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Hard-hitting Aggie
hitters crush SHSU.
SPORTS, PAGE 7
Stidvent: Resurrection
Week confuses
Christian values.
OPINION, PAGE 11
Despite their unknown l
origins, traditions
remain a part of A&M.
AGG1ELIFE, PAGE 3
Battalion
1. 102, No. 122 (12 pages)
Serving Texas AdrM University Since 1893
Wednesday • April 3, 1996
Bush visits
Aggieland
By Danielle Pontiff
The Battalion
Texas Gov. George Bush, son of
former President George Bush, said
ia a speech at Texas A&M Tuesday
night that he has learned a lot
about the needs of Texans through
out the past two years.
In the speech, which was hosted
byMSC Political Forum, Bush told
500 students and community mem
bers that he has enjoyed the work
and continuous learning involved
with being governor.
“I’m getting more educated in the
capitol,” Bush said. “You never stop
learning in life. This is interesting
work, and I have learned a lot.”
Bush said governors of other states
are impressed with how limited gov
ernment works in Texas. The state
Mnstitution allows the legislature to
meet for 140 days every two years.
“Other state governors can’t be
lieve it,” Bush said. “Their legisla
tures meet almost every day. I’ve
seen first hand that you can get a
lot done in a limited time.”
Bush told the audience that the best
policies are those made by individuals
at the local level who base their deci
sions on common principles.
The government should trust local
people to make decisions for schools
and communities,” Bush said. “It is im
portant in Texas to put partisanship
aside to make Texas a better place,
listen to other people’s views.”
The governor said he intends to
increase the literacy rate for chil
dren in Texas public schools during
? his term in office.
“There are 310,000 students in
Texas that failed the basic reading
test,'Bush said. “If you can’t read, you
ran t learn. There is no more simple or
profound goal other than every child in
: Texas must be able to read.”
Bush said foreign policy with
Mexico is another issue he has been
concerned with as governor. He said
be considers Mexico a nation with
promising economic and social
growth, and he supports cooperation
between the United States and the
Mexican government.
“Problems are best solved with a
spirit of friendship as opposed to a
hostile environment,” Bush said.
“We want Mexico to succeed. I reject
any isolationist rhetoric that would
(separate) Texas (from) our neigh
bors in the south.”
Bush also discussed the Hopwood
vs. Texas decision with the audi
ence. He said he agrees with the de
cision in the district court case,
which makes it illegal for state uni
versities to use ethnicity as a crite
ria for admissions and scholarships.
He said that students who work the
hardest are the ones who should be
rewarded and that race should not
be an issue.
“I don’t think the university
should include people based upon
race or exclude people based upon
race,” Bush said. “I really believe
there’s a decent way to not discrimi
nate by race. Recruit the best stu
dents that work the hardest.”
Bush urged students to get in
volved with the state government to
make Texas a better place. He told
audience members that they must
work to improve the state and na
tion. and that they must take re
sponsibility for their actions.
“This great University under
stands the importance of the individ
ual and the community,” Bush said.
“We must take control of our own des
tiny. I want a new day where each
and every one of us becomes account
able for what we do or say.”
Ryan Tucker, an MSC Political
See Bush, Page 5
Sterling Hayman, The Battalion
Don Wilson,(right) Texas A&M executive director of the George Bush Presiden
tial Library, looks at plans for the library with Gov. George Bush (center).
Amy Browning, The Batcalion
RUBBER DUCKY, YOU'RE THE ONE
Laurie Alexis, a freshman accounting major, collects rubber ducks at the end of a
rubber duck race in Rudder Fountain. The races were held by OPAS as a fund raiser.
Board includes A&M student
College Station City Council forms Northgate Revitalization board
By Kendra S. Rasmussen
The Battalion
The College Station City
Council voted Thursday to ap
prove the formation of a North-
gate Revitalization Board to
oversee Northgate projects and
serve as a link between the City
Council and Northgate mer
chants and property owners.
Todd McDaniel, Northgate
project coordinator, said the
board will consist of 12 mem
bers representing different par
ties interested in the revitaliza
tion efforts.
Two Texas A&M administra
tors, Dr. Jerry Gaston, vice
president for administration,
and Tom Williams, director of
Parking and Transit Services,
have been selected to serve on
the board.
Other members will include an
architect, Julius Girbou of Texas
A&M, two property owners, two
merchants, two church represen
tatives, and one real estate pro
fessional. One additional position
has been filled, as well.
McDaniel said the board is
seeking an A&M student to fill
a vacancy on the board.
He said the student represen
tative, who will be a voting mem
ber, will be included so that stu
dents’ concerns are addressed.
“I welcome the opportunity
of having someone from the stu
dent population represented,”
he said.
Applications will be avail
able for the student position,
which will be appointed by
council and board members.
McDaniel said the board will
serve four basic purposes — of
fering advice to city staff about
Northgate revitalization efforts,
communicating ongoing activi
ties to others in the Northgate
district, soliciting participation
from Northgate merchants and
property owners, and perform
ing design reviews.
Richard Benning, board vice
chairman and owner and man
ager of Dudley’s Draw and
Fitzwilly’s, said the revitaliza
tion board will work to carry
out Northgate projects that will
benefit the community.
“(The Board will serve as) a
clearinghouse of ideas to help fa
cilitate the revitalization propo
sitions of Northgate,” he said.
Gaston, board member and
A&M vice president for admin
istration, said the board will
consider all viewpoints when
making its decisions.
“Certainly the committee
will want advice from all inter
ested parties about the future
of Northgate, but I don’t believe
each member is what I would
call a single constituent repre
sentative,” he said. “We are to
look at the whole rather than
one single part of it.
“I would like to see that the
See Board, Page 6
Child care site not
supported by GSC
By Heather Pace
The Battalion
The Graduate Student Coun
cil approved a motion last night
to support a child-care facility
at Texas A&M; however, mem
bers did not support the center’s
proposed site.
The Granada Building, locat
ed in Research Park, needs ma
jor structural overhaul, includ
ing a new foundation slab. The
council cited the Radiological
Safety Office, a department in
the Granada Building, as anoth
er concern because members
fear the office could expose chil
dren to radiation.
So far, $680,000 has been al
located to the Granada Building
through coin-operated laundry
machines and telephones. The
money collected is insufficient to
complete the renovation.
Because the Granada Build
ing would accommodate 80 chil
dren, only about 25 graduate
students would be able to take
advantage of the center.
Council members said one
possibility would be to purchase
a $300,000 building, which
would allow for 100 children,
and move it to a new site at the
University-owned apartments.
See Site, Page 5
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Speaker addresses rape prevention
By Erica Roy
The Battalion
Katie Koestner, a former student at the Col
lege of William and Mary, told Texas A&M stu
dents Tuesday night at the MSC about her rape
as a college freshman.
Koestner, whose program was the result of
Cory Willis, The Battalion
Katie Koestner, a rape survivor, tells students
ways to prevent rapes.
the efforts of several University organizations,
spoke about the ordeals she faced after the
rape and the problems she had with adminis
trators when she sought disciplinary action.
Koestner’s “No/Yes” program on date rape
addressed the apathy of the administration at
William and Mary, which convinced her to
share her story with other students.
She said remaining silent would have been
easy, but she feared that no one else would
speak up if she did not.
Koestner outlined for the audience three
ways to try to prevent rapes, citing communica
tion, responsibility and respect as the key com
ponents to stopping date rape.
She said clear, verbal communication is nec
essary, and she advised men to ask women for
consent because, “verbal consent is the safest
consent.”
Koestner said responsibility is important
when alcohol is being consumed because 90
percent of all date rapes involve alcohol.
However, she said that an intoxicated person
“deserves a hangover, not being raped.”
Respect for rape survivors, Koestner said, is
another way to prevent date rapes.
“As long as rape is a joke, it will not stop,”
Koestner said. “It takes a very brave man to
say T didn’t find it funny,’ especially here at
Texas A&M.”
See Rape, Page 6
Corps offers new library escorts
By Michelle Lyons
The Battalion
The Corps of Cadets and Ster
ling C. Evans Library are offer
ing a special escort program for
students who spend late nights
at the library.
Students will now have access
to the Guard Room from a special
phone located at the entrance of
the library to request an escort to
accompany them from the library
to their cars or residence halls.
The library escort program is
part of the Guard Room Escort
program, which the Corps has
been providing for several years.
Colleen Cook, library associate
dean, said that because the li
brary has been undergoing some
major transformations, parking
near the library has become in
creasingly difficult and safety has
become an issue.
Cook said the phone at the
front desk will allow an almost
•immediate response from the
Guard Room escorts.
In addition, the Corps escorts
will carry hand-held radios so
they can easily get in touch with
the desk and will be able to help
person after person, instead of
having to check in with the Guard
FLoom between assignments.
Col. Lee McCleskey, Comman
dant’s Office Operations and
Training chief, said the Corps was
approached by library personnel
who recognized that students
might be exposed to dangerous
situations late at night.
The construction area is not
well-lit, Lee said, and chain-link
fencing makes passage difficult.
“Although the Guard Room Es
cort policy is not new, this rela
tionship with the Library is new,”
Lee said. “Working together to
help the students is what this is
all about.”
Fred Heath, library dean, said
in a press release that the pro
gram will benefit students who
frequent the library during late-
night hours.
“The safety of students coming
and going from the library during
the evening hours has long con
cerned us, and we are very
pleased that Maj. Gen. Thomas
Darling has offered to extend the
Guard Room Escorts’ duties to in
clude assistance from the library,”
Heath said. “The stability, credi
bility and trust placed in the
Corps Guard Room Escorts makes
them ideal partners.”
The Corps Guard Room oper
ates 24 hours a day, and a senior
cadet is in command at all times.
This new service will not be
available on holidays or in the
summer when the Guard Room
is not operating.
The library’s new evening shut
tle service will also provide stu
dents with assistance when trav
eling to parking lots 50 and 51.