Monday, January 18,1988/The Battalion/Page 11
ica-
at
cec-.
itStti
m
3USC
at;
fd:
lla\;
on ||
'COIt-
Deit;
?ll«p
sip
ts a;-
e df;
I. Bt:
Ot e|"
t ait-!'
J$
Railroad
(Continued from page 1)
been reported in The Battalion since
1975.
At a press conference at Eas-
terwood Airport Nov. 6, Railroad
Commissioner John Sharp an
nounced the commission’s intent to
investigate the problem and hold a
public hearing several weeks later.
Sharp said Texas A&M Board of Re
gents Chairman David Eller had
asked the commission to intervene,
The Battalion reported Nov. 9.
But the meeting was cancelled,
i Booker T. Morris, counsel to Sharp,
| said Friday that Southern Pacific
j had agreed to work with the Board
of Regents toward a solution.
“We met with them (University
and railroad officials) prior to start
ing a fact-finding investigation and
; gave them until the end of this
month to work it out themselves,”
Morris said in a telephone interview
i; from Austin. “If it is apparent that
the situation remains at the end of
this time, the commission will get in-
| volved.”
Before the Railroad Commission
\ can take action, it will have to con
duct an investigation, Morris said.
“We would rather the railroad
and the University set an agreement
than take government action,” he
said. “I think they’re getting closer
and I expect that they will reach an
agreement soon.”
Zeigler said the depressed-track
plan is one option being discussed by
the committee.
“The purpose of the committee is
to determine what is the most feasi
ble design concept — one each
agency agrees is the best plan,” he
said. “We are still looking at the de
sign concept.
“We looked at elevating Wellborn
Road, but it has been virtually ruled
out as a recommendation of the
committee. Another plan still has
possibilities — relocating the rail
road tracks to another location.”
The plan to lower the tracks has
been most favorably received,
Zeigler said.
“My feeling is that although no
one has made a firm recommenda
tion, our department, if forced to
decide today, would choose the de
pressed section,” he said.
College Station City Councilman
Dick Haddox said he likes the pro
posal.
“I don’t know if I can speak for
everyone, but based on their rendi
tion, it looked great,” he said. “It
would be a tremendous im
provement out there and an amenity
to the community.”
Once a plan is approved, officials
must tackle the problem of funding
the project.
“Funding is one of the big ques
tions,” Zeigler said. “Part of the pro
ject could be covered by money from
the Highway Department, just like
any other highway improvement,
with money coming from state and
federal funds.”'
r possil
railroad, the city and the University,
he said.
“It is a general consideration that
the railroads may participate in
funding the project, but no one will
estimate the extent of their involve
ment,” he said.
“Outside the campus proper, the
cities would have an obligation for
right-of-way (purchasing land to
widen roads, for example) and util
ity costs. The city would have to pay
to have utilities moved and adjusted.
“On campus, there are campus-
owned utilities. These costs could be
borne by the University. The Uni
versity may or may not contribute to
the construction costs.”
Remember
i byi
iddi
veel
izor-
roup
>nna
itled
iforc
h in
man
x>d
:h as
: the
rrasli
r of
lolly
unes
erol
ewas
i he
said.
i re-
pro-
here
ound
Am
that
these
with
'Neil
inre-
f the
next
Fort
ether
This
s I’ve
a the
'??;
/ill he
’Neil
(Continued from page 1)
fulfilled, and blacks as well as
whites are to blame.
Racism exists, as shown by CBS
sports commentator Jimmy “The
Greek” Snyder’s remarks about
black athletes. Price said Saturday
at a celebration by the Dallas Mar
tin Luther King Jr. Community
Center. Snyder was later fired by
CBS.
But it exists in part because
blacks have failed to fight for
their rights and to command re
spect, Price said.
Price said blacks have wasted
energy by political infighting,
have failed to develop their own
businesses and have not solved
the problems of teen-age preg
nancies and poor achievement in
school.
King
But some Austin high school
students, who weren’t alive when
King was assassinated, say their
lives would not be the same if he
had never lived.
Laura Coe, Phillip Vasquez and
Ann Armstrong are in an ad
vanced social studies class that
spent much of last week studying
King’s fight for equality.
“I think I have a lot more op
portunities as far as my education
goes,” said Coe, 17. “There are a
lot of places that I have the op
portunity to go to now that I
wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for
him.”
Vasquez, 17, said his grandpa
rents and even his parents were
stymied in their education be
cause they were intimidated by
prejudices.
“They used to pick cotton in
the cottonfields because that’s all
they could do,” he said. “My
grandfather only reached the
fifth grade.”
Armstrong, 17, said the civil
rights movement enabled her to
go to school with kids of all races.
“I would probably be preju
diced if it hadn’t been for his le
gacy,” she said.
(Continued from page 1)
King after he was shot in Memphis,
said this past week that he believed
America had become more racist
since King’s death. Is America more
racist?
A: John Jacobs, president of the
Urban League made a similar
statement. The incidents such that
we are reading about at Howard
Beach suggest that there are people
that resent the attention that has
been focused on minorities and the
affirmative action to bring minori
ties up to par with the majority in
this country. These individuals have
used despicable tactics to try and
widen the gap between the races. I
believe these are isolated events that
do not truly reflect the thinking of
the majority of Americans.
Q: According to the Texas Plan, a
university should have the same ra
cial mix as the general high school
racial mix. A&M Director of Affir
mative Action George Wharton says
that in Texas, about 14 percent of
high school students are olack, and
that about 2 percent of A&M stu
dents are black. What is A&M doing
to narrow that gap?
A: A&M’s problem is a state prob
lem. Other institutions are faced
with the same challenges. One of the
things is to increase the pool. Other
wise, the institutions of the state will
compete for a limited number of
(black) students that are college-pre
pared. One of the things A&M is
doing is ensuring that people of dif
ferent ethnic backgrounds know
they are welcome.
The other thing A&M has to do,
along with other institutions of the
state, is to create programs that pre
pare a larger number of minority
students who can become college re
ady. We must increase the pool.
A&M’s minority outreach centers
go into metropolitian centers and
give students a clear indication of
what will be required to go to college.
We also let them know about our in
terest in them coming to A&M. But
the emphasis of the program is big
ger than just recruiting minorities to
come to A&M. It is helping to pre
pare those students about what to
expect if they go to college, whether
it’s A&M or any one of the other
schools.
Q: Looking more specifically at
A&M, where is the University in
light of King’s dream?
A: A&M today is taking aggres
sive, pro-active steps to further inte
grate its students, faculty and staff in
such a way that is proportionate to
the general population.
Q: Are you refering to the Texas
Plan coordinated by the U.S. De
partment of Education Office of
Civil Rights?
A: Yes, the Texas Plan is a
guideline that gives finite goals and
is somewhat of a measuring stick of
how we should be doing.
Q: When do you see A&M reap
ing the benefits of the outreach cen
ters?
A: The true benefits won’t be seen
(immediately), simply because we
are working with students of the 8th
and 9th grade. Obviously, they need
another four or five years. There
will be some impact in the next year
because we have reached some ju
niors and seniors. But the real bene
fits will be in the next four or five
years.
Q: Until those benefits are
reaped, what should A&M strive
for?
A: The next stage for A&M is the
acceptance that there is a common
interest here. Every student who is
here wants to improve himself. He is
here because he wants to gain a tech
nical discipline that will enable him
to earn a living and make a contribu
tion to his community. And so there
will hopefully come a time when
these common interests will galva
nize us, and bind us, and enable us
to view our experiences here as an
opportunity to become better pre
pared to take our meaningful place
in society.
Q: So, when will that time come at
A&M?
A: You can answer that question
by saying that it will happen sooner
when each individual recognizes
they are a vital cog in the wheel and
that their own sensitivity will be re
quired to make this a reality.
World & Nation Briefs
Government troops encircle compound seized by rebels
BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Troops
loyal to the civilian government on
Sunday encircled a northern army
compound where rebel Lt. Col. Aldo
Rico and about 100 sympathizers
seized control of a regimental head
quarters.
The independent news agency Di
aries y Noticias reported a second
military mutiny in southern Argen
tina, at army Infantry Unit 35 in
the
quashed without incident.
It also said there was “unrest” in
the army brigade of Las Lajas, in
southwestern Neuquen Province.
The agency quoted garrison com
mander Gen. Antonio Balsa as say
ing the problems had been resolved
and order restored.
Government officials denied that
the rebellion by officers demanding
an end to the prosecution of officials
in the previous military dictatorships
was spreading.
Corrientes Gov. Ricardo Leconte
told President Raul Alfonsin by tele-
E hone that the rebels led by Rico
ad taken up battle positions in “ma
chine-gun nests” inside the complex
of Infantry Regiment 4 at Monte Ca-
seros 325 miles north of Buenos
Aires.
r
(j Supreme Court judge blocks deportation of Palestinians
.he hu‘
[0 W3S ‘
f
pilots •
ed untt
chant'
bei#
)0s, an [
iup tit*:
ier an £
he ti®
dth ^
>lk>
ts tef
»collet'
hich al
of ht®
darsf
die^ 1
airc ral
missile 1
-k gt* 1 ’ 1
coptet;
re m 01 *
it
upr
the
Court judge Sunday blocked the de
portation of Palestinians accused of
fomenting anti-Israeli unrest in the
occupied Gaza Strip.
Judge Shlomo Levin issued the
temporary injunction as military au
thorities reported a lull in the six-
week wave of violence in Gaza and
scattered incidents in the occupied
West Bank.
Leaders of two Gaza refugee
camps appealed to the army to ease
curfews imposed on their commu
nities and to free detainees but were
told that order must first be re
stored. At least partial curfews were
in effect in about half the territories’
refugee camps.
Cabinet members criticized au
thorities over the presence of armed
police on the Temple Mount, Islam’s
third holiest shrine, during violent
demonstrations in Jerusalem on Fri
day.
Levin said Mohammed Abu
Samra, 26; Freij al Kheiri, 39; Has-
san Abu Shaqra, 37, and Khalil
Quqa, 39, were allowed to stay in the
Gaza Strip until the army shows the
Supreme Court its reasons for or
dering them deported.
Such injunctions are common,
and are usually overturned once the
army’s case has been heard.
City council puts end to machine-gun shooting at resevoir
READING, Pa. (AP) — It’s not
easy to find a good place to shoot up
things with a machine gun, and the
Reading City Council has made it
harder by banning the sport at the
city reservior.
Gun enthusiasts have been hold
ing organized shoots at the reser
voir, blasting away at old bathtubs
and junk cars with a World War II
30-cal. Army machine gun. World
War II German military machine
guns and contemporary MAC-11
and Uzi submachine guns.
“Machine-gun owners are just like
guys who collect Ming vases or old
cars,” said James Graves, managing
editor of Soldier of Fortune mag
azine, which sponsors a machine-
gun shoot at its annual convention in
Las Vegas.
“And once you have them, you
want to use them,” Graves said.
Weapons at the events were
owned by licensed gun collectors
and dealers. Pennsylvania has more
ATTENTION UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
ORDERING A SENIOR RING
The last day a senior ring can be ordered with 92 hours is January
29, 1988, 5:00 p.m., providing the following criteria is met:
1. The hours were completed by December 31, 1987.
2. 30 of the 92 are in residence at A&M.
3. Your cumulative grade point average at A&M is a 2.0.
4. You are in good standing with the University.
If you have any transfer courses that were completed by the end of the Fall 1987 semester or before, which will en
able you to meet the 92 hour requirement, it is your responsibility to see that Transfer Admissions, Heaton Hall, re
ceives an official transcript from the school attended. These transfer credits must be entered onto your A&M tran
script before January 29, 1988. After that date, it will require 95 hours to qualify for a ring.
If you will complete 95 hours and all the other requirements at the end of the current spring semester, please come
by the Ring Office, Clayton W. Williams, Ir. Alumni Center after February 5 to sign up for a preliminary eligibility
check. Further details will be available at that time about placing your application for a ring order during the se
mester.
Any student that has already met the requirements and wishes to order a ring in January, must come to the Ring
Office and fill out the form for eligibility to be verified. This must be done at least 2-3 days in advance of ordering.
January 29 is the deadline for ordering a ring for receipt prior to May graduation. February 26 is the deadline for the
receipt prior to August graduation. Office hours are 8:00-5:00 p.m., Monday - Friday.
than 7,500 legally registered ma
chine guns, and shoots are held
throughout the year, according to
The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Owners of automatic weapons
also must have federal permits —the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms reported 127,215 machine
Runs registered in the United States
in 1986.
While the shoots are legal, most
are unadvertised, word-of-mouth af
fairs.
STUDENTS
ARE
STRANGE
You live in rooms the size of sneakers, eat pizza for breakfast
and throw jello at the ones you love.
But it’s OK with us . We love students. Because students love
music and movies.
So we think students are entitled to more than bad food
and dull textbooks. Show us the coupon below, and we’ll
knock TWO BUCKS OFF your next music or video purchase.
The Record Bar Student Discount. Just for being
students. And for being strange.
STUDENT DISCOUNT COUPON
WHY BE NORMAL?
Return this coupon and get
$ 2.00 OFF
Normal Price of any LP/Cassette/CD/Pre-recorded Video
$7.98 list price or higher Pre-recorded Video $19.95 or htgher.Sale items excluded. One item per coupon
(Multiple sets count as one item.) May not be used in conjunction with any other coupon, discount or
bonus program Expires Jan. 31 1988
n rii
POST OAK MAU.
Call Battalion Classified
845-2611
,b(#