Tuesday, June 6,$
Kosse Rodeo begins
)deo offers bare-back rid
ing, steer wrestling and
barrel racing
Page 3
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Weather:
Sunny with a high of 88
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WEDNESDAY
June 7,2000
Volume 106 ~ Issue 148
6 pages
=f:J • I sKfifcJiWi l'i:i k T J IV
In the bunker
laker, a sophomore physio
general studies major,
xercise called "freeze."
]ourt
Bryan Gatlin, a member of the Tyler Junior College golf team, chips out of the sand Tuesday afternoon at the Texas A&M golf
course. This was the first day of the NJCAA golf playoffs at the course.
jijano gave similar testimom:
ials of eight other death row:
and those cases will getadfr
ok, said Mark Heckmam
?sman for the Texas attain
■al's office.
Ve are reviewing thosecas
;xpect to release our findinj
o end of the week/Tleckmr
He would not identify::
cases.
uijano was the state prison' -
, chief psychologist in theei r
i and is now in privateprttiff
uijano was on vacation \ta&
mavailable for comment. 11
a colleague at his clinicsaioV
ever Quijano's testimony ite
?ased on scientific reasoning
Ve're sworn to tell the w:'
, yet sometimes we are noli 1
d to do that because attomf'
.■strate what is disseminated'!
ourtroom," said thecolleaj
:al psychologist RogerSaundi
like Quijano frequently givesey
testimony for both prosecute— ANNA BISHOP
defense attorneys. || The Battalion
fidanois from Argentina,«hy , ln an eir ° rt to preserve the spirit and memory of
d 10 other Latin Americanco» )iana Ste P an ’ a fallen A gS ie and as P irin g petroleum
c r atiaineer, her family and
in urging the Supreme Court. ’ , ,
fiends have established a
cholarship in her name.
Argentina finds it intnitata*^ Djana Slepan
isi ve for anyone to suggest'd { l [al Scho i arship
Hispanic is more dangerous which was estab .
therefore more deservingotd||ed in 1997 following
i penalty — simply because® March 1995 death,
spanic," lawyers for Argenti'ill become a source of
the court. Bncial support for fu-
ire petroleum engineer-
ig undergraduates at
exas A&M.
he endowment will be part of the Nelson
Scholarship named for Stepan
Scholars Program at A&M, intended to aid
scholastically gifted students possessing high
leadership potential and financial need.
According to Dr. Janies E. Russell, petroleum en
gineering department head at the time of Stepan’s
death, the Stepan memorial, will be available to qual
ifying undergraduate students in the petroleum en
gineering department.
The Diana S. Stepan Memorial Scholarship at
this time is not active, but it is about half-way to
reaching its goal of $60,000, said Dr. Larry Piper, pe
troleum engineering senior lecturer.
Piper said the memorial will offer students $3000
over a period of four years, with a goal of 50 en
dowed scholarships.
Stepan’s fatal car accident occurred two months
before she was to receive her bachelor’s degree in
petroleum engineering. Sue Stepan, Diana’s mother,
was later presented with her daughter’s degree.
“Diana’s heart was in petroleum engineering. I
hope the recipients of these scholarships will pas
sionately put their hearts into something they love as
much as she did, too,” Sue Stepan said.
“Stepan was an overachiever and a very diligent
student,” Russell said.
Russell also added that she was very active in the
petroleum engineering department.
Stepan was an active member in Pi Epsilon Tau-
the petroleum engineering honor society.
She also served as treasurer of the Texas A&M
Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).
According to Sue Stepan, Diana actively recruited
and organized activities and meetings, which resulted
in the A&M SPE chapter being named the 1994-95
Outstanding SPE Student Chapter in the nation.
Schools falsify
top 10 percent
t<;
Kim Trifilio
The Battalion
Several Texas high schools have been ac
cused of exaggerating the top 10 percent of
their graduating classes to allow more stu
dents an opportunity to attend the public
Texas college or university of their choice.
Schools like Westlake High School in
Austin, one of the high schools accused of
overreporting students in their top 10 per
cent, have caused problems for universities
such as Texas A&M and the University of
Texas (UT) by creating an excessive num
ber of admission applications. UT is no
longer accepting applications for admis
sion because of the large
number of students who
have already applied.
Bruce Walker, associ
ate vice president of stu
dent affairs and director
of admissions at UT, said
Texas high schools must
follow a specific set of
rules that have been list
ed in House Bill 588 stat
ing the eligibility require
ments for automatic
admission to public Texas
colleges and universities.
The requirements list
ed in House Bill 588 state
that students must grad
uate in the top 10 percent
of their class at a public or private high
school in Texas, apply to a public Texas
college or university before the applica
tion deadline and enroll in a public college
or university in Texas no more than two
years after graduating from high school to
guarantee admission.
Walker said there are several different
ranking methods that Texas high schools
use to calculate their top 10 percent and
some of these methods are flawed.
"There are some rank methods that
put more students in the top 10 percent.
One way is when schools have tied ranks.
They will have two No. 1 students and
then a No. 2. The No. 2 should really be
counted as No. 3," Walker said.
Walker said another ranking method
some schools use to determine the top 10
percent is to calculate a target grade point
average (GPA), the method used at West-
lake to calculate its top 10 percent.
"In the case of Westlake High they
would determine the GPA of the top ten
percent for the last three years and then
set a standard. For example, if the aver
age GPA was 3.6, then students would
have to have a 3.6 to be in the top ten
percent of their class," Walker said.
"Westlake High has since changed their
policy to follow Bill 588."
Ed Fuller, research and policy spe
cialist for the Charles A. Dana Center, an
organized college research unit at the
University of Texas, said House Bill 588
is an effective law that has helped keep
the process fair.
"This is a great way to reward kids,"
Fuller said. "However, there is still a
small set in some high schools where
students in the top 10
percent are not pre
pared to go to UT or
Texas A&M or any oth
er elite school. Schools
like UT and Texas A&M
need to make sure these
students that are in the
top 10 percent are pre
pared to attend their
university."
David Gardner, assis
tant commissioner for
planning and informa
tion resources for the
Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board said
the coordinating boa/d
will meet with adminis
trative directors of the board and schools
will be reminded of the rules, stated in
House Bill 588, that every high school
should be following.
"It is very simple, schools just can't
have more than 10 percent in their top 10,"
Gardner said. "I have spoken with some
admissions directors and they feel like the
top 10 percent rule is a good thing."
Walker said there are several ways to
overcome high schools exaggerating their
See related column on Pg.5
top 10 percent.
"The [Texas Higher Education Board]
could write a letter to remind high schools
of the policy, or they might write the same
kind of letter to the principals to have
them certify that their ranking policy fol
lows [House Bill] 588."
Fuller said high schools will follow the
policies now that this issue is exposed.
"I think when people are aware uni
versities know what is going on, they will
be ready to follow the rules," Fuller said.
If the average
GPA was 3.6,
then students
would have to
have a 3.6 to
be in the top
ten percent of
their class. 7 '
— Bruce Walker
director of admissions at UT
igTegJSie Five bodies found, S&M
iANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - 7
't on Monday announced'
ision to strip Gen. ^
>chet of his immunity ft
;ecution, leaving Chil
dictator facing a long lei- HARRISONVILLE, Mo. (AP) —
le over the human rifThe bodies of five women have been
ses committed under hist found in barrels in a storage locker
Ipponents of the former aric j a belonging to a man who
i cheered and wept L' Jg^. wornen over the Internet for
e Pinochet s defense sac } ornasocb j s tj c sex authorities said
i it would appeal the rul .
outlines of which were leaf 111 est - a y-
ie media two weeks ago. 1 he f,rst two bodies were found
he Santiago CourtofAppe Sat urday on his property in LaCygne,
:d 13-9 on May 23 to rerft Kan. Three more bodies in 55-gallon
congressional immi/ drums were discovered Monday at a
>chet enjoys as a senate storage locker rented by the man
He faces 110 lawsuits about 30 miles away in Raymore, Mo.
xshalf of those killed orp John Edward Robi 5 6 _ CO n-
dunng his 17-year rule. . ,
n releasing the 55-pa6eh slllcred y aspect in all five deaths -
l court President Ry a PP eared in court in Kansas on Mon-
esteros said the 22 memtfc on charges he sexually assaulted
ne court "resolved that two women at hotels. His $250,000
grounds to begin a csfbail was raised to $5 million,
inst Pinochet for the right" The two women told authorities
atorship that ended in b they objected to him photographing
hnochet s lawyers have them and said he brutalized them in a
' y" aPPey 1 to the Supif w lhat wenl b d wbat lh in _
irt within the five days aP ^ '
. T-, r tended. One ot the women had trav-
er law. The former dictate
ng 110 lawsuits filed by eled from Texas to have a sexua l en-
3 of the regime that tookt :coun ter with Robinson in April.
1 a bloody 1973 COUp. 1 he five victims are believed relat
ed to Robinson's alleged Internet rela
tionships with women interested in
sadomasochism. He was known to use
the screen name "slavemaster" in his
computer correspondence and some
times called himself James Turner in
person, said Paul Morrison, the district
attorney in Johnson County, Kan.
An autopsy on one victim showed
blunt trauma to the head, and autop
sies on the others are expected to show
similar injuries, said Chris Koster,
prosecutor for Cass County, Mo.
Saturday's discovery followed a
three-month missing persons investi
gation. Robinson had rented the lock
er for at least five years, Morrison said.
"I can say one thing: The bodies (in
the field) appear to have been in those
barrels for some time," Morrison said.
"The bodies in Raymore have proba
bly been there longer."
In Kansas, about 20 investigators
— including some from the FBI —
continued to search Robinson's
property. Crews planned to drain a
pond on the land.
Two new golf courses compete
for patronage, set to open this fall
Anna Bishop
The Battalion
Traditions Golf and Country Club and Mira-
mont Development Corporation will be compet
ing with each other for more than 120,000 residents
when they debut next fall, according to
City of Bryan planner, Joey Dunn.
Dave Elmendorf, managing direc
tor for Miramont, said they will begin
the first phase of construction after
meeting with course designer, Robert
Trent Jones, Jr. and taking construction
bids next week.
The first phase will consist of a 22-
hole golf course, a club house equipped
with tennis courts and a swimming pool,
in addition to 314 future residential lots.
Don Adams, owner of the Miramont
property, said that it will be an exclusive golf course.
"Mr. Adams' vision is to create a world-class
community," Elmendorf said. "Membership at the
upscale private club will be limited to ensure tee
time availability and exceptional personal service."
Dunn said Traditions is a city-sponsored pro
ject, in a partnership with Texas A&M, and will
appeal primarily, but not exclusively, to Universi
ty former students.
The Traditions Golf and Country Club will
feature a 27-hole signature designed course by
Jack Nicklaus and his son. Jack Nicklaus II,
and, like Miramont, will be a "members-only"
community.
Both the Traditions and Miramont golf cours
es will provide lush grass and mature trees amid
rolling hills, Dunn said.
Dunn said he expects there to be little conflict
between the two developing communities.
"There will competition between the two de
velopment projects, but I believe the Bryan-Col-
lege Station community is capable of handling
both communities," Dunn said.
"There are enough avid golfers and residents
in the surrounding area to move in and support
both projects."
"We have concentrated our efforts on design
and construction," Elmendorf said.
"Since the unveiling of Miramont in April, we
have had many inquiries about membership and
lot pricing. This information will be
available very soon and it will be a
great value."
Elmendorf said signs are starting to
go up on property.
According to Tom Coyle, Commu
nications Officer for the City of Bryan,
Traditions is recruiting former Univer
sity students and golf fans in the Brazos
Valley to join as founding members.
"The importance of a city to attract
outside tourism money is critical for
smaller cities like Bryan and College Station. We
hope to see continual growth and development
throughout the project's completion," Coyle said.
The two new golf and country clubs will be lo
cated in Bryan, but on opposite ends of the city.
Traditions will be located in west Bryan, just west
of 2818. Miramont will be located in east Bryan,
bordered by Briarcrest Drive and Boonville Road.