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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 1997)
^ !i»w»ftwywtwawe^^ h The Battalion )lume 103 • Issue 136 • 14 Pages The Batt Online: http:// bat-web.tamu.edu Thursday, April 24, 1997 fake Your Daughter To Work Day IS sponsors program By Kathleen Strickland The Battalion pung girls age 9 to 15 will come to work jh their parents today to learn about the 1 of technical jobs with the help of Com- litig and Information Services. In con- Jction with national Take Your Daughter liVork Day, Computing and Information ®Hvices is sponsoring the program within ihqir department. t he computing service is the first and only artment on campus to sponsor the event, ming began two weeks ago, and 14 girls ""■expected to attend. H(im Ives, accounting assistant III and a ■mber of the Take Our Daughters To Work D*'committee, is pleased with the expected “We feel that this is a very beneficial program and we’d like to see this become a campus-wide event.” Kim Ives Take Our Daughters To Work Day committee member number of participants and hopes to see it become a larger event in the future. “We hope this will be a learning experi ence for both the adults and the girls,” Ives said. “We feel that this is a very beneficial pro gram, and wed like to see this become a cam pus-wide event.” David Lawrence, computer services user information representative, is one of the pro gram’s supporters. “This is a great learning experience for the young girls,” Lawrence said. “It is a day for them to be seen and heard, and also for them to experience jobs that were traditionally male-oriented.” The program will begin this morning with an orientation session, where the girls will meet with their work partners. The work part ners are employees throughout computer ser vices who have volunteered to work with the girls and show them what the jobs include. See Daughters, Page 6 Grand jury hears hazing testimony By Melissa Nunnery The Battalion The Brazos County Attorney’s office sought a grand jury’s advice yesterday regarding the investigation of assault and hazing charges brought against nine student advisers for the Texas A&M Fish Drill Team. County Attorney Jim Kuboviak said the grand jury heard testimony from several witnesses. He also said the hear ing was another step in the information gathering process of the investigation. Because grand jury proceedings are closed to the public, Kuboviak could not comment further on the hearing. Kuboviak declined to comment on whether he would seek an indict ment and added he is not required to do so in misdemeanor cases such as this one. The nine Fish Drill Team advisers were suspended temporarily from the Corps of Cadets March 24 following ac cusations of hazing and physical as sault. Corps Commandant Maj. Gen. M.T. “Ted” Hopgood Jr. ordered the stu dents to leave the Quadrangle follow ing the accusations. I I L' irsiin IdK tDc. Wm 'im m .v Skydivers jump for thrills, chills By Melissa Price The Battalion £ t’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s ... a skydiver. W Some Texas A&M students are viewing the world from f a different perspective these days — from 10,000 feet above * the ground. Allison Roderick, president of the Texas A&M Skydiving Club and a junior marketing major, said she has craved the ability to fly since she was a toddler. “When I was a year-and-a-half old, I tried jumping from my bookcase to the bed and broke my arm,” Roderick said. “This was the first time I indicated to my parents my desire to skydive.” Roderick said she knew skydiving provided a realistic solu tion to her childhood dream and made her first jump when she was a senior in high school. She has since completed 66 skydives, most of which were made at the local drop zone at Coulter Field. Roderick said Aggies over Texas, the drop zone used by the A&M Skydiving Club, is one of the safest drop zones in Texas. The club, which originated in 1984, aims to pique interest in skydiving and to promote safe skydiving techniques. Although some students skydive purely for entertainment, Roderick said some members of the club view skydiving as a competitive sport. At the National Collegiate Skydiving Championships, held in Florida this past December, the A&M team comprised the largest civilian skydiving team at the competition. John Saitis, a senior history major, is training to be a jump master. Jump masters are trained in skydiving safety and are qualified to teach skydiving instruction classes. They also per form tandem jumps, in which inexperienced skydivers are paired with jump masters to ensure the safety of the novices. Tandem jumps are geared toward those interested in skydiv ing but know little about the sport. Static Line and Accelerat ed Free Fall programs are offered by those interested in pur suing skydiving as a competitive sport. See Skydiving, Page 6 .V 1 Tim Moog, The Battalion Left: Brian Epperson, Class of '86, falls from the sky Sunday afternoon at Coulter field. Above: Mary Epperson and John Saitis prepare for a jump. kfileyball Marathon raises money for Cancer Society Residents say false flood predictions led to losses Flood victims may not be able to return to their homes for weeks GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — Town officials and flood victims complained Wednesday that Grand Forks could have been saved if forecast ers had been right about how high the Red Riv er would rise. “I don’t like to be critical, but we were told ab solutely 49 feet by the weather service,” Mayor Pat Owens said two days after the river crested at more than 54 feet. “I’m not pointing fingers,” she said, “but our engineers said it would have been preventable.” Others say there’s little that could have been done to resist the power of a 500-year flood. Back in February, the National Weather Service was already predicting record flood ing in the Grand Forks area. The previous record was 48.8 feet set in 1979. The February forecast of 49 feet remained the same through the early April blizzard. Not until April 14 was it raised to 50 feet. Sandbagging already had been going on for weeks. As the river rose, schools and business es closed to send their students and employees to the front lines, piling bags atop the 49-foot earthen dike. On April 16th, as the first of the residents along the river began to flee, the Weather Ser vice increased the crest forecast to 50 1/2 feet. Predictions increased three times over the next two days to 54 feet. “We were dealing with an unprecedented flood and you’re dealing with Mother Nature and you just have to roll with the punches,” said Dean Braatz, hydrologist in charge of the NWS’ North Central River Forecast Center in Minneapolis. Grand Forks Assistant Engineer A1 Crasser said the city could have done more to stem the floodwaters if they had accu rate crest numbers, but he isn’t sure how effective extra dike-building and sandbag ging would have been. “You could have added the sandbags and the dikes and kept it off for a day, but the problem would be to build a dike or sandbags that would hold up for several weeks,” he said. Downstream, with the crest moving north to ward Canada, crews rushed to top off dikes pro tecting deserted towns and farms in the Red Riv er Valley. At least 17,000 people have fled their homes in Canada alone. Floodwaters began to ebb in Grand Forks on Wednesday, and residents were told they would soon be allowed to fish out a few be longings from their flooded homes. It could be weeks or months before they can return for good. The marathon will feature live entertainment by local rock bands and Freudian Slip. By Rebecca Torrellas The Battalion [Volleyball, music and live performances I be part of the Mary Collett American Bncer Society Volleyball Marathon, which arts Friday at 8 p.m. and ends Saturday at hn. in the third-floor gymnasiums of the tad Building. The purpose of the marathon is to raise [least $2,000 for the local chapter of the lerican Cancer Society. Adam Collett, a graduate student in stu dent affairs administration in the higher education program, started the event in 1994 and has since recruited other schools to hold fund raisers for their local chapters of American Cancer Society. Collett said he became interested in raising money for the society during his sophomore year at Eastern Michigan University. “My mother died of cancer the year be fore,” Collett said. “I’ve also had a couple of close friends my age who have been di agnosed with cancer.” Collett said he hopes the Texas A&M Cancer Society will adopt the Mary Collett American Cancer Society Volleyball Marathon as an annual event. “I think there’s a perception out there among college students that cancer doesn’t really affect people their age,” Collett said. “That’s another reason why I’m so interest ed in getting college communities involved in this.” Jay Hayes, executive director for Dis trict 19 of the Brazos Valley American Cancer Society, said this is the first time the local chapter will be involved in a vol leyball marathon. “Hopefully it catches on and they (A&M) [will] make it an annual event,” he said. The money donated will support local education and a patient services programs well as national research programs, Hayes said. Dustin Long, a junior journalism major, will be one of the students who will help Collett with the event. He said it is not too late for students to get involved. “We welcome anyone who hears about the event at the last minute to just show up on the night of the event with any person al donation,” Long said. “Even if someone can’t collect donations for the event or can’t spare a personal donation, but still wants to show support by participating, we welcome that too.” Live performances at the marathon will include the improvisational comedy group Freudian Slip and local rock bands Satel lite Dream and Fysher. Hayes said students who cannot attend the event but are interested in making do nations can send donations to the local American Cancer Society office at 3201 Briarcrest Drive in Bryan, TX 77802. The Battalion IN SI DETODAY FAMILY BONDING: Three brothers will play with their funk-rock band Vallejo tonight at Dixie Theatre. Aggielife, Page 3 Weather Page 2 Toons Page 5 Sports Page 7 What's Up ... . Page 12