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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.
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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 ' ;
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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