Texas A & M University
““““
1
TODAY
TOMORROW
YEAR • ISSUE 32 • 10 PAGES
COLLEGE STATION • TX
See extended forecast. Page 2.
TUESDAY • OCTOBER 14 • 1997
lice, 3 students
'gal "tig
th abortion!
rocedureasj
lin fetal bra
a tried tote;:,
■’ered, butpl
^ Ti«iurt in fight Sunday
dde the birr Three University Police officers and
i be pulled ree Texas A&M students suffered in
ti personhoies after a fight that occurred early
uld nothadrlay morning involving a fraternity,
> pluck thee University Police Department said,
■hish-kebat: me UPD said the fight occurred at
iproximately 1:30 a.m. at a fraternity
5 of the ban notion sponsored by Kappa Alpha
lionsarevdi in Duncan Dining Hall on campus,
lection tor B° b Wiatt, UPD director, said the
n’s veto. SRMmont is searching for one
sibilitvofa JS P ect who ma Y be c h ar 6 ec l with
) fightforo® ravated assault -
, in Wiatt said the suspect is be-
tved to have been a guest at the
‘ 1 1 . aternity party.
' 1 The suspect fled from the fight
., ter UPD officers attempted to
,u 7 h, ; *ak up the fight.
nepnewsi*/jatt said one student suffered a
unn 0 wnJ| r e cut to the head, and two other
you could udopts suffered minor injuries,
ranceyoir yyiatt said the three police offi-
liepovver: ;rs suffered minor injuries,
heydono! 7|-, e cause of the fight has not
aen determined.
ua Hill is
f >jory of missing
llumnus to air
felhj Texas A&M former student Fred
q uny will be the subject of “The
Dst American,” an episode in
I’dbvls. “Frontline” public affairs se
es, at 8 tonight on KAMU-TV.
rages letters Harrison Ford, the narrator of
owordso';r )e p ro g rami w j|| star in an upcom-
1U ig movie based on Cuny’s work in
serves the arajevo.
,andaccurs: “Frontline” will discuss the life
^nuotette nc * disappearance of Fred Cuny.
uny. Class of ’66, did not gradu-
o - Mail Call tepom A&M.
vtcDoneid He disappeared in 1995 on a
ationjx mission to Chechnya.
■mi Cuny was a member of the
orps of Cadets Company 1-3, along
Corps Commandant Maj. Gen.
lall: 1111
845-2647
nvmitm^jjlj Ted” Hopgood Jr.
Vreaths on sale
benefit charity
lembers of Alpha Chi Omega
[rity will be selling holiday
Iths through Friday in the MSC
allway to benefit Hospice of Bra-
psh/alley, a nonprofit organization
roviding care for the terminally ill
nd their families.
The price of the wreaths is $22
nd mailing boxes can be pur-
ha^ed for $3.50. Alpha Chi Omega
lembers will deliver them the first
rak in December.
1
tate awaits court
icision on health
lUBBOCK (AP) — A 23-year era
fjudicial involvement in the state
(lental health system could end
uepday if a Dallas federal judge
grfces with the assessment of his
_JUrt monitor.
! Austin-based monitor David
haris last month approved the
.are standards at Wichita Falls
Rate Hospital, the last institution
)fulfill the requirements listed in a
ettlement of RAJ vs. Gilbert.
See Page 3
sports
\m
[mer Aggie golfer Jeff
(ggert represents Texas
iM around the world.
See Page 7
opinion
ffines: Societal view of
^weight individuals can
re horrific outcomes.
See Page 9
tip://b at-web .tamu.e d u
ok up with state and
ional news through The
Jre, AP’s 24-hour online
»ews service.
Author: Science disproves evolution
By Robert Smith
Senior staff writer
Michael J. Behe, author of “Darwin’s Black
Box,” said Monday night that Charles Dar
win’s theory of evolution is unsupported and
human organisms could not have been
evolved from lower life forms.
“Darwin’s theory is stuck in the world of
imagination,” he said.
Behe’s presentation at Rudder Auditori
um last night was part of the Veritas Forum
at A&M.
Behe said Darwin’s theory that all or
ganisms are formed through gradual mod
ification does not hold up under scientific
observation.
Behe cited the human eye, cilia and bac
teria as examples of biological mecha
nisms that cannot develop from gradual
modification, calling them “irreducible
complex systems.”
“Darwin could not explain where the light
sensitive spot on the human eye came from,”
he said.
Behe has written over 40 research articles
and has been awarded more than $430,000 in
research grant support.
Behe discredited evolution illustrations
that have appeared in college textbooks.
He said a recent article in Science magazine
textbook illustrations showing similarities be
tween the fetal development of a fish and a hu
man being are “fudged.”
“These illustrations are great support of
Darwin’s theories but they are a fake,” he said.
Behe said the artist omitted and added
features of the fish embryo and changed the
scales on the fish embryo.
Behe said the Journal of Molecular Evolu
tion proves that Darwin’s theory of evolution
is losing support.
The journal has published more than
1,000 articles in the past 10 years, Behe
said, but none of them have proved Dar
win’s theories.
Behe said scientists often subscribe to
Darwin’s theories because they are taught to
do so.
“Many scientists believe it is bad science
to believe that something outside of nature
can affect biology.”
Working with stress
DEREK DEMERE/The Battalion
Doug Parker, a structural engineering graduate student, works on installing a steel
beam at the structural engineering lab Monday. The beams were put in place to test
the effects of earthquake magnitude stress on high-rise buildings.
Representative announces
approval of telehealth funds
WUKM
paving Lives: Paramedics at
exas A&M juggle hectic
Schedules to get the job done.
By Jenara Kocks
Staff writer
U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady from the 8th con
gressional district announced Monday
funding for telemedicine is provided by a
provision of the balanced budget agree
ment passed earlier this year by Congress.
Telemedicine uses video links to allow
physicians in rural clinics to consult with
specialists in major medical centers.
Texas A&M medical professors and a
physician from Driscoll Children’s Hospi
tal demonstrated the telemedicine tech
nology after a news conference.
Brady said beginning in 1999, the bill
will provide for $100 million to $200 mil
lion for telemedicine services.
However, he said the bill will not pay
the expenses for the telecommunication
line between two sites.
“What’s important about the balance
budget bill is it signals that Congress is fi
nally serious about exploring telehealth
and telemedicine as a way to bring qual
ity health care affordably to rural Ameri
cans,” he said.
Brady said A&M is a good place for re
search on telemedicine because of the
University’s experience in technology and
research.
“The University also brings a measure
of Aggie common sense to find these
technologies to help everyday Ameri
cans,” he said.
During the demonstration, Dr. Robert
M. Wiprud, Jr., associate professor of fami
ly medicine and Scott & White staff physi
cian, talked to Dr. Lisa Ehl, assistant pro
fessor of pediatrics and Scott & White
Memorial Hospital staff physician, via tele
vision screens and audio equipment.
Ehl told Wiprud what type of medicine
to give a nine-year-old girl who has re
current ear infections.
Wiprud used a camera attached to an
otoscope, an instrument used to examine
the inside of an ear, to send pictures of the
girl’s ear through the television to Ehl. He
used another small camera to send pictures
of the inside of the girl’s throat.
Wiprud also consulted John Pastorek,
pediatric cardiologist for Driscoll Chil
dren’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas,
about the girl’s heart murmur. Wiprud
sent an echocardiogram, an ultrasound of
the girl’s heart, to Pastrorek.
Alan W. Wassel, director of sales and
marketing at Andries Tek of Austin, assist
ed Wiprud with the technical equipment.
His company makes cameras, such as the
ones used to photograph the girl’s ear and
throat, that allow physicians to zoom in
and freeze images of patients on a screen.
Wassel said a one-chip CCD camera
can be attached to many of the physi
cians’ instruments.
“Our company takes the conventional
instruments that physicians are used to
using and allows them to practice the
same way they always have,” he said. “But
it also allows physicians to send an image,
once it is turned into an electronic image,
anywhere in the world.”
Please see Funds on Page 5.
Senate hears report on
Hopwood, other issues
By Amanda Smith
Staff writer
The Faculty Senate heard
from Texas A&M President Dr.
Ray M. Bowen Monday about
the contingency fund and the
Hopwood decision, two major
issues facing the Senate dux ing
this session.
Bowen said the political en
vironment surrounding Hop-
wood should be a concern of
Texas A&M. He said a Hopwood
conference in the spring will
discuss solutions for recruiting
a diversity of students.
“We would like the scholarly
faculty of Texas A&M to be
sources of advice,” he said.
“Hopefully, Texas A&M can
have an impact on policies
made by the legislature regard
ing admissions.”
Diane Kaplan, a College of
► Jail & Bail
Education senator and visiting
assistant professor, said she
wants Texas A&M to extend its
recruiting methods to areas be
yond college nights sponsored
by high schools. She said that
this might have a greater im
pact on the diversity of the stu
dent body.
“There may be some other
ways to attract students that
had not considered Texas
A&M University initially,” Ka
plan said.
She said A&M could have
more recmiting centers in differ
ent cities and regions in Texas to
provide information to high-
school students.
Also, Bowen said more than
50 proposals were submitted as
suggestions for the $3.5 million
contingency fund.
“We asked for proposals
that could be accomplished
on a one-time basis for a pro
ject with l<3ng-term benefits,”
he said.
Dr. Ronald Douglas, the ex
ecutive vice president of the
Faculty Senate, executive vice
president and provost, said a
council has identified 20 of the
most interesting proposals.
“We then selected about six
to seven broad themes,” he
said. “I appointed a lead dean
for each of the themes. Each
group is working to develop
the programs.”
Douglas said that some of
the themes focus on areas in
cluding campus technology, bi
ological life sciences and the
liberal arts programs.
Possible allocations for the
contingency fund may be
based on the programs de
signed around the selected
themes.
March of Dimes kicks
off annual fund raiser
By Joey Jeanette Schlueter
Staff writer
The March of Dimes will begin its annual Jail &
Bail fund raiser today at Post Oak Mall from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. to help raise $40,000 to assist in improv
ing the health of babies in the Brazos Valley.
The event will be in the mall in front of The
Gap and American Eagle. The fundraiser will run
through Oct. 16.
Sharon Spies Perdue, Jail & Bail event coordi
nator for the March of Dimes, said the event will
simulate an arrest and jailing of well-known per
sonalities and citizens of the Brazos Valley.
“People will be issued a mock arrest warrant,”
Perdue said, “and they will be responsible for
making bail. They will get to make phone calls.”
“Keystone Cops” will arrest the jailbirds at
their home or workplace and take them to jail.
The jail will be built with six-packs of Seven-Up.
Jailbirds, dressed in jail attire, will be offered
complimentary food, beverages and a photo
graph of themselves behind bars.
The jailbirds must phone friends, co-workers
or family to bail them out and contribute to
March of Dimes.
Perdue said the March of Dimes has enough
volunteers to arrest 10 people per day. Volun
teers include Brazos County Sheriff Chris Kirk;
Maj. David Sahm, tactical training officer for the
Texas A&M Corps of Cadets; DJs from KKYS Mix
104.7 and KTEX 106.1 and many restaurant
owners and managers.
Sahm will call cadets to raise his bail.
Pledge bail will be an average of about $300 to
get out of jail.
Please see Jail on Page 5.
Dog’s Best Friend
Cadet takes pride in daily duties
By Rachel Dawley
Staff writer
S ince 1960, a sophomore in the Corps of Cadets Com
pany E-2, who is known as the mascot corporal, has
been responsible for the care and protection of the
Texas A&M mascot, Reveille.
He is seen standing by her side at Aggie football games
and yell practices. She attends classes and other University
functions with him as well as staying with his family when
class is not in session.
Although Reveille spends most of her time with the mas
cot corporal, Jeff Bailey, this year’s mascot corporal and a
sophomore agricultural systems management major, said
he wants students to know that she also is their mascot.
“She wears the A&M blanket and represents our school,”
he said. “She is special in the heart of all Aggies because she
represents the spirit, traditions and pride that all Aggies brag
about.”
The legend of Reveille says that the original Reveille was
a stray dog brought to campus after being hit by a car full of
Aggies returning home from a football game in 1931.
She earned her name the next morning when she
howled through the morning “Reveille.”
Bailey was named as mascot corporal on Parent’s Week
end last year. Reveille spent the summer in San Antonio at
Bailey’s family home. The American collie traveled more Robert mckay/the battalion
than 13 000 miles to make appearances throughout the Mascot ora| Jeff B escorts
state at Aggie Moms Clubs meenngs and other functions. Revei||e on Ky|e Re|d a , , he A&M . lowa
Please SEE Mascot on Page 5. State football game Saturday.