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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1996)
' • November^ OOt COI outstanding war what people dc it 1 said. "This i on [experience:] to see if this isr The olume 103 • Issue 59 • 10 Pages MOB patron prevails ihnHpaiiY a m-« ind various atti aibodeaux, a i™! ^Battle of the Bands contest ends in disappointment for A&M By Marika Cook The Battalion i presentation ig witnesses, aux said the ir, he participate: 3 he Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band tool helpedhiirpat to the Stanford University studentsh /Iaiching Band in the quarterfinal lortunitiesthar Snd of ESPNET’s Battle of the aortant to get lands, thanks in part to a letter Idas early as: tofcted on the Internet by a sup- lorter of the Rice University Her you do it, darching Owl Band, ake decisions t«ev Blackwood, systems analyst for for a lifetime, lide University, sent an e-mail to the 11 Mighorn Band of the University of Texas and its newspaper, The Daily in hopes of garnering support nst the Aggie Band. !‘Clearly, someone was going to taj/e to do something because of 'ime previous numbers the Aggie lalid received,” Blackwood said. ■hi (Aggie Band) were going to f:ru h everybody. Your student body ^ne is more than all of Rice’s Bmni put together. We had to get support from the outside to get the £ tgj ies out of the competition.” he Aggie Band received 74.4 percent of 13,897 votes to defeat the Dartmouth University March ing Band. Before that match-up, no battle had received more than 5,000 votes. A record 34,664 votes were cast in the quarterfinal match between A&M and Stanford University. Stanford received 53.7 percent to A&M’s 47.7 percent. “I’m gratified and surprised it worked out,” Blackwood said. “But it’s unfortunate that so many Aggies feel like it was cheating. I truly believe A&M is an excellent band, unique in all of college football, but it’s intimi dating to see all those votes.” Stanford will meet Grambling State in the semifinal round. Votes may be cast in Rice’s semi final competition against Prince ton until 6 p.m. today. The winners of each semifinal match-up will battle for the cham pionship. Joel Neuenschwander, B Company commander and a senior finance ma jor, said the MOB voted for Stanford because they wanted to oust A&M, not because they are a better band. “We didn’t need to win this competition to know we’re good,” Neuenschwander said. “We know because we get standing ovations and pats on the back. That’s the way we look at it.” Robert Garcia, a B Company band member and a senior psychology and Spanish major, spoke in regards to a retaliation against Rice in their com petition with Princeton. “It was an act of poor sports manship on their part and I don’t think we should stoop to their lev el,” Garcia said. Mark Spede, a doctoral student who is a teaching assistant with the Longhorn band, said he knew about the competition but did not know about the letter from Black wood against the Aggie Band. “In my opinion, the whole concept is silly because the spirit of a college band is more of cooperation than competition. Let’s leave that to the football teams,” Spede said. UF increase go to salaries A&M aims to be more competitive to attract faculty, staff By Marika Cook The Battalion lAdministrators and ■students at Texas A&M arp waiting to learn the Verdict on the raise of the General Use Fee from $24 tol$34 per semester cred- t hour. This increase in ee revenue will be used olely for salary increases or faculty and staff. yDr. Bill Kibler, associ ate vice president for stu- ient affairs, said the GUF it A&M is consistently s leaves outskfcBps than its peer institu- Don. tions. ■ “There are a number of institutions in the state that are at the peak, which is currently $32 T/'"V ant * increase to $34 I C j|l xt h 0 sa 'd. -M^iJl’lii^Wother state schools comparable in size to A|<M have higher GUFs. DU) Students at the Universi- lAJlAJ t y 0 f Texas pay $32 per 7/17/l/111 semester cre dit hour but l ULVllljwiw p a y $34 by next fall. University of Houston students pay a $30 GUF and Texas Tech Universi ty students pay $28. 3P EditO! : h is expected that the ^ increase will make A&M fatuity and staff salaries more competitive, which isjlikely to raise the qual- 013 Oftk'ty of education. J R Because other state *7/70725 (^schools have more money -7 i/lriioht fi 0 locate to salaries, A&M tiunignii [s trying tQ match the of . 7 BuildiflMs other schools can give The increase will af fect students who use financial aid because the eligibility for aid will be increased. Don Engelage, direc- tor of financial aid, said PART 2 IN A S-PART SERIES the GUF increase will ^ make financial need §,fr pE Bpjjjf ip s See Editorial, Page 9 ms: 3rs. nation. to faculty and staff. ■ University President Ray M. Bowen said he supports an increase so competitive salaries can be offered,which will at tract high-quality em ployees. “Regrettably, money relates to quality,” Bowen said. “We need to pay good salaries for valuable people. Hopefully, by in troducing the fee early, we can minimize the ef fect on students’ bud gets. It will require peo ple to make some adjustments.” A public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Monday to clarify the motivations for the $10 increase. Stu dents will have the op portunity to ask ques tions and voice their opinions. Debbie Howard, a se nior English and history major, said the hearing is a good idea. “I think it’s good that they’re giving students the opportunity to be in formed,” she said. “The increase is OK, but we should see some data on the effects. I’d like to know how it matters in the long run.” higher for students. m “By state regulation, we develop a student budget for each individ ual based on a nine- month heed for tuition and fees,” he said. “If the expected family contri bution is less than the student budget, the need for financial assistance will increase.” Brian McNichols, a mechanical engineering graduate student, re ceived his undergraduate degree from Trinity Uni versity in San Antonio, where tuition and fees are much higher. “I think it’s a worth while increase,” McNi chols said. “If you pay professors more, they’re likely to pay more atten tion to how they’re teaching. A&M’s expens es, in general, are pretty inexpensive.” ( Where the money goes..7 1995-1996 $ I 3.2 M $5 M $4.85 M $800,000 $350,000 Debt retirement, capital infrastructure (buildinss were built) Salary increase of September ‘95 General Budget Financial Aid Special Initiatives 1996-1997 $150,000 - $650,000 - Financial Aid Classroom renovation L GENERAL 1 USE FEES Rony Angkriwan, The Battalion Back in Time Becky Hoskisson, a freshman landscape architecture major, and Matt Edwards, a junior construction science major, reillustrate the details at the Administration Building Wednesday for ENDS 115 class. The build ing was constructed during the Depression era and the detailing provid ed jobs for people who needed them. Say no, just for today Smokeout asks people to quit Great American By Courtney Walker The Battalion In 1971, Arthur Mullaney asked people in Randolph, Mass., to give up smoking for a day and donate the money they would have spent on cigarettes to a high school scholarship fund. Others followed Mullaney and launched anti-smoking campaigns in their home states. In 1977, the American Cancer Society hosted what is now known as the nation wide Great American Smokeout. The Society will continue the annual event Thursday, encouraging smokers to quit for a day Thursday with hopes it will convince them they can quit for a lifetime. Gail Boone, district secre tary for the American Cancer Society, said although not everyone may be able to quit after one try, it is a step closer to quitting. “A majority of smokers quit six or seven times before they are completely through,” she said. “But if they can quit for one day, they’re a lot farther than they were before.” According to the Ameri can Cancer Society, the na tion’s smoking rate has de creased from 36 percent to 25 percent. The Texas rate has decreased from 36 per cent to 23 percent. Boone said the goal for the Bryan-College Station area is for one out of five smokers to quit for the day. Not only does the Great American Smokeout focus on getting smokers to quit for the day, but the campaign also tar gets younger generations. See Smokeout, Page 5 Ihe Battalion .ESS! asp TODAY aiming Age jdeo gamers have ► LOWOl^sold the Nintendo and MT. & ^turned to the high- Ech world of CD-Rom 98 Aggie life, Page 3 E Withstanding Ready ^KE JO^The 12th Man Kickoff rzp a i c/Jeam upholds one of ■&M’s most sacred 13 traditions. % OFF* s P° rts > Pa g e 7 xymoromc iller: Texas A&M’s IT PRICES iRs represent neither the college nor the ""AITS HERE^ Republicans. Opinion, Page 9 KA members face sanctions By Brandon Hausenfluck The Battalion Officials of the Robertson County Sheriff’s Department say the criminal investigation of the Texas A&M chapter of the Kappa Alpha Order is in its final stages. At least 30 fraternity mem bers have been questioned regarding a hazing incident that occurred at a KA “rally” in Robertson County Oct. 14, at which a pledge sustained an injury to his groin. The in jury resulted in the pledge having one of his testicles surgically removed. Brian Bancroft, a Robert son County Sheriff’s De partment deputy, said the offense is not serious enough for jail time. “Nobody’s going to be arrested,” Bancroft said. “Over a stupid incident like this, we’re not going to make their lives hell.” Bancroft said the case could go to a grand jury by early December. “This is a strange offense,” he said. “We’re done with the interview process so now all we have to do is compile everything and get it ready for presentation.” The chapter had its char ter revoked Nov. 6 for three years for violating national fraternity risk management policies, University rules and Interfraternity Council haz ing regulations. Bancroft said the fraternity faces sanctions that can range from $5,000 to $10,000 and twice the amount of the pledge’s medical expenses. “They’re looking at a pret ty hefty fine,” he said. See KA, Page 6 Cop inspired student to excel By JoAnne Whittemore The Battalion A student at Texas A&M has a story about how he changed from bully to Boy Scout, literally. Uriel Rudy Gonzalez, a sopho more business major, said he was not always a good student. Growing up in Houston without a father fig ure made him a troublemaker, he said. “My dad had passed away when I was six, so I didn’t have a male role model,” he said. “I didn’t listen to my mom, I was failing all my class es, I was beating up kids, I was get ting in fights with the teachers, and I just didn’t care.” Gonzalez met John A. Trevino, a Houston police officer, at a park near his home in the summer of 1989. Trevino was working with the Po lice Activity League, an inner-city program for children, and invited him to join. Trevino said as he and Gonzalez became closer, he became a father figure to him. “I was one of the only officers that would take the kids home at night,” he said. “Rudy lived the farthest away, so I dropped him off last. I got to spend time with him. He always had an ear to learn, so I became his mentor.” Gonzalez said he became in volved in the Boy Scouts of Ameri ca’s urban scouting program for dis advantaged youth. In this program, he received a public service award for saving a younger boy’s life and became the first Hispanic to give the Report to the Nation, the Boy Scouts’ annual summary of events and activities. The report was presented to for mer President Bush, Army and Navy Chiefs of Staff, the Director of the FBI and selected members of Con gress. Gonzalez had the opportunity to meet these dignitaries and Presi dent Clinton. Trevino said he used scouting to teach Gonzalez about life. See Student, Page 5 Rony Angkriwan, The Battalion Uriel Gonzalez was awarded the Eagle Scout Court of Honor Badge in high school.