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Texas A & M University
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MKV
TODAY
KEAR • ISSUE 46 • 12 PAGES
COLLEGE STATION • TX
TOMORROW
See extended forecast. Page 6.
TUESDAY • NOVEMBER 4 • 1997
peme Court lets
209 stand
5 IlNGTON (AP) — The
■■{Court let stand Califor-
■oundbreaking Proposition
«3anon race and gender pref-
miihiring and school admis-
Himative action foes predict-
jstates now will follow
ha's lead.
^without comment Monday,
ion's highest court rejected a
etothe California measure
Julition of civil rights groups.
Imeasure, an amendment to
•constitution, says the
j local governments cannot
unate against or grant pref-
^treatment to any individual
toon the basis of race, sex,
micity or national origin."
lercourts had said the anti-
faction measure violated
|:Sconstitutional rights and
Ij^ eutral way to promote equal-
r^:oponents contended the
, /• relegated racial minorities
v “men to the status of second-
itizens in California.
fejeast talks off
slow start
hr c
iad^NGTON (AP) — A new
^negotiations between Is-
ujdthe Palestinians got off to
istart Monday as U.S. media-
iQemplained the delegation
htid^ser Arafat lacked exper-
jpepome areas.
| ouPalestinian leader yielded
no'd decided hours later to
ter-ungtwo experts to join the
Ivas Wednesday. In the mean-
jianwetary of State
wil ne Albright shuttled be-
’’ shite two sides trying to set
ea: ledule for negotiations,
irg “Department spokesman
iPRubin said experts were
dto discuss setting up a
, Jan airport and seaport, an
|fel zone and a corridor for
■ ;between the West Bank
fi/Jones climbs
markets recover
KYORK (AP) — Apparently
|last week's wild and scary
lit,the Dow Jones indus-
ferage soared Monday to its
: point gain ever, reflect-
lecovery in Asian markets and
Ism about the U.S. economy.
(sDowjumped 232.31 points
Yat 7,674.39. The rebound
t a week after the Dow
Wed a record 554 points be-
fa panicky sell-off in Hong
I elsewhere in Asia, Europe
i America.
me 1.35 billion shares traded
fonall U.S. stock markets
settling down to a more
llevel after the frantic pace of
|3billion shares last Tuesday.
[ease fears was a sharp
put gain Monday on the key
tong stock market and recov-
Hother Asian and European
psas well.
Weird Kingdom:
Students enjoy
the company of
unusual pets.
See Page 4
CS to vote on conference center proposal
By Robert Smith
Senior staff water
College Station voters will go to the polls
today to decide if the city should build a pro
posed hotel and conference center.
The proposed Wolf Pen Creek hotel and
conference center was approved 4-3 by the
College Station City Council in July.
If the center is approved, city officials will
move forward with the Wolf Pen Creek De
velopment Team, which has proposed a $14
million Sheraton hotel and an $8 million of
fice center next to the conference center.
College Station Mayor Lynn Mcllhaney
made the deciding vote for the Wolf Pen
Creek conference center after the city coun
cil cast a split vote in July.
“We’ve had three individual studies done
and they all found that it (hotel and confer
ence center) is feasible from a market stand
point and a financial standpoint,” she said.
Under the proposal, the city will fund a $6
million conference center and the Wolf Pen
Creek Team will fund the hotel and office.
Mcllhaney said the city will commit no
more than $6 million to the project, n
“The way it is set up, we will be able to have
a convention center at no costs to the tax
payers,” Mcllhaney said.
Councilman Swiki Anderson said the con
ference center is a bad idea.
“We could spend our money better on es
sential services like streets, lighting and wa
ter,” Anderson said.
If the city and Wolf Pen Creek do not reach
Is Tech Red Raiders
feo official NCAA
ptigation.
See Page 7
fston: American public
kted by disclaimers to
feet the innocent.
See Page 11
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DEREK DEMERE/The Battalion
Jay Slovacek, Texas A&M University College Republicans treasurer, hangs posters for the arrival of the Bush Library opening day entourage.
Community invited to greet Bushes,
VIPs upon train arrival Wednesday
By Joey Jeanette Schlueter
Staff writer
Texas A&M students and residents of Bryan-College Station are
invited to welcome former President George Bush and his wife,
Barbara, at their arrival tomorrow in College Station.
The Bushes will come in on a Union Pacific train at 1:15 p.m.
Students should arrive by 12:45 p.m. at the McDonald’s on the
corner of George Bush Drive and Wellborn Road. The train stop is
behind McDonald’s near Marion Pugh Street.
Students must pass a security screening to be at the arrival.
Bush will be accompanied by his son Gov. George W. Bush and
his wife, Laura.
Dignitaries, friends and guests to the dedication also are coming
in on the train with Bush.
The Bushes will be greeted by the Ross Volunteers Honor Corps
and the A&M Consolidated Marching Band.
JeffLowther, drum major and a senior high-school student, said
the band’s 160 members will perform tomorrow.
Lowther said band members hope to meet Bush.
“We are all looking forward to it,” Lowther said. “I think it’s a great
honor to play for the Bushes.”
The Ross Volunteers Honor Corps, the official honor guard for
the governor of Texas, will be at the arrival.
The Bengel Belles and A&M Consolidated cheerleaders also are
expected to attend.
After the Bushes’ arrive, they will be transported to the library
and museum. Bush and his family will stay in his apartment lo
cated above the Bush Conference Center.
Along with students and residents, the College Republicans
will be on hand to welcome the former president and family at
the train stop.
PTTS officials said students should park on main campus near
Kyle Field and walk to the event.
Students are urged to take caution when crossing Wellborn
Road and George Bush Drive and obey traffic signals.
On Thursday, Bush will attend the dedication of the Bush
Presidential Library and Museum with other dignitaries, in
cluding President Bill Clinton and former Presidents Gerald Ford
and Jimmy Carter.
an agreement, the city will begin negotiations
with the Leddy Company, which has pro
posed a hotel and conference center on the
Northgate “mud lot.”
Voters today only will decide if the center
should be built, but not where it will be built.
The ballot reads: “Shall the City Council of
the city of College Station proceed with the
construction of a convention center?”
The Wolf Pen Creek proposal, at Dartmouth
Street and Holleman Drive, includes a full service
hotel, oflfice building and a conference center.
A&M professor
to compete in
pentathlon
By Colleen Kavanagh
Staff writer
Teri Wenzel, a Texas A&M kinesiology pro
fessor and first lieutenant in the Texas Nation
al Guard Reserve, has participated in a NATO
international military pentathlon competition
the past two years.
Wenzel said the annual competition is spon
sored by the Interallied Confederation of Re
serve Officers (ICOR), a congress of all NATO
countries that discusses the role the reserves
play in today’s military.
The competition includes a pistol compe
tition, rifle competition, a land obstacle
course, a swim obstacle course and an orien
teering run. The competition started in 1949,
and competitors must have a reserve com
mission to compete.
“Last year, 16 NATO countries competed in
Denmark,” she said. “There were also three
visiting countries, South Africa, Switzerland
and Finland, who hope to become NATO
countries.”
Wenzel found out about the competition
when she was at officer basic course at Fort
Sam Houston.
“I saw people training on the NATO obsta
cle course,” she said. “I asked them what they
were training for, applied, tried out and made
the team.”
Men and women have to meet certain crite
ria before they can try out for the competition
team, Wenzel said.
“Those interested in trying out have to
complete five-mile and eight-meter runs in
certain times,” she said. “There are also re
quirements for sit-ups, push-ups and a 50-
meter swim.”
Wenzel said individuals train all year for
tryouts, and they meet as a team for one and
a half months to try out and train together for
the summer competition. She is the only per
son in the Texas National Guard who com
petes, but competitors are from all over the
country. Between 25 and 35 competitors com
pete overseas.
“I have met some of the neatest people
from all over the world,” she said. “I still keep
in contact with people from England, Ger
many and Norway in addition to people in the
United States.”
There are more than 60 teams competing in
four categories: veteran, experienced, novice
and an open female category, she said. Events
are competed in three-person teams and all
three members must finish at the same time.
“The competition is friendly,” she said. “We
mix with reserve officers from other countries,
and we learn a lot from each other.”
Wenzel said certain countries are known to
be strong in certain areas. This year she said
she hopes to be a staff member when a team
from Germany comes to train in the United
States to learn some U.S. techniques in the
obstacle courses.
Please see Pentathlon on Page 6.
to© - its©
Protests, Bonfire and 12th Man mark chapter in Texas A&M history
By Jenara Kocks
Staff writer
The beginning of the 20th century was a
trying time for the Texas Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Texas. The first of the
century was marked by a student strike,
fires and financial problems for the college.
On Feb. 8, 1908, according to We are the
Aggies by John A. Adams Jr., Class of’73, the
Class of ’08 staged a strike by not attending
classes, because their complaints against
Henry Hill Harrington, the college presi
dent, were not addressed by the Board of
Directors. By Feb. 13, 1908, 525 of the 630
students had left the campus.
The Alumni Association persuaded
most students to return to campus by
promising to investigate Harrington and
bring charges before the Board of Directors.
More than 400 students came back to
campus by March 10, 1908.
The Board of Directors continued to sup
port Harrington despite the 12 charges the
association presented to them June 9.
Harrington resigned Aug. 7, 1908.
Fires were the next disaster that plagued
the college. On Nov. 11, 1911, a fire de
stroyed the Mess Hall. Less than one year
Ci fifkicIFiccfrpet spec five
Second in a four-part series detail!ng significant
events in the growth of the University.
later, May 27,1912, Old Main, the first build
ing on campus, and most of the college’s
records also were destroyed by fire.
Henry C. Dethloff, an A&M history pro
fessor and author of the book, A Centenni
al History of Texas A&M University, said the
Board of Directors had to ask the governor
of Texas for an appropriation of $100,000 for
the construction of a new mess hall for
2,500 students.
The directors awarded a contract of
$190,845 in August 1912 to Texas Building
Company of Fort Worth to build the Acade
mic Building to replace Old Main.
Dr. David L. Chapman, University
archivist and Class of’67, and Dr. Donald H.
Dyal, director of Cushing Memorial Library,
said members of the Texas Legislature tried
to close Texas A&M and use it as a college of
agriculture at the University of Texas. Chap
man and Dyal said the school was $87,000
in debt during 1912.
Chapman said the legislators’
thought closing A&M would save the
legislature money.
Chapman said Edward Benjamin Cush
ing, president of the Board of Directors in
1912 and Class of 1880, saved the University.
Please see History on Page 10.
! 1876
to
|1906
ft M MmeliMm,
\&\! College eslablis
Old Mam destroyed by 1 in
The Battalion, Aggie Bti
Stiver Taps and Ross Vo!
Lawrence Sullivan Ross
as A&M president
1936
to
1966
Wednesday
' MW
Thursday
QUATRO OAKLEY/The Battalion