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The Battalion
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Volume 103 • Issue 90 • 10 Pages
The Batt Online: http:// bat-web.tamu.edu
Tuesday, February 11, 1997
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Students to vote on referendum
If tomorrow's student-
initiated referendum
passes, then yell leader
run-off elections will be
used this semester.
By Erica Roy
The Battalion
Students will decide whether to estab-
kh yell leader run-off elections in a stu-
;nt initiated referendum on Wednesday.
The referendum states that the first elec
tion will be held with the general student
body elections, then the top five senior can
didates and the top four junior candidates
will proceed to run-offs that are held with stu
dent body run-off elections.
If the referendum passes by a majori
ty of the students voting, Article V, Sec
tion III of the Election Regulations will
be changed and yell leader run-off elec
tions will be used in this semester’s yell
leader elections.
Student Body President Carl Baggett,
a senior accounting major, said he will
act on the outcome of the referendum.
"If on Wednesday the students pass
the referendum, I will enact it for this
election,” Baggett said.
Kevin Jordan, Student Government judi
cial board chair and an accounting gradu
ate student, said it is possible that the refer
endum will not be held on Wednesday.
For a referendum to be held, a peti
tion needed to be signed by 3,929 stu
dents, 10 percent of the student body.
The 5,470 signatures gathered are cur
rently being verified by the Student In
formation Management System.
Jordan said that since the number of
valid signatures has not been made official,
it would be premature to say a referendum
will definitely be held on Wednesday.
The five polling stations at the Com
mons, the Sterling C. Evans Library, the
Underground, the Wehner Building and
the Memorial Student Center will be
open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For the referendum to pass, a majority of
the students voting (50 percent plus one)
must vote for yell leader run-off elections.
Jason Jaynes, the election commission
er and a junior computer science major,
said every vote counts and he encourages
all students to vote on Wednesday.
Senior yell leader Gary Kipe, an agri
cultural development major, said he
thinks a large number of students will
vote in the referendum.
"I expect a huge turnout,” Kipe said.
“This is something the student body has
been behind for a long time.”
Baggett said this is an emotional issue
and students should support their posi
tions by voting.
The- referendum also states that if
there are five or less candidates for senior
yell leader or there are four or less candi
dates for junior yell leader, a run-off elec
tion will not be held.
If a candidate receives a majority of
the vote in the general election, the can
didate will immediately assume office
and the number of run-off candidates
will be decreased proportionally.
Bowen, student switch
places for United Way
By Marissa Alanis
The Battalion
%
Lia Williams, a junior electrical engineering major, took
charge of Texas A&M presidential duties Monday while Univer
sity President Ray Bowen was busy taking notes in her classes.
Bowen carried his notebook to classes and sported
an A&M windbreaker around campus. Meanwhile,
Williams breezed through meetings while following
Bowen’s daily schedule.
“She’s our first woman president,” Bowen quipped.
The temporary switch was part of the second annual “Be
Bowen for a Buck,” a fund-raiser sponsored by A&M Unit
ed Way Pack, a Student Government organization. Tickets
were sold from Jan. 27 to Feb. 5 for $1. A drawing for the
winner was held on Feb. 5.
The switch required Bowen to attend Williams’ classes, rang
ing from statistics to civil engineering, and take lecture notes.
“I think he’ll do fine,” Williams said. “I wonder what my
notes are going turn out like.”
Bowen said Physics 219, an electromagnetism and elec
trostatics class, brought back memories of when he taught a
similar course at A&M. He enjoyed his Statistics 211 course
and was impressed with the wonderful professors on staff.
See Bowen, Page 5
Ryan Rogers, The Battalion
Texas A&M President Dr. Ray Bowen sits in on a statis
tics class Monday morning.
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Faculty Senate approves
Muster, Bonfire resolutions
By Kathleen Strickland
The Battalion
The Faculty Senate approved two
resolutions Monday that call for
placing Bonfire on the Academic
Calendar for the fall semester and
give students who attend Muster
University-excused absences.
The two resolutions were sent to
the entire Faculty Senate after the
Academic Affairs Committee passed
them unanimously.
The Bonfire resolution also sug
gests that instructors who conduct
classes during Bonfire should con
sider rescheduling.
The Muster resolution releases stu
dents from any class beginning later
than 3:35 p.m. on April 21.
Josh Duncan, Student Government
liaison to the Faculty Senate and a
sophomore general studies major, said
Student Government has worked hard
to get the resolutions approved by the
Faculty Senate. The Student Senate
previously passed a similar motion to
allow students to be excused from class
to attend Muster.
Amy Vandaveer, Muster chair and a
senior English major, addressed the
Faculty Senate in support of the motion.
“This tradition is part of the rich her
itage that keeps the indescribable Aggie
spirit alive,” Vandaveer said. “This is the
day when Aggies everywhere pause to
pay homage to those that have gone on
before. It is a memorial service that we
hold for the Aggie family.
“This is not an infringement upon
the rights of teachers or students. It is
a symbol of respect and honor that
we all have for life and the heritage of
this university.”
Donald Smith, an associate profes
sor of industrial engineering, and Joe
Templeton, a professor of veterinary
pathology and genetics, both suggest
ed that the academic affairs commit
tee formally consider releasing all
classes held on the day of Muster.
“This will force some Aggies to vio
late the Aggie Code of Honor because
they’re all going to miss class to go to
Muster, whether they actually go or
not,” Templeton said. “I think we
should dismiss class and not try to sort
through who really went or didn’t go.”
In other business, the Senate:
• Recommended approval of new
courses, course withdrawals and
course changes.
• Approved a new degree program,
BA. in Maritime Studies, at Texas A&M
University at Galveston.
• Discussed the upcoming general
election of Faculty Senate.
•Approved proposed amendments
in the Texas A&M University Faculty
Senate Constitution and Bylaws.
• Discussed changes in the parking
policy for retired faculty.
ish Drill Team places second
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The Texas A&M Fish Drill Team won
:ond overall in a 17-team contest at the
irdi Gras Invitational Drill meet Friday.
The competition was held at Tulane
iversity in New Orleans. The team
ictices 15 hours a week in preparation
the competitions they participate in
ring the year.
Jason Hanson, a senior Fish Drill
The Battalion
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Page 9
Team adviser and a business major, said
he was pleased with the outcome of the
competition despite falling second to
North Georgia.
"I think everyone tried their best and
we were satisfied with the results,” he
said. “We were a little disappointed we
did not bring back the trophy.”
The team placed first in platoon ba
sic, second in inspections and third in
fancy exhibitions.
Travis Alton, a Fish Drill Team candi
date and a freshman political science
major, said he was intimidated at first by
some of the more experienced teams.
“We did not know what to expect,” he
said. “We had no idea what a meet was
like.” Hanson said the young drill team
overcame its lack of experience.
Hanson said the other teams look
flawless because of the simple moves
they incorporate into their fancy exhibi
tion performance.
“If we wanted to, we could make it
simple with just 10 guys,” he said. “And
we would probably be better than
most of the teams. But we want to
challenge the fish.”
Javier Chapa, a junior Fish Drill Team
adviser and an agricultural develop
ment major, said the unique style of the
Fish Drill Team is not favored by some of
the judges.
“For some reason our style of drill
is not necessarily what judges like,”
he said.
The 32 cadets on the team make up
one of the largest teams at the competi
tion. They wear pots and boots, a uni
form unique to the competition.
Hanson said the death throw move
used in fancy exhibition challenges the
cadets. In this move, four cadets line up
in front of one another. The first man in
the row throws his rifle over the heads of
the second and third man. The fourth
cadet catches the rifle.
Alton is the fourth cadet in the line
up of the death throw. He said the move
becomes second nature because of in
tense training.
“They make it our habit,” he said. “It
becomes like a reflex.”
Chapa said conforming to straight
drill style is out of the question for the
Fish Drill Team.
“It is tradition,” he said. “Whether we
win or lose—that is not what these guys
are competing for. The Drill Team learns
discipline and teamwork.”
VOCOM handles student
financial aid information
► The service is available
through the phone
registration system.
By Benjamin Cheng
The Battalion
Texas A&M students now can access fi
nancial aid information through the phone
registration system.
Students dialing in to the registration sys
tem can press “2” to access VOCOM, the soft
ware which handles financial aid information.
VOCOM, which began operating on Feb. 3, al
lows students to obtain information such as
the status of their financial aid, documents
they need to complete and problems with
their student loan.
Previously, students would have to obtain
similar information through the mail, or by
calling or coming in person to the Student
Financial Aid Office.
Robert Lawson, assistant director for student
financial aid, said VOCOM makes information
from the financial aid office easier to acquire.
“A student doesn’t have to wait for the mail
system to find what documents they need,”
Lawson said.
“Between March and September, we get
thousands of phone calls a day,” Lawson said.
“People have major problems getting in. You
could dial all day and get a busy signal.”
Lawson said VOCOM should speed the
processing of financial aid.
“If it can handle just 20 percent of our
phone calls,” Lawson said, “it’s going to free up
20 percent of my work force to actually process
student financial aid as opposed to answering
questions on the phone.”
Lawson does not anticipate students hav
ing the same trouble dialing in to VOCOM as
they do with the phone registration system.
“The issue with the voice registration
system is that you have 43,000 people try
ing to register in a week,” Lawson said. “We
have 27,000 people who can access [VO
COM] anytime.”
See VOCOM, Page 6