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November 11
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The Battaeion
i'/olume 103 * Issue 52 * 12 Pages
Tuesday, November 12, 1996
The Batt Online: http://bat-web.tamu.edu
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Conference to focus on Hopwood decision
By JoAnne Whittemore
The Battalion
EANS (AP)-
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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.”
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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