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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 1994)
u . •, ••.v^», , j •• ■ ' v,;' .^v >.-■ ■ ,' State & Local Wednt Ca LOS and bh fronted The water, ] uncertJ Page 2 The Battalion Wednesday, January 19,199t Officials call Bush Library unique addition to campus By James Bernsen The Battalion A&M officials say they are pleased with the finalized design for the Bush Library, which they say will be a unique addition to the campus. Don W. Wilson, executive di rector of the Bush Presidential Li brary Center, said the building will satisfy President Bush's sug gestions that it not look out of place. "It will be distinctive, but will blend into campus," Wilson said. "It will stand out, in the sense of being dignified." Wilson said Bush has seen a model of the center and was very pleased with its design. E. Dean Gage, interim presi dent of A&M, said the administra tion is also enthusiastic with the plans. "I think it is reflective of the prestige of a presidential library," he said. The library building will fea ture a lobby rotunda with a small glass dome on top. It also will use native Texas materials to blend in with other campus buildings. The center will consist of the li brary and museum building, a shared-use building that will house an auditorium and confer ence center and an academic building where classes in political science and economics will be held. Tim Donathen, assistant vice chancellor for Facilities Planning and Construction, said the build ing is still undergoing minor changes in the interior design, but no major restructuring is planned. "We changed some of the out side materials to make it more Administrators say lack of Lynch bids OK By Jan Higginbotham fm BattAuOn The Texas A&M University System is not departing from a competitive bid system as was recently reported in the Dallas Morning News, a Texas A&M official said Tuesday. Dr. Eddie Joe Davis, president of the Devel opment Foundation president, responded to a Dec. 19 story which said Texas A&M hired Merrill Lynck as an investment consultant to coordinate the management of $140 million in endowment funds without accepting open bid s for the positi on. "To my knowledge, we never entered into competitive bids in the area of management of financial assets," Davis said. He also said System officials made their de cision based on demonstrated performance and would not seek the lowest bid in such a situation. The article also alleged that a written con tract did not exist between Texas A&M and Merrill Lynch, and that several money man agement firms were hired without the ap proval of the Board of Regents. Davis said a written contract was drawn up in July 1991 when Merrill Lynch was chosen. Five money management firms were also hired in July 1991 by a process involving System staff and Merrill Lynch. "The regents, in the area of the investment of the financial resources delegated to the chancellor in 1987 the authority to hire external money managers," Davis said. This action by the regents enabled the chan cellor to choose money management firms without any specific action by the Board ap proving the hiring of each individual firm, Davis said. "The investment program has had out standing performance since the money man agers were hired," he said. The net returns due to the change in invest ment policy have increased, adding over $13.5 million to the endowment's total performance. "The System investment advisory commit tee, made up of external people who have some expertise in these matters, are of the con viction that we can always increase our return on investment by hiring outside experts," Davis said. "What you're doing when you're hiring money managers is you're hiring ex perts. The work done by the money management firms and by Merrill Lynch is overseen by Sys tem staff, the System Investment Advisory Committee, the Board of Regents, an internal auditor and a state auditor. The Texas A&M System returned the funds to its own System after it had previously been overseen by the University of Texas and made the decision to hire external sources to oversee the investment "To say we'd be better off doing it internal ly, 1 think the answer is no," Davis said. Given the increased returns since the change, Davis said, the new policy was the best decision. iYfrij- ii i Economy Continued from Page 1 Mansur said. Up to 500,000 tourists will need accommoda tions, and more hotels will be con structed in the cities as a result of the library. New restaurants, such as the Olive Garden, the Outback Steak- house, and Brangus Feed Lot will soon have more competition, Murphy said, with several new restaurants looking to feed the tourists the library will bring. Gary Basinger, of the Brazos Valley Development Council, said population has also increased in the area. From 1980 to 1992, Bryan's population grew from 44,337 to 57,151 and College Sta tion's population grew from 37,272 to 56,671, he said. Ray Shanaa, director of plan ning for Bryan, said Texas A&M University is tke driving force of the area's economic development and population growth. Bryan-College Station is a high traffic area, Shanaa said. Shanaa attributes the traffic in part to the University's leader ship in research. A&M Grads spend a year in Egypt with university housing provided at no cost, as well as a ten month stipend. For more info: THURS JANUARY 20, 4:00 251 BIZZELl Hill WESI siudy abroad programs 161 bizzell hall west 845-0544 Bridge the Gap to Knowledge The New York Times The Daily New York Times is available this term at the low college rate of 300 per copy. The paper may be obtained from drop boxes on campus or via home delivery in limited areas. For more information contact Tom Franz at (409) 774-0476, or sign up at The Services Fair in Rudder Exhibit Hall on Tuesday January 18th. & Wednesday January 19th. ^EXCITING NEWS4r SPRING GRADUATES GRADUATION ANNOUNCEMENTS ARE NOW ON SALE ORDERS WILL BE TAKEN THROUGH FRIDAY, FEB. 4, 1994 MSC STUDENT ORGANIZATION FINANCE CENTER tj ROOM 217 8 AM TO 4 PM ORDERS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PICKUP APPROXIMATELY THE SECOND WEEK OF APRIL 1994 v° c* V Follow the yellow brick road with Dorothy and her friends as the Royal Shakespeare Company brings the magic of "The Wizard of Oz" to life. From the black and white of Kansas to the Technicolor splendor of the Emerald City, you'll experience this family classic as never before! January 22,1994 • 3:00 p.m. / 8:00 p.m. • Rudder Auditorium Tickets are on sale at the MSC Box Office - TAMU, or charge by phone at 845-1234 Come of age with MSC 0PAS... and see the world in a new light presidential," he said, "but the de sign probably won't change much." Donathen said there will prob ably be some minor adjustments to the $42 million budget, but they will be small. "It's more or less fine-tuning, nothing that would inflate the budget to a large degree," he said. Wilson said $16 million has been raised, and fund raising is on schedule. The final design details will be worked out by June with ground breaking scheduled for late fall 1994. Donathen said bids for a con struction company will be taken and evaluated by Facilities Plan ning and Construction, who will advise the Texas A&M Board of Regents. The regents will make the final decision. The regents will give the bid to the lowest bid der whose pro posal appears in order. "It's taking a while pri marily because it's such a large project," Dona then said. The library will be com pleted in late 1996 and will commi shocks. A U apartm epicent bringin "The Mayor even as Bush be dedicated in early 1997. Gage said the Bush Presidential Library will bring added prestige to the University, and he looks forward to its opening. "It will bring scholars from the entire world to study and research his presidency and long public life," he said. "Just so many of them being here will be a tremen dous advantage." sponse A sn • M, closed, The clo: ways si venture • Af Richter » Al power, without hit San Water e more be • Al parks, t said. • At Three die in blast after car, Co truck crash into gas pump An The Associated Press CORRIGAN — Three people were killed Tuesday when a trac tor-trailer collided with a car at a highway intersection, hurling both into the fuel pumps of a conve nience store where they exploded. "You don't have time to think. I heard a loud scrunching noise, I left the store immediately," Donna Swilley, 39, of Livingston, the clerk at Stubby's Food Mart, said. "I just heard a loud boom. I knew it was bad." She ran out another door to call for help. "It really scared me. I didn't know what might happen. I thought the whole store might ex plode," she said. Two men in the cab of the truck and a woman in the car were trapped in the flaming wreckage and died. Their names were not immedi ately released. Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Greg Sanchez said investigators believed the truck struck the car at the main intersec tion in town, highways U.S. 59 and U.S. 287, and careened out of con trol before slamming into thegastE line pumps and supporting beam of the canopy over the pumps at the Exxon outlet. A third vehicle,! van, was parked outside the store and also burned in the blaze. "Supposedly the truck was northbound and hit a passenger car from behind and actually pushed the car into the gas pump,' said Mike Cox, a DPS spokesman Neither vehicle hit the store. The crash site was sprayed wift a foam used in chemical fires as a precaution, Sanchez said. The truck, carrying a shipment of auto parts, had a hazardous car go sign on it and officials initially were worried that fumes from the burning wreckage might be toxic. "It seems to be safe," said Sanchez. Bubba Haley, Red Cross disas ter coordinator for the townata 100 miles northeast of Houston, said the blast could be felt a oyiM- ter-mile away. Corrigan school officials evac uated a nearby elementary school and took several hundred students to the district high school. All students were sen! home a short time later. BOG bia's fi escape when a up as h car. A fc Lefti bility f kidnap sionarie iresenc da, am largest i The as far a light p damag snarled Fina Homnru I The cation t Pablo I end to | bia. Esc curity f war of tions th pie. In tl east of NO' MONEY FOR STUDY ABROAD nappec Platte, Dyke c day, s Tribes, pair wc Abo into a : sionari [miles ( GET FINANCED! INFO MEETING THORS JRN 20, 11:00-12:00 251 BIZZELL WEST STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS 161 BIZZELL HALL WEST 845-0544 /-h. Persons with disabilities please call 845-1515 to inform us of your special needs. We request notification three LA (3) working days prior to the event to enable us to assist you to the best of our ability. The Ba italion JULI PHILLIPS, Editor in chief MICHAEL PLUMER, Managing editor KYLE BURNETT, Agg/e/rTeeditor BELINDA BLANCARTE, Night News editor DENA DIZDAR, Aggielife editor HEATHER WINCH, Night News editor SEAN FRERKING, Sports editor TONI GARRARD CLAY, Opinion editor WILLIAM HARRISON, Photo editor JENNIFER SMITH, City editor ANAS BEN-MUSA, Special Sections editor W <A Staff Members City desk - Lisa Elliott, Michele Brinkmann, Kim McGuire, Eloise Flint, |an Eligginbotham, Geneen Pipher, Janet Bernsen, Laurel Mosley, Angela Neaves, Mary Kujawa anti Karen Broyles News desk - Rob Clark, Andreana Coleman, Josef Elchanan, Mark Evans and Drew Wasson Photographers - Amy Browning, Chad Cooper, Robert Dunkin, Darrin Hill, Kevin Ivy, Mary Macmanus, Jennie Mayer, Stewart Milne, Tim Moog, Gus Morgan anti Amanda Sonley Aggielife - Margaret Claughton, Jennifer Gressett, Paul Neale, Traci Travis and Claudia Zavaleta Sports writers - Mark Smith, Drew Diener, Nick Georgandis and Jose De Jesus Ortiz Opinion desk - Jay Robbins, Lynn Booher, Roy Clay, Erin Hill, Michael Landauer, Jenny Magee, Melissa Megliola, Frank Stanford, lackie Stokes, Robert Vasquez and Dave Winder Cartoonists - Boomer Cardinale, Chau Huang, George Nasr, Kalvin Nguyen and Gerardo Quezada Clerks- Eleanor Colvin, Wren Eversberg, Jennifer Kerber, Tomiko Miller and Brooke Perkins I The Battalion (USPS 045-360) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semetir ( : and Monday through Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periodsL Texas A&M University. 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