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.
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