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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1997)
| or nor,( to bo! hebor; halis:;. The Battalion ilume 103 • Issue 120 • 12 Pages The Balt Online: http:// bat-web.tamu.edu Wednesday, April 2, 1997 'Then Var-. I board votes to clear up referendum l-board members \oted unanimously |o clarify vague ireas of the yell- mder referendum. I 1 Joey Jeanette Schlueter The Battalion lStudent Government Associa- ludiciary Board hearing Mon day night addressed the number of candidates allowed in the run-off election for junior yell leader. Robert Kimmel, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, filed a complaint with the judicial board because of a difference of opinion in the interpretation of the yell-leader referendum. Jesse Czelusta, a senior agri culture economics major, tried the case with Kimmel. Kimmel argued that the num ber of run-off candidates was not decreased proportionally after Brandon Neff, a sophomore busi ness administration major, re ceived a majority. Members of the j-board voted unanimously in favor of Kimmel and decided they would ask the Student Senate to clean up vague areas of the referendum concerning the number of run-off candidates. This year’s election will not be af fected by the result of the hearing. Kimmel said he was pleased with the results. “Jesse (Czelusta) and I decided to set the record straight,” Kim mel said. “It is unconstitutional to have four candidates in the run-off.” Czelusta said he was con cerned about the issue and was surprised to get a unanimous vote at the hearing. “In my mind, it was about fair ness,” he said. “The student body should be proud of what Robert (Kimmel) has done.” Kimmel said he had two con cerns regarding this issue. “There were two main inter ests at stake: the original intent of the authors of the referendum and the perception of the people that voted on the referendum,” he said. Kimmel said the j-board did a great job. “I think the outcome went well,” he said, “and as a newly elected senator next year, we will get that nailed down.” Candidates in the run-off for junior yell leader are Sam Bluntzer, Chad Henke and Greg Nichols. Kimmel dropped out of the run-off after deciding the ref erendum was vague. He said there should be only two candi dates running for one position af ter Neff filled the first position by receiving a majority. Student Body President Carl Baggett, who interpreted the part of the referendum in question, was unable to be reached for comment. Hi ^ */ <- # % w % //J 5’V M he Good Life Pat James, The Battalion Junior Tony Proctor enjoys the afternoon by lounging around in his new 2,500-gallon pool with Blake Newsom and Will Rigdway. ; oor I enate approves budget bill Ivith questions unanswered |AUSTIN (AP) —Will Texas fund a program jive youngsters extra help in reading? How out a proposal by universities to produce bre college graduates? Should state govern- fent employees get a pay raise? [Those questions were left unanswered |esday as the Texas Senate approved a pro- |sed $83.3 billion “bare-bones” budget to id education, prisons, welfare and other vernment programs from Sept. 1, 1997 lough Aug. 31, 1999. The vote was 30-0. [The reading, higher education and pay se proposals are among items on a separate [5 billion wish list that lawmakers will pay jif money is available. [The House earlier passed its own budget, ich has a bottom line almost identical to bt of the Senate and also includes an un- nded wish list. iWhat items get financed from that list will | determined by a budget conference com- The Battalion INSIDETODAY kisses: The Kiss of the \Spider Woman brings a unique [look at prison and torture to |Rudder Auditorium. Aggielife, Page 3 Weather What's Up Sports Page 2 Page 6 Page 7 mittee composed of lawmakers from the House and Senate. Senate Finance Committee Chair Bill .Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, said only up to $600 million in state general revenue money may be available for wish-list proposals. Budget-writers have left on the table another $1 billion Gov. George W. Bush has proposed us ing for property tax relief. Lawmakers are work ing on a separate tax-relief proposal. “You can see that the conference commit tee has a formidable, formidable task if what we’re talking about is $600 million in available general revenue,” Ratliff said. “Conference committee is going to be a very agonizing, pri ority-setting process.” The proposed $83.3 billion budget for fis cal years 1998-99 represents an increase in to tal state funding of $2.6 billion, or 3.3 percent from the previous two-year budget period. It covers expenses for increasing school en rollment and provides for growth in criminal jus tice and welfare programs while holding spend ing below projected inflation, said Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, who presides over the Senate. “The budget keeps the scales balanced be tween the state’s most critical services and the taxpayers’ demand for leaner government,” Bullock said. “And it focuses on the idea that the state’s job begins in the classroom.” Education-related programs would get about $1.7 billion in additional funds under the proposal, including more than $1 billion to pay for an estimated 141,000 new public school students. The Senate measure also would change the way universities are funded, in part to en courage the teaching of undergraduate courses by professors instead of less-experi enced instructors. Events to focus on Holocaust Conference brings together scholars to discuss cultural effects By Kathleen Strickland The Battalion “Unexpected Encounters With the Holocaust,” a conference commemorat ing the cultural effects of the Holocaust and the many lives lost, begins today and continues through Friday. The conference will bring together scholars from the fields of literature, art, music, poetry, film and theater. Events include a musical, two films, po etry, a singing group and a theatrical performance. There also will be a roundtable discussion including Holo caust survivors. Olga Cook, associate professor of Russian at Texas A&M University, co-or- ganized the conference. “I hope that this conference will bring together people from all fields, including the community, campus ministry, stu dents, children and scholars,” Cook said. “This conference should bring about the realization that the Holocaust is an event that we should remember and com memorate with the hope that it will nev er happen again.” Werner Rose, professor and coordi nator of music, is responsible for Wednesday’s Brown Bag Concert in Rudder Theatre. “We always have the lunch Brown Bag Concerts and we incorporated [the] theme of the Holocaust conference with this particular concert,” Rose said. “The music is Olivier Messiaen’s ‘Quartet for the End of Time,’ which was first per formed in front of 5,000 prisoners. The performers are the Faculty En- semble of Sam Houston State University.” Arnost Lustig will de- liver the keynote speech today at 4:30, titled ^ “What We Will Never ^ Understand About the Holocaust.” Lustig, a n* survivor of Terezin, Auschwitz and Buchen- ^ wald, has written several 'v novels on the Holocaust, and four feature Films have been based on his work. A theatrical production, “Women’s Voices of the Holocaust” will be present ed Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the Fallout Theater in Blocker. Students will be performing selected texts written by women authors during the Holocaust. In addition to the discussions and performances, an interfaith service will be held Thursday at 7 p.m. in All Faiths Chapel. Judy Kenworthy, a member of the Hil- lel Foundation and the Jewish Student Association and a junior anthropology major, organized the service. “The interfaith service being held Thursday is one of the big events,” Kenworthy said. “It is a big Hr thing for the Jewish com munity, but it is impor- ^ tant to get people of all ^5 faiths involved.” Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., stu dents will read the names of young col lege-age Holocaust victims in front of the O 8 £ MSC. Many churches also are involved with the project. Kenworthy also organized the reading of names. “We are going to try to read 6 million names within 8 hours,” Kenworthy said. “The enormity of the task should represent to students how sad the Holocaust was. See Holocaust, Page 5 Students to hold rally in Austin By Erica Roy The Battalion Today, over 100 Texas A&M students will participate in Texas Higher Education Day in Austin, along with students from the University of Texas, Texas Tech University, the Uni versity of Houston and A&M system schools. The students are holding a rally at the Capitol to show their support for higher educa tion and to urge legislators to put more money into scholar ships for college students. The event was organized by the Legislative Relations Com mittee at A&M, with the help of participating universities. Nicki Obenhaus, the Leg islative Relations Committee chair and a senior chemical engineering major, said Texas Higher Education Day will show legislators stu dents support two bills being presented on the Senate floor Thursday. “This is a day for students to be heard and for the legis lators to be able to see our faces,” Obenhaus said. Sen. Rodney Ellis of Houston and Sen. Jeff Went worth of San Antonio are sponsoring the bills support ed by the students. Both of the bills call for 5 percent of Texas Lottery profits to be set aside for col lege scholarships. The Hope Scholarship, El lis’ bill, will require its recip ients to complete five hours of community service or to go into the teaching field. Texas Tuition Assistance Grant, Wentworth’s bill, will not have those requirements. Obenhaus said students are supporting each bill equally. They want at least one of the bills to pass. A press conference will be held today at 10:30 in the “This is a day for students to be heard and for the legislators to be able to see our faces.” Nicki Obenhaus Legislative Relations Committee chair Senate press room. Ellis, Wentworth and the student body presidents from the universities will speak at the press conference. Mandy Gomez, a Legisla tive Relations Committee member, off-campus sena tor and a sophomore politi cal science major, said show ing student support for these bills could help get them ap proved in the Senate. “If we can get enough stu dents out there at the capital, have a rally and show that we are interested and we care about higher education,” Gomez said, “then they (leg islators) will be more in clined to vote for their (Ellis’ and Wentworth’s) bills.” Gomez said although current college students cannot see the benefits of these bills, they will help fu ture students. Obenhaus said the Leg islative Relations Committee wants to have a Texas Higher Education Day every two years, when the Texas Legis lature convenes. Renovations slated for completion in '98 By Joey Jeanette Schlueter The Battalion The hassle should end soon for Texas A&M students who are tired of the con struction around Evans Library. Students must walk around the large construction site, and it is an eyesore to many. Charlene Clark, development and promotion coordinator for Evans Li brary, said the renovation and additions to the library should be completed in Summer 1998. “It is great news,” she said. “Every thing is on schedule and looking good.” The $32-million project focuses on the Cushing Memorial Library, the Un dergraduate Library and a large parking garage next to Evans Library. The Cushing Memorial Library, the original library servicing A&M, will house special collections, rare books, re search collections, manuscripts and archives. In place of Parking Area 34 next to Evans Library will be the Undergraduate Library, a building housing the library computer systems and 60 group-study rooms. The six-story, 135,850 square foot building will help relieve overcrowding at Evans. A walkway will connect Evans and the Undergraduate Library on the fourth floor. Clark said the walkway is current- m ' ; mm Ir? ; Robert McKay, The Battalion Cushing Library undergoes renovation to build a parking garage and Undergradu ate Library. The project should be completed in Summer 1998. ly being built. “There is a great view [of it] from the. sixth floor,” she said. “The walkway is go ing to be a great sight.” Expected move-in to the new facilities is slated for September of 1998. The inside of Evans will have a new look as well. The first and second floors will be re modeled, starting in October of 1998. Clark said the face lift should be finished sometime in June of 2000. With the opening of the Bush Library planned for November of this year, Evans Library will maintain a special section on the Bush Library grounds. See Renovations, Page 5