mpwood affects programs
yisnority-based organizations experience fewer participants
n By Wesley Poston
H The Battalion
■ exas A&M minority organiza-
ions and programs faced the end of
ace-based admissions and scholar-
hips with Hopwood vs. The State of
exas, and now look to a potentially
ess diverse student body in the
ears to come.
^linority-targeted programs and
irganizations have seen a drop in
larticipation as a result of fewer mi-
lorities enrolling in the University.
B"he Aggie Recruitment Committee
ABC) recruits for A&M at the high
cbools of the committee members,
■[ban Duong, ARC area code coor-
lilator and a sophomore computer
cience major, said the recruiters dis-
rihute information at their home-
jm'n high schools, but do not have
pecific information about minority
ipi ortunities.
■At this point, we don’t have any
pecific plans to boost minority inter
est in A&M, Duong said. Its some
thing we may have to look into.”
Carl Baggett, student body presi
dent and a senior accounting major,
said ARC has always targeted all po
tential A&M students.
“They’ve recruited Aggies,” he said,
“and they’re going to keep doing it.”
Nikki Guerra, Student Govern
ment executive assistant to minority
affairs and a senior civil engineering
major, said student recruitment ef
forts would have to combat schools
in other states offering minority stu
dents scholarships, since Texas uni
versities cannot
“A lot of the burden has been
placed on students’ shoulders as far
as recruitment goes,” she said. “I
don’t think the administration is go
ing to help us as much as we’d like.”
Guerra said minority affairs would
have to increase its recruiting efforts
at minority-rich high schools and
telephone minority applicants to en
courage their attendance if accepted.
We 11 have to work twice as hard
to make minority students feel wel
come at this University,” she said.
“If we’re having to work so hard,
was this {Hopwood) such a good de
cision?”
The decrease in minority enroll
ment following the Hopwood deci
sion has impacted minority pro
grams as well.
Rodney McClendon, coordinator
of student retention and develop
ment in the Department of Multicul
tural Services, works with ExCEL, a
program targeted toward accepting
minorities into A&M.
ExCEL begins with a conference in
August for participants and their par
ents. The conference outlines oppor
tunities and resources for minorities
at A&M. Throughout the following
year, participants attend a class in
tended to continue their develop
ment and to retain them as students.
See Hopwood, Page 8
Chancellor reports low
Texas graduation rates
By Melissa Nunnery
The Battalion
The Texas A&M University System
Board of Regents heard from Chancellor
Dr. Barry Thompson Friday that Texas
lags behind other states in the number of
college graduates it produces. He out
lined the System’s agenda for the upcom
ing Texas legislative session, which coin
cides with the goals of the Texas Higher
Education Coalition.
Thompson said Texas graduates 14
percent fewer college students a year
than the national average. He said one
goal of the Texas Higher Education Coali
tion is to raise those numbers.
"We want to increase the number of
graduates by 15,200 without lowering our
standards,” Thompson said.
He said one way to bring up the number
of college graduates in Texas is to encourage
students to first attend a community col
lege, then transfer to a senior college.
The Texas Higher Education Coalition
sponsors public service announcements
to inform and encourage students.
Thompson said increasing scholarship
money to make attending college easier
for disadvantaged students is another of
the coalition’s goals.
The Regents also heard a report from
the Chancellor’s Student Advisory Board
(CSAB) Friday.
The president of board reported to the
regents on the advisory board’s goals and
progress.
The CSAB consists of student dele
gates from each of the 11 A&M System
schools.
See Graduation, Page 8
It's too Loud
Ryan Rogers, The Battalion
Megan Winemiller covers her ears while watching a band march by in a Christmas parade. She watched
the parade with her brother, Brent Winemiller, and her mother, Leslie Winemiller, Sunday afternoon.
GUF proposal
to benefit staff
Fee increase affects more than faculty
ampus rests during holiday season
By Wesley Poston
The Battalion
Students vacate the Texas A&M campus
ch Christmas, leaving a vacuous silence in
Jeir wake.
■ Dr. Malon J. Southerland, vice president
for student affairs, described the uncom
mon quiet as “eerie.”
■ “You can see the silence very clearly,”
ho said.
1 Southerland said he strolls about campus
ptiring the silence, taking in the peacefulness.
“It’s a time for reflection, family and
friends,” he said.
Southerland will spend the first part of
the holiday break with friends in Houston
and East Texas. He will return to A&M to
spend Christmas with his aunt.
“My family has always had a small Christ
mas,” he said.
Southerland said he looks forward to the
relaxed pace of the Christmas holidays.
“I’m about as ready as y’all are,” he said.
“Everything returns to normal after New
Year’s, and then there we go again.”
This will be Southerland’s third Christmas
in his on-campus residence, and he said he
is still waiting for the ever-elusive white
Christmas.
Snow fell on the evening of Bonfire in
1980, when it still burned on Duncan Field.
“It’s pretty easy to remember,” he said. "It
was beautiful.”
Ray Bowen, A&M president, said his fond
est Christmas memories of A&M were from
the winter of 1994, his first as president.
“After many years of being away, we spent
the holidays with family and old friends,” he
said. “Things like that are hard to replace.”
See Campus, Page 8
By Marika Cook
The Battalion
The proposed General Use Fee
increase for Fall 1997 would be
used to fund raises for Texas A&M
staff members, who often receive
less than those doing comparable
jobs off campus.
University President Ray Bowen
said it is important to remember
the staff, not just faculty, when
considering pay raises.
“They (staff) often feel left out
in issues such as this,” Bowen said.
“They haven’t received a raise in
over a year.”
Staff members include secre
taries, staff assistants and word
processors. They are employed in
departments such as student fi
nancial aid and student affairs.
Bill Crum, vice president for fi
nance and control, said staff raises
are a necessity.
“Thirty-seven percent of staff at
A&M make less than $20,000 a
year,” Crum said. “In comparison,
think of a student’s budget with tu
ition and other expenses. These
people are having problems just
paying everyday expenses for
themselves and their families.”
Bowen said there is insufficient
data on exact staff salaries.
“What we do know is that some
of these people are taking jobs off
campus for more pay or having to
work a second job because their
income isn’t adequate,” Bowen
said. “If the increase goes through,
the plan is to give a small raise in
March and then another small
raise in September, totaling a 3
percent increase.”
Staff salaries are funded by the
education and general budget,
which is used for academic and
support services.
Jerry Gaston, vice president for
administration, said more money
must be allocated to staff salaries
for the University to remain com
petitive.
“A study completed earlier this
year told us that in order to bring
the entire staff up to what they
ought to be making, based on a
predetermined salary, the Univer
sity would need an additional
$2,976 million,” Gaston said. “This
would keep our staff at relative
market, which means they make
the same with us as in the area of
Bryan-College Station.”
Ben Armintor, a junior anthro
pology major, said the GUF in
crease is legitimate and should be
accepted by students.
“I don’t feel like students realize
that the motivation for this in
crease is not to add things, it’s to
keep things from being dropped,”
Armintor said. “The fee increase is
necessary just to maintain the sta
tus quo.”
Some staff employees believe
businesses in Bryan-College Sta
tion align their wages with what
the University sets because of the
school’s dominance in the com
munity. Therefore, they would
have to go outside of Bryan-Col
lege Station to find higher wages
for the same job.
Marilynn Osoba, an administra
tive secretary, said her last pay
raise was a 2 percent increase two
years ago.
“I think one benefit that should
be offered to staff should be a slid
ing scale for parking garage costs,”
Osoba said. “I pay just as much to
park on campus as someone who
makes five times my salary. My
salary is pretty low. I'm single and
if I didn’t have a supplemental in
come, I couldn’t live.”
he Battalion
TODAY
Finals Food
andy bars and sodas
on’t be enough to
ower students
rough final exams.
Aggielife, Page 3
un & Gun
he Men’s Basketball
earn utilized the fast-
reak in a trouncing
f Southeastern La.
Sports, Page 5
ive and Learn
leinroth: Life’s op-
ortunities outside of
le classroom should
|e seized.
Opinion, Page 7
Students show appreciation for staff
Dorms, Corps outfits buy Christmas gifts for custodial workers
By JoAnne Whittemore
The Battalion
Some on-campus stu
dents at Texas A&M are busy
this holiday season collect
ing money to buy gifts for
the custodial workers in
their residence halls.
Mike Saddler, president of
Moses Hall and a junior
business major, said recog
nizing custodial workers for
their efforts is the least stu
dents can do.
“They work hard all year
long, and a lot of people
don’t appreciate it,” he
said. “This just shows our
appreciation.”
Saddler said students in
the dorm collect money each
year to buy their custodial
workers gift certificates.
Steven Foster, Corps
commander and a senior
political science major, said
the Corps of Cadets does
not have a group collection,
but some outfits collect
money to give their custodi
al workers.
“We don’t do it as a whole,
but I know some outfits that
“They work hard
all year long, and
a lot of people
don’t appreciate
it.”
Mike Saddler
Moses Hall president
do it on their own,” he said.
“It’s a goodwill gesture.”
Kenny Robertson, com
manding officer of company
G-2 and a senior mechanical
engineering major, said the
cadets in his company col
lect money to give to a cus
todial worker who cleans the
whole residence hall. He said
the worker puts up with the
darkness the cadets like in
the hallways, sometimes
cleaning by the light of a
flashlight.
Robertson said all G-2
cadets make small contribu
tions, which add up.
“If somebody gives, then
everybody gives,” he said.
“When the whole floor is giv
ing money, it adds up to
something sufficient.”
Aaron Johnson, com
manding officer of compa
ny K-2 and a senior indus
trial distribution major, said
his company plans to col
lect money. Companies G-2
and K-2 are both in Resi
dence Hall 7.
He said it is fairly easy to
get the cadets to contribute
because many of them
know their worker on a
friendly basis.
“Generally, everybody’s all
for it,” he said. “A lot of us
know John (custodial work
er) on a personal level, so it’s
kind of like helping out a
friend or giving a friend a
Christmas present.”
Jesse Czelusta, Residence
Hall Association president
and a senior agricultural
economics major, said RHA
does not have a group effort
with all the residence halls to
raise money, but he thinks
the project is a good idea
and is trying to learn more
from halls that get involved.
Chad Henke, president of
second floor in Moore Hall
and a sophomore general
studies major, said his hall is
currently involved with other
Christmas projects but may
also raise money for its custo
dial workers. He said the con
tributions would be a good
way to show appreciation.
“I think it’s a really good
idea,” he said. “The custodi
ans are always very courte
ous. I think the residents
would be willing to chip in a
few bucks in order to show
appreciation for what the
custodial staff does.”
FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE
FfxjD A Y
Classes mee'Hng
7:30 <?:30 a/n.
MW 5:45 7 or later
K) a/n. noon
MWF 8 850
12:30 2:30 p/n.
TB 935 10.50
3-5 p/n.
Tft 11:10-1225
HONDAY
8-ID a/n,
MWF 9:10 K)
1030 a/n,-l230 p/n.
MWF 12 MO-130
1-3 p/n.
f ft 8 9:15
330 530 p/n.
MWF 9:10-5:25
i TUESDAY
8-10 a/n.
MWF 1020-11:10
1030 a/n .1230 p/n.
MWF 13 350
I 3 p/n.
Tft 355 5:10
330 530 p/n.
MWF 150 2MO
WEDNESDAY
j 8 10 a/n.
Tft I2M5 2
1 1030 a/n. 1230 p/n.
MWF1I30 1220
13 p/n.
rft 220 335
330 530 p/n.
Tft 530 6M5 or later
source: Fall Class Schedule |