I
State and local
riday, February 22,1991
The Battalion
onference draws
international crowd
By Twila Waddy
V
indthe
ling
?ryone
Ve
Hould
as large
If
ilk
e Battalion
■ Japanese and Russian students
Hre attending the Conference on
Student Government Associations
Bor the first time this weekend at
Bexas A&M.
Delegates from Canada, Greece
nd the United States also will attend
e conference.
“We are expecting between 350
and 380 delegates,” Randal Weeks,
a)SGA director, says. “We have one
hool from Japan coming, one from
Russia, three from Canada and one
from Greece.”
I The conference begins Saturday
and continues through Tuesday. In
he past, schools from Switzerland
nd England have participated in
e conference, he says.
The Russian students are from
azan State Univerity, A&M’s sister
niversity in the Soviet Union. Ka-
:an is Bryan-College Station’s sister
city.
The Japanese students attending
JLOSGA are from A&M’s campus in
Soriyama.
■ Activities include workshops and
|||ound table discussions.
I “The workshops this year range
|rorn public relations to recycling on
ampuses, to racism because some
liniversities still have racial prob
lems,” Weeks says.
Round table discussions, covering
selected topics, are like workshops
except they are more one on one,
Weeks says.
Both workshops and discusssions
will deal with topics that relate to
communication and leadership
roles.
“We basically will be discussing
leadership positions, problems deal
ing with the administration and fac
ulty, motivational skills, better group
communication, and public relations
between student government and
the campus,” he says.
Dr. Richard Baldauf, director for
the Office of Environmental Educa
tion at the Houston Museum of Nat
ural Science, is among the speakers.
“Baldauf will be speaking on envi
ronmental issues, alerting people to
the type of issues that are around
now and what can be done about
them,” Weeks says.
Other speakers include Capt.
Keith E. Carmichael, a military ad
viser at the Space Station Project Of
fice at NASA. He will talk about
leadership experience in college and
taking that experience into the ca
reer field.
“We are excited about the speak
ers this year,” he says. “They are
good speakers.”
Although the conference does not
have a theme this year, the emphasis
is on leadership, motivation and Self-
improvement.
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FREDRICK D. JOE/The Battalion
In between the raindrops
An unknown Aggie speeds to class Thursday in an effort to stay
dry. Saturday will be partly cloudy with highs in the mid-60s.
Man convicted of poisoning
Treaty Oak appeals conviction,
becomes eligible for parole
AUSTIN (AP) — The man con
victed of poisoning the centuries-old
Treaty Oak soon will be considered
for parole from his nine-year prison
sentence, a state parole official says.
Paul Stedman Cullen, 46, of El
roy, was convicted last May of pour
ing the powerful herbicide Velpar
around the base of the landmark
tree, where legend says Stephen F.
Austin signed a treaty with the Indi
ans in the 1820s.
The poisoning, which occurred in
March 1989, left about three-fourths
of the tree dead. The dead portion
of the live oak tree will be cut off
next month, city officials say.
Authorities never were able to de
termine a motive but theorized the
poisoning may have been in connec
tion with some sort of ritual.
Cullen is eligible for parole be
cause he received credit for the 10
months he spent in jail awaiting trial
and because he has earned good
time credit while in prison, officials
say.
If Cullen is paroled, he would be
transferred to a federal prison to
serve a one-year sentence for lying
on a federal form when he bought a
rifle in Austin in 1988, officials said.
Spokesman Dan Guerra of the
Pardons and Paroles Division of the
Texas Department of Criminal Jus
tice, said that with the credit for time
in jail, Cullen has served almost 20
months of the sentence. The good
time credit he was given totaled
about 28 additional months, mean
ing he now has credit for serving
four of the nine years.
He needed to serve or earn credit
for one-fourth of the nine-year sen
tence before being eligible for pa
role.
“Everybody’s got to make their
own judgment,” Giedraitis said.
“Justice was served as far as I am
concerned.”
&M receives funding to construct satellite uplink
i
esdale
rinlst
By Julie Hedderman
The Battalion
I A satellite uplink being con-
|txucted at Texas A&M will enable
professors to lecture all over the
world.
I A&M is one of six land-grant uni
versities that received partial fund-
j: ing from the federal Public Tele-
Bision Facilities Program to construct
Khe $319,000 uplink.
3 countrytfi Dr. Rodney Zent, director of Edu-
far more fe ational Broadcast Services, says
n it comes* A&M received $75,000 in federal
.ve talk at
the last tr
ays will ha'
e will intte
il with. Bui:
mand rigt
ye have not
dealing ^
s built on t
1 on the f
ndividualis-
, why shot
et a differ
to learn W
repeat it.
en some ce.
ith the rest
en their
Individual^-
Butwhtf
can bring-
.Just asks
ate
student
funds and that the Texas A&M Uni
versity System is providing the rest.
The uplink is part of the Agricul
tural Satellite Network called AG-
SAT.
A&M presently is able to receive
signals from a satellite, but is unable
to transmit them. The transmitter is
in the construction phases and will
be completed by June, Zent says.
“The uplink will transmit agricul
tural information to other land-
grant universities or to people in the
field,” he says.
The College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences presently is using the
satellite receiver as part of an agri
cultural course being sent from Iowa
State University.
Students are able to ask questions
by sending faxes to the professor.
Zent says this is the first semester
an A&M professor has used the sa
tellite to teach a class.
By using AG-SAT, A&M can of
fer teacher training courses or re
cruit math and science students, he
says.
Zent says A&M will connect AG-
SAT to the Interactive Services Net
work.
This will enable a professor from
one of A&M’s branches to use the
network to speak to the University.
The message then can be trans
mitted via satellite to anywhere in
the world.
This method of communication
will limit travel and individual satel
lite linkup costs, he says.
Zent says AG-SAT will not be lim
ited to the College of Agriculture,
which provided part of the funding.
Democrats unveil bill
to reform insurance
AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Ann Richards, seeking to make good on a major
campaign promise, Thursday joined Democratic lawmakers in unveiling a
bill they said would make sweeping reforms in the way insurance compa
nies do business in Texas.
“When it comes to insurance, Texans do not believe that they are in
good hands,” Richards said.
The legislation, if adopted, would stabilize rates, prevent fraud, reduce
insolvencies in the industry and protect consumers, the governor and law
makers said.
“If there is one message that comes through loud and clear wherever I
go in Texas, it is the concern that Texans feel about insurance,” Richards
said.
Richards contended that some Texans spend as much as 20 percent of
their incomes on insurance. “They spend more on insurance than any
thing but food and housing,” she said.
Industry officials quickly disputed the governor’s estimate of how
much of the average Texan’s budget goes to insurance.
“A recent nationwide study ... found that thq combined premiums for
all types of insurance — life, health, auto, disability, renters and homeown
ers — account for 5.2 percent of a household’s budget,” Rick Gentry, vice
president of the Insurance Information Institute, said.
“Households spend less on insurance in general than they do for trans
portation, clothing, retirement, housing or food,” he said.
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Weight
2.43
1.01
.92
.92
.90
.78
.78
.70
.68
.60
.50
.53
.50
.34
Weight
1.00
.79
.72
.46
.45
.45
.44
.24
Weight
.53
Marquise Cut
Price
$6627 50
313025
2327 60
1797 50
1485oo
1628oo
1031 55
1649oo
1496oo
1075 oo
950 oo
850 oo
440 oo
550 oo
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$3099 25
1738 00
2175 00
860 oo
654 64
950 oo
677oo
225 00
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with EGL Certificates
Weight Price
.54 F/VS1 $1998oo
.56 F/VVS1 2688oo
.57 G/VVS2 2109 oo
.57 G/VVS1 2394oo
.57 F/VVS2 2736oo
Ovals
Radiant Cut
Price
$1495oo
Weight
1.51
1.09
.58
.57
.55
.30
.70
Weight
1.00
.77
.47
.40
Weight
.72
Price
$362920
1019 oo
1276oo
125400
121000
3000°
1350 00
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Emerald Cut
Price
$234025
1750 oo
900 oo
57200
Price
$1900oo
These prices are cash prices. Lay-a-ways and credit cards
welcome at slightly higher prices.
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"Very Personal Investments "
Rare Coins, Loose Diamonds,
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404 University Dr. East • 846-8916
UNIVERSITY
BOOKSTORES
GET READY FOR SPRING
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SPRING BREAK CLEARANCE SALE
h ALL BOOKS
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&
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