BASEBALL STRIKE BLUES
jRangers and Astros brace for the
^/reality of replacement players.
Sports, Page 9
BLIND OF THE HOMELESSNESS PROBLEM
Newly proposed solutions are likely to punish
downtrodden rather than help them.
Opinion, Page 1 3
MUSIC ON CAMPUS
MSC Town Hall breaks down the methods
and difficulties of bringing bands to campus.
Aggielife, Page 3
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1. 101, No. 81 (14 pages)
illl»
“Serving Texas AdrM since 1893
Thursday • January 26, 1995
Si*
Sfew schools may join Texas A&M University System
| Regents to vote on
nclusion of Baylor, East
has State in A&M system.
\ Gretchen Perrenot
ie Battalion
East Texas State University and Bay-
tr College of Dentistry may enter the
xas A&M University System if each
ool’s board of regents and the Texas
islature approve.
ee Editorial, Page 11
Baylor College of Dentistry has al-
ady approved the merger through its
m board of trustees and Bast Texas
ate’s board of regents will vote on
Ie merger Feb. 10 during its regular
lard meeting.
I East Texas State’s two campuses in
Immerce and Texarkana will present a
feasibility study to the board. East
Texas State officials said the feasibility
is in favor of the merger.
Dr. John Anderson, vice president for
academic affairs at East Texas State,
said the board can vote independently of
the study results.
“I would think that the board would
follow this lead and vote in the merger,”
Anderson said.
Dr. Barry Thompson, A&M system
chancellor, said Texas A&M’s Board of
Regents will vote Jan. 27 on the merg
er with Baylor College of Dentistry, lo
cated in Dallas.
“Then we will go to Austin to seek
approval from the legislature,”
Thompson said. “There is still a lot of
work ahead of us.”
Dr. Dominick DePaola, president
and dean for Baylor College of Den
tistry, said the college is very excited
about the merger.
“The general feeling is very popular
from the faculty, students, staff and
alumni,” DePaola said.
Thompson and DePaola both said the
dental school will add more prestige to
A&M’s medical fields.
Baylor College of Dentistry is ranked
in the top 15 percent of dental schools,
DePaola said. It is one of two private
schools in this percentage, he said, the
other one being Harvard.
“This merger is a great benefit to both
Baylor College of Dentistry and Texas
A&M,” DePaola said. “It will give A&M
more pieces of the health professions.
“It will also allow friendly competition
with the other two dental schools in
Texas,” he said, “both of which are locat
ed in the University of Texas system.”
In turn, Baylor College of Dentistry
will have access to a network of exten
sion services available in the A&M sys
tem and will create more beneficial re
search programs, DePaola said.
“The college and the school of dental
hygiene can become active participants
in health promotion, disease prevention
and clinical care with Texas’ rural citi
zens,” DePaola said. “This is very impor
tant in Texas and in the nation.”
Anderson said the student response
at East Texas State is overwhelmingly
elected officials with each system added.”
Other advantages, he said, would
be that the best students from some of
"Politically, this will make the system
stronger. We pick up elected officials with
each system added"
— Dr. Barry Thompson,
favorable.
“We feel being a member of the A&M
system will give East Texas State
greater visibility in the community and
increased enrollment,” he said.
Overall, Thompson said the merg
ers with the two schools would be ben
eficial to A&M.
“Politically, this will make the system
stronger,” Thompson said. “We pick up
these schools will
come to A&M to
seek graduate or
other degrees.
The 475 students
from the Baylor Col
lege of Dentistry
and the 9,300 from
. > * * i n East Texas State
A&M system chancellor w iH create a more
diverse population,
Thompson said.
The only prob
lems with adding new schools to the
system will be in the accounting de
partments and in reorganizing the in
frastructure, he said.
“I think there are some mispercep
tions,” Thompson said. “A lot of Aggies
think A&M’s funds will be affected.”
However, there will be no negative fi
nancial aspects to these mergers, he said.
Amy Browning/THE Battalion
Holly Hamm, a freshman math major from Rockwell, enters the first floor of Legett through the middle of the dis
tinctive three doors.
Legett to remain female hall;
Law, Fury ear residents given
contract renewal priority
□ Legett will not be
converted into a
residence hall for men.
By Wes Swift
The Battalion
The Department of Residence Life and
Housing has recommended that Legett
Hall remain a female residence hall, possi
bly ending a semester-long conflict with
two male residence halls, Puryear and
Law.
The conflict involved a proposal to con
vert Legett into a male residence hall.
The recommendation, made by Ron
Sasse, director for residence life and hous
ing, must still be approved by Dr. J. Mal-
on Southerland, vice president for student
affairs.
Last fall, Puryear and Law residents
were notified that both halls were slated
for demolition this summer and that resi
dents would be given top priority for
moves into other halls.
In November, the Residence Hall Asso
ciation approved a proposal supporting
the conversion of Legett into a male resi
dence hall for those being forced out of
F^uryear and Law.
A key element in the proposal was
based on figures presented by Puryear
and Law residents indicating a discrepan
cy in available housing for men and
women.
FNjryear and Law residents said the de
molition would cause the loss of 402 living
spaces for males and the loss of 188 spaces
in Legett would equal the losses between
men and women.
Rusty Thompson, assistant director for
residence life, said the figures presented
by the male halls were true, but mislead
ing.
“Law and FTiryear presented a discrep
ancy between housing,” Thompson said.
“But the large discrepancy lies in the fig
ures of higher- and lower-priced housing.
With Legett taken away, it takes away the
lower price option for women who want to
live on-campus.”
Thompson said that without Legett, the
only other dorms in the lower price brack
et are Davis-Gary, Spence, Briggs and Ki-
est halls.
Thompson said emotions also factored
into the decision.
“There were a lot of emotional issues,”
Thompson said. “If Puryear and Law
were given Legett, Legett could ask for
the same. This could go on forever.”
Mary Taylor, Legett Hall council presi
dent, said that residents’ reactions were
enthus i astic.
See Legett, Page 1 2
Texas driver licenses receive makeovers
□ New licenses will
soon look more like
credit cards.
By Kasie Byers
The Battalion
Texas driver licenses are getting a
new look this year.
The new licenses will resemble
credit cards. Along with the owner’s
picture, the license will bear images
of the state flag and seal against a
beige background. The card will have
a laminate embossed with the word
“Texas” in lines on the front which
will glow under ultraviolet light.
; The licensees’ photographs will be
enhanced by new digital imaging
technology. Photos will be taken with
video cameras linked to computers,
allowing technicians to better assure
a good likeness of the applicant.
Presently all drivers’ pictures are
located on the right of the license.
The new licenses will have the pic
tures of drivers older than 21 remain
on the right and those younger than
2l moved to the left.
The fees for the license will re
main the same.
Judy Sibert, the Department of
Public Safety’s project manager for
the digital image driver license sys
tem, said the license’s new features
will be an added convenience for mer
chants as well as drivers.
“The new format will include a
magnetic stripe, a bar code and a spe
cial laminate to maximize security,”
Sibert said. “Licenses issued for Tex
ans under the age of 21 will look dif
ferent from regular licenses, making
it easier for merchants to determine a
customer’s age.”
Application and renewal proce
dures will change very little, she said.
Applicants’ thumb prints will be tak
en using imaging equipment, elimi
nating the mess of ink.
The new look of the licenses and
method by which they are created will
provide more security features and
will be more convenient for Texas’
15.6 million license and identification
card holders, according to the Texas
Department of Public Safety. James
R. Wilson, DPS Director, said the
technolo
gy for
creating
the new
cards
helps
prevent
crime as
well as
reduce
the dri-
vers’
waiting
period, to
receive their licenses.
“We’re always looking for new
ways to prevent criminals from using
driver licenses for illegal purposes,”
Wilson said. “The new licenses and
identification cards will be much
harder to forge or alter.”
Another bonus, he said, is that the
same technology that makes the new
licenses more secure will also reduce
the time it takes for people to get
their licenses.
The DPS began phasing in the new
technology in January, and expects the
new driver licenses to be available in
all 243 towns and cities with driver li
cense offices later this year.
Sgt. Bruce Fallis of the Brazos
County DPS said local drivers
should see the implementation by
early spring.
“Brazos County will have an oppor
tunity to receive new licenses around
April,” Fallis said. “Austin drivers will
get the licenses even sooner than that.”
Fallis said that receiving the new li
censes will not be a difficult process.
“People will not have to go out of
their way to receive
a new license,” Fal
lis said. “Whenever
it comes time for
them to renew their
license, the new
style will be issued.”
Sibert said the
new system will be
quicker as well as
more efficient.
“A real benefit
to licensees is that
the new system
will allow us to get the licenses in
their hands in less than than ten
days, instead of the current four to
six weeks,” Sibert said.
The last major change to driver li
censes occurred in 1968, when pic-
tures were added and the use of paper
licenses was discontinued except for
temporary licenses, learners’ pennits
and certain special-needs licenses.
"We're always looking for new
ways to prevent criminals from
using driver licenses for illegal
purposes."
—James R. Wilson
DPS Director
A&M computer officials take
measures to strengthen security
Q A&M computer
experts are cracking
down on hackers.
A&M computer experts are cracking
down on computer hackers.
By Stephanie Dube
The Battalion
Computer hackers have learned how
to exploit a 10-year-old flaw within the
Internet system, leading A&M computer
officials to strengthen the University’s
computer security.
Doug Schales, systems analyst with
Computing and Information Services
(CIS), said although the actual security
problem has existed within the Internet
system for 10 years, people are just start
ing to exploit the flaw,
“We have taken additional steps to re
duce the problem at A&M,” Schales said.
“The actual problem is in the network it
self; it is not something that can be
changed on the machines.”
The flaw involves the way a computer
recognizes and accepts data from another
computer, Schales said.
When two computers communicate,
the data sent contains two addresses:
one from the sender and one from the re
ceiving computer, he said.
A computer’s network service may use
these source addresses as a security
mechanism. This trusted-host mecha
nism exists when a computer will accept
communication only with recognized
source addresses, Schales said.
An intruder can forge a trusted-source
address and trick a machine into think
ing the data being sent is from a “trust
ed” machine, Schales said.
After receiving this initial access, the
intruder must find the proper sequence
number to receive further access, Schales
said. Intruders can guess the range the
number will fall within and flood the
computer with guesses until finding the
correct sequence, he said.
Once the sequence number is discov
ered, the intruder gains access to the ma
chine, Schales said.
“Depending on the level of access, the
intruders may be able to do whatever
they want on the machine,” Schales said.
“At that point, they can destroy or alter
files or do nothing.”
Dr. Dave Safford, director of CIS, said
A&M has a three-stage security pro
gram.
The first stage consists of a firewall
that reduces the ability of people outside
the University to break into the comput
ers, he said.
The second and third stages involve
cleaning up the machines broken into
and monitoring for intruders, he said.
Schales said CIS has implemented
ways to help stop intruders originating
from outside the A&M campus who
See Security, Page 12