Texas A & M University
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is
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Tomorrow
Today
See extended forecast, Page 2.
—
College Station, TX
lume 103 • Issue 157 • 6 Pages
■■111
Tuesday, July 1, 1997
m;
SIews
p.n:
Briefs
n nrayce team finishes
fora jrth in competition
lllv
exasA&M University placed fourth
' ng36 entrants in the 1997 Sun-
■ e,acrosscountry race for solar-pow-
tehicles that wrapped up last week.
SiM’s car, Mach V, finished with a
of29 hours, 47 minutes and 21
ondsin the biennial competition,
jistretched 1,250 miles from In-
d apolis, Ind., to Colorado Springs,
lire Mach V, which was expected
i iiish seventh, maintained an av-
.espeed of 41.7 mph.
|h avt [tie race, which was won by Cali-
Iffo® a State University—Los Angeles,
|ohoi [onsored by General Motors, Elec-
icData Systems and the U.S. De
ment of Energy.
tcon-
Jsthai
Icanic
ad
hixof
m places third
submarine race
tasA&M University ocean engi-
jing students won third place in
two-person division of the fifth In-
lational Submarine Races held
21-28 in Bethesda, Md.
I the two-person division, one
son steers while the other propels
submarine.
Students design and build the
marines, which are propelled by
dents in scuba gear. The craft
istcomplete a 100-meter and 10-
lerunderwater course.
Iliere were 22 submarines en-
fsdin the competition.
$PD opens new
(immunity center
Ihe College Station Police De-
e taitwill host the opening of its
wWindsor Point Community Polic-
[Center Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
Thecenterwill house offices for the
f ese pAvnent'sCommunity Oriented Po-
.cePrqgram/CDPP), which is designed
mp CSPD better interact with the
wnityby placing more authority in
i of the patrol officers who
’(le area neighborhoods. The pro
p’s goal is to build trust and a
he of community between resi-
i (sand local government,
teopen house will feature a ribbon-
-fgceremony by Mayor Lynn Mcll-
Ifyand information on COPP and
tflocal programs will be available.
SC to test interactive
jamming format
IWYORK (AP) — Starting this fall,
:■ teNBC viewers will be able to use
«1 television remote controls to
j fliup plot summaries of network
ws,check sports statistics or order
n iucts advertised on the air.
Hienetworkon Monday announced
' srtnership with California software
f dopers Wink Communications that
allow NBC to become the first ma-
I.S. broadcaster to offer interactive
U al Jamming to consumers.
'articipating viewers will be able to ac-
j sinformation about actors and vari-
shows, find out sports scores and
; in viewer polls.
inhart: The anticipated
birthday is not what
idents may wish for.
See Page 3.
LIFESTYLES
OPINION
3no: Clinton’s apology for
hardships of slavery might
improved race relations.
See Page 5.
ONLINE
%//bat-web.tamu.edu
■cess
^o-date
3l1 § Kong
'^age on
s AP Wire.
A&M groups
commemorate
new Hong Kong
Graphic: Tim Moog
British era ends peacefully
HONG KONG (AP) —With a midnight change of
flags, an anxious, excited Hong Kong ended its 156-
year British colonial era and embarked Tuesday on
a uncertain new age under the sovereignty of an ex
ultant Communist China.
The few pro-democracy protests were sparse
and peaceful, and the Chinese army moved in with
punctilious discipline. Except for rain that drenched
the farewell ceremony, the eight-hour rite of pas
sage unfolded with a flair worthy of a territory fa
mous for its wealth and sophistication.
The brief ceremony, seen worldwide on TV, ad
ministered the coup de grace to 19th-century colo
nialism and erased what China has always regard
ed as a fundamental humiliation — Britain’s seizure
of Hong Kong in 1841 from a Chinese emperor too
weak to defend his country.
The broad smile of Chinese President Jiang
Zemin summed up China’s triumph. For Britain,
it was a melancholy reminder of its shrunken role
on the world stage, although Prince Charles,
along with Chris Patten, the last British governor,
managed to turn their retreat into a dignified, re
strained spectacle of British patriotism.
For Hong Kong’s 6.3 million people, the
biggest question was still unanswered: Can a
free capitalist society survive in the embrace of
a Communist power, even one that has
promised to keep Hong Kong politically and
economically free?
The initial signs seemed mildly encouraging.
At dawn, the Chinese army poured in 4,000
troops in long convoys of trucks, jeeps, buses and
armored personnel carriers.
Please see Handover on Page 2.
By Joey Jeanette Schlueter
The Battalion
B ritain’s turnover of Hong
Kong to China is official,
and Texas A&M University
students from both Hong Kong
and China say only time will tell
how the change will affect the
former British colony.
Friday night, the Texas A&M Chi
na Club commemorated the event
widi speeches, dancing and singing
at the Memorial Student Center.
Rongwei Yeng, vice president of
the China Club and a mathemat
ics graduate student, said the
transfer will help improve life in
Hong Kong.
“This (the transfer) is a great event
for me,” Yeng said. “We’re certain it
will be more prosperous for the fu
ture of both people.”
The Chinese Communist gov
ernment has said it will not influ
ence or change Hong Kong’s soci
ety for at least 50 years. Yeng said
he feels the government will keep
its promise.
“China will not do anything to
hurt Hong Kong,” he said. “It is too
much of an asset for us.”
The Chinese government
moved over 4,000 troops to the
border of Hong Kong to keep or
der during the week of the han
dover, a move that has alarmed
some Hong Kong residents.
Hui-Chi Chung, a Hong Kong
native and a resident of Bryan, at
tended the ceremony Friday and
said the Chinese do not care for
the people of Hong Kong.
“China sees Hong Kong as
nothing but money,” Chung
said. “The people of Hong Kong
will see that Chinese rule will
ruin their lives and take away
their freedom.”
Jason Cheng, treasurer of the
Hong Kong Club and a senior
computer engineering major, is
from the south side of Hong Kong
Island and moved to the United
States at age 16. His father is an
engineer in Hong Kong, and his
mother runs a flower shop there.
Cheng said he worries the
changeover will affect his family.
“It won’t affect me too much
while I’m in the United States,”
Cheng said, “but soon I will return
to my family, who faces the prob
lem now.”
Cheng said Hong Kong resi
dents are afraid of China because
of past, negative experiences with
the nation.
Please see Groups on Page 2.
University works
to improve campus
housing conditions
By Jenara Kocks
The Battalion
The Department of Residence Life at Texas A&M Uni
versity plans for $26 million in renovations over the next 10
years to its 106 residence halls as a result of a study of the
buildings completed last fall.
Dan Mizer, assistant director of facilities and oper
ations in the Department of Residence Life, said the
University and Residence Life hired Halff Associates
Inc. and Vanderweil Facility Advisors to appraise the
buildings’ overall condition and to give estimates for
repair costs.
Mizer said Residence Life is using part of the $ 1 mil
lion they budgeted for the last fiscal year for summer
repairs to fix some of the problems the firm categorized
as “priority one.” These repairs include plumbing up
grades, modifications to handicap-accessible bath
rooms, upgrading two fire-alarm systems and cleaning
the heating and air-conditioning systems.
Graphic: Tim Moog
Mizer said the Department of Residence Life’s top pri
ority is the balcony-style dorms. He said that in these five
residence halls, Hughes, Fowler, Keathley, Mclnnis and
Schuhmacher, there are enough deficiencies that more
than renovations are needed. A complete restoration of all
the buildings is necessary.
“We want to modernize these residence halls to make
them more appealing to the students,” Mizer said.
Mizer said the cost of modernizing these halls is not in
cluded in the $26 million figure. That figure includes repairs
only, not the changes the Department of Residence Life
wants made to make the halls more appealing to students.
Mizer said the study was a good idea for two reasons.
“We (Residence Life) thought the study was impor
tant to do because this type of study has never been
done before, and so we could be good stewards of our
facilities,” Mizer said.
Mizer also said the study is a good long-range planning
tool for on-campus housing.
Please see Housing on Page 2.
Photograph: Shannon Castle
MOt! Job Members of the Temple Fire Department practice strategic firefighting skills while extinguishing a fire at
Brayton Fire Field Monday.
Students, police aim to stop harassment
International residents living in Northgate area have experienced problems
By Michelle Newman
The Battalion
International students living in the
Northgate area are working with the Col
lege Station Police Department to curb
incidents of verbal harassment and im
prove safety in the area.
Ft. Irvin Todd of the CSPD said stu
dents have voiced concerns about poor
ly lighted streets and verbal harassment
in front of bars, in parking lots and on the
streets of the Northgate area.
Srini Neralla, a soil microbiology grad
uate student, is one of the students who
has attended meetings between students
and CSPD. Neralla said foul language and
derogatory statements have been shout
ed at international students in the bar
area of Northgate. Neralla said there also
were cases of bottles and other items be
ing thrown at students. Most incidents
occurred on weekends, Neralla said.
Neralla said the incidents were not a
result of racism.
“It is not a racial thing,” Neralla said.
“It is kids drinking and getting rowdy.
This affects the whole community. We
had to do something.”
Katy Canter, an employee at the Dix
ie Chicken on Northgate and a sopho
more at Blinn College, said she is not
aware of the problems international stu
dents say they are experiencing.
“We haven’t noticed that things like
that are going on,” Canter said, “but if
any patron of our establishment gets too
out of hand, they are taken care of.”
Rabbi Peter Tarlow of the Texas A&M
Hillel Foundation and chaplain for CSPD
organized the meetings between the
chief of police and the students. Students
expressed concern over Northgate safe
ty to Tarlow after religious services early
in March.
“Because I am both chaplain of the
police department and work closely with
many international students, I felt I
could get the students some attention on
this issue,” Tarlow said.
Three meetings have been held be
tween international students and CSPD
concerning the issues of verbal harass
ment and safety factors such as poor
lighting and a lack of sidewalks.
Susan Droleskey, head of Internation
al Student Services, said the meetings
have been positive and helpful.
“Students had concerns about their
safety in their neighborhood,” Droleskey
said, “and they took the initiative to work
with the police.”
Drolesky said the meetings have fo
cused on educating students on how the
police department works. The students
were told what information is needed to
fill out a crime report.
Ft. Scott McCollum of the CSPD said
Graphic: Brad Graeber
students were not reporting crimes. If a
student did report a crime, he or she
would not always have the information
needed for a valid crime report.
The first meeting was held between two
students, Tarlow and the chief of police.
Another meeting was arranged to discuss
the issues of safety in Northgate with a
larger number of students attending.
Please see Harassment on Page 2.