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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1996)
April 24,19% sale ling *s a lady anl wants to be nymore." JOAN RIVERS comedm IT'S CATCHING Matt Garrick is making the most of his playing time. SPORTS, PAGE 9 Stidvent: Writing the last column brings on unusual writer's block. OPINION, PAGE 13 Cushing Remembered The forgotten history of Cushing reveals an extraordinary story. AGGIELIFE, PAGE 3 ^ Sm The Battalion 1. 102, No. 137 (14 pages) Serving Texas A &M University Since 1893 Thursday • April 25, 1996 ;sis ($500,0001) ne ceramic cooki) s. .ng sold by Cam nedy Jr. Proceeds of their mother. 1994. sis’ three-strand ed $500 to $70(1); ng to President 0); and the I9tk r stool Caroline ook out a White )0-$150) already ritten bids, the Onassis’ jewelrj later in the week g gown from her ly, Onassis’ 1992 j doors from her g room. iller’s lion of his victims er Jeffrey Data ng the items tohe ; by the families ol Secret organization causes concern By Sterling Hayman and David Taylor Ihe Battalion High-ranking University and Corps of Cadets officials are fol- owing leads on what is consid- red to be a secret organization vithin the Corps. The concern stems from fears bat the organization Stickers, vhose purpose and membership s secret, is operating outside he boundaries of University ind Corps regulations. Stickers, according to sources, Clinton, Congress strike deal Administration says the )udget will be signed is a modification of the Swastikas, a secret organization that existed at A&M for many years since the early 1900s. Sources say that the main func tion of Stickers is to recruit and promote its own members to prominent leadership positions around campus. Dr. Malon Southerland, vice president for Student Affairs, said the administration is fully aware of all of the speculation surrounding the organization and its activities. “I’ve had rumors of such an organization for about four years,” Southerland said. “I do not have personal knowledge of a mission statement of the orga nization, but the perception seems to be all negative in that the organization is not keeping with the mission and goals of Texas A&M University.” A&M President Dr. Ray Bowen and the A&M Board of Regents have full knowledge of what steps the University has taken to follow-up on all leads, sources say. Southerland said an attor ney has also been contacted by the University to give “infor mal advice” on how to handle the situation. Southerland said that al though the University lacks con crete evidence about the organi zation, the intensity of concerns surrounding the group has caused administrators to follow all possible leads. “I’ve asked every person that See Concern, Page 8 Texas A&M has rich history of secret societies By David Taylor and Sterling Hayman The Battalion • The following is brief run-though of the histo ry of secret organizations at Texas A&M. All infor mation was collected from A&M’s archives. Secret organizations are nothing new at Texas A&M. In fact, the University has a well-docu mented history of organizations that have existed since the 1900s. A&M’s first secret organization was the Kala Kinasis, which was formed in 1904. The group, which began as a dancing club, attempted to fos ter a fraternal spirit and influence student See History, Page 8 e state prison al 17 young mend WASHINGTON (AP) — Con gressional leaders and White louse officials announced agreement Wednesday on a huge bill financing dozens of ederal agencies for the rest of be fiscal year, solving a months-long standoff that had p custody of so® become a political embarrass- r failing to aggie Kent for both parties, i^ reported outs: Nearly seven months after ition were picture Id be scheduled e re and ns were to be hfc iscal 1996 began, the two sides esolved a handful of stubborn nvironmental disputes — in nany cases following retreats by Republicans — and prepared to push the $160 billion measure hrough Congress on Thursday. “We believe we have agree ment on remaining issues,” aid Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Mark iatfield, R-Ore., as yet another lay of closed-door bargaining ame to an end. About an hour later, presi dential press secretary Mike McCurry told reporters Presi dent Clinton would sign the egislation as soon as it reaches his desk. “The administration is satis fied that the president’s priori ties have been addressed as well as they can be addressed,” McCurry said. Money for agencies covered hy the bill was due to run out at midnight, since they have been financed all fiscal year by a se ries of temporary stopgap bills. So to head off a third federal shutdown since autumn, the House voted 400-14 to keep pro grams running for 24 more lours, and the Senate, by voice 'Vote, shipped it to Clinton for his promised signature. Gwendolyn Struve, The Battalion DON'T DROP THE GLASS Jerry Shannon, senior glass blower, welds a sidearmon a photo light cell in the glass shop in the basement of the Chemistry Building. The glass shop makes all of the highly specialized glass for the chemistry labs on campus. By Michelle Lyons The Battalion Seniors savor lasts days in Aggieland Senior Wcmri^ V V CZ.E-.fV Members of the Texas A&M Class of 6 are remembering and celebrating heir time at A&M — and looking to ll vard the future. Several events this week are building ip to “Senior Weekend: The Final Road Trip ... Destination Aggieland,” the finale of which is Ring Dance. Tuesday, a Party on the Patio was held Bt Wings ‘N’ More, and Wednesday, se- | tiiors participated in their own OT Army Veil Practice at Rudder Fountain. Tonight is Class of ’96 night at the Texas Hall of Fame. For Ring Dance, which starts at 9 p.m. Saturday, seven rooms in the MSC and bidder Tower will be named for a differ- ®t city and decorated accordingly. For instance, attendees will be able to snjoy country music in the Nashville 'oom, and the Las Vegas room will fea- ure an Elvis impersonator. At the dance, students walk through a [iant replica of an Aggie ring, turning * heir own rings so that the year and in scription face away from themselves, sig- lifying to the world they are soon-to-be graduates of A&M. The Senior Weekend and Ring Dance traditions date back to 1937. MariClare Feeney, a Senior Week end committee co-chair and senior English major, said the events serve to recognize graduating seniors and to provide a way for seniors to express their A&M pride. “It’s the culminating event of a studen t’s years at A&M,” Feeney said. “It’s our last hurrah.” Kristen Gibbons, a Senior Weekend committee co-chair and senior marketing major, said the committee has been preparing for Ring Dance since last fall. Now the committee is in the final stages of planning and coordinating last- minute details. Gibbons said Ring Dance has grown a great deal since it was first estab lished. She said that when her dad at tended his Ring Dance, it was held in Sbisa Dining Hall. Feeney said she expects about 1,500 students to attend the dance this year. Because there has been a three-hour wait to get photographs taken at Ring Dance in past years, photographs will be taken under the giant ring starting 9 a.m. Saturday. A banquet with a surprise guest speak er will begin at 6 p.m. at the College Sta tion Hilton Hotel. Peggy Philpot, Class of ’96 adviser, said the committee has done a good job co ordinating this year’s events. “They are very well-organized,” Philpot said. “This thing is very well-planned.” Students frustrated with Career Center By Kasie Byers The Battalion Graduating Texas A&M students using the Career Center to find jobs, especially those in lesser-known ma jors, may run into some snags. Some students say kinks in the system are causing companies to overlook qualified applicants. At the Career Center, students fill out a resume disk on which they en ter their major, expected degree, grade-point ratio and expected date of graduation. Students are allowed to enter up to three codes that provide information about their majors. They can enter codes for majors they will receive de grees in and have received degrees in or the departmental names under which their degrees are listed. Companies seeking employees fill out forms indicating to the Career Center what types of students they need. From these forms, students are matched with companies based on four criteria: major, degree earned, graduation date and work authoriza tion, or citizenship. Dr. Glen Payne, associate director of the Career Center, said students who want an interview with a particular company must fit all four criteria. “Students may not realize that their major is not the only criteria considered,” Payne said. He said many students are over looked by companies because they do not understand the center’s format for selecting interviewees. Students in several majors have complained that the system is not working to its full potential. Mike Fergnson, a manufacturing engineering technology major, said several companies’ literature de scribed positions he felt he was quali fied for, but when he went to sign up on their interview schedules, he dis covered he was blocked. “I asked someone at the Career Center what the problem was,” Fer guson said, “and they told me this sto ry about ‘that is just the way it goes, and if I wanted to get an interview with thesw: companies I should send a letter to the companies asking them to call the Career Center and put me on their interview list.’” But Ferguson said it is unlikely the companies would comply. “There are no odds of this happen ing,” he said. “Here they have 80 re sumes to look at. Why would they worry about one person pleading for an interview?” Ferguson then discovered that only 12 companies were requesting inter views with manufacturing engineer ing technology students, but 58 had requested engineering technology stu dents, the department within which his major is listed. See Students, Page 5 Biking benefits environment By Erica Roy The Battalion Texas A&M and Bryan-College Station groups are encouraging people to ride their bicycles to school and work on Friday. The Brazos Valley Cyclists have declared Friday the third annual Bike-To-Work Day, and Don Mueller, BVC publicity chairman, said the main purpose of the event is to build awareness of the bene fits of bicycling and of bicycle safety. But riding bicycles is also envi ronmentally beneficial, and the A&M chapter of the Texas Envi ronmental Action Coalition is sup porting the event in honor of Earth Week. TEAC members are stationed today at an information table in front of Rudder Fountain to en courage students to consider trav eling by earth-conscious modes of transportation rather than by au tomobile. A solar-powered car will be on display. TEAC members are also plan ning to participate in Bike-To- Work Day. Carrie Thompson, TEAC president and senior geog raphy major, said many TEAC members are bicyclists and want to help out in any way they can. “This is a good day ... to remind people there are other ways to get around besides driving,” Thomp son said. She also said the day will serve to increase the sensitivity of non bicyclists toward bicyclists. “This day is a positive thing for the community,” she said. “A lot of students and people ride bikes, and it is not always safe or easy.” Gary Varner, a BVC member and A&M philosophy professor, said he rides his bicycle to work every day and does not even have a parking space on campus. He said that because he lives only a mile from campus, bicycling is the fastest and most convenient mode of transportation to work. More people in the Bryan-Col lege Station area would ride their bicycles, Mueller said, if they felt the activity was safe. To that end, College Station has implemented a bicycle safety plan, See Biking, Page 5