larch 29,1996
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Check out The
Battalion's top stories
for April 1.
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The men's track team
whips Texas in a dual meet
SPORTS, PACT 9
he Battalion
Vol. 102, No. 120 (10 pages)
Serving Texas AdrM University Since 1893
Monday • April 1, 1996
House, The Battalion
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iwings Available
of Fifty or More
By Heather Pace
The Battalion
More than 5,000 Texas A&M students
turned out Saturday for the 14th annual
Big Event, showing their gratitude to the
Bryan-College Station community.
Volunteers spent the day landscaping,
building porches and handicap ramps,
and helping children at South Knoll Ele
mentary with a carnival.
Lisa Hill, a freshman journalism ma
jor, said the Big Event involved people in
her residence hall who do not often asso
ciate with each other.
“It was a fun experience that brought
together people from my dorm to give
back to the community,” Hill said. “We
built a brick patio from scratch, which is
something we thought we couldn’t do,”
Despite accomplishing tasks for com
munity members, many volunteers were
surprised to find themselves helping peo
ple who they did not think were in great
need.
Pam Wollgast, a freshman business
major, said she would have rather
helped people that really needed assis
tance.
“I expected to help needy people,”
Wollgast said, “but the people we helped
were capable of helping themselves.”
Wollgast’s organization spent the
morning picking up rocks from a pasture
and doing yardwork at a house with
three new cars in the driveway.
Heather Hewett, Big Event committee
member and sophomore biomedical sci
ence major, said, however, that the pur
pose of Big Event is not only to help
those in need, but to contribute to the
community as a whole.
“Sometimes there are people who need
the help more than others, but it is im
portant to remember that it is going
back to all of the Bryan-College Station
community,” Hewett said. “It doesn’t re
ally matter who you are helping, as long
as you are helping someone.”
Some students said that though turn
ing away people who request help would
be difficult, the event would be more
beneficial if stricter projects guidelines
were established.
"It was a fun experience that
brought together people from
my dorm to give back to the
community."
— LISA HILL
freshman journalism major
Allison Moran, a junior geography
major, said a screening process would
strengthen the process of matching A&M
organizations with aid recipients.
She said that her organization, the
Texas Environmental Action Coalition, usu
ally spends the Big Event at Twin City Mis
sion, a Bryan-College Station shelter.
When the Big Event’s computer sys
tem failed to match TEAC with Twin
City Mission, she spoke with a Big Event
committee member.
“She told me that Big Event was not
See Community, Page 6
Sororities test handicap accessibility of campus facilities as part of Big Event
By Lisa Johnson
The Battalion
Saturday, as part of Texas A&M’s
Big Event, 11 members of Delta
Deh Delta and Sigma Epsilon soror
ities spent the morning in wheel
chairs, rolling in and out of building
entrances and bathrooms.
The project, the brainchild of
James Jones, a sophomore electrical
engineering major, was an effort to
begin collecting up-to-date informa
tion about the handicap accessibility
of campus building entrances, re
strooms and elevators.
Jones said he originally planned to
collect the information this summer
in order to revise A&M’s Physical Ac
cessibility Guide, which ranks the
handicap accessibility of campus
buildings and parking areas.
“In the past, the guide’s evalua
tions for each building were done by
the proctor of that building, so there
were 15 different terms used to eval
uate the accessibility of bathrooms,”
Jones said. “Evaluations of the same
conditions really varied tremendous
ly. What I really wanted to do was to
evaluate the information using a sin
gle set of standards.
When Jones found out that the
summer was too late to collect infor
mation for inclusion in the Fall 1996
guidebook, he thought of the Big
Event. He decided to use student vol
unteers to launch the project.
“I explained to them what they
should look for: the location and ac
cessibility of doors, braille in the ele
vators, etc.,” he said. “We didn’t get
all of the information because on the
weekends, some of the buildings Eire
locked, but I think we got off to a
great start.”
Volunteers got first-hand knowl
edge of what it’s like to use handicap-
accessible features, going through
doors and into bathroom stalls in
wheelchairs that Jones provided.
“I wanted the students to see
what it’s like to have to use the facili
ties on campus,” he said. “Because a
See Access, Page 6
Dave House, The Battalion
Will, a fourth
grade stu
dent, tries his
hand at calf
roping while
Mary Kate
Farmer, a ju
nior wildlife
and fisheries
sciences ma
jor, watches
at the Big
Event Carni
val at South
Knoll Ele
mentary
School.
Students help out with carnival for Big Event
By Tauma Wiggins
The Battalion
Saturday morning began a bit earli
er than usual for many Texas A&M
students who awoke to tackle their Big
Event assignments.
The student volunteers spread
throughout the Bryan-College Station
community in teams, working all day
on a variety of tasks.
Depending on the amount of work to
be done, some Big Event teams were as
small as 10 or as large as 200, which
was the number of students needed to
help out with South Knoll Elementary
School’s annual carnival.
The elementary school, which puts
on a carnival every year to raise money
for school supplies, usually utilizes
parent volunteers. But this year, with
the help of Big Event volunteers, more
parents were able to enjoy the carnival
with their children.
Becky Eden, a math teacher at
South Knoll and carnival coordinator,
said A&M students always volunteer
for the carnival, but this year was the
first time the Big Event got involved.
“This is our first time with Big
Event, and it’s been wonderful,” Eden
said. “The Aggies were here right at 10,
See Carnival, Page 6
Dave House, The Battalion
Fish Camp 1996 counselors from Camp Stansell
wash wheelchairs as their part of Big Event.
COLLEGE STATION
ass @ Hwy 30 764-7$
in. Schedule
HEAVEN (G)
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9:20
10:05
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10:00
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U-Act conference
brings out diversity
among students
&
^ By Heather Pace
31 The Battalion
Many Texas A&M students
d^JIand faculty members have been
idvocating campus unity for
^ fears; participants in
•rfj| tis weekend’s U-Act
inference took
cyj steps to achieve
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People from
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^ tended the
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‘ftreat, which
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0 Groups represented included,
saiong others, the Asian-Ameri-
ten Student Association, the
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SIBIUTYTO ^ Hab . t | t ^ Humanity
Dpens ted several sororities.
Rajani Nair, a senior civil en-
teering major, said the wide
tenge of perspectives added to
the retreat’s effect.
Nair said this retreat, her
fourth, was unique because it
was smaller than usual.
“Overall, it was a wonderful
experience that enlightened
people who hadn’t met
people from different
organizations,”
Nair said. “It was
smaller but
more informa
tive because I
got to meet
people from
various areas.”
Tanya
Williams, a U-
Act co-adviser,
said the conference
focuses on enabling
participants to grow in
their understanding of
both themselves and others.
“The purpose of U-Act,”
Williams said, “is to get stu
dents from across campus to
begin discussing issues: intro
ducing them to other cultures,
looking at their own cultural
See U-Act, Page 4
Commandant names new leaders
By Danielle Pontiff
The Battalion
Maj. Gen. Thomas G. Dar
ling, commandant of the Texas
A&M Corps of Cadets, last
week announced the students
selected to lead the five major
units of the Corps for the 1996-
1997 academic year.
Joseph Royo, a junior ele
mentary education major, will
command the 1st Brigade, and
Shawn McManamy, a junior
history major, will command
the 2nd Brigade.
Royo and McManamy each
will be in charge of more than
400 cadets in six Army ROTC
companies.
Jim Harrison, a junior busi
ness analysis major, will lead
the 1st Wing, which consists of
475 cadets from eight Air Force
ROTC squadrons.
Alexander Burch, a junior fi
nance major, will command the
1st Regiment’s more than 400
cadets in six Navy and Marine
ROTC companies.
Michael Hays, a junior man
agement major, will command the
Aggie Band. The band started
this year with 390 members of
mixed ROTC affiliation.
Darling said the new com
manders were selected based
on leadership abilities demon
strated during their first three
years in the Corps.
“They are the ones who have
direct objectives and goals for
their unit,” Darling said. “They
have the qualifications we look
for to represent major units on
the drill field, at outfit meet
ings and march-ins.”
Junior cadets either applied
or were nominated to be inter
viewed for the commander posi
tions. They had to meet stan
dard qualifications, including
maintenance of a minimum 2.3
grade-point ratio.
A board of representatives
from the commandant’s office
and the Corps Staff interviewed
each candidate.
See Leaders, Page 4
College of Education holds round table
By Michelle Lyons
The Battalion
Laura Welch Bush, wife of Gov. George
W. Bush, was the speaker at the Texas
A&M College of Education’s 1996 Dean’s
Round table Friday night at the Pebble
Creek Country Club.
For six years, the round table has been
held to recognize teachers who have posi
tively influenced their students.
Honorees, their families and friends.
College of Education faculty and staff, and
several education students were invited to
attend.
Dr. Viola Florez, interim dean of educa
tion, described the round table in a press
release as a “partnership of people who are
concerned about American education and
who recognize that Texas A&M’s College of
Education is in a unique position to help
make significant changes in education.
“The round table serves as the college’s
means of recognizing those educators who
have dedicated their lives to learning and
who have given so much of themselves to
their students.”
Sponsors made Si,000 donations to honor
their former teachers, their relatives who
are teachers, or their children’s teachers.
The donations will provide students
with financial aid, including scholarships,
as well as helping the College of Education
purchase equipment for academic
programs.
Windi Fourdraine, College of Education
relations development coordinator and co
ordinator of the event, said that since the
round table began, it has honored more
than 100 teachers.
Twenty-one teachers were honored at
Friday’s round table, ranging from
preschool teachers to higher education pro
fessors. Each was awarded a crystal, apple
shaped plaque and a certificate.
Dr. Barry Thompson, Texas A&M Uni
versity System chancellor, was one of the
educators recognized at the event. He said
he was honored to be chosen for the award
because he is more accustomed to receiving
criticism than praise.
“I feel very positive about the fact that
my colleagues would recognize me,”
Thompson said.