esday • April 10,1991
DOUBLE DIP
The Aggie Softball Team
sweeps Southwest Texas.
SPORTS, PAGE 12
8 for details.
ub: Meeting to
ss fee structure
linations at 7 p.m.
ir. For more informa-
ct Ellen at 845-
96-9582.
^logical Society: Gon
er, from the American
i of Zoo Keepers will
;t speaker at 7 p.m.
For more information
athryn Mengerink
an, Bisexual Aggies:
be a Hands Across
/ at 12 p.m. at Rod-
ation sponsored
)r more information
/line at 847-0321. ^
an, Bisexual Aggies;
ouston - A panel of
th Gay and Lesbian
are their experiences
in 404 Rudder. Foi
motion call the gay-
0321.
lerican Student Asso-
ficer elections will be
3 p.m. in 404 Rudder,
nformation call Sung
5.
is a Battalion service
on-profit student and
its and activities. Items
ubmitted no later than
in advance of the de-
ate. Application dead-
otices are not events
t be run in What's Up.
any questions, please
sroom at 845-3313,
Halbrook: Unabomber case
uncovers a tale of greed and
disloyalty
OPINION, PAGE 13
TIMELESS TALE
Students present "Of
Mice and Men."
AGGIELIFE, PAGE 3
The Battalion
102, No. 127 (14 pages)
Serving Texas A&M University Since 1893
Thursday • April 11, 1996
roup marches for Gay Awareness Week
By Heather Pace
The Battalion
Gwendolyn Struve, The Battalion
taibers of ALLY march as a part of Gay Awareness Week Wednesday.
Hopwood hits home
Heather Pace
[he Battalion
Students who spent April 1
rashing to finish applications for
scholarships based on ethnicity
; have spent their time ap
plying for money that will not be
available in the future.
The Presidential Achieve
ment Award and the Distin
guished Achievement Award
ate the only two minority schol-
wships available through
Texas A&M, and both are given
kike Honors Program.
Jim Ashlock, director of Uni-
fetsity Relations, said A&M has
ad A&M scholarship awards
use ethnicity as a criteria be
cause of a recent court decision
tgarding affirmative action.
“Right now, we are not making
my admissions that are racially
, but the normal pattern of
idmission is going on,” Ashlock
id. “Our legal counsel is telling
we can’t issue scholarships
ised on race).”
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of
jpeals ruled two weeks ago in
Sopwood vs. State of Texas that
idmission decisions based on eth
nicity are unconstitutional.
The case dealt with students
io claimed they were not ad-
EAT
take out.
-1927
People of many ages and
races gathered around Texas
A&M’s Rudder Fountain
Wednesday at noon. Some wore
expressions of scorn and disbe
lief, but for the most part, they
nodded in agreement with the
message being proclaimed.
Participating in Hands Across
A&M, 100 people marched on
campus to increase community
awareness of homosexuality.
Jeff Anderson, a march partici-
pant and education graduate stu
dent, said the Bryan-College Sta
tion community does not believe
homosexuals attend A&M.
“We simply want to g;ain ac
ceptance and show that we are
Aggies too,” Anderson said.
“The community has the mis
conception that there is no such
thing as a gay Aggie.”
Participating organizations in
cluded Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual
Aggies and ALLY, a support orga
nization of primarily heterosexual
staff and faculty.
Becky Petitt, coordinator of di
versity education for the Depart
ment of Student Life, said ALLY
planned the march to show its
support of Gay Awareness Week.
“It is important to embrace
and honor their life choices,”
Petitt said. “We wanted to do
this in honor and celebration of
the week.”
Winston Jones, a student de
velopment specialist in the De
partment of Student Life, drew
in bystanders with his booming
voice, telling the crowd that
everyone should be concerned
with discrimination against ho-
"This is an issue we must
all face because it is
about oppression."
— WINSTON JONES
Department of Student Life
mosexuals.
“This is an issue we must all
face because it is about oppres
sion,” Jones said. “I believe if you
aren’t a part of the solution, you
are a part of the problem.”
After listening to short speech
es by Anderson and Jones, the
group held hands and marched
around Simpson Drill Field.
Carrying rainbow flags and
signs bearing expressions like
“Beat the hell outta homophobics
... WHOOP,” supporters chanted
in unison and were greeted with
both smirks and smiles of encour
agement.
Julie Dalton, a sophomore biol
ogy and entomology major who
passed by the march, said the
event was encouraging.
“Even though I’m heterosexu
al, I’m in complete support,” Dal
ton said. “It (homosexuality) is
just like any other trait.”
Those who are involved with
the homosexual community say
the situation at A&M is improv
ing for them.
Mike Jackson, Class of '88,
said tolerance is increasing
slowly.
“There is a very vocal minor
ity that makes it look like the
University is close-minded,”
Jackson said, “but there are a
lot of quiet supporters who are
regular students out there just
going to class.”
mitted to the University of
Texas’ law school because they
were not minorities.
After hearing reports that the
University of Texas has started
issuing scholarships again,
Ashlock said, A&M legal council
is investigating what scholarships
A&M will be able to issue.
Ashlock said he is concerned
with ensuring that the student
body represents a diversity of
races.
“We will be looking at how we
can continue to assure a student
body that represents the cross
section of our state’s population in
accordance with the court’s deci
sion,” Ashlock said.
Some students are concerned
with the negative ramifications
of the Hopwood case on minori
ty scholarships.
Mark Aguirre, a senior ac
counting major, said he has ap
plied for the Distinguished
Achievement Award.
“I don’t know if it will even ex
ist,” Aguirre said, “but I’m hoping
to use that money to pay for a
large part of my fifth year.”
The administration is current
ly undecided about when and if
the Distinguished Achievement
Award and other scholarships
will be awarded.
Dr. Dale Knobel, executive di
rector of the Honors Program,
said that although he is not cer
tain when the status of minority-
based scholarships will be deter
mined, all major scholarships for
incoming freshmen have been
awarded, and scholarships that
students already have will be un
affected by the ruling.
Aguirre said he is unhappy
with the ruling because it is
one of a series of setbacks for
minorities.
“Unless we as minorities try
to get together to halt this
trend, the future won’t look
good,” Aguirre said. “It doesn’t
seem right that 30 years of the
Civil Rights Movement can cor
rect 200 years of inequality.”
Other students said the Hop-
wood decision unfairly affects all
public universities and colleges in
Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana,
not just the University of Texas.
Noe Lopez, a senior finance
major, said he was unhappy
with the Hopwood ruling be
cause it affects those who do
not deserve to be punished.
“I was kind of shocked for
them to have the decision so
broad-based, penalizing the
whole state instead of just the
law school,” Lopez said.
Stew Milne, The Battalion
THE HEAT IS ON
Michael Mathews, a mathematic graduate student, holds Erica Renfro, a friend's daughter, while they
play in the fountain in front of the Chemistry building Wednesday afternoon.
Did you know
Northgate holds College
Station history lesson
By Kendra S. Rasmussen
The Battalion
Every day, hundreds of Texas A&M
students visit Northgate to eat, drink
beer, buy textbooks and socialize.
However, most do not realize they are
buying their books at a former grocery
store, chugging a few beers at an old
bookstore or having a burger and fries in
a stranger’s apartment.
Although many students would like
to think Northgate has always been as it
Gwendolyn Struve, The Battalion
Cafe Eccell was College Station's first
official City Hall.
appears today, the truth is that familiar
buildings have undergone almost con
stant change since their construction.
Facts about Northgate’s past lead
many to believe that revitalization ef
forts will never change, improve or take
away from the historic district.
Unknown to most students, the “Toon-
erville Trolley” used to travel from down
town Bryan to the Texas Agriculture and
Mechanical College, which had a faculty
and student population of about 750.
The Bryan and College Station In-
terurban Railway was established in
1909 and made its last run April 13,
1923, almost 73 years ago.
In 1939, soon after the city’s birth,
the College Station City Council moved
from campus into the city’s first tempo
rary City Hall.
The council’s first home now serves as
a second-floor apartment above Disc Go
Round at the comer of College Main and
Patricia Street.
Helen Martin, whose father, Joe Soso-
lik, owned the building, built it for his
photo shop after the original Aggieland
Photo burned down in the 1930s.
The City Council later occupied the
building that students now know as Cafe
Eccell. The building is considered the
city’s first official City Hall and was de
signed by A&M architecture students un
der the supervision of Ernest K. Langford,
College Station mayor and former depart
ment head for the College of Architecture.
The building that Fitzwilly’s now occu
pies has housed numerous restaurants in
recent years but was originally built as an
See Northgate, Pages
Brown laid to rest Wednesday
President Clinton spoke at the funeral in the National Cathedral
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ron
Brown was laid to rest Wednesday af
ter President Clinton celebrated his
“truly American life” in a funeral that
reflected the commerce secretary’s
upbeat style. “He would have loved
this deal today,” the president said.
The funeral produced an outpour
ing of respect unusual even in pomp-
loving Washington. High-ranking bu
reaucrats and government clerks
shared pews in the stately National
Cathedral, crowded to capacity. Thou
sands filed by his coffin overnight in
the Commerce Department lobby.
“Ron Brown’s incredible life force
brought us all joy in the morning,”
the president said. “No dark night
could ever defeat him. ... This man
loved life and all the things in it.”
Brown, the first black commerce
secretary, was killed along with 34
others a week ago in a plane crash
while on a trade mission to Croatia.
His son, Michael, began by thanking
the Croatians who climbed the hill
side to bring down the bodies.
After the service, Brown’s hearse
wound through the streets of the his
toric black Shaw neighborhood, past
the Commerce Department and
across the Potomac River to Arlington
National Cemetery.
The 54-year-old Brown qualified
for internment in the cemetery of he
roes because he was a Cabinet official
who had an honorable military back
ground. He served four years in the
Army during the Korean War.
“Ron Brown enjoyed a lot of suc
cess,” the president said. “He proved
you could do well and do good and
have a good time. ... He lived his life
for America, and when the time
came, he was found laying down his
life for America.”
As chairman of the Democratic Na
tional Committee in 1992, Brown was
a sparkplug in Clinton’s campaign for
the presidency.
“I want to say to my friend, just
one last time, thank you,” Clinton
said, glancing down at the coffin, “If
it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here.”
Forum focuses on environmental efforts
By Heather Pace
The Battalion
Dr. Roy Hartman, a professor of
engineering technology at Texas
A&M, thinks that it is ironic that peo
ple put so much effort into keeping
themselves clean and so little effort
into keeping the Earth clean.
Students dedicated to helping the
environment are attempting to edu
cate Texas A&M’s administration
and student body about the benefits
of recycling.
Students and professionals par
ticipated in an Environmental Leg
islative Forum Tuesday night to dis
cuss the best methods to educate the
A&M community and improve envi
ronmental efforts.
The forum was hosted by the Envi
ronmental Issues Committee of the
Student Government Association,
which is trying to combat misunder
standing about recycling through co
programming and education.
A major goal of the committee is
to bring A&M’s different environ
mental organizations together to ac
complish their goals to improve area
recycling efforts.
Jessica Porrazzo, EIC Green
Team chair and sophomore interna
tional studies major, said businesses
and government agencies must im
prove their recycling and environ
mental efforts.
“We must show businesses that by
minimizing waste,” Porrazzo said,
“they can maximize profits simply by
reusing Styrofoam cups.”
Porrazzo said A&M can conserve
paper by requiring two-sided copying
and printing Battalion inserts on re
cycled paper.
Katie Gibson, College Station recy
cling coordinator, said common beliefs
about recycling and the environment
must be altered.
“The biggest problem you’re going
to have on campus is changing the be
havior that has been going on for 50
years,” Gibson said.
Hartman said Europe has already
taken major strides to improve envi
ronmental efforts.
Rusty cars piled on top one anoth
er are common sights in the United
States. In Europe, BMW and other
automotive corporations have devel
oped disassembly plants to rebuild
engines and other car parts.
After the government mandated
that businesses begin recyclin.:, more
than 600 businesses responded by
agreeing to recover 80 perc nt of
packaging materials within four
years of the program’s initiation.
“They have eliminated almost all
secondary packaging,” Hartman said.
See Environment, Page 2