lesday, June 12,
• I
> ■
I
home to bee
use of death v
injection; i
opsy will be p
originally
.e May 16,buttl
ament postponij
after it was™
1 withheld neaij
documents™
ore his 1997m
v:i vi: rNihfv) ,).■/> y
June 13, 2001
Volume 107 ~ Issue 154
6 pages
1
News in Brief
Campus
Internet connection
down after flooding
■ Flooding in Houston caused
campus computers to
ose their primary link to the In
ternet this past Saturday (June
?) at about 9:30 a.m.
■ Although A&M's primary
in to the Internet has not
■en restored, students are
iblo to access the internet on
■npus computers through an
alternate link provided by the
■iversity of Texas since Sun-
The service has been and
/vill continue to be slow be
cause the alternate link pro-
/ides only an amount of about
am sixth the bandwidth of the
■rmal primary link.
■There is no estimated time
as to when the primary link will
■ available.
Stawser accepts a
position as dean
■Jerry R. Strawser has accept-
adlthe position of dean of the
joyvry Mays College and Grad-
jate School of Business at
Texas A&M. Strawser, who has
aeen the interim dean of Uni-
/efsity of Houston's C.T. Bauer
College of Business since 1999,
A/ill begin his new appoint-
n^nt as dean of A&M's busir
ness school July 1.
■Strawser told Texas A&M
University Relations that the
Lowry Mays College opportu
nity is one of the few he would
consider leaving the University
oTHouston to pursue.
Vhile at Houston, Strawser
)rams
Idery,
riming,
ring,
)ers,
irts,
ets,
irms,
More
received numerous awards and
honors. He was named the
Arthur Anderson* and Co.
Alumni Professor of Accoun
tancy and Taxation, received
the Executive MBA Alumni As-
iociation distinguished Faculty
^ward, the NationsBank Mas
ter Teacher Award, the Melch-
2r Award for Excellence in Re-
earch and co-authored several
jooks on accounting.
Before going to the Univer
ity of Houston, Strawser spent
ive years teaching at Louisiana
itate University.
State
Dfficer charged with
lelping an inmate
escape from prison
USTIN (AP) — A Travis
Behind ^^L- our| tV corrections officer was
RjJT^TT^^harged Tuesday with helping
n inmate escape from the
ounty jail.
■Christopher Troutman, 32,
vho had worked at the jail for
ight months, was charged
dth permitting or facilitating
he June 1 escape of Brian
/loore. Troutman faces up to
!0 years in prison, if convicted,
ffjvloore is still at large. Trout-
BalaDC6 nan was booked on $100,000
_ . ’ on d.
Rotation
I, not the
service.
ieel alignment
>3-8575
lhc Aggie Card
Battalion News Radio:
1 57 p.m. KAMU 90.9
www.thebatt.com
t VlrMi m I A It] J l k f i ^ r W1
University fights copyright
infringement of 12th Man
Mark Passwaters
The Battalion
All Texas A&M students and many
people around the nation have heard of
the “Twelfth Man” tradition in which stu
dents stand throughout football games
just in case they are needed on the field.
What many may not know is that the
phrase “Twelfth Man” is a licensed
trademark of Texas A&M University.
T he University’s collegiate licensing de
partment, in association with the Li
censing Resource Group, is in charge <5f
finding those who violate this license.
In the past, infringers on the trade
mark have included not only small or
ganizations but large ones such as
ESPN. One of the more recent violators
of the trademark was the group Cock-
fans, a group of University of South Car
olina fans based in Moncks Corner, S.C.
On their Website, Cockfancentral.com,
the group dedicated a page to “The 12th
Man Club,” an unofficial fan club for
Gamecock athletics. The site gives fans
a chance to “join over 800 other diehard
Gamecock fans by registering for the
12th Man Club.”
“The 12th Man Club is a new and
unique way to unite behind the Game
cocks ... The idea of the T2th Man’ is
just that — to be the equivalent of the
12th Man for the Gamecocks ... the 12th
Man Club is for Gamecocks who believe
in this team” the site continues.
When asked about the club and the
possibility of an infringement on Texas
A&M’s trademark, University of South
Carolina Athletic Director Dr. Mike
McGee said the school had no knowl
edge of or involvement with the club.
“We’d just assume they (the 12th Man
Club and other unofficial clubs) would
go away,” McGee said.
The 12th Man Club did come to the
attention of A&M’s Collegiate Licens
ing Office and the Licensing Resource
Group, who sent Cockfans a cease and
desist letter on June 4.
“We are requesting your cooperation
in immediately discontinuing the use of
marks owned by Texas A&M Universi
ty by removing all “12th Man” refer
ences from your Website,” the letter
said, adding that legal action may be tak
en if changes are not made within 30
days. As of June 11, no changes to the
site had been made.
“Most of the time, [the infringers]
are cooperative,” said Rosa Rodriguez,
licensing assistant in the Office of Col
legiate Licensing. “They didn’t know
See Copyright on Page 2.
Six Aggies caught in flood,
one drowns awaiting help
Stuart Hutson
The Battalion
Last Friday, six Aggies be
gan on their way to a Bob
Snider concert at the Satellite
Lounge in Houston. The jour
ney left one dead and the rest
thankful for their lives.
Senior information and
operations management ma
jor Chad Garren was killed in
the massive flooding in Hous
ton last weekend. Garren and
two friends, Mark McDavid
and Jeremy Hammond,
pulled out of Garren’s drive
way only to have Garren’s ve
hicle hit with a sudden rush of
water. Neighbors claim the
street was practically dry only
minutes earlier, said Travis
Garren, Chad’s brother and a
junior industrial distribution
major at Texas A&M.
T he water carried the vehi
cle down the street and slowly
began to fill its interior. The
three men climbed out of the
windows in an attempt to swim
to safety, but only managed to
reach a nearby tree.
A neighbor who witnessed
the incident called 911, and a
rescue team arrived almost an
hour later. During the next few
hours, the team pulled two of
them to safety, but when they
retrieved Chad it was too late
— he had already drowned in
the steadily rising water.
“The two that were with him
said that Chad made everyone
feel that everything was going
to be OK by talking and mak
ing jokes,” Travis said. “He took
charge of the situation. He was
so brave and so courageous —
those were the qualities that
made him special.”
The three were suppose to
meet with senior industrial
distribution major Hunter
Jones, senior psychology ma
jor Brooke Mays and senior
journalism major Shane Alli
son at Chad’s house before
leaving for the concert. Be
cause of the bad weather, Al
lison, Mays and Hunter de
cided to go directly to the
concert in Mays’ SUV.
“To know that we might
have been there, and what
might have happened — I just
can’t imagine,” Allison said.
The three made it to the
concert which ended shortly
after 1 a.m. because of a foot-
high flood of water in the
building. Leaving the lounge
at 3 a.m., the three quickly en
countered floodwaters rising
above the hood of Mays’ SUV
In a desperate attempt to find
safely, they parked in a strip
mall’s parking lot which rose
above the flood level.
“It was like an island,
but it was shrinking as
the water kept coming
up,” Allison said. “But
we decided that it was
the safest place to be.
Everything that could
go wrong was going
wrong. All the cell
phones were out be
cause of the flood and
there wasn’t a sign of
police around if some
one decided to panic
and do something
crazy.”
Allison said he then
waded through hip-high
water to a local conven
ience store for supplies
to get them through the
night.
“There was so much
looting,” he said. “Peo
ple were just walking out
SPECIAL TO THE BATTALION
Above: Interstate 10 was under
water Saturday. Below: Shane
Allison (left) and Hunter Jones
(right) overlook a bridge along a
Memorial Park jogging trail in
Houston.
See Flood on Page 2.
SPECIAL TO THE BATTALION
A&M senior dies in Colorado
Stuart Hutson
The Battalion
Senior killed when
Senior recreation, park and tourism sci
ences major Kevin Piskura died Friday near
Rifle, Colo., when his vehicle flipped while
he was traveling from an Astro’s game in
Denver.
Piskura, who was doing an internship
with the Colorado Bureau of Land Man
agement, may be gone, but his friends and
family plan to ensure that he and his unique
view of life is not forgotten.
“He was die type of guy who could walk
into a room of strangers and, ten minutes
later, be everyone’s friend,” said Todd Up
church, Piskura’s longtime friend and
roommate and a senior speech communi
cations major. “He lived life in the moment
and with such a sense of fun that everyone
couldn’t help but find life a little better
when he was around.”
Upchurch said he and other members of
the improvisational comedy team Freudi
an Slip and Piskura’s parents plan to re
member Piskura’s spirit by forming a schol-
his vehicle flipped
arship to fund one student’s participation in
Outward Bound, a semester-long class that
places individuals in a wilderness environ
ment to teach survival and sporting skills.
((
He was the type of guy
who could walk into a
room of stangers and,
ten minutes later, be
everyone's friend.”
— Todd .Upchurch
Piskura's roommate and friend
“There was talk of putting the money to
ward a scholarships that pays for books, but
we figured that that just wouldn’t be Kevin’s
speed,” Upchurch said.
He said Piskura’s participation in the
Rocky Mountains-Colorado Outward
Bound program was a turning point in his
life.
“It was what made him the way that we
knew him,” Upchurch said. “Even now, he
is still living more than he was before.”
Piskura’s father, Jack Piskura, said the ex
perience led to Piskura changing his major
and philosophy of life.
“He was a great kid who had a lot of
plans that would make any parent proud,”
he said. “After going to the Rocky Moun
tains, he was just inspired in a way that kept
me and other people around him inspired.”
Upchurch said Freudian Slip will match
any amount raised by Piskura’s parents. If
the amount is more than the cost of send
ing one student to the Outward Bound pro
gram, the extra will go toward the cost of
another student’s attendance. The money
contributed by Freudian Slip will be taken
from ticket prices for a special show in the
fall dedicated to Piskura.
Student
killed in
accident
Man charged for
the hit-and-run
Elizabeth Raines
& Stuart Hutson
The Battalion
Shorty before 10 p.m. on
Monday, Heidi Heather Hopps,
a Texas A&M senior veterinary
student, was killed in a hit-and-
run accident in Biyan while jog
ging with her husband James
Matthew Hopps, a Houston law
student, who is currently in crit
ical condition.
Bryan Police Department
(BPD) Sergeant Ernie Montoya
said the couple were headed
northbound in the 4100 block of
College Main near Country
Place Apartments and West
Brookside Drive when a pickup
truck driving on the wrong side
of the road struck the two.
Montoya said the BPD re
ceived a call on Monday night
from a witness stating that two
people had been hit by a pickup
truck that fled the scene. The
BPD arrived on the scene with
in minutes only to find that Hei
di had died and James was in
critical condition.
James was taken immediate
ly to St. Joseph Regional
Health Center. Later, he was
flown by Lifedight to Scott &
White Memorial Hospital in
Temple, where he remains in
critical condition.
BPD found the driver of the
truck, 2 5-year-old Chad Shead
of Bryan, approximately one
hour later, when he was involved
in another accident at Old Col
lege Road near Wellborn Road.
Shead’s truck matched the de
scription given earlier by a wit
ness of a 1995-1998 dark pick
up with front damage and the
passenger-side mirror missing.
The. BPD. immediately took
Shead into custody and
charged him with three felony
counts: two counts of failure to
stop and render aid, a third-de
gree felony, and one count of
intoxicated manslaughter, a
second-degree felony.
Heidi’s body was identified
by police Tuesday when her in
ternship supervisor at
Booneville Animal Hospital,
Dr. Laurie Lipsey, reported her
as missing and as resembling
the description of the female
hit-and-run victim.
“I thought she might have
been tired and overslept since
she helped me with emergen
cies Sunday night straight into
a long day Monday,” she said.
“I was very worried that some
thing was wrong when she was
one hour late because’she was
always early and she wasn’t an
swering her phone.
“One of our technicians put
See Student on Page 2. See Accident on Page 2.