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TODAY
TOMORROW
14 th YEAR • ISSUE 96 • 10 PAGES
COLLEGE STATION • TX
MONDAY • FEBRUARY 23 • 1998
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ane Roe’ spoke about her choices in life
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By Amanda Smith
Staff writer
[he woman who fought to legal-
bortion and won in the 1973
me Court decision Roe vs. Wade
a crowded Rudder Theater Fri-
[night why she decided to convert
advocate the pro-life cause.
Jorma McCorvey, “Jane Roe” of
andmark abortion decision, now
IcsforRoe No More Ministries af-
lecoming a Christian and com
ely changing her stance on abor-
several years ago.
ince the Supreme Court ruled
galize abortions, there has been
:h debate between pro-life and
choice voices, as indicated by
oices of protest against the es-
Miment of a Planned Parent-
l abortion clinic in Bryan and
pro-choice advocates who
marched outside Rudder on Friday.
McCorvey said her conversion
began in 1994 when she was working
at an abortion clinic in Dallas and
Operation Rescue, a national pro-life
organization, moved into the same
building as the abortion clinic.
It was there she met the nation
al director of Operation Rescue Rev.
Flip Benham and spokesperson
Ronda Mackey, who spoke on Fri
day night.
“The director (Benham) apolo
gized for accusing me of the death
of 35 million children,” McCorvey
said. “I had been signing books in
Dallas in 1994 when the pastor
and Mackey came in with other
pro-lifers. It is then that it occurred
to me that I might have been re
sponsible for the deaths of 35 mil
lion children."
Mackey, a spokesperson for Roe
No More Ministries, said she had
considered having an abortion in
1986 but decided to have the baby.
“I was 20 years old and living a
carefree life,” Mackey said. “I
agreed with my family and my fi
ance that abortion was the thing to
do, but I couldn’t go through with
the abortion.”
Mackey said she had Emily, who
is now 10 years old. McCorvey said
it was Mackey’s story of her daugh
ter Emily which completed her con
version experience.
“For the first time in over 20
years, I put a face with the name,”
McCorvey said. “I decided that I
didn’t want to work in another abor
tion clinic (again).”
Although most of the crowd sup
ported McCorvey’s statements with
enthusiasm, some Texas A&M stu
dents attended the speech in sup-
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Me
ational Engineers’ Week
tudents aim to dissolve stereotype
By Susan E. Atchison
Staff writer
he Student Engineers’ Council
exasA&M University is hosting
ipus activities for National Engi-
rs’Week, Feb. 22-27, to increase
lie awareness and appreciation
le engineering profession.
eAnne Gaspard, campus chair
ational Engineers’ Week and a
homore chemical engineering
or, said the week’s activities are
igned to break the stereotype
[[engineers are boring.
Engineers’ Week is to educate,
rmand excite people about en-
ering,” Gaspard said,
divides officially began yester-
witli a picnic lunch and social at
thwood Pavilion.
We want to stress that the
its are open to everybody” said
ra Santos, vice president of
pus relations for the Student
jneers’ Council (SEC) and a se-
engineering telecommunica-
ts major. “We want to get non-
[ineers involved so they can
lerstand what it is we do.”
Today's activities, from 10 a.m. to
m. in MSC 226, involve several
[ineering games to show the fun
ects of problem solving and en
tering, including a bridge-build-
contest. Prizes will be awarded
he winner of each game,
on Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
tei#achry Lobby, faculty members
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Icr
from the College of Engineering will
display some of their research in an
open science fair. By showing some
practical applications of engineering,
professors hope to excite engineering
students about what can be done
with their degree.
Dr. Mark Holtzapple, associate
professor of chemical engineering,
“Engineers’ Week is
to educate, inform
and excite people
about engineering.”
LeAnne Gaspard
campus chair. National
Engineers' Week
will share his research on turning
waste biomass into usable materials.
“1 think it’s a great idea to edu
cate the public about what engi
neers are doing,” Holtzapple said.
His research uses materials such
as municipal solid waste, industrial
biosludge, agricultural residue and
manure. When treated biologically,
these materials can be made into
products such as acetic acid, used
J.S. ready to strike if needed
inton briefed on details of agreement signed in Baghdad
|spls!_
WASHINGTON (AP) —The Clin-
M [administration said “we will be
'king for actions, not words” from
qi President Saddam Hussein as
ilomats in Baghdad forged an
eement designed to settle a
ise dispute over arms sites and
fcstall a U.S. military attack. The
tagon started a call-up of Re
es in case they are needed.
"We obviously have serious
estions,” about the Baghdad
eement, said James P. Rubin,
kesperson for Secretary of
te Madeleine Albright. His
tement tempered the optimism
iced by aides to U.N. Secretary-
neral Kofi Annan in Baghdad
T fl io predicted the understanding
tween Annan and Saddam
m iuld satisfy U.S. concerns.
President Clinton spent the after-
I on in the Oval Office where he was
iW* nstantly being briefed on the situ-
c 5 on, said spokesperson Joe Lock-
i H He said lack of secure telephone
$ vice between Washington and
ghdad had kept details of the
idfreement to a minimum.
Albright had “a short phone
jolt iefing” with Annan, and then be-
nher own consultations with the
$ inch and British foreign minis-
f s, Rubin said.
i 15 “She did not receive a compre-
nsive assessment” from Annan,
0d therefore we are not in a posi-
[i 11 m to make a judgment whether
o principles for a peaceful solu-
dhave been achieved,” said Ru-
H, who added, “Whatever hap-
fts, we will be looking for actions,
words,” on whether Iraq meets
e terms set down by the United
a tes for settling the dispute. One
Plan of attack
If diplomacy does not win out in the standoff with Iraq, military action
will be forceful and unrelenting for days, maybe even weeks. A look
at one possible scenario from discussions with defense specialists:
Next targeted will be the
Republican Guard,
especially those troops
closest to Kuwait’s border
Persian Gulf
of those conditions, he stressed,
was unlimited access to sites where
U.N. inspectors are looking for
signs of biological and chemical
weapon production.
Albright called French Foreign
Minister Hubert Vedrine and
British Foreign Secretary Robin
Cook “to consult and compare
notes,” said Rubin.
Annan’s spokesperson in Bagh
dad, Fred Eckhard, said Saddam
had agreed on a plan to open up
presidential sites to inspectors from
the United Nations.
White House press secretary
Mike McCurry would not assess the
preliminary accounts. “We’ve got a
lot of serious questions,” McCurry
said. “It’s a very serious matter at a
serious time, and we want to get
some questions answered.”
port of Planned Parenthood.
Misty Hataway, a pro-choice ad
vocate and a senior political science
major, said police asked the pro-
choice protesters to stop and put
their signs away as McCorvey began
to speak inside.
“We had a right to be here,” Hat
away said. “This is a public school
funded by public funds.”
Hataway said McCorvey advo
cates a movement that aims to un
dermine the progress that has been
made.
“She has devalued (a piece of)
legislation that we have come to
value for so long,” Hataway said.
“Before abortions became legal
ized, not only were children dying
but women were dying (from the
operations) as well.”
Hataway said she advocates the
location of the Planned Parenthood
Good play
abortion clinic in Bryan.
“Planned Parenthood serves as
an educational tool,” Hataway said.
“Women leave this area to go to
Waco, Houston and Dallas to have
an abortion. Geography isn’t a fac
tor when women decide to have an
abortion.”
Juan Rodriguez, a pro-life advo
cate and a junior marketing major,
said the community faces a prob
lem with the location of an abortion
clinic here.
“The possibility of having a clin
ic upsets me,” Rodriguez said. “I am
completely opposed to abortion.”
McCorvey referred to Planned
Parenthood as “Planned Death.”
“I don’t know why any parents
call it Planned Parenthood when
they will give you any mechanism
you want to have an abortion,” Mc
Corvey said.
Hataway said Planned Parent
hood provides an option for women
contemplating abortion. She said
abortions are much safer now than
previously when women and chil
dren died from the operations.
Amy Achgill, a freshman busi
ness major, said people have other
alternatives than abortion.
“It saddens me to think that a
number of lives could be lost when
there are so many alternatives to
abortion,” Achgill said. “There are
always people wanting to adopt
babies.”
McCorvey said Roe No More
Ministries plans to begin a mobile
crisis pregnancy center to counsel
those contemplating abortion and
to continue to advocate the pro-life
cause. She said the crisis center
would travel in Texas and to sur
rounding states.
in vinegar; acetone, used in finger
nail polish remover; isopropyl rub
bing alcohol.
Dr. Nancy Amato, assistant pro
fessor of computer science, will
show videos on robotics research
done at A&M and at other univer
sities.
Dr. Karen Butler, assistant pro
fessor of electrical engineering,
will show her research in power
systems. Her work includes practi
cal applications in failures of
transformers, power distribution
systems and underground cable
systems.
The science fiction film Gattica
will be shown Tuesday at 7 p.m. at
Rudder Theatre.
On Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2
p.m., SEC is hosting a picnic and a
DJ on the Zachry lawn.
On Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 2
p.m. in the MSC Flag Room, com
puter games and technology will be
set up to show the technological
side of engineering.
A pool and 42 tournament at
Yesterday's in College Station will
take place Thursday night. The
tournaments are open to all ma
jors, and sign-up sheets are in
Zachry Lobby and in the SEC office
at 219 Wisenbaker.
On Friday, from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.,
two local bands, COOP and Hay
wood, will be in concert at the Dix
ie Theater. Everyone is invited and
tickets are $5.
JAKE SCHRICKLING/The Battalion
Michael Barber, a senior mechanical engineering major, cheers on the Aggies at Olsen Field Saturday. The
Aggies beat Ole Miss 6-3.
Shooting at Mardi
Gras leaves 1 dead
GALVESTON (AP) — Police ar
rested a 19-year-old man early Sun
day for fatally shooting a Mardi Gras
reveler and injuring four others
shortly after a parade that included
100,000 spectators.
The Houston teen-ager, whose
name was not released, was accused
of firing a semi-automatic handgun
into a crowd of partygoers at about
10 p.m. Saturday.
It was only two hours after a final
Mardi Gras parade snaked through
an estimated 100,000 spectators
along Galveston’s historic Strand
district.
Oscar Manuel Nava, 19, of Hous
ton was killed, said Galveston acting
police chief Kim Schoolcraft.
Two 20-year-old men, a 16-year-
old girl and a 14-year-old boy — all
from Houston—were treated at the
University of Texas Medical Branch
at Galveston. They remained hospi
talized Sunday in conditions rang
ing from fair to good.
Authorities didn’t speculate on a
motive for the shooting, but it was
believed that the victims knew the
suspect. He fled the scene and was
arrested early Sunday morning on
suspicion of capital murder. In
Texas, when a shooting of more than
two people results in a death, a sus
pect can be charged with a capital
crime.
Another shooting erupted min
utes after the first Saturday night.
One man was injured but not seri
ously, said Texas Department of
Public Safety trooper Richard
Vassar.
Although the victim in the sec
ond shooting has declined to press
charges, an investigation will pro
ceed, Vasser said. The incidents
were not believed to be related.
“When you have that many peo
ple in that small of an area with al
cohol and everything that goes in
association with Mardi Gras, it was
one of those things that was going to
happen,” Vasser said of the shoot
ings. “It was just a matter of time.”
It was the first time a shooting re
sulted in a death along Galveston’s
Mardi Gras parade route.
There have been fatal shootings
in years past, but they occurred out
side the main celebration area,
Schoolcraft said.
“In that big of a crowd, shoving
and arguments are bound to break
out,” she said. “There’s no way to
prevent people from carrying guns
into the entertainment district.”
frontiers
Some researchers say
people should not rely on
sunscreen to prevent
melanoma skin cancer.
See Page 2
ggietife
The Rec Center
provides a
variety of
exercise
options.
See Page 3
sports
Aggies win nail-biter 3-2 in
extra innings against Ole
Miss.
See Page 7
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