'W/ 'W Texas A&M University mw&jm ^1 f** \ 0* p i wm H| I ™ 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, 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.