Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 7, 2001)
•lacement els -ch after poll ;s 6,8,9 and ))\m S')) ay June 7, 2001 Dlume 107 - Issue 151 6 pages >y told authi .he family p ews fn Brief Nation tmiturewetailpVeigh denied a mstormsvMy Q f execution d that Aria$;m ENVER (AP) — A i ud g e iter to theho® ed T,moth y McVeigh a ® ier stay of execution e ®|lBlnesclay / saying nothing in pBfly disclosed FBI docu- Bits could change the fact ||H he was the "instrument of r-v£\/tBh and destruction" in the City bombing. McVeigh's lawyers said they ' Hid file an appeal Thursday. . r'llV 6 ^3-year-old Gulf War vet- I V ||H is set to die by injection lion day at a federal prison in HB 5 ^ aute ' * n< ^- ;rage Com:. After a hearing that lasted a -ant staffers tie more than an hour, U.S. ►olicetore: 'Strict Judge Richard Matsch ol violarionfli he was shocked that the , relv use 911. ^V'jrnment waited until six thl ,. syf before McVeigh s original C i (ecution date to begin turning d ° n^rH m ° re than 4 ' 4o ° p a 9 es » call 1 : i -x-gments i n the case. isrepresentao* ut p ie brushed aside je veryunusiLj^ejgPj'j j-q f orce a hear- 3arbaraBusli ,g over th e mistake and said in possession^ findings of the jury that ina foratte:onvicted McVeigh in 1997 ohol with h ill stand. areCteC.urrogate mother c Day wickhjives birth to quads -iend of the B.- ;a cited on a chi- PHOENIX (AP) — A woman .r iii posse® ' ho volunteered to be a sur- ettei Judl ) 9 ate mother for her best j ’ iend gave birth Wednesday app apologia, 1 re ^ gir | s and a boy st luesdatni: j|-, e f our ^eijygrgj-j y Cesarean section, were be- evpd to be the nation's first etpf surrogate quadruplets, ccbrding to Good Samaritan eglonal Medical Center. ■It was just a great experi- nep," father David Behler )lq television station KTVK. I've never had anything like tat before in my life." Je and wife, Stacey, had ied unsuccessfully to have a )ild for 1 3 years. 5 /lHnend Debbie Vibber gave IHh Friday to a boy at 7:01 ^m,, followed by the three rls, each a minute apart. 2 year-old pitcher as a perfect game IaRPER WOODS, Mich. P) — Little League pitcher >bert Knight's game was orfect and then some: Not ily did he pitch a perfect ^ime, but he struck out all 1 8 Hers. ll could tell the other team ^dn't really want to come up bat anymore after a while," ad the 5-foot-3, 100-pound light. The only imperfect thing iout the 1 2-year-old's six-in- ,ng game Monday: Mom id Dad weren't there to see Keith Knight was driving (n Ryan to another baseball ime, and D'Ann Knight'was <aying softball at a field down e street. Mnight also had three hits the Tigers' 7-0 victory over e Giants in a game be- ^/een two teams from this atroit suburb. socially lived and n social, question orium of leafing is Lives brary im Opinion • Don t check your guns Bill removes cities' rights but offers no .uidvd protection uttalion News Radio: ;L:37 p.m. KAMU 90.9 lvww.thebatt.com 'Now is simply the time' Bowen resigns as president Robin Lewis The Battalion Texas A&M University President Dr. Ray M. Bowen announced his res ignation Wednesday, stating that his decision was made for the benefit of the University and not because of Bon fire or other outside influences. “ft’s been basically a decision driven by the belief that now is simply the time — no other issue and no other agenda,” Bowen said. “There’s always going to he speculation [about Bon fire], but no, it didn’t have anything to do with it.” A&M System Board of Regents Chairman Erie Nye said he has knhwn for a couple of years that Bowen was interested in retiring near the end of his seventh term. “I am infuriated to hear accusations that Bonfire is somehow responsible for him leaving office,” Nye said. “To suggest that it had any bearing on his retirement is unfair and inaccurate.” Milestones of the lay M. Bowen PRESIDENCY Funding for endowed undergraduate scholarships increased by $37 million Appointment of Texas ABM's first female vice president (Ellyn Perrone) and first African-American vice president (Charles Stppial) Creation and implementation of Vision 2020. Texas ABM’s wide-ranging goal of achieving recognition as a consensus Top 10 public university by the year 2020 Establishment of Vision 2020 Matching Chairs program allocating $20 million in additional AUF funds made available by Prop. 17 to establish 20 addibonai endowed faculty chairs Recognition of engineering program by Hispanic Outk>ok as nation's best for Hispanic students Organization of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service and transition from a division of the College of Liberal Arts to an independent academic unit Establishment of the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum Texas A&M sports teams won seven Big 12 regular-season and six tournament titles RUBEN DELUNA/Twe Battalion Bowen believes that change is good for every organization, including A&M. “The search for my replacement and the adjustment to a new president will create a wave of renewal on campus,” he said. He said this change will push every employee, every academic department and administrative unit to evaluate their relevance and commitment to A&M’s goals. “I simply think it is time to initiate this renewal,” Bowen said. Bowen said his final year as presi dent at A&M will be just as full and ac tive as his past years, with final deci sions on Bonfire still pending and the planning of the University’s 12 5th year celebration. Bowen, who will have served eight years by the end of next June, is the fourth longest-serving president in A&M’s 125-year history. During Bowen’s tenure as presi dent, A&M went through many ad vancements. Among those included were the recognition of the engineer ing program by Hispanic Outlook as the nation’s best for Hispanic students and the establishment of the George Bush School of Government and Pub lic Service. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said Bowen will leave a lasting imprint on Texas A&M because of all he has done for the University. “With calm, steady leadership, See Bowen orj Page 2. ANDY HANCOCK/The Battalion Above: Dr. Ray M. Bowen announced his resignation at a press conference Wednesday morning. Bottom left: Bowen, Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. J. Malon Southerland, and 2000 student body president Forrest Lane at Muster. Bottom right: Bowen answers questions after the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse. FILE PHOTO/The Battalion FILE PHOTO/The Battalion Gramm dismisses talk he will seek position as A&M's 22nd president WASHINGTON (AP) — Republi can Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas says he is not ready to turn .tail and run to Texas A&M University’s top job just because the Democrats are in charge. Texas A&M Presi dent Dr. Ray M. Bowen’s announce ment Wednesday that he planned to step down next summer has ignited conjecture about whether Gramm, a former A&M pro fessor, would take his place. Gramm said such talk is fantasy. “This is an unhappy time for those who dream of raising taxes and spend- CRAMM ing money in Washington, so I am not surprised that some dream of a land scape from which I am missing,” Gramm said in a statement. “But if any Democrats are hoping that the idea of Tom Daschle as (Senate) majority leader is causing me second thoughts, let me just say that I liked playing of fense, but I loVe playing defense.” Gramm, who announced in January that he would seek re-election in 2002, expects to have held 30 fund-raisers by the end of the month. He already has raised $1 million to add to a $3 million campaign chest, said Gramm spokesman Larry Neal. “So as far as re-election is con cerned, count me in,” Gramm added. “I enjoy beating Democrats, even if I have to do it one at a time.” Talk that Gramm might step down was stoked by Sen. James Jeffords’ recent defection from the Republican Party, which gave Democrats the Senate ma jority. Jeffords officially became an inde pendent Tuesday. His switch shoved Republicans from committee chairmanships, including Gramm from his post as head of the powerful Senate Banking Committee. . Gramm has strong ties to A&M: he was an economics professor at the school and met his wife, Wendy, there. Wendy Gramm, who recently was appointed a Texas A&M[ regent, dismissed sugges tions that he wanted to be A&M’s next president. “He’s got a pretty busy job right now,” she told the Austin American-Statesman. Harris County Republican Party Chairman Gary Polland told the Hous ton Chronicle that he believes Gramm would accept the post if it were offered. “Senator Gramm has wanted three positions in his life,” Polland said. “He wanted to be a United States senator, and he is. He wanted to be president of the United States, and he tried but failed. And he wants to be president of Texas A&M.” Polland did not immediately return a telephone call from The Associated Press. Edward Check, Harris County GOP executive director, said Polland was only stating his opinion. Neal said he did not recall such a statement by Gramm. Students face criminal mischief charges Stuart Hutson The Battalion No court date has been set yet for three Crocker Flail resi dents believed to be responsible for pouring a 55-gallon trash can full of urine, vomit, excre ment and road kill into a hall way of Moore Hall last spring. Ryan Matkin, Daniel Reed and Gary Sanchez have each been charged with two counts of criminal mischief for the April 25 vandalism, said Director of the University Police Depart ment (UPD) Bob Wiatt. They face a class A misdemeanor, punishable by no more than one Crocker residents believed to have poured drum full of urine, excrement into Moore Hall hallway year in jail and/or a fine up to $4,000, and a class B misde meanor, which is punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of no more than $2,000. Wiatt said police believe the three individuals collected the bodily fluids during a party the weekend prior to the incident and then added nine road kill carcasses the next day. The spill seeped into the rooms of two students, damaging personal property. Tom Murray, a student de velopment specialist for the De partment of Residence Life, said the road kill was cleared away by A&M’s pest control service and the area was cleaned and disinfected for blood-born pathogens by custodial services. The area was then inspected by die A&M environmental heal th and safety department and pr o nounced clean. “I don’t know if hazardous was really the word for this,” Murray said. “Health wise, the biggest danger was probably the road kill. The biggest problem was actually the smell, which we couldn’t get rid of for days.” Murray said the total cost of clean-up for the prank was $154.59. Byron Lightsy, a Northside area coordinator, said the three were identified by a Moore Hall resident who said he heard a commotion and saw them run ning out of the hall. “Of course, the police didn’t have anyway to match the names with the faces until they passed by Crocker and hap pened to see the three students outside,” he said. Wiatt said UPD then ob tained an arrest warrant and ap prehended the three on May 10. “It breaks my heart to see people of such a young age ruin a good part of their lives because they wanted to get drunk and do something stupid,” he said. Vice President for Student Afiairs Dr. J. Malon Southerland See Charges on Page 2.