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Today Tomorrow
See extended forecast, Page 2.
lume 103 • Issue 160 • 6 Pages
College Station, TX
Tuesday, july 8, 1997
Iews
Briefs
epartment head
Mceives award
Hit
Utj lobert B. Armstrong, head of the
artmentof Health and Kinesiology
holder of the Omar Smith Endowed
ir,is one of six scholars nationwide
eceivethe Citation Award from the
net srican College of Sports Medicine,
will irmstrong was given the award for
hhe tesearch on the adaptation of skele-
rniscle to exercise and the mecha-
iisofexercise-induced muscle injury.
the
the
ichor to speak on
I swsroom activities
and
I
[aura Cornett, a KBTX-TV news an
thill give the presentation "A Day in
Newsroom with Laura Cornett” at
atodayin Rm. 707 Rudder Tower.
IheTexas A&M Association of Pro-
iional Support Staff is sponsoring
presentation, which is about an av-
{eday in the KBTX newsroom.
surfacing work
istart on Hwy 21
More than seven miles of pave-
n\onTexas Hwy 21 in Bryan will
tesurfaced beginning July 9.
Ahotmix overlay will be applied on
surface, road edges will be repaired
IpscNement markings will be placed
to sections of the road.
section extends from Texas
|47 to FM 158, and the other sec-
«starts at Texas Avenue and ends
eemiles east at Wallis Road.
ty begins repair
orkon fire station
Repair work on the the new Col
ie Station fire station at 304 Holle-
m Drive began Monday.
Ttorepairs on the drainage prob-
. Ito and cracking in the concrete on
r'pfmtandback drive surfaces will
Icompfefed in 30-40 days.
[fte department is at 1207 Texas
I move to the new location
ffdolleman when the repairs are
xans to receive
deral flood relief
(AP) — Nine Central
hscounties hit hard by recent
were designated to re-
»e federal aid Monday after
xident Clinton issued a major
aster declaration,
fexas Gov. George W. Bush had
fed for federal relief for 12 coun-
sinthe wake of flooding that be-
Uune 21. James Witt, director of
Federal Emergency Management
toy, said more counties may be
signaled later based on results of
loing damage assessments.
Counties designated by Witt for
aid Monday are Bandera,
<ar, Burnet, Guadalupe, Kendall,
ho, Medina, Real and Uvalde.
$h also sought aid for Kimble,
hsand Mason counties.
I
I feral
LIFESTYLES
in’ it up in Luckenbach:
Merits party Willie-style
Fourth of July picnic.
See Page 3.
OPINION
fok for other columns on
e Roswell incident and
'estigation.
See Page 5.
ONLINE
FW/bat-web.tamu.edu
tok for other /wSSisiiife
wood
P r >es from
r Battalion.
Theft rate on campus declines
By Robert Smith
The Battalion
The number of reported thefts at Texas A&M is
the lowest it has been in the last four years.
Theft is now the second most common crime
committed at A&M, with liquor violations being the
most reported.
The University Police Department said misde
meanor thefts decreased from 537 in 1995 to 446 in
1996. Felony thefts decreased from 17 to 15 during
the same period.
Reported vehicle burglaries also decreased, go
ing from 131 in 1995 to 48 in 1996. Vehicle burglar
ies had steadily increased from 1992 to 1995.
Elmer Schneider, associate director of UPD,
said a Texas law change triggered the increase in
vehicle burglaries.
“A couple of years ago, the state changed the
punishment (vehicle burglary) from a felony to a
Class A misdemeanor,” Schneider said.
A Class A misdemeanor in Texas is punishable
by a fine of up to $4,000, a jail sentence of up to one
year or both.
Lt. Bert Kretzschmar, supervisor of lire Crime Preven
tion Unit at UPD, said most thefts are “opportunity thefts.”
“Leaving stuff lying around, not locking doors,
not rolling up windows are all examples of oppor
tunity theft,” Kretzschmar said.
Kretzschmar said students often leave their back
packs unattended, which gives others a chance for theft.
“The average backpack is worth about $300,”
Kretzschmar said. “Students carry books, calcula
tors and research in their backpacks, and they may
not realize how valuable that stuff is.”
Kretzschmar said students should personalize
their valuables so they can be identified if stolen.
“With things like stereos and computers, you
should write down the serial number,” Kret
zschmar said. “With expensive books, go though
and write your name inside on some of the pages.”
Kretzschmar said photos are also used to iden
tify stolen objects.
“Obviously, you can’t write your name on jewel
ry,” Kretzschmar said, “but if you take a picture of
something it really helps detectives identify it. En
graving a distinctive mark is also a good way to
identify something.”
Please see Theft on Page 6.
Crime at A&M
September - August
it)]
1993 1994 1995 1996
9 10 21 21
86 76 81 57
Harassment
Vehicle Burglary 48 79 131 48
Misc. Theft 513 554 573 446
Theft 14,^27^.^ ^ 15
Liquor Violations 445 642 452 589
Source: UPD
Graphic: Tim Moog
m
;?****'•
Americans seek answers in observance of
historic 50th anniversary
%
T he time is midnight.There is a
cool breeze blowing through the
trees and the soft sounds of na
ture can be heard echoing in the night
time silence. Two ordinary people lay
under the stars watching the moon’s
chalky glow illuminate the sky.
Suddenly, a shadow stretches its
dark hand across the pinpoints of light
and turns star constellations into a
blanket of black haze. The unsuspect
ing individuals, whose eyes are now
fixed to the heavens in wonder, blink
to make certain they cue not imagining
this amazing spectacle. But when they
open their eyes, the unidentifiable ob
ject has disappeared. These people
must now question their sanity, but
they are not alone.
America’s fascination with the
Opinion editor
James Francis
Junior English major
1947“occur
rence” in
Roswell, New
Mexico, has
reached great
heights in its
50th anniversary
celebrated on
this historic day.
Exactly 50 years
ago today, the
supposed UFO
crash in Roswell was denied by area
officials investigating the incident.
With this half-century, high-profile
case coming to pass, the citizens of
Roswell and people of the United
States must be informed on what re
ally happened those five decades ago.
Please see Roswell on Page 5.
Graphic: Stew Milne and Brad Graeber
Judges have unlawfully terminated
probation for DWI offenders
HOUSTON (AP) — Texas judges
have given hundreds of drunken dri
vers early breaks from probation de
spite a state law that forbids the
practice, the Houston Chronicle re
ported Monday.
A legal revision in 1993 was intend
ed to prohibit judges from terminating
probation on driving-while-intoxicat
ed cases, according to lawmakers and
prosecutors.
But Williamson County First Assis
tant District Attorney John Bradley,
who lectures probation officers
throughout Texas about changes in
state law, said that judges statewide
continue to give early breaks.
“Sometimes the early terminations of
DWIs are given because the judges are
unaware of changes in the law,” Bradley
said. “Other times, the probation officers
say, the judges do it despite the law.”
State District Judge George Godwin,
administrative judge for state criminal
courts in Harris County, said judges
should “follow the law whether we like
it or not.”
But he added: “A lot of our judges
would like to have early termination to
use as a carrot” with DWI offenders.
Sometimes the
early terminations of
DWIs are given because
the judges are unaware
of changes in the law.”
John Bradley
First Assistant District Attorney
Williamson County
Probation records examined by the
Chronicle show that Harris County
felony courts alone granted early ter
mination to nearly 50 defendants con
victed of felony DWI after the effective
date of the law.
Drunken drivers can be charged
with a felony for a third intoxication-
related offense.
Some DWI defendants served two
years or less on three- to five-year proba
tion sentences, according to the records
from the Harris County Community Su
pervision and Corrections Department.
In misdemeanor courts, hundreds of
DWI defendants got early termination,
some serving only months of one- to
two-year probation sentences, the
records show.
“It’s pretty specific that termination of
community supervision is not to occur for
DWIs, and yet it appears in every court we
have looked at,” said Harris County First
Assistant District Attorney Don Stricklin.
Prosecutors plan to study the early
termination cases and possibly file
motions to require defendants to serve
the remainder of their probation,
Stricklin said.
Judges said some early terminations
were prompted by a defendant’s death,
disability, deportation or imprisonment
on other charges.
University sanctions
for drunken drivers
stand until completed
By Jenara Kocks
The Battalion
Students arrested for driving while intoxicated
on campus can face disciplinary sanctions for
breaking Texas A&M University rules in addition to
penalties for misdemeanor or felony charges by
the state.
Although at the state level, according to Monday’s
Houston Chronicle story, some Texas judges have
been terminating the probation of offenders early,
A&M students are not released early from such Uni
versity disciplinary sanctions as expulsion, conduct
probation and educational requirements put on them
by the University.
Ann Goodman, assistant director in the Depart
ment of Student Life at A&M, said the University’s sys
tem does not parallel the Texas court system. She said
that once a student is given a sanction, the punish
ment must be completed.
Please see Sanctions on Page 6.
Minority enrollment at UT law school decreases in wake of Hopwood decision
DALLAS (AP) — Ron Kirk has no problem
looking past race. As Dallas’ first black mayor, he
routinely notes that he represents all ethnic
groups in city affairs.
Race, however, has become a big deal for Kirk
and others who are finding it difficult to accept
a court ruling that apparently will leave the Uni
versity of Texas law school with its smallest mi
nority enrollment since the 1970s.
“I find it incomprehensible that in less than 40
years, we would go from the state of Texas saying
that you cannot come to our law school for the
sole reason of the color of your skin... from that
type of sanctioned discrimination to saying we
won’t even take into account race to address that
evil and legally sanctioned practice of apartheid
and segregation in the South,” said Kirk, who at
tended the Texas law school from 1976 to 1979.
The slap that shook Kirk was delivered by
a federal appeals court ruling that abolished
the use of race as a factor in deciding who
should get into school.
In the case named after lead plaintiff
Cheryl Hopwood, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals struck down the University of
Texas School of Law’s admissions policy,
which was meant to boost enrollment of
blacks and Mexican-Americans.
The appeals court said the policy discrimi
nated against whites, and the U.S. Supreme
Court allowed the ruling.
Texas Attorney General Dan Morales issued
an opinion after the ruling stating that no Texas
college or university can use race in admissions
and financial aid decisions unless the Legisla
ture determines that there are remaining effects
of past discrimination.
In the first year since the Hopwood deci
sion, state schools, particularly professional
schools, have seen a decline in minority ap
plicants and acceptances.
At first, it looked like Malcolm Lavergne of
Houston would be the only black student en
rolling in law school at Texas this fall.
Lavergne changed his mind in May when he
learned no other blacks had been accepted,
and decided to attend Cornell University
Law School.
Since then, three blacks and 20 Hispanics
have put down deposits at UT law, consistently
ranked as one of the top schools in the nation.
Traditionally, however, about 30 to 40
blacks and 50 to 65 Hispanics have been in
the class of about 500 new students at the
school each fall.
In contrast is the picture at the University of
Houston law school, where the admissions
committee went through a painstaking new
process to pick its fall class.
The school, which once accepted most
students based largely on an index score
combining their grade point averages and
scores on the Law School Admission Test,
overhauled the system to consider factors
such as hardships potential students had to
overcome and leadership qualities.
As in some state graduate programs, the un
dergraduate student body entering state schools
this fall will be made up of fewer blacks and His
panics than usual.
At Texas A&M, 745 blacks were offered ad
mission, down from 793 in the fall of 1996, a 6
percent decline. The school accepted 1,846 His
panics, down from 2,215 in 1996, a 17 percent
falloff. Meanwhile, 11,231 whites were admitted,
down from 12,776 — a 12 percent decline.