Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 1996)
^7^1996 •in >ng »ost Presi- 't to prove )me wide ly combat U.S. recer- : war. The 5 annually ation and LEADING THE WAY Student leaders dedicate their time to improve campus life. Aggielife , Page 3 1102, No. 74 (10 pages) OBSESSED AND BUMMED OUT ■ STAMPEDE Clark: Considering A&M's obsession with UT, Aggies deserve their recent "Bum Steer" awards. Opinion, Page 9 The Lady Longhorns rout the Lady Aggie Basketball Team, 87-66. Sports, Page 7 Battalion Serving Texas A&M University Since 1893 Thursday • January 18, 1996 >st is just a o adminis- drug lords ated Press U.S. Drug T Thomas it was ear- yould have d States, ast two or janization Constan- )st impor- ;e Miguel Ifather of s impris- 5S get hit, causes d of the nulated by the jfety to lughter )es the :reater [ample, ms be ar that car can show a y see a inding ’ and if of the the car mph it ime to es said, second fataii- )nly to owed. rds ne Lang TTU’s as- t percent ease, vel busi- comfort- part of ie said, [zed the assump- las been imating ; cost-of- onserva- span as- e as the no oblig- ensions, ysis just wn. DOS, MiiCy Ram, Cards tore..* 1706 SBSLC builds jlhe conference will focus on problems in le African-American [ommunity. I) Heather Pace to Battalion More than 1,000 students liomTexas and surrounding slates will gain a renewed sense ! ([community responsibility at ike seventh annual Texas A&M Southwestern Black Student Leadership Conference (SBSLC). Conference coordinators said SBSLC, which starts today and tads Sunday, will concentrate on finding solutions to problems in the African-American communi ty that have been discussed at previous conferences. James Jolivette, SBSLC as sistant director of public rela tions and a sophomore biomed ical science major, said this year’s SBSLC theme, “The Foundation of the Past is Laid ... Will the Pillars of Today Support the Roof of Tomorrow?” expresses the conference’s goal. “Each year’s theme leads up to the next year, and so this year we are basically looking for solutions,” Jolivette said. “We know what is going on, we just have to find some way to solve these problems.” Niki Bisor, SBSLC chair and a senior business analysis major, said committee members chose the theme because college stu dents must prepare themselves to shoulder responsibility for their communities. on goals from previous year “Many of us have been very positively influenced by leaders in the past who have done a lot for the African-American com munity,” Bisor said. "But we ourselves have not taken a part of the load to help make this a better world.” Jolivette said he was heart ened by the determination of last year’s conference participants to better their community. “I was very excited just see ing the number of people out there who were trying to find so lutions for problems within the minority community,” he said. “My excitement stemmed from the enthusiasm of the partici pants and their willingness and the readiness to listen and com municate and get things done.” The conference will facilitate problem solving with workshops and speakers. Antonia Jackson, a graduate student in education administra tion who will attend the confer ence for the first time this week end, said the conference provides African-Americans an opportuni ty to network. “I’m going to meet people from other places to see what they are doing and to exchange ideas,” Jackson said. “We don’t have a lot of opportunities to gather together.” She said the conference will al low participants to discuss issues that are relevant to their lives. “They are going over a lot of good topics, such as some of the things African-American women may be going through in the workplace,” Jackson said. Ron Sasse, director of resi dence life and housing, said he has learned an immense amount and gained new perspectives from attending SBSLC events. “The greatest benefit for me as an Anglo person is that if you put yourself in a situation where you are the minority, you learn so much more just by listening and being a part of it,” Sasse said. This year’s speakers include Michael Dyson, author of “Re flecting Black: African Ameri can Cultural Criticism,” and Barbara Reynolds, a USA To day columnist. SBSLC will host Reg.e Gaines in Rudder Auditorium Thursday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $3 each. The Texas Southern Universi ty debate team will discuss affir mative action Friday at 7 p.m. in Rudder Auditorium. Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., SBSLC will hold a career fair in Rudder Exhibit Hall, which is open to the public. Vendors will sell African artwork, clothes and books. "Many of us have been very positively influenced by leaders in the past who have done a lot for the African-American community." — Niki Bisor SBSLC chair Gwendolyn Struve, The Battai.ion ADDING UP FAST Daniel Silvas, a senior wildlife fisheries major, loses his books at Texas Aggie Bookstore Wednesday. Pneumonia takes congresswoman^ life Q Barbara Jordan was the first black woman to be elected to Congress from the South. AUSTIN (AP) — Former U.S. Hep. Barbara Jordan, whose elo quent defense of the Constitution inspired the nation during the Watergate hearings, died Wednesday. She was 59. The first black woman elected to Congress from the South, Jordan was femembered a figure 'vho tran scended parti- politics to set an exam ple of ethics, Public service and the pursuit of justice. And always, there was her Voice — formal, eloquent, deep and powerful, befitting the daughter of a Baptist minister. “Barbara’s words flowed Jordan with heartfelt conviction and her actions rang of indefatiga ble determination as she chal lenged us as a nation to con front our weaknesses and live peacefully together as equals,” President Clinton said. Added Vice President A1 Gore, “Her impassioned defense of the U.S. Constitution during Water gate will ring in America’s collec tive memory forever.” Jordan also had been ill for several years with multiple scle rosis, and used a wheelchair and walker. She nearly drowned in 1988 when she lost consciousness in her backyard swimming pool. “Texas has lost a powerful voice of conscience and integrity. Barbara Jordan was a champion of our freedom, Constitution and laws,” Gov. George W. Bush said. Jordan died at Austin Diag nostic Medical Center of pneumo nia thought to be a complication of leukemia, said George Christ ian, former press secretary to President Lyndon B. Johnson. Once considered a possible vice presidential candidate, Jordan left politics after three terms in the U.S. House, choos ing to teach at the University of Texas. She shunned the lime light and devoted her energy to her students, who fondly called her “B.J.” Her life was a series of firsts: Her 1972 election to Congress came six years after she made history as the first black woman ever elected to the Texas Legisla ture and the first black elected to the state Senate since 1883. At the time of her death, Ms. Jor dan was chairwoman of the in dependent U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. In recent years, she had devot ed herself to her students at UT’s LBJ School of Public Affairs, whose faculty she joined in 1979. Jordan, who was born in Houston in 1936, said her father demanded that she bring home A’s when she was growing up. She graduated with honors from Texas Southern University — where she was a member of the debating team that defeated Harvard — and studied law at Boston University. Jordan practiced law in Hous ton and got her start in politics licking stamps in the Kennedy- Johnson campaign of 1960. Jordan made two unsuccess ful bids for the Texas House of Representatives. Then in 1966, after the Supreme Court’s one- person, one-vote ruling, the Legislature divided Houston into electoral districts. Jordan ran for the state Sen ate and won. Her legislative achievements included co-sponsoring the state’s first minimum wage bill, sponsor ing a workers’ compensation bill and leading opposition to a bill in tended to disenfranchise blacks and Hispanics by tightening voter registration requirements. Jordan is survived by two sis ters and her mother, Arlyne, all of Houston. Funeral arrange ments were pending. "Texas has lost a powerful voice of con science and integrity." — George W. Bush Texas governor Select classes offered on TV □ The experimental courses may increase in selection and enrollment if successful. By Greg Fahrenheit The Battalion Some students in Bryan-Col- lege Station will soon be able to lean back in their recliners and attend course lectures from the comfort of their own living rooms. Four experimental “telecours es” are being offered this semes ter in a joint effort by Blinn and KAMU-TV. Psychology 2301, General Psy chology; Government 2306, State Government; Sociology 1301, In troductory Sociology; and History 1302, American History II will be taught by Blinn faculty members and can transfer for A&M credit. The lectures will air Jan. 22 through the end of the semes ter and will be shown Mondays through Thursdays at 6 a.m. and will be repeated Sunday from 8-11:30 a.m. Telecourse instructors will be available for student confer ences, and traditional exams will be-given. Dr. Rodney Zent, director of A&M’s educational broadcast services, said the courses are open to students with circum stances restricting their class attendance, such as disabilities or full-time jobs. “KAMU will be able to offer the classes to people who other wise might not be able to attend traditional, scheduled lectures,” Zent said. Henry Hill, Blinn associate vice president for Brazos County campuses, said enrollment in these courses is limited to 194 students because this is the first time the program is being offered. “This is an experiment,” Hill said, “meaning that we did not go out of our way to get a large number of faculty members for the program.” General registration is po longer open, but extenuating cir cumstances will be considered. If the program succeeds, Blinn representatives said they will ex pand the number of facility mem bers involved in the program to allow more students to partic ipate next semester. Benjamin Moore, a freshman chemical engineering major, said the program will be helpful. “It’s sometimes hard to fit everything into a schedule the way the registration process is now,” Moore said. “If I could tape a class and watch it on the week end when I’m not busy, it would be very convenient.” KAMU broadcasts on UHF Channel 15, which is cable Chan nel 4 in the B-CS area. Lawyers offer Aggies free legal services □ Attorneys can give advice on accidents, MIPs and landlord disputes. By Wes Swift The Battalion Faith Maciejko, a Texas A&M sophomore biomedical sci ence major, had a big problem. She had just received her second Minor in Possession ci tation outside a College Station liquor store on a Saturday night. She was facing a stiff fine of S500 to $1,000. But instead of panicking, Maciejko called her lawyer. It just so happens that her lawyer, Rick Powell, has more than 40,000 other clients. Powell, an attorney and A&M coordinator of student legal services, provides legal advice to all A&M students free of charge. And although Powell cannot represent students in a court of law, he can advise students on virtually any legal matter. “We (legal services) are a general practice law firm available to students for free,” he said. Powell has helped students with all sorts of legal matters ranging from traffic tickets and automobile accidents to domestic affairs, such as pa ternity suits and wills. He advises students who See Lawyers, Page 2
