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.