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Texas A&M University
Today Tomorrow
See extended forecast, Page 2.
)lume 103 • Issue 170 • 6 Pages
College Station, TX
:
Thursday, July 24, 1997
FEEX to begin terrorist attack training
'eremony held in conjunction
vith Municipal Fire School
By Robert Smith
The Battalion
Ihe Texas Engineering Extension Service
(TEEX) signed agreements with two corpora
tions at Brayton Fire Field yesterday that will
jveemergency response personnel access to tech-
lology for handling nuclear, chemical and biolog-
cal terrorism.
Betchel Nevada, Science Applications Interna-
ional Corporation (SAIC) and TEEX will worktocre-
ite a training program for emergency response
earns. Firefighters and other emergency responders
rom across the country will use virtual reality sim-
ilators at the fire field to train for the effects of chem-
cal and biological weapons.
The signing ceremony was held in conjunction
JnonCilvith this week’s 68th annual Texas Municipal Fire
^ raining School, conducted at the field’s facilities.
Tom Mack of Betchel Nevada said Texas A&M will
ilay a major role in training with the technology pro-
ided by Betchel.
"Texas A&M has been a leader in firetraining and
t iopefully as technology comes down we will be bet-
erprepared,” Mack said.
Dr. G. Kemble Bennett, director of TEEX, said the
(jAaining program will prepare fire fighters for re-
p f[ iponding to terrorist attacks on the United States.
"The U.S. has been fortunate in that it has not had a
InoinJiuccessful terrorist attack perpetrated against it using bi-
Ir’schoi D ^ ca ' or chemical agents,” Bennett said. 'T lowever, ex-
^ perts agree that it is only a matter of time.”
Bennett said the gassing of a Tokyo subway served
as a "wake-up call” that fire fighters and other re
sponse personnel must be trained in counter-ter
rorist technologies.
"When Tokyo was hit by the sarin gas attack, all
of the emergency personnel who responded —
some 135 individuals — became victims too,” Ben
nett said. “In the future, that might not be the case
if our first responders are not thoroughly trained in
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Photograph: Tim Moog
Robert McDonald of McLean volunteer fire department is lowered on a jib arm from a second story window as
part of a drill at the fire training site following the ceremony.
this area.”
Mack said U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon of Pennsylva
nia will introduce a bill in Congress in August
proposing the Brayton Fire Field and its facilities be
named “The National Training Center for Urban
Search and Rescue.”
Bennett said Weldon has been instrumental in work
ing on forming a counter-terrorism training center.
“With the new threat we have, he (Weldon) has
been adamant that we need to get the technology to
reign our first line of defense,” Bennett said.
Weldon has been head of the National Front Fire
Service for 11 years and formed the Congress Fire
Institute.
Bennett said the training program will help save
future lost lives. v
“The potential for mass casualties, both civilian
and emergency personnel, is great,” Bennett said.
“We must continue to develop counter-terrorism
technologies and train our emergency response
community in these technologies. Many lives could
depend on it.”
Body resembling
Cunanan’s found
in houseboat
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) —A body resembling sus
pected serial killer Andrew Cunanan was found with a
self-inflicted gunshot wound Wednesday night after
SWAT teams stormed a houseboat just 21/2 miles from
the spot where Gianni Versace was gunned down.
“There is a similarity in the description of the
victim that was found,” Miami Beach Police Chief
Richard Barreto said at a hastily called news con
ference. “Beyond that, there is nothing else to indi
cate at this time it is him.”
CNN reported early Thursday that it had confirmed
through two law enforcement sources that the body
was Cunanan’s.
Barreto said S' S wmmmmmmmmmmmammmmmammmi
late Wednesday ^ «
night that offl- 1 tie general
cials were r f • t t •
awaiting foren- reeling IS that tlllS
sic tests to con- - f t
firm the body VCiy Well may DC
was that °f * *
cunanan, Cunanan, but the
whom residents #
had reported official WOrd hasnt
seeing in the
area since Ver- come down yet.
sace was slain J
July 15.
Barreto
came out again
at 1 a.m. Thurs
day to say inves
tigators in the houseboat were still processing the scene
with the body inside.
“The general feeling is that this very well may be
Cunanan, but the official word hasn’t come down yet,”
said Miami Beach Mayor Seymour Gelber.
FBI spokeswoman Coleen Rowley said agents were
still awaiting confirmation but added, “I think every
one is breathing a collective sigh of relief, and I think
probably the public is as well.”
Please see Body on Page 6.
Seymour Gelber
Miami Beach mayor
Police try to arrest robbery suspect
(luring standoff at Kensington Place
Students catch glimpse of med school
1 Reed! 1 '
smayi
By John LeBas
The Battalion
College Station Police were trying last
totn««iight to coax an armed robbery suspect
^ ram a College Station apartment unit in
ifoich they thought he was hiding.
It. Larry Johnson said police believed
\ L _ et! | :remiah Sims, 22, of College Station was
idingin Kensington Place No. 107 last
They were seeking him in con-
ection with an armed robbery Sunday
tViking Apartments in College Station.
Officials at the scene reported that an
fficer had seen Sims in the unit earlier
ist night, but received no response
'hen they knocked at the door.
SWAT officers were dispatched to
tescene and a search warrant for the
'remises was obtained.
Police tried to communicate with
itns through a bullhorn before break-
|>g ndow of the unit and throwing
in a negotiation telephone.
As of about midnight, Sims had not
emerged from the apartment. Police said
that it was a “wait and see” situation.
Sims, who police say lives in the
apartment but is whose name is not on
the lease, was possibly armed. Police
said he lived there with his girlfriend,
and neighbors reported that two women
. and one man lived in the apartment. Po
lice said Sims previously has been ar
rested by CSPD.
Police could not verify whether Sims
or the tenants were Texas A&M students.
Sims’ name is not listed in the Universi
ty directory.
Michael Barksdale, a resident of
Kensington No. 106 and a senior archi
tecture major, said he does not know the
tenants of No. 107 but that they never
bothered him.
“They seem like real nice people,”
he said.
ByJenaraKocks
The Battalion
Eighty-eight high school students from the
United States, Mexico and Canada got a be
hind-the-scenes look at the Texas A&M College
of Medicine yesterday.
The students visited the University as a part
of the National Youth Leadership Forum on
Medicine.
Celia Olson, Houston coordinator of the Na
tional Youth Leadership Forum, said the pro
gram gives high school students a chance to
meet others interested in the medical field.
“Students who have the same desires, same
ambitions and who face the same challenges
are all put together,” Olson said.
Students toured the College of Medicine’s fa
cilities and talked to a medical student panel.
Chris Saenz, student coordinator for the
event and a second-year - medical student, said
the students asked the panel howto prepare for
medical school.
The students also attended a medical ethics
lecture, an anatomy lab presentation and a
physical exam demonstration. Students
learned how to take a person’s blood pressure,
examine ears and eyes and check reflex points
with a reflex hammer.
Juniors and seniors in high school who
have a 3.3 grade point average or higher
and have an interest in medical careers are
selected for the Forum. The students
choose a session in Boston, the Houston-
Galveston area, San Francisco or Washing
ton D.C., and pay a fee to attend.
^ ^ Some of the things
we did were hands on,
and that’s what I like.”
Brad Strom
Foothill High School senior
Brad Strom, a senior at Foothill High School
in Santa Anna, Ca., said he enjoyed the A&M
tom - , but he wishes they could have spent more
time at the College of Medicine.
“They covered topics I’m interested in,”
Strom said. “Some of the things we did were
hands on, and that’s what I like.”
Saenz said the Forum is an opportunity to
recruit top high school students for the A&M
medical school.
Saenz said that during the 11-day Forum,
the students could choose to visit one of the
four medical schools in Texas: the A&M Col
lege of Medicine, the University of Texas at
Houston Medical School, the Baylor College of
Medicine or the University of Texas Medical
School at Galveston.
“My goal was to make students go home
and say they had the time of their lives at
A&M,” Saenz said. “I want them to make
the other students who did not choose to
visit A&M jealous.”
Students write an evaluation of the tour af
ter visiting A&M. Saenz said students who vis
ited A&M in June had great things to say about
their tour of A&M medical facilities.
Shannon Sterner, a senior at Dan River High
School in Ringgold, Va., said she was interest
ed in the A&M biochemistry program.
“I’m thinking about applying [to Texas
A&M] because of the Forum,” she said.
at$)
LIFESTYLES
mp - not ju$t for hippies
lymore? Marijuana plant
akes move to mainstream.
See Page 3.
OPINION
anklin: New hotel-convention
anter should not inflict
'necessary taxes.
See Page 5.
ONLINE
http://bat-web.tamu.edu
sten to
he Battalion
)dio online.
Aggies set sights on lieutenant governor’s seat
Excellence, personal
beliefs guide Perry
By Robert Smith
The Battalion
Agriculture Commissioner and former Texas
A&M student Rick Perry has become a key figure in
Texas government in recent years and says his per
sonal beliefs are a part of his success.
“My philosophy is I believe in empowering individu
als,” Perry said. “I believe in excellence. I believe that it is
very important that people have personal freedoms.”
Perry, a Republican, said an educated mind may
be his most important value.
“I highly admire and respect an educated mind,”
Perry said.
Perry said he knew he wanted to be an Aggie
when he attended his first A&M football game.
“My Scout Master took us to an A&M-Southern
Methodist University football game in the fall of
1958,” Perry said.
“We spent the night that Friday night in the old
Animal Science Pavilion. We went to the ball game,
and the whole Aggie experience — I was sold.”
Having grown up on a ranch, Perry decided he
wanted to be a veterinarian.
Perry came to A&M in the summer of 1968.
“In the fall, I was put in Squadron 6 because I
wanted to be in the Air Force ROTC,” Perry said. “We
had I think 58 freshman in Squadron 6 and one, in
terestingly, by the name of John Sharp.”
Please see Perry on Page 6.
An Aggie will fill Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock's shoes if no other primary oppo
nents announce a bid for the lieutenant governor's seat.
Comptroller John Sharp and Agricultural Commissioner Rick Perry have
said they will pursue the lieutenant governor's seat in 1998.
The lieutenant governor is the presiding officer of the Texas Senate and
is traditionally one of the most powerful positions in state government.
Both Sharp and Perry graduated from Texas A&M, where they first
met 25 years ago.
Perry, a former yell leader and Class of ’72, graduated with
a dc ' ' ' ' '•
bachelor of science and became a pilot in the Air Force.
Sharp, a former student body president and Class of
'72, graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in po
litical science and served as a second lieutenant in the
Army Reserve.
wm
Graphic: Ed Goodwin
Sharp traces success
to time at University
By Joey Jeanette Schlueter
The Battalion
If Texas Comptroller John Sharp is elected to
the lieutenant governor’s seat in the 1998 elec
tion, supporters may hear a “Whoop!” in his ac
ceptance speech.
Sharp, a Democrat, has ties with Texas A&M
dating back to his days in the Corps of Cadets in
the early ‘70s. He served as student body presi
dent his senior year in 1972, and graduated with
a bachelor of arts degree in political science.
Sharp said his experiences at A&M have bene-
fitted his political career and life.
“I look back at any amount of success in my
life,” Sharp said, “and I can find a lesson I learned
from A&M. I owe everything to this school.”
Sharp said leadership is the most valuable skill
he learned at A&M.
“I advise all Aggies to participate in extracurric
ular activities because of the leadership you learn,”
he said.
“I’m a firm believer of putting academics first,
but you should also get that second degree at A&M
- leadership training.”
His campaign against friend and former A&M
student Rick Perry will be eventful, he said, but not
as difficult as his campaign at A&M for student
body president.
Please see Sharp on Page 6.