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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 1994)
BATTALION' Aggie life In-line skating is providing a new activity for sports enthusiasts at A&M. Page 3 THE Opinion FRANK STANFORD: Conservatism - an A&M disease that rots the brain. Like liberalism, any extremism is the same as beer. A few beers are OK, but 1 7 beers are bad for your liver - or in this case - your mind. _ Page 17 ALION ... S* ^ Hi Sports Red-shirt freshman Dat Nguyen becomes the first Vietnamese player to join the Texas A&M football team. Page 9 THURSDAY September 8, 1994 Vol. 101, No. 9 (18 pages) “Serving Texas A&M since 1893” uryear, Law face demolition Area prepares to meet ADA regulations ost of renovation auses committee's commendation [Stephanie Dube If. Battalion Puryear and Law residence halls are fac- ; demolition as early as this summer, recommendation to demolish the two was made by an ad hoc committee ted to study the conditions of Law and year. The committee included residence students and representatives from Busi- Services, Physical Plant, Residence Life Student Affairs. |Ron Sasse, director of student affairs and pir of the ad hoc committee, said the com- JTHOUGH, X UMh- ee recommended that the halls be com- AKR UP AT 5-lately tom down before Fall 1995. ITERVALS TO HE«Dr. J. Malon Southerland, vice president P WITH MV DEtB student affairs, said demolition was the NOT E.T AK1NG My option. ■“The halls are extremely old, and the ■mey to bring them up would be dramatic,” ■utherland said. •When the residents of Law and Puryear _Bgcked in, they received a memorandum ex- ■ .ilflining the details of the recommendation. aWfA forum was held Aug. 31 to answer any ■estions residents may have had about the Stacy Cameron/THE Battalion Several students play volleyball in the sand court between the Law and Puryear residence halls. demolition. According to the memorandum, the com mittee recommended demolition because the “cost to renovate and repair the buildings far exceeded the cost of replacement or recovery of investment expenditures.” The committee expects the University to approve the recommendation. The sub-floor crawlspace areas of the halls contain asbestos, which poses a health hazard for students living in those areas. Sasse said no formal plans are currently Please see Law/Puryear, Page 7 By Susan Owen The Battalion Bryan-College Station and the state of Texas are gearing up to meet national regulations man dating equal access to public ac commodations for disabled per sons. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which be came law in 1990, all public buildings (state, city and govern ment buildings, as well as pri vately-owned businesses) must be made reasonably accessible to disabled persons. Still, many local businesses have not yet made the architec tural modifications specified by the ADA. “I don’t usually take my wheelchair out into the commu nity,” said Sarah Mahoney, a senior psychology major. “It’s a hassle.” She said that although many buildings are hard to get to be cause they do not have handi capped ramps, most businesses are very helpful. “Everyone’s really nice, but if you can’t get somewhere, you can’t get somewhere, and that’s pretty much it,” Mahoney said. She said many restaurants are difficult to enter for persons who cannot get out of their wheelchairs, and often getting into clubs like the Stafford Opera House in downtown Bryan can be a problem. Kyle Kepple, a senior petrole um engineering major, said older buildings often pose access prob lems, but that large malls and shopping centers are usually very easy to enter in a wheelchair. “There are a few places, i.e., the Chicken, where it’s possible, but just barely,” he said. “But there’s not anyplace I’ve run into off campus that you can’t get into. You’ve just got to try.” Joe Brown, public information officer for the city of Bryan, said that although privately-owned businesses are required to com ply with the ADA, sometimes of fering adequate help instead of modifying the building can be legally accepted. “If your building isn’t accessi ble and you make a reasonable accommodation, that’s acceptable in some cases,” Brown said. Please see ADA, Page 12 i Quati tikes on patrol UPD has bicycle officers Sy Katherine Arnold The Battalion The University Police De- artment is pedaling around ampus this semester, main- aining order and enforcing bi- ycle laws. The bicycle patrol program as two full-time UPD officers in uniform on bicycles 24 hours [a day performing duties that [car patrols cannot. “This year we have our offi- [cers out in uniform everyday,” jElmer Schneider, associate di- ■ector of UPD, said. “We have [had officers on bicycles out at [Bonfire for the past two years ecause of the maneuverability and ability to get where a car Icannot.” Officer John Fisher said run ning stop signs is the most tick eted bicycling violation. “Each officer has been hand ing out 30 to 40 warning tickets a day,” Fisher said. “The warn ings now are going to improve traffic and prevent as many tickets later in the semester.” But when stopped, bicyclists are also reminded that they are supposed to follow the same laws as motor vehicles. “I tell bicyclists that if you drive your bike the same way you drive a car by obeying all the signs, then traffic will flow much smoother,” Fisher said. Jeff Livingston, a junior elec trical engineering major, said he is concerned about the in creased enforcement of traffic laws. “I saw two students on the first day of class getting tickets Additional inform* 1 ^ease see Cycle Cops, Page 12 BANNE CL£JJ\ DRIES IN Coaiaauo rolfcl I 60*1 onsmkI and WWW id. However :1 like to see TT e facility, three hour drive d the major expert ation," she said. . on the wear, k .idents.” dso plans to invitf al students to ust DF TEXAS &M UNIVERSI' I/or Accounting, to ie banking industry ing officer, this is) 2B Stew Milne/THE Battalion UPD officer John Fisher watches the intersection of Ross and Spence Streets looking for cyclists breaking traffic laws. - id Go Abortion compromise unravels kbusterwdiolicy might make abortions ’ Thursdaa right, Vatican officials say 9/15 [ CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — A hard-fought compro- ACCT 23f [nise on abortion unraveled at the U.N. popula- don conference Wednesday under an assault by r aft IV allies of the Vatican, which drew increasing crit- RAWA ^ or tough stance at the meeting. I! Many delegates complained that the fight o\ Practice Ifaliortion-related wording In a single paragraph over of . ■l 13-page policy document on slowing the world’s ACCT 22“ffl)pulation growth has distracted the conference Raft IV ^ rora other important issues. ■ —■'§ The policy statement does not require blanket MATH 152llpaniinous approval, and the Vatican did not p ,| -rlUpport documents issued by U.N. conferences in —_[X_!_L'f974 and 1984. Great effort is being made to ay 9/25 ACCT 23C r( ' ach compromise because the United Nations D H l\/1^ 68 consensus when issuing long-term goals. Haft IV> Whatever statement is finally adopted will not be binding on any nation, but such U.N. docu ments influence national and international poli cies. The Vatican has a delegation because it’s a permanent observer at the United Nations. Hours after the compromise fell apart, the Vati can’s chief delegate delivered a tough speech at tacking the draft of a plan of action for curbing world population growth over the next 20 years. Archbishop Renato Martino said that if adopted as is, the text “would endorse pregnancy termina tion without setting any limits” and might make access to abortions an international right. Such a right would contradict the laws of many countries and the “sensibilities of vast numbers of persons, believers and unbelievers alike,” he said. The speech continued a months-long campaign by the Vatican and Pope John Paul II to keep abortion rights out of the conference’s conclusions. The campaign has put the Holy See at odds with the Clinton administration and others. Speaking at the opening session Monday, Vice President A1 Gore said the draft document did not intend to make abortion an international right and argued it was being misinterpreted. Agricultural producers fight laws affecting property rights By Tracy Smith The Battalion Texas agricultural producers are making a stand for property rights as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes mandates restricting what property owners do on their own land. The Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to designate 33 counties in Central Texas as critical habitat for the golden-cheeked warbler, a bird native only to Texas. The mandates would affect brush control fires and the construction of firebreaks, which protect for homes and land from fires. People concerned with the restrictions have formed several new property rights organizations in Texas to discuss both property rights issues and how to fight against government interven tion. Marshall Kuykendall, who heads Take Back Texas Inc., a property rights group in Austin, said Texans are fed up with government intru sions, and that it is time to draw the line. “This is our land, our state, our country, and it is simply wrong for the government to attempt to control everyt-hing that the citizens do,” Kuyk endall said. Ralph Meriweather, president of Trans-Texas Heritage Association, said that making a stand now will let Texans voice their opinions and let : the government know they cannot just be ig nored. “Government will always take from its citi zens as much as they allow it to take, and desig nation of critical habitat marks the limit,” Meri weather said. Rick Perry, Texas agricultural commissioner, said that until now property owners have man aged to co-exist on the land for generations with out intervention. “Now some folks, usually from Washington, D.C., want to come tell us how to manage our land,” Perry said. “Our private property rights don’t belong in the hands of the EPA or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — they belong in the hands of Texans. “We’ve had enough, and we are fixin’ to take Texas back!” he said. Dorthy Deas, of the Fish and Wildlife Service, said that putting the warbler on the critical habi tat list should not really have an effect on prop erty owners. “Several species in the past have been on this list, and property owners weren’t affected,” Deas said. “Our service is to protect the property own ers, as well as protect wildlife species.” Dr. Keith Arnold, an A&M wildlife science professor, said the response many agricultural Please see Property Rights, Page 7 Washington memorial to honor 178,000 black Civil War veterans WASHINGTON (AP) — In this city of monuments, 360 com memorate episodes in American history, a quarter of those honor ing events and participants in the Civil War. But not one honors the 178,000 “colored” soldiers who fought in that war. Interior Secretary Bruce Bab bitt pointed that out on Wednesday as he took part in the ground breaking of an African Ameri can Civil War Memorial in one of Wash ington’s oldest black neigh borhoods. Not one. Babbitt said, ‘‘‘makes even a passing refer ence to the herdism and the role ... of former slaves, the vic tims of centuries of oppression and injustice.” The memorial will be on a plaza created by construction of an undeground subway stop in the Shaw neighborhood, at 10th and U Street, N.W. The area is named after Col. Robert Gould Shaw, commander of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Babbitt Infantry, which figured in the movie “Glory.” “It marks the beginning of a new thrust of tourism beyond the monuments and memorials on the Mall,” said Frank Smith Jr., a member of the District of Columbia city council who was the driving force behind the memorial project. The memorial will be a semi circular three foot-high curved stone inner wall holding stainless steel plaques with the names of the black Union soldiers and the 7,000 white officers who led them. It was designed by architects Paul S. Devrouax Jr. and Edward D. Dunson Jr. It was a collaborative effort be tween the District of Columbia, the National Park Service and the Metro transportation system. This monument will be pri marily a tourist attraction, Smith told about 400 people assembled under a tent at the site. A Family Heritage Center, at a middle school across the street, will be established to educate the public about blacks’ role in the Civil War. It will house a library and a computerized database that will make it possible to trace some of the 3 million descendants of the servicemen. Students at the Gamet-Patter- son Middle School will be trained to do historical research at the National Archives, including the struggles of the great freedom fighters past and present. Civil war historian Jack Harr told the audience that 131 years ago the biggest parade in history — with 200,000 march ing troops — was held on Penn sylvania Avenue. “There were no black sol diers in that parade,” he said. “The only blacks in that parade were labor batallions with picks and shovels. That was the beginning of our long ignorance about the role of the black sol dier in the Civil War. Today's Bat gjl p Aggielife 3 Campus 2 Classified 8 Opinion 17 Sports 9 Toons 8 What's Up 8