Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 1997)
News Wednesday • August 6, t Report proposes abolishing INS Lawmakers to consider recommendation for structural changes WASHINGTON (AP) — Frustrat ed by persistent troubles within the nation’s immigration service, key members of Congress are eyeing with interest a recommendation to abol ish the agency and split its functions among other departments. The U.S. Commission on Immi gration Reform, in a report due Sept. 30, will recommend terminat ing the Immigration and Natural ization Service, saying it suffers from “mission overload.” The commission, in a draft re port obtained by The New York Times, proposes allowing the INS’ parent, the Justice Department, to retain responsibility for controlling the border and removing undocu mented immigrants. The State Department would take over the citizenship process and other immigration benefits, and the Labor Department would regulate foreign workers. While proposals to split the INS into separate enforcement and ser vice agencies have swirled for decades, the commission’s recom mendation is being carefully eyed on Capitol Hill by both allies and critics of the agency. “The INS carries out two con flicting functions: Preventing bad immigration and expediting good immigration,” Sen. Spencer Abra ham, R-Mich., said Tuesday. “It’s my view that there is a serious question whether we should have a single agency charged with catching crim inals, keeping out illegals while at the same time letting in relatives, skilled workers, true refugees,” Abraham, who chairs the Senate immigration subcommittee, promised a “thorough review” by his panel of the commission’s rec ommendations. A spokesperson for Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the immigration pan el, said her boss also wants to study the proposal. “Sen. Kennedy recognizes that there are problems to be fixed at INS,” said spokeswoman Kathy McK- iernan. “But he also acknowledges the strides the agency has made.” In the House, where INS criti cism has been more strident, ap- propriators included language in a 1998 spending bill that calls on the Clinton administration to transfer some immigration functions to oth er agencies. The committee, which helped double the INS budget over four years, said it “will no longer look favorably on requests that sim ply add resources to the current overloaded system.” “Major structural change is needed in the management of the immigration system,” the appropri- ators said, calling for a restructuring plan by 1999. jigr ' jgr Replacement crew blasts off for Mir BAIKONUR, Kazakstan (AP) — A two-man Russian crew blasted off for the Mir on Tuesday, the fu ture of the aging station — and perhaps Russia’s manned space program — riding on the outcome of their in-orbit repairs. But Tuesday’s smooth, spectac ular launch was upstaged by an other breakdown — this time of the Mir’s oxygen generators. Even as the giant Soyuz booster rocket streaked skyward from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, turning the twilit sky over Central Asia bright orange, the current Mir crew was using oxygen canisters for a second straight day as they worked to fix the breakdown. Russian and U.S. of ficials played down the seriousness of the latest trouble, which they said has been an off-and-on problem for the past week. “Nothing terrible has happened at our station,” Russian Mission Control chief Vladimir Solovyov said at the space monitoring cen ter outside Moscow. “The crew is not suffocating, and the oxygen level is normal.” But the trouble drew unwanted attention to the Mir’s constant need for repairs and underscored the difficulties the new crew faces in trying to fix them. Since June 25, when a cargo supply ship bashed at least one hole in the Mir during docking practice, the station has been op erating at about half-power. If the newly launched cosmo nauts can’t manage tough re pairs to reconnect cables, the Russians may have to abandon Mir — the last jewel in their once-mighty space program and a valuable learning tool for guest astronauts from the United States and elsewhere. ij Photograph-. Derek Dtffl Jerry Webb, a TCA cable construction worker, hooks up fiber optic cables in fail v_clDI6 vJ UV of Corps dorms Tuesday. The cables will improve modem operations on camfS Teen’s shopping scam ends with court date HOUSTON (AP) —An illegal shopping spree is over for a 17-year-old high-school graduate who wrote worthless checks to net himself a Corvette, a BMW and a three-month stay in Ireland, authorities say. Brandon Sample was in jail on theft charges Tues day after an indictment was returned last week, says prosecutor John Boone. The 1997 Memorial High School graduate’s scheme seemed to work at first, but like most check kiting schemes, the shortsightedness of the plan eventually led to his getting caught, Boone said. According to Boone, Sample celebrated his 17th birthday last October by opening four accounts at two banks. He then wrote checks from one account to another to cover expenses, Boone said. Apparently, Sample used the lag time between the time he wrote the check and the time it clear the bank to spend lavishly. In the first month, Sample cashed $12,000 be fore the banks caught on and closed the accounts, Boone said. Last Dec. 4, Sample went to a Chevrolet dealer with his father and bought a $40,000 Corvette. He told his father he had money from stock investments. n* * ): • * ri 'l > ' Pitt’s lawyer discounts news value of nude pics LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nudes of Brad Pitt are not news, his lawyer says. John Lavely, the actor’s attorney, made that argument in court Tuesday in the actor’s push to ban the sale of a Playgirl magazine that carries two- year-old nude photos of him with then-girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow. “There is no newsworthiness to these photos,” Lavely said. “It was simply an attempt to use them to sell magazines.” Superior Court Judge Robert O’Brien left his temporary restraining order in effect until he can study pa pers filed by lawyers for Pitt and the magazine and decide whether to make the order permanent. Pitt, who is shooting a movie in New York, was not in court for the brief hearing, but Lavely said his client is committed to going forward with a trial. “He’s just trying to stand up for his right of privacy and to prevent the commercial use of his image and like ness,” he said. Pitt Weather Outlook FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY Thunderstorms High: 92° Low: 73° Partly Cloudy High: 95° Low: 75° Partly Cloudy High: 94° Low: 75° h By Quatr C 4 improvisationcd comedy Last show of the summer We put the “fun” in sum-fun-mer! Friday, July 25 10 p.m. Dixie Theatre (doors open at 8) Tickets are $6 available in advance at Rother’s Bookstores and Marooned Records. http://http.tamu.edu:8000/~fslip AGGIE RING ORDERS THE ASSOCIATION OF FORMER STUDENTS CLAYTON W. WILLIAMS, JR. ALUMNI CENTER DEADLINE: August 7, 1997 Undergraduate Student Requirements: 1. You must be a degree seeking student and have a total of 95 credit hours reflected on the Texas A&M University Student Information Management System. (A passed course, which is repeated and passed, cannot count as additional credit hours.) 2. 2Q credit hours must have been completed in residence at Texas A&M University, providing that prior to January 1,1994, you were registered at Texas A&M University and successfully com pleted a fall/spring semester or summer term (I and 11 or 10 weeks) as a full-time student in good standing (as defined in the University catalog). 60 credit hours must have been completed in residence at Texas A&M University if your first semester at Texas A&M University was January 1994 or thereafter, or if you do not qualify under the successful semester requirement. Should your degree be conferred with less than 60 res ident credits, this requirement will be waived after your degree is posted on the Student Information Management System. 3. You must have a ZQ cumulative GPR at Texas A&M University. 4. You must be in good standing with the University, including no registration or transcript blocks for past due fees, loans, parking tickets, returned checks, etc. Graduate Student Requirements If you are a August 1997 degree candidate and you do not have an Aggie ring from a prior degree, you may place an order after you meet the following requirements: 1. Your degree is conferred and posted on the Texas A&M University Student Information Management System; and 2. You are in good standing with the University, including no registration or transcript blocks for past due fees, loans, parking tickets, returned checks, etc. If you have completed all of your degree requirements and can obtain a “Letter of Completion’’ from the Office of Graduate Studies, the original letter of completion, with the seal, may be presented to the Ring Office in lieu of your degree being posted. Procedure To Order A Ring: 1. If you meet all of the above requirements, you must visit the Ring Office no later than Thursday, August 7, 1997 to complete the application for eligibility verification. 2. If your application is approved and you wish to receive your ring on October 2, 1997, you must return and pay in full by cash, check, money order, or your personal Visa or Mastercard (with your name imprinted) no later than Friday, August 8, 1997. 14K-$409.00 14K - $200.00 Add $8.00 for Class of ‘96 or before. The ring delivery date is October 2, 1997. Stew Milne Helen Clancy, Managing Editor John LeBas, City Editor April Towery, Lifestyles Editor Kristina Buffin, Sports Editor James Francis, Opinion Editor Staff , Editor in Chief Jody Holley, Night News Edit Tim Moog, Photo Editor Brad Graeber, Graphics Edit! Joey Schlueter, Radio Editor David Friesenhahn, Web Editc Members City- Assistant Editors: Erica Roy & Matt Weber; Reporters: Michelle Newman, Joey Schlueter & Jenara Kocks; Copy Editor: Jennifer Jones Lifestyles- Rhonda Reinhart, Keith McPhail, Jenny Vrnak & Wesley Brown Sports- Matt Mitchell, Jeremy Furtick & Travis Dabney Opinion- John Lemons, Stephen Llano, Robby Ray, Mandy Cater, Leonard Callaway, Chris Brooks, Dan Cone, Jack Harvey & General Franklin Night News- Assistant Editor: Joshua Millet Photo- Derek Demere, Robert McKay, R( Angkriwan & Pat James Graphics- Quatro Oakley, Chad Mallam Ed Goodwin Radio- Will Hodges, Missy Kemp, Amy Montgon*' Michelle Snyder & Karina Trevino Web- Craig Pauli Office Staff- Stacy Labay, Christy Clowdusi Mandy Cater News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in the Division of 8# Publications, a unit of the Department of Journalism. News offices are in 013 Reed McDonald Building. Ne# f phone: 845-3313; Fax: 845-2647; E-mail: Batt@tamvml.tamu.edu; Website: http://bat-web.tamu.edu Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion. Fm pus, local, and national display advertising, call 845-2696, For classified advertising, call 845-0569.Ad# offices are in 015 Reed McDonald, and office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Fax: 845-2: Subscriptions: A part of the Student Services Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up a single® The Battalion. Mail subscriptions are $20 per semester, $40 per school year and $50 per full year.To cW Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express, call 845-2611. The Battalion (ISSN #1055-4726) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall spring semester Monday through Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods) d^ v A&M University. Second class postage paid at College Station,TX 77840. Postmaster: Send addressed The Battalion, 015 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-1111-