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=aT* i' X A.
08 ma 1. 101, No. 181 (6 pages)
]V[
U N
I V E R S
I T Y
Established in 1893
Monday • July 31, 1995
ng.
nake
3fficials change housing allocation to avoid vacancies
nthe Construction of off-cam-
theyrjs housing units during
te past two years and the
nes?.allocation of on-campus
musing will prevent hous-
l v g shortages for A&M stu-
?nts this fall.
irs suf
Katherine Arnold
cxas." ie Battalion
it some
louldf The abundant number of on-campus
urt.Ttsidence hall vacancies last fall
ould not be a problem this year at
xas A&M, housing officials said.
II havtln Fall 1994, there were more than
500 vacancies on campus, primarily
because of students who canceled
housing contracts and others who end
ed up not attending A&M.
Jennifer Evans, summer coordina
tor for on-campus housing, said the
housing office has changed the alloca
tion of on-campus housing to prevent
this from occurring in the fall.
“Last year, 10 percent of housing
spaces went to transfer students and
10 percent went to returning stu
dents,” Evans said. “This fall, 5 per
cent will go to transfer students, 5 per
cent will be for returning students,
and the rest of the housing will go
to freshmen.”
All 8,000 residence hall spaces are
filled for Fall 1995, with 1,000 stu
dents booked to fill vacancies as they
occur. Those students will be assigned
to study rooms or will be assigned
three people to a room until a perma
nent space for them is found.
Unlike many other universities,
freshmen at A&M are not required to
live on campus. As a result of last
year’s housing discrepancy, many
freshmen lived off campus.
Ann Goodman, assistant director of
Student Life Programs, said they
worked closely with the on-campus
housing office to make sure freshmen
were aware of their options.
“We tried to be very proactive last
year,” Goodman said. “We got every
single address of students rejected for
housing and sent them our survival
guide and price list [for off-campus
housing]. That took a lot of the pres
sure off the students having to worry
about where to live.”
Although there were a larger num
ber of students turned down for hous
ing last fall, students were easily able
to find housing off campus,
Goodman said.
“Our worst time, as far as off-cam-
pus housing is concerned, was in the
summer of 1993,” Goodman said.
“There were just not enough units
available. A lot of*private builders
came in and ended up building at the
same time, so now we have more than
enough housing to accommodate the
number of people coming in.”
Several recently-constructed apart
ment complexes include amenities
such as security gates, microwaves
and ceiling fans. This makes it diffi
cult for older apartment complexes to
compete, Goodman said.
“We are seeing a slight decrease in
rent rates at the older complexes that
just can’t compete with all the ameni
ties offered at the newer complexes,”
she said.
The latest construction of new
apartments and duplexes filled a need
for housing in this area but will proba
bly begin to level off, Goodman said.
Tanya Mendez, building technician
for the city of College Station, said
there have been fewer building per
mits issued in College Station this
year than last year.
From January to June, building
permits were issued for 173 single
family homes, 21 duplexes and 238 in
dividual apartment units. During the
same time period in 1994, permits
were issued for 248 single family
homes, 31 duplexes and 400 individual
apartment units.
f the
fear.
sal woe
donors program
neets students’
■Specialized needs
-'ECourses taken through the honors program allow
rv j ce (iore individual contact and group discussion than
uly2; > gular course sections.
nentoff' Katherine Arnold
potenti ie Battalion
27-28.
/icesp r ph e flexibility of the Texas
m ^&M Honors Program offers a
ie , vvo , iique opportunity for students
I ^ 5f i, to excel academically.
^ en i s Dr. Dale Knobel, director of
entsto e Office of Honors Programs
Tort toe d Academic Scholarships, said
ollege. e program’s goal is to meet
, studenadents’ specialized needs,
jtrition “We can’t assume that a one-
5e education fits all,” Knobel
g their id. “The
) identii!, nors pro-
n i ng w a m shows
y an 1 at students
e ready to
.pjprke responsi-
ity for their
los|n|ucation. ”
More than
-0 sections of
ty Connors courses
I an inie taught
endatif year,
s and' )riors classes
canine ually are
in,onS ialler than
commiii^ u ^ ar classes, with class en-
ere( j byOrnent limited to 25 students.
itonio^ 16 workload often features
Base tore! individual interaction and
nissionioup discussion than regular
arse sections.
)wgoes Brian Tees, a senior journal-
gativeie n said he takes honors
mmittef asS e S f or f, en efit of the
^^issj format.
r - 1^! “Most of the [honors] classes
6 taken are great,” Tees said.
' ou get a lot more out of the
.puhlicjTssi material and discussions.”
,heldthe The A&M honors program
ns. ffers from those at other
earlie'bools because students do not
commis^roll in the program or com
as at twC|t themselves to a single hon-
or c '°;“s track.
■w sco r ’ There are two distinct tracks
the chaf^hin the honors program.
I C | int0 pundation Honors students
h re | uc t ; ust complete one honors
by per urse in each of the core cur-
(Ts at MKuliim categories, for a total of
aamenK] honors credits. University
nio cou mors students must complete
ctor. i hours of honors course credit,
1 of which must be in upper-
, /elj courses.
or arU In 1994, 81 students graduat-
” he s ; as University or Foundation
he cost
Honors graduates or University
Undergraduate Fellows.
Dr. Susanna Finnell, associ
ate director of the honors pro
gram, said students do not have
to pursue either of these tracks
to enroll in honors courses, but
can take one or two courses if
they choose.
Knobel said there are sever
al advantages to the honors
program.
“When you take honors cours
es, you are providing evidence
that you
have experi
ence in fast-
paced cours
es^” he said.
“It’s also
very flexible
and isn’t a
membership
program.”
Students
who enrolled
at A&M be
fore Summer
1995 must
. have a 3.25
grade point ratio or higher to en
roll in honors courses. Students
who enter the University after
Summer 1995 must have a GPR
of 3.4 or higher.
To enroll in honors classes,
incoming freshmen -.who enter
the University in Fall 1995
must graduate in the top 10
percent of their high school
class and score at least 1150 on
the SAT or 28 on the ACT.
Freshmen who enter in 1996
must graduate in the top 10
percent of their class and score
1250 on the SAT or 28 on the
ACT to enroll in honors classes.
Each year, 3,000 students en
roll in honors courses, with an
average class size of 19 students.
Of students eligible for honors
courses, 15 to 20 percent register
for the classes.
Knobel said there is room for
improvement in the honors
program.
“Right now the demand for
honors courses exceeds supply,”
he said. “The honors classes fill
more quickly than other courses,
so we would like to see more
See Honors, Page 2
Missed ... again!
Mike Williams, senior biomedical science major, is scored on by
one of his buddies who were out with him Sunday afternoon on
Simpson Drill Field. They were playing a game of soccer, but
more balls missed the net than went in.
Rebel Serbs pledge to stop attacks.
q U.N. reports Crotian
Serb attack in Bosnia's
Bihac region Monday.
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) —
Rebel Serbs from Croatia reneged
on an hours-old agreement, at
tacking Bosnian government
forces Monday in a northwestern
enclave that threatens to become
a flashpoint for more widespread
Balkan warfare.
The United Nations reported a
Croatian Serb attack in Bosnia’s
Bihac region early Monday — an
assault that showed Croatian
Serbs remained in border regions
of neighboring Bosnia despite a
partial pullout.
Croatia’s Serbs, in a verbal
agreement with U.N. mediators
Sunday, had promised to stay
away from Bihac and not to at
tack Croatian troops unless pro
voked.
They also said they would al
low the United Nations “unhin
dered access” to areas around Bi
hac and to let aid convoys from
Croatia travel through their terri
tory to Bihac.
The Croatian Serbs also pro
posed holding talks with the
Croatian government. But Croat
ia, flush with recent battlefield
victories, swiftly rejected the of
fer.
Croatian President Franjo
Tudjman said in a letter to U.N.
envoy Yasushi Akashi that he
would not negotiate with the
Croatian Serbs’ leader, Milan
Martic, or “any other war crimi
nal.”
Serb rebels in Croatia and
Bosnia are allied against the
Croatian and Bosnian govern
ment and have been involved in
the fight for the Bihac region in
northwestern Bosnia.
Croatia has sent thousands of
troops across the border into
Bosnia, where they joined forces
with Bosnian Croats and seized
two strategic towns, Grahovo and
Glamoc, from the Bosnian Serbs.
They also cut the main supply
route between Knin, the Croatian
Serb stronghold, and Serb-held
Banja Luka, the second-largest
city in Bosnia.
The Bosnian Serbs vowed to re
taliate.
“Croatia has made a decisive
mistake and shall pay dearly for
it,” their military commander,
Gen. Ratko Mladic, said Sunday
during a visit to Knin.
Serb-held villages 10 miles
northwest of Knin came under
sporadic rocket attack Sunday.
Croat commanders also reported
that their troops took a strategic
hill north of Gornji Vakuf, at the
far east of the Croat advance into
Bosnia.
War broke out in the former
Yugoslavia in 1991.
but don’t
£3 Govemment-Croat federation
0 Bosnian Croats and the Croatian army
took Glamoc and nearby Grahovo,
moving into Bosnian Serb heartland and
opening a southern front in Bosnia.
0 Bosnian Croat soldiers also
severed the chief road linking Knin, the
self-proclaimed capital of rebel Serbs,
with territory held by Bosnian Serbs.
Associated Press
Iropical storm brings much-
g the s
g, the t
ies Con'
forfur Tropical Storm Dean hit
M st^ ie Texas coast near Galve-
the coit .
luencedfon Sunday evening and
f/S rought heavy rain and mi-
, or street flooding.
,ue doe* °
, hast* HOUSTON (AP) — The remnants of
come . Tort-lived Tropical Storm Dean drenched
i£ salfl -eas of Southeast Texas early Monday
nd the flash-flood producing rainfall.
,sulto Tire rain began spreading across a vast
by the .;.-ea of Texas Monday with flash flood
e n | at ‘ atches posted from Southeast Texas
• ^ Northward and westward into the Hill
iPP r p 3untry, portions of South Central Texas
t^ e jid into southeastern areas of North
of 5 u !»s.
-uctiofl
A flood and flash flood watch was in ef
fect today for the area north and east of a
line from Rockport to Beeville to Hondo to
Junction. It included the cities of Hous
ton, Galveston, Beaumont and Port
Arthur as well as San Antonio, Austin
and Victoria.
Rainfall was expected to spread into
most of West Texas by Monday night and
continue through Tuesday.
In North Texas, forecasters said the
clouds and rainfall from the storm system
would give residents a break from the
heat wave with tempeeratures to remain
in the 80s Monday and in the 80s and 90s
on Tuesday.
Authorities said the storm system, a
full-blown tropical storm for only four
hours on Sunday, provided coastal emer
gency teams a chance to check out their
needed rain, break from heat
emergency preparedness plans.
But the tropical depression produced
flash flooding in Chambers and Liberty
counties.
A flash flood watch was in effect
through the night for Southeast Texas
along and south of a line from Columbus
to Newton and included the cities of
Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur and
Galveston.
Chambers County authorities said por
tions of Interstate 10 and Texas 61 west
of Winnie were closed.
The National Weather Service estimat
ed that 8-13 inches of rain fell in Cham
bers County during an eight-hour period
ending early today. Liberty County re
ceived 4-7 inches of rain in the same peri
od of time, the NWS reported.
The storm, which earned its name just
before making landfall at Galveston, buf
feted the upper Texas coast with 45 mph
winds and much-needed rain Sunday
evening.
By early Monday, the depression was
some eight miles east of Angleton in Bra
zoria County, National Weather Service
meteorologist Josh Lichter said.
“It will lose it’s wind strength. We ex
pect the winds to diminish,” Lichter said
of the storm’s expected ferocity. ‘We still
have general 15 to 25 mph winds forecast
through (today).”
“There’s still a threat of very heavy
rains and there’s still a threat of isolated
tornadoes,” Lichter said.
The fourth named storm of the Atlantic
hurricane season spurred eavy rain in
Galveston and nearby Bolivar Peninsula
but caused only minor street flooding.
Clarification:
A Page 1 story in The Battalion
Wednesday about the Graduate
Student Council’s stance on the
proposed general use fee increases
did not present fully the organiza
tion’s position.
A press release from CSC Pres
ident Stepheni Stephenson Moore
states the CSC supports an in
crease in the general use fee, but
is aware of the adverse effects
that the increase would have on
students.
According to the statement, the
CSC is “attempting to arrive at the
best solution to the budget prob
lems facing the University — both
for graduate students and the Uni-
: versity as a whole.” .