he Battalion
lume 103 • Issue 137 • 10 Pages
The Batt Online: http:// bat-web.tamu.edu
Friday, April 25, 1997
eniors dance away
st days at Aggieland
By Rebecca Torrellas
The Battalion
ing Dance will be held Saturday night,
ging to close this year’s Senior Week activ-
is. The tradition began in 1947 as a chance
eniors to gather one last time in a formal
Jug before graduation,
he theme of this year’s Ring Dance is “Step
&In to The Spotlight,” a movie-type theme car
ed into each of eight rooms.
he dance will be held in the Memorial Stu-
em Center and Rudder, with entertainment
|h as a piano bar, a country room, Big Band
id 1 eggae music.
Javid Wellman, a Ring Dance committee
lenber and a senior business management
major, said there is more to Ring Dance than just
taking pictures.
“You’re getting so much more than a high
school dance,” Wellman said.
The country room is titled “Tombstone”
while the Big Band room is called “We’ve Never
Been Licked.”
Kevin La Vergne, a senior theater arts ma
jor, said he is looking forward to his first Ring
Dance.
“I like the idea of having different rooms,” La
Vergne said. “I’m looking forward to the Big
Band room.”
The Big Band room has 20’s and 30’s music
supplied by the Brazos Valley Orchestra.
See Ring Dance, Page 10
It
.ORRELLA!
entury Singers, Revellers to hold spring concerts
sophomore marketing ma- planned for the show,
jor, said Friday’s show will be “We have a Lionel Ricf
full of variety. medley and a Broadway
“We’re doing pieces from medley,” Crittenden said,
a mm ip tn Broadwav show “F.arh sinupr has a snln ”
The Battalion
Music from Bach,
Beethoven and Broadway will
be performed on campus this
weekend as the Century
Singers and die Revellers hold
their spring concerts.
The Century Singers will
present "The Bountiful
Beauty of B-ing” tonight at 8
in Rudder Theatre.
W'OU B'Ct C, 1 v/ ’V'f/V' 1 ,/ ^ V‘ '-'V V' 1 1 l . IJ ,r I , jutci, o ( /
Century Singers and assistant
coordinator of music, said he
chose the theme on a whim.
“It is [just] a musicological
journey with the letter ‘B,’”
Wade said.
The 80-member group
will perform pieces by such
composers as Bach,
Beethoven, Brahms, Berlin,
Bernstein and Bruckner.
Wade said past themes
have been included religion
and the Century Singers’ trip
baroque to Broadway show “Each singer has a solo,
tunes,” he said. Crittenden said the group
Grisom said the choir will performs in several events
be performing Latin, French, throughout the year, such as
Slovak and English tunes. baseball and softball games,
The Reveliers will hold induction ceremonies for
their Spring Concert Sunday honor societies and the
at 3 p.m. in Rudder Forum. Christmas concert in the fall.
Amy Crittenden, a mem
ber of the Reveliers and a se
nior education major, said
The singers will be per
forming pieces by com- to Spain and France,
posers whose last names be- Nathan Grisom, public the Reveliers, although con-
gin with the letter “B.” relations manager for the sidered a jazz group, have a
Jess Wade, director of the Century Singers and a lot ofdifferent types of songs
:;
The Reveliers is composed
of eigh t vocalists and three in
strumentalists, a drummer, a
bass guitarist and a pianist.
Tickets for both concerts
are $5 at the MSC Box Office.
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A Family Thing
Amy Dunlap, The Battalion
Bill Ambrose, an employee with Computing and
Information Services, gives his daughters, Lauren
and Erin, a tour of his office during Take Your
Daughter To Work Day.
Earth Day to focus on community
Festival'celebrates, promotes environmental awareness
By Jackie Vratil
The Battalion
To celebrate Earth Day, Friends Just
Peace Institute in cooperation with
Texas Environmental Action Coalition
organized Brazos Valley Earth Day ’97
to raise community environmental
awareness.
The festival will be held Saturday
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the archery
fields.
The festival will have over 70 booths
with exhibits on ways to preserve the en
vironment such as hands-on arts and
crafts, Earth-friendly product displays,
children’s games and a lady-bug release.
Allison Moran, president ofTEAC and
a senior geography major, said she
hopes to educate people on ways to con
serve natural resources.
“I want to show people how to be
stewards of the environment,” she said.
“There are simple things they can do to
incorporate it into their lives. We’re try
ing to give a holistic approach to looking
at the earth.”
Susan Scott, Earth Day coordinator
for the institute, said the purpose of the
day is for adults to learn how to become
more environmentally responsible.
“They can learn how to use fewer pes-
► March to the Brazos
7.1:
ticides,” she said. “We can also teach
them about recycling and reusing
things so fewer items are going to
the landfills.
“As for the kids, we just
want them to be more
aware of the wildlife, the
predator-ptey rela
tionship and how
to make new
things out of
old things.
We are bring
ing in wildlife
that is specific to
this area and we will
have lots of hands-on
things for the kids to do in
order to teach them.”
Jennifer Nations, Earth Day
coordinator for the Sierra Club,
said the Sierra Club’s purpose is to
protect wild places. Nations said she in
tends to raise awareness that the Sierra
Club is just one of many environmental
organizations.
“We (the Sierra Club) will be selling t-
shirts, giving out information about Sier
ra Club, and informing people about a
conservation project that we are work
ing on,” she said. “We want to become an
active, vocal member of the community.
I want people to feel comfortable com
ing to our meetings I want people to
realize we are not a tree-hugger sort
of society. We just want to be a re
source for environmentally
conscious people.”
This year the festival
will incorporate
more activities.
There will be a
demonstra
tion on how
to turn junk
mail into sta
tionary, and the
Zoological Society
will bring species of
some uncommon native
Texas animals.
Moran said the Green Busi
ness Awards will be given out during
the day as well. Last year Junction 505,
a recycling center, and Cafe Eccell took
home the award.
“The Green business Award is an
award given to businesses that are trying
to be more environmentally conscious,”
Moran said.
“We think Earth Day is a celebration
of the earth and what we have and how
we can make sure we have it 100 years
from now.”
Cadets to train leaders, raise money
By Erica Roy
The Battalion
The Texas A&M^ Corps of
Cadets will march 14 miles to
the Brazos River and back Sat
urday to raise money for the
March of Dimes and to pass
down leadership positions to
the junior, sophomore and
freshman cadets.
The event will begin at 8 a.m.
on the Quadrangle. Cadets will
march west on Highway 60 to
the Brazos River. At the Brazos
River, lunch will be served and
individual outfits will compete
in such events as tugs-of-war
and foot races.
Since last December, the
cadets have collected over
$51,000 from the local com
munity and their hometowns.
The Corps has held March to
the Brazos for 20 years and has
raised over $700,000.
Mark Maltsberger, March to
the Brazos committee chair and
a senior speech communica
tions major, said the purpose of
the Corps is to train leaders, and
contributing to the community
is an aspect of leadership.
“We take a lot from the
community,” Maltsberger
said, “and this is an opportuni
ty for us to give back.”
Maltsberger said the fund
raiser also serves as a rite of
passage for cadets.
Cindi Ericson, deputy
Corps commander and a se
nior international studies and
political science major, said se
niors hand down leadership
positions to underclassmen
during the march.
“It’s a good opportunity for
us to make an informal change
of command before final re
view,” Ericson said.
The senior cadets ride bus
es back to campus, and juniors
lead the Corps on the march
back to A&M.
Sharon Spies, the Bryan-
College Station division direc
tor of the March of Dimes, said
the money raised by the Corps
comprises the majority of the
March of Dimes funds for the
surrounding ten counties.
See Cadets, Page 10
enate approves measure to
rack down on kids who smoke
AUSTIN (AP) — Minors would face up
a $500 fine and could lose their driver’s
nse for smoking or possessing tobac-
roducts under a bill approved by the
as Senate Thursday.
jThe measure, if passed by the
Juse, would give Texas one of the
Highest anti-smoking laws for minors
ithe country. Currently, the state pro-
ibits minors from smoking but has no
Itninal penalties.
ISen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, the
ponsor of the bill, said she used to be
gainst penalties for minors who
inoke. But she said her mind changed
The Battalion
INSIDETODAY
Fun with Nunn: Country
performer Gary P Nunn
is in town tonight to deliver
toe-tappin’ music.
Aggielife, Page 3
Toons Page 4
Sports Page 5
Opinion Page 9
after interviewing 14- and 15-year-olds
about the subject.
“One in particular told me, ‘Nothing
happens if you get caught,”’ Ms. Zaffirini
said. “That showed me kids had no respect
for the law. They could break it and noth
ing happens.
“That changed my position. Today I
stand here and support penalties for
children. If they break the law, they
must be held accountable and they
must be punished.”
Minors convicted of using or possess
ing tobacco products would be required
to attend a tobacco awareness program or
face suspension of their driver’s license.
After completing the awareness program,
the minor could apply to the court to have
the conviction cleared from their record.
Currently, the only penalties are for re
tailers who sell to minors.
The bill was approved on a voice vote
after adoption of an amendment that
would create a new $160 fee retailers
would have to pay for a two-year permit
to sell tobacco. Currently, retailers pay
nothing for tobacco permits.
The fees would be used for pro
grams to educate children on the ill ef
fects of smoking.
A number of steps are taken in the bill
to limit minor access to tobacco, includ
ing prohibiting outdoor advertising of to
bacco products within 1,000 feet of a
school or church.
Prosecution calls McVeigh misguided 'patriot'
DENVER (AP) — Seething with rage
against his own government, Timothy
McVeigh blew up the Oklahoma City feder
al building in a twisted plot to spark a sec
ond American revolution, a prosecutor said
in opening statements Thursday.
“McVeigh liked to consider himself a pa
triot,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Hart-
zler said. “Our forefathers did not fight in
nocent women and
children. ... They did
n’t plant bombs and
run away wearing
earplugs.”
Jurors listened
grim-faced as Hartzler,
who has multiple scle
rosis, leaned forward
in his wheelchair and
spoke softly about the
deadliest act of terror
ism on U.S. soil.
“It was an act of ter
ror intended to serve
selfish political purposes,” Hartzler said.
“The truck was there to impose the will of
Timothy McVeigh on the rest of America ...
by murdering innocent men, women and
children in hopes of seeing blood flowing in
the streets of America.”
But in equally forceful terms, McVeigh
attorney Stephen Jones declared in his
opening statement: “My client is innocent.”
He accused the government of trying to
elevate McVeigh’s political beliefs — which
Jones said many share — into a motive for
mass murder.
Making no effort to soften the emotion
al power of the bombing, he began by
spending six minutes reading off the names
of each of the 168 people killed when the
truck bomb tore apart the nine-story build
ing April 19,1995.
As Jones solemnly read the names,
bombing victim’s relatives quietly cried in
their special section of the packed second-
floor courtroom.
McVeigh, wear
ing a plaid shirt and
khaki pants, showed
Oklahoma
rnbiiTg”
little emotion in
court. He leaned
forward to listen,
sometimes resting
his head on his fold
ed hands as the
prosecutor por
trayed the 29-year-
old GulfWar veteran
as a selfish, deluded
coward.
Hartzler said that on the day of the
bombing McVeigh was wearing a T-shirt
that bore the Thomas Jefferson quote: “The
tree of liberty must be refreshed from time
to time with the blood of patriots and
tyrants.”
Hartzler contended that McVeigh’s ha
tred of the federal government was fueled
by what he saw as the government slaugh
ter of innocents at the Branch Davidian
compound near Waco, Texas, two years to
the day before the bombing.
“He told people the government deliber
ately murdered people,”
the prosecutor said,
adding that McVeigh de
scribed Waco as the“gov
ernment’s declaration of
war against the people.”
McVeigh was arrested
on traffic charges 90 min
utes after the explosion,
and when federal agents
McVeigh searched his car they
found a slips of state
ments quoting “The Turner Diaries,” a 1978
fictional account of an attack on a federal
building that is eerily similar to the Okla
homa City bombing. Hartzler said the book
“served as a blueprint.”
McVeigh planned the bombing for
months, the prosecutor said, and hoped it
would rival the first shots of the American
Revolution, which also occurred on an April
19 —in 1775.
“He envisioned he would bring liberty to
this nation,” Hartzler said.
“Well, this was not just talk for McVeigh.
He was ready for action. He knew from lit
erature how to make a bomb and how to get
the ingredients.”
In a new revelation, Hartzler said feder
al agents later found a file in his sister’s
computer that “McVeigh obviously wanted
them to read.” It was marked “ATF READ.”
“You’ll see the chilling words, ‘All you
tyrannical m f will swing in the
wind some day for your treasonous actions
against the Constitution. ... Die, you spine
less, cowardous bastards.”