A & M University
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See extended forecast, Page 2.
ume 103 • Issue 174 • 6 Pages
College Station, TX
Thursday, July 31, 1997
Iniversity charges 16 students with hazing
ging^jearings
Fish
Drill
Team
Graphic: Brad Graeber
By Robert Smith
The Battalion
Sixteen Texas A&M students face hazing charges by the
University that came to light during A&M’s judicial hear
ings for nine former Fish Drill Team advisers, the Univer
sity said Wednesday.
A&M said the charges stem from hazing incidents that
may have occurred while the 16 students were on the Corps
of Cadets’ Fish Drill Team.
The students were mailed letters yesterday informing
them of the charges.
Dr. J. Malon Southerland, vice president of student affairs,
said the University is taking the charges seriously.
“We have always articulated that we have a zero-toler
ance for hazing violations,” Southerland said.
If the students are found guilty by a University judi
cial hearing board, punishment could range from a
warning or letter of reprimand to suspension or expul
sion from the University.
Maj. Gen. M.T. “Ted” Hopgood, commandant of the
Corps, said he was disappointed by the charges.
“It is disheartening any time a student is charged with vi
olating University rules,” Hopgood said.
Southerland said he was “not surprised” that additional
students were charged with hazing.
“In many cases there are only one or two being charged,
but when there are nine there is a lot of potential [for future
charges],” Southerland said.
Of the 16 students facing hazing charges, six plan to be
in the Corps in the fall, and two of those six are enrolled in
summer school. The remaining 10 are enrolled in the Uni
versity but are no longer cadets.
The students enrolled in summer classes will have three
class days to schedule a hearing. The students enrolled in
the fall must schedule a hearing by the end of the first week
of the fall semester. If the students choose not to enroll, they
will be blocked from future registration until they schedule
hearings.
Hearing officers in the cases will be Kim Novak, coordina
tor of Student Judicial Services, and Col. Lee McClesky, chief
of operations and training in the Commandant’s office. They
also served as hearing officers in the nine other cases.
Brazos County Attorney James Kuboviak said the coun
ty is not investigating the charges against the 16 students at
this time.
“At this time, we have received no information, no vic
tims and no reports,” Kuboviak said. “Nobody has told
me anything.”
Brazos County brought criminal charges against the
nine advisers.
ixans
lution
fASHINGTON (AP) — As an
sually unified Congress
hed in bipartisan fashion to-
is passage of sweeping legisla-
committing to a balanced
get by 2002, some Texans in
gress warned Wednesday the
isn’t done.
Ithink, on balancing the budget,
is important to remember an
ge that Abraham Lincoln used to
ond of,” Sen. Phil Gramm, R-
s, said in a floor speech Wednes-
"Abiaham Lincoln once said ‘The
usthewisest of all birds. She nev-
I Jcackles until
I
lei?
eggis laid.’”
Wded
mm: T hope
colleagues
as commit
living up
lisbudget as
are to
Gramm
a Ngit-
linilar cau-
was voiced
louse deficit hawks.
Recommitted balanced-bud-
jlj! supporter, Rep. Charles Sten-
U,D-Stamford, said he would
L|i loff on popping the cham-
ae corks until the budget ac-
; 0 l lyis balanced. That said, he
Dgi ed:“This is a tremendous step
he future of our country.”
e he legislation, laboriously craft-
)y congressional Republicans
the White House, claims to cut
te spending by about $130 bil
over five years, helping achieve
lanced budget for the first time
el969.
ase see Budget on Page 2.
Irnr. K v * I Wwr*.
png and dining: Messi-
..jHof brings something
Jerent to Aggieland.
See Page 3.
OPINION
|er: Recent attempts to
larate crack, cocaine crime
fences proves racial bias.
See Page 5.
(W/bat-web.tamtt.edu
ck out
^ire,
s 24-hour
^6 news
[vice.
Photograph: Shannon Castle
Drew Robbins, a graduate aerospace engineering student, operates the ‘smart cockpit’ flight simulator in the Bright
Building. The simulator is made from a T-37 fuselage.
A&M helps develop
piloting software
By Jenara Kocks
The Battalion
The Texas A&M Departments of Aerospace Engineering and
Electrical Engineering and Knowledge-Based Systems Inc., of
College Station, are making a “smart cockpit” program take off.
The General Aviation Pilot Advisory and Training (GAPATS)
program uses computer hardware and software to tell pilots the
best way to perform flying operations.
Dr. John Painter, professor of electrical engineering and com
puter science, and Dr. Don Ward, associate professor and interim
head of the aerospace engineering department, head the project.
Painter said the GAPATS is composed of a flight mode inter
preter (EMI), a navigation module (NAY), a head-up display
(HUD), a head-down display (HDD) and a pilot advisor (PA).
The EMI identifies how a pilot is trying to fly a plane, using
sensors that keep track of such variables as the plane’s alti
tude and speed.
The PA determines how a pilot should respond to EMI’s find
ings and then displays words such as “advisory” or “warning”
on the HUD, the glass in front of the pilot. These words signal
the pilot to look at the HDD, a computer screen on the control
panel, for further instruction.
Students in aerospace engineering worked on the HUD,
and students in both aerospace and electrical engineering
worked on the HDD.
Please see Simulator on Page 2.
Two bombs kill 14
in Jerusalem market
Militant Islamic group took responsibility for blasts
JERUSALEM (AP) — Carefully syn
chronizing their attacks, two men carried
briefcases packed with explosives and
nails into the heart of Jerusalem’s most
crowded outdoor market Wednesday and
blew themselves up, sending body parts
and blood-soaked vegetables flying.
The double blasts killed 14 people —
including the two bombers—and injured
more than 150, striking at the teetering
Mideast peace process at a time when re
newed progress seemed plausible.
Prime Minister Benjamin Ne
tanyahu’s Cabinet met in emergency ses
sion to suspend peace talks with the
Palestinians—which resumed this week
after a four-month deadlock — until
Arafat acts against the militants “with de
termination,” Israel TV said.
A leaflet claiming to be from the militant
Islamic group Hamas took responsibility for
the blasts, which went off in an alley about
50 yards apart from each other. Mahane
Yehuda, Jerusalem’s main fruit and veg
etable market, was packed with shoppers
when the bombs went off at 1:15 p.m.
“People flew in the air without legs,
without arms, without clothes,” said one
witness, 43-year-old Sarah Yamin.
Soot-covered bodies lay on the
ground, their blood mixing with
smashed watermelons, torn clothes and
shredded newspaper. Green awnings
covering the alley were torn apart and
vegetable stands and clothing displays
overturned; scraps of clothing dangled
from telephone lines.
The attackers — whose overall aim
has been to scuttle the peace process —
achieved a short-term goal: President
Clinton postponed a new peace initiative
by U.S. envoy Dennis Ross, who was to
arrive in the region Thursday. No new
date for the trip was set.
The attacks came just days after Ne
tanyahu appeared on TV to highlight his
success in preventing the deadly suicide
bombings that bedeviled his predeces
sors and led to his election last year.
25 km
Mediterranean
SYRIA
Te
ISRAEL
JORDAN
Dead Sea
AP
Shortly after the bombing, Yasser
Arafat called Netanyahu to express his
condolences, resulting in what Ne
tanyahu spokesman Shai Bazak termed
a “tough conversation.”
Later, at the emergency session of the
Israeli Cabinet, Netanyahu said Pales
tinians’ condolences were not enough:
“What we expect is action.”
One senior Israeli official, speaking on
condition of anonymity, said Israel might
resort to commando strikes or limited
military offensives in Palestinian-con-
trolled areas to try to stop the attacks.
Arafat, speaking in the West Bank city
of Jericho shortly before declaring a state
of emergency, said he “strongly and com
pletely” condemns the violence, which
he said “is not only aimed at Israelis but
at the peace.”
Arafat said he hoped Israel would not
use the attacks as a pretext for further de
lays in peace talks, which collapsed in
March over Israeli building into disput
ed territories and Israeli demands for a
crackdown on Palestinian militants.
Storms cause minor flooding,
power outages in Brazos Valley
Rains expected to continue
through Friday, Saturday
Stephanie Hayes knew if she left her umbrel
la at home yesterday, it would rain.
“It happens every time,” Hayes, a junior jour
nalism major, said, “but this time I’m not mad
about getting drenched in the rain. I actually
played in it for a while.”
The Brazos Valley saw July’s first major rain
yesterday, which prompted the National Weath
er Service to issue a flash flood watch through
last night.
The National Weather Service said rainfall
in the Brazos Valley will continue through
Friday and possibly Saturday. High temper
atures will be in the middle 90s with lows in
the middle 70s.
Thunderstorms brought heavy rain and
wind gusts up to 50 mph, causing minor dam
age and flooding.
Bob Wiatt, director of the University Police De
partment, said some basements on campus flood
ed. He also said a construction sign near die Zachry
Engineering Center fell on a parked vehicle.
The thunderstorms erupted because of a
combination of a slow-moving cold front in the
southeastern United States and an area of low
pressure that developed in the Gulf of Mexico
just south of Louisiana.
The National Weather Service said the low
pressure area may develop into a tropical de
pression by the weekend.
KBTX-TV meteorologist Bob French said the
much-needed rain caused some street flooding
and lightning.
“We are getting some very beneficial rain in
the Brazos Valley,” French said, “but it certainly
calls for careful driving, and those who do not
have to should not be out in it.”
Power outages were reported in the area. Col
lege Station Utilities said College Station experi
enced more than 100 power outages yesterday,
mostly caused by lightning. Some car alarms
were activated by thunder.
Bryan Utilities reported no incidents, but
some lights flickered, and car alarms were acti
vated by thunder. Dan Wilkerson, director of
electrical utilities at Bryan Utilities, said the
biggest problem was keeping employees indoors
and not watching the rain.
Sgt. Mike Dean of the College Station Police
Photograph: Shannon Castle
Karen Netherland, a senior political science
major, ventures out onto the flooded sidewalk
in front of the Chemistry Building Wednesday
afternoon.
Department said electrical disturbances set off
alarms and minor street flooding occurred.
“If the rain continues,” Dean said, “that’s
when we may see some major problems.”
—Joey Jeanette Schlueter, John LeBas and Erica
Roy contributed to this story.