Texas A&M University
m
96
75
98
75
Today
Tomorrow
See extended forecast, Page 2.
olume 103 • Issue 166 • 6 Pages
m
College Station, TX
Thursday, July 17, 1997
Tews
JsfulI
lurall
Briefs
)rmer student will
;rve in Peace Corps
Stephen Williams, a 1997 gradu-
loflexas A&M, will serve in the
ace Corps as a crop production
ecialist in the Domincan Republic.
Williams, who graduated with a
. m ‘ dree in horticulture, will help agri-
f 1160 '; lural extension agencies design
dplan projects. He leaves for
ining July 28.
receives family
ledidne field award
The Texas A&M University Health
ience Center College of Medicine
sawarded the Bronze Achievement
aid for having a higher percentage
graduates enter the family medi-
iefield than other medical schools
state.
The award is given based on a
's highest average of gradu-
isentering the field from 1994 to
S6. The college’s average was
[J percent.
; most
Ire ht
rofessor to study
ejano culture roots
Armando Alonzo, a Texas A&M as-
ciate professor of history, won a
idFoundation Fellowship for his re-
etherpchonthe roots of Tejano culture.
The 20 winners of the annual fel-
learedfship each receive one year of re
arch funding.
Alonzo will travel to towns in the
ioGrande Valley and try to recon-
truct life in colonial times by re
aching historical documents, such
sbirth, marriage, death, land, tax
ndcriminal records.
Mtewds, he will research official
'to/s/records in Mexico City with
teican historians.
M
stros, city, county
ddress stadium cost
HOUSTON (AP) — An agreement
fcsing cost overruns for a new
i50 million downtown Houston
seball stadium still on the draw-
|cov- iboard was announced Wednes-
i|by Mayor Bob Lanier and Harris
Wy Judge Robert Eckels.
|ieve The deal involving the city, coun-
and Houston Astros owner Dray-
|eras aMcLane was signed late Tues-
ijand appears to defuse another
'eat by McLane to entertain offers
lithe National League club, a
that almost certainly would
kethe team away from Houston.
If no ballpark financing plan was in
ice by Tuesday, the Astros legally could
ve left the city although McLane had
r sh( b the deadline could have been ex-
tlii ided if an agreement was close.
A referendum last November pro-
|. 0 nifl e d $180 million in public financ-
gj: T.more than two-thirds of what is
■ieded for the stadium.
LIFESTYLES
OPINION
one: OJ. Simpson makes a
utf omeback to media; has no
lace in American society.
See Page 5.
iquor in Aggieland: A look
jis tthe popularity of distilled
lirits in College Station.
See Page 3.
,0
—
ONLINE
^Up://bat-web.tamu.edu
Isten to
Battalion
|to^ idio
.J foadcast.
New hazing rumors
cannot be checked
MSC Political Forum
By Erica Roy
The Battalion
The Brazos County Attorney said
27 former students named during
University disciplinary hearings can
not be investigated for hazing inci
dents until victims are found.
The two-panel hearing board for
nine former Fish Drill Team advis
ers gave the names to the Universi
ty Police Department and Jim
Kuboviak, the county attorney, af
ter the students were named in
hazing incidents unrelated to the
Drill Team cases.
However, Kuboviak said no specif
ic accusations or information from
victims have been reported.
“Nobody has reported any other
incident of hazing to match up with
the names given to us by the hearing
board,” he said. “Right now, we’ve
been given 27 cases with no crimes or
no leads and no victims.”
Also, some of the possible inci
dents have passed the two-year
statute of limitations to file haz
ing charges.
Kuboviak said Student Conflict
Resolution Services gave the names
to the UPD and his office because
they are obligated to report possible
hazing causes.
Kuboviak said now the situation is
“nothing other than someone point
ing a finger.”
“There’s nothing to investigate,”
he said. “We wouldn’t know where
to start.”
Lobbyist lectures on
ethics, finance reform
By Joey Jeanette Schlueter
The Battalion
Everyone knows money can buy just about any
thing these days — especially government officials,
said Suzy Woodford, executive director and lobby
ist of the non-profit group Common Cause Texas.
Woodford said at a MSC Political Forum lecture
yesterday that campaign financing must be re
formed and conflicts of interest must be eliminat
ed in order for government to work effectively.
“Money buys access to the government these
days,” Woodford said. “There's a need ta reform leg
islative policies so there are no loopholes.”
Woodford, who co-authored a revision of the
Public Information Act in 1995, said government
meetings and documents are possible because of
taxpayers, and people should have access to them.
“We believe the information belongs to the pub
lic,” she said, “and the public should be informed
on what the decision of an issue was based on.”
Campaign finance reform is a focus of Common
Cause Texas. Woodford said lobbying efforts worked to
outlaw labor unions’ and corporations’ contributions
to candidates. Candidates must report expenditures
and may not use campaign money for personal use.
No limit exists on how much individuals can con
tribute or candidates can accept. Woodford said she
hopes that U.S. Congressional hearings on campaign
finance reform that began this week will help solve what
she says is a problem with individual contributions.
“They (individuals) know money buys them ac
cess,” she said. “During [Mark| White’s, [Bill]
Clements’ and [Ann| Richard’s terms as governor,
big donations meant big appointments, including
the University of Texas Board of Regents.”
Please see Lobbyist on Page 2.
Regents to consider
campus construction,
scholarship allocation
The Texas A&M Board of Regents will approve or deny preliminary
plans for a West Campus parking garage next week.
The regents, who meet at West Texas A&M in Canyon next Thurs
day and Friday, will also vote on construction bids for a tennis com
plex that will replace tennis facilities near Kyle Field. Those courts are
being removed to make room for football practice fields as part of the
Kyle Field expansion project.
Terri Parker, director of communications for the A&M System, said
the Board will consider preliminary plans for the parking garage. If the
plans are approved, the regents will decide how much money to grant
for more detailed plans.
Vergel Gay, the project manager for the West Campus parking
garage, said the $26 million garage would have 3,700 parking spaces
and would be located across from the Student Recreation Center.
The Board is also scheduled to ration $2.5 million given to the Sys
tem by the Texas Legislature for need-based scholarships. The mon
ey was a surprise allocation last session, Parker said, and A&M stu
dents should be eligible for $867,298, or about 35 percent of the total.
“It’s a real positive item that provides money that they (the Regents)
weren’t expecting until the Legislature approved it,” Parker said.
The money will be available to undergraduate students and will be
awarded based on financial need. Eligibility requirements will be set
by A&M officials.
Parker said the Legislature may have allocated the money to com
bat expected minority enrollment drops at state universities follow
ing the Hopwood decision. A&M has seen a decline in minority appli
cations for next school year.
“The Legislature was probably looking for some other ways to pro
vide some additional financial assistance to students who needed it,”
Parker said.
John LeBas, Erica Roy and Joey Jeanette Schlueter
contributed to this story.
Playful Pooch
Photograph: Shannon Castle
Ben Callison, a junior architecture major, plays with Kenya, a German
Shepherd puppy, in Research Park Wednesday.
FBI questions Texas man in '63 church bombing
Investigators reopened case last week based on new information received by the Justice Department
ATHENS, Texas (AP) — Bobby Frank Cherry
repudiated his past ties to a violent cell of the Ku
Klux Klan on Wednesday, and continued to deny
his involvement in a 1963 church bombing that
killed four black girls in Birmingham, Ala.
At a news conference called to answer
questions about the Sixteenth Street Baptist
Church bombing, Cherry said he was home
with his cancer-stricken wife the night before
the bombing, along with two other women
who were caring for her.
His attorney, Gil Hargrave, said the
women had provided an affidavit testifying
to Cherry’s presence.
The FBI last week said it has reopened its
investigation, and Cherry, who is 67 and now
lives in a lakeside trailer park in Malakoff,
about 10 miles from the east Texas town of
Athens, said he has been questioned.
^ ^ I have never been through
that church in my life.”
Bobby Frank Cherry
Questioned in FBI investigation
During the morning briefing, Cherry’s
son, Tom, said he was with his father the
morning of the bombing at a shop in Birm
ingham “making Rebel flags, signs, things of
that sort.”
The FBI has repeatedly questioned Cher
ry about the church bombing, but he was
never charged.
Only one man, Robert Chambliss, was
convicted, and the case was closed. But au
thorities always believed more people were
involved. Last week, the FBI announced it re
opened the case based on new information
received by the Justice Department six
months ago. They would not elaborate.
Cherry said that until recently, he’d never
even visited the church where 20 people also
were injured.
A 1965 FBI memorandum indicated the
agency had three eyewitnesses who saw
Chambliss and three other men at the church
around 2 a.m., about eight hours before the
bdmb exploded during Sunday services on
Sept. 15, 1963. Then-FBI Director J. Edgar
Hoover ordered the information withheld
from Alabama prosecutors, claiming the
chance of a conviction was remote.
Cherry and other one-time Klansmen Her
man Frank Cash and Thomas E. Blanton, Jr.
were all questioned about the bombing but
denied involvement.
“I hadn’t ’til today, 34 years later, set foot on
that ground, that sidewalk, been around that
church,” Cherry said. “I have never been
through that church in my life.”
Agents search for Versace’s murderer
Authorities are not sure if prime suspect is still in Florida
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Hun
dreds of FBI agents watched the air
port and handed out photos in gay
bars and hotels Wednesday in a hunt
for the alleged prostitute-turned-seri
al killer suspected of gunning down Gi
anni Versace.
Andrew Phillip Cunanan dumped a
stolen truck in a parking garage, per
haps hopped in a taxi and vanished af
ter the most brazen slaying linked to
him so far: walking up behind the fash
ion designer on the steps of his man
sion Tuesday morning and shooting
him twice in the back of the head.
As many as 400 FBI agents scoured a
250-mile stretch of the Atlantic Coast.
But authorities conceded they couldn’t
be sure if Cunanan was still in Florida.
They offered no motive for the slay
ing and would not say how Cunanan
and the designer came to cross paths.
Cunanan, described by his mother
as a high-priced gay prostitute, has
eluded authorities since May, after po
lice identified him as the suspect in a
three-week killing spree that left four
bodies through Minnesota, Illinois and
New Jersey.
“He’s not your run-of-the mill
spree or serial killer,” said Ft. Dale
Barsness, head of the Minneapolis
police homicide unit. “He’s of above-
average intelligence, speaks at least
four if not more foreign languages
very fluently. He’s very intelligent,
very cunning, a con man.”
Police at the Miami airport shifted
from routine duties to the Cunanan
hunt and were given fliers with his pic
ture. FBI agents roamed beachfront
hotels and gay bars, passing out pho
tos of the darkly handsome 27-year-old
suspect and asking clerks and bar
tenders for their help.
“It’s a very large manhunt, an in
tense manhunt,” said Paul Philip,
agent in charge of the FBI’s Miami of
fice. “Most of the leads we are concen
trating on are Florida leads.”
Hundreds of reporters and curiosi
ty-seekers gathered in front ofVersace’s
Mediterranean-style villa in Miami
Beach’s trendy South Beach section.
The steps where the 50-year-old Ver
sace died were covered with flowers,
candles, cards and a silver cross.
Commander bounced
from Mir repair job
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian space officials declared the
commander of the Mir space station unfit for a grueling re
pair job and said Wednesday that a U.S. astronaut would be
gin training to replace him.
NASA officials said it was premature to say astronaut Michael
Foale would participate in the delicate mission into a sealed-off mod
ule that was punctured last month in a collision with a cargo ship.
“He can do some basic things, but no official simulations or
the actual spacewalk. None of that’s been approved by NASA
yet,” spokeswoman Catherine Watson said from Russia’s Mis
sion Control outside Moscow.
She said a decision likely would be made within a few days.
While Russian officials insisted that Foale would begin train
ing and was “clearly delighted” by the prospect, they also said
they wouldn’t decide until next week whether he would actu
ally participate in the repair mission.
Please see Mir on Page 2.
rHi