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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 1997)
The Battalion olume 103 • Issue 87 • 10 Pages The Batt Online: http:// bat-web.tamu.edu Thursday, February 6, 1997 ill and ma loke detectml estaurant gets license ICAMAC focuses espite church protests on Latino issues ikeprecan hen cooking I lectricity sail tes and ligli children 4 ICE: Natior ction Ager mes Vineyard, The EaiI hing on the stove,! sink said. “I don’u frying fish.’’ rages 30 to 40 ki;j iin ie future Jross the Jiurch. Stew Milne, The Battalion site of Texadelphia Sandwiches is located street from the Texas A&M Methodist By Laura Oliveira The Battalion The question of what consti tutes the front door of a church was answered when Texadel phia Sandwiches was issued its beer and wine license despite protests from the Texas A&M Methodist Church and the Bap tist Student Ministry. The city ordinance on which the decision was based says alco hol cannot be served within 300 feet of the front door of a church. The proprietor of the bar must meet certain legal requirements. The license must be in the best in terest of the public and the pro prietor must be over the age of 21. Randy Field ofthe Texas Alco holic Beverage Commission measured the distance between the church and the restaurant. Field said the distance from the front door of the Methodist Church to the front door of Tex adelphia Sandwiches was about 200 feet. The measurements did not meet the 300-foot requirement, but the city waived the ordinance. County Judge A1 Jones found all oth er legal requirements were met and issued the license on Jan. 22,1997. The Baptist Student Center and the preschool of the Methodist Chprch are in closer proximity to the restaurant than the front door of the Methodist Church, but were not regarded as main places of worship. See License, Page 6 By Benjamin Cheng The Battalion The Memorial Student Center Committee for the Awareness of Mexican-American Cul ture will ‘break the silence’ as they host the 10th Annual Southwest Student Conference on Latino Affairs today through Saturday. The theme for this year’s conference is “Breaking the Silence: Stepping Out of the Shadows.” Lorena Raya, vice president of the com mittee and a senior biology major, said the theme reflects the Latino students’ need to speak out and voice their opinions. “We’re challenging our delegates to be ed ucated about their culture and the issues that face them,” Raya said. Sarah Aguirre, the conference speaker co ordinator and a senior international studies major, said the conference addresses issues close to the Latino community but is not ex clusive to Spanish speakers. “We’re trying to emphasize that it’s not just for Latinos,” Aguirre said. “We’re an education committee, so we’re trying to educate about the Latino community” The conference will include workshops covering such topics as Mexican-American music and the economic impact of Latinos. Vincent Lazaro, the General Consul for the Flispanic Association for Colleges and Uni versities, will discuss the Hopwood decision and its impact on the Latino community. Raya said the Hopwood decision will hurt minority enrollment because it places more obstacles in front of minorities who want to attend college. “It’s going to discourage a lot of [minority] stu dents from submitting applications,” Raya said. See CAMAC, Page 6 Insurance should have reij gainst fire damage, dungings and cloi: e do not have it." ranee costs $75 to Access Challenge aises awareness fire safety shouldl College Station 1 )5. By Marissa Alanis The Batt alion itact Dr. Bob 1. Students experienced simulated m the Americant Rearing loss, visual impairment and ople. Rieech impediments Wednesday ?ht has another during the fifth annual Access Chal- at Texas A&M, lenge, an event to raise awareness of ie dog in the ni!||dividuals with disabilities at Texas 401,’ outsid; A&M University, re building. Thf l Participants wore sunglasses s commissiont 1 smeared with petroleum jelly to sim- tty Moore in refulate vision impairment or tried to heir late son Stef communicate with a mouthful of interested in '/nars/i/naJ/ows to simulate a speech mds to the purcl* pec jj m ent. lin Wall monumff t a bi es educating visitors on abilities, from learning disorders to aring loss, were set up in the MSC groom from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event was sponsored by the J [apartment of Student Life Services jrStudents with Disabilities and Net- jorks, a student organization com- litted to raising awareness of stu- [ents with disabilities. Dr. ]o Hudson, A&M coordinator of ie Department of Student Life Scr ees for Students with Disabilities; id one of the goals of Access Chal- jnge is to reduce anxiety of interac- Dnwith disabled people. “The main thing is to help them un- rstand that people with disabilities e people first,” Hudson said. Attention-deficit learning disorder is added to the list of simulation ta- es this year loecause of its rising rate diagnosis and increased recognition the medical field. Hudson said students need to realize ention-deficit disorder is a disability dnot something people create. "There’s talk of it now being the dis- ility of the 1990s,” Hudson said. She said students would see how Ticult it is to understand lip reading ■er visiting the hearing impairment lie. Hearing impaired students can H metimes miss the context or whole ia of a lecture critical to their class, idson said. Volunteers were stationed at the nulation tables to assist with the ■ tivities and answer questions stu nts might have about the nature of equal or lesser value lability. anytime except Fn. & bat n T .;., , , xial lunch menu or other Sara Wilson, a volunteer and a ENTREE, t> ENTREE sophomore elementary education major, said as an elementary school student she and her classmates par ticipated in disability awareness ac tivities, such as being blindfolded or mute. Wilson said because she and her classmates were educated at a young age about the issue, miscon ceptions about, people with disabil ities were avoided. “From my standpoint, we are not susceptible to act out the stereotypical perceptions [toward disabled peo ple],” Wilson said. Walsiejean Hughes, former pres ident of Networks and a former A&M student, said it is good people are curious about disabilities and should approach disabled people with questions. “We want them to ask questions so they won’t be afraid of it (the disabili ty),” Hughes said. “With better educa tion comes better understanding.” In 1991, at the age of 29, Hughes was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Her condition forced her to withdraw from A&M in February 1996, and she was unable unable to attend Access Challenge last year. Hughes said events such as Access Challenge and Disabilities Awareness Week do not make her feel good about having a disability, but is happy to share her experiences and relieved the events help to educate people. “Although you can never be proud to have a disease, what we are trying to get across is that you should never be ashamed of having one,” Hughes said. Hughes said her mother named her Walsiejean, or “stubborn fighter.” She said the name holds true, especially now that she has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. “For me, what is the point of life if I’m going to sit here and do nothing?” Hughes said. Hughes said she participates in physical activities such as ice skating, even though she knows the result could be staying in bed for two days to recover. “Disabled does not mean inability,” Hughes said. “I feel proud to be able to show people that I can do things.” One coupon per table Tim Moog, The Battalion We Got The Beat Erin Cross, a junior accounting major, performs a timeout drill at the Lady Aggie basketball game against Oklahoma last night. UPD works to eliminate misunderstandings Dave House, The Battalion Travis Lively, a three-year veteran of the University Police Depart ment, is the department's field training specialist. By Graham Harvey The Battalion Consisting of 116 full-time employees, 44 of whom are sworn, armed officers with the power to arrest, the University Police Department wants Texas A&M students and faculty to know it is a bona fide law en forcement organization. BobWiatt, director of University Police, said UPD is a professional police department. “ [UPD] is basically a pure law en forcement agency... a professional organization always looking to im prove,” Wiatt said. He said campus police officers are unique in that they protect an entirely “different clientele” than standard city officers. Wiatt’s chief concern is con vincing the faculty and students of A&M to behave safely. He said some crimes could be avoided if students would lock down bicycles, lock doors and walk across campus in groups at night. “[We are forced] to protect peo ple from their own naivete,” Wiatt said. “[Some of them] totally disre gard common sense.” To protect A&M, Wiatt said, UPD officers will go to such ex tents as observing the campus from rooftops at night watching for “cruisers” — thieves who comb the campus in vehicles. To educate the University, UPD created the Crime Prevention Unit in 1985. See UPD, Page 6 STAIIRANT <§) ive • 846-5333 Exp. 2/19/97 A/Tttw & /Cit&o s) The Battalion INSIDETODAY SKIN HERE: The Texas A&M Football Team pulled in a top 15 re cruiting class. Sports, Page 7 SLEEP: Aggie sleeping habits range from the normal to the bizarre. Aggielife, Page 3 Weather Toons Opinion Page 2 Page5 Page 9 Morales to public universities: use race-neutral policies only AUSTIN (AP) — Attorney General Dan Morales late Wednesday told Texas colleges and universities to use only race-neutral poli cies in deciding such things as admissions, fi nancial aid and scholarships. Morales’ opinion comes nearly a year af ter the U.S. Supreme Court let stand an ap peals court decision to throw out the Uni versity of Texas Law School’s former admissions policy, which was designed to increase minority enrollment. The 5th U.S. Court of Appeals in New Or leans last year said the policy discriminated against whites, and the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the ruling to stand. Since then, Texas universities have struggled to deal with the results of the lawsuit. It is known as the Hopwood case, after lead plaintiff Cheryl Hopwood, one of four white students who sued after not get ting into the law school. Morales, last year, issued guidelines saying that under the court ruling, race or ethnicity should no longer be used as a standard in ad missions or financial aid decisions in Texas. But he was reluctant to issue an opinion, which car ries the force of law. Morales had said each university’s general coun sel could use the guide lines in making decisions on the matter. But the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in August asked Morales for a formal le gal opinion on state- funded scholarships and grants that provide for consideration of race or ethnicity. “In essence, this opinion formalizes our le gal advice submitted to you on Aug. 21,1996, and, as such, should be considered legally binding,” Morales wrote in a letter to all Texas universities. “I encourage your institution’s general counsel to carefully examine this Morales opinion and ensure that your institution’s in ternal policies are in compliance.” Ken Ashworth, Texas Higher Education Commissioner, said state colleges and uni versities now are in worse shape than before in their efforts to recruit, retain and graduate minority students. “I think it puts everybody in the position now that you dare not not conform to the attorney general’s advice because if we get into court, he’s going to be our lawyer,” Ashworth said. Ashworth said the coordinating board asked for the opinion because it was caught between the legislature, which has previous ly instructed the agency to operate programs giving preferences to racial and ethnic mi norities, and the attorney general, who said the programs were illegal under the Supreme Court’s decision. While the 5th Court of Appeals covers Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, officials said those states are not under the same race- neutral constraints as Texas because of a sep arate court case. Outside the 5th Circuit, universities are under a previous U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing race to be considered as a factor. That has put Texas at a unique disadvantage in attracting minority students, which will last until another affirmative-action case levels the playing field nationwide, officials have said. “Let us focus our time, energy and creativ ity on finding alternative ways to promote cultural diversity and equal opportunity in our universities instead of fighting a legal re ality,” Morales said. He suggested school officials consider age, socioeconomic history, financial status, home town, family background and personal talents as ways of maintaining and increasing diversity. “If crafted properly, consideration of these factors will not only comply with Hopwood, but should result in our state institutions ma triculating and graduating a cross section of our state’s population,” Morales said.