Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 24, 2002)
spoil IE BATT4UI f To nizers saved si toughest stage to make the i seful. In 2001, >le final week flat stretches > had nearly ucing Armstro; Sports: A&M chosen for NCAA meet • Page 3 OPINION: A national neighborhood watch • Page 5 TH )lume 108 • Issue 172 • 6 pages Bonfire lawsuit assigned to district court 108 Years Serving Texas A&M University www.thebatt.com Wednesday, July 24, 2002 ■ COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — The first of several wrongful death lawsuits related o the 1999 Bonfire collapse at Texas A&M University that wfere transferred to Brazos Ibunty has been assigned to a late district court. ■ A case originally filed in Bexar County probate court by the family of 19-year-old Bryan McClain, one of 12 Aggies killed in the Nov. 18, 1999 col lapse, moved earlier this month to Bryan, was assigned Monday to Judge J.D. Langley’s 85th District Court. Similar lawsuits filed in probate courts in Tarrant and Harris counties, as well as one filed in Ward County by one of 27 students injured in the acci dent have also been moved to Brazos County. Attorneys for the 60 defen dants, including A&M officials and former Bonfire student leaders, asked that the cases be transferred to Brazos County, arguing state law requires the trials take place where the acci dent occurred. They also said trials in other counties would be too inconvenient for defen dants who don’t live where the cases were filed. Plaintiffs’ attorneys in the pro bate court cases have argued that the law allows survivors to file suit in the county of residence. Darrell Keith, who represents several of the victims’ families, said his clients can still request that the trials be moved out of Brazos County. Two of three district judges, including Langley, are A&M graduates. “Obviously I’m concerned about pro-Aggie sympathies and biases that would keep jurors from being fair and impartial,” Keith told the Bryan-College Station Eagle for its Tuesday editions. rice BRIAN RUFF • THE BATTALION Physics graduate student Joel Means checks a dilution refriger ator in the engineering and physics lab Tuesday afternoon. The device cools samples close to absolute zero in order to look at the materials' properties at low temperatures. Facial *45 licroderm- Abrasion h light facial ‘65 Beutel makes exceptions for tetanus vaccine 0 p.m. <t to Total Tan Vt/FM CD ltansalons.com iuoetuUc, 'last- )0 »nth Tanning tier* only, i. One coupon es 2-3-03 '<D By Lecia Baker THE BATTALION =; The United States is currently experienc ing a shortage of the tetanus diphtheria (Td) vaccine, causing Texas A&M’s Beutel Health Center to waive the vaccine require ment and turn away some students who w ant the vaccine. According to the Centers for Disease ^ontrol and Prevention (CDC), the shortage tagan in 2000 when two manufacturers, wyeth Lederle and Baxter Hyland Immuno racemes, stopped producing the Td vaccine. jThis left one remaining company, Aventis Pasteur, to distribute the demanded supply cross the country. In the last several months, patients have ad to fall within a set of standard require- ents set by the CDC to be eligible for the accine. The requirements include people travel- j mg to a country where risk is high, requiring Pc vaccine for prophylaxis in wound man agement, not receiving at least three doses of vaccine in the past, or pregnant women who have not received the tetanus vaccine in the past 10 years. All routine Td boosters for adolescents and adults have been delayed during the shortage. Despite the low availability of the vac cine, the number of tetanus cases per year has not increased. Beutel has acquired a limited supply to begin accommodating some students who are due for the vaccination or simply desire to have it, said Janet Wickline, head nurse at Beutel. “Texas A&M has waived the tetanus requirements for all students attending the University in either the summer or fall,” she said. Wickline also said most Texas A&M stu dents have had the Td vaccination within the last 10 years and are not in any need to acquire one at this time. Shirley Costohriz of the Brazos County Health Department, said the CDC issued a statement concluding the Td vaccine shortage had been resolved as of July 17. Although Aventis Pasteur increased pro duction of the vaccine to accommodate the country’s needs, Costohriz said it is impor tant to remember there is still a shortage. “Supplies will be taking an undetermined amount of time to be distributed,” Costohriz said. “Every provider does not have the vac cine.” Although production has increased, the Td vaccine is becoming available but only in limited quantities; therefore, all holds and restrictions that applied to the Td vaccine during the shortage are remaining in effect until further notice, she said. Both Beutel and the Brazos County Health Department are reserving supplies for emergencies. All hospitals in the area remain in the same condition and abide by the same standards as Beutel and other clinics. It is very important, especially in hospi tals, for the supplies to be available in the need of an emergency. A person of any age group is susceptible to tetanus without prop er vaccination, Costohriz said. Israeli air strike kills 15 Palestinians GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians held up the flag-wrapped body of a two- month-old baby, as tens of thou sands marched Tuesday to bury their dead and Hamas vowed revenge after an Israeli air strike killed a top militant leader and 14 others, including nine children. President Bush called the Israeli missile strike “heavy- handed,” joining other world leaders in sharp criticism of the attack, which leveled an apart ment building and destroyed other nearby buildings in a crowded neighborhood of Gaza City overnight. In a rare U.S. criticism of Israel, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, “this heavy- handed action does not con tribute to peace.” The office of U.S. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said “Israel has the legal and moral responsibility to take all measures to avoid the loss of innocent life.” The attack killed Salah Shehadeh, 48, a founder and the top commander of Hamas’ mili tary wing, known as Izzadine el- Israel kills Hamas top commander Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh and at least 14 other Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air attack in Gaza City early Tuesday. Salah Shehadeh Mediterranean Sea Hamas leader and twelve others killed in air strike. Jerusa: ■a “ aCi ^ s Y ISRAEL EGYPT' SOURCES: Associated Press; ESRI AP Qassam, the group said. Israel said Shehadeh was linked to the * Islamic militant group’s deadliest suicide bombings, including a March attack at a Natanya hotel that killed 29, and a June 2001 disco bombing that killed 21. A&M supports high speed railway study By Ruth Ihde THE BATTALION Texas A&M University recently joined Brazos County and the cities of Bryan and College Station in an agreement to support an ongoing study of a high-speed railway going through College Station. The railway, called the Trans Texas Corridor, is under the Texas Transportation Enhancement Act, also known as T21, will create safe high ways and more efficient modes of transportation for the state of Texas. The corridor will be 4,000 miles in length and approximately 10,000 feet in width. This June, Mayor Ron Silvia and other College Station City Council members went to Washington, D.C. in order to discuss transportation funds for the city. Initially, Bryan and College Station were not includ ed in the plans for the Trans Texas Corridor. Representatives said College Station was able to receive recognition by other states and cities about its trans portation and funding needs. Kelley Cole, public commu nications and marketing director for College Station, said the con tract to conduct the study ran out at the end of June, and the only difference now is the city is con tinuing this study with the com bined forces of Bryan, the Brazos County and Texas A&M. Chuck Sippial, vice president of administration at Texas A&M, said the University has agreed to pay one-fourth of the cost to continue the effort to have College Station included in the Trans Texas Corridor plans. All the agencies involved had to go before its commissioners in order to be approved, Sippial said, and as far as he knows, all of them have been approved. A&M will provide its sup port through the City of College Station, he said. Since the Transportation Act is up for reauthorization in one year, he said the study should be completed within that period, and will give College Station See Railway on page 2 —1 Graduation * ; I By Ruth Ihde THE BATTALION or ’S / ■ — — '0 p-m. lo Cover -1999 I, Y ac * uat i° n ra tes among I athletes, especially ■ootball players, have risen c caiiy compared to a 10-yea predominately low rate leial graduation perce 1 1 be announced in the N an nual report in September. According to the reg lce , A&M athletes are si 2 n ° vera ll improvement / graduation rate of 64 p tu 111 Percent in 2001. he A&M football gra< rates among rate has risen to 59 percent, a 23 percent increase from last year, the largest increase among all A&M sports. With the NCAA’s annual report, A&M officials will be able to com pare graduation rates with other Big 12 schools. A&M head football coach R.C. Slocum expressed caution in read ing too much into the numbers. “The numbers are accurate, but it doesn’t really portray what is going on,” he said. They aren t graduating any better. We are just graduating them sooner.” Last year, A&M was tied with A&M football players up from 2001 numbers the University of Colorado for 9th in the conference at 36 percent. “No matter how good of a play er you are, in some point in your life you will no longer be a football player,” Slocum said. “So, in order of relative importance the academ ics should get a whole lot more attention than the football.” According to the NCAA, stu dent-athletes have nationally out performed the general student body by one to two percent. However, last year’s report showed A&M stu dent-athletes were behind the gen eral A&M student body by 17 per cent. The margin will most likely be narrowed with the 2002 overall graduation rate of 64 percent. Associate Athletic Director for Academics Stephen McDonnell said incoming student-athletes have made their degrees a real focus. “I hope this increase will be more of the norm rather than the exception,” McDonnell said. The NCAA graduation rate is based on the number of student-ath letes who graduate in six years’ however, only those student-athletes receiving financial aid are included. This can produce skewed See Graduation on page 2 A&M athletic graduation rates Increase In 2002 •81% of nil atttletee graduated In a 10-year window TRAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION
