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Battalio
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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
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