Tomorrow Weather Today ■ Tomorrow M HIGH LOW ■ iti c 1 i gpuSports ••• S66 Page 3 1 IT & 1 ft/ t Opinion ... see Page 5 104 th YEAB • ISSUE 176 • 6 PAGES i not have theAPf - vicinity. : the boots-; 'es from fe- nt mire: | capital J4 vstimonyiii: 11 convidi gainst they t Roivlesss; evidence hi: ' don’t nedl ' prosecutcl ■sday best ihetherj •'ill be r. sic tests aboraton : ! to the dec ?rry 3 m with K: u tor said. TEXAS ABM UNIVERSITY ■ COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS readiness When it comes to domestic terrorism, ‘the best defense is offense,’ Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison says Photo By Stephanie Corley/The Battalion mg werei t in Hunta Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison speaks about domestic terrorism at A&M's National Emergency Response Center Friday. By Sarah Goldston Staff Writer Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison announced the congression al appropriations committee will target millions of dollars to train first emergency response units for situations of do mestic terrorism. Hutchison made her remarks at a press conference at the National Emergency Response and Rescure Training Cen ter at Texas A&M University Friday. A&M's Texas Engineering Extension Service will receive $2.5 million to continue research and training for such inci dents, she said. "After the Oklahoma City bombing, we have been look ing for a center to train first responders," she said. "We have seen attacks at the World Trade Center, Oklahoma, and we've even seen it happen in a subway in Japan. We'll save the most lives if we try to contain these tragedies." Hutchison said 25 percent of terrorist attacks are target ed against U.S. citizens and property. "Studies have shown that terrorists go elsewhere if they know people are prepared to react," she said. "Our first line of defense is our police, our firemen and our medical units that arrive on the scene first. In the case of domestic terror ism, the best defense is offense." TEEX is a member of a consortium that includes four oth er counter-terrorism training centers. Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center at New Mexico Tech, The National Center for Bio-Med Research and Training at Louisiana State University, The Nevada Test Site, and the National Center for Domestic Preparedness at Ft. McClellan, Ala. make up the consortium. By establishing a budget for the entire consortium, the training schools will receive more funding than they would if the appropriations committee had lobbied for each indi vidual school, Hutchison said. "In the consortium, they will be able to come together and plan for domestic terrorism acts and be better prepared to react," she said. "A&M has done a phenomenal job and is known as the leading training center." Gary Stinson, president of SO Technologies and repre sentative of the Nevada Test Site, said all first response units are trained at the Nevada Test Site. "Our training center in Nevada is larger than the state of Rhode Island," he said. Each member will receive $2.5 million in funding for the next year, but Ft. McClellan will get a higher share to build new and updated facilities. see Hutchison on Page 2. •ationoti idantsiiu n 1993, ki latorinl^ paroled ill ion inFe.f jA&M, state officials recognize AMA president for medical leadership $ $ By Sarah Goldston Staff Writer Dr. Nancy Dickey, a faculty member of the Col- llege of Medicine and the first female president of Ithe American Medical Association, was honored lata reception and dinner at the George Bush Pres- [idential Library Conference Center Friday. Dickey, who also is director of the Family [Practice Residency Foundation of the Brazos [Valley, said she wants to emphasize ethics, [health-care reform and the revitalization of pro- [fessionalism among physicians. "Medicine is clearly at a crossroads, and at [such a challenging time, this is an extraordinary opportunity for leadership," she said. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, the first woman I to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate, spoke at [the reception. "I am so proud of Nancy," she said. "Having I a family practitioner as the leader of the medical community of the nation is ideal." Hutchison stressed health-care reform issues [inher speech. 'I still want to make sure the smartest kids in [the class want to be doctors," she said. "I don't Photo By Stephanie Corley/The Battalion Dr. Michael Friedland and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison were present at the reception honoring Dr. Nancy Dickey (center), AMA president. want someone to go into medicine because he or she wants to work for the government. We don't want doctors to be federal bureaucrats." Hutchison said Congress wants to reform the health-care system to make medical care more accessible and to give people the ability to make choices about health care. Dickey said she too wants to work to reform the health care system. "Congress is working on passing a bill of rights for patients," Dickey said. "There is some thing wrong if we have to protect patients from insurance if we have to issue a bill of rights." Hutchison said she wants to see more money going to medical research. She said she is proud of Texas A&M Univer sity for its program in rural health care and stressed the importance of bringing quality health care to rural areas. Hutchison said Congress is working on re forming HMOs. "HMDs are a major part of health-care cover age," she said. "We are working on a plan to re form HMOs that will give patients choices. We also want to make it possible for patients to se lect doctors outside of the HMO plan to get sec ond opinions, especially Ob./Gyn. physicians and pediatricians." In an Associated Press story published earli er this year, former AMA president Dr. Lonnie Bristow said the AMA will benefit greatly from Dickey's leadership. "The emphasis of Dickey's career has been on patient care, but she also has a thorough ground ing in medical issues, particularly ethics, on a na tional level," Bristow said. "She will bring her talent and vision to those who need it most of all: our patients, the country's physicians and the Association itself." see Dickey on Page 2. Hot pursuit MIKE FUENTES/The Battalion Long Ta, a member of the South Side flag-football team, is chased by a member of the Wrecking Crew flag-football team during the Vietnamese- American Student Association's flag-football tournament Sunday. Opinion: Student organizations should not be criticized but recognized as enhancements to education. MONDAY • JULY 37 • 1998 ‘Fallen heroes’ honored Tuesday WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Capitol officers cut down in a burst of gunfire will be hon ored Tuesday at a special cere mony at the historic building where they worked and died. Their remains will lie in the Ro tunda, where the coffins of pres idents and commanding gener als have rested. Capitol Police Chief Gary Abrecht announced plans to memorialize the two "fallen he roes" as the suspect in the shoot ing, Russell E. Weston Jr., lay in a hospital bed in serious condition. Coffins bearing the remains of officers Jacob J. Chestnut and John Gibson will be in the Capi tol Rotunda early Tuesday and remain there all day. "Those wishing to pay their respects may file past the re mains," Abrecht said, speaking at a news conference a few yards from where the gunman had entered the Capitol 48 hours earlier. An afternoon ser vice is planned, with members of Congress, other officers and families of the slain men in at tendance, he said. Abrecht said Gibson, 42, will be buried Thursday at a lo cation to be announced. Chest nut, 58 and an Air Force veter an, will be interred the following day at Arlington Na tional Cemetery. The two Capitol police offi cers died of the wounds when the gunman, a loner with a his tory of mental illness, burst into the Capitol Friday afternoon and opened fire with a .38-cal- iber handgun. The condition of Weston, 41, from Rimini, Mont., was up graded from critical to serious during the day. "His cardiac status has improved," D.C. General Hospital spokesperson Donna Lewis Johnson said. We ston was shot in the chest, arms, thigh and buttocks and brought down in a furious exchange of gunfire with Gibson. Authorities arranged a hear ing in absentia for Weston on Monday in federal court, a few blocks from the Capitol. Papers filed in court in the District of Columbia on Saturday charged him with killing the two offi cers; the purpose of today's hearing is to bring the case into federal court. While events were set in motion to honor the fallen — and bring the suspect to jus tice — tourists roamed the Capitol by the hundreds, some pausing before a pile of flowers that has grown on the steps outside in tribute to Gib son and Chestnut. see Officers on Page 6. News Briefs Renovations to Evans and Sbisa among Regents' decisions The Board of Regents of The Texas A&M Uni versity System held its summer meeting Thursday and Friday and voted on a variety of measures. The Board approved renovations for Sterling C. Evans Library and Sbisa Dining Hall. Naming of the Cushing Memorial Library Read ing Room for Mavis and Mary Kelsey of Houston was approved by the Board. The Board also approved a master agreement between the A&M System and the Texas A&M Re search Foundation. The Board approved the 1998-99 System Calender. Two A&M students winners of 'Social Security Challenge' A team from Texas A&M University was select ed as the winner of the "Social Security Challenge" and will receive $1 00,000 to implement its plan to from staff and wire reports make Social Security a topical issue on America's campuses this fall. A $10,000 scholarship will be awarded to the two team members, Nathan Cray, of Lexington, TX, and Daniel Seyle of Eureka, MO. The winning plan of the team from Texas A&M involves using the National Issues Forum as a mechanism for getting college students to talk about Social Security. Sponsored by the Kettering Foundation, the NIF began college outreach last year through the National Collegiate Honors Council. Nathan Cray and Daniel Seyle are both experienced NIF moderators. This proposal calls for scheduling forums about Social Security on 800 or more campuses. A&M professor of psychology recipient of first JRP Award John Fernandez Finch, professor of psychology, has been selected as a winner of the first JRP Award for the best article published in the "Journal of Re search in Personality." Finched shared the award with Stephen West from Arizona State University. Their article, "The Investigation of Personality Structure: Statistical Models," was published in the December 1 997 issue of JRP. "John Finch has done an outstanding job of teach ing our undergraduate and graduate statistics cours es," Paul Wellman, professor and head of the De partment of Psychology, said. The winners will receive a certificate and cash prize at the annual American Psychological Association meeting being held in San Francisco. Forum allows students to meet director candidates Students will have a chance to meet the prospective candidates for the position of Director of Student Activities. The Department of Student Activities is hosting a series of open forums for students, faculty and staff to meet and speak to the candidates, including: Monday (July 27) — Steve Ransom, director of stu dent activities at Miami University of Ohio, 3:45 to 5 p.m., 404 Rudder Tower; Wednesday (July 29) — Jim Waite, director of stu dent life at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, 3:45 to 5 p.m., 504 Rudder Tower; Monday (Aug. 3) — Kevin Jackson, senior associ ate director of the Memorial Student Center, 3:45 to 5 p.m.; Tuesday (Aug. 4) — Ben Welch, director of Lowry Mays College of Business Fellows and Honors Pro gram, 4 to 5:1 5 p.m.; Wednesday (Aug. 5) — Jan Paterson, central of fice manager for the Association for Student Judicial Affairs, 1:30 to 2:45 p.m.; and Thursday (Aug. 6) — Tim Sweeney, interim direc tor of Student Activities, 3:45 to 5 p.m. The last four candidates are from Texas A&M, and their forums will be held in 504 Rudder Tower.