tm
The Battalion
KH • Issue I
10 Pages
1“he Bail Online: hi Ip:// hat wehJaimi.edu
Monday, March M, 199/
lun-off candidates, student leaders chosen
w
By Erica Roy
The Battalion
^ Run-off candidates and newly elected stu-
t leaders were announced in front of the
vrence Sullivan Ross statue on March 27
r 8,911 Texas A&M students voted.
The run-off elections will be held April
id 3.
3urtis Childers, a junior agricultural de-
ipment major, and Eliot Kerlin, a senior fi-
nce major, are the two candidates in the
to'lent body president run-off election.
"SHKerlin said being elected to the run-off
30 ition was an overwhelming honor,
told the staff at the beginning, if we
to make it this far it would be by hard
'■rk, planning and putting out,” Kerlin
ttd. “And the reason we made it this far is
*«ause God is smiling on our efforts. God
n p a big smiley face today.”
W^Childers plans to use more students
I
in his run-off campaign than in his orig
inal campaign.
“I’m proud,” he said. “We had a strong
staff that worked hard because they be
lieved in something. I’m humbled, but at
the same time I’m proud.
“It’s just been an exciting 10 days. I’m
looking forward to the next two.”
Junior yell leaders Brandon Meche, a
junior marketing major, and Tim Duffy, a
junior marketing major, were reelected as
senior yell leaders. Kyle Sparkman, a ju
nior biomedical science major, will be the
third senior yell leader.
Brandon Neff, a sophomore business
administration major, was elected by a
majority to the junior yell leader position.
There will be a run-off for the position
of the second junior yell leader between
Sam Bluntzer, a sophomore accounting
major; Chad Henke, a sophomore bio
medical science major; Robert Kimmel, a
sophomore mechanical engineering ma
jor; and Gregg Nichols, a sophomore agri
cultural business major.
Meche was pleased to be reelected as
a yell leader.
“It’s been an honor enough having it for
one year,” Meche said.
“It’s a dream come true to represent
the best school in the world for two years.
I’m shaking.”
Neff said when he came to A&M he did
not know any of the traditions, but he saw
students who worked hard for what they
wanted and that motivated him to give
back to A&M.
“I just can’t believe I’m standing here
after winning an election,” Neff said. “It’s
the best thing that’s ever happened to me
by far.”
There will be a run-off for Resident Hall
Association president between Mike Hoy,
a sophomore mechanical engineering
major, and Eric Williams, a junior bio
medical science major.
Class of ’98 president will be Nolan
Barkhouse, an international studies ma
jor. Kendall Kelly, a psychology major, was
elected Class of ’99 president and Jeremy
Poland, a business administration ma
jor, was elected class of ’00 president.
Class of ’97 agents will be Jimbo Cross,
an agricultural development major,
Christina Horz, a marketing major and
Matt Mayfield, an animal science major.
Carl Baggett, student body president and
a senior accounting major, said all of the can
didates should be congratulated for the work
they put into their campaigns.
“I commend everyone who took a
chance to make a difference at Texas
A&M,” Baggett said.
“Regardless of the outcome tonight,
they all worked hard and they all made a
difference to A&M.”
Election Results
Student Body President (runoff)
Curtis Childers
Eliot Kerlin
Senior Yell Leader
Kyle Sparkman
Brandon Meche
Tim Duffy
Junior Yell Leader
Brandon Neff
Run-off between:
Sam Bluntzer
Gregg Nichols
Robert Kimmel
Chad Henke
IjBli ^ 1 g|§^
• V. 1
Sir-
i ,
.
I ^ • m
MM
jvit
Mtk
Rony Angkriwan, The Battalion
fili i I Lauren Hickey, daughter of Senior Associate Athletic Director Lynn Hickey and Assistant Baseball Coach Bill Hickey
I ^ anc | Megan Allison, enjoy an afternoon with Lucky and Ducky at the track and field complex Saturday.
Women's Week
Activities to celebrate
women's achievements
By Benjamin Cheng
The Battalion
Celebrating women and their ac
complishments will be the focus of
Women’s Week '97 at Texas A&M,
which begins today and runs through
the end of the week.
The theme for
this year is “Images
of Women: Visions
and Voices.” The
week kicks off with
an opening ceremo
ny at the Memorial
Student Center Fla-
groom beginning at
1 p.m.
Patricia Russell-
McCloud, national
president of Links
Inc., will deliver the
keynote address at an
awards presentation for Women’s
Week today at 5 p.m. in 226 MSC.
Jane Schneider, Women’s Week
committee chair and the assistant
vice president for administration,
said the week will focus on the diver
sity of wo men.
“Women are diverse and we all
have different opinions,” Schneider
said. “That’s all right.”
The topics for the workshops and
lectures range from women execu
tives to women’s health care. A pan-
‘‘Women are
diverse and we
all have different
opinions. That's
all right."
Jane Schneider
Women’s Week
committee chair
el discussion on cross-cultural un
derstanding will be held at 11:30 a.m.
Thursday in 501 Rudder Tower.
A photo and art exhibit will be on
display beginning Monday at noon
in the MSC Flagroom.
Nancy Lugo, who acquired the
artwork for the ex
hibit and is program
coordinator of race
and ethnic studies,
said the photo ex
hibit is intended to
show the roles
women perform.
“The photos
show women in dif
ferent roles as moth
ers, wives and stu
dents,” Lugo said.
“It’s not famous
women in the pho
tos. It’s‘Jane Doe.’”
The week will conclude with a po
etry, dance and song presentation by
MSC Town Hall at Rumours Coffee
house Friday at 7 p.m.
Schneider hopes women will
learn more about each other and
appreciate the differences among
each other. The image of a success
ful woman is different for every
body, she said.
“As long as you’re happy with
yourself, you’re a success,” Schnei
der said.
l&M conducts research
lOt
in fetal alcohol syndrome
Researchers are
^ investigating the
possibility that
nicotine lowers the
blood alcohol
concentration.
By Joey Jeanette Schlueter
The Battalion
The Texas A&M College of Medi-
jie is helping the fight against fetal
johol syndrome with a study on
le effects of alcohol and nicotine on
}al brain development.
JThe study found that blood al-
Ihol concentration in rat pups is
; |duced by the presence of nico-
le, although the combination is
11 fatal.
Dr. James West, head of the De-
rtment of Human Anatomy and
edical Neurobiology, said his lab
s made a significant break-
rough with its findings.
The study was conducted in the
The Battalion
INSIDETODAY
#USY EASTIRs The
softball team began
Big 12 play by splitting
two doubleheaders.
Sports, Page 7
Aggielife
Toons
Opinion
Paged
Page 5
Page 9
Alcohol and Brain Research Labo
ratory, which West supervises.
“We wanted to find out what al
cohol does to the brain,” West said.
“This disease (fetal alcohol syn
drome) is different than others,
such as Parkinson’s disease. We
know what causes it — alcohol.”
Dr. Wei-Jung A. Chen, an assis
tant research scientist, and Scott E.
Parnell, a lab assistant and junior
zoology major, assisted West with
the research.
Chen said the main theme of
the experiment is polydrug use —
tire use of several drugs at once —
and the potential to cause fetal al
cohol syndrome.
“The rationale for choosing
nicotine and alcohol is because
many people smoke and drink at
the same time, including some
pregnant women,” Chen said.
Although the findings show that
nicotine may reduce the blood al
cohol concentration in rats, Chen
emphasized that the research
showed the combination of the two
proved more fatal than either drug
alone or no drugs at all.
“The results regarding nicotine’s
action in lowering the BAG are still
very preliminary and it requires fur
ther investigations, especially in
clinical settings,” Chen said.
The experiment, conducted on
rats 4- to 9-days old, revealed that the
combination of alcohol and nicotine
creates a higher death rate in baby
rats than a single drug or no drugs.
Parnell said, at this stage, the
brain in rats correlates with the
third trimester stage for humans,
the stage when the brain is most
vulnerable to alcohol. The nicotine
findings have prompted further re
search, he said.
See Research, Page 6
Easter messages focus on cult suicide
RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. (AP) — As dawn
peeked through the clouds, 300 Easter wor
shippers gathered in a high school stadium and
praised God as the only keeper of heaven’s gate.
The group gathered near the site where 39
Heaven’s Gate cult members committed sui
cide last week, seeking redemption in a space
ship trailing the Hale-Bopp comet.
“Jesus Christ is the gate, he’s the only way.
There’s no UFO waiting behind a comet,” Pas
tor Bob Botsford told his non-denominational
flock, wearing straw Easter hats while shivering
in the early morning chill.
His sermon was titled “The Key to Heaven’s
Gate.” In it, he warned the entrance was nar
row, “only one person can pass through at a
time. You can’t get in because you belong to
some group.”
Meanwhile, CNN and Time magazine report
ed that cult members killed themselves because
leader Marshall Herff Applewhite convinced
them he was dying of cancer. Newsweek report
ed in its April 7 issue that Applewhite may have
only had six months to live, and that he told his
followers his body was “disintegrating.”
Computer disks sent to the former cult
member identified in news reports as Rio D’An
gelo contain a message from an unidentified fe
male cult member: “Once he is gone... there is
nothing left here on the face of the Earth for me
... no reason to stay a moment longer.” The
disks were reviewed by CNN and Time.
San Diego mass suicide
The 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult apparently died
in shifts over two or more days —15, then 15 more and then
the final nine. They mixed barbiturates and alcohol, then lay
down to die in their $1.6 million rented mansion.
How many and
where they were
The second floor
Many of the 21 bodies found in
the second floor bedrooms
were on bunk beds.
ENCINITAS
c '^min 0 c
—wue
RANCHO
^ SANTA FE
San Dieguito
Reservoir
m
4
1/2 mile
wmmmmm
1/2 km
Franciscd\.
\
Los
Angeles'^
San Diego <
CALIF.
Rancho
Santa Fe
Who they were...
•A quasi-religious group that
designed Internet sites for
businesses. Members
worked together
more than 20 years
and answered to
“Father John.”
• Members had
buzz-cut hair and wore
collarless black shirts.
They believed...
•They were sent to
Earth as angels and
met in “middle America.”
• It was time to “shed their
containers,” to rendezvous
with a UFO traveling behind
the Hale-Bopp comet.
The first floor
included computer
rooms, where the
cult ran its Web
site business.
Eighteen
people died
there.
Colina Norte
mansion
(9,200 sq. ft.)
Sources: San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, AP research
With all of the autopsies completed, the
coroner said that Applewhite, 65, did not suffer
from terminal cancer.
“Marshall Applewhite has no gross physical
evidence and no visual evidence of cancer in
his liver or any other organs,” Dr. Brian Black-
bourne told The Associated Press.
Also Sunday, former cult member Nick
Cooke told interviewers he wished he had
joined his wife, Suzanne Sylvia Cooke, in com
mitting suicide. He belonged to the cult “off and
on” for 23 years and left three years ago.
See Suicide, Page 6
McVeigh trial to begin with jury selection
DENVER (AP) — Nearly two
years after the bombing that de
stroyed the federal building in Ok
lahoma City, jury selection begins
today to pick a panel of 18 people
from a pool of about 400.
Lawyers expect jury selection to
take about two weeks.
“I think it will be quite involved,”
defense attorney Stephen Jones told
The Associated Press. He refused to
elaborate, citing a federal judge’s
gag order.
On Sunday, former FBI deputy
director Weldon Kennedy played
down concerns that the govern
ment’s case is weak and said he was
not concerned about allegations
that the FBI’s lab had mishandled
some evidence.
“In fact, I’m anxious for the trial
to begin so the actual facts in this
case can be brought out,” he said on
NBC’s Meet the Press.
Appearing on the same program,
Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating said
the Oklahoma County district at
torney would monitor the case to
determine whether Timothy
McVeigh later could face murder
charges in state court.
“I would expect the state of Ok
lahoma very definitely would be in
terested in doing that,” he said.
Prospective jurors were ex
pected to be questioned individ
ually before U.S. District Judge
Richard Matsch and attorneys for
both sides.
After the field is reduced to 64
people who are death-qualified —
meaning they have agreed to con
sider the death penalty as a punish
ment — each side may dismiss 20
without giving a reason.
Finally, after 12 jurors have
been selected, six alternates will
be chosen, with each side allowed
to dismiss three candidates with
out cause.
Jones will focus on finding out
if the jury pool has been “poi
soned” by recent stories that
McVeigh had confessed to the
bombing, and failed a lie-detector
test about co-conspirators.