The Battalion
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Volume 103 • Issue 127 • 8 Pages
The Batt Online: http:// bat-web.tamu.edu
Friday, April 11, 1997
Drum majors ready Annual unity test
for new challenges P romotes diversity
Three students chosen
to lead f 97-'9S hand
Dave House, The Battalion
lohn Fugitt, a junior history major, was chosen as head
prum major.
By Joey Jeanette Schlueter
The Battalion
The Texas Aggie Band drum
majors for the 1997-1998 school
year were named Wednesday
night after a competitive showing
on the Band Drill Field.
John Fugitt, a junior history
major, was chosen as head drum
major. Chris Sullivan, a junior ac
counting major, will be infantry
band side drum major, while John
Fluff, a junior industrial distribu
tion major, will be artillery band
side drum major.
Fugitt said being drum major
will be the greatest challenge of
his life.
“It is an extreme privilege and
they (Sullivan and Fluff) are some
of my best friends in the band, so
it is going to be great working with
them,” Fugitt said.
Fugitt, a trumpet player, was the
second candidate to try out
Wednesday, and said he was ner
vous as he entered the competition.
“When I heard the band play,
all my fears went away,” he said. “I
knew this is what I wanted to do.”
Drum major responsibilities
include teaching the band
drills and leading the band on
Kyle Field at football games and
other events.
Fugitt said support from the
band helped him reach his goal.
“Every band member has done
something to help me and make
me a better person,” he said. “My
goal is to give something back to
them, give them a band they can
believe in.”
See Band, Page 2
► Whoopstock will feature
performances, sports
activities, face-painting,
and chalk drawings.
By Marissa Alanis
The Battalion
When the Ku Klux fQan held a rally in
the Bryan-College Station area in 1993,
the response from Texas A&M students,
campus organizations and faculty mem
bers was to band together and help pro
duce a unity festival called Whoopstock
on the Polo Fields.
The event, which has become an an
nual celebration with the purpose of uni
fying a diverse coftimunity, will kick off
once again Saturday from noon to 6 p.m.
on O. R. Simpson Drill Field.
Karen Collymore, chair of the Whoop
stock committee and a junior psycholo
gy major, said the festival’s theme of
“Peace, Love and Gig 'em” illustrates the
idea diversity education is a fun thing.
“It (diversity) doesn’t have to be a se
rious classroom experience,” Collymore
said. “It can be a festival."
Diversity will be manifested through
such performances as the Aggie Wran
glers, Ballet Fdlklorico, the Kappa Alpha
Psi step show and Bobby Hall’s Ice Cold
Blues Band.
New additions to the entertainment
lineup include Bryan rap artist C-Ride
and Krump, a professional comedian
from Louisiana.
Karri Wilson, director of fund-raising for
Whoopstock and a senior zoology major,
said any event that includes a variety of per
formers will offer something for everybody.
“It’s like a little slice of America right
on Simpson Drill Field,” Wilson said.
The upcoming festival has expanded
this year to involve children of the Bryan-
College Station community. Children can
participate in a storytime set aside for
them and a fun run at the event site, with
the money raised to benefit Sheltering
Arms, a charity in Brazos County.
Ron Going, director of publicity and a se
nior philosophy major, said one reason the
Whoopstock committee chose to involve
more of the community is difficulty in talk
ing about unity in a limited perspective.
“It’s kind of hard to talk about ‘Well, we
should be united on campus but ignore
the community,”’ Going said. “I think that
attitude is sometimes far too prevalent.”
See Festival, Page 2
Sf
Freshmen gear up for Beach Ball
The event is open to all students Fish Beach Ball
By Wesley Poston
The Battalion
Sun, surf and fish will adorn the Fish
Beach Ball tonight at the Student
Recreation Center, sponsored by the
Class of’00.
• Canceled last weekend because of
weather, the Fish Ball has been
1 u*rescheduled for tonight from 8 until
imidnight. Unlike past Fish Balls, the
dance will be open to all students.
Kyle Valentine, Class of ’00 vice
president elect and a freshman bio
medical science major, said the class
:ouncil decided to hold the ball at
:he Student Recreation Center to bol
ster attendance.
“We thought this would be a good
ime of the year to do that,” he said.
Previous Fish Balls have been held at
he Memorial Student Center.
Gregg Nichols, a sophomore agri-
:ultural business major, served as Class
rf’99 vice president during last year’s
?ish Ball.
The class of '99 Fish Ball was a semi-
at:
formal dance attended by about 100
students and their dates.
“We had fish everywhere and 99’s
hanging from the ceiling,” Nichols said.
Kendall Kelly, a sophomore psy
chology and Spanish major, was Class
of ’99 secretary last year. Kelly said al
though the council advertised the
event, not as many students attended
as they had planned.
“I think that a lot of people didn’t
know about it,” she said.
Nichols said although the dance did
not draw a large crowd, the class did
profit from the dance.
“I know in the past they didn’t make
money,” he said. “We actually made a
little bit.”
Kelly said the efforts of the Class of
’00 to advertise the Beach Ball have
been commendable.
“They’ve really done a great job with
advertising,” she said. “It almost re
minds me of campaigning.”
Valentine said the freshman council
has been “causing a ruckus around
campus” this week to inform students
WHERE: Pavilion Area of the
Rec Center
EVENTS: Volleyball, basket
ball, swimming, dancing.
Singled Out, door prizes
and refreshments
Tickets are $5 at the door
of the reschedule.
“We’re trying to let everyone know it
is this weekend and not last weekend,”
he said.
fylike Lemonds, Class of ’00 president
and a freshman political science major,
said the event will be held rain or shine.
“We feel this is a tradition and that
we have an obligation to freshmen and
the student body to keep that tradition
alive,” he said.
He said if the weather is bad, the
event will be held in the archery room
of Student Recreation Center.
eo
k
Senate approves bill seeking
diverse college admissions
AUSTIN (AP) *— Race-neutral factors
such as economic status and family back
ground would be emphasized in college
admissions under a bill approved by the
Texas Senate on Thursday.
The bill by Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas,
attempts to address a court ruling that
has resulted in the elimination of race as
a consideration in admissions and finan
cial aid policies in Texas.
The ruling in the Hopwood case has be
come a lightning rod of controversy after
Texas Attorney General Dan Morales inter
preted the ruling to apply to all schools.
Assistant U.S. Secretary of Education
Norma Cantu has said the ruling should ap
ply only to the University of Texas law
school, which was successfully sued by four
white students who argued the school’s ad
missions policy unfairly favored minorities.
Several lawmakers pointed to declin
ing minority enrollments at Texas col
leges in the wake of Hopwood while argu
ing in favor of West’s bill.
“It wasn’t that many years ago that our
country kept people in bondage,” said
Sen. Gonzalo Barrientbs, D-Austin. “This
legislation is not about trying to give one
person an advantage over another. This
legislation is essentially going to provide
people who haven’t had all the breaks in
life a chance to go to college.”
The bill was approved by the Senate 23-
7 and sent to the House for consideration.
The bill says that 50 percent of a college’s
enrolling class should be admitted based
on traditional criteria, such as grade-point
averages and standardized test scores.
Forty percent should have their acad
emic record considered along with fac
tors such as family background, socioe
conomic status or whether a student is
bilingual, according to the bill.
The remaining 10 percent of the en
rolling class would be made up of stu
dents whose academic record may be
borderline, but who show potential to
succeed during personal interviews.
:■ -A
m.
iff!
* *
Work of Art
Derek Demere, The Battalion
Bao Hunh, a senior environmental design major,
works in the woodshop in the Architecture Building.
The woodshop is open to all students who pass the
shop safety class.
The Battalion
INSIDETODAY
OPERA: OPAS pre
sents La Boheme, a
tale of the struggles of
youth in France in the
19 th century.
Aggielife, Page 3
I#'
Weather Page 2
Sports Page 6
Opinion Page 7
First lady compares Whitewater probe with UFO fixation
She rejected suggestions
that the White House
hoped to discourage
Webb Hubbell from
talking to investigators.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary
Rodham Clinton denied Thursday
that administration officials tried
to silence a key Whitewater figure
and said the long investigation re
minds her of “some people’s ob
session with UFOs and the Hale-
Bopp comet.”
President Clinton threw back his
head and laughed when he heard
about his wife’s cosmic compari
son. “Did she say that?” he asked.
“That’s pretty good.”
Publicly addressing the ques
tion of hush money for the first
time, Mrs. Clinton rejected sug
gestions that White House officials
hoped to discourage Webb
Hubbell from talking to Whitewa
ter investigators by helping him
find work after he resigned from
the Justice Department under an
ethical cloud in 1994.
“There isn’t anything to be
hushed up,” she said on WAMU’s
“Diane Rehm Show.”
Mrs. Clinton, who was a law part
ner of Hubbell’s in Arkansas, said he
was “somebody who people wanted
to help to get through what they
thought was a rough patch in his life.”
Hubbell has acknowledged lying
to President Clinton and telling him
that there was no
basis for charges
against him. He
later pleaded
guilty to bilking
his former law
firm and its
clients of hun
dreds of thou
sands of dollars
and agreed to as
sist Whitewater Clinton
prosecutors.
In recent interviews, Hubbell has
said he is sorry for deceiving the
Clintons, his longtime friends.
“I accept his apology,” Clinton said
Thursday during a Cabinet Room
photo session. “I’m not angry at him
anymore because he paid a very high
price for the mistake he made.”
Frustrated by Hubbell’s memory
lapses in the probe of the Clintons’
finances, prosecutors are investi
gating whether the financial assis
tance he got after resigning was de
signed to improperly influence his
cooperation.
“There’s no evidence of that,”
Mrs. Clinton said. “There will not
be any evidence of that.” The pres
ident last week said there was
nothing improper in the effort to
steer work to Hubbell, character
izing it as an act of compassion.
The first lady went on to dismiss
the notion of hush money as “part
of the continuing saga of Whitewa
ter, you know, the never-ending fic
tional conspiracy that, honest to
goodness, reminds me of some
people’s obsession with UFOs and
the Hale-Bopp comet some days.”
Asked if she had any concern
about being indicted, she said,
“None whatsoever.”
In her radio interview and a subse
quent TV appearance on CNN, Mrs.
Clinton also addressed questions
about Democratic fund-raising abus
es in last year’s presidential campaign.
“Mistakes were made,” she told
one radio caller who said his faith in
the administration had been shak
en. “But I hope that you will follow
this entire matter before you reach
any conclusions.”