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Texas A&M University
m
Today
Tomorrow
See extended forecast, Page 2.
lume 103 • Issue 175 • 6 Pages
College Station, TX
Monday, August 4, 1997
EWS
| l : li;
Briefs
ysicist to serve as
ety program head
hristopher M. Meyer, a certified
th physicist, has been named
I of the Department of Environ-
tal Health and Safety, effective
ediately.
leyer, who has served as interim
lofm I since September 1996, gradu-
pspi from Texas A&M in 1980 with a
jidm lelor’s degree in nuclear engi-
ing. He also completed a mas-
|pair.|degree in nuclear engineering at
Jniversity and is pursuing a doc-
degree in health physics,
ne Environmental Health and Safe
ty spartment manages health and
LC ty programs for the University.
iM kinesiology
mes new head
3ck H. Wilmore, the Margie Gur-
ieay Centennial Professor at the
ersity of Texas, has been named
1 of the Department of Health
■Kinesiology at Texas A&M.
/ilmore, the former chair of kine-
igyand health education at UT, is
ident-elect of the American Acad-
of Kinesiology and Physical Edu-
in. He has written more than 14
sand contributed more than 53
)ters to other publications on
Its training and medicine.
^ilmore replaces Robert A. Amo
ng, distinguished professor and
lerofthe Omar Smith endowed
t in Health and Physical Educa-
Armstrong is returning to a full-
[3teaching and research position.
Science will
ove to West Campus
. TheTexas A&M Department of Po-
kalScience is moving to the Acade-
Mtfhg-West in the George Bush
sidential Library Center Aug. 15.
The political science department
oBolton Hall but will be closed on
15. The undergraduate advising
:ewill be in Blocker Building Rm.
3 on that day.
ties to observe
ational Night Out'
he cities of Bryan and College
are participating in “National
e25|itOut" Aug. 4-5.
he Bryan, College Station and
'ersity Police Departments and
Brazos County Sheriff’s Office will
lithe kick-off event at Post Oak
from 4 to 8:30 p.m today. The
saiartments will have displays ex-
roulfiing ways for to secure homes
possessions from burglars.
In Aug. 5, community members
asked to turn on their lights,
their homes and have a block
tlwfy with neighbors as a message
riminalsthat neighborhoods are
crime.
v
I
SPORTS
bney: After the recent loss
he Oilers, Astros fans
mid be a little more loyal.
See Page 3.
toons: Miss America
geant adds to society’s
e rest in bellybuttons.
See Page 5.
ONLINE
W/bat-web. tamu.edu
Nk out
6 Wire,
s 24-hour
toe news
S vic e.
University renames use fee
By Jenara Kocks
The Battalion
Texas A&M renamed the General Use Fee as
University Authorized TUition, which increases
from $24 to $34 per credit hour this Tall.
Senate Bill 1907, passed by the state legisla
ture earlier this year, requires that state tuition
and the former General Use Fee (GUF) both be
billed as tuition.
State tuition will be called State Minimum Tu
ition on students’ billing statements.
The tuition law also requires that univer
sities hold public hearings to discuss any in
crease in tuition.
Dr. William B. Krumm, vice president for fi
nance and controller, said that a public hearing
Friday at the MSG explaining the increase in UAT
was a “technicality.”
“This hearing was held to explain the change
in words,” Krumm said.
Krumm said the University held three public
Public hearing held to clarijy change
hearings in the past two years about the $10 in
crease in the former GUF. The increase was ap
proved in January by the Board of Regents and
will be effective September 1.
By law, universities may not raise the former
GUF higher than state tuition.
State tuition is also $34 per credit hour.
“If you put tuition and tuition on the bill, par
ents will think they have been billed twice,”
Krumm said.
He said the tuition law does not change the
purpose of the former GUF. The money is used
to finance capital projects, operating costs and
faculty and staff salaries.
Krumm said A&M sought input on the
name change from Student Body President
Curtis Childers and other student govern
ment members.
“We were interested in clearly identifying
this for students,” Krumm said. “Students
are the ones who will read it [on their bills].”
Brandi Mohler, a senior microbiology major,
said she did not know about the increase in UAT
until she saw her bill for the fall.
“I noticed the fees were substantially larger
than last semester on my bill,” Mohler said.
She said the hearing helped her understand
why UAT had increased and liked that the name
“UAT” distinguishes between state tuition and
what used to be the GUF
Krumm said that every student bill will
have an insert that explains the change to stu
dents and parents who did not attend the
meeting or see the notices about the name
change on A&M’s Web site.
Adam Rudy, a senior industrial distribution
major, said he thinks the new name for the GUF
will confuse people.
“The University often sends a lot of literature
with the fee statement,” Rudy said. “I think peo
ple will look at the fee statement, but they won’t
read the extra literature.”
Keith Kunkel, a senior animal science major,
questioned how students who work on campus
and pay their own tuition will be able to afford an
increase in UAT.
“Shouldn't they increase wages or give financial
aid to students who work on campus and pay their
own tuition?” Kunkel said. “Otherwise, these stu
dents have to use loans and graduate with debt.”
More money has been provided this year in
A&M’s budget for faculty salaries, Krumm said.
He said pay increases for student workers would
be up to individual colleges and departments.
Krumm also said that minimum wage will in
crease September 1.
Krumm said the tuition law and the law that
defined the GUF states that universities have the
option to raise the UAT $2 every year along with
state tuition until the year 2002.
Second Look
Photograph: Rony Ankgriwan
Nicole Piper, a senior environmental design major, studies
slides for a modern architecture test Sunday.
Study: Economic upswing triggers
influx of immigrants, U.S. workers
DALLAS (AP) — Texas is attracting equal
numbers of foreign immigrants and people
from other states, a new study of census fig
ures shows.
For almost every foreigner who moved to
Texas since 1990, a U.S. resident has moved to
Texas from another state, The Dallas Morning
News reported Sunday.
“Most of the rest of the country is not at
tracting both groups,” said William Frey, de
mographer at the University of Michigan
Population Studies Center, which produced
the report.
From 1990 to 1996, Texas had a net gain of
474,376 foreign immigrants and 426,696 do
mestic transplants, the report shows.
Nevada leads the nation in the rate of relo
cating Americans, but only added one foreign
immigrant for every 10 ‘“domestic migrants.”
California, which leads the country in the
rate of new foreigners, lost one American for
each foreign immigrant.
“ (Texas) gets a mix of the skilled migrants who
make up the domestic migrant streams as well
as... people who are unskilled (who) tend to be
immigrants,” Frey said.
The migration patterns are indicative of
Texas’ economic upswing, said Steve Mur
dock of the Texas State Data Center at Texas
A&M University.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area is the most bal
anced major metropolitan area in the nation
in bringing in equal numbers of migrants. In
the last six years, DFWhad a net gain of 115,000
people from other states and a 110,000 net gain
of people from other countries.
The eight counties in the DFW area had a
net gain of both types of migrants of 224,000.
That was more than any other area in the state.
Most of the rest
of the country is not
attracting both groups.
William Frey
Demographer
The jobs luring migrants to the area are
in health care, telecommunications, and
convention tourism, said Bernard Wein
stein, director of the Center for Economic
Development and Research at the Universi
ty of North Texas.
Well-educated workers gravitate to the
health care and high-tech industries, while
less-skilled employees can find work in the
tourism industry.
Please see Texas on Page 2.
Cadets remember fallen
Gulf War servicemen
By Robert Smith
The Battalion
The Texas A&M Corps of Cadets honored
three Aggies who died in the Persian Gulf
War at a service Saturday night at Fish Pond.
The deceased Aggies commemorated
were Maj. Richard M. Price, Class of ’74; Lt.
Daniel V. Hull, Class of ’81 and Capt.
Thomas C. Bland, Class of ’86.
The service included a wreath laying, a
prayer by a cadet chaplain and the play
ing of taps.
Steve Pryor, a Gold 4 veteran of the U. S.
Navy and member of the Corps, planned
the service.
“Being a patriot does not mean you have
to wear a uniform,” Pryor said, “it’s just that
we have to remember who sacrificed for us.”
Pryor said the Persian Gulf War proved
freedom cannot be taken for granted.
“These three demonstrated that freedom
has a price and all should take note,” he said.
Saturday, Aug. 2, marked the seventh
anniversary of the start of Operation
Desert Shield.
A plaque memorializing their sacrifice is
at Fish Pond.
Activists push for resolution
of unsolved gay serial killings
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Andrew Cuna-
nan’s suicide halted one of the nation’s most
lurid cases of serial murder. But from New
Jersey to Virginia to Texas, the slayings of as
many as 30 gay men or transvestites, which
activists believe are the work of five serial
killers, remain unsolved.
In soYne cases, investigators have been
hindered by lack of resources and, some al
lege, lack of interest.
“What’s the difference between my son
and Versace? Money and notoriety. If you’ve
got money and fame, it’s going to get
solved,” says Donna Smith, whose 18-year-
old son’s strangled body was found 10 years
ago in Chesapeake, Va.
Smith, who now lives in Cocoa, Fla., does
not believe her son, Charles, was homosex
ual, although he frequented the gay scene,
as did most of the 11 victims who followed
him in death.
She watched the Cunanan chase in south
Florida with fascination — and with anger
that the Virginia serial killer has not been
sought with the same fervor as the man sus
pected in the murders of fashion designer Gi
anni Versace and four other men.
“All the victims were seen as expend
able,” Smith says of the murders linked to
her son’s slaying. “They labeled them as
gays and druggies, so nobody cared.”
Activists who track violent crimes
against gay men and lesbians acknowledge
some police departments, even the FBI, are
beginning to reach out to the gay commu
nity to build trust and understanding.
“On the local level, many of us have seen
day-and-night changes in the last five to 10
TEXAS SERIAL KILLINGS
In 1994, Larry David Allen, 38,
Larry Leggett, 43, and Leopoldo
Quintanilla Jr., 29, were stabbed
to death in Irving. Police believe
all were homosexual and fre
quented the same bars in largely
gay Dallas neighborhood.
years,” says Jeffrey Montgomery, a
spokesman for the Michigan Anti-Violence
Project. “In Detroit, for example, there’s
been a 180-degree change in the way they
handle cases, from very, very, very badly to
extremely efficient and good.”
Other activists, however, remain frus
trated and say it still takes pushing to get
many officers to take seriously any
crimes involving homosexual victims,
even homicides.
“Gay-related cases aren’t popular cases.
And whether it’s ignorance or homophobia,
it’s a big problem,” asserts Bea Hanson, di
rector of client services for the Anti-Vio
lence Project in New York.
The possible serial killings include the
1994 stabbing deaths of three homosexu
al men in Irving, Texas; the shooting
deaths, from 1987 to 1992, of six Atlanta
men dressed in women's clothing; and the
1992 stabbing deaths of four men who
were last seen in Denver gay bars, accord
ing to Anti-Violence Project statistics and
newspaper accounts.
Critics of increased tobacco tax
doubt it will curb teen smoking
Money to help pay for new children's health program
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is
raising the tobacco tax this year, in part
to keep teens from lighting up. But 15-
year-old Suzanne Kane, hanging out
with friends on a summer evening,
laughs it off.
“Whether you’re smoking to be cool or
you’re chain smoking, 15 cents is not go
ing to make a difference,” says the Wash
ington teen-ager, reflecting skepticism
not only among her peers but among law
makers who wanted a higher tax but were
forced to compromise.
The balanced budget plan President
Clinton will sign Tuesday increases ciga
rette taxes by 10 cents in the year 2000 and
another nickel in 2002 — much less than
the 43 cents backers originally sought.
The money will help pay for a new chil
dren’s health program. But the effort’s
twin goal — to reduce teen-age smoking
by raising prices — may not fare as well.
“Part of the goal was to increase the
tobacco tax so significantly that kids
would stop buying cigarettes, and we
didn’t get that this year,” said Rep. Nancy
Johnson, R-Conn., who sponsored the
tax in the House.
But Johnson argues that getting any
cigarette tax increase through Congress
was an important first step nevertheless.
“We’ve broken through a barrier on this
issue,” she said. “When we need more
money, that’s where we’re going.”
Teen smoking has edged up in recent
years after falling during the 1980s. Now,
one in five teen-agers smokes and 3,000
teens pick up the habit each day. About
nine in 10 adult smokers began smoking
as teen-agers.
Please see Tax on Page 2.