Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1996)
The Battalion olume 103 • Issue 22 • 12 Pages Tuesday, October 1, 1996 The Batt Online: http://bat-web.tamu.edu Wire Reports ig a three-gawg niversity ofTe: /, the Texas AMI n had no ae 20th-ranl:c(l eled to the Ui®i na on Frida)' looners 8-15, Iji extend their nig ven matches, mers (9-3)iiaii :utive matches, the way for AMI nior outside 1: dsrud with23tt e blocker Page imore outside ora added li ior setter Farafc! i 53 assists for As! ’olicy revisions limit m-campus vendors Freshmen to cast votes Class of VO to select class president, Senate members By Wesley Poston The Batialion Campus vendors have been limited in ir merchandising activities by revi- ns to Texas A& M’s concessions policy. The revisions, established by the Uni- sity Concessions Committee, now Iee related editorial, Page il 30-1 f cus Robertso ting-related eje:- rs’ errors came Mel Gray fun rne Edge’s first opening series me right bad: •wart on a 16 with only iM s later, George, h 47 yards,ft Hsavsky rs turned -yard field goal, e play after Bui Del Greco's I/- tempt, Tomczai r ards) abandoned! md-dunk styled inson on a62-| play to make it 11 !6 gone, med in perfect le Oilers' s/detej e pass, but lota /e him to make hook off own 1 he Steelers’ s season. istrain the partnerships often formed tween commercial vendors and Texas M student organizations. Dennis Busch, assistant director for cial event facilities, university cen- manager and a member of the con- sions committee, said the revisions overzealous vendors. The driving force behind it (the re ions) was a number of staff reacting an abuse by some vendors,” he said, has been a problem for several , but we were just now able to put m ars, some policy into effect.” Some vendors were setting up shop every day with huge inventories, no overhead and no rent, Busch said. All student organizations are al lowed to sell merchandise on campus five days out of a 30-day period. Busch said some organizations al lowed commercial vendors to sell in their place for a share of the profit. Vendors associated with several orga nizations to sell their goods to stu dents several days each week. Vendors then had an unfair advan tage over University businesses, Busch said. “In a fair market sense it was not right,” he said. Former policy required a student representative from the organization to be at the merchant’s table. See Vendors, Page 5 By Brandon Hausenfluck The Battalion Texas A&M freshmen will cast their votes today to name this year’s leaders of the Class of ’00. Polls open at 8 a.m. at the Memorial Student Center, Sterling Evans Library, Commons Lobby, the Student Recreation Center, the Underground, and Zachry. They close at 6 p.m. At least 15 freshmen are running for class president, 12 for vice president, nine for treasurer, six for secretary, five for social sec retary and three for historian. Thirty-four freshman are running to fill seven seats on the Student Senate. Sammy Mobarak, a member of the stu dent government election commission and junior biomedical science major, said high candidate turnout is common for student elections at A&M. “This is pretty much normal for fresh man elections,” Mobarak said. “We are most likely going to have a runoff.” Mobarak said voter turnout for fresh man elections has been on the rise at A&M for several years. Currently about 10 percent of freshmen vote, the highest turnout in the nation. Jason James, election commissioner and a junior computer science major, said freshmen need take advantage of the opportunity to vote. “We will be posting fliers on campus so freshmen will remember to vote,” James said. “We’re trying to get the fresh man class involved.” Mobarak said the voting process will be quick and easy. "All they will have to do is fill out a Scant ron and give their I.D. to the people at the sites,” Mobarak said. “It’s going to be a real easy process, and we’re going to have enough people manning each site so hopefully it’s not going to get too crowded.” Election results will be announced at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Sul Ross Stat ue in front of the Academic Building. Freshman Elections Polling □ MSC dj Commons Lobby G Recreation Center G Underground Up Zachry [J Evans Library ntil The Decide : it. i program: ogram, H. you. ess Assessed' ^/er 6 weeks jragemenf :eed. Big Thanks Pat James, The Battalion Parker Brill, a junior international studies major, signs a giant thank you card addressed to the Texas A&M faculty. The card is sponsored by MSC Hospitality and will be on display in the MSC Flagroom. Brushy Creek residents, A&M struggle to reach settlement By Melissa Nunnery The Battalion Negotiations broke down between Texas A&M and resi dents of the Brushy Creek community Wednesday when both sides realized a settlement would not be reached in the near future. Dr. A1 Schaffer, A&M professor emeritus of sociology and treasurer of Residents Opposed to Pigs and Livestock (ROPL), said attorneys for both sides will meet with a feder al district judge in Houston Wednesday. The parties will identify major issues, he said, and the judge will make recommendations to help bring them closer to a settlement. “If there’s no settlement, the only alternative left is a tri al,” Schaffer said. “We don’t look forward to it. It will post pone settlement into next year, but people out here (Brushy Creek) are desperate. Our backs are against the wall.” Jim Ashlock, director of University Relations, said the University wants to avoid a trial. “It’s a matter now of reporting the situation back to the judge and explaining we’ve gone as far as we can go and have been unable to reach a final resolution,” Ashlock said. ROPL filed suit against the University in August 1995 to stop construction on A&M’s Animal Science Teaching and Research Center (ASTREC) on Highway 60. ROPL’s originally charged the University with “environ mental racism” and violating the Clean Water Act. Schaffer said residents are concerned with water contamination, the smell of the animals and the flies they and their manure would attract, and the devalua tion of neighborhood property. See Settlement, Page 5 A&M ranks 5th in efficiency By Ann Marie Hauser The Battalion Students are getting their money’s worth at Texas A&M. A&M was ranked the fifth “most ef ficient” national university by U.S. News and World Report for the second year in a row. A&M outranked the University of Texas and Baylor University. Dr. Ray M. Bowen, A&M president, said A&M’s tuition and fees are inex pensive when compared to other na tional universities. Today’s success can be attributed to good planning in the past, Bowen said. “We’re benefiting today from good decisions made over 10, 20, 30 years ago,” Bowen said. “I’m a short-termer, and I claim no credit.” Bowen said he is taking steps now to benefit future generations. Each university’s efficiency ranking was based on the relationship between the cost and quality of education. Bunny Heard, a junior speech communications major, said her ed ucation is costworthy. “I feel like I’m getting a good educa tion for the money my parents are paying,” Heard said. Some students feel they are receiving more than an acad emic education for the money they pay. Leo Sifuentes, a senior business analysis major, said A&M offers more than a good education. “I think it (the ranking) is an understatement,” Sifuentes said. “Not only are you getting an ed ucation, you’re getting an envi ronment that induces cama raderie and friendship.” Kelly Liles, a senior manage ment major, said employers will hire A&M graduates because they have a sense of loyalty and togetherness, which does not shown up on surveys. “You can’t measure the intangible character and integrity we also learn here,” Liles-said. The evaluation is U.S. News and World Report’s second in a series of “America’s Best Colleges” for 1997. The magazine provides this survey to give future college students and WorM Reports R10ST EFFICIENT SCHOOLS Institutions that rank Highest in aeatiamfc quality in relation to what they sqentl nor student on educational urograms NATIONAL UNiVERSITitS 1. University ef Illinois at Urftana-CfcampalBB 2. University at Texas at Austin 3. SUSY Ceilega at BlngNamtan 4. college at William and Mary (¥a.) 5. Texas A&M at college Station S. Baylor university (Texas) 1. Henna state University 8. Pennsylvania State Univ. at Main Camnns 9. Miami University at extern (owe) 10. Annum university at Main Campus (Ala.) their families “another perspective on college costs.” Bowen said A&M has a commit ment to continue the excellence. “We are committed to providing our students a high-quality educa tion in a highly cost-effective man ner, and that means always striving to be exceptionally good stewards of the resources entrusted to us,” Bowen said in a press release. HE Battalion TODAY >d Pres- uscular d Body t apply jeted on 5d. OdJ 'ec Center f( ninutes. Only lembers Member) : nl system fort® esting lonored Few jut former students ere inducted into ie Corps of Cadets all of Honor. Aggielife, Page 3 ejection iddle blocker Cindy mderWoude is the /M Volleyball Team's Peking specialist. Sports, Page 7 oving On gar: The Spirit of gieland lives on at nfire even after agedy. Opinion, Page 11 Directors delete ‘GO’ from scoreboards By Wesley Poston The Battalion The new third-deck scoreboards at Kyle Field have lost a word since they were first installed. On Friday evening of the first yell practice, the panels on ei ther side of the score section read, “aTm GO AGGIES.” By kickoff on Saturday, they read, “aTm AGGIES.” Wally Groff, athletic director, said the panels were de livered with the signs already in place. They were installed before the first yell practice. When Groff returned and saw the newly installed signs ,he said they needed to be corrected. The panels, he explained, are for advertising and will eventually be sold. Nothing was ordered to fill the spaces. Groff said he supposes the company put the ‘GO AG GIES’ signs in as a courtesy. “Instead of calling and asking us, they just made the signs,” he said. Billy Pickard, assistant director for athletic facilities, said the company assumed the common shout “go” would apply to Texas A&M. “‘Go’ doesn’t work,” he said. “It was a very simple pro cedure to get it off there.” The maintenance crew reached over the top of the third-deck wall to get to the signs, Pickard said. They unscrewed the tops of the signs, slid the panels out, peeled off the adhesive Gs and Os and slid the panels back in. Groff said the company just did not understand that is not how Aggies do things. “If they had asked, we would have told them,” he said. Rony Angkriwan, The Battalion The panels of the third-deck scoreboards at Kyle Field had to be changed from "aTm GO AGGIES" to "aTm AGGIES." Silver Taps ■ The solemn Silver Taps ceremony will be conducted in front of the Acade mic Building tonight at 10:30 p.m. in memory of Gregory Christopher White. White, a sophomore civil engineer ing major, died Sept. 22 in an auto mobile accident while returning to campus from the Bonfire cut site. In keeping with the tradition of Silver Taps, which dates back almost a centu ry, the campus will be hushed and dark ened at 10:20 p.m. as students gather in the Academic plaza. The Ross Vol unteers honor guard will march across campus to the plaza, where its mem bers will fire a volley salute. Buglers from the Aggie Band then will play a special arrange ment of "Taps." The tolling of the Albritton Tower bells sig nals the end of the ceremony.