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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 1988)
THe'Battalion I Tuesday, March 29, 1988 College Station, Texas Vol. 87 No. 121 GSRS 045360 10 Pages sl Texas A&M rejoins SWC radio network ’ini 4 m isd ■ | nil til ItH From Staff and Wire Reports Texas A&M, given more ttexibil- I ity in a deal worked out with Host I Communications, rejoined the I Southwest Conference Radio Net- I work’s revised package on Monday I in a 9-0 vote by league members. Commissioner Fred Jacoby said I the SWC “agreed unanimously to es- I tablish institutional football radio I networks in cooperation with the SWC’s Host network.” “Each institution will have their I own announcer and color an- | nouncer for the games,” he said. “We will have two originations on I each game; for example one by Bay- | lor AND Texas when they play each I other, or Texas A&M and Baylor, et I cetera,” Jacoby said. “Individual institution networks I will be under the umbrella of Host,” I he said. They (Host) will still sell the I advertising, clear the stations and I produce the game through the con ference anchor studio.” Jacoby said profits will be split according to a formula that will take into consideration the number of stations carrying a team’s broadcast and the strength of the stations. In the past, profits were split equally among the nine league schools. Texas A&M Athletic Director Jackie Sherrill and Learfield Pro ductions had agreed to a three-year, $1 million package if the SWC pack age problems couldn’t be worked out. Sherrill had alleged that Host was giving the University of Texas pref erential treatment. Host and Jacoby denied the charge. Wally Groff, associate athletic di rector, said A&M “would release the information when we’re ready.” Groff said no one with the athletic department would comment until Sherrill arrives in College Station. Sherrill was in Dallas for the meet ing and could not be reached for comment. John Keith, sports news director, also could not be reached for com ment. Jacoby said, “Host Communica tions, in conjunction with Learfield- Ashcraft, will work on cooperative ventures outside of the conference contract.” “This would include coaches’ shows, promotion items and adver tising outside of the radio contract,” he said. Jacoby praised Sherrill for his helpfulness. “There is a little more flexibility for everyone in this and Coach Sher rill acted in good faith to resolve dif ferences,” Jacoby said. “Last Thurs day he flew to Birmingham and met with Jim Host (president of Host Communications) and worked out this arrangement. “It was presented to the confer ence and approved. Jackie should be given credit.” A&M will be back in the SWC package for the last two years of the contract with Host, Jacoby said. “We’re all very enthusiastic about it,” Jacoby said. Taking a break Photo by Jay Janner Tommy Salaiz, a senior agronomy major from El lobby of the Soil and Crop Sciences Building—En- Paso, takes a rest after a hard day’s work in the tomology Center. mu ^State senators discuss Hispanics’ needs By Tracy Staton Senior Staff \Vriter Since Hispanics will be the major- Jity population group in Texas by the I year 2000, state government must [recognize and meet the special needs I of this cultural group. State Sen. I Carlos Truan (D-Corpus Christi) land Sen. Hector Uribe (D- Brownsville) said Monday at Rudder I Tower. “The Mexican-American Impact [in the Texas Legislature” was the second session in a lecture series, “Mexican-American Impact on Poli tics,” sponsored by the MSC Com mittee for the Awareness of Mexi- |can-American Culture. Both senators emphasized the im portance of education to increasing Mexican-American influence on public policy. Hispanics must be of fered an equitable education through programs such as bilingual education, they said. One inequity they have been working to remedy is the absence of adequate higher education in South Texas. Truan is one of the plaintiffs who filed a suit against the State of Texas in December, charging that Photo by Lisa G. Roe Senator Carlos Truan speaks about Mexican-American impact on the legislature as Senator Hector Uribe takes notes Monday night. Mexican-Americans have been den ied a fair chance at higher educa tion. Uribe is one of the lawyers rep resenting the Hispanic interest groups that instigated the lawsuit. “Hispanics are suing Texas over education funding,” Truan said. “In South Texas, the average per capita funding is $70. The statewide aver age is $160 per capita and in Central Texas it’s $250. It’s not fair. We don’t have a single professional school, and the only doctoral pro gram is at Texas A&I in bilingual ed ucation. “The resolution calls for institu tions such as the University of Texas and Texas A&M to study South Texas, and if we aren’t going to be adequately funded, maybe we ought to join hands.” Uribe also cited inadequate doc toral and master’s programs in Candidates discuss issues at sparsely attended debate By Todd Riemenschneider Staff Writer The two candidates for student body president met Monday to discuss the new University presi dent, senior finals and their goals for the presidency. Jay Hays and Brian Banner de bated in Rudder Tower in front of fewer than 30 people. Hays said Student Govern ment’s structure needs to be more focused so students are recog nized more. “What we have to do is to refo cus the aim of Student Govern ment back toward student rep resentation and student services,” Hays said. He said students should know more about what is going on and what Student Government is doing. Banner said he believes this year will be different. “We have a new president (University) coming in and I think it will be interesting to see if the student body president is going to be able to sit down and actually talk out with him and to go to him first and speak about the issues,” Banner said. Hays and Banner agreed it is important for the new University president to understand the structure and traditions at A&M. The candidates also spoke about what kind of power they believe the student body presi dent possesses. “What we have here is a situa tion where the student body pres ident probably has an enormous amount of potential power that has yet to be tapped,” Hays said. He said the student body presi Photo by Sam B. Myers Brian Banner and Jay Hays debate Monday night in Rudder Tower. Fewer than 30 people attended the debate between the two student body president candidates. dent is now more of a figurehead than a person who directs power. “(But) what we have to remem ber is we are students here and we are not in a position to dictate policy,” he said. Banner said the student body' president has the power to be the voice of the students. “We should represent all stu dents on campus as that voice. In a way, the student body president is supposed to be a figurehead,” Banner said, referring to the ap pearances the president must make during the year. Banner and Hays also talked about getting a student appointed to the Board of Regents as a non voting member. They agreed that a student is needed on the board when the Regents are discussing student issues, such as senior fi nals. Hays said senior finals negotia tions must be a time of give and take. The students will have to give up something or take a stand, he said. “We are going to have to take finals,” Hays said, “but we don’t have to take them under such a crazy schedule.” Banner agreed that seniors should take finals, but he said the exam schedule needs to be changed so people will be on cam pus for the graduation ceremo nies. South Texas as a disadvantage Mexi can-Americans face. Even at the un dergraduate level, the gap between white enrollment and minority en rollment is widening, he said. “Many argue that the increased numbers of minority students on college campuses shows progress,” Uribe said. “But that’s not enough, because the real measure is-the rela tive measure. The ratios and per centages incidate that the situation is worsening.” Fewer Mexican-Americans who graduate from high school attend college now, he said. And when the problem of high-school dropouts is added to the picture, the outlook is bleak. Truan said school districts have the responsibility of retaining stu dents and increasing scores on col lege-entrance exams. When school districts are successful, they should be rewarded, he said. The senators acknowledged that Hispanics have scored victories in government, primarily with pro grams like bilingual education and adult education. Mexican-American influence in the Texas legislature has grown over the past 20 years; six of the 31 state senators and 19 of the 150 representatives are Hispanic. Before 1971, only 12 of the 181 leg islators were Mexican-American. This increased representation shows that times have changed, Uribe said. And the Hispanic influ ence should expand as the Hispanic population expands, he said. “Greater opportunity means greater responsibility,” Uribe said several times during his speech. “How we respond to this increased opportunity determines our suc cess.” LTribe also stressed that Mexican- Americans are a diverse group. His panic senators are not just interested in Hispanic issues, and Hispanic vot ers do not vote en masse, they make individual decisions just like other citizens, he said. “I think we will see next a matura tion of the Hispanic community,” Uribe said. “Hispanics will be run ning against Hispanics just as whites have run against whites for many years, and issues will be important. As Hispanics join the mainstream of political life in Texas, they will sup port the best candidate without re gard to race. If they support a candi date just because of ethnicity, they can’t expect anyone else to act differ ently.” Israeli army seals regions to fight PLOs JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli army on Monday imposed its broa dest clampdown yet on the 1.5 mil lion Palestinians living in the occu pied territories, sealing the regions for three days to combat a PLO day of protest. The army also announced it was barring journalists from the territo ries for the first time in the four months that have left 119 Palestin ians and one Israeli soldier dead. Under the measure, the 650,000 Arabs in Gaza will be banned from leaving their homes, while the 850,000 Palestinians on the West Bank will be confined to their vil lages and towns, the army said. The three-day closure began at 10 p.m. Monday in the Gaza Strip and at 1 a.m. Tuesday in the West Bank, an army statement said. The restrictions also bar Palestin ians from crossing the two bridges over the Jordan River, the army said. Incoming traffic from Jordan will be permitted, however. The or ders also forbid Palestinians living in the territories from entering Israel, affecting about 110,000 Arab work- Panamanian soldiers detain leaders after protest halted PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) — Soldiers firing into the air burst into the capital’s leading hotel and de tained opposition leaders and for eign journalists after an anti-govern ment demonstration was smashed by authorities. The military confiscated the film of foreign television crews at the Marriott Hotel, which has been used for weeks as an informal headquar ters by scores of American and other reporters and leaders of the Na tional Civic Crusade. Opposition spokesmen said nearly 20 of their leaders were detained. Eight foreign journalists, including Richard Cole of the Associated Press, were taken away and held for about three hours. The Civic Crusade, a leading anti government coalition, staged the af ternoon protest march in an attempt to force the ouster of Panama’s mili tary strongman, Gen. Manuel Anto nio Noriega. Five leaders of the march were ar rested. The violence Monday coincided with the beginning of the second week of a general strike that has closed down an estimated 90 percent of Panama’s industry and com merce. Gunmen dressed in civilian clothes but believed to be members of the Defense Forces’ state security force, and helmeted soldiers carry ing assault rifles, swept into the Mar riott about three hours after the street demonstration was put down and forced their way into temporary offices of NBC, CBS, ABC and CNN, among others. Student Publications accepting applications for editor positions By Robbyn L. Lister The Student Publications Board is accepting applica tions for Summer and Fall 1988 Battalion editor, 1988- 89 Aggieland editor and 1988-89 producer of the Ag- gieland Video Yearbook. Application forms are available in student activities offices in the MSC and the Pavilion; at the Student Pub lications Office, 217 Reed McDonald; in the journalism department office, 230 Reed McDonald; in The Battal ion news room, 216 Reed McDonald; and in The Ag gieland office, Oil Reed McDonald. Typed application forms must be completed and re turned to Dr. Doug Starr, chairman of the Board and journalism department head, in 230 Reed McDonald by 5 p.m. April 20. The qualifications for Battalion editor are: • At least 60 hours coursework and a grade-point ra tion of 2.0 or higher overall. • At least one year of experience in a responsible ed itorial position on The Battalion or a comparable news paper or at least 12 hours of journalism courses, includ ing JOUR 203 and 303 (Reporting and Editing 1 and II) and completion of or enrollment in JOUR 301 (Mass Communication, Law and Society) during term of of fice. The qualifications for Aggieland editor are: • A GPR of 2.0 or higher both overall and in major. • At least one year of experience in a responsible staff position on The Aggielanctor an equivalent year book. The summer Battalion editor will take office May 11 and continue through August 24, and is responsible for completing the back-to-school sections of the paper that will appear in The Battalion at the beginning of the fall semester. The fall editor of The Battalion will serve during dead week, May 2 through 6, and then will resume du ties from Aug. 29 through Dec. 2. The Aggieland editor also will take office Aug. 29, but will serve until the yearbook is finished in 1989. The producer of the Aggieland Video Yearbook will start work July 1 and will continue until the video year book is completed in 1989. Si