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The Battalion
olume 103 • Issue 91 • 12 P«ige$
The B«ill Online: http:// bat web.tamu.edu
Wednesday, February 12, 1997
Students to vote on yell leader run-offs
Ufter a petition was
werified Tuesday,
mudents will vote
\on yell leader run
off elections.
fv Joey Jeanette Schlueter
The Battalion
Students will decide today
"■ether or not to include yell
1 against South* der run-offs in the upcoming
winning all i!|ection.
|lf approved, a run-off election
uld follow the general election.
Students would then vote on the
top five senior candidates and top
four junior candidates.
Currently, the top three seniors
and top two juniors are chosen in
a single election.
A petition bearing 5,470 signa
tures calling for a binding refer
endum on yell leader run-offs
was verified Tuesday with 4,815
valid signatures.
Kevin Jordan, Student Govern
ment judicial board chair and an
accounting graduate student, said
he expects a large voter turnout.
“Any time Texas A&M students
have a chance to voice their opin
ion about something that affects
them, they do,” Jordan said.
Student Body President Carl
Baggett said he does not want the
election process to become a di-
“ Whatever the
students decide, we'll
do everything in
our power to abide
by their votes."
Chris Torn
Head yell leader
viding issue.
“The Senate, among many oth
er organizations on campus, has
done so many good things,”
Baggett said. “I just don’t want this
to divide the students.”
Chris Torn, head yell leader and
a senior agricultural development
major, said he is primarily against
yell leader run-off elections.
“For Corps and nonregs, run
offs are not the best thing for yell
leaders,” Torn said. “We are elect
ed by the student body, and what
ever the students decide, we’ll do
everything in our power to abide
by their vote.”
Gary Kipe, yell leader and se
nior agriculture development ma
jor, said he is in favor of having yell
leader run-offs and believes they
will help the University.
“This (the referendum) isn’t
against anybody,” Kipe said. “It is
for the whole student body.”
Jason Waligura, Public Rela
tions Officer for the Corps of
Cadets and a senior petroleum en
gineering major, said the reason
there are no yell leader run-offs is
the Student Senate.
“Even though the student body
supported it,” Waligura said, “the
Student Senate stopped it and vot
ed it down.”
Students may vote today
at the Commons, Sterling C.
Evans Library, Wehner Building,
Memorial Student Center and
the Underground.
RUN-OFF CRITERIA
AT A GLANCE
V Thetopfour junior candidates will
advance to the run-off election.
V The top five senior candidates will
advance to the run-off election.
V Any candidate receiving a major
ity of the vote in the primary election
will automatically assume the office
without the run-off.
V If more candidates receive a ma
jority of the vote than there are po
sitions, then the candidates receiv
ing the highest number of votes
will assume the offices.
srm
09) 268-139(}
■HHfV
HI r
Friendly Face
Pat James, The Battalion
Shalena Poffenberger, a senior psychology major and member of the Diamond Darlings, hands out
scorecards between the baseball games at Olsen Field Tuesday.
► MSC Council
Churches observe Ash Wednesday
'asting, abstinence mark the traditional beginning of Lent
i-lot
p.m.),
p.m.),
ome.
CP 017T 00, 'I
By Graham Harvey
The Battalion
Churches and student organiza-
)ns will observe Ash Wednesday,
e traditional beginning of Lent, in
ariety of ways today.
Lent is the Christian season of
eparation for Easter.
Father Mike Sis of St. Mary’s
tholic Center said that while Ash
dnesday is not a required day of
ss or a holy day of obligation, Ro-
Catholics look fondly upon it.
“It is a very popular day for
tholics [with] a lot of personal
aning.” Sis said. “It is a day of fast-
;, abstinence (from meat), and re-
ntance of sin.”
On Ash Wednesday, Roman
Catholics wear ashes, a pre-Christ
ian sign of repentance, on their fore
heads in the shape of the Cross.
There will be several Catholic ser
vices today. St. Mary's will hold mass
at 7 a.m., 12:05 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and
7:30 p.m. The Catholic Student Asso
ciation will hold a service in the All-
Faiths Chapel at noon and a service
in Rudder Theatre at 5:30 p.m.
Stavros Megas, secretary of the
Orthodox Christian Fellowship and
a senior history major, said Lent does
not begin for members of the Ortho
dox faith for about another month.
The Orthodox Easter is on April 27,
whereas the standard Easter falls on
March 30.
Megas attributes this to the
split of the Christian church in
1055 between the Orthodox and
Catholic faiths.
“The Catholics changed the cal
endar,” Megas said.
Protestants also observe Ash
Wednesday. The Rev. Mark Craw
ford, chaplain for Episcopal stu
dents, said the Episcopal observance
of Ash Wednesday has English roots.
The ashes used are obtained dur
ing the Imposition of Ashes, a cere
mony in which palm leaves from the
previous Palm Sunday are burned.
Crawford said the day’s service will
include the Litany of Penitence, a re
pentance ceremony authorized in
The Book of Common Prayer, the
Anglican code of procedure translat
ed in 1549.
“Ash Wednesday reminds us of
our mortality, our human nature
and the promise of salvation,” Craw
ford said.
As a historical note, Crawford
said, the modern English word ‘Lent’
is derived from the Middle English
word ‘lente,’ meaning ‘springtime,’
which itself is derived from the Old
English word ‘lengten,’ meaning ‘the
lengthening of days.'
St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church
will hold service at 7 a.m. There will
be services at St. Francis Episcopal
Church in College Station and St. An
drew’s Episcopal Church in Bryan.
St. Thomas’ will hold a special Ash
Wednesday Service for college stu
dents at 6 p.m.
See Churches, Page 6
ire ant outbreak prompts control efforts
1.5pm Suiulsy
apply-
i Maria
Benjamin Cheng
The Battalion
A booming fire ant population in Texas has
ompted state research facilities, including Texas
, to coordinate efforts to control the insects.
The research institutions, which include
e University of Texas and
'Xas Tech University, will an-
unce the Fire Ant Manage-
ent Plan at a press conference
day in Austin.
The institutions collaborated
a bill to manage the fire ant
Population. The bill, which asks
$2.7 million per year for the
sixyears, will be presented to
e Texas Legislature during the
ent session.
A news release said fire ants
ive infested 56 million acres of
s, about two-thirds of the state.
Dr. Bart Drees, an entomolo-
ist with the Texas Agricultural Extension Ser-
|ce, said the arrival of red imported fire ants
m South America in the ’30s has led to the fire
t overpopulation.
“What's bad about them (fire ants) is that
ere’s too many of them,” Drees said.
The ants cause an estimated $300 million in
“Most native
ants are not as
damaging as
the red imported
fire ants."
Dr. Ray Frisbee
Head, A&M entomology
department
losses in Texas each year, he said.
Dr. Ray Frisbee, head of the A&M entomolo
gy department, said a lack of natural controls
caused the fire ant population to increase and
displace native fire ants.
“Most native ants are not as damaging as the
red imported fire ants,” Frisbee said.
Frisbee said part of the solution
lies in reducing the fire ant popu
lation, allowing native fire ants to
recolonize their former territory.
Drees said the Fire Ant Man
agement Plan advocates a com
munity-wide effort to control the
fire ant population.
“We can do a lot better job if we
work together with neighbor
hoods, homeowner associations
or communities to coordinate
control efforts,” Drees said in a
news release.
Frisbee said fire ants, unlike oth
er ants, can inflict multiple stings.
“A fire ant sting probably hurts as much as
bee sting,” he said. “It’s usually a multiple num
ber of [fire ants].”
Frisbee said fire ants interfere with crop har
vesting and pose a danger to the cattle industry.
See Efforts, Page 5
Senior dedicated to
A&M's 'living room'
By Laura Oliveira
The Battalion
Nellson Burns first saw the MSC
during a visit to Texas A&M Univer
sity his senior year in high school.
Now, a senior in college, he will as
sume the position as MSC Council
president beginning April 1.
“I remember the MSC represent
ing tradition and being a place
where a lot of students came to
gether,” he said.
Burns, an international studies
major, was appointed to the posi
tion on Monday Feb. 3. Burns said
through inclusiveness and team
work, the MSC can remain the “liv
ing room of the campus.”
“I am very team-oriented,” he
said. “If we can get different people
with unique characteristics and
strengths working toward the same
goal and same vision, we can do a
lot for the University.”
Burns said community develop
ment gives the MSC competition.
He said activities such as going to
clubs, playing laser tag and seeing
movies at Hollywood 16 lure stu
dents away from the MSC.
“A&M is not what it was 20 years
ago,” he said. “The MSC has to re
main competitive in order to give
the students what they want.”
The MSC Council will take sur
veys, establish focus groups and
talk to organizations to get input on
student needs.
“We want to find out what the
student body wants and give it to
them,” he said.
Burns will move into his new of
fice when his term begins in April.
Bums said he will have a picture of
his parents when they were younger
and a picture of them taken recently
Ryan Rogers, The Battauon
Nellson Burns, a senior international
studies major, hopes to restore
student focus to the MSC by serving
as Council president.
on his desk. He said looking at the pic
tures puts life in perspective.
“When I look at the younger pic
tures, I see them as I am now,” he
said. “And then I look at the other
pictures and see who I want to be.”
Burns has traveled to Europe five
times through A&M programs and
plans to study in Mexico this summer.
He said he gains an understanding of
different cultures when he travels.
“Other cultures may go about
doing something in a different
way,” he said. “It is just as valid, but
it is different.
“Learning about this may pro
vide insight as to how we can solve
problems in our own society.”
Burns said he wants to travel
more after graduation and some
day open his own business.
Deputy chancellor devotes
career to educational goals
Rony Angkriwan, The Battalion
Sherry Ellison, a technician in the entomology
research lab, examines a fire ant nest that de
veloped over a six-month period.
By Brandon Hausenfluck
The Battalion
Dr. Leo Sayavedra, Texas A&M
University System deputy chancel
lor for academic institutions, is an
example of how an education can
change one’s life.
Until he was 12 years old, Sayave
dra, a Rio Grande Valley native, nev
er set foot in a classroom. He, his five
brothers and two sisters spent their
childhoods working to supplement
the family’s meager income.
One day while Sayavedra was
working on a farm, a truant officer
approached him and asked why he
was not in school. Sayavedra said
working was the only life he knew.
“At age 12, I had a regular job,”
Sayavedra said. “I didn’t know I had
to be in school.
“There was a need for [everyone
in the family] to contribute to the
family income.”
Ironically, Sayavedra made edu
cation his career.
Although he started the first grade
when other kids his age were starting
the seventh, he finished high school
at 18 and went on to college. In 1960,
Sayavedra received a degree in math
ematics from Trinity University in
San Antonio. He received a master’s
degree in education in 1968 from
North Texas State University (now
University of North Texas). He went
on to earn a Ph.D. in educational cur
riculum and instruction at the Uni
versity of Texas at Austin in 1976.
Sayavedra has held a variety of
positions during his career. For 12
years, he taught chemistry, physics
and mathematics. During that time,
Sayavedra coached high school
football and basketball in Texas
public schools and was a Universi
ty Interscholastic League coach.
Throughout his career, Sayavedra
has been a member of nearly 30 pro
fessional organizations. He served on
the Texas Lottery Advisory Commit
tee and the Advisory Committee for
the Law School Admission Service
and was the Policy Committee Chair
man for the Hispanic Association of
College and Universities.
See Chancellor, Page 5
The Battalion
INSIDETODAY
PRO/CON: Yell Leader
Gary Kipe and Student
Senator Javier Martinez
debate yell leader run
off elections.
Opinion, Page 11
Aggielife
Toons
Sports
Page3
Page6
Page?