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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 1995)
M U X A A &: M[ U N E R T V m it per. fleror ‘ are,' proba- Senate of the kethe og stu- •ietyoi ;ht not ck into t only about lit the )' Days Single stop College Station is the only Texas city to host the Central Ballet of China. Aggielife, Page 3 Money talks Baxter: Gangsta rap found itself sold out by Time Warner when the money ceased to flow. Opinion, Page Branded with a loss The Lady Aggie Volleyball Team loses a tough SWC match to arch rival Texas. Sports, Page Battalio Ml 102, No. 34 (18 pages) Established in 1893 Thursday • October 12, 1993 egents, students share opinions at open house [he regents may have »ular open house events [gain an understanding students' concerns. ames Bernsen Battalion 1 exas A&M students mingled and ssed campus issues with the |VI System Board of Regents at an i house Wednesday night. Suzanne Lyons, Residence Hall iciation president and a senior physics major, said the open ise allowed her to see the re ts in a different light. See related EDITORIAL, Page 77 regents are real people and are real ly concerned about the students’ opinions,” Lyons said. Regent Robert Allen of Houston said some students wanted to know what type of people are behind the de cision-making process for the System. “Just general conversation about, ‘What do you do?’ and ‘What did you do?’ and ‘Who are you?,”’ Allen said. “The more that we interface with the students, the more we can show what the Board stands for. It gives us the opportunity to explain how the Board of Regents works.” Lyons said she discussed specific issues with the regents, which an swered some important questions facing RHA. “I wasn’t exactly sure what the re gents views on the Law/Puryear is sue were,” she said. “It was nice be cause I got to talk to them and find out what they felt.” Students from a wide variety of organizations attended, as well as students not holding any office at all. David Brown, College Republicans president, said he expected just a few student leaders to show up, but was surprised. “I was real impressed,” Brown said. “When I showed up, I thought there would be no one here. This is much more than that.” Garric Phelps, Student senator and a junior biology major, said he had not met the members of the Board before and was surprised how much they were “real people.” “They’re all so open,” Phelps said. “I think many students feel the regents are out of touch with the students. But we can see that’s not the case.” Phelps said he found out many things he never knew before about the Board. “I learned that they work real hard and don’t get paid for it,” he said. “To open their doors and have them open all the time is really nice of them.” Brown said he has been dealing with the Board on a number of is sues and the open house just con firms the impression of their open ness that he has. “You can call them up any time and they’re always there,” he said. “This is all-around good. The regents get to hear what’s on the students’ minds, and the students get their voices out.” Lyons said what made the open house different is that it was at A&M. “I think that having it on campus is great,” she said. “I think they’ll have a much better turnout by being here than off-campus, because every body can come.” Regent T. Michael O’Cormor of Victoria said the Board needs this See Regents, Page 18 Shane Elkins, The Battalion Dr. Barry Thompson, A&M System Chancellor, talks with Becky Silloway, speaker of the Student Senate, at the open house hosted by the A&M System Board of Regents Wednesday night. Group to host multicultural forum □ Student and faculty senators will explain two bills requesting LLS. and international cultures classes at A&M. By Lily Aguilar The Battalion Students can voice their opinions about the proposed multiculturalism require ment at the Student Senate forum tonight at 5 p.m. in the MSC Flagroom. The Faculty Senate and the Student Senate multicul turalism bills will be pre sented, as well as a proposal to repeal the 1993 Student Senate bill asking for a mul ticultural requirement. The Faculty Senate pro posal would require six hours of cultures classes that focus on U.S. and international cultures. The Student Sen ate’s proposal recommends three hours from a general cultures course. Neither proposal would add hours to students’ degree plans, since the courses may also count toward general curriculum require ments. — T.J. Williams, a student senator and a sophomore mar keting major, co-authored the proposed repeal, which he said is necessary because the Student Senate should accu rately represent the feelings of students now, not the feel ings of students who have al ready graduated. “I want the opinion of the Class of ’95 to’96, not ’93 to ’94,” Williams said. “I think it is necessary to represent my constituents. I’ve spoken to my constituents, and that’s the way they feel on the issue.” "There was so much misin formation that any person ... would walk away with a bad taste in their mouth." — Chris Reed Student Senate speakerpro-tem Williams said past student senators have performed more as trustees rather than dele gates. He said this year’s sen ators are concerned with what students want, and the forum is one means of actively pur suing student opinion. The 1993 bill has an ex tended list of courses that are not available every semester, Williams said. “If you look at class selec tions for the ’93 bill, over half of the classes are not even of fered this semester,” he said. “I think there are misconcep tions that we have all these classes to choose from, and we really don’t.” Chris Reed, Student Senate speaker pro-tem and a junior finance major, said the forum will be impartial and fact- based to eliminate some wrong information students have heard about the proposal. “I think there are miscon ceptions on both sides of the issue,” Reed said. “Look at the point/counterpoint columns written by the NAACP and College Republicans that were in the paper a few weeks ago. “There was so much misin formation, that any person — whether a conservative or a liberal — would walk away See FORUM, Page 1 8 RHA to voice opinion on demolition of Law, Puryear at regents meeting □ The group discussed the pros and cons of demolishing the halls. The Board of Regents will vote on the issue Friday. By Michelle Lyons The Battalion The Residence Hall Association reluc tantly supported the Department of Resi dence Life and Housing recommendation to demolish Law and Puryear halls. RHA members will attend the Board of Regents meeting Friday to voice their opinions on whether the two men’s halls should be demolished or renovated. Suzanne Lyons, RHA president and a senior geophysics major, said the group is under the general opinion that demoli tion would be in the best interest of the student body. “It is in the best interest of the stu dents as far as rent costs go, to go through with the demolition,” Lyons said. “As much as we would like to save Law and Puryear, financially, it is not very feasible to renovate these buildings. “Although it saddens us and we would prefer renovation, it’s not possible.” Figures released by the Board of Re gents’ Facilities Planning and Building Committee indicated the demolition of the two halls would cost 8645,000. In contrast, renovating the halls would cost SlO million. Ron Sasse, Residence Life and Hous ing director, said renovation would actu ally cost more than $10 million because the current figures do not include the cost of construction to meet Americans with Disabilities Act provisions. Sasse said the University has the money to demolish the buildings, but would have to raise funds to renovate by raising on-campus rent. “Our position is that if [the University] is going to spend that kind of money, let’s spend it on something the students really want,” he said. “The University’s propos al is to demolish. That’s the recommenda tion the University had made and will make to the Board of Regents. “I think that when the facts are known, See RHA, Page 1 8 Hispanic Heritage Month Panel addresses Access and Equity 2000 plan, race relations ciThe discussion was sponsored by The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and Puerto Rican Student Association A panel of Hispanic Texas A&M faculty members said Hispanics should unite to tackle pressing is sues impacting their community. The Society of Hispanic Profes sional Engineers and the Puerto Rican Student Association present ed “Hispanics at Texas A&M: Pre sent and Future,” Wednesday in Rudder Theater as a part of His panic Heritage Month. Panel members Dr. Marco Por- tales, an English professor; Dr. Maria Christina Garcia, an assis tant professor of history; and Dr. Emily Santiago, assistant director of multicultural services, discussed race relations, the impact of His panics and the impact of the Uni versity’s Access and Equity 2000 plan at Texas A&M. Garcia said race relations at A&M are similar to those found at universities across the nation, but A&M is supposed to be different. “You hear how Aggies are friendly from the moment you step on campus,” Garcia said. “If Aggies are one big, happy family, then there are some dysfunctional ele ments in the family.” Garcia said that when students tear down posters and flyers that say something they do not agree with, it adds to a climate of censor ship at the University. Students are encouraged to “not make waves” here, Garcia said. “It’s not the Aggie thing to do,” she said. Portales said the A&M State ment of Purpose in the undergrad uate catalog was a guideline to im proving race relations at A&M. “The University assumes as its historic trust the maintenance and enhancement of an intellectu al environment that encourages the development and expansion of the human mind and spirit,” Por- See PANEL, Page 18 Robyn Calloway, The Battalion Panel members Dr. Maria Christina Garcia, Dr. Marco Portales, and Dr. Emily Santiago discussed race rela tions and the impact of Hispanics at the Hispanic Her itage Month event Wednesday evening. 7 !&;