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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 1996)
conference explores options € Eh Joanne Whittemore and Wesley Poston The Battalion 840 1C II YOU 2/1/9 mlopwood vs. The State of Texas jought down race-based admis- is at Texas universities and rought senators, legislators and ^df]cation officials to Texas A&M lt|sday to plan the next step for as and the nation. )r. Kenneth Ashworth, Texas ligher Education Coordinating toerd commissioner, said the re- tfictions placed on Texas col- 3gt s and universities place the tale on an “unlevel playing field” llh states outside of the 5th Cir- uii Court of Appeals’ ruling. Tlhe 5th Circuit Court’s ruling applies to Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. “Other states can raid our schools and skim our best mi nority students away from us — those with the greatest promise and greatest potentiality,” Ash worth said. “We cannot respond with similar financial aid.” Ashworth said the playing field would be level if admission requirements were either re laxed in Texas or tightened in other states. “This is not just unfair,” he said, “but it could be damaging to these minorities.” The purpose of the confer ence, Ashworth said, is to ex plore Texas schools’ options. “The real purpose of the con ference is to actually explore,” Ashworth said. “What are some of the options we have?” Jay Aguilar, assistant attor ney general of Texas, said the defenses against Hop- wood revolve around a need for diversity and the challenges presented by Texas’ poor record in grade schools. “They (two of the three 5th Cir cuit Court judges) maintain that diversity was not a compelling state interest,” Aguilar said. HOPWOOD FOSRU iVI 'JL # The court also ruled that dis crimination before college is ir relevant to the case because Hopwood was brought against a university. Dr. Charles Hines, president of Prairie View A&M, said he grew up in a world full of laws that did not consider his best interests. The Hopwood decision could return education to a state of “separate and unequal,” he said. “Affirmative action is not about giving me something I 10-6 to compete in virtual tournament By Courtney Walker The Battalion Elections were over a week ago, but Aggies still have a vote to :ast — this time via the World Wide Web. The Aggie Band will compete against 16 other college marching y bands in ESPNET’s virtual reality iijtigle-elimination tournament. The competition begins today nd ends Nov. 26. Col. Ray Toler, director for the jVggie Band, said if all Aggies vote, the band should do well. “We have a lot of fans and feel tionored to be selected as one of DS ‘68 tile top bands in the country by §§PN,” he said. ntistry I The Aggie Band will first face off against Dartmouth College Marching Band. Votes for this competition may be cast today on the World Wide Web. ESPNET is an electronic ver sion of ESPN, the sports network, on the World Wide Web. The Aggie Band is the only tra ditional, military-style marching band in the competition. Brian Yates, a band member and a sophomore electrical engineering major, said the military marching style is what makes the band differ ent and gives it an advantage. “Because the military style is unique, it leaves an impression in people’s minds,” he said. A summary of each band will be included on the Web along with a picture of each band in for mation. Computers with sound can play two songs played by each band. The Aggie Band will be pic tured in a cross-throw formation on Kyle Field. Voters can hear them play “The Spirit of Ag- gieland” and yell their “Hump it.” Shane Tanner, head drum major and a senior community health major, said the competition takes the Aggie Band one step closer to proving they are the “nationally fa mous Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band.” If the band wins its competi tion against Dartmouth, it will compete against the winner of the Stanford vs. University of Ne braska competition Nov. 20. The semifinals will be Nov. 22 and the finals Nov. 23. The Starwave Corp. main tains ESPNET in conjunction with ESPN. Starwave editors selected the bands based on different halftime presentations and suggestions made by ESPN correspondents. Toler said the competition will be good national exposure for the Aggie Band. “It will bring in some specific viewers from ESPN and people who use the Internet a lot,” he said. “For example, our exposure on the East coast isn’t near what it is in the central part of the country.” Votes may be cast at: http: / / espnet.sportszone.com/ e ditors/fantasy/college/bands.ht ml. Only one vote per e-mail ad dress is allowed. didn’t deserve, but providing an opportunity where there was none,” Hines said. Texas Sen. Gonzalo Barrien tos suggested using measures other than legislation to im prove admissions. “Everything cannot be solved by legislation,” he said. Barrientos’ proposal would improve admission criteria through balancing objectivity, to “address the greater problem and not just the symptoms.” Texas Sen. Teel Bivins said America would be “doomed to failure, turmoil, unless we assimi late minorities into our culture.” “[We need to] do all we can within the law to see to it that we increase minority enroll ment and most importantly, mi nority graduation rates,” Bivins said. “I don’t believe the Hop- wood decision has ended affir mative action.” Dr. Ray Bowen, Texas A&M president, said the forum was suc cessful in educating attendees about the difficulties facing Texas as a result of Hopwood. “I believe they learned today it’s a very complex issue,” he said. Bowen said the state legisla ture could take the lead in the issue when it convenes next year, but there are no obvious solutions. “There’s no clear next step,” he said. Donations make Bonfire possible By Erica Roy The Battalion Aggie Bonfire costs $30,000 to $40,000 to build and is funded primarily by former students. This amount does not include equipment donated. Joel Foshea, a junior redpot and an agricultural systems man agement major, said the junior redpots raise money during the spring and summer semesters and the beginning of the fall. He said a majority of the money raised comes from small donations from former students the junior redpots contact through personal visits or mailers. “Aggie Bonfire has a good rep utation for itself,” Foshea said. “When somebody finds out you’re with Aggie Bonfire they’re willing to help.” Many contributors give money each year to Aggie Bonfire, Fos hea said. He said one of the reasons they donate is to continue the Bonfire tradition. “I think it’s personal pride to see the tradition,” Foshea said. “They know the value of Aggie Bonfire from their experiences. They want students today to have the opportunity to build Bonfire.” Businesses donate a portion of the funding needed to build Bonfire. Coastal Oil, Gamma Con struction, F.E. Brown (former student), Frank Moreno (former student) and Harris Pappas (for mer student and owner of Pap- padeaux and Pappasitos) are a few of the contributors. Texas A&M clubs around the state and the Aggie Mom’s Club also make donations, and the As sociation of Former Students gives a partial endowment to Bonfire. However, not all donations are monetary. Some businesses and former students donate equip ment such as cranes and tractors. H.B. Zachry and the Kirkland Crane Co. provided two cranes; Zachry and Stewart and Stevenson Co. donated two bulldozers. Foshea said 10 tractors are needed each weekend. Some of the tractors are used all year, but others are used only once. Jeff Virnau, Vincent Neuhaus, Eddie Harris Jr., John Yates and Gus Harris are former students who have donated tractors dur ing the building of Bonfire. Other tractors have been pro vided by Prater Equipment and “When somebody finds out you’re with Aggie Bonfire they’re willing to help.’ Joel Foshea Junior redpot Carrut Dogget, two tractor compa nies in Bryan. Tim Prater, manager of Prater Equipment and Class of ’87, said for the past four years, the compa ny has donated a tractor to Bonfire. Prater said he made a dona tion to show his support for the tradition. “Just being an ex-student, I wanted to help out in the tradition of A&M, the tradition of Bonfire,” he said. To bring logs from cut site to stack site, four 18-wheelers are needed. Frozen Food Express contributes two of them. BNM Trucking and the Young Brothers Construction Co. donate one 18- wheeler each. The Bonfire Kickoff at the Texas Hall of Fame raised $1,800 at the beginning of the year. This will now be an annual event because it was such a success. -actice b 105, GGIES i CADET c Bus he Battalion TODAY Alaska Calling A Texas A&M student jfinds his way across thr northernmost state using his feet. Aggie life, Page 3 Is d Nails iher Glass Manicures NICURE I 10.00 J B23 n. Closed nemy Ground e A&M Volleyball Team hvels to Austin to take on Texas in a battle of Big 12 heavyweights. Sports, Page 7 aper Flurry Goodwin: Students |quickly learn the asy way out of riting papers. Opinion, Page 11 Student task force to assess usefulness of By Laura Oliveira The Battalion A task force of Texas A&M students and administrators has been assem bled to review and re evaluate the purposes of MSC facilities. Headed by Dr. Bill Ki- bler, associate vice presi dent for student affairs, the committee is review ing the MSC basement area and adjoining spaces like the craft center, bar bershop and Rumours Coffee Haus and Deli. Kibler said no plans have been made to close these facilities yet. “We do not have any preconceived notions of getting rid of anything,” he said. “We are looking at the usefulness and value the facilities currently have to students.” Kibler said the committee’s main goal is to satisfy the needs of A&M students. “Nearly all the space in the MSC is for the students,” he said. “Our whole pur pose is to see if that space is benefiting MSC facilities the students, and if not, how it can.” Erin Mozola, MSC executive stu dent vice president for administration and a senior applied mathematical science major and co-chair of the committee, said a diverse group of di rectors was chosen for the task force. “We tried to get a cross-section of the people who are in volved in using the space,” Mozola said. “We have a neat group of people to work with.” Jack Cahill, divi sion manager for cash operations in the De partment of Food Ser vices, said he wants to use past experi ences to help the community. “I have worked with many universi ties and I think I can be beneficial to the committee in that sense,” Cahill said. “We are here to be a service for the community.” See Facilities, Page 10 “Our whole purpose is to see if that space is benefiting the students, and if not, how it can.” Dr. Bill Kibler Associate vice president for student affairs Services provide online news Aggie Hotline, Aggie Daily reach readers through World Wide Web Christie Humphries The Battalion Online news is now avail able through the Texas A&M Office of University Rela tions via two publications, the Aggie Hotline and the Aggie Daily. The Hotline summarizes on-campus news and is e- mailed to subscribers’ ac counts. Included is the ad dress for access to the full story in the Daily on the World Wide Web. Mary Jo Powell, associate director of University Rela tions, said University Rela tions does not profit from the publications. “This is a service we pro vide to the campus communi ty and basically anyone who wants to subscribe,” she said. The University began seeking a new method of in formation distribution when it was decided the on-cam pus printing press would not remain operational. Previous ly, faculty and staff received campus news via a biweekly newsletter, Fortnightly. The campus-wide im provement team, within University Relations, con ducted surveys to improve the distribution of campus information. Lane Stephenson, deputy director of University Rela tions, said the results of the surveys revealed a desire for an increase in campus news. “We did focus groups and some polling," he said. “[We] found more informa tion was wanted in a more timely manner, and people want it to be more focused and relevant.” He said the Hotline and the Daily meet the needs of both the faculty and staff. Powell said she has re ceived positive feedback from people throughout the University. The Hotline and the Daily are open to everyone. Al most 1,000 people have sub scribed, so far. Mary Helen Bowers, deputy director of University Relations, organized the publications and manages subscriptions. Bowers said the publica tions will soon receive more publicity, which should re sult in a rapid growth of subscriptions. Powell said they have one subscriber from New Zealand who stumbled across the Daily while browsing the Web. Stephenson said he hopes to see continued growth in the number of subscriptions. “We do want it to grow,” he said. “But that, of course, takes time.” See Services, Page 10