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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 1985)
Wednesday, December 4,1985/The Battalion/Page 3 State and Local | r j£ l TDC land sale '^^failstogetbids p»cka ge J©r second time i 1 graduate tel'. but for now e and money i ndly little Qi Associated Press th the ChristiM it we won't y to find a platttj all of us prod •ad when-isi o send cards,d nd promise it| ■HOUSTON — The Texas De partment of Corrections failed Tuesday to get any bids on 3,600 acres of prime real estate put on the auction block to help $125 million to finance construction of new prisons. /»,lt was the second time in three months state officials have tried to sell the land. ■“We’re going to have to look at our options and consider making some improvements on the land, but we are not going to panic,” Texas Land Commissioner Garry Mauro a senior jouri; said. “We are not going to have any vnist for Tiellfire sale. We are not going to give it away.” Khids were sought on 1,300- and 2,000-acre tracts in Fort Bend County and 322 acres in southern Harris County. ^JpThe land office said there were about 15 inquiries about the land but no bids were submitted. || A Sept. 17 sale of 2,000 acres va lued at $17 million had similar re sults. ■Prospective buyers complained they did not have enough time to prepare bids. They were given 45 days, but buyers said it oftens takes six to nine months to prepare such proposals. , Mauro said the land office and the TDC would take a look at the situa tion and might be able to announce in a few days what the next step would be. || “If we could have had the sale two years ago, we probably could have turned this land asset into a cash as set,’' he said. iredf'eihireS/niitil'l mm nr Sa Student leader profile Speaker of the Senate says job not all fun and games By MEG CADIGAN Staff Writer Laurie Johnson says being speaker of the Texas A&M Stu dent Senate is not all fun and games. “Everyone thinks ‘Oh, you have so much power,’ but really people are taking from you all the time,” Johnson says. She says patience is not one of her stronger virtures, and that the Senate meetings can be trying ex periences. “They (the senators) are mad at you — they’re yelling at you that you didn’t give them a fair chance, or the debate was closed,” she says. “If things don’t go their way, they’re not mad at somebody who’s on the opposite side of them (on a particular issue), they’re usually mad at the speaker, who has nothing to do with it, anyway.” She says her job as speaker is mainly to organize the Senate meetings and make sure that par liamentary procedure is con ducted correctly. She says this job is similar to that of a judge. “A judge has to remain impar tial,” Johnson says. “You’ve got to give people the benefit of the doubt.” Johnson says this is occasionally dif ficult for her to do because she is a very decisive person. She says it makes her mad to see those sen ators who have a better under standing of parliamentary proce dure take advantage of those who do not know the procedure as well. Laurie Johnson Although there is difficulty as sociated with the speaker’s job, Johnson says it doesn’t really bother her. “I’m sensitive and my feelings get hurt,” Johnson says, “but I’m not easily intimidated.” Johnson attributes her ability not to be intimidated to her two older brothers and the fact that she was raised on a ranch outside of San Antonio. “You kind of grow up being a loner, and you have to learn to deal with it,” she says. « One thing she did to deal with being a loner was to get involved in student government in high school. She says that when she reached college, she considered getting involved in Student Gov ernment. However, Johnson says, she never planned to become speaker of the Senate. She had been a sen ator her sophomore and junior years, but she says she never wished to be at the speaker’s po dium. Speaker of the Senate is a posi tion elected from within the Sen ate, and Johnson says she ran be cause she felt she could make a committment to do an outstanding job. “I hated to sit back my senior year and watch it not go well or maybe have some problems,” Johnson says. She says govern ment has been of interest to her for many years. “Government interests me be cause I don’t like to know that de cisions are being made and that I don’t have any input,” Johnson says. “As an individual, I like to know that I have control over my life and government does control your life. If you think it doesn’t, then I think you’re being ignorant of how much it does. You can just look out your window and see ev erything on the street, the sewage systems . . . everything, relating to tne municiple government.” Johnson plans to graduate in May ’86 and use her geophysics degree to work for a government agency in geology. Johnson says she plans to continue to participate in government but does not want to run for an elected public office. “I’m not saying I’ll always be in the public world, because then you have to become a real humanita rian and give up some of your in dividual beliefs,” Johnson says. Controversial job GSS organization doesn't promote homosexual activities, faculty adviser says By CAROLYN VEIGA Y I Reporter s Larry Hickman, a Texas A&M philosophy professor, sits in a cramped, cluttered office sur- rounaed with books on logic and reasoning. His office isn’t out of the ordinary, and he appears to be your average philosophy professor. ; But Hickman, 43, holds a contro versial position at the University. Hickman is the faculty adviser for the Gay Student Services and acti vely participates in many GSS activ- ^ ities, such as the Gay Aggie Band ‘ | march in Houston during Gay Pride Week. ||| “If you can’t engage in a little self- directed humor than you might as well throw in the towel,” Hickman says, about the march in Houston last July. Hickman says he marched with n • d j nut|f other GSS members and learned to ' \ ‘ ' play the Aggie War Hymn on his ka- Yet when a Bitfi “ 00 7 we line up andl a native of McAllen, Hickman lo hope that pf earned his Ph.D. from the Univer sity of Texas. He has been involved with GSS since 1982. Although he did not officially assume the respon- nimal, Biology 1* sibilities as adviser until last semes- table and procetf ter, Hickman advised many of his organs. This pr#i stu dents previous to the establish- to plastic models^ ment ot tn. if Biology and/oil gineer, journals on and removal#! 1 unnecessary! heir future lives. Dr. Larry Hickman The purpose as an adviser for GSS is not to promote homosexual activities, but help gay students re late to society and help facilitate their goals, Hickman says. GSS offers many services to the gay community at A&M, he says. He says many people misinterpret the organization. “There are a lot of straight people associated with the GSS movement.. . it doesn’t mean at all that they’re gay.. . . GSS doesn’t promote gay ac tivities ... it promotes an under standing to help rid the stigma at tached to being gay.” Hickman says there is no real way to know if members are gay because no One at the meetings talks about their sexual orientation. In conjunction with his support of homosexual rights, Hickman has taken issue with the 14th Amend ment. As a member of the American Givil Liberties Union, Hickman says he finds the guarantees under the 14th Amendment detrimental to ho mosexuals. The 14th Amendment, which ex plicitly protects the rights of citizens, is viewed as discriminatory towards homosexuals, Hickman says. “Gay men and women constitute roughly 10 percent of our popula tion and are severely discriminated against in our society,” he says. “Employers find out their em ployees are gay and fire them,” he says. “Landlords find out their ten ants are gay and leases are termi nated . . . that’s why I feel so ad amant toward gay rights. Gays have a difficult time succeeding in life . . . and I’m concerned that there is no justification.” Because Texas has outlawed all homosexual activities, Hickman says he finds this discriminatory toward gays. The 14th Ammendment is “trying to restrict gay rights,” he says. le aid of plastict .11 Biology 1231 : lie real questions studying in f 1 hope the btf astic models and develop; ger. So, next temptation and^j instead. 1 length. TheeditoM : hui will make etin ned and must incP| nee ard ditor iditor r i Editors 'or „ m ilwBmtltulW ; ,i, ;,i rciiorimit.^ f ■xwMkMwtoSffn, 75 pcneivm.^ / rv.n /U'M e'imjffl Texas A&M University Faculty, Students, Staff Computer Discount Plan from ComputerLand 26% to 48% Discount On IBM, AT&T, Compaq, Apple, complete systems Also printers, modems, and software Pick up a price list and order form at our store. Ask for Desmond ComputerUind post oak viiige ■ Thcrc*s onlti one number One. Hwy 30, College Station 409/693-2020 APARTMENTS Now preleasing for spring as low as $275. 00 1 • 2 • 3 Bedrooms Ask about our specials 1600 Southwest Parkwav 693-6540 Why Settle For Less? Ol’ Lou Pays More For Used Books. LOUPOT’S BOOKSTORE FREE PARKING IN REAR FOR CUSTOMERS Hickman, also an adviser to the Student Art Films Society at A&M, teaches three courses in philosophy and has recently edited nis second textbook, “Philosophy, Technology and Human Affairs,” which is used at several universities across the na tion, including A&M. Hickman says he has done re search on the effects of television evangelists, or what he calls the “e- lectronic church.” “The emphasis is on superficial images, rather than on content,” he says. “The evangelists . . . are able to manipulate mass media by means of the electronic media.” Although Hickman at one time studied to be a Baptist minister, he says he is not a Ghristian now. “When you die, you die,” he says, “. . . you stop existing as an organism .. . that’s all the evidence we have. “I wouldn’t consider myself an atheist . . . (mine) is a philosophical position that has taken me a lot of years to work out.” Leaning back in his chair, Hick man blew a puff of smoke toward the ceiling, grinned and said, “I’m always looking for evidence of life after death but I haven’t seen any, have you?” AM/PM Clinics Family Practice-Industrial Medicine Minor Emergencies 10% Student Discount South •46-4756 tam-11pm 7 days a week Serving College Station/Brynn Walk-ins Welcome North 776-4756 6am-8pm Mon-Frl Serving North Bryan UVTERURBAiV Join usWednesday nights for frozen margaritas! Only ONE DOLLAR from 9:00 pm until closing. The INTERURBAH 505 University Ur. "an aggie tradition" i $ £ § % £ £ % ( ; b CONTACT LENSES CHRISTMAS SALE $59 00 pr. * — daily wear soft lenses $79 00 $99 >) Reg $79 00 pr. >) 00 pr. * — extended wear soft lenses Reg $99 00 pr. pr. * — tinted soft lenses Reg $1 ISP pr. CALL 696-3754 FOR APPOINTMENT Sale ends Dec. 24,1985 OPEN MONDAY THRU SATURDAY CHARLES C. SCHROEPPEL, O.D., P.C. 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