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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 1995)
-1995 ing 'ter- for belittle acting md vi- r X Sc ]M U N V R Big mac attack A&M's Leelatxd McElroy earns first-team, All- HlAmerican honors Sports, Pa le 9 On the maps Kenneth Tramm and the Maps has grown into a team effort. Aggielife, Page 3 Down to earth Guest column: A&M English professor Charles Gordone will be missed. Opinion, Page 13 Battalion ew speed limits not yet effective everywhere jlaw enforcement officers isaid the higher speed limit )uld result in more fatalities (during highway traffic :cidents. By Gretchen Perrenot ; In r Battalion yf ■ Although the law eliminating the na tional speed limit takes effect today, iTtxas A&M students will not be able to yBilize the 70-mph speed limit while dri- Bng home for the holidays. *The 55-mph limit replaced a 70-mph nit in 1974 by a national mandate. To- y, interstate highways and four-lane pivided highways across the state will |turn to the higher speed limit. Denise Fischer, Texas Department of ansportation public information offi- |r, said reverting to the 70-mph limit be delayed because TxDOT does not have enough signs to replace the current speed limit signs. Four signs will replace the 55-mph limit signs: a 70-mph day limit sign, a 65-mph night limit sign, a 60-mph day limit sign for trucks and a 55-mph night limit sign for trucks. Fischer said the change will take place as soon as TxDOT receives all materials. “People should not make a blanket assumption that they can drive 70 if they are on a 55 mph limit road,” she said. “It will take us months to change over all the state roads [that are applic able to the law].” The new speed limit, which is a result of the National Highway System bill signed Nov. 28 by President Clinton, will be implemented on State Highway 6 through Bryan and College Station from Old San Antonio Road to Navasota. Other local roads initially affected are State Highway 21 from Caldwell to Bryan, Interstate Highway 45 from Freestone County through Walker Coun ty, United States Highway 290 through Records show higher speeds kill more drivers Nv Milne, The Battalion Although the speed limit ra j S ed to 70 mph, the speed limit on\gh wa y 6 will remain 55 mph until signs are^p S ( ec j Washington County and StaU^gh wa y 19 from Hunstville to Riverside; The higher speed limits ha\% some law enforcement officers concemecUbout increases in accident fatalities.'yhe See Speed, Pag^ □ Through last Friday, 2,573 people were killed this year in traffic accidents on Texas roads. Texas interstate highways and large, :: divided roads increased Friday morn ing to 70 mph. That came after feder al lawmakers voted last month to abolish the national limit to allow AUSTIN (AP) - vehicles on safer roads, state accident records show faster speed limits kill more Texas motorists. The annual Texas Motor Vehicle Traffic Accident Report shows that when legal speed limits are lowered, total deaths drop. Deaths increase with faster limits; The legal speed limit on parts of own. 4;j After President Clinton signed the | law, Texas officials took quick steps to’ J allow the state’s previous 70 mph | speed limit to take effect in some areas, j They also moved to allow the 65 mph limit to remain in effect on ! parts of interstates and four-lane ; and larger divided roadways and to j mph and 60 mph zones ;] on other sections. See Records, Page 6 : ew Batt editor aims to improve ewspaper’s quality, coverage Stew Milne, The Battalion □ The new Battalion editor-in-chief plans to increase interaction with student organizations and improve the reader-Battalion relationship. By Lily Aguilar The Battalion Sterling Hayman will lead The Battalion next spring as editor-in-chief. Hayman was approved Nov. 30 by Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Sallie Sheppard. Hayman, a senior political science major, said he is ready to face the challenges that go with being The Battalion editor. He has worked for the paper since Summer 1994, holding positions as copy editor, page designer, assistant opinion editor, opinion editor and, most recently, managing editor. Hayman said he plans to make The Battal ion more inclusive by working closely with stu dent representatives and organizations. Read ers can look for changes in appearance, he said, as well as content. “I think readers will notice an increased qual ity in writing and coverage,” he said. “Hopefully, they will [see] an increased effort to make The Battalion represent the students. "We can cover the A&M administration until we’re blue in the face, and many people don’t care. Readers want more information about the 42,000 students who attend A&M.” See Editor, Page 8 A final farewell Seniors ready for graduation □ Ceremonies next we^ enc | will honor graduates and tho^ being commissioned. By Courtney Walker The Battalion Next weekend, 3,200 students will farewell to their college days at Texas A&M. Graduation ceremonies begin Friday, Dec. 15 in G. Rollie White Coliseum at 2 p.m. with the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Liberal Arts and Medicine. Ceremonies will resume at 7 p.m. with the Colleges of Archi tecture, Engineering, Geosciences and Mar itime Studies and Science. Students from the Colleges of Business Ad ministration and the Graduate School of Business, Education and Veterinary Medicine will receive their diplomas Saturday, Dec. 16 at 9 a.m. Commissioning ceremonies will also be held Saturday. Guest speakers for Friday’s ceremonies are Burl Osborne, The Dallas Morning News editor and publisher, at 2 p.m and for mer student Michel T. Halbouty, a geologist and petroleum engineer, at 7 p.m. See Seniors, Page 7 Limited seating raises concerns □ Graduation is split into three ceremonies to allow seniors up to six guests. By Lisa Johnson The Battalion Seniors are limited to six guests during the graduation ceremonies because of a lack of seating available in G. Rol lie White Coliseum. This prob lem should be alleviated Fall 1997, when graduation will be held in the then newly com pleted Reed Arena. Steve Hodge, special events facilities director, said the are na was originally scheduled to open Spring 1997, but because of construction delays, it has been pushed back. “As of now, the arena is scheduled to be opened in the Fall of ’97,” he said. “We may be able to use it for the August graduation ceremony, but that is not a guarantee. “It will definitely be ready for the December graduation cere monies. Once it opens, students should be allowed to invite as many people as they want.” The new arena will be able to seat 10,500 people, in addition to the graduating students. G. Rollie White seats ^500 specta tors. This semester’s three cere monies will graduate about 1,000 students each. | Don Gardner, associate i-eg- istrar, said the number oi grad uates in each ceremony is lim ited primarily due to time con straints on the ceremony. “It’s all about how many See Seating, Page 7 Seniors anticipate future success □ A recent survey reported that 66 percent of the nation's college seniors expect financial success after graduation. By Heather Pace The Baitalion As graduating seniors prepare to leave Texas A&M this December, they are faced with feel ings of sadness, nostalgia and doubt about en tering the “real world.” Some seniors said their doubt is focused on fear of finding jobs and being completely inde pendent for the first time. Like many seniors, Matthew Barrier, an ac counting major, is worried about finding a job. “It will take time to get a job,” Barrier said, “It isn’t A&M’s fault. It is the economy’s fault.” Cyndi Gonzales, a psychology major, is wor ried about finding a job, but said A&M has pro vided her with the necessary skills. “They have taught me a lot here as far as oth er people and education skills,” Gonzales said. Seniors worried about finding a job can seek comfort in the fact that companies such as An derson Consulting find A&M graduates to be well-prepared. Randi Mays-Knapp of Andersen Consulting said A&M students learn through academics and extracurricular involvement. "Texas A&M graduates have a ‘can-do’ atti tude,” Mays-Knapp said, “that enables them to be successful and have learned valuable lessons in the classroom.” According to a recent Gallup poll, graduating 1 See Success, Page 8 w