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The Battalion
M,92 No. 177 (6 pages) 1893 - A Century of Service to Texas A&M - 1993 Wednesday, July 21,1993
Negotiations continue for new A&M power plant
University moves on to second choice after failing to reach agreement with Tenneco
By STEPHANIE PATTILLO
The Battalion
Texas A&M University officials
itmounced Tuesday that routine
parallel negotiations will begin
nith CSW Energy of Dallas,
i&M's second choice to build a
;ampus power plant, because no
igreement was reached with the
University's first choice during
ieallotted negotiation time.
University officials on Thurs-
lay completed the 45 days of ne
gotiation with Tenneco that is re
paired under the University's se
lection process to come up with an
agreement for a contract before
moving on to the second choice
developer.
Although officials will begin
deliberating with CSW Energy,
they will continue at the same
time to hammer out a negotiation
with Tenneco.
A&M's third finalist for negoti
ating a contract to build the power
plant is the city of College Station.
Mary Jo Powell, University Rela
tions spokeswoman, said A&M of
ficials have the choice to begin ne
gotiating with the city after anoth
er 45 days if no agreement is met
with either of the first two choices,
but negotiations with College Sta
tion will not automatically begin.
Criticism arose in May when
A&M officials announced their de
cision at a Board of Regents meet
ing to go with Tenneco instead of
the city of College Station, which
joined forces with the Texas Munic
ipal Power Agency, Ensearch De
velopment Corp. and Black and
Veatch to build the plant.
However, city officials ques
tioned the University's proposal
process saying that they believed
the city had offered A&M the best
proposal.
But Joe Sugg, director of the
Physical Plant, said, "We struc
tured the selection process so it
would be fair, thorough, profes
sional and responsible for every
one involved - the vendors, the
University, the state of Texas and
the local community."
The company who wins the
contract will become a third-party
developer, building the plant on
A&M property while A&M pays
for campus energy use.
Currently, the University sup
plies about 70 percent of its own
power and buys the rest from the
Brazos Electric Power Cooperative
in Waco.
Because of plans for future cam
pus expansion, A&M's current
power plant will soon be insuffi
cient to meet the University's pow
er needs. In October, two trans
formers were added to the plant to
serve immediate power needs.
Consultants to the University
anticipate 500 new jobs will be
created during the 18-month con
struction period, adding an esti
mated $150 million to the local
economy. The plant is expected to
employ as many as 21 people and
benefit the local economy with $12
million a year through operation
and maintenance of the facility.
According to the Office of Univer
sity Relations, the plant could be
operational as early as fall 1995.
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Testimony continued Tuesday
in the trial of Sherron Dante
ireenwood, a 16-year-old Bryan
outh accused of killing a class-
nate at Bryan High School's
iamar campus last March.
Greenwood is being tried for
he stabbing death of rival gang
member Billy C. Williams. If con-
icted, he could face from five
ears probation to 99 years or life
n prison.
Witnesses testified before a
irowded courtroom that Green-
«ood was the target of another
jang's violence and that he suf-
iered daily abuse at their hands.
A friend of Greenwood's fami-
Ifsaid members of the "Squab
lob" would follow Dante
irough the school hallways,
hunting and threatening him.
He said although most of the
jang's aggressions were aimed
itGreenwood, even he didn't
eel safe being alone in some
parts of town.
He said Greenwood and several
)ftheir friends were placed on
emergency removal," being taken
Jut of classes for reasons of person-
ilsafety, earlier in the year.
Doris Taylor, a mother of two
of Dante's, friends, said Williams
vas abusive and disrespectful to
school administrators at a meet-
agheld in an attempt to settle the
»o groups' differences.
She said she felt overall vio-
ence on the campus was increas-
around the time of the stab-
g and worried for her chil-
Ws safety.
Michelle Esparza, counsel for
the defense, called upon Dr. Peg-
Love-Clark, a psychologist
d examined Dante for a period
of time following the murder, to
determine his emotional state at
the time of the stabbing.
Love-Clark said Greenwood
was an "anxious, depressed, sad
dened young man" who feared
for his life and "wondered if he
could go on."
She compared Greenwood's
emotions to those of people who
suffer Battered Women's Syn
drome, a condition characterized
ty feelings of fearfulness, danger
’ "hyper-vigilance." She said
See Trial/Page 6
One more ...
NICOLE ROHRMAN/The Battalion
To keep in shape, David Stout, does oblique crunches at DeWare
Field House. Stout, a computer science major from McAllen, says,
"DeWare is a great place to work out because there's not a long
wait for ths equipment."
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Youth crime increases in Brazos Valley
By LISA ELLIOTT
The Battalion
According to Brazos Valley juvenile officials, there
is a dramatic rise in the number of crimes committed
hy youths, and a Texas A&M sociologist suggests the
decline in the family may be one reason why.
Dr. Howard B. Kaplan, distinguished professor of
sociology at A&M, said there are a large number of
factors that contribute to this rise in juvenile crime.
"The rise in crime feeds upon itself," he said.
Ihe more crime there is, the more acceptable it be-
tomes."
He said one of the major influences in juvenile
Cr ime is the family. Children aren't being super-
'ised by the family, he said.
"There's decreased motivation by children to con-
:o rm to conventional behavior," he said. "They're
*°oking for their own identity."
Kaplan said the way society can help decrease the
Problem is by reversing the process of crime.
"Give them a place in society which can gain re
spect," he said.
The majority of the change has to occur in the
Wie, he said.
"Parents must provide opportunities to achieve.
Snow approval and exercise greater supervision," he
soid. "Parents need to be less accepting of violence,"
Kaplan said. Parents should express their
disapproval about violence on television and in the
mass media to let their children know it is wrong, he
said.
Kaplan said alcohol and drugs do a lot to con
tribute to crime among young people. He said the
pharmacological effects of drugs and alcohol will
naturally bring out violent tendencies. In addition,
the world of drug trafficking is violent and exposure
to this in itself is enough to bring out violent tenden
cies, he said.
Kaplan said violence should not be tolerated by
the police and court regardless of age. He said they
should let them know violence is not acceptable es
pecially by young people.
Susan Dow, spokesperson for the Brazos County
Juvenile Detention Center, said, the dramatic in
crease in the number of crimes committed by juve
niles in the Brazos Valley this year is causing con
cern among citizens.
According to records from the Brazos County Ju
venile Services Department, the number of cases of
violent crime committed by juveniles in Brazos
County rose 220 percent from 1988 to 1992.
Dow said the number of juvenile homicides com
mitted this year, has already surpassed the number
See Crime/Page 6
MSC exhibit stirs controversy
Nude photographs removed during AggieHostel program
By J ANET HOLDER
The Battalion
An MSC photography exhibit including nude
photographs was temporarily taken down amid
complaints from AggieHostel leaders that the pho
tos were offensive to visiting former students, but
an official from the MSC Visual Arts Committee
said Tuesday it was a mere coincidence the display
was taken down during the week of the former stu
dents' visit.
AggieHostel is a program sponsored by the Asso
ciation of Former Students that gives former students
over the age of 65 and their spouses an opportunity
to spend a week on campus reliving their college
days.
Wynn Rosser, chairman of AggieHostel, said he
didn't request the entire exhibit be taken down, but
he only requested that no nude photographs be dis
played.
"The display wasn't shut down for our benefit,"
he said.
A 200-picture Contemporary Czechoslovakian
Photography display, which includes nude pho
tographs, was scheduled to be shown in the MSC Vi
sual Arts Gallery from June 7 to August 6. The
show, however, has been closed one week to add
identification labels and another week to make a
brochure for the photographs, said Amy Day, staff
adviser for the MSC Visual Arts Committee.
The committee originally intended to display the
art from June 20 to June 26, but an MSC representa
tive asked that the gallery close in order to complete
the brochures, said Manipay Lieou, chairman for the
MSC Visual Arts Committee and junior environmen
tal design major.
Day said it was simply a coincidence that the
week the brochures were made happened to be the
week the AggieHostel was on campus.
However, Mukul Goel, a civil engineering gradu
ate student and a member of the committee, said in a
July 20 column appearing in The Battalion, "perhaps
the underlying reason behind the closing (of the
gallery) was the nudity depicted in some of the pho
tographs that potentially could offend representa
tives of the Association of Former Students (AES). It
was felt to be quite risky to have, on campus, an ex
hibition displaying pictures of nude people when
AggieHostelers were visiting the campus."
Lieou said a complaint was filed by an AES repre
sentative about the nude photographs after the MSC
Program Review Committee and the MSC Council
approved the photographs.
He said some people were offended that the com
plaint was registered because "no one had seen the
photographs."
"I tried once to see the photographs, but it (the
gallery) was locked up at the time," Rosser said. "It
was a busy time, and I didn't have time to go back."
He said he had to make a "quick decision" and
decided to request that the display not use the nude
photographs.
"There was no threats; it was simply a request,"
he said. "I am not against nudity."
Rosser said some people participating in Ag
gieHostel might not want to see the display at A&M,
and he didn't want to deal with "one upset person."
The committee said they are currently organizing
more photographs from the Contemporary Czechoslo
vakian Photography display because all 200 can't be
shown at one time. The display will re-open Friday.
Board of Regents to meet Thursday, Friday
By STEPHANIE PATTILLO
The Battalion
The Texas A&M University' System Board of Re
gents are meeting in regular session on Thursday
and Friday.
The Facilities^ Planning and Building Committee
will meet Thursday from 9 a.m. until noon in the
Facilities Planning and Construction Building to
discuss the initiation of construction projects and
approve a revision to the Campus Master Plan.
Also, the committee will take action on bids for the
access road and bridge to the new wastewater
treatment plant. The Board will also hear a report
on the feasibility of in-house asbestos assessment.
Other items, including the authorization to cre
ate the Center for Public Studies (CPUS), will be
sought when the Board reconvenes Thursday at
1:30 p.m. at the Board of Regents Annex. The
CPUS is to be developed in conjunction with exist
ing programs at A&M to expand public policy re
search and graduate training programs within the
Department of Political Science.
The Board will also be discussing the approval
of a license agreement to grant Forum, Inc. of Bryan
an exclusive license to make use of or to sell prod
ucts under propriety rights of Texas A&M.
The Texas Engineering Experiment Station is re
questing recognition of the Center for Alternative
Fuels Research and its member institute the
Propane Gas Research Institute as well.
The regents will reconvene at 8:30 a.m. on Fri
day to take action on items presented Thursday.
■
Out-of-wedlock births on the rise
A&M professors attribute increase to changing attitudes
By GENEEN PIPHER
The Battalion
Out-of-wedlock births among
white, college-educated women
are on the rise according to a re
cent U.S. Census Bureau report,
and A&M professors and local ex
perts say changing attitudes may
contribute to this phenomenon.
The report, "Fertility of Ameri
can Women: June 1992," said 11.3
percent of unmarried women with
one or more years of college gave
birth in 1992, double the figure of
5.5 percent in 1982.
Dr. Nikki VanHightower, pro
fessor of political science, said
the diminishing stigmas against
unwed mothers could be attrib
uted to the increase in out-of-
wedlock births.
"Values have changed enor
mously," she said. "When I was
growing up in the 1950s, an un
wed mother was almost consid
ered a leper; it just was not ac
ceptable. Society has definitely
become more accepting of these
women."
Sandra Cerinovich, director of
Good Samaritan Pregnancy Ser
vice Inc., said women do not feel
the pressure they once did to get
married.
"Those people who get married
because of pregnancy are, I be
lieve, 70 percent more likely to
end up divorced," she said.
"Many women say, 'why should I
get married if I'm just going to
end up divorced?'."
Sherry Paul, director of Brazos
Valley Crisis Pregnancy Services,
said the report's findings are not
surprising, and the entertainment
industry is partly to blame for the
declining morals and increasing
sexual activity.
"The figures are significant but
not really that startling," Paul
said. "Given what you see in the
movies, on television, especially
soap operas and what you hear in
music, it's not at all shocking.
Everything educates young peo
ple to premarital sex. Babies out
of wedlock are very normal in
these mediums."
"I think what we're doing to
our young people is a shame be
cause we're giving them the sense
that this is great, and this is the
way to live, but they never show
the consequences. They never
See Wedlock/Page 6
Inside
Sports
•A&M triathlon team
organizes college league
•Smith: Dog shows not the
most inspiring of sports
Page 3
Opinion
•Editorial: Clinton's policy on
gays in militaiy will have to do
•Column: Confirmation
process should focus on
appointee qualifications
Page 5
Weather
►Wednesday: partly cloudy
highs in the mid 90s
•Forecast for Thursday:
partly cloudy, highs in the
90s, lows in Hie 70s
•Your Battalion extended
forecast: Same old stuff,
partly cloudy, highs in the
90s, lows in the 70s