The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, April 26, 1995, Image 1

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)1. 101, No. 139 (14 pages)
“Serving Texas AdrM since 1893“
’Wednesday • April 26, 1995
iiuBsiiiii
-CS put on hold by A&M preregistration calls
i Telephone preregistration
caused some phone prob
lems for area businesses.
3y Tracy Smith
The Battalion
hj i n. and Texas A&M are reviewing
ways to make telephone preregistration
run more smoothly after community
phone services were interrupted by pre-
glistration difficulties this past week.
1; Bill Erwin, public affairs manager for
the GTE district office in Bryan, said
April 21 was a traumatic day for the
phone company and its patrons when
Texas A&M preregistration accidentally
(interrupted their phone services.
^Community businesses, citizens and
A&M students complained about the
?low dial tone that resulted when pre-
“pgistration began later than expected
day.
rwin explained that the phone sys
tem processes calls as they come in.
However, he said, the number of calls
from students registering Friday was
more than the system could handle.
Donald Gardner, associate registrar
for the Department of Admissions and
Records, said problems with one of the
main computers set preregistration
back until 1 p.m., instead of its usual 6
a.m. time.
“We had people working all night
long trying to fix the system and have
it ready for its 6 a.m. schedule time,”
Gardner said. “The system wasn’t
back on-line until 1 p.m. and this is
what caused problems for phones in
the community.”
Erwin said 1 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. are
the prime calling hours, setting preregis
tration in the midst of these hours.
Gardner said the University
thought it was making the best of a
bad situation by allowing the students
to register later.
The other option, he said, was to
wait and allow those students to regis
ter at a later date, thus confusing the
preregistration schedule and punish
ing students for a computer malfunc
tion that was beyond their control.
“We really appeared to be the bad
guy in this situation, even though our
intentions were good,” Gardner said.
“The University plans to be working
11511111*111 v: lit hi i
"The University plans to be wbrking more
closely with the people at GTE to avoid any
future problems."
— Donald Gardner,
Department of Admissions and Records
more closely with the people at GTE to
avoid any future problems.”
Erwin said telephone company rep
resentatives will continue discussions
on future problems, allowing both the
University and GTE to provide the
best possible services to the communi
ty and to A&M students.
“We don’t want future phone prob
lems occurring from preregistration to
lead to a disaster for businesses or
community members,” Erwin said.
Erwin said he compares the situa
tion to turning on a light.
“You assume
that the light will
turn on when you
flip the switch.
When it doesn’t, it
becomes a disas
ter,” Erwin said.
“People assume
when they pick up
the phone they will
hear the dial tone,
but last week there
were times when they didn’t.”
The University will be considering
ideas to make preregistration easier
on everyone. GTE will be setting para
meters for the University to follow, ex
plaining the best possible ways to
avoid problems for businesses and oth
er people outside Texas A&M.
One of the tentatively suggested
ideas was to change the time of day
that students may register.
Currently, students begin register
ing at 6 a.m. However, some members
of the University have suggested this
time be changed to midnight.
By beginning preregistration at
midnight, students won’t call at the
peak calling hours and won’t miss any
classes because they were waiting to
register.
Gardner said the idea is still being
discussed and hasn’t been formally in
troduced to the University.
“It seems like one of the best ideas I
have heard since phone registration
began in 1986,” Gardner said. “A stu
dent’s schedule is very different from
that of a business, making the mid
night starting time less of a problem.”
However Gardner said that only
time will tell what the University will
decide to do.
Health textbooks cause
stress for school board
□ The College Station
school board is looking
for alternatives to the
state-recommended
health textbooks.
By Brad Dressier
The Battalion
The College Station Indepen
dent School District’s school
board recently rejected a recom
mendation to adopt three new
state-approved health textbooks
because of controversy surround
ing the textbooks’ content.
See Editorial, Page 13
Robyn Calloway/THE Battalion
John Thrush (left), a freshman business major, attempts to escape a sand trap on Tuesday afternoon while John Drought, a fresh
man construction science major, watches.
The textbooks and publishers
that were proposed for adoption
were: “Making Life Choices” by
West, “Perspectives on Health” by
D.C. Heath and “Health: Skills
for Wellness” by Prentice-Hall.
Textbooks go through a three-
step process before going in front
of the school board.
Textbooks initially considered
must be approved by the Texas
state school board. Then, the text
books must go through various
committees that study the books’
material. Finally, the school dis
trict’s textbook committee must
submit a proposal to the school
board concerning adopting the
textbooks.
Dr. Jim Scales, superintendent
of the College Station Indepen
dent School District, said the pri
mary reason the board did not
adopt the textbook committee’s
recommendation was that the hu
man sexuality content did not
strongly stress abstinence.
“Other issues of concern were
the context of euthanasia and sui
cide,” he said.
The local chapter of the Eagle
Forum, a national conservative
grassroots organization, has been
acting as an information source to
the general public about issues
regarding the textbooks’ content.
Susan Lee, president of the
Bryan-College Station Eagle Fo
rum, said the organization gath
ered and reviewed the textbooks’
material and found many areas of
concern.
“Regarding the issue of contra
ceptives, I do not feel that these
books gave a true picture of what
can happen,” she said. “There are
many diseases out there that con
traceptives cannot prevent.
“While I understand the argu
ment that children may not feel
comfortable discussing such is
sues with their parents, I do not
beheve school is the proper place
See Books, Page 6
orps, MSC Council
combine leadership
0
(i
lint
□ The 1995-1996 Corps
commander encourages
the Corps of Cadets to
become more involved
with the MSC.
By Gretchen Perrenot
The Battalion
K The Corps of Cadets comman
der and the MSC Council are
trying to create a give-give rela
tionship between the two cam
pus organizations.
I Jonathan Neer-
Bian, MSC Council
vice president for
relations, said the
Jtouncil would like
tc> see more involve
ment from the
cadets in the MSC
committees and
more MSC involve
ment in Corps
events.
| Neerman said the MSC Coun
cil and committees provide the
perfect opportunities for cadets
to improve their leadership
•••' fkills.
if I “The MSC Council prides it-
Self on being the best leadership
training organization at A&M
and so does the Corps,” he said.
“This is a chance to combine the
efforts, rather than compete.”
Patrick Conway, MSC Coun
cil president, said that by work
ing together, organizations can
better serve the campus.
“I think the Corps of Cadets
is a great leadership program,”
Conway^said, “and the MSC is
always looking for good leaders.”
Tyson Voelkel, 1995-96 Corps
commander, said he wants
cadets to become more involved
in all campus activities, includ-
The MSC Council prides itself on
being the best leadership training
organization at A&M and so does
the Corps."
—Jonathan Neerman,
MSC Council
ing student government.
“Personally, I plan to work
hand-in-hand with Toby
(Boenig, student body president)
and other student leaders to get
common goals accomplished,”
See Leadership, Page 7
Bryan City Council supports mayor s proposal
□ A resident accuses
Mayor Tate of a con
flict of interest in the
construction of a
Blinn College campus.
By Wes Swift
The Battalion
A Bryan resident accused
Bryan Mayor Marvin Tate of
conflict of interest with the pro
posed construction of a Blinn
College campus Tuesday at a
Bryan City Council meeting.
Melvyn Meer, a member of
Citizens United for a Respon
sible Bryan, said in a prepared
statement that Tate began ab
staining from votes on the
Blinn project at the March 28,
1995 Bryan City Council meet
ing.
He also filed an affidavit
saying that Tate had “substan
tial interest in a business enti
ty that would be affected by”
the project.
Meer said these acts consti
tuted a clear conflict of interest
for Tate.
“The filing of an affidavit
and the abstention is clear evi
dence of a genuine conflict of
interest on the part of a public
decision maker on the issue
before him,” Meer said.
A letter from Blinn College
in response to an Open
Records Act request filed by
Meer showed that on July 6,
1992, Tate’s wife was added to
the Blinn College payroll and
began working as a financial
aid adviser at an annual
salary of $32,909 in early Sep
tember 1992.
Meer questioned why Tate
had waited almost three years
after the project’s initiation be
fore abstaining during the votes.
He urged the council to halt
all progress on the project.
“The council should not con
tinue to challenge its own citi
zens in the court, threaten some
See Council, Page 7
John Doe No. 2 recognized in Kansas
□ Investigators believe that
John Doe 2 may be hidden by
'like-minded' people.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI released
an enhanced sketch of the mysterious “John
Doe No. 2” Tuesday and a witness promptly
said he remembered him — a man speaking
broken English. Investigators worried that
“like-minded people” might be helping the
bombing suspect elude one of the biggest man
hunts in history.
Identifying the suspect from the new
FBI sketch as it was shown on television,
the manager of the Great Western Inn in
Junction City, Kan., said John Doe No. 2
checked in about 8:30 p.m. on April 17 dri
ving a Ryder truck. The FBI has said a Ry
der truck rented that day in Junction City
was used to deliver the bomb to a federal
building in Oklahoma City.
“He spoke broken English and he was not
100 percent American,” said the hotel man
ager, who would not give his name and who
himself spoke with a heavy accent of the In
dian subcontinent.
The new sketch, based on additional in
terviews with witnesses in Kansas, showed
the square-jawed suspect wearing a base
ball-style hat. The previous sketch showed a
thick-haired man wearing no hat.
Frustration continued for the hundreds of
federal agents seeking the
suspect from coast to
coast.
The one man charged
in the Oklahoma City
bombing, Timothy
McVeigh, has refused to
cooperate, according to
officials. And in a handful of locations
around the nation, officers have arrested
and then released men with the misfortune
See Doe, Page 7
The FBI has said a Ryder truck rented that day
in Junction City[Kansas] was used to deliver the
bomb to a federal building in Oklahoma City.