmates. So far, death row has remained untouched. After a flood in 1973 that also threatened the levee, the state put that building on the hill so as not to worry about evacuation of con demned killers. The prison farm rests in a horse shoe bend 50 miles upstream from Baton Rouge. The river is expected to crest near the prison Friday at a record 61.1 feet, more than 13 feet above flood stage ► This day in History but not enough to reach the tops of the prison levee, said Dave Reed, a hy drologist at the Lower Mississippi Riv er Forecast Center in Slidell. “It’s kind of scary, isn’t it?” prison spokeswoman Cathy Jett said as she gave reporters a tour. “The water is almost level to our eyes.” “If we have a levee break, every thing you see will be 13 feet or more under water — all but what is on this hill,” she said. Bush jumps to fulfill long-time promise YUMA PROVING GROUND, Ariz. (AP) — George Bush took a flying leap Tuesday. In doing so, the former president ful filled a wartime promise to himself, jumping from a plane over the Arizona desert under a rainbow-colored para chute — a serene, Technicolor repeat of his leap to safety from a disabled Navy bomber half a century ago. “It was wonderful. I’m a new man — and I go home exhilarated,” the 72- year-old former chief executive said. It was his second parachute jump, but his first planned one. Bush was forced to bail out of his Navy bomber in the Pacific during World War II, and promised himself that one day he would make a jump for fun. He had a little help, with two jump masters holding onto his har ness until he opened his chute safely, and half a dozen people — including wife Barbara — running to cushion his landing. Medical emer gency personnel also were standing by on the ground. Asked how he felt, Bush gave a thumbs up and said: “Like that.” Florida execution goes up in flame Incident should detour people from committing murder, officials a STARKE, Fla. (AP) —A mask concealing the face of a condemned killer burst into flames Tuesday as he was put to death in Florida’s electric chair, and the governor said the state will consider other methods of execution. Pedro Medina, one of nearly 125,000 Cubans who came to the United States during the 1980 Mariel boatlift, was sentenced to die for the 1982 stabbing death of a woman who had befriended him. | There was no indication Med ina felt the flames, Gov. Lawton Chiles said. “We’ve had an occasion of smoke before,” Chiles said. “But the question is really, Ts this something that is torturous or painful?’” However, Attorney General Bob Butterworth said the in mate’s gruesome end would be a deterrent. “People who wish to commit murder, they better not do it in the state of Florida because we may have a problem with our electric chair,” Butterworth said. It was the second time an inmate’s mask has burst into flame during a Florida execu tion. The first time, in 1990, executions were suspended for three months. While there was no visible reaction from Tuesday’s 39 witnesses, some later said they were nauseated by the sight and the smell. “It was something entirely out of the ordi nary. I have witnessed 11 executions and have never seen anything like what we saw this morning,” said a visibly shaken Gene Morris, spokesman for the Department of Correc tions. Medina, 39, had appeared calm, pursing his lips and looking up while he was strapped into “Old Sparky,” the three-legged oak chair built in 1923. He never looked at the witness es seated in front of him on the other side of a window. “Pedro was somewhere else when he was in there,” said the Rev. Glenn ] Dickson, who spent the night | outside Medina’s cell. "He told ! me he was not afraid of dy- “It was some thing entirely out mg. of the ordinary” Gene Morris Department of Corrections Medina’s last words were: “I am still innocent.” Then the black leather mask was lowered over his face to conceal his expression from the witnesses, and 2,000 volts of electricity were sent through his body. There was a small flicker on the right side of the mask and then orange and blue flames up to a foot high erupted and burned for about 10 sec onds. When the witnesses were removed several minutes later, the room was still smoky. Medina did not react obviously to the flames, having already lurched back and balled his hands into Fists when the current hit him. “The doctor says that there were no indi cations from the observation or anything else that Medina felt any pain as a result of what happened,” the governor said. “The death was instantaneous. Chiles said the doctor told him that “the burns were no different than you'd si execution and, in his opinion, hefeltnon One witness disagreed. “It was brutal, terrible. It wasaba alive, literally," said Michael Minena heads a state agency that representsdi row inmates. Minerva said the governor should ha executions of two inmates scheduledic and quit signing death warrants. Chiles said the state would considei natives such as lethal injection, “asw before.” Only five other states have electrocui their only means of execution: Ala Georgia, Kentucky, Nebraska andTennt However, Kentucky and Tennesseehai; executed anyone since the SupremeC allowed states to reinstate the deathpa in 1976, according to the Death Penalty!: mation Center in Washington. Medina was convicted of the 1982 kill: Dorothy James, 52, a teacher who ha: friended him. He was found drivinghe and a knife believed to be the murder was found in the car. Correction A headline on the Opinion page oil day's Battalion misidentified the Reside Hall Association. It should have identified Department of Residence Life and Hous; ► Weather Today is Wednesday, Feb. 26th, the 57th day of 1997. There are 308 days left in the year. On this date: In 1802, French literary giant Victor Hugo was born in Besancon. In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from the Is land of Elba to begin his second conquest of France. In 1846, frontiersman-turned-showman William F. “Buf falo Bill” Cody was born in Scout County, Iowa. In 1870, New York City’sTirst pneumatic-powered sub way line was opened to the public. In 1919, Congress established Grand Canyon Nation al Park in Arizona. In 1929, President Coolidge signed a measure es tablishing Grand Teton National Park. In 1940, the U.S. Air Defense Command was created. In 1951, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, limiting a president to two terms of office. In 1952, Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain had developed its own atomic bomb. In 1993, a bomb exploded in the garage of New York’s World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others. Five years ago: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unani mously that sexually harassed students may sue to col lect monetary damages from their schools and school of ficials. The Supreme Court of Ireland cleared the way for a 14-year-old girl to leave the country for an abortion. ► Today's birthdays Today’s Birthdays: Actor Mason Adams is 78. Actor Tony Randall is 77. Actress Betty Hutton is 76. Singer Fats Domino is 69. Political columnist Robert Novak is 66. Singer Johnny Cash is 65. Singer Mitch Ryder is 52. Singer Michael Bolton is 44. Actress Jennifer Grant (Bev erly Hills 90210) is 31. Today Tonight Tomorrow Cloudy with 20 percent chance of rain. North winds 15 mph. Partly cloudy. North winds 10 mph. Partly cloudy. Winds from the southwest. Highs & Lows 'Today’s Expected ■ 65°F r Tonight’s Expected! 50°F ’ Tomorrow’s Expect m 69°F Tomorrow Nig/ii" Expected Lai 55°F Information courtesyofTMTCA iss of 2000 T-shirts on sale! A T-shirts are on sale for $10 in the MSC Hallway March 24-28 and April 4th at Fishball Questions, Concerns, Comments? Talk with your Vice President for Student Affairs. If you have any thoughts or concerns regarding student life here at A&M, I’m very interested in hearing them. I am Malon Southerland, your Vice President for Student Affairs and my office is on the 10th floor of Rudder Tower. My door is always open and I encourage you to come by if I can ever be of assis tance. Feel free to call me anytime at 845-4728 or contact me through e-mail : malon-southerland@tamu.edu Kappa Alpha Psi and ExCEL Presents... Hozu to choose the Right CAREER'' Agriculture and Life Sciences he/, lJ Q *ti ( 0/; ^ ,,4 ‘V March 26, 1997 Rudder 402, 8:30pm m Goniunction with Princeton Review*** to c A T Get a head start on your MCA! prep Early Access Option • Take a full-length diagnostic MCAT • Receive a detailed score analysis • Participate in 9 hours of classes designed to teach verbal reasoning and study skills applicable to all 3 sections of the MCAT • THE PRINCETON REVIEW MCAT Program is endorsed by: American Medical Students Association Call today for schedules AND INFORMATION (409) 696-9099 info.cs@review.com Tht Princeton Review is not affiliated with AAMC or Princeton Umveriity r MSC L.T. Jordan Institute for International Awareness Fellows Program presents: Bonnie Ponwith Tropical Rainforest Ecology a case study from Costa Rica & Rachel Preston Italian Architecture: Bridging the Gap Between Renaissance and Baroque Wednesday, March 26th, 7:00pm MSC Room 223] For more information call 845-8770 or e-mail: ji-fellows@msc.tamu.edu Persons with disabilities please call 845-8770 to inform hs of your special needs. A J The Battalion Rachel Barry, Editor in Chief Tiffany Moore, Managing Editor Kristina Buffin, Sports Editor Wesley Poston, City Editor Stew Milne, Visual Arts Editor Alex Walters, Opinion EdiW 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 Edip News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in the Divisio' Student Publications, a unit of the Department of Journalism. News offices are in 013 ReedMcDc' Building. Newsroom phone: 845-3313; Fax: 845-2647; E-mail: Batt@tamvml.tamu.edu; dress: http://bat-web.tamu.edu. Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion/ campus, local and national display advertising, call 845-2696. For classified advertising, call8® 0569. Advertising offices are in 015 Reed McDonald, and office hours are 8 a.m.to 5 p.m.Mo# through Friday. Fax: 845-2678. Subscriptions: A part of the Student Services Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up a sing- copy of The Battalion. Mail subscriptions are $20 per semester, $40 per school year and $50 pf 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 andspn ; mesters and Monday through Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays^ exam periods) at Texas A&M University. 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