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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 1996)
olume 103 • Issue 28 • 12 Pages teshmen By Marissa Alanis The Battalion A “disappointing” num- r of freshmen cast their tes Tuesday to elect this ar’s leaders of the Class ’00. The winners of the six tshman class council po- ions were decided by the 8 freshmen who voted in esday’s runoff election, he results were an- lunced Tuesday night at eAcademic Plaza. Jason Jaynes, election mmissioner and a junior computer science major, said he is pleased with the runoff elections and thinks the candidates were elect ed fairly. Jaynes said the new lead ers will play an important role on campus and need to meet the goals they set for themselves and the class. “I would just say to keep the same motivation and enthusiasm that they used in order to gain their office,” Jaynes said. Lauren Gordon, the newly elected social secre tary and a freshman sports Wednesday, October 9, 1996 The Batt Online: http://bat-web.tamu.edu elect leaders in runoffs management major, said she was confident and ex cited throughout the runoff campaign. “I didn’t give up,” Gordon said. “I just thought good thoughts.” Mike Lemonds, a fresh man political science major who was elected president, said the encouragement he received in his campaign was surprising. “You wouldn’t believe the amount of support I got from friends and even peo ple in my classes that I did n’t even know well,” Lemonds said. Lemonds said he cam paigned with the newly elected vice president, Jere my Poland, to take a friendly approach to their cam paigns. He said this made the two-man team more personable. “I think Jeremy and I work well together and cam paign well,” Lemonds said. “Hopefully we’ll make every body proud.” Amee Penner, a fresh man business major, said everyone has a responsibil ity to vote. “It is our responsibility as a class to vote for our offi cers because they our are leaders,” Penner said. Lemonds said he was surprised at how few peo ple were aware of the runoff election. Kelly McMillan, a fresh man agribusiness major, said the election commis sion should improve its election publicity by reach ing out to students who do not live on campus. “They could get off-cam- pus students involved more,” McMillan said. “They only way I knew about it was from The Batt.” Lemonds said low voter turnout at the general election prompted candi dates to focus their cam paigns on encouraging freshmen to vote. “All throughout, I think all the candidates encour aged people to vote no mat ter who they voted for,” Lemonds said. In runoff elections, the winner must receive the plurality of the vote, which is one vote more than the opponent. Class of ’00 Runoff Results President Mike Lemmonds Vice President Jeremy Poland Secretary Brandy Stockton Social Secretary Lauren Gordon Treasurer Heather Johnson Historian Sally Turner Coming Out Week Gays, lesbians unite in groups By Wesley Poston The Battalion Coming Out Week began Mon day with programs sponsored by Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Aggies (GLBA), and Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. T. Bradley, GLBA president and a junior political science major, said the group was established 10 years ago following a 10-year court battle for recognition at Texas A&M. “Our underlying reason is to be a support network for gay, lesbian and bisexual Aggies,” Bradley said. Bradley said about 50 people attended GLBA’s first meeting and total membership ranges from 50 to 75 people. The organization is not composed of just homosexu als, she said. “A lot of people will come be cause they have friends who are gay,” Bradley said. Grace Latour, a freshman at Southwest Texas State University, is a member of OutYouth Austin, an organization for homosexuals ages 22 and under. Latour told her “coming out” sto ry to GLBA members at a forum Monday night. She said coming out begins within. “I asked myself every day if I was gay,” Latour said. “It was always no. It was the summer before my sophomore year (at Austin High) that I came out to myself.” Latour said the process would have been easier if she knew other homosexuals shared the same com ing out fears. Schoolmates harassed and abused her because of her sexual orientation, she said. “I lost my friends for awhile just because they weren’t comfortable with it,” Latour said. Renee Buck, Latour’s mother, said her immediate reaction was to alleviate the anxiety her daughter felt about the decision. “When she first came out to me my first thought was, ‘There’s prob ably a group for that,”’ Buck said. But Buck said efforts to organize a support group within the high school were met with opposition by the principal. “I think he was appalled that we even asked,” she said. Buck said she eventually went to the school board and public interest led to an appearance by Latour on the Phil Donahue Show. Buck said her efforts were suc cessful because the organization was formed. “We got what we wanted,” she said. “We got a support group.” Ken Burchett, GLBA vice presi dent and a civil engineering gradu ate student, said the experiences shared show the bravery of those who had come out. “You need to know the courage that’s being shown here,” he said. Coming Out Week Events: • ALLIES, an A&M organization supporting the homosexual com munity, will present the movie, “Private Journeys, Public Stands: Heterosexual Allies Take a Stand For Gay Rights.” Wednesday, 12 p.m., Koldus Governance room. • Former student and mem ber of the Corps of Cadets Phyl lis Frye will discuss “Transgen der Issues.” Wednesday, 7-8:15 p.m., 401 Rudder. • Dottie Currie of Planned Par enthood will discuss “No-Fault Homophobia.” Thursday, 7-8:15, Koldus Governance. • Lara Linett, an Austin musi cian, will perform at the Brazos Valley Unitarian-Universalist Fel lowship Church, 305 Wellborn Road, which will be set up as a coffee house to benefit coming out week events. Friday, 8 p.m., $4 at the door, coffee and pastries provided. Bone By Ann Marie Hauser The Battalion Students may register to be bOne-marrow donors on campus today from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the lobby of the Joe Reynolds Medical Building. The drive is sponsored by the Scott & White Mar row Donor Program and Texas A&M University Health Science Center College of Medicine. Debbie Mabry, coordinator of the Scott & White marrow donor program, said giving blood has a signif icant impact on donors and recipients. “It’s a life-changing event because they (donors) were able to give a gift to someone in the world that no one else could give them,” Mabry said. People ages 18 to 55 can register to be marrow, donors. Registering to be a donor involves giving two vials of blood. One vial is tested for the first level of antigens and the results are entered in the computerized reg istry at the national headquarters in Minneapolis. The second vial is stored for future testing if a match is found. sought Patients with blood cancers like leukemia and lym phoma search the registry for a tissue match. Katosha Belvin of the National Marrow Donor Pro gram in Minneapolis said the on-campus drive is a convenient way for students to donate. Minority do nations are currently a top priority, she said. See Marrow, Page 10 National Marrow Donor Program Minority Statistics since 1987 : marrow donors he Battalion TODAY hst Call fnjan Natarajan ys goodbye to Ag- pland, his home for ven years. Aggie life, Page 3 eady to Roll charged Aggies ready hew challenge this iekend in Troy Davis d Iowa State. Sports, Page 7 ut the Bull iller: Aggies are sessed with desig ning everything as od or bad bull. Opinion, Page 11 A&M women take 97 Class Council by storm By Michael Landauer The Battalion For the first time in Texas A&M history, the se nior class council is com posed solely of women. Courtney Lyons, class vice president and a senior English major, said voters did not purposefully choose an all-women council. “I don’t know if people were consciously choosing women as much as they were looking for a change from the norm,” Lyons said. “People, I think, were looking for a new type of leadership, and they found it in us.” K.C. Allan, class presi dent and a senior account ing major, said the mem bers pay little attention to the milestone despite the council’s unique make up. “A great deal of atten tion has been directed to ward our accomplishment, especially by alumni, but it is not even an issue on '97 Class Council,” Allan said. “Initially, we were excited about it. Now, we are charging ahead with our goals. “We want our legacy to be ‘the first class council to raise $97,000’ or ‘the most motivated class council in history’, not the first all-fe male senior class council.” Jenny Martin, class secre tary and a senior agricultur al economics major, said the members of the council are too busy to think about the fact that they are making A&M history. “When we first got elected it was a big deal, but now we’re too busy to worry about it,” Martin said. “I don’t think any of us see it as being all girls — we’re just trying to get the job done.” Lyons said the council is conducted in a manner re flecting the members dedi cation to it. “We are a little more emotionally attached to what we are doing,” Lyons said. “To us, it is not just a job, it is something that we care about very deeply. I think that is evident by the way we run our council.” The council was elected last spring and will hold its second general meeting tonight in 401 Rudder Tow er at 6:30 p.m. Planning Ring Dance, Elephant Walk and the class gift are only a few of the senior class council’s responsibilities. “These objectives com- See Women, Page 10 Bring in the clowns Dole delivers Clinton criticism LYNDHURST, NJ. (AP) — Under stormy skies, Bob Dole sharpened his criticism of President Clinton on Tuesday and promised to hit harder on the administra tion’s ethical controversies in their next debate. “Bozo's on his way out,” Dole said of his rival. Dole targeted Clinton’s integrity in two fiery speeches before rains from storm Josephine cut short his New Jersey bus tour and chased the GOP nominee back to his Washington campaign headquarters. “His word's no good. My word is good and I’ll keep my promises to the American people,” Dole said, telling voters not to be lieve Clinton’s line that the GOP ticket would cut Medicare to pay for tax cuts. “Who is this guy? What does he know about it? What does he know about benefits? What does he know about Medicare,” Dole demanded at a misty early-morning rally. One man in the crowd shouted to Dole as he shook hands, “Please get Bozo out of the White House.” Dole called back, “Bozo’s on his way out!” Dole spokesman Nelson Warfield sought to play down the offhand remark as a “light moment along the ropeline.” But it recalled the final weeks of President Bush’s 1992 los ing campaign when Bush referred to Clinton and A1 Gore as “two bozos” who had less foreign policy expertise than a dog. Clinton deputy campaign manager Ann Lewis took note of Sunday's civil debate between the presidential rivals and added, “I guess this means the era of civility last ed a day and a half.” She said Dole’s remark was “particularly glaring” given that the GOP nominee had chided Clinton on Sunday for referring to Bush during the 1992 debates as “Mr. Bush” rather than “Mr. President.” White House spokesman Mike McCurry added, “It’s not hard to imagine that Sena tor Dole might be feeling a little desperate at this point.”