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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2001)
Monday, Juji Nate Cornejo took the loss ngs of work, nough forhii of Stars” awa -izona Oiamor. of New Britatl wmi m m i Ct t«j c i iu * :«i i i< July 17, 2001 jme 107 ~ Issue 172 6 pages • Av F"' ws in Brief State n the awards espectively. ;pirac}' theons p trying to spa icnts. 5A tlraftlotK land, should kj it has to bet:,rr* ,. r ;bc.EitherM cer dies from s from Area ? arch 4 accident SHsTIN (AP) — After linger- in a coma for more than J,- Passvmtm: rr hionths, an Austin police icalenginem cer has died, succumbing to fries suffered March 4 when ^■s struck by a car outside tre Dameanc|a| artment complex by a -aid-run driver. for the SeptlBficer Jose "Joe" Reyes died iNeeseareavJpfay, six days before his ■ birthday, at the Hospice laining three'hjtopher House, all Big 12 cc r Hy es spent three months as ahoma State ^fenridge Hospital before ' (Oct 6) anefflk 5 decided there was noth- t 27) TirlJ 1ore they could do for him. es cost $35 Reyes ' a 1 2 -V ear P ol ' ce vet ‘ -kpf nffirp ? n was off duty when he re- iv^d the fatal head injuries ' single tK^l a hit . and . run ^ ri ver 2 a.m. near his apart- (Nov. en t p 0 |j ce spent two weeks vailable, thftpjg j- 0 down the driv er orders strand then took about two B? weeks before filing .ickets for the targes of failure to stop and $210. PeopBer aid against Carla i single gaffir*' 56 Alvizo, 30, of Buda. kets may cm ^ 0 l' ce spokeswoman Laura r tirkpt - " 3rec ht would not say t ^ ie c h ar g es would , ^ ° r , ' e upgraded now that Reyes lei 2th Mar,.a S died. ?79) 846 -88-.E|___ :et office is'.- iNallon i to 4 p.m facing death h Friday penalty for murders Mariposa, calif, (ap) — rosecutors said Monday they seek the death penalty ✓AAinnn a 9 a 'nsta man if he is convict- //umoIBsO'“"9 three Yosemite uoe.b*' \ arl< tourists. ^■^ary Stayner, already serv- ";9 a life sentence in the Png- of a park naturalist, leaded innocent to three Bnts of murder and a num- ^ er of additional charges in . i' deaths of the tourists. 't-iJhi rKtkBrosecutor George William- from )n said he will seek the death TV ‘ n ^he February 1 999 I i rUIHIings of Carole Sund, her rsityflm.aw 3u gbter Juli, and family 1 REBATES f' d Silvina Pelosso of Ar - F BREST !UT':'r)' na - iRAD PROGRA his trial is set for Feb. 25. NGS, FOCUS . ^ , :k specials!'Sw trial date set is? - e-mail usOl" rsityflm.com) i Washington (ap) — The Pent accused of murdering classmates at a university Bring to deaf students will go Brial later than expected. ||he trial of Joseph Mesa Jr., ' °f Guam has been pushed ■ B<fr°m Nov. 5 to Feb. 4 due Scheduling conflicts. The °cceding will begin a day af- pthe one-year anniversary of Bdeath of one of the victims, -njamin Varner. Bhe trial is expected to last Be to four weeks. Bdesa, a former freshman at Baudet University, was in- _®ed in June for the deaths of B>er of San Antonio and Eric |jhkettof Burnsville, Minn. fandanp accused student edal ping Pizzas y Tuesday INSIDE ryan ast 29th Stj 68-727) ittalion News Radio: 57 p.m. KAMU 90.9 vww.thebatt.com Sprinkler installation begins Schumacher Hall first in A&M’s $5.2 million campus fire-safety plan Justin Smith The Battalion Texas A&M was prompted to institute a plan to pre vent residence hall fire deaths because of recent fire-re lated student deaths across the country. A&M has nev er had a student die in a hall fire, and plans have been made to make sure it never happens. A&M began work on its $5.2 million firjs-safety plan as soon as school dismissed for the summer. In this plan, 24 of the 41 residence halls will have fire-suppression sprinkler systems installed during the next five years. Schumacher Hall currently is being renovated, and construction will start in other halls soon. After hall fires in Dorm 9 in 1998, at Seaton Hall in 2000 and at the University of Texas-Austin earlier this year, the State Fire Marshal’s office dispatched inspectors to schools across the state to assess the problem. It was found that nearly all of the campuses had major problems. Fire sprinklers have never been required in residence halls, but since fires have claimed the lives of students, there has been state and federal legislation passed to re quire fire sprinkler systems in halls. Halls that are not having the sprinklers installed al ready have other defenses set up such as 24-hour alarm systems, smoke detectors, automatic door shut ting devices, residence hall staff training and fire drills, to name a few. The most difficult part of a fire to defend against is how people will react. “It’s that unpredictable human element that we try to plan for in our training pro gram,” said Chris Meyer, director of environmental health and safety. People also like to use candles and incense, which are not allowed at A&M, and that can lead to fires, so the staff is trained to look out for those and other devices that are potentially hazardous. Wayne Smith, director for the Fire Safety Inspec tion Department for the State Fire Marshal, said, “We are very pleased with the universities across the state working to correct the problems they have. Texas is way ahead of other states because we realized the problem and got to work fixing it rather than setting up com mittees and boards to just evaluate the problem.” Ron Sasse, director of Residence Life, said that fra ternity and sorority houses also are required to follow these new laws, as are high-rise buildings, which pri marily house students. STUART VILLANUEVA/The Battalion Construction workers are installing a sprinkler sys tem in Schumacher Hall. Twenty-three other resi dence halls will have sprinkler systems installed over the next five years. “We are very fortunate at Texas A&M because we have never had a student die in a residence hall fire, and we are committed to doing our best to keep it that way with these renovations and the designs we have for our new halls,” Sasse said. UPD patrol cars equipped with portable defibrillators Elizabeth Raines The Battalion All marked Texas A&M University Police Department (UPD) patrol cars now have the equipment to save lives. UPD purchased eight Auto mated External Defibrillators (AEDs) last month. The AEDs offer an alternative to CPR when someone gpes into car diac arrest by allowing a person to send an electric current (a shock) to the victim’s heart. Bob Wiatt, director of UPD said UPD monitors all 911 calls, including those made to the Texas A&M Emergency Medical Service (EMS). He said having AEDs in the patrol cars will be beneficial because police cars often are the first unit to respond to the emer gency because they are already out patrolling. “If a person has cardiac ar rest, you only have five to sev en minutes to bring them back from die dead, and if we are the first on the scene, we want to be able to save a life,” Wiatt said. “This is an effort for the health and safety of the entire Texas A&M community.” Wiatt said all officers driv ing in the eight marked patrol cars have been through exten sive training and are prepared to use the AEDs. He also said UPD is the first police de partment in the Brazos Valley area to put defibrillators in patrol cars. Charles A. Sippial, vice See UPD on Page 2. BERNARDO GARZA/The Battalion Officer Jacqueline Holidy, a Texas A&M University defibrillator. All marked UPD patrol cars are not Police Officer for four years, displays a FirstSave AED equipped with the devices in cases of emergency. Search continues for Baytown man BAYTOWN (AP) — The water is so murky you cannot see your hand in front of your face. The pitch blackness also hides rusting barrels, broken concrete imbedded with twisted steel reinforcing bars and yards of old fishing line with hooks. In the underwater no-man’s land 24 feet beneath the surface of the San Jacinto Riv er, Harris County Sheriff’s Department divers hunted Monday for the last of five people killed when their minivan careened out of control on Interstate 10 just east of Houston, rolled several times and bounced over a concrete guardrail into the water. Two people survived. The first four bodies were recovered within hours of the wreck Sunday evening but die fifth, a 36-year-old man missing and presumed drowned, eluded divers who worked in 30-minute shifts Monday. “You’ve got to be careful,” said Lt. Scott Holman after peeling off his protective rubber suit, flippers and gloves. “The faster you move, the more dangerous it gets. “You feel around, just feel your way.” The Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office released the names of three victims Monday: Victor Reynolds Jr., 9; Kanisha Reynolds, 6; and their uncle, George Mey ers, 37. The two children, brother and sis ter, were from Houston. The fatalities also included a 15-year-old boy from Georgia, whose name was not released. The 56-year-old grandmother and her a My son said the boys told them they were going away. That was the last I saw of them.” — Debra Haskett victims' neighbor 11-year-old grandson were rescued. They were in good condition Monday at Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston. The grandmother was pulled from the water by two bystanders. Her grandson, Demetric Carter, stepbrother to the Reynolds siblings, was ejected onto the roadway before the vehicle sank. The grandmother, Barbara Meyers, from Riverdale, Ga., was returning home after a visit with her daughter, Katrina Reynolds, who lives in an apartment com plex in northwest Houston. The missing man, from Marietta, Ga., was a family friend. Medical examiners were planning au topsies before releasing the bodies to the family. “I want to see them,” Katrina Reynolds told Houston television station KHOU as she cried Monday. “I want to touch them. I want to let them know I’m there.” Neighbors described Reyn-olds as a pro tective mother who was holding up as well as could be expected. “For something like this to happen to your children, she’s as strong as she can be,” Omega Davison said. “She’s being real brave.” The Reynolds children apparently were accompanying their grandmother to Geor gia to spend the rest of the summer. Debra See Search on Page 2. Houston running for 2012 games HOUSTON (AP) —John Kelley never got to the Olympics as a boxer, so he took on another dream: Bring the Olympics to Houston. The former Houston city councilman is listed as “founder” on the Houston 2012 Foundation roster. He was a pioneer in taking the early steps that led to the ar rival of the U.S. Olympic Committee to consider Houston as host of the 2012 Olympics. “When I was young, I wanted to be an Olympian and I almost made it,” Kelley said. “When I was a city coun cilman, I started thinking of ways to help the city and this was one of them. It would be a dream come true for me.” Kelley’s early work helped lay the groundwork for Hous- When I was young, I wanted to be an Olympian ... / started thinking of ways to help the city and this was one of them.” — John Kelley Houston 2012 Foundation founder ton 2012 Foundation chair man George DeMontrond III to get the project rolling. The Houston organizers were set Monday to welcome the USOC to begin touring the- venues that would be available for the Olympics. It is a moment Kelley Las long anticipated. As chairman of the Hous ton International Sports Committee, Kelley helped at tract USOC events to the city, including the 2000 USOC Media Summit, host ing athletes and media prior to the Sydney Olympics. “In every city there is a guy who has the dream,” said Bob Condron, director of media services for the USOC. “In Dallas it is Grady Hicks and in Houston it starts with John Kelley. “John has been there for us. He was involved in two very See Houston on Page 2.