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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 1997)
Texas A & M University :thed! Iews ;McEit Chur: !hts lOftl lie annual Perseid meteor shower fieduled to peak Monday night and [sand,: 'Tuesday morning, according to an 9 Houston Chronicle article, he best time to watch the meteors thin two hours after the moon sets, he shower appears to come from direction of the constellation golfjjjj eus, which will lie in the north- pk.Mti ern sky Tuesday morning. plveso! ting on Oper. theBi: puto! .'tor tioi I 97 75 Today Tomorrow See extended forecast, Page 2. ume 103 • Issue 179 • 6 Pages College Station, TX Monday, August 11, 1997 Briefs eteor shower to ake appearance immencement set Friday, Saturday lineal exasA&M will hold summer com- icement ceremonies Aug. 15 at sblaj )p.m. and Aug. 16 at 9 a.m. panics riday’s ceremony will be for de- Inewa icandidates from the Colleges igriculture and Life Sciences, cation, Science, Veterinary licine and the Dwight Look Col- of Engineering. James R. bediims, chair of Texas Instruments |ol$.Le! .will be the speaker. Saturday’s ceremony will be for de- \ino(j ‘candidates from the Colleges of litecture, Geosciences and Mar- eStudies, Liberal Arts, Medicine 4 the Lowry Mays College and uate School of Business. Robert ioodwin, president and CEO of the its of Light Foundation in Wash- \tefsM on, D.C., will be the speaker. Members of the Corps of Cadets eringthe military will be commis- ledat Saturday’s ceremony, also. ffexas Insttfe t crin:- our- besf KJr. criticizes elatives in article lime. | that jtizefl! | are prea ktates jsocif | this b tile «— e Battalion will resume ' 0 blication for the fall of Hester August 29. See Page 3. /. Let*' ; may 1 LAST ISSUE OPINION ttp://bat-web.tamu.edu ONLINE eck out eWire, |nf s 24-hour 'ine news P r vice. El Nino may cause Texas drought Warmer temperatures help keep tropical storms from forming Photograph: Tim Moog El Nino is causing a drought in Texas this year, withering corn and other crops in the dry heat. By Joey Jeanette Schlueter The Battalion A hurricane has not hit the Texas Gulf Coast since 1991, and the U.S. Weather Service’s National center for Atmos pheric Research says this is because of a strong El Nino. El Nino is the period of warmer water temperatures in the Eastern Pacific Ocean along the equator. The rise in water temperature causes strong winds that typically shear off developing hurricanes. The strength of El Nino varies every year. But El Nino also may cause droughts in some parts of the United States and flood other parts of the nation. Dr. Kwang Kim, a Texas A&M meteorologist, said El Nino is strong this year, and the effects of the period are beginning to appear. “El Nino changes each season,” Kim said. “But this year El Nino will have a dramatic effect on Texas weather.” Ping Cheng, an A&M climatology professor, said warm El Nino temperatures may lead to fewer tropical storms in the Atlantic Ocean. Although Gulf Coast residents may not have had to board up windows or evacuate their homes this year, Texas A&M Agriculture Specialist John Wards said agriculture is suffering from the effects of El Nino. In early August, the Atmospheric Research Center in Oklahoma said that El Nino has the potential to cause bil lions of dollars in damage to key agriculture regions world wide, including the Southern United States. Wards said that in the fall, Texas may experience an in crease in temperatures, making the it feel like summer, and rain shortages may be common because of El Nino also. “El Nino not only has an impact on the weather,” Wards said, “but it greatly affects agriculture income-based fam ilies as well. Some years crops go dry because of a lack of rain and high temperatures.” Donna Kent, public relations officer for Brazos County Farm Bureau, said more than 13 percent of families in the Brazos Valley rely on farming for income. This year, she said, some are worried about losing crops. Please see El Nino on Page 2. NEWYORK (AP) — The Kennedy frVNhose marital and extramar- wsivities have filled tabloid flines for years, are being pil led by one of their own — none lerthan JFK Jr. the September issue of 3, the magazine he founded longflledits, John F. Kennedy Jr. calls j^is lofhis cousins “poster boys for ibehavior.” Rep. Joseph R Kennedy II, (lass., accused by his ex-wife trying to have their marriage fulled for political expediency, IMichael Kennedy, accused of affair with an underage baby £r, “chased an idealized alter- iveto their life,” JFK Jr. says in signed article. Ofthe ensuing notoriety, he writes: rhaps they deserved it. Perhaps ! l Jy should have known better. To whom much is given, much is avel1 scted, right? The interesting paring was the ferocious condemna- of their excursions beyond the mds of acceptable behavior.” he adds, cryptically: “I’ve rued a lot about temptation re- itly, but that doesn’t make me de- iany less.” konf Gov. Bush: Tax battle not over yet AUSTIN (AP) —Texas voters have giv en homeowners a slight tax break, but they need to speak up if they want to keep property tax rates and values from continuing their steady rise, Gov. George W. Bush said. “This is definitely a step,” Bush said, celebrating the overwhelming victory Saturday of a $1 billion property-tax cut for homeowners. In unofficial results, 690,678 Texans, about 94 percent of those who cast ballots, voted in favor of the measure that triples the homestead exemption from $5,000 a year to $15,000; 41,338 voted against it. The tax break will save the average homeowner about $140 a year. Bush, who for two years has pushed an effort to lower and cap school property tax rates, said the issue is hardly resolved. “Hopefully during the course of this campaign, Texans will make their sentiments known to those of us who are seeking office,” said the gover nor, who is seeking re-election next year. Lawmakers tried to limit the number of times a home’s value can be assessed and lim it the increase in appraised property values. In November, voters will be asked whether hikes in property value should be capped at 10 percent a year. Voters also would be allowed to defer property tax pay ments if values rose more than 5 percent, but would pay 8 percent interest to do so. Since 1995, Bush has said rising prop erty tax rates and values pose a looming threat to home ownership in Texas. He said the state’s healthy economy, the new ly approved tax cut and increased state funding for education could take the pres sure off of rising local school tax bills. But he added that if Texans want more to be done, they will have to make that known to elected officials. The constitutional amendment ap proved Saturday raises the minimum homestead property tax exemption by $10,000, giving most homeowners a roughly $12 a month tax cut. Renters and business property owners were left out of the savings. Gov. Bush Killing Time Photograph: Rony Angkriwan lesha Camper, a 2-year-old, buys a gumball while waiting for her mother to do laundry Sunday af ternoon at Wash-n-Go. A&M changes overassignment policy Students will be able to accept or reject the room at an earlier date than previous years ffin: People learn the most luable lessons from the latest heroes: parents. See Page 5. Cycling shop owner killed in accident Wayne Bryan, owner of Aggieland Cy cling and Fitness and 41 -year-old Bryan resident, was killed at 8 a.m. Sunday two miles east of College Station on Texas Highway 30, the Department of Public Safety said. Bryan was riding a bicycle on the westbound shoulder of Hwy 30, the DPS said, when a 1992 two-door Honda trav eling westbound in the outside lane crossed the line and struck the bicycle on the shoulder of the road. The DPS said four other people were bicycling with Bryan, but they were not injured. By Joey Jeanette Schlueter The Battalion In the next few weeks, Texas A&M students will be busy meet ing their roommates for the fab se mester and scrambling to find fur nishings for their dorm rooms. On-campus residence hall as signments have been given to stu dents, and the number of overas signments will be known during the first week of school. The Texas A&M Department of Residence Life said it expects the same number of overassignments for the fall as last year. In Fall 1996, 80 percent of housing applicants received room assignments, and 20 percent were overassigned. Residence Life began mailing letters to students who received on- campus housing last month. The letters inform students of their room numbers, roommates and if they have been overassigned. Dan Mizer, assistant director of facilities and planning for Residence Life, said overassignment is under control and should not be a prob lem this year because of revisions to the overassignment process. “Memos have been sent out [to students] which show revisions to overassignment,” Mizer said. “We shouldn’t have problems as we did in the past.” The revisions require that overassigned students either ac cept or reject the room assign ment at an earlier date than previ ous years. This year four A&M students will live in an apartment-style room on the first floor of McFad- den Hall. Three modular rooms were combined and designed with a living room, a kitchen, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Please see Halls on Page 2. Photograph: Tim Moog Four students will live in an apartment-style room on the first floor of McFadden Hall this fall. The suite has a living room, kitchen, two bed rooms and two bathrooms. U.S. peace envoy says mission goal is security cooperation JERUSALEM (AP) — President Clinton’s Mideast envoy focused on Israel’s security de mands Sunday, shuttling between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a drive to salvage the battered peace process. Dennis Ross’ task is delicate and difficult: Trust is at a low point after a five-month crisis, with Israelis bitter about bombings in their cities and Palestinians livid Israel is building settlements and imposing travel bans. Ross said his orders from Clinton were to re store the “security underpinning” of the peace process and resume security cooperation be tween Israeli and Palestinian security forces. The strategy appeared to make some head- The political issues that divide the parties are going to have to be addressed and resolved.” Dennis Ross Mediator way: Ross succeeded in bringing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his security officials together with Israeli Shin Bet security chief Ami Ayalon and other Israeli officials for a meeting, Israel Radio said. The meeting began around midnight in the autonomous West Bank city of Ramallah and continued into Monday. U.S. officials also were participating in the meeting. David Bar-Illan, a top adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said such meetings alone “are not going to be enough. ... The question will be, ‘Did we get the in telligence that we need and that we know they have?”’ Please see Envoy on Page 2.