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Wednesday • April 9,19!
The Battalion
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McVeigh blames FBI for Waco fire
► Nation
DENVER (AP) — In a letter to an Oklahoma
City newspaper made public Tuesday, Timothy
McVeigh blames the FBI for the 1993 fire that
killed 81 people at the Branch Davidian com-
1 pound near Waco, Texas.
“The public never saw the Davidians’ home
video of their cute babies, adorable children,
loving mothers or protective fathers,” McVeigh
wrote in a letter excerpted for today's weekly
Oklahoma Gazette.
“Nor did they see pictures of the charred re
mains of children’s bodies. Therefore, they did
n’t care when these families died a slow, tortur
ous death as they were gassed and burned alive
at the hands of the FBI.”
Authorities claim McVeigh bombed the fed
eral building in Oklahoma City to retaliate for
Waco on the two-year anniversary of the siege.
Cult leader David Koresh and 80 of his follow-
1 ers died by fire or gunshot wounds six hours af
ter the FBI started filling the compound with tear
gas during a raid that ended a 51-day standoff.
Davidians and their attorneys blame the govern
ment for starting the fire. FBI officials said the
blaze was started by sect members.
In the letter, McVeigh referred to FBI agents
► This day in history
as “wizards of propaganda” who molded the
facts to fit their own purposes.
McVeigh’s attorney, Stephen Jones, said the
letter was authentic. It was written to Gazette re
porter Phil Bacharach in November, several
months after he interviewed McVeigh in prison.
“The public never saw the
Davidians' home video of
their cute babies, adorable
children, loving mothers or
protective fathers."
Timothy McVeigh
on trial for Oklahoma City bombing
McVeigh, 28, is charged with murder and
conspiracy in the April 19,1995, Oklahoma City
bombing that killed 168 people and injured
hundreds more. If convicted, he could face the
death penalty.
Jury selection in the case continued Tues
day, with a prospective juror dismissed after
telling the judge the government spent too
much money protecting McVeigh’s right to a
fair trial.
“She could not serve as a fair and impartial
juror in this case,” said U.S. District Judge
Richard Matsch.
The woman, who immigrated to the United
States from Germany 40 years ago, told Matsch
she disagreed in particular with his decision to
move the trial from Oklahoma to Denver.
Matsch gave her a lengthy explanation of why
he made that decision, saying he needed to en
sure a fair trial.
“But it does cost the government a lot of
money,” she said.
The woman was only the second prospec
tive juror to be publicly dismissed, following
Matsch’s dismissal last week of a woman who
cried as she explained how stressful she
thought the trial would be.
The judge has said he would make all other
decisions on dismissals in private. Late into the
seventh day of jury selection, 41 prospects had
been questioned.
Texas ranks third in
foreign population
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than
2 million people living in Texas last
year were born outside the United
States, making Texas one of only six
states nationally with a foreign-born
population of more than a million.
Eleven percent of the 19 million
people living in Texas were born in an
other country, the Census Bureau
said in a report issued Tuesday.
Some 24.5 million people in the
United States last year were born
elsewhere — accounting for 9.3 per
cent of the population. That figure is
up sharply from the 4.8 percent low
recorded in 1970 but remains well
below the century’s high of 14.7 per
cent in 1910.
California was the premier desti
nation for the foreign-born, account
ing for 8 million people. New York was
second with 3 million. Three other
states joined Texas with foreign-born
populations of 1 million or more: Flori
da, New Jersey and Illinois.
Parking fines plagui
chief of ticket write
NEW YORK (AP) — The leade
New York City’s union of parking
writers has apparently given tei
rank-and-file a lot of business.
Robert Cassar’s car waste
week after he failed to payr«
$5,000 in parking fines, the Nen
Post reported Tuesday.
Cassar, president of Local 115
the Communications Workers eft
ica, said those penalties cametni
of another $5,000 he has pa
parking violations in recent yeas
“Nobody likes to have I
summonses," he said. “Butlgj
that it shows that my guys dotheij
Cassar said his car was ret;
after he agreed to pay $4,916.i
fines and penalties on 39ticl<£
sued between 1993 and 1995,
Cassar was a traffic agent li
becoming president of the 1,
member union four years ag(
claims officials in the citylransi
tion Department have a ven
against him.
Weather
Today is Wednesday, April 9, the 99th day of 1997.
There are 266 days left in the year.
On this date:
In 1682, the French explorer Robert La Salle reached
the Mississippi River.
In 1833, the nation’s first tax-supported public li
brary was founded in Peterborough, N.H.
In 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered
his army to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomat
tox Court House in Virginia.
In 1939, singer Marian Anderson performed at the
Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after she was
denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of
the American Revolution.
In 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway.
In 1942, during World War II, American and Philippine
defenders on Bataan capitulated to Japanese forces; the
surrender was followed by the notorious “Bataan Death
March” which claimed nearly 10,000 lives.
In 1947, a series of tornadoes in Texas, Oklahoma
and Kansas claimed 169 lives.
In 1959, NASA announced the selection of America’s
first seven astronauts: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Coop
er, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shep
ard and Donald Slayton.
In 1963, British statesman Winston Churchill was
made an honorary U.S. citizen.
► Today's birthdays
Former U.S. Sen. Abraham A. Ribicoff, D-Conn., is
87. Playboy magazine founder Hu^h Hefner is 71.
Satirist Tom Lehrer is 69. Singer-songwriter Carl Perkins
is 65. Actor Jean-Paul Belmondo is 64. Comedian Avery
Schreiber is 62. Actress Michael Learned is 58. Country
singer Margo Smith is 55.
Today
Tonight
Tomorrow
Mostly cloudy, 30 per
cent chance of showers,
winds east 10-15 mph.
Cloudy, 20 percent of
showers, shoutheast
winds near 15 mph.
Cloudy, 30 percent
chance of showers,
southeast winds 10-15
mph.
Highs & Lows
Today’s ExpectedH
70°F
Tonight’s Expectedl j
60°F
Tomorrow’s Expeci
High
73°F
Tomorrow Nighii
Expected Low
59°F
Information courtesy of TAMiO I
Last Call
Overseas Loans
Every month the L.T. Jordan Institute interviews
applicants for interest free loans for overseas
travel. May interviews have been moved to
April 17 and 18. These interviews will be the last
for the semester. Pick up your applications NOW!
Applications due Wed., April 16 by 5:00 p.m.
Pick up an application in Room 2231 in the
Student Programs Office of the
Memorial Student Center.
The Impact of Modern
Science on Religion
&
Speakers include:
Protestant, Catholic,
Jewish, Muslim, Hindu,
and Atheist representatives
Moderator: Dr. Jon Alston
Department of Sociology
4^
Wednesday, April 9th
8:30 P.M.
Rudder 601
/mr"
Persons with disabilities please call 845-1515 to inform us of your spe- ( ^ |; ] • jSSU
dal needs. We request notification three (3) working days prior to the • - VrA‘"V'
event to enable us to assist you to the best of our abilities. '.; T's
817 Texas Ave. Sout
College Station, h
696-6551
Come ride Rocky Hill Ranch!
Come join us on Sunday, April 13th
Call for details.
OAMOtf
back
ArtFest 1997
juried exhibit of student artwork
Entries accepted
April 9 to 11
2 to 6 pm
in room 227 MSC
$5 per entry
Winning
entries displayed
in MSC
Visual Arts
Gallery
All TAMU
students
invited to
enter!
Prizes awarded: * painting
total value over $400 ^ drawing
best of show $60 ^ photography
plus 1st, 2nd, Srd^ computer generated
in each category sculpture
presented by
MSC Visual Arts Committee
Official Rules: http:/ /vac.tamu.edu
Phone: 845-9251 Email: vac@msc.tamu.edu
& M’S VHITtTir OW3ST
T? fYRTT'T? HP
U r> i' R O N T & CLOSE
-AJPITXJL.
■■
3 m
The I’&rents
Weekend Concert
with special guest
xox>r>
SNIDER
ONE NIGHT
EVENT
Reserved Seating
available*—it‘8 parents
weekend y’all!
Anoth © r I* o p u i a r 1* r o «1 u c t $ o n
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