Page 2 • The Battalion w ' ^ i ^ -4. (^AMPUS Friday • September^ K Sepren Law strives for equality in rape cases By Tracy Smith The Battalion Women raped their husbands may fi nally see justice as a state law, which went into effect Sept. 1, strives for equality in rape cases. Marital rape cases have been taken to court since 1987, but a conviction in those cases required more evidence than if the as sailant had been a stranger or acquaintance. Furthermore, the assaults that were pros ecuted as marital assaults were restricted to only those involving physical harm. The 1994 law did away with all distinc tions between sexual assaults caused by the marriage partner and those caused by a stranger or acquaintance. Sherry Hostetter, public education direc tor for the Brazos County Rape Crisis Cen ter, said she hopes the new legislation will get more women to report marital assaults. “Many women don’t report these assaults because they feel they don’t have a case,” Hostetter said. “Now we need to educate women about the change in the law to let them know the law is on their side. The Tragic Facts Sexual assault programs in Texas reported 2,131 marital rapes be tween October 1 991 and Septem ber 1992. —Texas Department of Health About 61,000 women a year are raped by either their husbands or ex-husbands. —National Women's Study “It will take awhile to get the word out be cause the change is so new,” she said. “The more the public knows, the better off they are. Women have to know that it has been passed and in their favor.” Debby Tucker, executive director of the Texas Council on Family Violence, said it will take 10 years for the change in the law to become well-known. “Sometimes it takes a very long time for attitudes to catch up with these things,” Tucker said. “It will take a brave woman and a feminist prosecutor willing to articu late that a marriage license is not a hitting and raping license.” Thad Stachowiak, associate director of the A&M Student Counseling Services, said one of the problems with any legislation changing a law is that many people don’t re ally understand the change and how it will impact them. “Knowing about a change doesn’t neces sarily mean understanding the issues in volved in the change or how it could affect a person’s life,” Stachowiak said. “Right now this issue needs a lot of education and re peated exposure to let women know that in timacy doesn’t have to be coercion. “This is a good piece of legislation for an issue that is growing in concern,” he said. “It will take time before it becomes complete ly visible to society, but recognition needs to be made that one person doesn’t own anoth er person in a relationship.” Yellowpots vow to ‘clean up’ Sbisa yell By Amanda Fowle The Battalion Friday afternoons before football games have been a big mess in Sbisa in the past, but Bonfire yellowpots agreed Thursday to try to keep Sbisa Yell cleaner. Sbisa Yell, a Northside tradition, is a yell practice led by the Northside yellowpots that begins when Sbisa opens for dinner on Fridays before home football games. Another tradition at Sbisa Yell are food fights between residents of different halls and the yellowpots being “groded,” in which fresh men throw yellowpots in the mud after yell practice. Janette Gamer, Sbisa Dining Center manager, Owen Ross, RHA President, and Rusty Thompson, assistant director of Residence Life, met yesterday to discuss ways to eliminate the problems en countered at past Sbisa Yells. Ross said he wanted to preserve the tradition of Sbisa Yell, but reduce the destruction it causes. “We asked ourselves how can we best preserve this tradition without having the problems,” he said. The yellowpots will attempt to reduce the destruction of Sbisa’s front lawn and will limit profanity in their yells. Also, food will not be thrown. Mike Tippit, Schuhmacher Hall president, said he and several friends helped clean up after Sbisa yells last year. “When we stayed and cleaned up,” he said, “it only took about ten or 15 minutes because we were all working together.” The yellowpots also agreed to tell the freshmen to take them back to the area around their halls to grode them, instead of destroying the lawn in front of Sbisa. Gamer said students will still be allowed to throw napkins, but not food, during Sbisa yell. During the yell practice, students beat cups and dishes on the ta bles to make noise, occasionally breaking dishes. Gamer said that if any property is destroyed, the students will have to pay for it. “They can make all the noise they want,” she said. “It’s the de struction of property caused by the noise that we don’t want.” Students who do throw food, or break other rules, will be subject to punishment, Ross said. “It’s like speeding,” he said. “Everyone may be speeding, but maybe only one person gets caught. Some people are going to be punished as examples.” Students who do break the rules will have their ID cards taken and will be referred to the Conflict Resolution Center. The first Sbisa yell will set the tone for the rest of the year, Mcln- nis yellowpot Ryan Busse, said. “The first yell practice sets the precedent for the rest of them,” he said, “so how we act Friday will determine how the rest of the yells will be.” Ross said that Sbisa Yell could be ended if the students do not co operate with the newly established rules.. “Sbisa yell is a privilege,” he said. “It could be cut out because many parts of it are in violation of dining policy procedure.” ■JSTON ■ go largt tsiana, con 'Bay. Balers j ■line, end ■shing as Bnd mode M high nu ■larly the S e; turtles ■ported to ■lisiana is Because ( Bent,” sai< Bh associ e of Marine xas A&M Iem into ; Texas A&M University will continue an age-old traditionFr[ting, auth day as the University holds its first Midnight Yell Practice oftifT the uni season. Rftt a samp’ The tradition, which occurs the night before a football gai [c< all said will take place in Kyle Field. ■ 2l> ; ^'■l 0 start ai Alcohol is not allowed at the event, and access to the trat jT] said the surrounding the field is restricted. University police officers r T] grants } be on hand to ensure that order is maintained. : sexual a For people driving to yell practice, a representative oftheD! a Ij e that he partment of Parking, Transit and Traffic Services said thattkJJ ^ j-, e j ei should park their cars in Parking Area 61, across the raitaHj me ^ a t tracks. A&M’s first home football game will start Saturday at 4 pi' as the Aggies take on Oklahoma University. Do you have what it takes to be a S.T.A.R.? Find out at OPEN HOUSE! Sunday, September 11, 1994 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Come see us at the table for: ( HH‘E EJL CE9&E3L Center for Drug Prevention and Education 222 Beutal Health Center Texas A&M University 845-0280 MSC Political Forum • “ * ’ f ’ » ) Presents: Democratic Candidate for U.S. Senate Richard Fisher Wednesday, September 14, 1994 7:00 p.m. Rudder Theatre A Persons with disabilities please call 845-1515 to inform us of your special needs. We request three (3) working days prior to the event to enable us to assist you to the best of our ability. The views expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of MSC Po litical Forum, The MSC, or Texas A&M University. The Battalion BELINDA BLANCARTE, Editor in chief MARK EVANS, Managing editor HEATHER WINCH, Night News editor MARK SMITH, Night News editor KIM MCGUIRE, City editor JAY ROBBINS, Opinion editor STEWART MILNE, Photo editor DAVE WINDER, Sports editor ROB CLARK, Agg/eWe editor Staff Members City desk - Jan Higginbotham, Katherine Arnold, Michele Brinkmann, Stephanie Dube, Stacey Fehlis, Eloise Flint, Amanda Fowle, Melissa Jacobs, Lisa Messer, Angela Neaves.Su! Owen, Constance Parten and Tracy Smith News desk Robin Greathouse, Sterling Hayman, Jody Holley, Shafi Islam, Jennifer Monliel, Tiffany Moore and Stacy Stanton Photographers Stacey Cameron, David Birch, Blake Griggs, J.D. Jacoby, Tim Moog, Cina Painton, Nick Rodnicki, Amy Brown and Carrie Thompson Aggielife Anas Ben-Musa, Margaret Claughton, Christi Erwin, Jennifer Gressett and Jeremy Keddie Sports writers- Nick Georgandis, Drew Diener and Stewart Doreen Opinion desk - Jenny Magee, Lynn Booher, Josef Elchanan, Laura Frnka, Aja Henderson, Jeremy Keddie, Michael Landauer, Melissa Megliola, George Nasr, Elizabeth Pi Gerardo Quezada and Frank Stanford Cartoonists— Greg Argo, Brad Graeber, Alvaro Gutierrez and Quatro Oakley Office Assistants— Heather Fitch, Adam Hill, Karen Hoffman and Michelle Oleson Writing Coach - Timm Doolen The Battalion (USPS 045-360) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall andspiiq semesters and Monday through Thursday during the summer sessions (except University holidayv exam periods), at Texas A&M University. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77841 f POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion, 230 Reed McDonald Building, TexasAtf University, College Station, TX 77843. News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in the Division of Student Publication, a unit of the Department of Journalism. Editorial offices are ini Reed McDonald Building. E-mail: BATT@TAMVM1.TAMU.EDU. Newsroom phone number is 3313. Fax:845-2647. Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The BatialG For campus, local and national display advertising, call 845-2696. For classified advertising, cal! 845-0569. Advertising offices are in 015 Reed McDonald and office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Fax: 845-2678. DOUGLAS JEWELERS Texas A&M University Watch by SEIKO A Seiko Quartz timepiece officially licensed by the University. Featuring a richly detailed three-dimensional recreation of the University Seal on the I4kt. gold finished dials. Electronic quartz movement guaranteed accurate to within fifteen seconds per month. Full three year Seiko warranty. Class of 75 1667-B Texas Ave. Culpepper Plaza 693-0677 All gold 0285.00 2-tone 0265.00 with leather strap 0200.00 pocket watch 0245.00 FREE ENGRA VING msc town hall If you like music and you like concerts, then you'll LOVE us! Applications avaiable in 216 MSC DEADLINE: Tuesday, Sept. 13 WANTED: NEW MEMBERS