1 SECTION * 10 PAGES
RIDAYOCTOBER 26, 2001 I
Texas A&M University — Celebrating 125 Years
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SERVING THE TEXAS A&M COMMUNITY SINCE 1893
THE BATTAHCH
sday.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Red,White and
Blue Out to sell
posters, T-shirts
Posters of Kyle Field
lecked out in red, white
blue at the Sept. 22
I-Oklahoma State game
be on sale at locations
campus today and
iaturday.
Posters will be sold at the
Memorial Student Center
rom noon to 5 p.m. today
md will begin a 10 a.m.
iaturday. Posters also will
; ting
ent Fee Ad\i
its whether oi
n dollar “trade
he questions#]
vas distributed,
also tabled a it
■ing both verst:
•esentatives (
'lit lyrics in
udent Center.
ight time. Til;
think there'dIt
Jennifer Otto
so that memh
et student input.
>eon sale Saturday begin-
ling at 10 a.m. at the
Jlayton Williams Jr. Alumni
Jenter.
£t The 17 by 20 inch full-
ontin :o '° r p° sters w ^ i k e so| d
™or$5 each. The poster fea-
ures the Fightin’ Texas
olution at thes iggie Band spelling out
o ahead andp )SA beneath the red, white
md blue stands.
Beneath the main photo
ire additional views of the
latt Speight,! lands, T-shirt sales, a play-
rs helmet bearing the
American Flag, a baby
vearing stars and stripes
md the football team, yell
eaders and Reveille VII.
Funds raised from poster
mpponedthere] will be added to the
relief funds raised by selling
T-shirts for the Red, White
and Blue Out. More
$150,000 has already been
rased for the relief effort.
the office oi to
t for administn
i rector of spei
iding some
Campus develtf
said,
g fine and gettii
new role in
erf;
il said,
a long time."
be done with
group mediae
of oppoittnit!
active, those
efore the raito
years to evol«
how long ittai 1
it we want toil
the propertie:
'en to 10 yean
PUBLIC EYE
<r
ML
" Amount made from
student athletic
ticket sales
each year
$3 million
TODAY
msm
Page 3
Battle of
the Bands
Five bands battle
it out for the
AMA competition
begin
tough road
with ISU
• Injured A&M up
against tough ISU
running game
OPINION
Page 9
Ease
anthrax
anxiety
• Public must be
informed adequately
about anthrax
WEATHER
today
*4
HIGH
80° F
LOW
50° F
TOMORROW
• -4
HIGH
78° F
LOW
48° F
FORECASTS COURTESY OF
www.weathermanted.com
Volume 108 • Issue 45
College Station, Texas
www.thebatt.com
2nd Bonfire lawsuit in two days
By Rolando Garcia
THE BATTALION
The family of Chad Powell, one of the
12 Aggies killed in the 1999 Bonfire col
lapse, sued five A&M administrators and
25 current and former students
Wednesday.
The second Bonfire-related lawsuit in
as many days, the petition, filed in
Tarrant County, alleges that the named
administrators and students were negli
gent in permitting student participation in
a hazardous activity and refusing to take
the necessary precautions that would
have prevented the collapse.
“A&M must accept responsibility for
the conduct that caused the death of Chad
Powell,” said Geno Borchardt, a Forth
Worth attorney representing Greg and Jill
Powell, Chad Powells parents. “They
(administrators and students) failed to
carry out certain duties that would have
prevented this tragedy from happening.”
The defendants include A&M
President Dr. Ray Bowen, Vice President
for Student Affairs Dr. J. Malon
Southerland, Bill Kibler, the associate
vice president for student affairs and
Rusty Thompson, the Bonfire advisor.
Also listed are more than two dozen “red-
pots” and other student Bonfire leaders
from 1998 and 1999 as well as Zachry
OLSON
Professor
recounts
days as
CIA spy
By Christina Hoffman
THE BATTALION
For 31 years. Professor James
M. Olson led a double life. He
was a case officer in the United
States Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA).
While Olson and his wife,
Meredith Olson, also an employee
of the CIA,
served in the
CIA, their family
did not know that
they were intelli
gence spies.
“It becomes a
way of life, liv
ing your cover, it
seems natural,
and you get good
at it. We have to keep it a secret
because we won’t be an affective
spy otherwise,” Olson said. “It is
also for safety reasons; it is a dan
gerous profession, and we will be
targets because what we do is ille
gal in every other country.”
Olson was born in LeMars,
Iowa and received his bachelor’s
degree in mathematics and eco
nomics from the University of
Iowa. He continued on to receive
his juris doctorate in international
law and served in the U.S. Navy
from 1963 to 1996, where he
earned the rank of lieutenant com
mander USNR.
Olson joined the CIA in 1969
and served for 31 years in mostly
overseas undercover operations in
Moscow, Vienna, and Mexico City.
He served as an intelligence spy
for the U.S. in Moscow for two
years and Vienna for eight years
during the Cold War.
“Working in Moscow was very
difficult and very hostile. My wife
and I were under constant surveil
lance,” Olson said.
In Moscow, he served as deputy
chief of station, he also served as
chief of station in Vienna and
Mexico City, and he was chief of
counterintelligence at the CIA
Headquarters. Olson speaks four
languages in addition to English,
including French, German,
Russian and Spanish.
His extensive list of awards and
recognitions include Recipient of
the Intelligence Medal of Merit,
the Distinguished Career
Intelligence Medal, the CIA Medal
of Honor, the Counterintelligence
Excellence Medal, the Donovan
Award and several other distin
guished achievement awards.
His involvement as the chief of
counterintelligence put him in con
tact with most major spy cases that
involved the U.S., Olson said.
“During the Cold War, I worked
with many courageous Russians
who risked their lives, not for
money, but because they believed
in American values and believed in
fighting against communism. I
admire and respect them. Many
were betrayed by Americans who
reported them to the KGB and had
them arrested and executed,”
Olson said. “That kind of betrayal
in the CIA was very personal
because they in effect murdered
heroic Russians.”
Olson said his career was very
rewarding because he was defending
the interests of the U.S. and those
who believe in American values.
See OLSON on page 2.
Construction Corp., which owned the
crane operating at the stack site.
Texas A&M University is not a defen
dant, Borchardt said, because the Powells
are hoping to avoid the financial liability
cap on state agencies.
“There’s an argument to be made that
A&M only is liable for $500,000 in dam
ages that would be split among all the
See Lawsuit on page 6.
Hobby
backs
public
service
Former Lt. Gov.
speaks at Forsyth
By Melissa Sullivan
THE BATTALION
STUART VILLANUEVA • THE BATTALION
College Station firefighter Chad Phillips suits up to remove a suspicious substance from the office of the
Texas Commission for the Blind and the Texas Rehabilitation Commission on Welsh Avenue Thursday.
Employees find unknown substance
By Jon Niven
THE BATTALION
Employees of the Texas
Commission for the Blind
and the Texas Rehabilitation
Commission were evacuated
from their offices in College
Station Thursday afternoon
when an employee noticed a
white granular powder in a
package of white copy paper.
The College Station Fire
Department responded to the
call at approximately 2:15
p.m. and immediately evacu
ated the 10 employees who
were in the building and
sealed it off.
When the building was
clear, fire fighters went in to
retrieve the substance. They
took a sample for testing and
stored the rest of the material,
said College Station Fire
Department Public Information
Officer Bart Humphreys.
“The call was handled like
any other hazardous material
call,” Humphreys said. “We
followed protocol for the
response.”
When the firefighters had
the substance secure, they took
precautions for their own safe
ty. The department set up two
plastic swimming pools in
front of the building and filled
them with a diluted bleach
solution that was used to
decontaminate the fire fighters.
The sample of the haz
ardous material the firefight
ers took was taken immedi
ately to the Texas Veterinarian
Medical Diagnostic Lab on
the campus of Texas A&M
University. It will take 72
hours to receive results from
the tests.
The substance could be
taken to the Texas Department
See SCARE on page 2.
The best way to get involved
in public service is to join a
campaign, former Lt. Gov.
William P. Hobby said in an
address at the Forsyth Gallery
Thursday night.
Hobby received his first
major appointment to govern
ment office at the age of 27,
serving as Senate parliamentari
an and was elected lieutenant
governor in 1972.
He won re-election in 1974,
1978, 1982, and 1986, serving
longer than any lieutenant gov
ernor in Texas history.
“He usually gets what he
wants,” said Dr. Howard
Balanhoff, a public service pro
fessor at Southwest Texas
University. “He never cared
about anything but what was
best for Texas. He was re-elect
ed because people trusted him
and he trusted them.”
Hobby was born in Houston
and after graduating from Rice,
served four years in the United
States Navy.
Hobby has devoted his life to
public service in his country,
state and city as a naval officer,
parliamentary expert, policy
maker and an university regent,
Balanhoff said.
“The biggest problem I see is
revenue structure,” Hobby said.
“We have a state law which says
we can’t levy state taxes,
although you have to in order to
apply for state aid. So if it walks,
looks and talks like a duck, then
it is a duck.”
Hobby said Texas in general is
a poor state and ranks below the
national average for income. He
added that Texas has had gover
nors and other officials who are
“arithmetically challenged.”
See Hobby on page 2.
Bush Library has heightened security
By Christina hoffman
THE BATTALION
The George Bush
Presidential Library and
Museum has heightened securi
ty and installed new security
measures to ensure the safety of
visitors, following the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks.
Metal detectors and X-ray
machines were installed Oct.
15 to examine bags, backpacks
and purses, at the behest of the
National Archives, which over
sees the museum, said Brian
Blake, director of public rela
tions for the Bush library.
All packages entering any
facility, even those delivered by
Federal Express and United
Parcel Service also will be
scanned, Blake said.
The University Police
Department (UPD) increased
the number of security offi
cers assigned to the museum.
There also is an increase in
the number of unmarked units
that frequently patrol the
area, said Bob Wiatt, director
of UPD.
“I am in contact, on a regu
lar basis, with the FBI and all
local law enforcements, and
they are in contact with every
one else including the CIA,”
Wiatt said. “Anything that may
impact us, I will be notified and
the information will be shared.”
Also, the circle drive in
front of the Bush library is
blocked off at 5 p.m. to
decrease traffic, Blake said.
See BUSH on page 2.
Added security at the George Bush
Presidential Library and Museum
Everyone entaring the library and museum
will have to go through metal detectors
All packages that enter the building
will be X-rayed
Increase in the number of security guards
patrolling the areas
Information provided by Bob Wiatt of UPD and Brian
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CHAD MALLAM • THE BATTALION