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