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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 4, 1999)
A2322 v. 105 too. T4T 105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY TUESDAY May 4, 1999 Volume 105 • Issue 141 • 20 Pages College Station, Texas aggielife • Star Wars Trilogy brings long awaited sequel, much dreaded merchandising. PAGE 6 today’s issue Toons 2 Batt application. 15 Battalion Radio Tune into 90.9 KAMU-FM for details on Norton Crashguard 4.0 computer protection. opinion • Cal Ripkins reputation could be tarnished unless he leaves the sport of baseball at the top of his game. PAGE 19 POW’s return home STAFF AND WIRE The three U.S. servicemen released from Yu goslavia Sunday after being held captive for more than a month may have been mistreated, according to preliminary medical examinations. The soldiers were captured March 31 on the Yu- goslav-Macedonia border participating in a peace keeping mission. According to CNN’s Website, Maj. Gen. David Grange said the soldiers were not treated well. Grange interviewed the soldiers at an U.S.Army hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. “I don’t think that all the treatment was well,” he (said. “I think it might have been they were poorly treated at the beginning, but that will be determined.” Staff Sgt. Andrew Ramirez, 24, one of the soldiers released, told the Dallas Morning News Sunday that the soldiers were treated well. “We were treated very well, and we’re doing good,” he said. “We’re healthy. As you can see, we’re very happy. ” Col. Mike Sullivan, chief spokesperson for the U.S. Army in Europe told CNN that the three men lost weight but are “upbeat and eating us out of house and home.” Lt. Col. Sharon DeRuvo, chief of clinical nursing for the hospital, said the soldiers look and feel good. DeRuvo said the soldiers took “excellent care of them selves” while in captivity. Col. Mack Blanton, chief of clinical services at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, also examined the soldiers. “There was obviously some real physical stuff that went on,” Blanton told CNN. Sgt. Christopher Stone had a broken nose and Ramirez has broken ribs and a swollen right leg. U.S. Army Spec. Steven Gonzales, who spent his 22nd birthday as a prisoner of war in Yugoslavia, was reportedly in good condition after initial examina tions. No further medical tests were scheduled. Gonzales attended Texas A&M from 1995 to 1996 before entering the Army in fall 1996. Gonzales and the other soldiers posed briefly with their families who arrived in Germany overnight. see POW on Page 2. Texas tag out MIKE FUENTES/The Battalion Aggie catcher #22, and former University of Texas team member, Shawn Schumacher, tags out a Longhorn base runner Friday night. Aggies play Oklahoma May 14 to 16. Voters open Munson BY CARRIE BENNETT The Battalion The removal of the barri cades and traffic calming de vices on Munson Avenue will begin Friday as a result of voters passing an ordinance prohibit ing the city from closing the street in Saturday’s election. The proposition passed by a 2-1 margin with 3,099 voting for the removal of the barricades and 1,504 people voting against the removal. Kayla Glover, who led the or ganization opposed to the barri cades, Friends of Our Commu nity, said she was not surprised the outcome. “I wasn’t surprised that we won by that large of a margin,” Glover said. “I am glad we did win and 1 was also pleased with the [voter] turnout that seemed better than normal.” Stephen Miller, a member of the organization in support of the barricades. Citizens for Neighborhood Integrity, said he felt having 1,300 voters that showed support for the barri cades was good considering the thousands of drivers with whom they competed. “The first thing is we, essen tially, are families living on Munson and adjacent streets [voting] against thousands of drivers,” Miller said. College Station City Manager, Skip Noe, said the barricades will be removed on Friday after the College Station City Council certifies the ordinance. He said the speed humps will be re moved after the city staff coor dinates a time with a construc tion crew. Noe said the removal of the speed humps is more compli cated than the removal of the barricades, but construction workers should be working on the removal next week. Glover said she does not ob ject to methods of traffic calm ing along Munson Avenue. In February, the City Council dis cussed the possibility and costs of widening Munson Avenue if the voters chose to open the street. “I don’t think Munson will be see Munson on Page 2. Woman’s body found BY BETH MILLER The Battalion The body of Jamie Glenda Hart, a 21-year-old former Texas A&M student and a resi dent of College Station, was found by a jogger at approxi mately 7:15 a.m. Saturday in a ditch along Old Reliance Road. The incident and cause of death remain under investiga tion, but she is suspected to have died from head injuries as a result of jumping or being pushed from a car driven by her assailant or assailants. Hart’s shirt, shorts and shoe were found a mile from her body. Her car was found aban doned with the headlights on and the engine running at 9:30 a.m. on Welsh Street. Officials have concluded from the dis covery of her clothes that a struggle may have taken place. Jake Carr, Hart’s roommate since August 1998 and a staff assistant in the entomology de partment at A&M, said Hart had attended A&M but had stopped and was working to ac- see Death on Page 2. Police arrest A&M fullback BY MATT WEBER The Battalion Texas A&M freshman full back Ja’Mar Toombs was ar rested early Sunday morning for possession of a controlled substance. Sgt. Gary Bishop of the Col lege Station Police Department said officers were called to Epi center sports bar at 701 Univer sity Drive East Sunday morning at approximately 12:40 a.m. Po lice said Toombs was arrested after the officers discovered a bag containing less than two ounces of marijuana. Epicenter management de clined to comment on the ar rest. As a Class B misdemeanor, the drug charges could result in up to 180 days in prison, a $2,000 fine or both. In addition to any legal ac tion, Toombs could face sanc tions from A&M. According to the A&M Student Rules hand book, the University may take action in response to improper off-campus activity by a student MIKE FUENTES/The Battalion Freshman fullback Ja’Mar Toombs was arrested Sunday night for drug possession, if the vice-president of student affairs judges the student’s presence to interfere with the University’s operation or the ed ucational process. If the vice-president decides such action is necessary, Stu dent Conflict Resolution Ser vices will call an administrative hearing to weigh the see Toombs on Page 2. Will Hurd selects executive council BY EMILY R. SNOOKS The Battalion The 1999-2000 Texas A&M Student Body President Will Hurd said he and the Student Government Association staff are working toward one campus with one vision for the 1999 fall term. Hurd’s said his campaign slogan, “one campus with one vision,” which describes his goal to make A&M the best university it can be. Hurd said his executive council for the upcoming school year, which consists of 10 vice president seats, has been select ed. But the final decision will be made tomorrow night by the Student Senate. The students selected are: • Elizabeth McKee, executive vice pres ident and a senior animal science major • Caton Brown, vice president of stu dent affairs and a senior civil engineer ing major • Michael Haughey, vice president of campus relations and a senior mechan ical engineering major • Aaron Bigbee, vice president of leg islative relations and a junior math and physics major • Laura Baggett, vice president of public relations and a junior electrical engineering major • Amy Banta, vice president of devel opment and a sophomore business major • Bryan Sweeney, vice president of fi nance and a senior finance major • Leana Divine, vice president of aca demic affairs and a sophomore interna tional studies major • Brandon Garrett, vice president of programing and a junior economics and international studies major • Maco Faniel, vice president of com munity improvement and a freshman speech communication major. Hurd said the new executive council, outgoing committee chairs and Student Government Association committee ad visers have selected all of the new Stu dent Government Association committee chairs. Hurd said during the summer he, his staff, and faculty and students will create a efficient and accessible Website con- Bus Ops plans longer hours of operation, streamlined routes CARINO CASAS/Thi: Battalion Student Body President ’99-’00, Will Hurd, plans to create “one campus with one vision” for the fall, taining professors’ course syllabi, grade distributions and faculty evaluations. “The team is looking forward to get ting down to the business of the 43,000 plus students and to help begin to make our University one campus with one vi sion,” he said. Hurd said he is concentrating on es tablishing a rapport with the Texas Leg islature, various media contacts, high schools and middle schools, and he is striving to enhance the integrity of A&M within the community and the state. BY RACHEL HOLLAND The Battalion Traveling time for students riding the Reveille and Ring Dance off-campus buses next fall will be 15 to 20 minutes shorter due to the implementation of new streamlined routes. Bus Operations Manager Gary Jackson said. Jackson said he hopes this change, along with extended on-campus operating hours and a decline in the cost of off-campus bus passes, will encourage more students to take advan tage of the bus services at Texas A&M. Jackson said each off-campus route will be designed to be 20 to 30 minutes long, and the biggest changes off campus will be in Bryan. “The Reveille and Ring Dance routes which will travel between A&M and Bryan have been significantly shortened from about 45 minutes to 25 to 30 minutes long without traumatic cuts in service,” he said. Beginning this fall, bus stops on the Reveille route past Briarcrest Drive will be serviced by the Blinn Shuttle, and unused bus stops on the Ring Dance route will be eliminated. University Tower and The Forum, current ly on the Reveille and Ring Dance routes will be serviced by a separate bus route this fall. Allison Bailey, a trainer and driver for Bus Operations and a senior animal science major, said she hopes shortening these routes will in crease the number of bus riders. “It is frustrating to people who ride Reveille that it takes 45 minutes to get to campus,” she said. “If this continues, people are likely to get upset and just drive to campus, and we don’t want that to happen.” Jackson said the cost of a bus pass for the ’99-’00 academic year is $100, $10 less than this year. Use of on-campus buses will remain free of charge. He said the on-campus buses will have ex tended operation hours, but the specific details have yet to be determined. Also beginning in the fall,'the on-campus Traditions route will not go to the MSG from the Wehner Business Administration Building. Instead, it will follow Olsen Boulevard and John Kimbrough Boulevard to the George Bush Presidential Library Complex Jackson said the change will help students traveling from the Zachry Engineering Center and the Wisenbaker Engineering Research Center to the Complex. Route maps are available on the Bus Oper ations Website at www-bus ops.tamu.edu. r