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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 1994)
‘0 FLOPPY Joe *5 SofivJ<Kye s t ^ We have New & Used Software! one year membership FREE wfth this coupon expires: 03-31-94 Got a CD Rom Drive? We RENT IBM and MAC CD's!! 1 705 Texas Ave., Culpepper Plaza ["] research abroad IffULBRIGHT US citizens with a 3.0 GPR are eligible Informational MEETINGS Wed. March 23, 11:30am ^ fri. March 25, 2:00pm 251 Bizzell Hall West Study Abroad Programs, 161 Bizzell Hall West, 845-0544 State & Local Page 2 The Battalion Tuesday, March 22, l Tuesda Community uses education to combat gang By Melissa Jacobs The Battalion Community officials say there are an estimated 3 5 gangs in Bryan-College Station, and they are working to decrease that number through a series of school-related programs. Beth Price, coordinator of the Citizens Crime Commission, said one of their main goals is to edu cate the community and let citizens know there is a gang problem. "A lot of people are not affected by gangs direct ly and think it is not a problem,” she said. “That’s not true, it is a community problem.” In the 1992 Texas Attorney General’s Gang Re port, Dan Morales said, in the most general terms, a gang is a loosely organized group of three of more individuals. Members perceive themselves as a gang, associate regularly and collaborate in commit ting delinquency and or criminal offenses. Price said the Citizens Crime Commission is a ve hicle for ordinary citizens to get involved. “A lot of people want to volunteer but don’t know where, so we channel them to the proper agency,” she said. The commission educates through informative meetings held in public schools. They also hold a meeting once a year with a panel of speakers and publish a quarterly newsletter to keep members of the community informed. Many programs sponsored by the commission deal directly with the gang members. “We have the Parents Patrol at Lamar High School, we work with the Bryan Special Opportunity School campus in developing a mentor program, and our religious committee meets on a weekly ba sis with Lamar students who admit they are in a gang,” she said. Ronnie Jackson, chairman of the school commit tee of the crime commission and a specialist at Bryan’s Special Opportunity School agreed there is a gang problem in Bryan-College Station. “Crimes committed by gangs in this area have been anything from assault to the recent drive-by shootings to breaking and entering and burglary, he said. "Almost any kind of potential felony has been committed.” Dr. Claude Cunningham, director of secondary programs for the College Station Independent School District, said gangs are affecting the schools. “The presence of gangs has caused us to change the rules," he said. “We’ve strengthened the dress code. We have classified certain behavior as gang- related and prohibited that. We have done a lot of training of personnel so they can recognize and for bid dress and hand signs hut we haven’t had specific problem incidents yet.” One program being used hy the Bryan Indepen dent School District is placing students with drop out potential with disadvantaged people, such as el derly people and kids with handicaps. “They learn that maybe life isn’t quite as bad as they think it is when they see these disadvantaged people,” Jackson said. The College Station Independent School District is using police officers on two campuses. Officer Craig Anderson is assigned to the junior high and Officer Walter Sayers is assigned to the high school. The function of the officers is instructional. “They provide counseling and teach classes,” Cunningham said. “They are both employed by the College Station Police Department and part of their assignment is to work at the schools.” Jackson said research shows several different rea sons why young people join gangs. "The most consistent reason is the need to be long,” he said. “A lot of these kids come from dys functional families and have little sense of belong ing. Gangs give them a sense of belonging and iden tity. It gives them an immediate connection with a group of friends and members. I think it gives them age-appropriate socialization.” The Bryan Police Department’s Gang Intelligence Unit said reasons for joining a gang include; family problems, poor performance in school, sibling affili ation, drug use and protection from other gangs. Price said gangs are a substitute for a family. “They give a young person a sense of belonging and importance," she said. “They subsliim most things they should he getting from faraili Jackson said gangs go back as far as human: ry. __ I "Even in the early development of thisco. there was a general association with social anil nomic levels. There was a lot of ethnic pridl volved. Hate groups, usually associated with,if and Arian groups, evolved out of ethnic pride "The community is just part of what is hap ing in the country,” he said. “Gangs are jus: other fads and they have finally reached Bryani lege Station in the past three to five years, event munilies smaller than ours have gangs.” Price said gang members range in age fron sixth grade on up, and the younger ones joinioi tale an older brother or sister. Cunningham said kids from ages ten to l< joiners hy nature. “They like to be around people, he said ’] that age have a certain group of friends the around with and ga ngs provide a group of bucJ they a re guaranteed to be with The differaj tween a running gr< >up and a gang is that tlifrl has hi erarchy and is inv olved in criminal aclivit j Sp Pri ce said gangs are categorized into deliin.l an youth gangs, traditi ona 1 turf-ha sed gangs, ga.: I wi ented gangs and halt ngs. Pi' Sh( said there art m hate ga ngs in Bryan-CoHs Li; Station, which is fortunate. isi Pri ce said she fe els the programs sponsortcl to- the Ci izens Crime C om mission have been succtsi I — so far. R "I think it’s because we're ill volunteers™ means you don ’t have to be with any agency or any special skills or resources,” she said. "You care and show up." Jackson said there is plenty of room forimpr ment in programs used hy the Bryan School Dist "Anyone with ideas for gang-reform proyi should get in touch with someone at the school trict or any of the organizations,” he said. "Itii ficult to get people with time and energy lodt to the program.” w, dr be st; be ot hi th b< Houston Oilers owner pursues plans for outdoor stadium The Associated Press HOUSTON — Houston Oilers owner Bud Adams, his dreams of a new downtown dome fading, is look ing at the great outdoors in his search for a new place to play football. Amid public opposition to a new dome and news that Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander no longer sup ports the proposal, Adams said Sunday he will look at moving the Oilers to an outdoor stadium. “We still believe the downtown dome is the best plan to meet Hous ton’s sports facility needs into the 21 st century,’’ Adams said. “However, we will now explore other options that will include the possibility of a 65 -to 70,000 seat, open-air football stadium in Houston or one of the rapidly growing adjacent communities.” But the proposal, however prelimi nary, sparked the same concern Mon day as its predecessor — who will pay for it? “1 don’t think there would be much of a chance that county taxpay ers would be willing to assist in the construction of the stadium,’’ said Galveston County Judge Ray Hol brook. “But the county itself would be glad to help them obtain permits and do whatever is necessary for them to locate good property.” The Oilers, who play in the As trodome, and the Houston Rockets, who play at The Summit, were ready to contribute $75 million toward the $235 million cost of the proposed downtown dome. But this weekend, Rockets owner Leslie Alexander said he was pulling out of negotiations for the proposed dome, partly because the public sup port for it wasn’t there. “At first, I thought it was what the public wanted,” Alexander said of the proposed 7 5,000-seal dome, which would seat 24,000 for basketball. "But it’s become obvious that the™ don’t want it." Montgomery County Judge Alanl Sadler on Monday welcomed theicl of bringing the Oilers north loll area, but he couldn’t pledge a lot I tax dollars to such a project. “I don’t think any of the surrouiKp ing counties are big enough to float bond issue of that size, ” Sadler said, think the risk would be too great." i Sadler saicHiis county may prowl some seed money or tax incentives I "But as far as taking the (enli# r nancial risk, that probably wocW I happen for Montgomery Count]«4* I other surrounding counties," hessi I Fe 6 A ti ti ti F d c ATTENTION ALL ON-CAMPUS RESIDENTS ALL ON-CAMPUS RESIDENTS MUST EITHER RENEW THEIR CONTRACT OR CANCEL THEIR HOUSING FOR THE FALL 1994 - SPRING 1995 ACADEMIC YEAR WITH THEIR RESIDENCE HALL STAFF MARCH 22 - MARCH 23 (6 pm to 9 pm) MAKE YOUR HOUSING PLANS NOW! 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Call USAF HEALTH PROFESSIONS TOLL FREE 1 -800-423-U S AF The Battalion JULI PHILLIPS, Editor in chief MICHAEL PLUMER, Managing editor KYLE BURNETT, Agg/e//Yeeditor BELINDA BLANCARTE, Night News editor DENA DIZDAR, Agg/e/rYe 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 Staff Members City desk - Lisa Elliott, Juli Rhoden, Kim McGuire, Eloise Flint, jan Higginbotham, Geneen Pipher, James Bemser [ Angela Neaves, Mary Kujawa, Melissa Jacobs, Stephanie Dube and Joseph Greenslade News desk - Rob Clark, Andreana Coleman, Josef Elchanan, Mark Evans and Drew Wasson Photographers - Mary Macmanus, Stewart Milne, Tim Moog, Blake Griggs, David Birch, Amy Browning, I Varnell Hopkins III, Roger Hsieh, Jennie Mayer, Raun Nohavilza, Nick Rodnicki and Amanda Sonley Aggielife - Margaret Claughton, Jennifer Gressett, Paul Neale, Traci Travis and Claudia Zavaleta Sports writers - Mark Smith, Drew Diener, Nick Georgandis , Jose de Jesus Ortiz and Kristine Ramirez Opinion desk - Jay Robbins, Lynn Booher, Roy Clay, Erin Hill, Michael Landauer, Jenny Magee, Melissa Megliola, Frank Stanford, Jackie Stokes, Robert Vasquez and Dave Winder Graphic Artist - Pey Wan Choong Cartoonists - Boomer Cardinale, Chau Hoang, George Nasr, Kalvin Nguyen and Gerardo Quezada Clerks Eleanor Colvin, Wren Eversberg, Jennifer Kerber, Tomiko Miller and Brooke Perkins The Battalion (USPS 045-360) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semcsirT and Monday through Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods),* 1 Texas A&M University. 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