Texas A Si M University
Today Tomorrow
See extended forecast, Page 2.
flume 103 • Issue 146 • 6 Pages
College Station, TX
— tsmm i
Wednesday, June 11,
EWS
Briefs
ipirmer student
Jins Peace Corps
ptrick Field, Class of ‘91, ac-
a position with the Peace
hs and will leave the United
Jss today to begin training for a
iear stint in Bulgaria,
leld, who received a degree in
Ration, park and tourism
ices from Texas A&M, will serve
Ian environmental management
piteerfor Peace Corps efforts in
faria, where he will focus on the
Jaklishment and management of
munity-based parks programs.
Iturrently, about 6,300 Peace
ins volunteers help give assis-
l«in education, agriculture, health
linutrition and small-business de-
■pentin 91 nations worldwide.
iry awards woman
pO/OOO in lawsuit
jMLLAS (AP) — A woman who
[W her truck in Dallas-Fort Worth
Lational Airport and lay pinned in
lane for almost three days has
MOO,000 in court.
Jlamie Peavy had sued the airport
ilheconstruction companies that
pworking on a new runway.
Iniejury's verdict, announced Mon-
pthecourt of state District Judge
liillHartman, divided blame for
laccident between the airport and
puction companies TJ. Lam-
pt Construction Inc. and the
jlpli Parsons Co.
■Another company, H.B. Zachry,
Isabsolved of responsibility.
Ilurors said the airport and the
ppaniesfound responsible should
Iwliadadequate signs on the road
ItaeMs. Peavy crashed in 1994.
I toorsalso found Ms. Peavy part-
fpi At least two believed the
toss argument that she was
I Wgand not wearing a seat belt.
Ijdospora outbreak
pitinues to grow
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food
HDrug Administration warned
I bay that people suffering from di-
reawhohave recently eaten fresh
berries should have a doctor di-
fcsewhether they were infected in
lowing outbreak of cyclospora.
lie parasitic infection has struck
Pst seven states — California,
Bland, Nebraska, Nevada, New
m, Rhode Island and Texas —
Ite mid-April.
lie Centers for Disease Control
IPrevention counts 110 labora-
If-confirmed cyclospora cases,
(isaid doctors have diagnosed
hundred more patients, al-
Ijghthe CDC would not give final
iters Tuesday.
toi
OPINION
fsoey’s remake
i cartoon
pssic con
futes to prob-
i of animal
Monment.
See Page 5
SPORTS
ONLINE
Np://bat-webTamu.edu
fok for
| e Batt’s
Nsified Ads ^
Fewer minorities apply for fall
key: The expansion of
He Field is not only
(cessary but about time.
See Page 3
By Michelle Newman
The Battalion
Minority applications to Texas
A&M University decreased between
Fall 1996 and Fall 1997, and some in
the education Field suggest the de
cline is tied to the Hopwood decision
outlawing race-based scholarships.
James Ashlock, executive direc
tor of University Relations, said the
number of black students who ap
plied dropped 13 percent, and the
number of Hispanic students who
applied dropped nine percent.
Of the 15,832 applicants for Fall
1997 admission received by A&M,
742 were black and 1,846 were His
panic, down from 855 black appli
cants and 2,018 Hispanic applicants
for Fall 1996.
Jim Dallas, a high school coun
selor at Elsik High School in Houston,
said he sees such declines as a direct
effect of the Hopwood decision.
“A revolving-door admissions ef
fort does not help these students,”
Dallas said. “If the student is admit
ted and is not offered Financial aid,
they cannot attend the university.”
Mary Jo Powell, associate direc
tor of University Relations, agrees
the lack of racially based scholar
ships will affect minority enroll
ment at A&M.
“It’s about the loss of scholar
ships,” Powell said. “If a school can
offer students the money, they will
go where the money is.”
Keryl Douglas, executive director
of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People in
Houston, said Texas universities are
losing minority students to histori
cally black colleges and universities
offering racially based financial aid.
Douglas said this is a positive effect
of Hopwood.
"[Hopwood] will probably tran
scend the number of black students
seeking degrees at historically black
universities,” Douglas said.
Black Freshmen
Applied
Admitted
Hispanic Freshmen
Applied
Admitted
Total Freshmen
Applied
Admitted
s Fallout?
Figures For Black & Hispanic Freshmen Applicants
Fall 96
Fall 97
2018
1846
Applications by
black students
for Fall 97 have
declined 13%
from Fall 96.
Applications by
Hispanic students
for Fall ’97 have
declined 9%
from Fail 96.
Source: University Relations
15918
15832
10271
10856
Graphic: Tim Moog
A&M has little difficulty finding
minority students who fit the ad
mission criteria, Ashlock said. The
problem lies in finding funding for
the students, he said.
“If Hopwood would have regu
lated admissions, we would have
no problem,” Ashlock said. “But
when the scholarships were taken
away, that’s what hurt us.”
Prior to the Hopwood decision,
A&M offered a wide range of schol
arships and financial aid to students
of minority ethnicities. The Presi
dent’s Achievement Award Scholar
ships, the Collegiate Achievement
Award Scholarships, and the Distin
guished Achievement Award Schol
arships were offered only to black,
Hispanic and other minority stu
dents, but the Hopwood decision
dissolved the race requirements. The
scholarships are still available, but
are open to students of all races.
Diversity among the student
body at A&M may become more
limited because of Hopwood, Dou
glas suggested. The ruling was
meant to consolidate minority and
majority classes, yet some, like Dou
glas, fear it has done the opposite.
"Hopwood results have been
misapplied,” Douglas said. “It
has had an adverse effect on di
versity at universities with few
er minorities.”
GOP struggles
to write new
disaster bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — Confronted with fresh at
tacks from the White House on one hand and inter
nal divisions on the other, congressional Republi
cans struggled Tuesday to produce an alternative to
a vetoed $8.6 billion disaster-aid bill.
Senate Democrats launched an all-night series of
media appearances in a Capitol suite just off the Sen
ate floor to dramatize the urgency of the issue.
“I’m ready, I’m willing and I want to work with
you,” Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott told De
mocrats, indicating he was prepared to pass a less
costly measure that included “urgent disaster relief”
for Midwestern flood victims
without the provisions that
sparked President Clinton’s veto.
On the other side of the Capi
tol, though, the House GOP
leadership met without deciding
their next step. Rep. John Boehn-
er, R-Ohio, told reporters there
would be “discussions with the
White House” to see what com
promise was possible.”
Clinton vetoed the bill
Monday and demanded Republicans drop ex
traneous provisions.
One is designed to avert a government shut
down this fall regardless of whether Clinton and
Congress reach agreement on regular spending
bills. Republicans say the provision is necessary
to avoid a repetition of the shutdowns of two
winters ago, but Clinton said it would cut $18
billion from the amount envisioned in the bal
anced-budget agreement recently reached with
the GOP leadership.
The second provision would ban the use of sam
pling in the nation’s census in 2000, a step designed
to correct for an expected undercount that tradi
tionally falls heavily on minorities.
Republicans argue that sampling is of dubious
constitutionality, and they say they are willing to pro
vide enough money to physically count everyone.
Beyond that, Republicans fear that if sampling is
used, their majority in the House could be in jeop
ardy when legislative district lines are redrawn in sev
eral states before the 2002 elections.
Whatever the outcome, the issue produced a
quarrelsome Senate session during the day in which
Democrats made good on their vow to block all busi
ness unrelated to the disaster-aid measure.
In an attempt at embarrassment, Lott sought to
force consideration of a bill to attack birth defects,
but Democrats objected to that proposal, as well as
numerous others.
Clinton
Northgate revitalization
Business owners express
concerns about relocation
■>
Bll®
■ S'' r s ’
mmeiX:
mm
Photograph.- Robert McKay
As part of the Northgate revitalization project, the lot where
Burger Boy now stands will be replaced by a 150-space
parking lot.
By Robert Smith
The Battalion
Northgate will bear a new
look when renovations ap
proved by the College Station
City Council are completed,
but not all area business own
ers favor the changes.
One controversy surround
ing the Northgate project in
volves Burger Boy owner
George Sopasakis.
The Patricia Street build
ing where Burger Boy is locat
ed is targeted for replacement
by part of a 150-space parking
lot now under construction.
But Sopasakis, who has re
fused to vacate the building,
said the city has not given
him a fair offer to relocate his
business to a new location.
“The city offered to relocate
us in another building in North-
gate,” Sopasakis said, “but the
rent of the building is double
what we are paying now.”
Sopasakis said the amount
College Station proposed for
relocation expenses would not
cover the costs of renovating
another building.
Skip Noe, College Station
city manager, would not com
ment on details of negotia
tions with Sopasakis, but did
say the city made Sopasakis a
fair offer.
Noe said College Station has
been working with Sopasakis
for 21 months to reach an agree
ment on relocation.
“The parking lot is now under
construction, and we are hoping
to have it completed by the start
of this school year,” Noe said.
The new paid-parking lot
will cover part of Patricia
Street, which will be closed,
and the area where Burger Boy
now stands.
Todd McDaniel, Northgate
project coordinator, said a
promenade will be built in
the area next to the parking
lot to attract tourists visiting
the forthcoming George Bush
Presidential Library.
The Northgate area includes
the land between South College
Avenue and Wellborn Road and
between University Drive and
the College Station city limits.
Some Northgate business
owners have voiced concerns
and complaints in response to
the city’s revitalization plans.
Please see Plans on Page 6.
Poll: Races differ in attitudes on relations
WASHINGTON (AP) — Black people see a problem.
Whites don’t.
The gulf in American perceptions of national race relations
is laid out starkly in a comprehensive survey of attitudes re
leased Tuesday by the Gallup Organization.
Blacks are far more pessimistic about how the races
get along and how they are treated than whites, accord
ing to the survey. Whites see little to be concerned about
when it comes to opportunities for blacks in jobs, edu
cation and housing.
Just 34 percent of whites feel the government should
make greater efforts to support minorities, while 59 per
cent of blacks see a need for greater governmental reme
dies for inequality.
“White Americans don’t see a major problem,” said Frank
Newport, vice president of the Gallup Organization. “Ergo, they
don’t see a need for governmental intervention.”
The survey’s results illustrate the challenge President Clinton
faces as he steps up efforts to promote racial harmony. He plans
to open a dialogue on race Saturday in a commencement speech
at the University of California at San Diego.
Clinton also is scheduled to name a seven-member mul
tiracial panel to encourage Americans of all races and ethnici
ties to talk frankly about race. The panel also is expected to de
velop actions that the president, individuals and corporations
can take to achieve greater racial understanding.
Newport said the different perceptions of blacks and whites
in assessing race relations is part of the challenge.
Please see Poll on Page 6.