Page 2
NEWS
Wednesday, June 13, J 1
—
THE BATTALION
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Continued from Page 7
they were infringing.”
“We have a very strong
trademark,” said Miles Marks,
executive director of the 12th
Man Foundation. “Our colle
giate licensing department
does a great job enforcing all of
our trademarks.”
Another organization that
may be in violation of Texas
Accident
Continued from Page 7
HECTOR V PEDRO
Adrian
together the story in The Eagle
and the address where Heidi
lived and we called the police.”
T he Texas A&M College of
Veterinary Medicine called
ii
[Heidi Hobbs]
was one of our top
students in every
way and she was
so tremendously
popular with all of
her classmates."
Gov. Bush signs a bill that
bans execution of retarded
— Dr. E. Dean Gauge
associate dean for professional
programs for Texas A&M
College of Veterinary Medicine
Heidi’s 125 classmates togeth
er at around 2:30 Tuesday to
tell them what had happened.
Dr. E. Dean Gauge, associate
dean for the professional pro-
Student
Rick Perry remains undecided on whether to sign bill in Texas Continued from Page 7
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Jeb
Bush signed into law Tuesday a bill banning
the execution of mentally jg
retarded killers.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry,
meanwhile, said he hasn’t
decided whether to sign a
similar bill, veto it or let it
become law without his
signature as a Sunday
deadline approaches.
Perry said Tuesday he
PERRY
was worried the measure passed by his leg
islature would fundamentally change the
system of jury trials.
The Florida law does not specify how low
an inmate’s IQ level must be for the inmate
to be considered retarded, but does define
inmates as retarded if they have below-nor-
mal intellectual functions and behavior. An
analysis by legislative employees found that
the bill would likely spare any inmate with
an IQ of 70 or less.
“This legislation will provide much-
needed protection for the mentally retard
ed in the judicial process,” Bush said in a
statement.
The law allows inmates to be examined by
two court-appointed independent experts to
determine whether they are retarded. De
fense attorneys and prosecutors can also
present evidence from their own experts.
“It’s a very good development in that it’s
a recognition that people who are mentally
limited are not as morally culpable,” said
Martin McClain, an attorney who has rep
resented many death row inmates.
The law does not apply to any of the 371
people now on Florida’s death row.
Under Florida’s old law, convicted killers
could use evidence of mental retardation as
a “mitigating” circumstance that a jury and
judge could consider in sentencing.
The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to
consider this fall whether the execution of a
mentally retarded North Carolina inmate
would be “cruel and unusual punishment”
barred under the federal constitution.
At least one mentally retarded inmate
has been executed in Florida since 1972,
according to Michael Radelet, a sociolo
gist at the University of Florida. Arthur F.
Goode III was executed in 1984 for killing
a 9-year-old boy.
According to the Death Penalty Infor
mation Center in Washington, D.C., 14
states have laws banning the execution of
mentally retarded people. The center says,
since 1990, Texas has executed six convict
ed killers who were mentally retarded.
Perry argues that a murderer can be men
tally retarded and still know right from
wrong. He cited the case of Jghn Paul Pen-
ry, who was convicted for the 1979 rape and
murder of Pamela Moseley Carpenter at
Carpenter’s home in Livingston.
“Mr. Penry knew right from wrong,” Per
ry said.
On June 5, the U.S. Supreme Court
threw out Penry’s death sentence stating that
jurors didn’t receive clear instructions on the
mental retardation issue.
Perry said he will leave the definition of
mental retardation up to the U.S. Supreme
Court, which is expected to rule on the is
sue based on a North Carolina case.
In that case, Ernest McCarver, described
by his lawyer as having the mind of a 10-
year-old, was sentenced to death for the
1987 murder of a 71-year-old cafeteria
worker who had befriended him.
ing in every way.
Flood
Continued from Page 7
«
Teen pregnancy rate drops
WASHINGTON (AP)—The teen preg
nancy rate hit a record low in 1997, widi births
falling fast and abortions falling even faster.
Experts credit long-lasting birth control,
programs that encourage teens to postpone
sex and a strong economy that gives them
better opportunities.
In 1997, about 9.4 percent of all girls ages
15 to 19'became pregnant — a total of
872,000 pregnancies, the Centers for Dis
ease Control and Prevention reported Tues
day. Fifty-five percent gave birth, 29 percent
had abortions and the rest miscarried.
The teen pregnancy rate fell by 4.4 per
cent between 1996 and 1997, the most re
cent year for which data is available, con
tinuing a trend that has marched through
the 1990s.
Pregnancy rates are significantly higher
in low-income communities, and black and
Hispanic girls are more than twice as likely
to get pregnant as white girls are. Still, the
rates are falling among all races.
Most of the teen pregnancies are among
18- and 19-year-olds, though some 6.4 per
cent of girls ages 15 to 17 were pregnant in
1997. That’s down 21 pefcent since the peak
in 1990.
Overall, the teen pregnancy rate fell 19
percent in 1997 from its peak in 1991, and
was the lowest since 1976, when the gov
ernment began keeping records.
The abortion rate fell by nearly a third
since 1990, also reaching a record low.
The teen pregnancy rate is derived l?y
combining the number of teens who give
birth with estimates for abortion and mis
carriage rates. Because data on abortion are
difficult to collect, the statistics are several
years old by the time they are released.
Teen-agers — particularly those who are
young and unmarried — are rarefy equipped
emotionally or financially for parenthood,
and there’s a near universal agreement that
reducing their pregnancy rates is among the
most positive social trends of the 1990s.
“We must continue to build on this suc
cess, for there is more we can do,” said Health
and Human Services Secretary Tommy
Thompson.
Federal surveys show that during the
1990s, teens were more likely to use birth
control and less likely to have sex. In 1995,
51 percent of teen girls said they’d had sex,
down from 55 percent in 1990; among boys,
it dropped from 60 to 5 5 percent between
1988 and 1995.
And the sharp drop in the abortion rate
suggests that most of the pregnancies being
avoided were unwanted.
But it’s much harder to figure out why
teens decide against having sex or for using
birth control in the first place.
It felt like we were
escaping out of
Vietnam — out of
a jungle. There was
debris everywhere
and there was no
sense of direction,
cars were going in
all directions and
18-wheelers were
just lined-up and
stuck."
— Shane Allison
senior journalism major
thing before he let me in by my
self. After that he let one person
in at a time.”
Stocked with bottled water
and sandwiches, the three tried
to sleep for the night. When
they awoke, the waters had re
ceded enough for them to try to
find a way out.
“We just kept waiting for the
A&M’s Twelfth Man trademaii
is the NI' L’s Buffalo Bills,wk
refer to their fans as “The Ik
Man.” Along with having a set
tion on the Bills’ Webpage, 1
[The 12th Man] is recogniz
by our Wall of Fame,” si
Mark Dalton, the Bills direi
of Media Relations.
Dalton said the Bills do w
use the phrase for commero*
purposes, adding that “ifwek
[infringed], I’m notawareof
Vednesday, June I
ike
The Philad(
akers will ha)
This is a she
andwagon an
ndefeated.
Considerint
ackson, the “s
le “brilliance
Bles Center to
Despite los
led the odds-
grams at the college, said Is
vet class was very small at
very much like a family.
“It came as a blow to all oft
Gauge sank "She was unco: j
top students in every way and* Forgive the
was so tremendously popullype.The Sixc
with all of her classmates.” ■ w j n j n Los A
C range said the vet school! j ( a f evN - jgy
counselors on hand todeaU'.® PC f T
I leidi’s death.
“The college is stunned!
the tragic loss of Heidi
in a hit and run accident,”s
Dr. H. Richards Adams,d
ol the College of Veterinr
Medicine. “Heidi was a da
mate, a student and a frid
that will be sorely missed
thoughts and our ptayen* H1 gh cr foe t
with her family.” Jdented teair
Gauge said no memorial $e:||
ice is planned as ofyetforHi
He said that her husband,Jaffij
is a law student in Houston*
was in College Station bea
his school has been closeddit
flooding.
ery game, n
latchup in re
o teams tha
arrior mantt
lamour of th
The Weste
lie East for t
'TT'
Tei
Regina Greenwood, a staff
assistant and supervisor at the
Harrington Media Center
where Piskura worked, said his
presence at the office will be
missed.
“He was just awesome, and
dependable, and funny and you
just couldn’t miss seeing his
long, blonde hair and long,
bushy beard coming down the
hall,” she said. “He was fun-lov-
Greenwood said the Hanc
ton Media Center workers*
also be either donating to
the Outward Bound scholais
or a separate student scholarTI
“He was just the kind off
that had an effect on yout
you don’t want to forget,"
said. “We are all just tryinfj
find replacement workers:
Friday so that we can attend: |
memorial service — noneot:
DAYTOI
(AP) —Dak
[testified Tu
[tried to stop
her husband
spare her fa
tional distre
“The ph
miliating, d:
five,” Tere:
“That coul
;harm ful an<
involved w
company, o
want to miss it.
The memorial servicevnli ^
June 1.5 at 3 p.m. at the Mete
Funeral 1 Iome in Conroe.
with stuff so the owner had
closed the doors. I had to show
him money and shout that I
wanted to actually buy some-
water to rise back up bee®
everyone said that more rain*
coming,” Mays said. “Web
we would be in trouble ifith
After two hours of searefe
they finally found a way todfj
roads after being directed by-
Associated Press reporter ,
drive through the less-flooe
jogging path in Memorial Pit
“It felt like we were escap!
out of Vietnam — outofaju
gle,” Allison said. “There"
debris everywhere and th
was no sense of direction, c
were going in all directions:
18 wheelers were just lined
and stuck.”
Five of die six made it to si'
ty, but dieir dioughts stay with
sixth, as do those of his family
Travis said he takes comk
in knowing that his brotherd
at a point in his life when he"
happy.
“He had just told me tha’
didn’t have any regrets in
life,” Travis said. “He wasgi
uating in December and it’
his dream to work for Enn
which he was an intern for do-
in Houston. He was on top
the world.”
Vice President for Studt
Affairs Dr. J. Malon Southed
said Enron was currently d-j ‘ Xh 1S C
cussing naming a scholarship
honor of Chad.
bo
COS7
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