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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.