April 25,19%
nade ludicrous
but I am of the
Chicago will not
tern Conference
happen. Pat Hi-
ardry willy
to at least one
ist the Bulls.
Is, the Cavalien
ill wear Jordan
to the point that
?nny Hardaway
Ps supremacy as
.he East. I’ll say
vu in the Finals
nd Magic lockinj
k around, thinjs
cresting.
Aggiepalooza ’96
j\ Texas World Speedway
may host Lollapalooza '96.
AGGIELIFE, PAGE 3
The Battalion will be printed only
on Tuesday and Friday of next week
because of reading days and finals.
A&M-UT
Aggies' hopes ride
series.
JmsT SPORTS, PAGE 7 t
®The Battalion
hi 102, No. 138 (12 pages)
Serving Texas A&M University Since 1893
Friday • April 26, 1996
i spro
to
n 1997
t (AP) - The
:ing the popii-
/omen’s game,
irt a new pro
■ue for them it :
1997.
arking on the
rissioner David
fter the
Affirmative action focus of forum
Students feel race, legacy should carry equal weight at A&M
lyTara Wilkinson
’he Battalion
Texas A&M students voiced
heir opinions for and against af-
irmative action Thursday, sev-
ral asserting that if race as an
dmissions criterion is made ille-
1, legacy should be too.
The Texas A&M Student Sen
te hosted an affirmative action
jrum for a two-fold purpose: to
rovide students an opportunity
o get their questions answered
nd to provide the Senate stu-
Bent feedback on a developing
ffirmative action resolution.
The forum, moderated by Eliot
[erlin, a student senator and ju-
ior finance major, was held in
the MSC Flagroom. Panel mem
bers included Ruth Prescott, spe-
dal assistant to the executive vice
resident and provost in the Of
fice of the Academic Vice Presi
dent, and Scott Kelly, A&M assis
tant general counsel.
The recent U.S. 5th Circuit
Court of Appeals decision in Hop-
wood Vs. State of Texas stated
that using race as a criterion for
admissions is illegal. But last
week, a stay was placed on the de
cision pending the U.S. Supreme
Court’s hearing the case.
The Senate resolution states
its opposition to the Hopwood
decision and its support for the
stay. But Kerlin said the Senate
wants student feedback before
drafting a final version.
Josh Hennessey, a business
senator and freshman account
ing and finance major, and Abby
Mudroch, an off-campus senator
and sophomore history major,
said they are both opposed to as
pects of affirmative action.
Hennessey said affirmative
action is not the right way to go
about achieving much-needed di
versity and equality. He said the
government needs to stop con
sidering race a special condition.
“Affirmative action will not
end racism,” he said. “But when
you end affirmative action, it
will creative a definite equality
of government.”
Mudroch said that affirma
tive action detracts from the
idea of equality by focusing on
differences.
“You look at little kids and
they don’t realize there is a differ
ence between people,” Mudroch
said. “But affirmative action tells
them there is a difference.”
Several students said that if
the Hopwood decision is ulti
mately upheld and affirmative
action is removed from the ad
missions process, it would be un
fair not to remove legacy as well.
Several admissions points are
awarded to applicants with rela
tives who have attended A&M,
which some say puts white stu
dents at an advantage over mi
nority students whose family
members were barred from the
University for generations.
Currently, a maximum of six
points can be given to an appli
cant for legacy and a maximum
of six for race.
“The principle we would like
to hold to is to give the same
number of points for ethnicity or
race as for legacy,” Prescott said.
Taniqua Nobles, a freshman
business major, said if race as a
criterion is eliminated, considering
legacy would be discriminatory.
See Forum, Page 5
Race just one element
considered for admission
By Jamie Wilkinson
The Battalion
Many white Texas A&M stu
dents support the concept of a
racially diverse campus but are
uncomfortable with the idea
that, all other criteria being
equal, a minority student might
be given admissions preference
simply because of race.
Race is one criterion the
A&M admissions board uses
when making its decisions — a
criterion that has drawn much
scrutiny because of the recent
5th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap
peals decision in Hopwood vs.
State of Texas.
The court initially ruled that
using ethnicity as an admis
sions criteria was unconstitu
tional, but then placed a stay
on the decision until the U.S.
Supreme Court decides
whether to hear the case.
Because of the stay, A&M is
allowed to continue its admis
sions and scholarships as usu
al, for the time being. But the
immediate result of the case is
that many students have begun
to question and debate the ad
missions process, and many
have declared their confusion
about how the system works.
See Admission, Page 5
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SHOOT IT!
Jaime Vina, a freshman computer science major, and Jim Forward, a freshman general studies major, play "Area 51" a
video game at the MSC between classes Thursday.
Seat shortage limits
graduation guests
By Courtney Walker
The Battalion
Northgate board
adds student rep
Aggies, Shapiro
talk via satellite
As graduation nears, fliers posted by
Spring graduates who are searching for
additional tickets for commencement
ceremonies begin to line Texas A&M
walls and bulletin boards.
Each graduating student is allotted
six free tickets for family and friends,
but many students complain that this is
not enough.
Anthony Albino, a graduating se
nior management major, said he has
made it known that he is scrapping for
tickets. Albino said he and many of
friends desperately need
eight to 10 tickets.
But since it is next to
impossible to acquire ex
tra tickets. Albino said he
will have to make due.
“If I can’t get tickets,
there isn’t a whole lot I
can do about it except in
vite people to the party
afterwards,” Albino said. ^
“It’s like a wedding and
reception. You can’t in
vite everyone to the wedding, but you
can invite everyone to the reception.”
Don Carter, Admissions and Records
registrar, said the administration un
derstands graduating students' con
cerns, but only six tickets can be guar
anteed to each student because of limit
ed seating in G. Rollie White Coliseum.
“We hear the complaints, and they
are legitimate,” Carter said. “But the
Coliseum has a fixed capacity, and for
safety reasons, we have to follow regula
tions. If there was an emergency, like a
fire or something, the University could
be held liable.”
Carter said administrators hate lim
iting the number of graduation tickets
issued because candidates should be
able to bring whomever they want. But
there is nothing the University can do
about it at this point, he said.
There is no way for students to re
ceive extra tickets besides swapping
with friends. Carter said, unless stu
dents who do not need all six of their
tickets return them.
“Most students usually pick up all six,”
Carter said. “Then, if
there are any left, they
swap them with friends.”
Students can check at
the MSC Box Office to
see if any tickets are left,
but Carter said extras
" \ are rarely available.
Ryan McCoy, a senior
ff ' ' construction science ma-
' jor, said six tickets are
not enough for his fami
ly, but he realizes noth
ing can be done until graduation is held
in a different facility.
Fortunately for future graduates,
Steven Hodges, special events facilities
director, said graduation seating prob
lems will be alleviated in time for De
cember 1997 ceremonies.
The Reed Arena, an all-events center,
will seat 10,500 people, not counting
See Tickets, Page 12
By Marissa Alanis
The Battalion
To represent the Texas A&M
tudent body, the College Sta
tion City Council last night ap
pointed Andrew Pavlinski, a
ophomore environmental de
ign major, to the Northgate Re-
italization Board.
The Northgate Revitalization
Board, created on March 28,
lerves as a link to the council,
Jfering advice on the implemen-
ation of specific projects in the
Northgate area. Among the
loard members are several
Northgate merchants.
Pavlinski, a College Station
resident of 16 years, was among
stall 3 ’
study
seven appli
cants who ap
plied for the
two-year ap
pointment.
The applica
tion required
that the stu
dent be en
rolled at
A&M, either
as an under
graduate or
graduate, and be a resident of
College Station.
Todd McDaniel, Northgate
project coordinator and a senior
economic development analyst,
See Northgate, Page 2
By Courtney Walker
The Battalion
Pavlinski
For almost a year, the O.J. Simpson case made
headlines across the country as America debated
whether Simpson was guilty or innocent of killing
his ex-wife.
Robert Shapiro, a defense attorney for the Simp
son case, told students from 28 colleges around the
nation during a Thursday satellite conference that
the landmark Simpson murder trial offers a lesson
for everyone.
A&M students participated in the event from a
room in the Wehner Building on West Campus.
Two other colleges connected for the teleconference
were The University of Houston and Texas Christ
ian University.
The teleconference was the last of a four-part series
See Shapiro, Page 12
ipeaker shows humor as stress tool for women
By Eleanor Colvin
he Battalion
How to humorously cope with sexist
anguage, sexual harassment and the
tivisibility of women in the fields of sci-
! Uce and engineering was addressed by
)r. Sue Geller, a Texas A&M professor
mathematics, last night in an enter-
aining presentation to the Women in
dence and Engineering.
Geller, who is the first tenured full
professor in the A&M Department of
Mathematics, devises ways to use humor
to handle stressful situations such as fac
ulty meetings, where she is often over
looked because she is the only woman.
“We cannot keep our lives stress
free,” Geller said in a recent press re
lease. “However, we can choose how to
respond. I’ve found that responding
with humor not only releases tension
but diffuses some situations that could
escalate unpleasantly.”
Geller began using skits in 1990 to
illustrate the “micro inequities” in the
world of science, with the goal of creat
ing awareness of ways to stop perpetu
ating these problems.
Gerardo Ortiz, a sophomore bioengi
neering major, said Geller’s presenta
tion altered his perceptions because he
was not aware of the severity of gender
discrimination in higher education and
See Humor, Page 12
A&M trustee dies in plane crash
By Lily Aguilar
The Battalion
A trustee for Texas A&M’s Develop
ment Foundation died Thursday when
the private plane he was flying
crashed in a field near the Expressway
Airport in Oklahoma City.
Richard A. Willi
ford,Class of ’55,
and his wife, Mol-
lie B. Williford,
were en route from
Tulsa to Oklahoma
City when the
plane crashed.
Mollie Williford,
who was the only
passenger on the
flight other than
her husband, sur
vived the crash and
was released from Integris Baptist
Medical Center Thursday evening.
Williford, a resident of Tulsa, was
the chairman of the Development
Foundation in 1994. He was also chair
of the “Capturing the Spirit” Cam
paign for the College of Geosciences.
He served as a board member for
the Twelfth Man Foundation and the
Association of Former Students, of
which he was president in 1989.
Jim Palincsar, the foundation’s vice
Williford
president for development, said he
knew Williford both as a professional
and a friend. Palincsar said Williford
was dedicated and selfless in his ef
forts to better A&M.
“We are deeply saddened by the
passing of Mr. Williford, and on be
half of the Development Foundation,
our prayers go out to the family,” Pal
incsar said. “He provided great lead
ership, great insight and a vision for
Texas A&M.”
Palincsar said Williford will be
missed, and his contributions to the
University will be remembered. He
said Williford loved A&M and serving
the University.
Eddie J. Davis, president of the
A&M Development Foundation, said
Williford will be remembered as a
statesman and for his positive outlook
on A&M.
“He will be missed in terms of his
leadership and in terms of his generos
ity,” Davis said.
The Willifords’ commitment to the
University was exemplified by their
endowment of the Williford Professor
ship in Petroleum Geology in the Col
lege of Geosciences and Maritime
Studies.
For information about funeral
arrangements, contact the Develop
ment Foundation at 845-8161.