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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 1995)
NSIDE - APPLY TO WORK FOR THE BATT! attention — Everyone interested in writing, graphics or t‘}] ( s )hotography ... Fill out The Battalion staff application! Page 2 ter which tg 'ouldkfl s demarl hips, r nd otK [ of istkl trong rl : . JuldbeM* 10T No. 137 (12 pages) ter, Wit y grow:: mpareo iargins fi | model H TIME TO TUNE OUT TELEVISION? Winder: TV shows from our childhood were not always beneficial. Opinion, Page 11 STAYING CLOSE TO HOME Rodney Thomas is taken by the Hous ton Oilers in this weekend's NFL draft. Sports, Page 9 “Serving Texas A dr Ad since 1893’ Monday • April 24, 1995 Class of’95 announces class gift Residence,ial1 visitation 0 hours extended to 2 a.m. 1 begin I The Class of '95 gives n mgs nil . . this po; he University a Muster indowment. T d ly Gretchen Perrenot i lormai - HE battalion to set ill person' The Class of ’95 is presenting ustry. t&M with a Muster monument and cl endowment as its class gift. "icerE The Class of ’95 will spend wasophout $95,000 on the gift, the 1995 Thai amount depending on Se- w prod !° r Weekend expenses and iggress evenues. iphaseJfody Burke, Class of ’95 i are j n Jresident, said one-third of the smpete ®>unt will go toward the mon- e "h esi iment and the remainder to- BM C( mr ^ the endowment, nc dur Burke said the proposed site Id’s top the 1 monument is in the Acade- pgrcen nm Plaza near the Silver Taps year wi aonument. kp Hit will be a small monument nth two hands reaching out, one igbting the candle of the other,” lurke said. “On one hand there Olvill be a Class of ’95 Aggie ring and on the other will be a wed ding band because not everyone represented at Muster would have an Aggie ring.” Burke said the monument will have two inscriptions. One side will give the history of Muster and the other will describe the current ceremony and barbecue that takes place. “With the monument, the Class of ’95 is able to leave a physical monument that serves a purpose of educating visitors to A&M,” Burke said. Matt Upton, Class of ’95 class gift co-chair, said the endowment will benefit every mem ber of the Class of ’95 and other Aggies by supporting the Muster ceremony. “Every member of the Class of ’95 will one day be recognized at Muster, either here or some where else around the country,” Upton said. “It doesn’t matter who you are or whether you’re involved in campus organiza tions, you will be involved in Muster someday.” The gift was one of six voted on during the elections in March. The Muster monument and endowment won with 445 votes. Second choice for the gift was an endowment package with 240 votes. Upton said one of the rea "We may be through with our four years here, but I'm sure we'll have a lot more to give A&M." — Matt Upton, Class of ’95 gift co-chair sons this gift was the most pop ular choice was because Muster coincided with Senior Weekend this year. “This is our one last chance as seniors to have a good time and go out with a bang,” he said. “There were a lot of Class of ’95 names called at Muster this year. “It really hits close to home and makes you realize what it’s all about.” Upton said the connection with the Class of ’95 and Muster is strong because the class will be the honored at Muster in 50 years. “We may be through with our four years here, but Tm sure we’ll have a lot more to give A&M,” he said. “In 50 years it will be the Class of ’95 who will be giving the speeches at Muster and other events.” The goal of every class that leaves a gift to the school is to have the gift in place by the class’s fifth reunion, Burke said. “That will not be a problem,” he said. “I foresee the gift in place well before that time.” Upton said the sculptor. Dr. Rodney Hill, associate dean for student services in the College of Architecture, is working on the sketches for the monument. □ The decision was a compromise between the administration and the RHA. By Wes Swift The Battalion On-campus residents will be able to entertain guests a little later next year. Dr. J. Malon Southerland, vice president for student af fairs, increased the residence hall visitation hours, allowing students to visit halls until 2 a.m. all week. The decision caps a year-long drive by the Residence Hall As sociation for 24-hour visitation in the halls. Residence halls’ regulations have previously al lowed visitors from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays and 1:30 a.m. on weekends. Ron Sasse, director of the De partment of Residence Life and Housing, said the decision was made after hearing some reser vations about all-day visitation. “There was a concern that 24- hour visitation was too much right now,” Sasse said. “We would like to slowly take it to that direction. The first logical step was to increase the ceiling.” Dr. Jan Winniford, associate vice president for student af fairs, said the decision was a compromise between students and the administration. She ex plained that many of the major goals of 24-hour visitation could be accomplished with the 2 a.m. extension. “For example, many students wanted extra time to study in the halls,” she said. “This gives them that extra time.” RHA leaders found the deci sion bittersweet. Several mem bers acknowledged that the See Visitation, Page 12 (1 the L: i. 'Then :! - layshl we hai we car. inclaimti mid ma| into I ssiorisui ggies commemorate unity, friendship The Muster speaker de scribes the unity between the lass of '45 and '95 through A&M traditions. Jy Kasie Byers The Batealion Students, alumni, family and friends filled j. Rollie White Coliseum to capacity as they gathered at Muster on Friday night to honor the 110 Aggies who had died this year. Besides the campus Muster, 400 other lusters were held Friday, 30 of which oc curred outside the United States. Poems and prose written by Aggies were read to emphasize the spirit and unity which is part of the Muster tradition. Roger Hsieh/ Thf. Battalion Dr. Lee Phillips, ’53, was this year’s Muster j speaker. Speakers told stories in recognition of the Class of ’45, who attended Muster as part of their 50th class reunion. Class of ’45 remembrances were told by Laurie Peebles and Bridget Hennessey, both members of the Muster Committee. Peebles’ speech focused on the Class of ’45 before they entered World War II. She said 1943 was a time of decisions for the Class of ’45, who would only experience one semester of “normal” college life. “After two years of school, these guys would still spend time together,” Peebles said, “but instead of in the classroom, it would be on the battlefield. “In 1943 the Class of ’45 was packed up on 17 trains. This class experienced a Corps trip like no other class at A&M. It was a Corps trip that would change their lives forever.” Hennessey told of the expe riences the class faced after the war. She said that after serving in World War II, most members of the class returned in the fall of 1945 and spring of 1946 to com plete their education, but 106 members of the class wouldn’t have that opportunity. “In the end, the Class of ’45 lost more men in World War II than any other class,” Hennessey said. “They were no longer naive college boys, but men who had seen the horrors of war.” Hennessey said that if it was not for the Aggie ring, the Class of ’45 might not have even been a class. “Without the ’45 on their ring, class mem bers would have been men without a class,” she said. “As it is, 45 is a number that bonds.” Keynote speaker. Dr. Lee Phillips, focused on the ties between the classes from ’45 to ’95, using Aggie traditions as the main symbol of this unity. “It makes me wonder sometimes what in the world it is we could have in common with them (Class of ’45),” he said. “One thing that comes to mind when you compare the Class of ’45 to ’95 is that the Class of ’45 didn’t gradu ate in four years either.” On a serious note, Phillips gave numerous examples of how Aggie traditions are the main bond between the students and alumni. “Our traditions — beliefs and customs handed down by Aggies from generation to generation — are time-tested, value-proven conventions,” Phillips said. “We’ve all stood as the Twelfth Man; we understand it. We’ve all worked on Bonfire. “We’ve all experienced Silver Taps. Do you "Our traditions — beliefs and customs handed down by Aggies from generation to generation — are time-tested, value- proven conventions." — Ur. Lee Phillips, 1995 Muster speaker realize that you have stood where I’ve stood, where the Class of ’45 has stood and where Aggies have stood forever? “ We’ve heard the volleys; we’ve heard the taps, and so I understand how you feel when you pay that silent, solemn goodbye at Muster.” Aggies share a common language, he said, which bonds them together. “At the barbecue, when yell leaders got up on stage and gave the signs, everyone under stood them and passed them back,” Phillips said. “We have communication, and with communication we can solve problems.” Roger Hsieh/ The Battalion Susan Oza (left) lights the candle of Theresa Schehin, who was present for her husband. More pictures of Muster, Page 3. Strength of building s walls questioned, delays search J A man identified as "John Doe 2" has been dismissed as a suspect. ■ OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Army deserter was questioned Sun day in connection wfth the bombing of the federal building, but the Justice Department denied he was the heavy-browed “John Doe 2” pic- pred in an FBI sketch. ■ As the investigation widened, some 20,000 people overflowed the state fairgrounds, where President Clinton and the Rev. Billy Graham were to lead a memorial service on what the president declared a na tional day of mourning. |i Hours before the ceremony, spectators lined up for a mile. Attorney Bteneral Janet Reno got a standing ovation as she entered. ■ “I think we all feel paralyzed,” said Tamara Meadows, of suburban pdmond. ■ The bombing site, where workers have toiled for days in heat, dust, lain and cold, was a scene of growing misery. Fears that the structure Would crumble stopped searchers again and again from reaching the flEea where a day-care center and Social Security office were. I The death toll in the worst terrorist bombing in U.S. history stood at 78, with 150 people unaccounted for. More than 400 were injured in Wednesday’s blast, caused by thousands of pounds of homemade explo sives packed into a Ryder rental truck. ■ David Iniguez was picked up by military authorities in San Bernardino, Calif., on charges unrelated to the attack and was ques tioned in connection with the bombing, Justice Department spokesman John Russell said. See Building, Page 1 2 Forum defines desired traits for new vice president □ A&M officials included the importance of re sponsibility and delega tion of authority as im portant qualities for the vice president for finance and administration. By Lisa Messer The Battalion Faculty and administrators stressed the importance of teach ing experience, ability to delegate responsibility and service when hiring a permanent vice president for faculty and administration Friday in an open forum. The search advisory committee for the vice president for finance and administration held the fo rum to allow University input into the search to fill the position. Dr. Charles Lee, chairman of the committee and interim execu tive vice president and provost, said the committee has identified 115 possible candidates. “We get five to 10 a day now,” Lee said. “We expect the number to be substantially larger by the end of next week. We have applicants from the private sector, public sector, military, you name it.” Dr. Walter Wendler, dean of the College of Architecture, said the committee needs to remember that A&M’s academic purpose should be the most important thing to the vice presi dent. “I want to reiterate the importance of the indi vidual’s un derstanding of the importance of finance and ad ministration and academic programs Wendler said. “We can be a great University here with well- managed finances, but we can be even better if we work together. “It would be nice if the person had some teaching experience. Every decision made in that of fice trickles down to students every day.” Dick Lindsay, vice chancellor for finance and operations in the A&M System and member of the committee, said the vice president for finance administration needs the ability to delegate responsi bility. “The vice president needs an un derstanding of delega tion of au thority, ac countability and respon- sibility,” Lindsay said. “I think the management au dit said we have enough policies and then some. A&M and the Sys tem are committed to reducing what I think are bureaucratic problems.” Lindsay said the service orien tation of the person recommended by the committee will be crucial. “We’re here to serve and help you do your jobs better,” Lindsay said. “If we can’t do that, I don’t know why we’re here at all.” Dewey Liccioni, assistant vice chancellor for administration in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and a member of the committee, said the new vice president would have to be will ing to change. “We don’t need the ‘Lilypad Syndrome’ of this is my area and this is your area,” Liccioni said. “The person needs to look across the board. They’re going to have to move. They’re going to have to be mobile. There are going to be some changes.” Lee said the committee was scheduled to start reviewing ap plications April 15 but missed the deadline. He said the committee will get a short list of candidates as soon as possible. The committee will make rec ommendations to Dr. Ray Bowen, president of A&M, and Bowen will name the new vice president.