ay 3,
■ TexasA&M^^ * ■ V •
he Battalion
•or
' tai
Vol.89 No.146 USPS 045360 16 Pages
'take' ™
Cinco de Mayo
History and purpose of holiday,
Hispanic student organizations,
Hispanic culture, personal viewpoints
See Section B
College Station, Texas
Friday, May 4,1990
he IRS;
hnga
it the
t> his
water,
P''
Walking in the rain
m
CS residents vote on tax increase
An A&M student takes shelter under his umbrella while walking
across Ireland Street from the Blocker Building to the Parking
Garage. Partly cloudy skies are forecast for the weekend, along
with high temperatures in the mid- to- upper 70s.
By KEVIN M. HAMM
Of The Battalion Staff
The College Station City Council
has proposed a one-half cent sales
tax increase to be voted on Saturday
by residents, including Texas A&M
students.
The actual wording on the ballot
says the revenue will be used to re
duce the property tax rate in College
Station.
In a letter to College Station resi
dents, Mayor Larry Ringer outlined
additional uses for the funding if
voters approve the tax.
Contrary to the wording on the
ballot, he said the $2 million revenue
would be used to reduce utility rates
in College Station. One proposal the
council discussed was to use $1.2
million for the reductions and the
remainder for streets and capital im
provements.
According to the letter, some
bond rating companies have voiced
concern about the city’s heavy reli
ance on utility fund transfers to
fund its operations.
In order to maintain College Sta
tion’s favorable bond ratings, the let
ter states the utility rate reductions
would lessen the reliance on these
transfers.
College Station City Manager Ron
Ragland said almost half of College
Station’s budget is made up of utility
transfers to the city’s general fund.
The proposed increase, from 1
percent to 1.5 percent, also would
increase students’ contributions to
the costs of local government, the
letter said. The city estimates the av
erage student will pay approxi
mately 50 cents more per week.
“As a university community, Col
lege Station is responsible for pro
viding municipal services which are
used by a greater than average num
ber of others who are not property
taxpayers,” Ringer said in the letter.
Examples of municipal services
are fire protection for the Univer
sity, parks and street systems and po
lice security for University events.
Texas A&M is a non-taxable en
tity because it is a state institution.
City Councilman Jim Gardner
said in a letter that one reason he
voted against the proposed increase
is because of the increased burden to
students who are “the underpinning
of our healthy local economy.”
Gardner was the only member of
the council who voted against the
proposed increase. He said it is un
fair to tax students who would re
ceive no relief from lower property
taxes or utility rates.
The approximately 13,000 on-
campus students pay no property
taxes, and students living off campus
pay an indirect property tax in their
rent.
It is unlikely a reduction in the
property tax would result in lower
rent for students, Gardner said.
On-campus students also pay no
city utility rate, and Gardner esti
mates one-third of off-campus stu
dents would receive no benefit from
a lower rate because they live in sin
gle-meter complexes or pay for utili
ties in their rent.
“More than half of the population
of College Station are students (who)
don’t get this offsetting benefit be
cause (they) don’t pay any utility
bill,” Gardner said.
Ringer agreed that students who
pay an indirect utility rate might not
gain from decreased rates.
Speaker discusses communism
By SEAN FRERKING
Of The Battalion Staff
A specter is haunting Europe —
the specter of Communism.
The Communist Manifesto
by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels
In view of the recent events in
Eastern Europe, Dr. Stephen Niko-
lov said the specter of communism is
quickly fading away.
Nikolov, a member of the Insti
tute of Sociology and the Academy
of Sciences at the University of Bul
garia in Sophia, gave a general de
scription of the events that led to the
changes in many Eastern European
governments during his presenta
tion of “Eastern Europe : A Farewell
in Communism.”
“The startling developments in
Eastern Europe that surfaced in the
fall of 1989,” said Nikolov, “are the
results of years of oppression and
underground activity.”
Nikolov said the failure of com
munism began with the establish
ment of a strong democratic tradi
tion after World War I. Until a Nazi
coup d’etat in 1940, Nikolov said,
democracy flourished in Bulgaria.
The communists then gained
power during Bulgaria’s struggle
against the Third Reich because the
communist guerrillas were the most
organized group of resistance, Niko
lov said.
.“In fact, the United States and
Britain supplied the communists
with arms because they were the
only group to have any success
against the Nazis,” Nikolov said.
At the end of the war, the commu
nists in Bulgaria easily assumed con
trol of the government, Nikolov
said.
Photo by Karl Stolleis
Stephen Nikolov
After the communists came to
E awer, Nikolov said many of the
aders of opposition parties were
jailed or placed in labor camps.
“However, some leaders escaped
to the United States and led the re
sistance to the communists from
afar,” Nikolov said.
After years of Soviet intervention,
Nikolov said Mikhail Gorbachev’s
leadership in Moscow changed the
face of communism around the
world.
“Until Gorbachev, we could do
nothing,” Nikolov said.“But since he
(Gorbachev) has come to power and
set the policy of non-intervention,
many things could now take place.”
In 1985, the first reforms that
would lead to the failure of commu
nism in Bulgaria were proposed, Ni
kolov said. However, these changes
soon needed to be amended, he said.
“These reforms failed because the
leaders in my (Bulgarian) govern
ment forgot what their master Marx
had taught them,” Nikolov
said.“The economy dictates politics
and in 1985 the politicians were try
ing to dictate to the economy.”
Eventually, Nikolov said, the re
formers had to turn to the West and
accept the failure of communism.
He said he was surprised at the
peaceful manner of revolution but
warned that this “velvet” revolution,
a sociological description of a revolu
tin without violence, may become “b-
loody” because of the lack of educa
tion about life in a democratic state
in the general populace.
Nikolov also said ethnic violence
could hinder Eastern Europe’s
march to freedom and prosperity.
However, Nikolov said he was
very optomistic about the situation
in Eastern Europe.
“We know we have many difficult
legal and constitutional problems to
solve,” Nikolov said.
“But I know if the countries of
Europe work together and have pa
tience, we will be able to reach our
goals of democracy and freedom.”
nglish dept, head strives for diversity
By SUZANNE CALDERON
Of The Battalion Staff
Dr. J. Lawrence Mitchell said he
[came to the United States from En
gland in the early ’70s to see new
places and try new things.
As the new head of the Depart-
Iment of English at Texas A&M, it
| appears he’s done just that.
(u After receiving his undergraduate
•■degree from Kings College at the
^■University of London, Mitchell
■ wanted to pursue his studies in En-
pglish because he had many un
answered questions about the field.
“When I was an undergraduate, I
found the area I remember having
the most questions about was Old
■ English,” Mitchell said. “I didn’t feel
| those questions were adequately an-
Iswered. I thought maybe I could an-
I swer some of those questions myself
■ by studying Old English and the his-
■ tory of language and teaching it to
others in a way that it is comprehen
sive.”
Mitchell came to the United States
and received his Ph.D. from the Uni
versity of Iowa.
Before coming to A&M this fall,
Mitchell was at the University of
Minnesota, where he was chairman
of the English department from
1977 to 1983 and director of the
Germanic philology program from
1985 to 1989.
Mitchell also taught courses at
UM in Old English, the history of
me Engnsn language and modern
British fiction.
In addition to his duties as depart
ment head, Mitchell is writing an et
ymological dictionary, a dictionary
of words traced from their early
meanings, and a biography of one of
his favorite writers, Theodore
Powys.
Outside the academic world,
Mitchell said he likes to jog and col
lect rare books.
Dr. J. Lawrence Mitchell
Mitchell has run in eight mar
athons and many smaller races, as
well as running cross country in col
lege.
“My greatest satisfaction was in
doing under three hours in the
(Twin Cities) marathon on my 40th
birthday,” he said.
Mitchell said he has since given up
marathons and now only runs for
fitness.
Mitchell also has an extensive col
lection of rare books.
The core of his rare book collec
tion includes about 5,000 titles,
Mitchell said.
His collection consists of books
from these areas: modern first edi
tions, which is British fiction be
tween the two world wars, English
dialect and slang dictionaries and
books about boxing.
Mitchell said he collects boxing
books because he was an amateur
boxer in college and because boxing
books have much literary interest.
“There is a lot of linguistic interest
in boxing because there is a lot of
slang tied in with boxing terminolo
gy,” he said.
Boxing slang and other types of
slang are helpful in studying the
evolution or history of language,
Mitchell said.
“There are lots of words only
found in slang dictionaries which
may be relics from an earlier period
when they were more widely used,
but now only in dialect or slang will
they be maintained,” he said.
“You can see the way language
changes are reflected in the dialect
and slang dictionaries in general,”
he said, “so you can say the history of
the language is recorded in dictiona
ries of this sort.”
With Theodore Powys, David
Garnett and Slyvia Warner as some
of his favorite authors, Mitchell said
he likes to collect books by writers
who are not very well-known.
“The people I like to collect for
the most part are people that aren’t
so well-known. ... It is much better to
collect people who aren’t so well-
known but you think they are very
good, so it is really like investing in
somebody in whom you have faith
and maybe nobody else does yet.”
Silence recognizes students’ demonstrations
Students, faculty and staff mem
bers are asked to observe a minute of
silence at noon today in recognition
of Chinese students’ nonviolent
demonstrations for democracy one
year ago.
The Student Senate passed a reso
lution earlier this spring to pay trib
ute to the students and remind
Americans of the freedoms they en
joy-
Albritton Tower’s bells will ring
from 11:58 a.m. until noon, and
again from 12:01 to 12:03 p.m. to
call attention to the moment of si
lence.
If you’re by the Academic Build
ing, you’re asked to walk to the flag
pole in front to pay tribute.
Another minute of silence will be
observed at noon June 4, in tribute
to students who lost their lives while
demonstrating for democracy.
University seeks proposals
to lease A&M Bookstore
By JULIE MYERS
Of The Battalion Staff
and
By DEAN SUELTENFUSS
Special to the Battalion
Requests for proposals to lease the
Texas A&M Bookstore were sent to
private companies April 27 to “test
the waters,” said A&M’s vice presi
dent for finance and administration
Thursday.
Robert Smith said requests were
sent to determine if enough interest
existed in the private sector to lease
the bookstore, but requesting propo
sals was a “far cry” from discussing a
future lease.
“We will review and carefully as
sess any offer made,” Smith said.
“Any proposal would have to pro
vide an advantage over what we are
doing now. If it’s not in our best in
terests, we won’t do it.”
Don Powell, director of business
services at A&M, said a proposal is
not a bid.
“A proposal is simply asking what
they would do if they had the oppor
tunity to operate the store,” he said.
“Even if we sent one (request) out,
it would not be a sure thing that we
were going to lease it,” Powell said.
The bookstore operates as an aux
iliary enterprise of A&M. Most prof
its return to the University in the
form of donations to student organi
zations.
The store must stand on its own
and be self-supporting, Smith said.
“There are certain things you do
in an enterprise to make sure you’ve
got the best of all possible situations,
and we’re looking at a range of
things all the time,” Smith said.
Powell said privatization of the
bookstore has been considered for
several years.
“We’re always looking at ways to
provide the most service for the least
amount of money and to provide the
best operation for the students,”
Powell said. “So we’re always open to
other suggestions. We talk about it
from time to time.”
Shri Parchure, manager of Lou-
pot’s Bookstores, said the possible
lease of the bookstore would not
make much difference to students
because of the variety of bookstores
in the area.
Additionally, Parchure said most
prices would stay the same, although
some book prices would go up.
“Sometimes the MSC doesn’t
catch price increases because they
are inefficient,” Parchure said.
“Under a lease agreement, prices
would be updated.”
Parchure said the A&M bookstore
presently orders too many books.
“If they want to sell 10 copies,
they order 25,” he said. “It’s not run
on some kind of profit motive. Be
cause they do that, you can walk into
the MSC bookstore and get your
books at any time, because they al
ways have so many. If a private com
pany comes, their ordering is going
to be really careful. There will be
times when nobody in town will have
a book for a week or 10 days.”
Powell said a leasing company
would free the University from the
day-to-day concern of the bookstore.
“You have a guaranteed amount
coming in to the University,” he said.
“And in our case, we support stu
dent activities, and student organiza
tions on campus with the money
that’s made out of the bookstore. We
wouldn’t want to lose that.
“If somebody came in, they’d have
to guarantee an amount of money
that would enable us to continue
providing this support.”
Current employees are also an im
portant part of any lease agreement.
“If we agreed to a lease, we’d want
to know what they would do about
the current employees,” Powell said.
“We’d ask that they take care of the
employees and consider their bene
fits.”
He said, however, that owners of
these apartment complexes would
benefit and could choose to pass
these savings on to residents.
He also said lower utility rates for
apartment complex owners might
act as a hedge against rent increases.
The councilman also expressed
surprise that the city would try to im
pose a tax that appears directed
mainly toward students.
“It seemed to me the unfair treat
ment of A&M students, particularly
those living on-campus, was just an
unfortunate consequence of impos
ing this tax on citizens,” he said in
the letter.
“However, after reading the latest
information from the mayor and
‘members of the city council,’ it is
clear that the zapping of ‘on-campus
students, visitors and others’ is inten
tional,” Gardner said.
“This is difficult to understand,”
his letter said.
The councilman also made issue
See Tax/Page 6
UT racism
monitored
by greeks
By BILL HETHCOCK
Recent racist acts by University
of Texas fraternities have been
closely monitored by the Texas
A&M Greek system, and no prob
lems of that type are expected
here, an A&M In MMj
(Council adviser said.
think the increase in racial ind-
dents by UT fraternities will afi
“Because of the attitudes that
*xist here we don’t expect those
If anything, their problems will
[make «s jmore awake and-help
■At':.the University of Texas,:
Delta fraternities each were Sus
pended for ojif; year because of
recent racially insensitive ibe*-
.dents.
Delta Tau Delta members de-
stroyed a car painted with racist
messages. ■■ - ’lli-h:
Phi Gamma Delta printed and
:dtStribUted--.::T^
ball player Michael Jordan’s body
and a “Fipman* head.
Wesley Ward, president of the
A&M chapter of Phi Gamma
Delta, described the “Fijiman” as
: a- caveman-like cartoon character !
wearing a grass skirt and a bone
through his nose.
Ward sibd the “Piftman” is not
an official symbol of the frater
nity The national PM Gamma
Delta fraternity has, however, re*
strlcted use of the caricature, he
said.
The Phi Gamma Delta T-shirts
handed out at UT drew criticism
from students for projecting a
stereotypical image of African-
Americans.
: The situation at UT is not caus
ing any real changes in the PM
Gamma Dt ha chapter at A&M,
Ward said.' '
: ' . “Fm not saying we’re perfect,
but I can't say this is spurring any
Ifigi he said. “We m
our image into
major :
ways
: : Phi Gamma Delta will continue
efforts to remain involved in
community service activities.
Ward said. He said he hopes this
involvement will show the posi
tive aspects of the fraternity.
“We are a service-oriented
group and;:!^ steps ufttnaintaih !
good relations with the commu
nity around us,” he said, “We’re
hot interested in being insensitive
or alienating auyone^Mi i;? ; ..
A&M |i|itern$ty ■%>$&&& Id, leam
from negative experiences in fra
ternities at other universities.
Fraternities are having prob-
now, but here at Texas A&™.,
we’re able to learn from other's
kes,” he said. . > _ M
—
*sv