The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 07, 1994, Image 1

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    Campus
The Hispanic Presidents Council is working to promote unity
in Texas A&M's Hispanic community.
Page 2
THE
Opinion
Sports
EDITORIAL: Aggie traditions should stand above
issues like politics, race, religion and anything else
that divides the student body.
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II all
;e in general,
i here?
■e for many
•ecause our
!. We're here
and get a
aderie and
because Dad
i our family
DALLAS (AP) — Discussing the
fees of television violence after a TV
ht wanttoji gram is one way parents can help
its effects on young people.
That is a technique the cable
television industry and national
irent and Teacher Association are
Jvocating as part of a nationwide
Initiative announced Thursday to
ch parents, teachers and children
to evaluate and analyze what
y see on TV.
We think TV viewers should look at
|etelevision ... as carefully as they
ikatthe labels on the food they eat,”
Id Decker Anstrom, president of the
itional Cable Television Association,
do, we’ll have healthier kids in
ering, agn- 1
Is are world ;tliiscountry."
Described as the first national
rtiership of its kind, the Family and
Nmunity Critical Viewing Project
[amsthe PTA with the NCTA and
blein the Classroom, the cable
lustry’s education initiative.
icademicor
winning re-
L a job even-
-ions and the
■ like it.
d the many
ame to
College Sta-
is Differen-
n.
cial and
ng exposed
tips in a col-l
to learn
fartisanship killing
nore bills in Congress
si universi-
universi
it to a
st like I
>eople.
a school
” is not
orance, but
toss the
all white,
Christians,
tic, South-
we were al
le around
is that pro-
iy know,
cperience
osophiesas
WASHINGTON (AP) — With
Republicans swinging the axe,
ngress is piling one casualty upon
other in a sharply partisan run-up
|0this fall’s elections. A bill to rein in
bbyists became the latest victim on
lursday, joining others on health
ire, campaign spending and the
ivironment.
"We’re the ones trying to do things,”
tiring Senate Majority Leader George
itchell said this week as he
aneuvered against a series of year-
id Republican filibusters. "And they’re
leones trying to prevent it.”
But Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas,
iticipating strong Republican gains on
ov. 8 replied, “The answer is if it’s a
bad bill, America wants it killed. And
me’ve got a lot of bad bills by people
about to lose power.”
Democrats concede they’re likely to
bse seats this fall. Republicans stand a
hance to win the seven seats
lecessary to gain control of the Senate
and a slimmer opportunity to end 40
(ears of Democratic rule in the House.
Police arrest woman
or covering face
rg new or
phi
ite student
RS
ber6
ite in
E!!!
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — To the
lolice who stopped and questioned
ler, the woman dressed from head to
loe looked "bizarre.” She was wearing
8veil, a heavy dark robe and gloves.
At first she wouldn’t speak to the
lour or five male officers. Then she got
mgry when they told her to uncover
er face or leave the St. Paul skyway,
8 maze of public corridors bridging
lowntown streets and stores.
Police then escorted her to a small
oom, where they gave the Muslim
'Oman a ticket for violating a 1963
tate law against concealing one’s
dentity in public. The offense carries
p to 90 days in jail and a $700 fine.
Local Muslims complained that
ayyibah Amatullah, a 21-year-old
American convert to Islam, has a
eligious right to wear modest dress.
"Where is freedom of religion? ... I
Jnean, I lived here for 25 years. Where
is that?” asked Magda Saikali, a
Muslim activist. “For God sakes, was
ihe caught in a criminal act? No.”
oday s Batx
Campus
Classified
2
6
Opinion
Sports
Weather
What's Up
7
S'
7
8
The Texas A&M 'Wreckin' Crew' is back in full
force.
Page 5
FRIDAY
October 7, 1994
Vol. 101, No. 30 (8 pages)
“Serving Texas A&M since 1893”
"SM n NEWS
WK RfEFS
illas, A&M team up
proposed center
ALLAS (AP) — The city and
■as A&M University are teaming
■on a proposed $9.6 million plan
itolransform about 50 acres into an
blernational waste management
nology and training center,
he project calls for an industrial
a small-business incubator and
srooms where Texas A&M and
be Dallas County Community
iijllege District would offer waste
|nagement classes,
he proposed site is next to the
owned McCommas Bluff Landfill
fsoutheast Oak Cliff. Dallas
ady owns 70 percent of the land
ded for the project, which city
Jcials predict will be funded in
ge part by federal grants.
[School and city officials hope to
er classes by fall 1997, with the
Ik completed by 2005.
ilk about TV violence
ay curb its effects
Prairie View alumni upset at Regents
Board's selection of new president
cause for disappointment, alumni say
By Amanda Fowle
The Battalion
Prairie View A&M alumni are disap
pointed with the selection process used to
choose the University’s president because
they say the Board of Regents ignored the
input of the Afro-American community.
Dr. William Batts, president of the
Prairie View A&M University National
Alumni Association, said that a group of
alumni and students, the Faculty Senate
and people from the Prairie View commu
nity met with four applicants and chose
two as finalists.
They expected the regents’ choice for
president to be one of those two finalists,
he said, but instead, a late applicant. Dr.
Charles Hines was added to the finalist
list and then named president on Sept. 28.
Batts said that if the regents were not
pleased with the two candidates the alum
ni had chosen, they should have accepted
applications from more candidates.
Batts does not think the regents gave
enough consideration to the recommenda
tions of the Afro-American community.
“We are dealing with a plantation-type
mentality here,” he said. “We don’t need a
few people making decisions for a group,
especially when those people were not
chosen by the group.”
The Board of Regents is appointed by
the governor, and one of its duties is
choosing the A&M University System’s
presidents.
Regent Alison Brisco said that the re
gents take presidential searches very
seriously.
“I think it is one of the most impor
tant functions we have,” she said. “We
appreciated the input of the search com
mittee but knew that the final decision
was ours.”
Batts sent letters to Prairie View alum
ni expressing the alumni association’s dis
appointment with the selection process.
He urged the alumni and friends of
Prairie View to take action.
“We must begin to put our money, our
manpower and our energy where our
mouths are if we intend to win this bat
tle,” he said in the letter.
Batts said that the violation of the se
lection process could inhibit future quali
fied applicants from applying.
“The Board of Regents has not only
insulted the black community,” he said,
“but also increased the risk of creating a
chilling effect on the entire selection
process and, thereby, inhibited applica
tions by best qualified applicants for
any future vacancy.”
Batts said Hines had applied early in
the search, was eliminated, then reap
plied and was chosen to be president.
Dr. David Sanchez, vice chancellor for
academic affairs and chair of the search
advisory committee, said Hines went
through the same selection process as the
other candidates.
“I don’t know where he is getting this
from,” he said. “Every candidate went
through the same selection process. It
just so happens that one application
came in late. There was no difference in
this procedure.”
Sanchez said there is no deadline for
candidates to apply during presidential
searches.
“We don’t put a deadline on it,” he said.
“Suppose the Board did not like any of the
candidates. If there is no deadline, they
can just keep taking applications.”
Batts wants the presidential search to
continue, but Regents said this will not
happen since Hines has been selected.
Regent Raul Fernandez said he asked
A&M Chancellor Barry Thompson to de
velop a more defined process for presiden
tial searches.
“I’m sorry this happened,” he said. “I
want us to try to keep it from happening
again.”
Fernandez said he has great respect for
the Prairie View community and that
their complaints have some merit.
“There are three sides to everything,”
he said, “and there is some truth to every
side of this.”
The regents appointed Hines on Sept.
28 to replace retiring president Gen.
Julius Becton, who announced his resig
nation in January.
Hines, 59, is the director of protection
and health services for the Smithsonian
Institute.
Blake Griggs/THE Battalion
You can't have Bonfire without Centerpole
One of the Brown Pots is congratulated as Centerpole is erected Thursday.
A&M opens
state s largest job
training center
By Lisa Messer
The Battalion
The Texas A&M University System unveiled
the state’s largest regional job training center for
industrial workers Sept. 29 with assistance from
state and Houston officials.
Phil Parker, director of the training center,
said the center provides craft training in indus
try skills, such as welding, plumbing, iron works,
ventilation, electrical work and masonry.
The center is operated by the Texas Engineer
ing Extension Service, which is one of eight state
agencies under the umbrella of the A&M System.
“Last fall we got a recommendation from the
Board of Regents to open a training center in
Houston,” Parker said. “There are already cen
ters in Arlington, Abilene and San Antonio, but
we just had not attempted the Houston market.”
The center, which is located in east Houston
near the ship channel, is providing craft training
to 200 workers.
“Currently, everyone in the program is al
ready employed,” Parker said. “They are in a
four-year program to become journeymen crafts
men. They’re increasing their skills in building
and maintenance. When they leave here, theyll
have an increase in pay, responsibilities and
knowledge.”
Parker said the center plans to add training
for unemployed people in the next two to three
months, or as soon as the center can get the pro
gram funded.
Brenda Simms, TEEX director of marketing
and communication, said providing training to
See Center/Page 2
Casinos in Texas may
not be Caesar s Palace
HOUSTON (AP) — Texas
cities willing to gamble on casinos
to bolster their economies should
steer clear of Caesar’s Palace
sized dreams and look at smaller,
highly structured gaming facili
ties with specific revenue goals in
mind if they are to succeed.
That’s the sobering advice to
about 100 municipal leaders
who huddled Thursday at a
workshop on the “Impact of
Gaming on Texas.’ ’
“If someone gets into casino
gambling they should know why
and what the public goal is in
having casino gambling,” said
William Thompson, a professor at
the University of Nevada-Las Ve
gas. “(If) You embrace gambling,
you better love gambling. So
many states (are) embracing it,
they don’t want it. New Jersey
embraced it, they don’t want it.”
The 1995 Texas Legislature is
expected to face a strong push
from casino interests to legalize
gambling. But state lawmakers
alone can’t decide the issue. In
stead, a constitutional amend
ment is needed, requiring a two-
thirds vote of the House and Sen
ate, plus voter approval in a
statewide referendum.
Thursday’s workshop was
spurred in part by growing in
terest and a three-month study
by the University of Houston-
Clear Lake’s Center for Eco
nomic Development.
“One of the things we heard
and read over and over again is
that Texas has got to capture all
this money,” said Robert Hodgin,
director of the center. “There are
some serious fallacies.”
Cities should realized that
they need to attract new money
and not just drain the established
restaurants and businesses to
support a casino.
The number of people at
tracted by a casino also brings
a whole host of questions in
volving infrastructure, law en
forcement and employment.
“A limited casino can work
with money here,” Thompson
said. “ “And Texas has a gam
bling population and I don’t think
you 11 rescue the money that’s be
ing gambled in Las Vegas.”
But Texas could bring back
about 75 percent of the revenue
going out of Texas to Louisiana
tracks and casinos, he said.
Thompson and Hodgin drew
an audience of some merely cu
rious civic leaders as well as
those from towns like Houston
poised to pursue gaming rooms
if legalized.
Former students criticize lab
Visualization lab
movini
art aspect, they say
By Katherine Arnold
The Battalion
The Walt Disney Company ;
will not be recruiting computer j
animators from Texas A&M’s vi- !
sualization laboratory program
this year, former students em
ployed at Disney said.
Michelle Robinson, a former
A&M visualization lab student
currently employed by the com
puter generated imagery depart
ment at Disney , said she and her
former classmates at Disney
have several complaints against
the department.
“1 could not honestly recom
mend that the CGI department
spend money recruiting in a de
partment that is ailing,” Robin
son said.
Donald House, coordinator oU
A&M’s visualization sciences,
said that Disney never spoke to
; him about why it would not be
recruiting at A&M.
“If Disney is intentionally not
recruiting here, then they have
made that decision based on the
Amy Brownrog/THE Battalion
Texas A&M’s visualization laboratory is under criticism from some
former students.
opinions of a few former stu
dents,” House said.
One of the complaints the
former students have against
the department is that it no
longer requires a visual port
folio for all applicants. How
ever, House said all applicants
do turn in. portfolios.
“We have many students
coming from a computer science
background,” House said. “These
students submit a technical
portfolio outlining their comput
er experience. We take visual
portfolios from art students. We
have not taken away the portfo
lio requirement.”
Robinson said that the de
partment is taking away the fo
cus on art from the department
with classes and requirements.
“The lab is solely trying to
produce computer animators
and take away the art and cre
ativity aspect of a visualiza
tion lab,” Robinson said. “Art
is the whole point of a visual
ization lab.”
House' said he' Has rib inten-"'
tion of taking the focus on art
out of the visualization program.
“We have four faculty mem
bers in the department, three of
which are artists," House said.
See Viz-lab/Page 2