Wednesday. May 3;
• Road Rage
Tom Green movie showcases
worst of college student life.
ty J. Goldflm
Page 5
• Listen to KAMI! 90.9FM at 1:57 p.m. for details
on a former prison guard convicted of killing six.
• Check out The Battalion online at
battalion.tamu.edu.
Weather:
Partly cloudy with
a high of 92 and a
low of 69.
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Engineer board delays Bonfire evaluation
ives
ition
is a new chapter we areos
ith the United Nationsanc:
’ of nations."
retary-General Kofi Ann®
lad increasingly voicedcoe
Israel's isolation at the lit;
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rect it — was glad thatffl
sued the invitation, accord
okesperson, Fred Eckhard
der U.N. rules, the regie
s decide the 10 rotating seat
curity Council and other l
i ttee assignments. Israel vij i
J.N. member that was not#
a regional group:
cause Arab nafe
have blocked its|
mission to the As..
Group —where iie
longs geographk)|
Israel's nieiuht
ship in theEiiropt
group is only teif
nary, and Israel ft
continue to try toe
the Asian groups
the Netherlai:
U.N. Ambassador^
ter van Walsum, .
"The arrange'
is for four years,)'
then we will ree
sider," said van":
sum, the Eurcf
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Other condife
prevent Israel fe
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Anna Bishop
The Battalion
The Texas Board of Professional Engineers
|nsto take its time with further investigation
the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse.
The nine-member board appointed by the
ernor will assemble this month in Corpus
isti for its June 14 quarterly meeting,
ictoria Hsu, executive board director, §aid
estigation into the engineering of Bonfire is
Ithe agenda.
■^-TEheboard met earlier this month to discuss
r review the reports released by the Special
Immission on the 1999 Aggie Bonfire.
su said suggestions regarding actions the
loard can take regarding state law violations on
lehalf of licensed engineers were discussed.
"The suggestions explored cannot be cur
rently discussed," Hsu said.
Dave Dorchester, vice president of the board,
said the goal of its members is to seek legislative
changes to clarify the engineering board's man
date and suggest positive steps, such as briefing
IRE
state agency executives on the Texas Engineer
ing Practice Act.
The Texas Board of Professional Engineers is
a result of the Engineering Practice Act passed
in 1937 when a massive explosion in New Lon
don, Texas, prompted the Texas Legislature to
formulate a law ensuring the practice of engi
neering in the state to remain in the hands of li
censed engineers.
Hsu said the reports released on May 3 de
clared the Bonfire to be a complex engineering
project.
"Because commissioners called the Bonfire
a 'complex engineering project/ we will look
into the possibility of whether or not engineers
were in violation with state law ... whether or
not the project should have, by law, been per
formed under the guidance of a licensed en
gineer," Hsu said.
"We also must determine whether or not
the Bonfire should be prohibited altogether, by
considering it a public health hazard built
without licensed engineers or engineering
plans," Hsu said.
Dorchester said the ranges of consequences
for violation run from an informal reprimand to
revoking an engineering license.
"Right now, the number-one thing the board
will do is look to the future and take whatever
actions necessary to protect public universities
such as A&M," Dorchester said.
"The board is trying to decide who was un
der jurisdiction, and eventually who was in vi
olation, but the process will be a slow one. The
Bonfire collapse is a terrible thing to deal with.
We want to take our time to deal with it right and
fair," Dorchester said.
A&M spokesperson Lane Stephenson said
A&M would cooperate with the board and pro
vide any desired information.
Climbing the wall
m-
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Lancry
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:or two years. Israel also wo/
the European group's exif
m for U.N. posts, whichwv
eely bar the country fromiuf
p on the U.N. Economicadi
nmcil and other bodies for)
bly longer, van Walsum sail I
e accepted a series of limitatioL
lese limi tations appear tousj
,ancry said. "You can'tjustei™
isturb all the rotations)'
ive been reached."
A&M professor earns
award for chemistry
Eight-year-old Justin Hart rappels 30 feet down the side of the Kyle Field ramp as junior coun
selor and A&M Consolidated student Kelli Sweat watches from below on Wednesday. Hart and
other youngsters are participants in Camp Adventure, a day camp for children that allows them
to experience adventure sports such as climbing, riflery and canoeing.
Joseph Pi fasant
The Battalion
Chemists from around the world
gathered Wednesday to honor outstand
ing work in the field of chemistry. Mem
bers of the Robert Alonzo Welch Foun
dation awarded Dr. A. Ian Scott, Texas
A&M faculty member, the Welch Foun
dation Award for excellence in chemistry
researcli, which is a $300,000 worldwide
award given to outstanding chemists.
Scott is the 2000 co-recipient of the
Welch Award.
Dr. Emile Schweikert, chemistry de
partment head, said this award is a great
honor and tribute to the career of a re
search scientist. "[The award] is an out
standing recognition of one of our more
prominent colleagues," Schweikert said.
The Welch Foundation Award is known,
worldwide, and many past recipients
have won the Nobel Prize in chemistry.
Scott spent 32 years decoding the
structure of vitamin B-12, which is im
portant for metabolism and the central
nervous system. Richard Johnson, cliair of
the Welch Foundation, said "Scott's work
follows the research that Welch wanted
when he started the foundation.
"Dr. Scott's work over the past 40 years
optimizes the work Robert Welch be
lieved in," Johnson said.
Dr. Norman Hackerman, chair of the
Scientific Advisory Board, said the
process of choosing a winner is difficult
because of the high caliber of nominees.
"One hundred fifty or more chemists
are nominated worldwide, and the foun
dation board narrows that number down
to one person, or two as in this year,"
Hackerman said.
Scott appreciates this recognition for
his chemistry research. "It's wonderful
that tlie work 1 have done for the last 40
years is being recognized," Scott said.
Scott has not decided how he will
spend the award money, he said some of
it may be used to support a student fel
lowship.
A&M President Dr. Ray M. Bowen
said the award also reflects positively for
A&M; it's a great statement for him and
our University.
This award is the only type of funding
given by the foundation outside the state.
The Welch Foundation has been a
constant supporter of A&M through
grants and funds.
Since it began in 1954, the Welch Foun
dation has given A&M approximately $55
million. Bowen said the foundation is re
sponsible for the advancement of chem
istry programs throughout Texas. Bowen
also said many universities in Texas have
great chemistry programs because of the
Welch Foundation .
Dr. Scott is the second A&M professor
to win the Welch Award. Dr. F. A. Cotton
was a co-recipient in 1994.
Chemistry professor Dr. A. Ian Scott
was one of two professors in the world
to receive the 2000 Welch Award.
News in Brief
Microsoft files final legal brief
I SEATTLE (AP) — Wednesday, Microsoft Corp. was fil
ing its final legal brief in a landmark antitrust battle, of
fering a rebuttal to the government’s revised plan to
Crvanich tppn c l3rea k if U P- The company planned to submit more tes-
j open iiai i iceiu timony that jt fe|t was left out of the case _
friend for company’s filing, expected not long after the
- financial markets were to close in the east, was ex-
sh teen a P g a e n girls sa^t^ ect f d t0 include revisions to the government’s
a 16-year-old friend becauf reaku P Proposal.
ild help them "becomei Microsoft has vehemently opposed a proposal by
” news reports said Tuesdf the Justice Department to split the company into two
3 girls, 16 and 17, whos competing entities.
s were not released, weres Microsoft also planned to issue a brief discussing
I Sunday in the soutfie | s “ 0 ff er 0 f p r0 of,” filed hurriedly last Wednesday as
)f San Fernando de CadiZ‘ y 3 Qjstrjct judge Thomas Penfield Jackson was about
I'/lt/Ts iat wou/S clo f the case - That filing outlined proposed testi-
y field The two were jailf m ° n y f rom company co-founder Bill Gates and other wit-
ay on murder charges, flesses. The government, in its revised filing two days
3 killing, which occurredP ^ter, called it an eleventh-hour ploy,
as been front-page news " Microsoft had asked the judge for as long as six
Danish newspaper El Pais months to gather evidence and depose*witnesses that
3 private television new would dispute the Justice Department’s assertion that
5 reported that after a breakup is the best way to reverse the damage done
ot Garcia late Friday,™ b y behavior that Jackson found to be unlawful and
fenTout m ° 8 anticompetitive.
Inmate loses bid for more DNA testing
HOUSTON (AP) — An inmate facing
execution this week has lost a bid for
more DNA testing in his case, just days
after Gov. George W. Bush advocated the
Tf the DNA testing
helps settle a case or
erase any doubts or
concerns, we would
support that. ”
Last week, McGinn's lawyers per
suaded the trial judge to recommend
retesting of hair and semen. District
Judge Steven Ellis referred the request to
the appeals court, which re
jected it Tuesday on proce
dural grounds.
While conceding that
there was incriminating evi
dence against McGinn, Mau
de Levin, an attorney helping
with McGinn's appeals, said
some items were not collect
ed and tested properly and
some evidence wasn't tested
tests to "erase any doubts" in capital
murder cases.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
denied the request from Ricky Nolen
McGinn, who is scheduled to be execut
ed Thursday for the 1993 rape and
killing of his 12-year-old stepdaughter,
Stephanie Rae Flanary.
at all because the DNA technology avail
able at tine time wasn't good enough.
"It's good enough now," Levin said.
"Testing could be performed that would
provide conclusive proof, one way or the
other, of guilt or innocence."
Levin said more appeals were planned.
The Republican presidential front-
THURSDAY
June 1,2000
Volume 106-Issue 145
6 pages
runner also said he is convinced that no
innocent person has been executed in
Texas during his five-plus years in office.
"If the DNA testing helps settle a case
or erase any doubts or concerns, we
would support that," Bush told the
Houston Chronicle.
Convicted in 1995, McGinn had been
scheduled for lethal injection on April
27. But that date was pushed back after
documents from his final appeal were
lost in the tornado that struck Fort Worth
on March 28.
Attorney Barry Scheck told The Dal
las Morning News that McGinn's defense
team may try Wednesday to obtain the
genetic evidence from the Texas Depart
ment of Public Safety and have it tested.
Scheck, co-director of the New York-
based Innocence Project, said he has
"some considerable optimism" that
Bush will grant McGinn a stay of execu
tion so that retesting can occur.
Students
taken
by fraud
Stuart Hutson
The Battalion
Last October, two former employees of
the Applebee's Neighborhood Bar and
Grill on Texas Avenue, Matthew Smith
and Eric Gallup, were charged with steal
ing money from Texas A&M students' Ag
gie Bucks accounts.
"They would enter the Aggie Bucks
twice, get two receipts, give one receipt
back to the customer and then exchange
the other receipt for cash from the regis
ter," said Carol Bailey, general manager at
the Applebee's in College Station. "We
found that they were doing it when one
person whose account they had stolen
from called to check a charge."
Smith and Gallup were arrested in
April and confessed to four charges each
of debit card abuse, but Bailey said the
workers' theft was not the only surprising
factor of the case.
Bob Piwanka, director of student finan
cial services, said that while only about half
a dozen instances of Aggie Card abuse are
reported to his office each semester, there
may be more that are not reported.
"The first line of defense against Aggie
“The first line of
defense against
Aggie Card abuse
is the person using
the card. ”
— Bob Piwanka
director of student financial services
Card abuse is the person using tlie
card," he said. "They should guard [the
card] in the same way they protect a
credit or ATM card, and realize that if
their card is stolen or misused, they
should contact us immediately."
University Police Department (UPD)
officer Sgt. Allen Baron said many thefts
involving Aggie Cards may happen witlv
out the owner knowing.
"Sometimes it's just a roommate or a
friend, and then sometimes a card gets
stolen and used before the owner reports
the card missing," Baron said.
Ronald Hale, vice chair of Norwest
Bank, which manages off-campus Aggie
Bucks transactions, said the card's main
security features are evident.
"The picture and the signature on the
back are the two foremost security fea
tures because they offer positive identifi
cation of the person," he said. "Most cas
es of Aggie Bucks abuse come from
someone trying to use someone else's
card. Cases like what happened at Ap
plebee's are slim to none."
Hale said accounts and transaction
records—which include when and where
a card is used — are reconciled every day
to ensure accuracy and to guard against
misuse, but other methods are also used
to add security to a participant's account.
"Most people who try to steal from
another person's account can be caught
the next day, " he said.
Bailey said that since October, Apple
bee's has refunded the victims' money
and now reviews transactions on a daily
basis to prevent a similar incident, but