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rRADITION REALITY I UNLIKELY RETURN
Stidvent: The drunkenness of Bonfire
and the messiness of Elephant Walk
are a part of the tradition.
The first new Beatles song in over 20 years
was played on ABC during a two-hour TV
special last night.
Rami. 1
Louis;
Ange-
Blowout
Leeland McElroy led the
Aggies on to a 56-14 win
over MTSU Saturday.
Sports, Page 7
Monday • November 20, 1995
overnment reopens after budget standoff
□ The White House and GOP
congressional leaders claimed
victory after Clinton signed a
J continuing resolution Sunday.
I WASHINGTON (AP) — The Clinton
k ■dministration and Republican congres
sional leaders ended a six-day budget
standoff Sunday night, sending federal
employees back to work after the White
;bouse committed to speedy negotiations
to balance the budget in seven years.
“Tomorrow the government will go
lack to work and now the debate will be-
jin in earnest,” President Clinton said,
appearing in the White House press room
■ shortly after the deal was announced.
By voice votes, the Senate and House
adopted identical one-day measures to
reopen the government. The Senate ap
proved a bill funding the government
through Dec. 15 and the House planned
to follow on Monday.
President Clinton signed the continu
ing resolution at 10:10 p.m. The 24-hour
measure “permits all government em
ployees to return to work tomorrow,”
White House spokesman Jim Fetig said.
Both sides declared victory — Repub
licans because the deal reflected their
seven-year timetable and Clinton be
cause it spoke of protecting programs he
considers important.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman
Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said, “I hope in
the next three or four weeks we will
produce a balanced budget with the
president on board.”
In the four-week spending bill, the
White House and Republicans agreed
the balanced budget legislation would
“protect future generations, secure
Medicare solvency, reform welfare, pro
vide adequate funding for Medicaid, ed
ucation, agriculture, national defense,
veterans and the environment.”
The bill does not, as the White House
had sought, raise the government’s $4.9
trillion borrowing ceiling. However, pri
vate experts agree the Treasury Depart
ment can avoid the ceiling for months
by tapping retirement trust funds set
aside for the civil service.
Sunday’s agreement followed a long
day of negotiating against a backdrop of
restlessness among federal employees
and the public. Forty percent of the fed
eral work force — nearly 800,000 em
ployees — have been on furlough.
In a compromise that was key to the
agreement, the two sides said the Con
gressional Budget Office will measure
whether or not any eventual budget deal
eliminates deficits, but only after con
sulting with the White House and other
government and private economists.
The argument over whose technical
and economic assumptions are used is
important because the White House
budget office’s forecast would permit
nearly $500 billion more in spending
over seven years than the congressional
office’s prediction.
Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-
Kan., and House Speaker Newt Gin
grich, R-Ga., and their chief deputies
held a news conference where they were
barely able to contain their euphoria.
“All I can say is, ‘Yes!’” House Budget
Committee Chairman John Kasich,
said, thrusting two clenched fists in the
air. Republicans credited Sen. Trent
Lott, R-Miss., for the CBO compromise
that proved key to the agreement.
A reporter asked Dole, “Who
blinked?” He responded with two words
and a smile, “Seven years.”
But Clinton said the agreement “rep
resents the first sign of their (Republi
cans’) willingness to move forward with
out forcing unacceptable cuts ... on the
American people.”
Senate Democratic Leader Thomas
Daschle and the White House chief of
staff, Leon Panetta, said the Democrats
would be able to protect Medicare, Med
icaid, education, the environment and a
tax credit for working poor families.
Clinton said he would veto a seven-year
budget that failed to provide protections
in these areas.
“It preserves all of our options,”
Daschle, D-S.D., said of the agreement.
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17.5
[Physical Plant to
review existing
bampus recycling
the
flve □ The president of Aggies
for a Clean Tomorrow says
A&M could take tips from
a UT campaign.
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Hor-
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By Lisa Johnson
f he Battalion
I During the next year, the Texas
A&M Physical Plant, under the di
rection of new vice president Charles
A. Sippial, will commission a de
tailed study of the existing campus
recycling program and appoint a
jame
^ 1D jjlampus recycling coordinator.
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In an effort to improve recy
cling efforts on campus, a
recycling hotline has
een instituted at 845-
RRR to answer any
recycling questions
, that students and
faculty members
may have.
Ron Fontenot,
maintenance fore
man and head of the
Physical Plant Depart
ment of Solid Waste
g 0 IManagement, said the
iPhysical Plant is becoming in
got- creasingly involved with on-campus
recycling efforts.
k “We are now recycling paper,
aluminum and some cardboard,”
P'ontenot said. “Currently, we are
also accepting old telephone books
to be recycled. With the participa-
jg to tion of the Physical Plant in the re
cycling efforts, the programs on
campus are definitely growing.”
| Fontenot said he hopes the Uni-
ersity will soon receive help from
a Dallas-based recycling program
to increase the amount of card
board salvage. The Dallas pro
gram’s aid will decrease the
amount of cardboard that ends up
in landfills and is contaminated.
Cassandra DeLarios, a junior ge
ography major, president of the Ag
gies for a Clean Tomorrow and
chairwoman of the Student Govern
ment Environmental Issues Com
mittee, serves as a liaison between
the Physical Plant recycling efforts
and those of A&M students. DeLar
ios said the University currently
recycles only 10 percent of its recy-
cleable paper, 400 of 4,000 recy-
cleable tons each year.
One campaign the Uni-
versity could benefit
from, DeLarios said, is
the example set by the
University of Texas
at Austin’s “Any
thing That Tears”
campaign. In the
7? campaign, UT has
5 taken out a contract
with the Balcones
company to recycle its
paper waste products.
GtA$5> “[UT’s] program has a
strong commitment from the
president of the university and has
been very successful in the first
year of its contract with Balcones
despite mediocre support from stu
dents,” she said.
“In the same year, A&M’s recy
cling program didn’t break even, al
though the state is of the opinion that
we have a better program in view of
the support from our student body.”
See Recycling, Page 2
Stew Milne, The Battalion
Picture perfect
Steven Bailey, a freshman cadet in Company F-2 and a parks and recreation major, wires logs onto Bonfire stack Sunday at sunset.
E
be
)C
ity of CS to conduct free energy audits for students
Utility Rates: Bryan vs. College Station
$85.00
$80.00
$75.00
$70.00
$65.00
College Station
Summer
Winter
Avg. Per Month
*All information is based on an average residential use of 1000 kilowatts per hour (kwh)
□ The utility office is currently
working to compile a list of
energy-efficient apartments.
By Heather Pace
The Battalion
Students shocked by the amount of
their electric bills can gain relief through
services provided by the City of College
Station Energy Conservation Division.
Donna Stryk, a junior marketing major,
was surprised by her first utility bill and
has since taken measures to save money.
“Our first bill was well over $100, and
we just about flipped out,” Stryk said.
“Now we don’t use the air conditioning
and heating as much.”
The Energy Conservation Division will
conduct free energy audits to help stu
dents choose the most energy-efficient
apartments. The utility office can provide
students with the billing history of apart
ments they are interested in and is cur
rently trying to compile a list of energy-ef
ficient apartments.
Peggy Calliham, College Station public
relations and marketing manager, said
many students simply look at the base
prices of apartments.
“Many apartments are frequently not
well-insulated and energy-efficient,” Cal
liham said. “Students don’t take into con
sideration the cost of utilities.”
Students who want more control over
their utility bills should choose apart
ments that do not include utility fees, Cal
liham said.
“The good thing about paying your own
utilities is that you have more control,” she
said, “and can make adjustments because
you know how much you are spending.”
Jackie Turner, College Station cus
tomer service representative, said stu
dents can save money by paying their
bills on time.
“Students should pay on or before the
due date,” Turner said, “because there is
a 10 percent penalty.”
Turner said students can take several
steps before leaving for Christmas break
to bring down utility costs.
See Utilities, Page 2
Texas A&M loses
Pulitzer Prize winner
Charles Gordone, the Texas A&M
distinguished English lecturer and the
first black playwright to win the
Pulitzer Prize, died Saturday of cancer
at age 70.
Gordone won the 1970 Pulitzer
Prize for drama for his play No Place
To Be Somebody.
The playwright’s death ends a 30-year
acting, writing and directing career.
Gordone moved to College Station in
1988 and taught at A&M until taking a
leave of absence last spring.
At his wife’s request. University of-
ficials would not comment on Gor-
done’s death.
Gordone is survived by two daugh
ters, Judy McGee of Marino Valley,
Calif., and Leah-Carla Gordone of
New York city; two sons, David Gor
done and Stephen Gordon of Glendale,
Calif; and nine grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements were not im
mediately available.