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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 1996)
muary 18,1996 rn Louisianian > University of ^ech at home. I ; dict three wins -awaited game ■olorado. A&M season on their s must travel to ie Aggies never We’ll go ahead BLIZZARD BLUES Faber: The blizzard of '96 will never be forgotten. Aggielife, Page 4 CONCEALED CONSEQUENCES Mejia: Texans face the unclear effects of a concealed handgun law, and not all the effects will be positive. Opinion, Page 9 BUCKY'S BACK | r ^ The former A&M quarterback is pT'I back in town with a new restaurant. mm Sports, Page 7 F V / -- % The Battalion , 102, No. 75 (10 pages) Serving Texas A&M University Since 1893 Friday • January 19, 1996 el to face Iowa be one of the J Aggie sched- ^erlooked but means dates tas Tech. Two ggies, but also Field and the 3 maroon-and- aylor, on the 11 give the Ag- into their fi- season — the ionghorns at ill be fresh on once again a hould pick up i an 11-0 sea- ■ Big 12 chain- Leaders Members of Texas (&M's legislative [roups spoke out shout their plans for le semester. !) Heather Pace Ihe Battalion Many Texas A&M students be already broken their New fear’s resolutions, but the Stu- kt Senate, Faculty Senate and Eoard of Regents are just now {taring up to initiate their plans (or the new semester. Examining possible student tee increases, improving con stituent relations and develop- iag student services such as parking are priority areas for the Student Senate. Chris Reed, Student Senate speaker pro tempore and a ju nior finance major, said the Senate wants to begin building tetter relations with the stu- ientbody this semester. “There is going to be a bigger push for constituent relations set year’s goals this semester,” Reed said. “We want to find a way for senators to be more visible to their con stituents.” This will be a relief to many students who said they simply want to leam who their senators are and what their goals are. Matt Wisenbaker, a junior civil engineering major, said he does not know who his senators are and does not think they try hard enough to contact students. Shawn Williams, a senior management major and NAACP president, hopes the Senate will take action this semester. “I think their priority should be to get something accom plished that is worthwhile in stead of worrying about who can make the most motions,” Williams said. “They dragged their feet on the multicultural- ism bill. They need to do some thing to show the students that "I think their [student senators'] priority should be to get something accomplished that is worthwhile instead of worrying about who can make the most motions." — Shawn Williams senior management major and NAACP president “I don’t think they are mak ing an effort to reach us, be cause I’ve never seen an at tempt,” Wisenbaker said. “I don’t know what they can do, but I’m curious to see what they are supposed to be doing.” Many students are pes simistic about what the Senate accomplishes. the Senate isn’t a joke.” Senators said they also want to take a closer look at perennial student concerns such as parking. “You’ll see a lot more coming out of student services, like PTTS tickets and tuition paid by credit card, renovations to the golf See Leaders, Page 6 know about Computing ® CAMPUS □ Computer fees paid by all A&M students include a $500 personal account for course supplies By Eleanor Colvin The Battalion Texas A&M Department of Computing and Information Services (CIS) representatives said the $5-per-semester credit hour computer fee, which all students pay, is reasonable con sidering the number of campus computing services to which it provides access. James Baker, CIS project director for cus tomer help and training, said the computer access fee, which is one of A&M’s lower stu dent services fees, is a good deal at such a large and technically-oriented university. “If students don’t use the services at all, they may have a right to complain about fees,” he said. “But they should find that computing services are one of the biggest bargains at A&M. “Internet access, computing and printing is all free. Printing alone would cost students more than they pay for in computer fees.” Only about half of A&M’s students make use of the personal accounts that are paid for by computer access fees. Mary Ann Korengay, CIS staff accountant, said the $500 personal accounts pay for sup plies such as transparencies, color or black- and-white prints and disk storage. Students can request additional funding if they have courses requiring excessive re sources or computer time. Semester accounts are established foi* un dergraduate students, and annual accounts are established for graduate students. To access their personal accounts, students must attend a 30-minute informational course at the Help Desk in the Blocker Building, the Biochemistry/Biophysics Building or the West Campus Library. The course helps students set up their per sonal accounts and access the Internet. It also teaches students to use a software package called ACCESS to establish their own identi fication numbers and passwords, enabling them to use other A&M computer systems. Dr. John Dinkel, CIS associate provost, said many schools restrict student access to comput er programs and the Internet or require them to individually contract these services. See Computing, Page 6 , Computing Centers are located throughout the campus; in the Read Building, the Blocker Building, the league Building, the West Campus Library or the Biochemistry/Biophysics Building, Each semester all students are provided with $500 account that can be used to pay for supplies such as transparencies and prints (color or black-and-white), Internet access and disk storage. To access the personal accounts, students must first attend a 30-minute informational course. For information, students can contact a CIS help desk, Rony Angkriwan, The Battalion STRANGE BREW Shirley Davis, who has been a cook at Sbisa Dining Hall for 10 years, prepares gravy for lunch Thursday afternoon. America pays respect to former congresswoman □ Barbara Jordan's body was presented for viewing at the LBJ Library and Museum in Austin. AUSTIN (AP) — People of all ages and all walks of life paid their respects Thursday to for mer U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan, the woman some called the con science of the nation. Jordan’s body, clad in a gold-trimmed black suit, was presented for public viewing in a flag-draped, mahogany coffin on the second floor at the Lyn don Baines Johnson Library and Museum. Towering over the casket was a black granite obelisk, each of its four sides containing words from President Johnson in gold. Among them: “Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportu nity is unconcerned with the col or of men’s skins, emanci pation will be a proclamation but not a fact.” Jordan was the first black woman elected to Congress from the South and the first black woman ever elected to, the Texas Leg islature. “LBJ was the civil rights presi dent ... In Barbara Jordan, his hopes had been realized at the ul timate,” said Liz Carpenter, for mer press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson and a friend of Jordan’s. “Anybody who made that much of an impact is going to live forever,” she said. Harry Middleton, director of the LBJ Library and Museum, said Jordan is the third person whose body has been presented for public viewing at the facility. The others were President John son and Frank Erwin, who served as chairman of the Uni versity of Texas regents and chairman of the LBJ Foundation board of directors. “It just seems • to me to be to tally appropriate,” Middleton said. “Barbara Jordan was al most a protege of President Johnson’s. He was an early sup porter of hers when she ran for the Congress from Houston. Jordan Hushees find their niche in fraternities J Texas A&M's 20-year-old Greek system has 25 fraternity chapters. fyMarissa Alanis Fhe Battalion Texas A&M’s Spring Fraternity Rush is Underway, with 600 men expected to partic- jpate Jan. 26 in Bid Day at the Systems “Uilding, Rush’s culminating event. Students had an opportunity to find out if °!ie of A&M’s 25 fraternity chapters suits ^em through Rush activities scheduled this "eek, including informational seminars and 5 kick-off dance at the Texas Hall of Fame. ^ At Bid Day, hopefuls gather behind the Systems Building waiting to find out if they will be accepted as pledges to the fraterni ties of their choice. Jason Jordan, Interfraternity Council president and a junior marketing major, said Rush candidates should pursue frater nities with views and goals that resemble their own. “You should find a fraternity that has the same kind of values and morals that you have,” Jordan said. Eric Vroonland, IFC Rush chair and a ju nior finance major, said that once he joined his fraternity, he felt at home on campus. “When I got here, I felt lost in the crowd, and so I decided to rush,” Vroonland said. “I really feel that because of my involve ment with my fraternity. I’ve been exposed to opportunities I otherwise would’ve been numb to.” Trey Schroeder, IFC external vice presi dent and a senior business analysis major, said being in a fraternity is similar to being in the business world. “There’s opportunities for leadership posi tions, (and) some frats work with $100,000 budgets.” he said. Even with all the positive aspects frater nity life has to offer, Schroeder said, there are students who feel Greek life does not be long on this campus. “At A&M, you’re an Aggie first, and be ing a Greek is second,” Schroeder said. “When you think of A&M, the biggest male organization you think of is the Corps.” Schroeder said fraternity stereotypes de ter many students from pledging and forces Greek organizations to spend more money on publicity. See Rushees, Page 6 Dave House, The Battalion Cadets Jerrod Gladden, a freshman mechanical engineering major, and Canon Shoults, a sophomore general studies major, ask Garth Fruge, a junior industrial distribution major, and Mark Garvin, a se nior speech communication major, about fraternity life.
