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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 2002)
ire Aggielife: Internships help students with careers • Page 3A Opinion: A&M receives mixed rankings • Page 5B THE BATTALION of i he plane fnlumc 109 • Issue 4*16 pages 109 Years Serving Texas A&M University w ww.thebatt.com Wednesday, September 4, 2002 DA N H. Victims’ families skeptical about fair trial By Rolando Garcia THE BATTALION \ Mk Brazos County juries may ultimate- 7 1y hand down the verdicts on a series of { Bonfire-related lawsuits, but the plain- tfs’ lawyers remain skeptical about :eiving a fair trial in Aggieland. iMasi'^K ^u'ngliil deatli lausuils stemming ^fcm the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse, -filed by victims’ families in probate ^"•^Burts across the state, have been trans- BHrred to Brazos County after judges in | Tarrant, Bexar and Harris counties ft IfWanted defendants’ motions for a change of venue. Attorneys for the defendants argued that state law requires the trials to take place where the accident occurred and that trials in other counties would be inconvenient for defendants who do not live where the cases were originally tiled. Defendants include Texas A&M. high-level University administrators, such as former A&M President Dr. Ray Bowen, student Bonfire leaders and two construction companies. Darrell Keith, a Fort Worth attorney representing the families of Jerry Self, Christopher Heard and Bryan McClain, three of the 12 Aggies killed in the col lapse, said the community’s deep ties to the University will make it difficult for his clients to receive a fair trial. “There’s a serious concern as to whether citizens can overcome pro- Aggie sympathies and bias in favor of A&M and the redpots,” Keith said. “Many (in Brazos County) suffer from serious denial and are adamantly opposed to the litigation.” The wrongful death suit filed by the family of Chad Powell in Tarrant County, and a suit filed in Ward County by Lanny Hayes, one of the 27 students injured in the collapse, were also moved to Brazos County. The McClain case has been assigned to Judge J.D. Langley’s 85th District Court. The others are waiting to be placed on a docket, but Keith said it was likely the wrongful death suits would be consolidated into one court. He also predicted that Langlely, a graduate of A&M, would have to con sider disqualifying himself as a judge himself, though he would not say on what grounds. Langley said he could not comment on any pending case. Geno Borchardt, a Fort Worth attor ney representing the family of Chad Powell, said once the case is assigned to a court, he will decide whether to ask the judge to transfer the case to another county. “We’re still looking into whether a fair trial can be had here.” Borchardt said. “If we have a fair and impartial jury, they will rule in favor of my client.” A&M spokeswoman. Cynthia Lawson, declined to comment on the pending litigation, hut said the University was not worried about any negative impact from these emotional and high profile trials unfolding in A&M’s backyard. “The parents deserve their day in Sec Lawsuits on page 2 icia i Monday *a: lespite concr in e tran smat in he cause: mosquito te mis assocut: :he vims or*? ar crash laser e gotten i al ter the car 'Agreement makes research exchange possible By Rob Phillips THE BATTALION >nv •era to ifi within t! a. The o FT ig people I Officials from the Texas A&M S> stem Health Science Center traveled to Seoul, South Korea Ast month to sign an agreement ■filiating the Center with ■oonchunhyang University Medical Center. I The relationship will provide a . sister school relationship between OOllSUppr, the two universities, said Dr. (IS it’s nrr £ ,e orge C.Y. Chiou, professor and head of Texas A&M College of Medicine's Department of Pharmacology and Laboratory Medicine. The agreement allows the exchange of faculty members, residents and medical students for lecturing and collaborative research. ra caution# Health Science Center President Nancy W. Dickey and ueticalpov t°llege of Medicine Interim gjflpcan Roderick E. McCallum accompanied Chiou to Seoul for pie formal ceremony and finaliza tion of the agreement. The affiliation process between the two schools has been Ongoing for several years, since •oonchunhyang officials visited College Station in 1999. “It was really the formalizing l)f a previously existing agree- ill ihasseeA nK ’ nt ” McCallum said. “In this uestions particular agreement we pledged d “not once 1° d° a variety of activities that lo/ens of pi” v, °uld exchange students and fac- Tilty in our programs, so it was developed a little more than the previous agreement.” The affiliation will allow sen ior medical students to take their Tocation at the “paper-free” Koonchunhyang Bucheon Jrlospital in Seoul. The state-of- .. the art institution stores all information and records on a sophisticated computer system, 2hiou said. “This hospital is the most dvanced we have ever seen,” hiou said. “Every medical stu- ent can learn something new.” The Health Science Center has discussed following poonchunhyang’s lead of com mercialization of technology at m. - Trudy SJ rican fied i Spokeswc •.plants, ntion spokf- d the Distrc nd 51 hau: ’. A 73-yeij die of Wes! ' on Sumhv weren t pi' •lock in one ^ He risk didn more prevail el use it. reated and ► : it came sened more a id her 3-y eir ' do feel th , a scary for sary front page; :over. Botli > last fall- n shot a his ime a hist- eek.” said gazine’s edit' said Frank the firefigN irst pictuff untry that's 31 t the ong ter 5 p- 111 aong the if of the day. 3 inated f 0( id used liter ft- ie firefigl’ 1 ' jroes for" Texas A&M. Chiou added. McCallum believes the two countries’ diverse educational systems and medicine practices can only broaden Texas A&M’s medical program. “Their students and our stu dents would see different styles and approaches to the practice of medicine, and furthermore is the cultural advantage of learning something about another coun try,” McCallum said. Neil Shah, a sophomore med ical student, said he was intrigued at the prospect of studying over seas. “It’s a good idea and would be very interesting to go to Korea," said Shah. “It’s a good partner ship to have.” The Health Science Center at Texas A&M is comprised of five institutions located in communi ties throughout Texas. They include the Baylor College of Dentistry, the Institute of Biosciences, the Technology and School of Rural Public Health, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the College of Medicine. The Center has sister school relationships with other international medical programs, including Changung Medical College in Taiwan and Nanjing Medical University in China. The Center is in the process of informing students of opportuni ties provided by the agreement, on an individualized basis for the first few years, McCallum said. “Along with the opportunity comes the added complication of finding time in the curriculum to do this as well as the expense involved in terms of travel,” McCallum said. Elizabeth King, a senior biolo gy major and premed student, expressed interest in the program. “I think it would be a worth while experience,” King said. “It would be kind of hard to leave your family and friends, but it would be interesting to see how a different culture would operate and practice medicine.” Memorial service JOHN I.IVAS » THE BATTALION Junior psychology major Chris Stravitsch stops to look at a family photo of former Texas A&M graduate student Michael Schmidt in the foyer of St. Mary's Catholic Center. Stravitsch was among many to attend a memorial service for Schmidt Tuesday. Schmidt died from a head injury after falling from a golf cart at Fish Camp on Aug. 27. Nigeria email scam bogs down inboxes By Jessi Watkins THE BATTALION An email scam promising millions of dollars in exchange for bank account numbers is inundating inboxes of Texas A&M students, staff and faculty. Jeff McCabe, associate director of Information Technologies Issues Management, said emails ask ing for help from Nigeria have increased. “Recently we’ve seen an upswing in the Nigeria scam. It comes in many fonns. They ask for your help in transferring a large sum of money of which you will get a cut if you help,” McCabe said. “Most people are becoming more aware and they recognize this as a scam. Delete it or ignore it. It is garbage.” Tom Putnam, director of Computer Information Services, said these schemes can be very dangerous and people can lose money on them. “The hoax attempts to con vince the recipients to open a bank account with their own money before receiving their cut of the sum to be transferred, at which time their money usu ally disappears,” Putnam said. “Generally, if you get an email promising money, just remem ber, if it sounds to good to be true it probably is.” Other scams are showing up in student and faculty email accounts, Putnam said. One scam claims users can receive $800 from Microsoft, Putnam said. Another states the post office will begin charging money for email use. “We get a lot of people that pass on frauds or hoaxes. You should delete these, not pass them on,” Putnam said. Bob Wiatt, director of the University Police Department, said the FBI and Secret Service are trying to track down those responsible for the emails, but many people are involved and the Nigerian government is not cooperating in the investigation. EMAIL SCAM WARNING SIGN marked "ur * ■"eonfident or enfc ml* dollar amounts are written out in text say you have been recommended sender claims to be Ni9erian businessmen lawyer or accountant contain spelling or grammatical mistakes fori a SOURCE, www crimes of-persuasion.com I MB MANDY ROUQUETTE • THE BATTALION Sept. 11 exhibit at museum marks anniversary of tragedy George Bush Presidential Library & Museum on West Campus 9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Saturday Noon - 5 p.m. Sunday Closed: Thanksgiving Christmas New Year’s Day Will run through January 5, 2003 RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION By Tanya Nading THE BATTALION Nearly a month before the one year anniversary of Sept. 1 1, the George Bush Presidential Library opened its doors on a new exhibit featuring artwork donated by former President George Bush and his wife, Barbara. The exhibit includes paintings of remembrance from elementary and high school students along with several artists from across the United States. An American flag sofa, crying eagle statuette, commemerative quilt, deco page art and several other creations can also be viewed. “The artists are expressing their grief and patriotism and showing how they’re standing up against terrorism,” Menarchik said. The “Remembering September 11” exhibit is located among the “Freedom’s Journey” exhibit, which displays one of only 25 remaining original prints of the Declaration of Independence, historical weapons, paintings and other replicas of the Revolutionary period. “We put the two exhibits together on purpose,” Menarchik said. “9-1 1 was one of the most catastrophic events in modern history. We thought to combine the art and essays, of a patriotic theme, with the donated Sept. 11 pieces, and weave all these elements together.” Christy Dulaney, an observer of the exhibit, said while it was difficult to believe Sept. 11 was a year ago, she still enjoyed the display. “They are very talented and I think it was a very nice idea to create this exhibit,” Dulaney said. “My only concern is that the anniversary will be tasteful to the families of the victims.” The museum normally receives 2,500 to 3,500 visitors per week, said Menarchik. He said he hopes to have two hundred thousand visitors this year, an increase of 46 thousand from last year. Menarchik said as summer comes to a close and people return from vacations, the library will get a better sense of how people are reacting to the exhibit. “With 9-11 coming up we think it’s going to be the centerpiece at the Bush Library for the day of remembrance,” Menarchik said. The library will host September 11th activities beginning at 9 a.m. and running about an hour, he added. “We hope that the people of the Brazos Valley will stand up on 9-1 1 and remem ber what happened, remember that we’re still standing and be a part of the remem brance efforts,” Menarchik said, “...it will be the event in the Brazos Valley and we’re hoping that several thousand people will attend.” The “Remembering September exhibit will run through Jan. 5, 2003. 1 1”
