The Battalion
olume 103 • Issue 4 • 18 Pages
Thursday, September 5, 1996
The Batt Online: http://bat-web.tamu.edu
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FITS suspends permit sales
By Wes Swift
The Battalion
Texas A&M students try
ing to purchase commuter
and resident parking passes
should start getting friendly
with the bus system.
On Wednesday, the De
partment of Parking, Transit
and TYansportation Services
put a two-week moratorium
sxpmiB o-ver
on the sale of three types of
parking passes to ensure
that the department does
not oversell the permits.
Students cannot buy
commuter, resident or park-
and-ride passes until Sept.
16. Those students who pur
chased permits prior to
Wednesday will still be al
lowed to pick them up.
Tom Williams, PTTS di
rector, said the moratorium
will allow PTTS officials to
study'the parking situation
and make sure there are
enough parking spaces for
students.
Parking lots are already
filling up, Williams said, and
the two-week break will al
low the parking situation to
"settle down" and allow offi
cials to determine how
many parking permits,
should be sold.
"We aren’t going to
oversell the system,”
Williams said. “We will
continue to push our bus
system as a way for stu
dents to get to campus.”
Historically, PTTS has
sold 46,000 commuter per
mits, 225 park-and-ride per
mits and 4,700 resident
parking permits.
Using the bus system,
Williams said, will help
ease campus traffic, which
is already congested be
cause of construction.
Also, students will not be
allowed to exchange bus
“We will con
tinue to push
our bus system
as a way for
students to get
to campus.”
Tom Williams
PTTS director
passes for any of the three
types of passes..
But Williams emphasized
that students who have al
ready purchased a permit
will still have one.
"We’re going to honor
our commitments,” he said.
News of the moratorium,
however, did not sit well
with students ready to pur
chase permits.
One student waiting to
buy a permit in Rudder
Lobby grumbled that the
move was part of a con
spiracy to give him more
parking tickets.
Another student, when
told about the moratorium,
quipped: “So are y’all going
to pay for all the tickets I’m
going to get?”
Later Wednesday after
noon, a long line stretched
out of the PTTS office in the
John J. Koldus Student Ser
vices Building. Many stu
dents in the line waiting to
buy permits were dismayed
to hear of the moratorium.
James Stokes, a senior
recreation, parks and
tourism sciences major,
said the moratorium is
unnecessary.
“They haven’t ever done
this before, have they?,” he
said. "They have all these
(commuter) lots, and now
they say they’re not going to
sell anymore?”
Tuition to increase
over next four years
Revenue will be used to improve academic environment
By Brandon Hausenfluck
The Battalion
In an attempt to soothe
the sore shoulders of the
state Legislature from the
burden of supporting public
universities, the green light
has been given for Texas
A&M administrators to in
crease fees.
Effective this fall, the cost
of tuition for resident under
graduates at A&M will in
crease by $2 per semester
credit hour each year until
the year 2000.
This semester, tuition
jumped from $30 to $32 dol
lars per semester credit hour.
By the turn of the century, tu
ition will be $40 per semester
credit hour.
Administrators say this in
crease will not boost the Uni
versity’s wealth, but it will
pick up the slack left from a
funding cut by the state.
Dr. Ray Bowen, A&M pres
ident, said the minimal in
crease will not cause a major
change in the University’s
budget.
"It (the increase) will only
increase our budget by
around 1 percent,” Bowen
said. “But it is valuable mon
ey, and it will help cover the
inflation in the cost of run
ning the University.”
The revenue from the in
crease, Bowen said, will not
fund a pay raise for faculty,
but hopefully, it will be used
to improve the academic en
vironment on campus.
A&M is one of several uni
versities nationwide to raise
tuition costs.
Steve Oberhelman,
speaker of the Faculty Sen
ate, said students should
not feel they have been tak
en advantage of.
“It’s (the tuition increase)
part of a trend nationally to
have the users of the universi
ties pay their fair share of the
cost,” Oberhelman said. “The
cost increases are because of
inflation and infrastructure
decay, and legislators have
made it clear that students
need to pay their part.”
Tuition at A&M is one of
the least expensive in the
country.
Barry Thompson, Texas
A&M University System
chancellor, said the in
crease should not have a
long-term impact on stu
dents and their families.
"We are trying to preserve
the quality of the University’s
system,” Thompson said.
“Students and their families
are having to take up more
and more slack as the state
decreases it’s funding, but I
think there will be a rest peri
od after this increase has
been made.”
Dan Parker, associate
provost for finance, said that
in Fiscal Year 1996, A&M’s
budget was about $624 mil
lion. The tuition increase will
only add about $3 million in
fiscal year 1997.
, though, are
ng actmde<
’layboy models hold
tutograph session
Wesley Poston
The Battalion
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also teacl
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’hing.
goals inclu
ive, 25- tolltwas not exactly the Playboy
ish from iansion, but an enormous crowd
ivers. ftt a glimpse of the famous men’s
all I get arepagazine when two models auto-
j|aphed copies at a College Station
wsic store.
'IThe line at Hastings Books, Mif-
c and Video formed well before
|e4 p.m. starting time and soon
■| bund its way through the shelves
Icomputer games.
Those in line were waiting to meet
students and Playboy models
" llary Schatz and Nikki Willis and
,ve their copies autographed.
Schatz and Willis were models
rthe magazine’s “Women of the
g 12’’ issue, which was released
jig. 26.
g I Pearl Jam’s new album, No Code,
Plus
eeping
oOpen
ks Free
:e Fee
Inquir-
each
-$l
pies of
c assessed
wafted from the speakers as the
two women sat between displays of
Star Trek merchandise and Hal
loween greeting cards, signing
three issues a minute.
Don Donovan, newsstand mar
keting director for Playboy Enter
prises Inc., said 300 to 400
customers were expected to attend
the two-hour promotion.
Donovan said the Playboy area
wholesaler for Bryan-College Sta
tion typically orders 1,800 copies
each month for distribution. But
6,000 to 6,500 copies were sent
this month.
Jamison Hulslander, the College
Station Hastings video manager,
said customers bought 450 copies
of the $4.95 magazine from the
store since it went on sale two
weeks ago.
See Playboy, Page 12
Dave House, The Battalion
apswait in line at Hastings to meet Playboy models and A&M stu-
ents Hillary Schatz and Nikki Willis.
Beatles for Sale
Rony Angkriwan, The Battalion
Darrah Daniel, who tours the Southwest selling posters, will be set up in front of the MSC
until Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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Aggielife, Page 3
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Sports, Page 13
rATioNiosy Politics
P Lend 4w- The United
11 fetes can not justify
693-1200 1 recent missile
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Opinion, Page 17
rf Commeftf
Williams strives
for campus unity
By Courtney Walker
The Battalion
When he’s not fulfilling
his duties as MSC president,
Chris Williams might be
found at the Wal-Mart Su-
perCenter toy section at 3
a.m. playing Barney Ball or
waking up Fish Camp lead
ers to milk cows at the Texas
A&M dairy farm.
Williams, a senior political
science and speech commu
nications major, said he
came to A&M as a shy fresh
man who did not know a soul
and spent the first month of
classes in his room.
But, his involvement in
student life soon brought
him out of his shell.
Jane Bailey, assistant to
the MSC director, said
Williams has a wonderful
sense of humor and he al
ways has a witty remark.
“He can walk in, catch the
end of a conversation and
think of something funny to
say,” Bailey said.
Now that Williams has
emerged from his shell and
into the role of a student
leader, he has not lost his
sense of humor and enjoys
his adventures and spon
taneity.
But, as MSC president,
Williams says helping A&M
students is his first priority.
“I can relate to students
because I have been where
they have been,” Williams
said. “I was scared and ner
vous as a freshman, saw the
possibilities as a sopho
more, tried it all as a junior
and focused as a senior.”
While at A&M, Williams
has been involved in numer
ous activities including Fish
Camp, Student Government
and MSC Political Forum.
“Fish Camp has been a
real big part of my life be
cause I remember my
sophomore year, my first
Southerland looks
for student input
Tim Moog, The Battalion
Chris Williams, MSC pres
ident, uses personal expe
riences to relate to student
See Williams, Page 12 concerns.
Gwendolyn Struve, The Battalion
Dr. J. Malon Southerland,
vice president for Student
Affairs, considers himself a
student advocate.
By Brandon Hausenfluck
The Battalion
Dr. J. Malon Southerland,
vice president for student
affairs at Texas A&M, is
known as a hardworking ad
ministrator and dedicated
mentor for the student body.
In the 60s, Southerland
was an A&M student in the
Corps of Cadets. He later
served as a counselor for the
University while earning his
master’s and doctorate de
grees. He also served in the
U.S. Army for two years in
West Germany.
Before becoming vice
president for student affairs
in September 1993, Souther
land held several adminis
trative positions including
counselor, assistant to the
vice president for student
services, assistant to the
president, interim comman
dant and head of the School
of Military Sciences.
In 1988, the Ross Volun
teer Company named
Southerland an “Honorary
Ross Volunteer,” only the
third person to receive this
designation.
Southerland said he
wants students to know he is
at A&M to serve them, and
he encourages and wel
comes input from the stu
dent body.
“One of my roles here is a
student advocate,” Souther
land said. “My door is al
ways open, and I will make
sure accessibility won’t be a
problem. It’s useful for ad
ministrators to help out if
students will let us know
what to do.”
Southerland’s job is time-
consuming and does not
end at 5 p.m.
Carl Baggett, student
body president and a senior
accounting major, said
Southerland works hard and
is dedicated to students.
See Input, Page 12