WING IING (it' big band, jazzy ’,of the ’40s is back i a ’90s attitude. ilELIFE, PAGE 3 CROSS TRAINING • Cross-country runner Lauren Crawford makes move from high-school star to college competitor. SPORTS, PAGE 7 CHECK OUT THE BATTALION ONLINE http://battalion, tamu. edu WEDNESDAY November 4, 1998 Volume 105 • Issue 49 • 10 Pages fensive riving #ha :h (Line)! 5 with Coupon) »>gCo lnc.C092S AY CLASSES! rturdays ice reduction shausen '90 f-net.net/~grin | '8-474<) The X -j 105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY onservatives, Hispanics rally behind Bush Fire forces 192 cadets out of Whiteley Hall is ver DALLAS (AP) — Gov. George W. Jhdrew substantial support from panics and Democrats in addi- ito an overwhelming vote from nbers of his own party Tliesday apture a second term, exit poll re- ; showed. - Bush’s support cut across all income and education-level ups. Most :ers were up- I it about the I re of the I las economy, I even the pes- I ists joined I optimists in I ng for Bush I roughly a 2- bush margin. e resounding victory over De- Jcrat Garry Mauro is likely to in- ase speculation about Bush’s sidential ambitions. Texans evenly divided over whether should serve out his new m four-year term or run for president in two years, but two-thirds said he would make a good president. “1 think he should run,†said Ed Keah, a utility-company analyst, as he left a polling place in the Dallas suburb of Richardson. ‘‘George Bush exemplifies honesty in the of fice. Nobody can chunk rocks at George Bush.†Preliminary exit polls indicated that Bush carried about 46 percent of the Hispanic vote, a big jump over the 28 percent he got in 1994. Bush campaigned hard among His panics — often working'Spanish phrases into his stump speeches — and advertised on Spanish televi sion and radio stations. Bush carried every region of the state, running strongest in East and West Texas. Mauro ran strongest in Houston and South Texas, but Bush still carried those regions by more than 3-to-2. Bush carried every age group in the electorate and improved his percentage in each one. After tak ing just 58 percent of the over-60 vote last time, Bush on Tuesday gained about two-thirds of the group and about three-quarters of voters over 65. The governor won more than nine of 10 votes cast by self-de scribed conservatives and enjoyed a 3-to-2 lead among moderate voters. One-fourth of Democrats voted for Bush — up from just 10 percent in 1994. Delia Johnson, a lifelong Demo crat, cast her first-ever GOP vote for governor. ‘‘From what 1 can see. Bush has done a good job,†said the Richard son office worker. ‘‘I think he’s a good family man. And I didn’t know much about the other candidate.†Despite the lopsided loss, Mau ro ran strongly among liberals, supporters of President Clinton and African-Americans. eive Nema Blyden, who teaches African-American history at the University of Texas at Dallas, said she picked Mauro largely on the basis of his support for abortion rights. But she didn’t rule out vot ing for Bush if he runs for presi dent, depending on the positions he takes in 2000. “I don’t have strong feelings about Bush one way or another,†Ms. Blyden said. ‘T can’t point to one thing in my life where his be ing governor made a positive or negative difference.†By a narrow margin, Texas voters disapproved of the job President Clin ton is doing and rated him unfavor ably as a person by a 2-to-l margin. But a solid majority said Clinton should not be forced from office over the Monica Lewinsky matter. Nearly six in 10 said he shouldn’t be impeached by Congress, and just over half said Clinton should not resign. ipers off cut & jvdry NEWS IN BRIEF Republicans take ixas elections questions arising about |e impact of the Clinton scandal )the Democratic party, Republi- won big in the Texas latewide elections. an expected win over Garry |auro, George W. Bush became ionly person to be elected to i consecutive terms as Texas Pernor. The landslide victory ^sweetened for the Bush fam- fwith Jeb Bush’s win as gover- Fof Florida. the Aggie face-off for Lieu- ant Governor, former room ies John Sharp and Rick Perry ame opponents. In an ex- >iely close race, Perry edged pad of Democrat Sharp to take ^victory. i a bitter debate for attorney %al, Republican John Cornyn t|ie win over Jim Mattox, who 3 s seeking reelection after a fterm tenure in the office. perhaps the most fierce lo- Sface, Republican Steve Ogden deeded in his quest for re gion by edging past Democra- : candidate Mary Moore for the | 'fiorof serving as Texas Senator district 5. Republicans also took office IfAgriculture Commissioner, Rail- Commissioner and Land %iissioner. Crippen: Challenger tragedy caused by communications fail- BY MELISSA JORDAN The Battalion Former astronaut Robert Crippen said a communication failure caused the Challenger space shuttle accident. Crippen, during a presenta tion which was a part of the Bovay Colloquium Series, said the primary cause of failure •was the lack of communica tion that occurred between personnel at various levels of the space program. Crippen said it was only a matter of time before an acci dent happened. He said the failure of space program employees to com municate was combined with poor decision-making. Crippen said several factors went into the failure of the Challenger flight. He said most of the people at the Marshall Space Flight Center did not be lieve temperaiture was a factor, but the evening before the flight was to take place tem perature problems were visible in the shuttle hardware. Crippen said managers at the center believed if the pri mary seal, which caused the Challenger shuttle problems, did not seal, the secondary seal would. He said the theory of cold temperatures causing the failure of the seal “seemed to be coming from left field†to the engineers and managers at the flight center. Pressure for flight and the lack of communication of pos sible problems resulted in the OK for lift-off the next day. Since the time of the Chal lenger accident, Crippen said changes have been made in shuttle design and communi cation within the space pro gram. Crippen said a tell-all cul ture has been developed in the space program to prevent more tragedies like the Challenger. “Communication is tough,†he said. “You need to actively go out and encourage communication.†Crippen said risks are al ways involved with space flight launches, and there is always the possibility of fu ture accidents. “Few things in life that are really, really worthwhile are risk free,†Crippen said. Student waives arraignment BY AMANDA SMITH The Battalion A Texas A&M University student in dicted in Burleson County for indecency with a child, represented by his attorney Travis Bryan, waived the arraignment scheduled for Nov. 10, according to a re port from the Burleson County district at torney’s office. Nathan George Howard, 19, was re leased on a $20,000 personal recognizance bond after he turned himself over to Burleson authorities Oct. 27. A pretrial hearing date has not been set. Howard had previously received an in dictment for indecency with a child in Brazos County. Howard faces accusations in two inci dents reported June 24 in Burleson Coun ty, in which a boy and a girl said Howard had touched their “private areas†when he was babysitting the children, according to police records. A grand jury indicted Howard Oct. 8 for indecency with a child, a second-de gree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine and may be eligible for probation as the first felony conviction. The charges resulted from allegations from three siblings, two girls ages 5 and 8 and a 3-year-old boy, who said Howard had touched them on the inside and the outside of their clothes, according to court documents. Jim Locke, the assistant district attorney for Brazos County, said the arraignment and pretrial hearing have been scheduled for November, but no trial date has been set. Howard, a sophomore electrical engi neering major, volunteered at Grace Bible Church and led AWANAS, a Bible study and activity program for youth. STAFF AND WIRE REPORT Texas A&M officials announced Tliesday Dorm 9 will be closed for complete renovations and may re open at the beginning of the spring semester. Dorm 9 was damaged in an early-morning fire Monday that caused extensive smoke and wa ter damage to the hall and de stroyed the third-floor room where the fire originated. Gen. M.T. “Ted†Hopgood said the decision to close the hall was made to ensure the safety of residents. “Based on our concerns for the safety and well-being of the 192 cadets residing in Dorm 9, we have decided to close the building so that a complete renovation can take place,†Hopgood said. Cadets who lived on the first and second floors of the hall were allowed to stay in the dorm Mon day night, but some experienced respiratory problems and headaches due to smoke damage in the building. Members of Company F-2 will move in with the rest of their unit,. and freshman and sophomore members of the Aggie Band will relocate to Dorm 11. Junior and senior band members will be moved to other halls available within the Corps of Cadets hous ing area. Students who have close friends or family living in the Bryan-College Station area may be allowed to live off campus. PHOTO COURTESY AUBREY SHEPARD III Mark Blankenship, a sophomore general studies major, is inter viewed outside Eli L. Whiteley Hall (Dorm 9) Monday afternoon. The fire in the hall caused 192 mem bers of the Corps of Cadets to be displaced. Corps officials said they hope to have cadets relocated and Dorm 9 emptied by 10 p.m. Sun day. Hopgood and Col. Ray Toler, director of the Corps bands, said the displaced band members will continue to participate in all Ag gie Band activities. The cause of the fire is cur rently under investigation by Uni versity Police Department and the College Station Fire Department. Senate to reconsider Q-drop, bike rack bills BY MEGAN WRIGHT The Battalion The proposed “60-60-60 Q- drop†bill will be re.ad for a sec ond time at tonight’s Student Sen ate meeting at 7:30 in the Governance Room of the John J. Koldus Building.' Two bills will be read for a sec ond time before the Senate to be voted on or possibly postponed. The first bill, read during the Oct. 21 Senate meeting, concerns the proposed areas to distribute the new bike racks purchased with money allocated by the Depart ment of Parking, Traffic and Trans portation Services. Proposed locations include the Bush Presidential Library Building, West Campus Library Building, Wehner Business Administration Building, the north and south sides of Harrington Education Center — Classroom Building, the west side of Heldenfels Hall and the Engi neering/Physics Building. The second bill deals with the possible reform of the current Q- drop policy. It will be read again and possibly voted on tonight. Emergency legislation will be brought before the Senate dealing with prorated parking on campus. If passed, the bill will call for the Wehner parking lot to be used as a test case for prorated parking. If successful at the Wehner area, pro rated parking could possibly move to other locations around campus. Resolutions to be discussed during tonight’s meeting will in clude a resolution concerning a Parking and Biking Safety Aware ness Day sponsored by PTTS to be held on Nov. 18. A review of the opinions and questions gathered during Con stituency Day held last Wednesday throughout campus will occur dur ing the meeting as well. Speaker emphasizes balance of food, exercise BY BETH MILLER The Battalion The upcoming holiday season and current diet crazes have inspired health experts on campus to offer a se ries of health and fitness lectures dur ing the next few weeks. “Choose It, Move It, Groove It,†a se ries of three lectures, was designed to promote fitness and healthy living. The first of the lectures, “Tips on Hol iday Eating,†will be today at 5:30 p.m. in 281 of the Student Recreation Center and will be led by Vanessa Roberts, a ju nior nutrition major. Roberts will discuss serving sizes and nutrition as it pertains to holiday meals. The second and third lectures, “Make Peace with Food†and “Food and Fitness,†will be Tuesday, Nov. 10 and Tliesday, Nov. 17 at 4 p.m., respective ly, in 016 A.P. Beutel Health Center. Mindy Patterson, a nutrition student assistant at Beutel and senior nutrition major, will lead the presentations. Pat terson said the purpose of the lectures is to emphasize the importance of making healthy, life-long changes in diet. Jane Cohen, health educator at Beu tel, said the “Food and Fitness†lecture will address dieting trends. Cohen said it is important for people to know the facts about dieting and weight-loss methods. Patterson said the lecture will focus on creating a balance between diet and exercise. “Fimess is not only to lose weight, but it’s also to increase mental fitness; it’s also to improve mood; it’s also to de crease appetite,†Patterson said. “It’s a way to get out and get some fresh air, and do something that’s fun.†Patterson said a common attitude is dieting is a punishment, but she said she hopes to change that mentality. “A diet is not a restriction,†she said. “A diet is what you eat every day. You need a balance. †“Fitness is not only try ing to lose weight... it's also to improve mood." — Mindy Patterson Nutrition assistant, Beutel Health Center Patterson said another purpose of the series is to teach people how to eval uate their bodily needs and develop a healthy routine.