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raternities conduct
ush week activities
By Jackie Vratil
The Battalion
Spring fraternity rush
icked off Wednesday with
nformation booths in the
Memorial Student Center
ln d a concert featuring
WUllll (World Tribe.
Individual fraternities
will host activities during
rush, which ends with bid
day, Jan. 24.
Christen Springs, a
sophomore business major
and IFC rush chairman,
said the two-day delay in
starting classes prevented
IFC from advertising
spring rush as they would
have liked.
“Obviously it didn’t
help,” he said, “but the guys
can participate whenever
they want to. The sooner,
the better."
Springs said participa
tion in spring rush has tra
ditionally been lower than
that in fall rush, but in gen
eral the numbers continue
to rise.
"With every semester, we
11FC] have noticed the num
bers climbing,” he said.
There was an explosion in
numbers this past fall, so we
are expecting to see the
same thing this spring.”
As a result of a similar in
crease in sorority rush par
ticipation, Panhellenic has
invited another sorority,
Commandant Delta Gamma, to charter on
n with thedt-
Amy Dunlap, The Battalion
Michael Sedlack, a freshman electrical engineering major,
takes part in the Rush signing in the MSC Wednesday.
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5 p.m. in the.
the A&M campus. Delta
Gamma plans to hold rush
from Feb. 5 to Feb. 8.
Jennifer Burns, a junior
nutrition sciences major
and president of Panhel
lenic, said Delta Gamma
hopes for a large spring
rush turnout.
“They are hoping to have
a good turnout, and will
also participate in formal
fall rush this coming sea
son,” Burns said.
Two other sororities, Al
pha Gamma Delta and Al
pha Phi, will also hold a
spring rush. Alpha Phi’s
rush begins Jan. 22 at the
College Station Conference
Center. Alpha Gamma
Delta begins its rush Jan. 20
at the Alpha.Gamma Delta
sorority house.
Burns said spring rush is
a good way to increase a
sorority’s membership.
“Spring rush is a good
idea because numbers in
crease so that come fall time
all the houses can partic
ipate in rush,” she said.
Kristi Pearson, secretary
of Panhellenic and a junior
business major, said hav
ing spring rush benefits all
Greeks.
“[Spring rush) gets
Greeks out and visible on
campus so as to improve
the whole look of the Greek
system,” Pearson said.
MSC Black Awareness Committee
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BAC programs aim
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By Benjamin Cheng
The Battalion
Ulrica n-firrmricari
The Memorial Student Center Black Aware-
iess Committee brings programs to Texas A&M
University which educate the student body
bout African-American culture and heritage.
Last year, the BAC attracted prominent
frican-American writer Terry McMillian, actor
id imes Amos and former Black Panther Bobby
sale. The BAC also held a forum discussing af-
nc nnative action last year.
Eric Curley, BAC chair and a junior biochem-
try major, describes the BAC’s goal as being an
:aff udet to enjoy the contributions of African
tlifnericans to A&M and the world.
"Our theme this year is enhancing the lives of
u Itican Americans, enriching the minds of all,”
a said.
The BAC was established at A&M in 1969 as
>e first committee to handle the concerns of
frican-American students.
Although most BAC members are African-
Hericans, some non-African Americans have
sen members in the past. The BAC seeks to re-
Hit a diverse committee, Curley said.
Although the BAC attempts to educate a
tlifoad audience, most students who attend their
tograms are African Americans, Curley said.
"Unfortunately, there are still people there
ho see Black Awareness Committee and say,
, that’s for the black people,”’ he said. “Then
'ey don’t come out to our program.”
To alleviate the attendance problem, the BAC
as co-programmed with the MSC and other
student organizations to diversify their crowd.
The BAC co-programmed with MSC Political Fo
rum and MSC OPAS last semester.
Curley said he would most like to dispel the
frequently-held misconception that African
Americans on campus are at A&M either on ath
letic scholarships or through affirmative action.
“They think we have this chip on our shoul
ders,” he said, “like we’re going to attack every
white person that walks by.”
One of the largest obstacles African Americans
face at A&M, Curley said, is to find their place in
a university with so few African -Americans. In
the fall of 1996, African Americans composed
only 3 percent of the A&M student population.
Curley said the BAC also serves as social sup
port for African Americans.
In February, the BAC will hold the “Texas
Black Business Leaders” program to honor three
of the top Afr ican-American business leaders in
Texas. Other events in February include the Uni
ty festival Harambee and a presentation of the
movie Sankofa.
Clubs to welcome students
MSC Open House anticipates large crowd
By Laura Oliveira
The Battalion
Students will be swamped with fliers
and pamphlets Sunday as over 200 or
ganizations participate in the Spring
1997 MSC Open House.
Chris Williams, MSC council presi
dent and a senior political science ma
jor, said strong participation is not un
usual, despite it being the second open
house of this year.
“It does not surprise me,” he said.
“Any time you have an opportunity to
reach out to the student body, it would
be silly not to jump on it.”
Sponsored by MSC public relations,
Open House is available to all student
organizations.
Daxa Patel, a senior genetics major,
will work at the Political Forum table.
She said though the attendance in the
spring is predictably lower than in the
fall, Open House participants will con
tinue to recruit heavily.
“It (attendance) is usually a little
smaller than the fall, because a lot of
people are already involved in some
thing,” she said, “but we do not do any
thing less. In fact, we probably do more
because the more members we can get,
the more we can actually accomplish.”
Fall Open House welcomed a record-
high attendance of 22,000 students,
causing overcrowding problems.
Leslie New, director of MSC external
public relations and a senior journalism
major, said the committee has tried to
alleviate overcrowding.
“If you’re with an organization, you
cannot have more than five representa
tives at your table at one time,” she said.
New said even with preparations, the
event may still become chaotic.
“Once 2 o’clock roles around, Open
House has a mind of its own,” she said.
Open House will begin at 2 p.m. and
end at 6 p.m.
Students will be entertained by Silver
Spurs, Ballet Folklorico and other Texas
A&M student groups.
Williams said Open House will be
useful for all students.
“I would love to see 100 percent of
the student body come to this,” he said.
“I do not think there is anyone who
would not benefit from this.”
Business booms with school in session
By Erica Roy
The Battalion
Bryan-College Station bus
inesses often lose the major
ity of their customers and
some temporarily close
down when Texas A&M stu
dents leave town during the
winter break.
Copasetic Cafe, a coffee
house in the Northgate area,
shut down for three weeks
while A&M was not in school.
Stacey Yates, the day man
ager of Copasetic Cafe, said it
is not profitable for the cafe to
stay open while the students
are not in College Station be
cause most of the cafe’s cus
tomers are students.
“Most of our business is the
student population,” Yates
said. “When they’re gone,
we’re completely dead.”
Partner’s Food Delivery
also closed for a week.
Jon Ogden, a manager at
Partner’s, said their business
relies entirely on students.
“Food delivery is based
solely on the campus,” Ogden
said. “We have to close when
they’re not in session.”
Three of the nine local
Subway sandwich shops
closed during the break.
Brad Marek, a manager at
the Northgate Subway, said
their shop did not have much
business when students left.
“Once the students are
gone, it wasn’t worth staying
open,” Marek said.
Other businesses in
Bryan-College Station re
mained open despite losing
a large part of their cus
tomer base.
Bullwinkle’s Grill and Bar
stayed open during much of
the break.
Trey Smith, a manager at
Bullwinkle’s, said Bullwinkle’s
suffered a drop in sales during
the break, but remained busy.
Smith said Bullwinkle’s
used different types of pro-
“Most of our
business is the
student population.
When they’re gone,
we’re completely
dead.”
Stacey Yates
Day manager, Copasetic Cafe
motional events to encourage
customers to come in. He said
sports events such as Houston
Rockets basketball games
help draw in business.
Wednesday karaoke night
at Bullwinkle’s drew a different
crowd of participants than
usual, Smith said.
Bullwinkle’s had a 50 per
cent decrease in customers,
he said. Bullwinkle’s also cut
staff in half over the break be
cause it was economically
sound and a majority of the
staff are students.
“You lose revenue, but at
the same time your cost goes
down,” Smith said.
The Tap and J.D. Wells
closed down over the holi
days, but Hurricane Harry’s
and the Barracuda Bar re
mained open.
Jack McGregor, the gener
al manager of the Tap, J.D.
Wells, Barracuda Bar and
Hurricane Harry’s, said Hurri
cane Harry’s and Barracuda
Bar did not consider closing
down over the break.
See Businesses, Page 5
rimes,
/V&M classrooms benefit from renovation project
Ryan Rogers, The Battalion
lush Drive)
l/CS area
l classroom in Blocker benefits from the renovation project with new
arpet, ceiling tiles and paint.
By Marissa Alanis
The Battalion
Texas A&M classrooms received
a makeover during the winter break
thanks to a two-year project over
seen by the Classroom Renovation
Committee.
Eight classrooms in Blocker, two
in Heep and one in Kleberg got new
carpet, ceiling tiles and paint jobs,
bringing the number of rooms to be
renovated from 197 down to 186.
Richard Williams, an associate di
rector for facilities and Classroom
Renovation Committee member, said
the committee is trying to recondition
rooms most used by students.
“What we are trying to do is in
crease your (the students) learning
ability as well as the professor’s
teaching abilities,” Williams said.
The renovation project, imple
mented by University President Dr.
Ray M. Bowen, began during the
break between the 1996 summer
and fall semesters with the modifi
cation of eight rooms in Blocker.
Williams said to reach all rooms
in need of repair, some will have to
be taken out of service while school
is still in session rather than waiting
for semester breaks.
“We’re trying to make it (renova
tions) as transparent as possible,”
Williams said. “There will be some
disruptions, but they will be held to
a minimum.”
To decide which classrooms
need to be closed for the semester,
the renovation committee is work
ing closely with the Registrar’s office
and the Office of Planning and In
stitutional Research.
“Now they are working on what
classrooms they can give us and will
have a limited effect on the acade
mic community,” Williams said.
The guidelines by which rooms
are selected for renovation are
whether or not rooms have been
renovated in the last ten years and
if they are more than ten years old.
A total of205 on-campus rooms fell
under the guidelines.
After deciding upon rooms to
be renovated, the Physical Plant
planning division and construc
tion division determine what ma
terials need to be ordered to carry
out the renovations.
Frank Cox, superintendent of
construction and renovations, said
when renovating rooms he tries to
impress upon craftsmen that a di
verse group of students will notice
their results.
“This is a world-class institu
tion,” Cox said. “We have people
here from all over the world. They
are going to see your work.”
A shortened winter break caused
renovations that would normally
take 15 working days to be com
pressed into eight for Cox and his
construction crew of 90 workers.
See Renovations, Page 5
The Battalion
INSI DETODAY
FRIENDS Aggie and
Longhorn buddies dis
cuss getting beyond the
school rivalries.
Aggielife,Page 3
What's Up Page 6
Sports Page 7
Opinion Page 9