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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 1995)
A A ]VI XJ 1ST V R 5ust30, mies Mcl zero.” 1 dneerfel »n in kg. 'leiy adol ' to statfl Culture clubs Aggie Players, Town Hall and OPAS bring a variety of shows to campus. Aggielife, Page 3 Diversity dilemma! Setting up to win Assimilation into American culture can leave many people without identities. Opinion, Page 19 The A&M volleyball team is determined to bring the last SWC championship home. Sports, Page 15 Battalion ersity’sl brations et wider on that! te a 12- it perse: s,” he;: think ai uch a pr He’s als enormt iut impr: il conrni associi Bvelopir: .gricullii ease was issmauj Corps g ve gre« i: ng i counir: r ar. e guerr rrtain, k iups ini arlv U: said b og to t: e. he Co!: we ds note Vbl. 102, No. 4 (20 pages) Established in 1893 Thursday * August 31, 1995 Regents to vote on student liaison Friday □ Students are encouraged to voice their opinions at the Board of Regents meeting today. By Tara Wilkinson The Battalion Members of Texas A&M’s Student Government are closer to reaching their long-time goal of gaining student repre sentation on the Board of Regents. The regents will vote tomorrow on whether to allow a student liaison to rep resent students in the A&M System. The liaison would have full speaking privi leges at Board meetings and membership on Board committees. Toby Boenig, student body president, said members of Student Government have lobbied unsuccessfully during the past 20 years to have a student regent as a full member of the Board. Two years ago, members of Student Government altered its goals and decided to push for a student liaison, rather than a full regent. The student liaison would not be per mitted to vote or attend Board of Regents executive sessions, in which regents make decisions about personnel, tenure and legal issues. Becky Silloway, Student Senate speaker, said a liaison would open up lines of communication between students and board members. “A student at each Board of Regents meeting would provide board members insight into the concerns and issues stu dents of the System are facing,” a Stu dent Government position paper stated. “This is an exciting opportunity for the Board of Regents to have questions an swered by students first hand, a partici pant of higher education who lives the daily routine.” Boenig and Silloway said students in favor of the proposal who show up for the vote might influence the regents’ decision. “If we show up in force and have stu dents lining the walls, it will show the re gents that the students really care,” Sil loway said. The Board’s academic campuses com mittee, schedule to meet at 9:15 a.m. in 292 MSG, will vote on the proposal first. This discussion will be closed to the pub lic, but regents are free to ask for com ments or input from anyone present dur ing the rest of the meeting. If passed in the committee, the propos al will continue on to the 3 p.m. Board of Regents meeting for a final vote. The student liaison and one alternate would be elected from the Chancellor’s Student Advisory Board, a body consist ing of two representatives from each of the eight campuses in the Texas A&M University System. The advisory board does not include representation from East Texas State University or Baylor College of Dentistry, both recently added to the System. The proposal prescribes that the stu dent liaison and alternate cannot be from the same campus, nor can the liaison be from the same campus two years in a row. Martin McLemore, student body presi dent of System member Tarleton State University, said a student liaison repre senting all schools in the System will benefit students who cannot attend the regents’ meetings held here at A&M. “The students at A&M have a luxury because they can be at all the board meetings,” McLemore said. “A student li aison would be a big plus for the smaller System schools.” Tim Moog, The Battalion Lightning crashes Steve Swisher, a squadron one junior accounting major, holds a piece of Duncan Dining Hall. Lightning hit the top northside corner of the building at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Pieces of the building were thrown up to 1 50 feet away on impact. Sippial joins Physical Plant team as new assistant vice president □ The department's new leader was one of more than 198 people who applied for the job. He said the school's small-town atmosphere attracted him here. Shuttle service available for football fans this weekend □ The bus system was created by a traffic task force to provide game-goers an alternative to parking on campus. By Javier Hinojosa The Battalion The mad mesh of cars on campus during game weekends will be alleviated by suggested exit routes from Kyle Field and a shuttle bus system for foot ball fans off campus. A Traffic Management Task Force created the bus system to give local and out-of-town fans an alternative to parking on campus while attending the game. See related EDITORIAL, Page f 9 The task force is made up of representatives from the Texas A&M Athletic Department, University Police Department, Texas Department of Trans portation, Texas Trans portation Institute, the Brazos Transit System and the cities of Bryan and College Station. Brazos Transit will provide the shuttle buses for all A&M home foot ball games. Evelyn Davenport, Tx- DOT office manager, said buses will run two hours before and after the games. “Depending on how successful it is, it can be continued every year,” Davenport said. The eight bus stops in clude six at local hotels and two Park and Ride sta tions at Bryan and A&M Consolidated high schools. The task force also suggests exit routes for those who park on cam pus during this week ends’ football game. Phil Russell, task force chair and director of transportation planning and development for Tx- DOT, said the routes are part of a traffic manage ment plan to ease conges tion before and after foot ball games. “The plan hinges on ed ucating drivers about the best possible routes for leaving the football game,” Russell said. “We don’t want to mis lead the fans into think ing there won’t be any traffic congestion after a football game with 60,000 people in atten dance, but we do want to advise them on how to avoid the worst bottle necks by following the routes on the map.” Two maps that show green paths indicating the routes with the least con gestion, and will be avail able around Kyle Field and at local retail and grocery stores. Denise Fischer, Tx- DOT public information officer, said upcoming road construction around the campus created a need for the plan. Texas Avenue between University Drive and Do- minik Drive, George Bush Drive between FM 2818 and Wellborn Road, and Wellborn Road be tween Greens Prairie Road and FM 2818 will undergo major construc tion late this year. Fischer said the con struction will start after the Dec. 2 game against the University of Texas. Although the construction will not affect this year’s football season, she said, it will have an impact on the following two seasons. “The task force has See Shuttle, Page 11 A&M System streamlines structure By Kasie Byers The Bati align The Physical Plant’s new assistant vice president said he wants to bring back confi dence to those who work for the plant and to the people it serves. Charles Sippial assumed his duties Mon day and began meeting with Physical Plant personnel and University officials. He will oversee the campus infrastructure, including sewage, water and utility systems. “I’m meeting with the deans and adminis tration to find out their expectations of the Physical Plant,” he said. “I’m already im pressed with the appearance of the campus and have already been informed of the good people who work in the Physical Plant.” Sippial, who is a member of the Association of Physical Plant Administrators, served 6 years as director of the physical plant at San Diego State University before coming to A&M. His accomplishments there include saving the’ school $2 million in energy costs by imple menting changes to the school’s energy con servation program. He also began a clean campus and grounds improvement plan. The University’s advertisement attracted Sippial to the position at A&M. “When I saw the advertisement for the po sition, the one thing that drew my attention was at the top, in bold letters, it said, ‘Women and Minorities Encouraged to Apply,’” he said. “I’m African-American, and I had never seen it presented like that before.” Sippial said he could already tell from his previous experiences with A&M that he would See Sippial, Page 14 □ Two deputy chancellors will oversee the System's universities, finances, agencies and operations. By James Bernsen The Battalion The Texas A&M University Sys tem is reorganizing to streamline its structure and improve communi cation among System divisions and the chancellor. Dr. Barry Thompson, A&M Sys tem chancellor, said he made the decision to restructure and rename some positions in a downsizing move, with the approval of the Texas A&M Board of Regents. Thompson will appoint two deputy chancel lors who will re port to him on be half of the Sys tem’s depart ments and re search agencies. It is a change from the current structure, in which numerous de partments report directly to him. “Rather than having 20 plus peo ple reporting to me, I will have two,” Thompson said. “When it is all said and done, it will eliminate sev eral positions.” Thompson would not comment on the future of the people cur rently in those positions that will be eliminated. Richard Lindsay, vice chancellor for finance and operations, will be promoted to deputy chancellor for finance and operations. Lindsay said the change is more than just a re- TJ NI naming of his old posi- tion, with no one re- yL, ^ placing him in his previous position. /Af “The old position j&J 1 of vice chancellor [of finance and adminis- \J£ tration] will be elimi V& nated,” he said. The reorganization Thompson is planned to streamline '' the system and improve communications, Lindsay said. “Hopefully, it will do both,” he said. “It will enable Dr. Thompson to lead the organization into the 21st century.” Lindsay will oversee several de partments that previously report ed directly to Thompson, including the Office of the General Counsel, the System’s legal department, the Department of Facilities, Planning and Construction and the vice chancellor for business services, a new position created as part of the reorganization. Tom Kale, vice president for business and finance at West Texas A&M University, has been picked as the new vice chancellor for busi ness services. “Basically, I feel like I’m continu ing the same thing on a higher lev el,” Kale said. “This has a little dif ferent slant on it, but I think it will be very similar.” Kale will be responsible S. for budgeting, payroll, personnel, comptrol ler’s functions for the System and human resource functions. The Office of Leg- islative Affairs, Communications and Special Programs will report to Lindsay, rather than to Thomp son, on day-to-day busi ness. However, these depart ments will continue to report to Thompson on vital issues that merit the chancellor’s personal attention. Lindsay will coordinate the es tablishment of regional service of fices in Dallas, Austin and Corpus Christi that will assist universities and agencies in their areas. Each office will have an attorney and an auditor for facilities, plan ning and construction. See System, Page 1 4