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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 1996)
Pagi November 11 s sn; gam The Battaeion i'/olume 103 * Issue 52 * 12 Pages Tuesday, November 12, 1996 The Batt Online: http://bat-web.tamu.edu !st Conference to focus on Hopwood decision By JoAnne Whittemore The Battalion EANS (AP)- not spent i the last vhy he was ini charge agaiif aiats on Sund; to missed lasvJThe impact of the Hopwood decision on njury, and par&ous Texas universities will be discussed ;k before, throlay at a conference hosted by Texas A&M ms — two in'TOsident Ray Bowen and Chancellor of the s— as the H Jniversity System Bany Thompson. Saints 31-14. |Dr. Lee Blank, assistant provost for con- ight us offgini ions improvement and conference co- back Markhrdinator, said the conference has two e knew theynain purposes. ig back in ;*“Number one is education,” Blank said, te quarterbaMe need to help representatives, senators an injury, end other officials understand the current A^ould trytor.md projected impact of Hopwood. The ght us offgua eiond purpose is to try to forge a state- e early." d< e agenda that would build a more level ilaying field for Texas with respect to ad- ^Hssions and financial aid.” oys ertim :isco (APj- rescued Troy the Dallas Cm her Aikmani ave been am ition, Stricklaa for him with; ilvis Grbac. , Aikman thre hdown andle o Chris Bonii il with 8:431 lay as the Cm ancisco 49eB: 4), in dany in postseasot lided a st nd ended al treak to Sa^ h both Wash hia losing % pulled wit® : C East lead. 'layed much ic at quarterbj rung, who was ; second quart Cheryl Hopwood and three other Uni versity of Texas Law School students filed suit with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court in March 1996. The law school’s separate admis sions process based on race and eth nicity prompted the students to claim reverse discrimination. The court ruled in their favor. All higher public institutions within the 5th Circuit, which includes Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, can no longer use race or ethnicity in admission and fi nancial-aid decisions. Blank said Louisiana and Mississippi were not affected as much as Texas be cause they were under a different type of desegregation order from the beginning. “The Hopwood decision didn’t really af fect them,” he said. “It left Texas quite vul- HOPWOOD FORUM m ** nerable so we are not as able to serve the citizenry of Texas who want to come into higher education in Texas.” Bowen said the decision has prompt ed the University to change some of its procedures. “We have altered slightly our admission criteria and modified our scholarship process as well,” he said. “I estimate the number of minority students [enrolling in the University] will go down.” Blank said financial aid will be a tremendous determining factor in mi nority enrollment. Minority students who were inadequately prepared for higher education will be at a disadvan tage because their high school and so cial background will not be taken into consideration, he said. “A lot of individuals may have not had a good learning opportunity in high school, so they didn’t take enough courses to pre pare them for college,” Blank said. “When their credentials are looked up, they’re not going to qualify. Before, other circum stances were taken into account, like schooling location and ethnicity.” Carl Baggett, student body president and a senior accounting major, said that al though the case has been decided, A&M students can still recruit minorities on an individual basis. “Aggies, regardless of what a court case says, can recruit minorities to the Universi ty,” Baggett said. “We’ve got to let them know two things. One, about A&M and its traditions, and two, what a great place it is ... A&M is a place built on students wanting to be Aggies.” The conference in Rudder Theatre will be divided into morning and afternoon sessions. The first session will focus on the conse quences of the Hopwood decision. The second session will address legislative and higher education options. Agenda building for the future will also be discussed. The discussions will be summarized at the end of the conference. Students stress concerns about services at forum Planting Life Ryan Rogers, The Battalion A.C. Mitchell, a Texas A&M employee, gives the landscaping a new look in front of the Academic Building Monday afternoon. >rs 845- Rudder undergoes shack attack Habitat for Humanity constructs city for fund raising, awareness 59/70 1 By Marika Cook The Battalion tion to the nchanted l<oc ibersl Our sekend by chniques and B It is common to see students in $ equipment, limping out on campus for uruction. -5|orts tickets, but a group of stu nts are camping out tonight to ■crease awareness for under- Jivileged housing. I 1 Habitat for Humanity’s Shack- # a-thon participants will constmct r 9/559 a “Shack City” tonight at Rudder down to || un tain with the help of 11 oth- i dise CozuT er student organizations, s beautifulclj Ryan Tram, president of the 's warm whitfpas A&M chapter of Habitat for uyan ruins. Humanity and a senior biomed ical science major, said awareness is a necessity for students. “We live in Aggieland. We don’t see shacks except on TV,” he said. “People really do live like this.” The Shack-a-thon groups will occupy their shack for 24 hours. MSC regulations permit only Habitat to remain at Rud der Fountain until Friday to minimize clutter. “Ironically, University officials thought it would be an eyesore on campus,” Tram said. Kate McKeon, vice president of Habitat and a junior civil engi neering major, said she is excited about the support they received from other organizations. “We have a wide variety of or ganizations shacking with us,” McKeon said. “We tried to get every group we could get our hands on, but ended up having to turn some groups away. Now we need support from students.” Students are encouraged to drop by the Shack City to ask questions about Habitat for Hu manity and substandard hous ing conditions. For $1, they can “sponsor-a-stud” by engraving their name on a stud to be used in the next Habitat house or on a roofing nail. Habitat is giving other organi zations cardboard to build their shack with. “They can build anything they want, design and paint it,” McKeon said. “After it’s over, we’re giving the cardboard to EIC (Environmental Issues Committee) to recycle.” See Shack, Page 6 By Wesley Poston The Battalion Child care, parking, and food is sues were addressed in an open fo rum Monday night as students di rected their concerns and questions toward Texas A&M Uni versity department directors. Mary Miller, associate vice presi dent for finance and administration, said their department’s goal is to sup port the academic mission of A&M. “We’re totally a support and ser vice division,” she said. “Our goal is to make everyone’s job, including yours as students, as hassle free as possible.” Child care for students and fac ulty is scheduled to become avail able next fall, Miller said. The facil ity will care for 120 to 130 children full time and 50 part time. “If our demand exceeds our ca pacity, as we expect, we’re not go ing to go on a first-come-first-serve basis,” Miller said. Before implementing the first- come-first-served system, the chil dren will be selected randomly in a lottery system. This way the num ber of children of faculty, staff and students will be equal, Miller said. “After that initial lottery, we’ll start a first-come-first-served wait ing list,” she said. Separate waiting lists for stu dents and faculty will be created so the service can be balanced be tween the two, Miller said. Tom Williams, Parking, Traffic and Transportation director, ad dressed parking, bus service and safety issues brought up by the students. “Our main goal is to provide parking,” he said. Williams said PTTS attempts to provide on-campus residents with parking and tries to balance off- campus student parking with bus services. PTTS is always trying to improve the bus service to campus, Williams said. If students would wait patiently, letting busses pass before crossing the street, bus circulation would improve around campus, he said. “The mode on campus is that if you step off the curb, cars will stop for you,” he said. “For a bus to stop every 200 feet is difficult for the bus drivers.” Earlier this semester, parking passes were temporarily suspended in order to make sure the number of passes sold did not exceed the number of parking spaces. “That may happen again,” Williams said. “When you register, sign up for a parking pass.” Ron Beard, Food Services director, answered students’ questions about dining on West Campus and expand ing low-fat and no-fat menus. Vicki Beck, a Food Services ad ministrative dietitian, said they are constantly trying to improve the nutrition and selection of on-cam- pus menus. “We have some fat-free foods and low-fat foods available,” she said. “We have some problems advertising and marketing these foods.” Beard said Food Services is al ways looking for feedback from stu dents on what they like and what should be improved. “We’re not ever satisfied,” he said. “We have a lot of work to do.” Beard hosts, “Piping-Hot Ideas,” a student feedback program similar to Monday night’s forum. Students interested in attending may contact Food Services at 845-3005. Matt Mayfield, student executive vice president of administration and a senior animal science major, said the program, sponsored by Student Government, is an indication of how concerned administrators are wiht students’ needs. “That seems to happen when you get students and administration in the same room,” Mayfield said. eg i strati^ low thru Dec^ he Battalion TODAY brk It Baby 3mewhere between asses and home- ork, students are orking to pay bills. Aggie life, Page 3 ome Cookin’ q Trip _T sevent h-ranked ^ . ^&M Soccer Team will measures si»! ... the Grand lost San Diego in the ■eScoSVf st round of the NCAAs. me of Mexico's Sports, Page 7 S and campingptf* 1 ) Cfried and true "cef°er rna f c Ali st er : Students ■ay Nov. i8.FGhouid understand true intentions -nMigwaKW-pehind tradition. at Zachary Mt*! OpiniOD, Page 11 A&M campus beckons car burglars, police say By Brandon Hausenfluck The Battalion Some unsuspecting Texas A&M students and Bryan- College Station residents have returned to their cars to find smashed windows, stolen handbags and missing audio equipment. The University Police De partment responded to at least 15 car burglaries in Oc tober. The College Station Po lice Department responded to 81 burglaries in September and 82 in October. Of the 15 burglaries on campus, 11 occurred in Park ing Area 61 (West Campus “Fish Lot”) between Oct. 29 and Oct. 31. Bob Wiatt, director of UPD, said the burglars travel from far away places. “These clowns come from all over," Wiatt said. “Most are not students breaking in ... Vehicle burglary In College Station and on campus College Station September '95 September '96 October ’96 University Police September 96 October '96 Burglaries 47 81 82 mm 15 They just smash, grab and away they go.” Wiatt said some of the burglaries committed in Oc tober were connected. “We had six (car burglar ies) reported in one night,” he said. “Those were proba bly done by the same group.” The A&M campus, Wiatt said, is sacred ground to car burglars. He said they can walk through large parking lots to find cars with expensive “goodies” and pick out which ones they want to burglarize. See Burglars, Page 6 Black Awareness Committee presents ‘A Celebration of Life’ By Ann Marie Hauser The Battalion The MSC Black Awareness Committee invites everyone to participate in their Pre-Kwanzaa festivities, entitled “A Cele bration of Life,” tonight at 7. in 601 Rud der Tower. Kwanzaa is an African-American cul tural holiday observed from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 It is based on seven principles and seven symbols. LaSondra Carroll, BAG director of pro grams and a sophomore general studies major, said the celebration is open to everyone, although it is centered around the African-American culture. "Kwanzaa is a very special holiday be cause it is not religious or, heroic but a cultural holiday,” she said. Dr. Maulana Karenga, a black studies professor in California, founded the holi day in 1966 to recapture the roots and culture of African-Americans. The holiday spread by word-of-mouth and information about Kwanzaa can now be accessed on the Internet. - Various Texas A&M African-American student organizations will present skits, step shows, and dramatic interpretations reflecting the seven principles of Kwan zaa, Nguzo Saba. Based on the Swahili language, the principles are Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooper ative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith). Carroll said integrating the princi ples into her life has provided encour agement. “It has made a difference in my life,” she said. “It makes me think more about unity and our collective responsibility and not placing the blame on individual acts but looking at the whole.” The number seven is emphasized be cause it is a whole number, Carroll said. Stephenie Rhodes, BAG adviser, said Kwanzaa is a time of reflection centered around the family and community. Each principle celebrated builds on the next. See Celebration, Page 6