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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2001)
Battalion News Radio: 1:57 p.m. KAMU 90.9 arrested in Colorado One commits suicide, others still at large In WOODLAND PARK, Colo. (AP) — Acting on a tip, authorities on Monday captured four of the seven convicts who broke out of a Texas prison nearly six weeks ago and allegedly gunned down a policeman on Christmas Eve. A fifth inmate killed him self inside a motor home that lad been surrounded by au- horities in this foothills com munity about 50 miles south- est of Denver. The whereabouts of the wo other inmates were un- nown. Authorities said they nay have been in Woodland 'ark as recently as Sunday nd may have left to get nore money. “The story is by no means over,” said Mark Mershon, the top FBI official in Col orado. “We have two suspects that are still on the loose.” This story is by no means over.” Mark Mershor FBI official The heavily armed in mates — including murder ers, rapists and armed rob bers — had puzzled and alarmed authorities by re maining together after bluffing their way out of prison Dec. 13. The slaying of the Dallas-area officer 11 days later only increased fears that the inmates might want to go out in a blaze of gunfire. Among those arrested was George Rivas, 30, the sus pected ringleader who was serving a life sentence for robbery and kidnapping. In vestigators have portrayed Rivas as fearless and shrewd with a powerful hold over the others, but authorities said he expressed remorse as he ad mitted to the slaying of the policeman. “He stated that he had a change of heart, change of life and he wanted this to end,” said State Patrol Trooper Eric Zachareas, who was at the convenience store where Rivas and two others were arrested. Rivas had dyed his hair blonde and another inmate had dyed his hair orange in an apparent attempt to avoid scrutiny, Zachareas said. He also said some of the fugitives may have been at a Colorado Springs bar late Saturday. “Apparently, they were out partying,” he said. The convicts arrived in the area on Jan. 1, said Teller County Sheriff Frank Fehn. He offered no other details of | their activities, nor how they covered the more than 800 miles from the prison in south Texas. Authorities said a week end tip prompted by the show “America’s Most Wanted” led to the capture. QmrWn^lqqs Dec 13,12000 - TTw gang1t>rea>«_ mm of the Connalty Uniton Kenedy, southeast of San Antonio I Dec 15, 2000-TWo of the | fugitives, ringleader George Rivas | and Donald Newbury, are suspected | of robbing a Radio Shack in I Pearland, a suburb southwest of i Houston Dec, 24, 2000 - The convicts are suspected of robbing an Oshman s sporting goods store in Irving and killing responding officer Aubrey Hawkins. Jan. 3, 2001 - The U S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in San Antonio charges the men with weapons violations. An autopsy report is released showing that the slain Irving officer suffered 11 gunshot wounds - six in the head - and was run over by a vehicle. Jan. 4, 2001 - FBI agents in the Dallas area file separate federal charges of unlawful flight to avoid federal prosecution for capital murder, making the manhunt nationwide. Jan. 11, 2001 - The Texas Board of Criminal Justice releases a "serious incident review," which says prison staff missed opportunities to prevent J the escape. I Jan 15. 2001 - The FBI adds ($140,000 to the $300,000 reward ■fund. ] Jan. 22, 2001 - Law enforcement officers outside Colorado Springs, 1 Colo., arrest four of the seven and a (fifth commits suicide. RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion Student assaulted on campus Student rule changes finalized I) Uniuersitu can P unish students or off-campus misconduct !) Students must take at least 12 hours at B&M to be enrolled full time Undergrads must fiaue T.0 GPR to enroll in graduate courses attes at fittp//stoxtent-rules tamu edu RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion By David Johnson The Battalion Annual changes to student rules, which usually occur in the fall semester, arrived in the spring semester this year instead. . “Final approved revi sions -had not been re turned prior to the start of the fall semester,” said Brent Paterson, Dean of the Department of Student Life. Changes affect poli cies on registration, stu dent conduct code and sexual assault. Until this semester, any undergraduate or graduate student was re quired to have at least six registered hours to run for or hold an elected of fice at A&M. Now, grad uate-students can run if they are taking fewer than six hours. The idea for the new rule originated in 1999 when Tracey Forman was working on a mas ter’s degree project that required a proposal of a fictitious policy. As a graduate student and a student worker, she knew that graduate stu dents’ larger workloads make taking six hours difficult. Using the class room assignment to tackle this problem, she turned her “fictitious” proposal into a reality. “I wanted to give grad students the same oppor tunities as undergraduate students,” she said. Forman proposed to the Graduate Student Council in January 2000 that graduate students taking fewer than six credit hours be allowed to run for office. Changes in state laws also affected student rules. The Cleary Act requires all state-spon sored schools to report crime statistics annually. Kim Novak, director of Student Judicial Ser vices, said the law al lows the University to hold students account able for off-campus mis conduct related to stu dent organizations, such as fraternity parties. Registration rules have been modified to clarify that a student must be registered for 12 hours at A&M to achieve full-time student status. “You can’t split six and six between A&M and Blinn; it has to be A&M only,” said Rob See Rules on Page 2. By Brady Creel The Battalion A 19-year-old Texas A&M student was assaulted at about 12:30 a.m. Monday as he walked on the A&M Golf Course, said Bob Wiatt, director of the University Police Department (UPD). The student, whose name has not been released for se curity reasons, was walking on the jogging path along George Bush Drive when he heard footsteps behind him. Wiatt said the student stepped to the side, assuming that the oncoming footsteps were those of a jogger. How ever, the person struck the student in the back of the head with an unknown ob ject, knocking him to the ground. As the student fell, the assailant grabbed the stu dent’s backpack, ripping one of the straps off. “He went into the young man’s pocket, took his wal let and fled,” Wiatt said. “[The student] described the, assailant as a Caucasian or Hispanic male, approxi mately 6 feet tall, clothed in all black and a hat.” The student's wallet was later found and the contents scattered on the ground. “The only things taken were the Texas driver’s li cense and $7,” Wiatt said. Further details of the in cident are sketchy, Wiatt said, and the investigation is ongoing. One factor that played an important role in the assault was the student’s use of his cell phone. Wiatt said the student's girlfriend’s phone number was programmed in the phone’s one-touch mem ory, and the student was able to call her. She alerted the police, who responded with in minutes. “The cell phone got im mediate attention,” Wiatt said. Since the assailant was not identified, he has not been apprehended, he said. Although patrols have not been increased, UPD offi cers are especially alert to suspicious activity. Wiatt said students must take a proactive role in safe ty on campus, and despite popular misconceptions, the campus is not always a safe place. “This is nothing more than a microcosm of society on this campus,” he said. “You have to be alert and if you are walking, thinking about your next class, there are people out there looking forward to making you a victim.” Wiatt said it is impossible to tell if this was an isolated incident, but students should take precaution when walk ing by themselves. “If you have two or more people, it is very un likely that anything would happen,” Wiatt said. See Assault on Page 12. ood Services gets edmological update Touch-screen registers cause few problems, new hours established Ih Shannon Galary Tin ’ Battalion I Adjusting to new hours and new equip- [«ent caused a few headaches last week 'lr the Food Services Department and the students it feeds, but ■ficials say the ■oblems are only short term. I The checkout Huipment at campus lining centers was Wire than 10 years old ||d severely in need an upgrade, said Imputer systems knager Jon Gardner. ^ foraf “The cash registers new (> v vere old and slow, and jningp hcy didn’t provide a .rientaWhole lot of flexibili- )f q 0 (: y,” Gardner said. ■ He said the old , nKllA /quipment was so out- ariuaf® 6 ^ that it was diffi- i nil an anuaF ebrual ebruaf' ebruaf' cult to find replace ment parts. The new system uses the ethernet in stead of telephone lines and allows Aggie Bucks, cash and meal plans to be processed at one register. The new system, which will cost about $400,000, will be up graded as new soft ware becomes neces sary and available. Food Service work ers have hit some snags trying to use the new computers, and many students’ cards are being rejected. “The card readers on the new terminals are not as sensitive as the old card readers,” Gardner said. Mary McFarland, a student worker at Sbisa Dining Hall and freshman sociology major, attributes some of the problems to the large number of new workers and the need for more training on the new computer system. “Once they get up and running, they'll be fine,” McFarland said. “There’s still a few kinks to work out.” The new hours for the Sbisa and Com mons Dining Halls also caused some un expected problems, said Cynthia Zawieja, associate director of Food Services. Sbisa and the Com mons are now open for dinner on Sunday evenings but closed See Food on Page 6. Student worker and senior geology major Kate Wiederkeher uses one of the new touch screen computer cash registers at the Commons Market STUART VILLANUEVA/The Battalion to serve a customer on Monday. The new registers have been installed at all Food Services dining lo cations on campus. Sbisa Dining Hall begins Internet access program Degree hours change bmaF Wnculty Senate (intends engineering criteria J ly Brandie Liffick j- kiosk Battalion iion cfeWThe Faculty Senate approved ijjBny changes to the Dwight Look HHlege of Engineering’s curriculum its monthly meeting Monday. If rgettwoved by Texas A&M President t Kafr. Ray M. Bowen, the changes will c fi^ar in the 2000-01 course catalog, he biomedical engineering de ment decreased the number of -/ours needed to graduate from 135 !■ 1030 hours. The nuclear engineer- ng department decreased the total number of hours needed for a degree from 135 to 132 hours. The aero space and mechanical engineering departments each eliminated two ki nesiology credits that are no longer required by the core curriculum. The emeritus status policy now includes faculty members who die while employed by the University. Faculty members can be awarded emeritus status if they are in good standing when they die, and if the See Senate on Page 12. By Tamra Russell The Battalion After receiving a facelift last year, Sbisa Dining Hall will leap into the 21 st century with a new pro gram called E-meals that allows stu dents with laptop computers to ac cess the Internet while eating. “We thought since so many peo ple had laptops they could bring them in and work while they eat,” said Cynthia Zawieja, associate di rector of the Food Services Depart ment. “It’s kind of like a cyber cafe.” Jon Gardner, computer systems manager for Food Services, said he has received a lot of requests for an Internet cafe, but getting enough computers and maintaining them would be too difficult. Gardner said any Macintosh lap top with an Airport, or a PC with a wireless card that is compatible with an 802.1 lb wireless network proto col, will work in the building. “Most laptop computers come with an Airport or wireless card,” Gardner said. “Then students will have to run virtual private network (VPN) client on their laptop to get access to the network.” “We’re not charging the students anything for the service and it does n’t cost us much because we need it for our staff anyway, so it’s just a perk that we can give back to the students,” Gardner said. Gardner said Food Services does not know how many students will use the service. “We can run 20 to 30 users per base station, and we have three base stations set up for student use,” Gardner said. “If we end up having more than 30 users per base station, we will add more base stations.” • Right now, students without VPN client on their computers will not be able to use the wireless ser vice in Sbisa, but Gardner said it will soon be possible. Sbisa is the only location on campus set for wireless service, but Gardner said he hopes that more lo cations will offer service once the network is finalized. “My goal is to have every Food Service location offer wireless ser vice by the end of the year,” Gard ner said. “The long-term goal is to have the entire campus covered by a wipeless umbrella so you can ac cess the Web from anywhere, even outside, but that is still a couple of years down the road.” Property missing from hall By Brady Creel The Battalion Three Spence Hall residents filed complaints with University Police De partment Monday, reporting that items were missing from their rooms after they returned from winter break. Bob Wiatt, director of the Universi ty Police Department (UPD), said the reports indicated that jewelry and mon ey were taken from the rooms with no evidence of forced entry. “Somebody had to use a key to get in,” Wiatt said. Amy Sandlin, a sophomore civil en gineering major, said her pearl necklace was taken during the break. She said that Saturday night was the first time she had wanted to wear the necklace since she returned, but when she opened her jew elry box, it was not there. To ensure she had not taken her necklace home during the break and forgotten it, she waited until Sunday and called home to see if she had left the necklace there. Sandlin said the necklace was the only item of any value left in her room. She said her roommate was not miss ing anything, but she had taken almost everything home with her. Sue Foster, Residence Life assistant director for residence education, said that items are often stolen before the break, sometimes weeks before resi dence halls are dosed. “Sometimes we have (reported theft) situations, when in reality, some thing could have been missing for some time,” Foster said. Foster and Wiatt said reports of missing personal items after a break are not unusual. “It is pretty common, especially during winter break when people are not in their rooms,” Wiatt said. Tom Murray, manager for custodi al and maintenance services, said two access card databases are maintained See Spence on Page 6.