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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 13, 2000)
Wednesday, July ^ S&tu -f;n<\W^ \s Cova-^SC-j lc«.vlr\jKi »i4V-* o»\J«$ 4tA peiANiiii rf cVsoCo1a.+«. +o COhSok ■vftV'j ov-lo r» £5 i-«.p CohclASif Listen to KAMI! 90.9 FM at 1:57 p.m. for details on a College Station man arrested for arson. • Check out The Battalion online at battalion.tamu.edu. • There will be no tagging Lack of graffiti at Texas A&M saves money, demonstrates respect for school Page 3 Weather: Partly cloudy with a hiqh of 98 and a low of 75. THURSDAY July 13,2000 Volume 106 ~ Issue 167 6 pages i * I 1«1 N k’J =OMI ftV NA tests fail to clear inmate given reprieve ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — New DNA tests by the FBI point to Ricky McGinn or a maternal rela tive as the source of a pubic hair found inside the body of Stephanie Flanary, 12, the convicted man's step daughter. The paper noted that no member of McGinn's fami- ive failed to clear a Texas inmate given a re- ieve by Gov. George W. Bush last month just inutes before he was to be executed on rape d murder convictions, according to USA Today. The way Bush has dealt with the death nalty in two terms as Texas governor has en a campaign issue as he awaits formal jmination next month as the Republican indidate for president. Sources close to the case told the newspa- r in Wednesday's editions that recent tests BUSH ly has been linked to the case. He was facing execution the night of June 1 after being convicted in 1995 of raping and killing the girl and exhausting all appeals. But Bush granted a reprieve less than 30 minutes before the scheduled execution to allow time for DNA testing. McGinn, 43, and his attorneys wanted additional DNA testing, which they hoped would exonerate him. Although DNA evi dence was used by prosecutors to help con vict McGinn of the May 1993 rape and ax slaying of the girl, his lawyers contended more sophisticated testing now available would help his case. They argued that new DNA tests proving the hair was not McGinn's would show he did not rape the girl. Without rape as an ag gravating circumstance of the slaying, McGinn would not be subject to the death penalty on the murder conviction. USA Today said the new McGinn tests were completed last month and filed with Stephen Ellis, a judge in Brown County, Texas, where the crime occurred. It said a second set of tests being done by other labs could rule out McGinn as the source of semen left at the crime scene, but quoted sources close to the case as saying that appeared unlikely. If Ellis decides the tests do not exonerate McGinn, he could set a new execution date. The judge is schedule to rule sometime after Aug. 15. USA Today said an FBI spokesperson de clines to comment on the case and that Bush spokesperson Linda Edwards said there would be no comment from the governor while "the matter is before the courts." ;atmen inbabie n u linton struggles for process dvantage from AZT wasovs ied by the large number from other infant diseases,siifl rhea. dor said that while passingL THURMONT, Md. (AP) — President h breast milk is a seriousdile: Jinton continued to struggle Wednes- /e don t have to solve thatpr a y t 0 p US )-i Israel and the Palestinians order to start these regimens i oser t 0 a settlement of their half-centu- it AIDS transmission at birl yconfiic)- over Holy Land. ? treatment, which costsak observing a news blackout. White ,olves one dose of nevirap L use spokesperson loe Lockhart de- ; labor, one after birth, plus® clin e d to say whether y the newborn. Dr. DayaMwlteisssi Tm , r , , A L , r , 1..JJ luesday s first day of the University of Natal»IfLJM , , , , . . . . J talks had been suc- this with a combinational®g « Ifi , , ,. Tl . \/l mWK U. im cesstul. While the at- ;ht weeks after birth, kink- ,M ' ' M ^sphere of the tes were virtually idertaM ijk ' Mi Camp David summit it in the nevirapine babiesanffl \ Ih| w,th lsraeh Prime it in the comparison group, Ministei Ehud Baiak ae message is very simple, 1 sail CLINTON and Palestinian ley. "Providing womenwilu leader Yasser Arafat dose of nevirapine, youcanrtras described as good, Lockhart spoke ;nsomber terms of the task at hand. by at least one-third the m from mother to child.” Friday, Boehringer Ingeleic "We went into this knowing it would >e a struggle; we have not been disap- he drug free to developii to help stop i of HIV. Corrections makes nevirapine, said it« >ointed by that," Lockhart said after Clin- iil Jn met again with Barak. "That's just mother-fO’cM Me thing that I think will continue from ow until we pick up and leave here." Israeli and Palestinian participants Iso were observing the code of silence nposed by Clinton. Clinton tentatively plans to wind up [is hands-on mediation on July 19. But -entral Baptist Churd ^ also has said there was no "artificial > chosen to breakwitf 3dli ne" to the talks. ; Baptist General Coi ition of Texas, te's subset of uthern Baptist Coi ition. Ml books featured 3 Writer's Block sectic Aggielife are courtei Barnes and Noble. “We went into this knowing it would be a struggle; we have not been dis appointed by that.” — Joe Lockhart White House spokesperson An accord would seal a legacy for as a peacemaker. No other foreign licy issue has a higher priority for him his final six montlas in office. Lockhart said Clinton was wrestling >lice rescue With all the central issues. These include immi<*raht^ lllsalem,s future ' claims b y 2 mini 00 tO I 111 m I lUSlestinian refugees to homes in Israel, the REGGIO CALABRIA, Italy status of some 195,000 Jewish residents on -Mlice rescued 228 woulljest Bank land Arafat claims for the migrants Tuesday from a s Palestinians, and his aspirations for a state, t ran aground off Italyssof anc j Arafat joined Clinton at coasb dinner Tuesday night, dining on beef The vessel, an old f 15 tenderloin and salmon fillet. Afterward, at carrying mostly 1^'the president met briefly with Arafat. •ds and Moroccans. incBf, Th are w jn a serious children, hit a sarriba*U „ Lockharl said i£. l0 'P° lc ® sai • Mstill, Clinton found time to watch the Officials escorted the Pol A110 . fits to a detention cen t e ^' a ™ngs of the All-Star baseball game nt’ Anna di crotone aoJT televislonwithhlsdau S hter ' Chelsea ' ,ted two Turkish citizen$T ls comfortable cabin, and took his /ed to be crew members - 0 ^ Budd ^ for a walk Wednesday Police suspect that the J m png before meeting with advisers. : from the port of Izmir, W' j At the same time, Lockhart said. Human trafficking is a# ere are meetings going on, both for- s problem along Italy’s mal and informal, all over the place.... astline With smugglersCthere's a certain informality out there ; refugees — mainly tint's adding to the contact." sovo, Turkey and North® large sums for the jour- See Summit on Page 4. What’s up doc? Peter Mes, a second year graduate student, inspects genetically-engineered, maroon carrot plants for maturity before harvest at the Vegetable Genetics Greenhouse on West Campus. Missing area road signs may cause car accidents Maureen Kane The Battalion Road signs can occasionally be ’seen displayed in windows of on-campus res idence halls and apartments in Bryan-Col- lege Station. Many students who steal these road signs do not realize their theft is a punishable offense. Although not a common problem on the campus of Texas A&M or in the cities of College Station and Bryan, road sign theft does occur. "It's something we see around here from time to time," said Dan Jones, pub lic information officer for the College Station Police Department (CSPD). "In my experience, the signs that are stolen are street signs and highway signs. These are more common than traffic con trol signs - stop, yield, or sp^ed limit signs. It could be dangerous if the signs stolen are traffic control signs." Jones said there are no specific areas from which signs are stolen, but Allan Baron, a sergeant in the Crime Prevention Unit for the University Police Department (UPD), said he grew up in the vicinity of Farm Road 2000, and those signs had to be replaced almost weekly. Baron said a number of different areas experience this problem, depending on what year it is. People have different reasons for stealing signs. "Sometimes it's just a sign that they got to remind them of an outing," Baron said. "There's really not one set area or type of sign - there is no pattern of theft. The fact that a lot of street signs around here have the A&M logo on them can be a big deal, and cause them to be stolen." Bot) Wiatt, director of security and (UPD), said sign theft has not been a big concern for the University. "In the past, we have found road signs left in dorm rooms as students moved out," Wiatt said. "If we can identify who stole the signs, it would be a misde meanor theft. We haven't filed any charges, but we do know that students have taken road signs." The city of Bryan has similar problems with road-sign thefts. "We have signs stolen all the time. As soon as we find them, we contact the roads department and they put them back up," said Harvey Branch, a sergeant with the Bryan Police Department (BPD). "Most of the city of Bryan signs have a sticker on the back, telling where the signs are from. They can tell where they came from by the number on the back of the sign." Baron said that theft of road signs is not a new problem and he recalls once en tering a fraternity house which had a stop light in one of rooms. However, he said "the police have not caught anybody re cently stealing signs." Baron said the punishment for stealing road signs depends on the value of the sign. "If if is worth $50 or less, it's a class C misdemeanor," Baron said. "The violator can be arrested and fined up to $500, but will not serve jail time. If the value is be tween $50 and 500, this constitutes a class B misdemeanor, which can accrue a fine up to $2000, and up to 180 days in jail. A person can also be charged if they are in possession of a sign found to be stolen property, but this is not something we deal with on a regular basis." Wiatt, Baron, Jones and Branch all said they are not aware of any accidents caused by the absence of stolen road signs. However, Baron said that road-sign theft could be dangerous. "There's always potential for an acci dent to happen. If someone steals a street sign which may cause an accident, they could be held criminally responsible for their actions," Baron said. There is a stop sign missing at the cor ner of Old College and Ranger. UT regents propose plan for flagship universities . AUSTIN (AP) - - A committee of University of Texas regents released a plan Tuesday that recommends that legislators increase the funding of public universities by designating more institutions as "flagships." Supporters of the 30-year plan suggest naming UT-Dallas and UT- San Antonio as well as the Universi ty of Houston so-called flagships, or schools that are considered the state's premier universities. Universities that are under the designation offer a greater variety of doctorate, graduate and undergradu ate programs than other universities. The changes are necessary be cause of lagging enrollment trends and a growing economy and to keep up with public universities in other states Uike CaHforriia, which offer students choices and quality, the re gents said. "We now know from California that excellence can be developed in multiple institutions, of smaller stu dent populations," Regent Woody Hunt wrote in the report. "We now know this approach can position a sys tem for growth over the long term." The report says Texas produces college graduates at a slower rate than the rest of the nation. The next census will show the state is 5 per cent below the national average, ac cording to the plan. The consequences of an unedu cated workforce as well-as a growing minority population are reasons the plan must be implemented, the re gents contend. Minority students typically score .lower on college entrance exams, forcing them to attend regional uni- “We need to build that pipeline to start children to get them eligible, convince them to come to college and then be ready for them.” — Charles Miller University of Texas regent versifies not currently considered flagship. The lack of choice for stu dents will ultimately hurt the state, the report said. "We know that we're going to have a significant number of people for whom we do not now have seats in college classrooms," said Regent Charles Miller. "We need to build that pipeline to start children to get them eligible, convince them to come to college and then be ready for them." The regents' report will be sub mitted to the Legislature when the session begins in January 2001. "The University of Texas System is going to put together our own plan and perhaps lead the state of Texas in showing them what ought to be done," said Regent Patrick Oxford. Public universities are divided into three groups: two levels of doc toral / research, first and second tier, offer at least 20 doctorates per year in a broad range of subjects in addition to various undergraduate degrees. Comprehensive, which offers a variety of degrees including some doctorates, and master's/baccalau reate are the others. Currently, only Texas A&M Uni versity and UT are considered top- tier researcli universities, or flag ships, in the state. The idea in the regents' plan was first introduced in January by then- Chancellor William H. Cunning ham, whose $2.97 billion plan called for A&M and UT to receive full state funding to compete with other large universities.
