i
Tl—■_ '13 _ _ 1 i __
The Battalion
Vol. 90 No. 99 USPS 045360 10 Pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, February 21,1991
Keport: A&M overcharges students
By Elizabeth Tisch
The Battalion
■ Texas A&M is overcharging students for
||ood, supplies and services, according to a
Report released Wednesday by a Student
Government committee.
I The study, compiled by the Committee
wr Student Government Task Force,
Bund that “after an extensive analysis, the
■"ask Force is convinced that many items
■old to students could be provided at a
Llovver cost.”
I Student Senate Finance Chairman David
Brooks presented the report to the Senate
; Wednesday, and it was referred to a stu
dent committee for further study.
I The Senate will decide March 6 whether
po send the report to A&M President Wil-
Ram Mobley or to Robert Smith, vice presi
dent of finance and administration.
I Task force Chairman David Wieland said
Ri the report that the committee was ere-
University conflicts with competitors’rates
According to a report by the Committee for
Student Government Task Force, Texas A&M
Is overcharging students in several areas
when compared to local competitors’ prices:
$ A&M 7-11 Skaggs
Elmer’s Glue (4 oz.)1.45 1.39 .99
200 sheets notebook paper 2.09 pa .99
Nyquil (6 oz.)
6.35 4.89 3.79
ated due to student complaints about the
price of campus food items and of the poor
communication of the department of busi
ness services policies to students.
Student Body President Ty Clevenger
said he believed it was necessary to appoint
unbiased student representatives to exam
ine the issues further.
Services researched by the task force
were campus vending, fast food and cafete
ria-style operations, the University Golf
Course, Campus Bookstore, Campus Mi
crocomputing Center, and campus copy
centers.
The services researched did not include
University Printing, dormitories, Univer
sity-Owned Apartments, campus dining
halls, the University Center, Campus Mail
and Photographic Services.
The task force excluded these services
because they directly serve or support the
academic sector of A&M.
During the year-long study, some items
sold at on-campus convenience stores and
snack bars were compared to identical items
at 7-11 convenience stores and Skaggs Al
pha Beta on South College Avenue.
Donald Powell, director of business serv
ices, “states that the prices of items sold in
Business Services operations were derived
by following a lowest pratical pricing philos
ophy,” the report stated.
According to this, prices should be near
the median of the range of prices in the pri
vate sector, regardless of actual cost, the re
port continued.
But the task force found otherwise. A 4
oz. bottle of Elmers Glue costs $1.45 on
campus, $1.39 at 7-11 and 99 cents at
Skaggs.
Two hundred sheets of notebook paper
sell for $2.09 on campus and 99 cents at
Skaggs. A 6 oz. bottle of Nyquil cold medi
cine costs $6.35 on campus, $4.89 at 7-11
and $3.79 at Skaggs.
One pound of Nabisco Oreo cookies sell
for $3.65 on campus, $2.99 at 7-11 and
$2.67 at Skaggs.
Clevenger said the same model of Macin
tosh computer sold to both A&M and the
University of Texas at the same cost sells
for $300 less at UT.
The task force said it understands local
business leaders will complain that the Uni
versity is competing unfairly if items are
priced below a competitor’s cost.
The committee stated in the written reso
lution, however, that students do not pur
posely come to campus to shop; they shop
because they are on campus.
In addition, Clevenger said student com
mittees holding meetings in Rudder Tower
or the MSG must purchase food and drinks
from Business Services.
The report’s proposed solution is to se
lect memoers of the student body who
would be kept apprised and consulted on
major policy issues.
“We definitely have a starting point to re
solve these issues,” Clevenger said. “One
gallon of punch is $9.25. That’s hardly
competitive.”
System presidents
allocate $50 million
to A&M minorities
Step right up
SCOTT 0. WEAVERThe Battalion
Sean McCarty, a freshman electrical engineering major from
Southlake, which is near Dallas, warms up by running up and
down the stands in Kyle Field before running three miles around
the track early Wednesday afternoon.
orbachev’s fate rests on U.SBaltics expert says
By Troy D. Hall
The Battalion
Increasing tension in the Baltic republics
light affect the internal power struggle in the
Soviet Union’s government, an expert on the re
gion said Tuesday at Texas A&M.
Martha Merritt, a professor at the University
of Texas at Austin, said Soviet President Mikhail
irbachev’s future depends on how the United
|States handles the situations in the Baltic repub
lics and Middle East.
“The United States has an important role in
irbachev’s survival as the Soviet Union’s lead-
□ U.S.S.R. censures Yelstin /Page 6
er,” Merritt said during a lecture sponsored by
the MSG Jordan Institute for International
Awareness.
Gorbachev must prove to the government’s
hard right-wing that he can influence the United
States with his policy in the Middle East, she said.
Internationally, Gorbachev is a charismatic
leader, but he is losing confidence in his country,
she said.
“Gorbachev is facing incredible pressure from
his government adversaries,” Merritt said.
One such adversary is Russian President Boris
Yeltsin. On Soviet national television Monday,
Yeltsin accused Gorbachev of leading the coun
try to a dictatorship and single-handedly blamed
him for the country’s domestic problems.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Soviet Parlia
ment voted to censor Yeltsin for his remarks.
Yeltsin supports popular issues by the people.
Yeltsin uses his popularity with the Russian peo
ple to gain support, but he stands for the sover-
iegnty of the Soviet Union, Merritt said.
She said independence for the Baltic republics
See Baltic/Page 10
From Staff and Wire Reports
President William Mobley and
other Texas A&M University System
E residents signed a multimillion dol-
ir agreement Wednesday designed
to increase the number of minorities
in science, engineering and math.
Dr. Edward Hiler, interim chan
cellor, said the memorandum of un
derstanding comes at a crucial time
because of a predicted shortfall of
more than 675,000 engineers and
scientists over the next 15 years.
Only 12 blacks nationwide earned
doctorates in engineering in 1989,
he said.
“Our ability as a state and a nation
to compete in an increasingly global
and technologically driven economy
is increasingly dependent on our
Baker declares
Iraq will leave
Kuwait soon
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secre
tary of State James A. Baker III de
clared on Wednesday that Iraqi
troops “will leave
Kuwait soon,” but
he steered clear
of the question of
Saddam Hus
sein’s postwar fu
ture.
House Speaker
Thomas S. Foley
said it would be
“extremely diffi
cult” for Presi
dent Bush to re-
fuse an Baker
unconditional Iraqi withdrawal.
Baker, speaking at a luncheon for
Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II, re
newed the U.S. demand that Iraq
pull out of Kuwait “immediately, to
tally and unconditionally” and com
ply fully with U.N. resolutions.
“Anything short of that is unaccepta
ble,” he said.
‘One way or another, the army of
occupation of Iraq will leave Kuwait
soon,” Baker predicted.
Foley, the top-ranking Democrat
See Baker/Page 5
ability to recruit and retain in techni
cal disciplines those groups tradi
tionally underrepresented,” he said.
The leaders signed the $50 mil
lion agreement as federal officials
and members of the Texas congres
sional delegation watched.
The A&M group hopes its finan
cial commitment, applying to 17 sep
arate projects over varying periods
of time, will be matched by federal
grants.
Texas is second only behind Cali
fornia in total minority population.
With more than 71,000 students, the
Texas A&M University System ranks
as one of the largest systems of
higher education in the nation.
A goal, Hiler said, is to increase
See Funding/Page 9
Inside
2
5
Editorial
’the itch*
Crisis
in the
Gulf
4 Non
violence
philosophy
7 A&M
beats
Baylor
Weather Outlook
Sat
Sun
Modern-day Cowboy
Texas A&M student
turns lifelong dream
into reality
see insert
B-CS recycles waste with divide, conquer strategy
Editor's Note: This is the second
| of a three-part series in The Battal
ion on recycling and its increasing
importance on our future. Today’s
| focus is on community efforts to re
cycle.
By Mack Harrison
The Battalion
B ryan-College Station
officials are using the
divide and conquer
strategy in the war
against waste.
In a pilot recycling program,
officials from both cities are urging
residents of target neighborhoods
to “DIVIDE the trash and
CONQUER the waste” for a three-
year test period.
Residents place newspapers,
aluminum cans, glass and car
batteries in clear plastic bags
R
ecycling
a three-part series
□ Recycling at A&M
M Recycling in B-CS
□ Why we recycle
G
provided by Texas Commercial
Waste.
Waste contractors then take
materials to recycling centers
instead of landfills.
The curbside recycling project
involving more than 5,000 homes
in Bryan and College Station has
been in operation since October.
Participants in the program have
been cooperative and enthusiastic,
says Peggy Calliham, College
Station public relations and
marketing manager.
More than 100 neighborhood
supervisors, known as Waste
Stream Team Leaders, contribute
to the effectiveness of the program,
Calliham says.
"The key to keeping
participation and motivation high is
neighborhood leaders,” she says.
Blocks with volunteer
supervisors have a higher
percentage of people involved in
recycling, Calliham says. Leaders
are an important way to get
information out to tne
neighborhoods, she says.
The cities contacted potential
block leaders through direct
mailouts to the target areas, says
Joe Brown, Bryan communications
officer.
Residents reponded well. Bryan
has some 50 team leaders and
College Station another 60 to 70.
Project planners had to work
some bugs out of the system, he
says.
Initially, contractors found they
could not make all the pickups in
one day as originally planned. City
officials added an extra day for
pickup and spread the word
through the block captains, Brown
says.
“So far its worked out well,” he
says. “We’ve got some pretty
dedicated people.”
Calliham says one problem with
the prograun is identifying and
educating new residents in the
target areas. She says students are
the most difficult to notify because
of their high turnover.
Officials cannot easily measure
involvement in the program. Some
people fill several bags a week, and
other families might not generate
as much waste, she says.
Brown says one way to judge
participation is on a monthly basis.
He says the percentage of B-CS
ect
17
to
to 18 percent.
“The best we can tell, the
participation level is running 20
22 percent,” Brown says.
But the cities hope to reach a
goal of 40 to 50 percent
participation.
From October to November, the
amount of recyclables picked up
increased 48 percent in Bryan and
26 percent in College Station with
the pounds jumping from 85,215 to
115,450 pounds.
In December, waste contractors
hauled away 1,241 pounds of
aluminum, 15,720 pounds of glass,
65,740 pounds of newspaper and
648 pounds of car batteries.
Officials say the amount was less
than the previous month because
many people left for the holidays
and pickup dates changed during
that time.
KARL STOLLEIS/The Battalion
Victor Lewis of Bryan Iron and
Metal binds aluminum cans to be
shipped to a recycling factory