The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, January 22, 1998, Image 1

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    ttfil™ YEAR • ISSUE 74 • 10 PACES
COLLEGE STATION • TX
THURSDAY • JANUARY 22 • 1998
egents to consider affiliation, new initiatives
By Colleen Kavanagh
Staff writer
Th e Texas A&M University System Board of
Lgei its is scheduled to consider proposals to-
ly to. i How the president ofTexas A&M the au-
Sority to execute the affiliation between the
uth Texas College of Law and Texas A&M.
t lim Ashlock, director of University Rela-
ns, said the agenda would give Universi-
Prosident Dr. Ray M. Bowen the authori-
to proceed with discussions about the
liajpce and sign an agreement.
“Right now, the main motivation is that
many people think a top university needs an
affiliation with a good law school,” Ashlock
said. “A&M is 127 years old, and it’s a lot dif
ferent than when it was founded. We need the
affiliation to show that A&M has a broad-
based curriculum and discipline of studies.”
Ashlock said the South Texas College of
Law also would benefit from the alliance be
cause when people are considering law
schools, they look for university affiliation.
“They want an affiliation with a large uni
versity,” he said. "Discussions with them go
back to the 1960s. We have been moving to
wards each other for a long time.”
Also on the agenda, the Board will consider
approving the ranking of sealed proposals for the
Kyle Field expansion project today in College
Station. If approved, the University will begin ne
gotiations with the top-ranked contractor.
Tom Donathen, assistant vice chancellor
of facilities planning and construction, said
interested contractors have submitted infor
mation about their team, workcrew, experi
ence and safety records in addition to infor
mation about the proposed cost of the job.
A Facilities Planning and Construction
committee has evaluated and ranked the
contractors in order of preference.
“The bids are no longer decided on the basis
of the lowest price,” Donathen said. “Hopefully
if the Board approves the committee’s results, we
can negotiate with whoever was the preferred
team. There may be some cost saved.”
The evaluation ranking system of the
sealed proposals is a new law for higher edu
cation that went into effect Sept. 1997.
Please see Regents on Page 2.
I
§4 affiliation between
South Texas College of
Law and Texas A&M.
ranking of sealed
proposals for Kyle Field
expansion project.
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rman Scholthof, an assistant professor of virology in the Department of Plant Pathology, checks
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Historic visit
aggie life
>ffee Station provides
stomers with unique atmos-
ere, gourmet beverages.
See Page 3
omen’s Basketball Team
ils down first conference
n against Oklahoma.
Pope calls attention to
human rights in Cuba
See Page 7
opinion
rguson: Gender equity is
;blame for dwindling
ucation standards.
See Page 9
online
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picker access to today’s
stories.
HAVANA (AP) — Pope John Paul
II, a “messenger of truth and hope,”
began a historic pilgrimage
Wednesday to Cuba, land of hard
ship, embattled faith and an aging,
struggling revolution.
Long delayed, much anticipat
ed, the papal visit to this commu
nist island ruled by Fidel Castro
may help set a new course for the
Cuban church, if not for Cuba it
self.
Castro, dressed in a business
suit, was among those waiting to
greet the pope at the airport.
Even before touching down here
Wednesday afternoon, John Paul
addressed some contentious issues
surrounding his visit, telling re
porters on the papal plane he
hoped for more respect for human
rights in Cuba, and for a “change” in
the U.S. economic embargo.
But no matter what else his visit
brings, said Orquidea Mesa, one pious
parishioner here, “the pope will bless
the people of Cuba” —11 million who
for four decades have suffered
through one of the world’s longest-
Students trapped in elevator
after campuswide blackout
By Chris Huffines
Radio producer
Four Texas A&M students were trapped last night
when the elevator they were riding in stopped be
tween the eighth and ninth floors of Rudder Tower.
The elevator stopped because of the power failure
across campus. The students were trapped for about
one hour.
Before UPD had arrived, Ron Fulton, a parks and
recreation doctoral student and manager of the MSC
guest rooms, arrived with keys to open the ninth-
floor fire door. After prying the elevator doors apart,
the students walked out of the elevator unharmed.
The situation was found when Keith Helpenstell,
a senior business administration major, checked the
elevators after the outage and discovered the stu
dents.
Helpenstell called 911 and was routed to the Uni
versity Police Department.
Lyndsey Bellows, a freshman speech communica
tions major, said the situation was “a little scary,” but
that other students, notably Helpenstell and mem
bers of Howdy Ags!, encouraged them during their
confinement.
Power went out throughout most of the University at
about 8 p.m. and remained out until about 10:10 p.m.,
University officials said.
Conference on leadership, unity
to attract over 1,200 students
By Jennifer Wilson
Staff writer
College students from 70 dif
ferent Texas and southwestern
colleges will attend the tenth an
nual Southwestern Black Student
Leadership Conference (SBSLC)
at Texas A&M today.
About 1,200 students, staff and
guests will attend the four-day
conference, whose focus is “To
day’s Black Leaders: Our Hope for
Tomorrow.”
Sandra Medina, an adviser for
the SBSLC and communications co
ordinator for the Department of
Multicultural Services at A&M, said
the conference incorporates histo
ry, unity, self-improvement tech
niques, leadership skills, moral val
ues and corporate America to
inspire young black collegians to be
productive leaders of tomorrow.
“The theme of this year’s con
ference, ‘Celebrating 10 years of
Black Leadership ... Empowering
Minds for the 21st century,’ is to
help prepare students to be out
standing leaders in their commu
nity,” Medina said.
With the aid of a 25-member
A&M student staff, who have been
preparing since last March for the
conference, participants will be
able to attend workshops and pro
grams on education, finance,
health and relationships given by
major speakers as well as network
with major companies and stu
dents from other campuses.
Medina said that although regis
tration is closed for the conference,
many events are open for the stu
dents and community to attend.
Dr. Julia Hare will be speaking
tonight at 7 in Rudder Auditori
um. A career fair will be in the
Rudder exhibit hall Friday and a
play will be presented Friday
evening and cost is $5 for non-
registered participants.
A vendor fair supporting shops
and businesses selling arts, crafts
and Greek paraphernelia will be
held on Saturday, and there will be
a party in G. Rollie White Colise
um at 10 p.m. Saturday.
Tamara Raven, chair of the SB
SLC and an accounting graduate
student at A&M with three years of
SBSLC experience, said this con
ference teaches responsibility and
skills for achievement in a goal-
oriented setting.
“One goal of the conference is
for African-American students to
be enlightened by the information
available and to pick up or fine-
tune leadership skills and net-
“One goal of the confer
ence is for African-
American students to be
enlightened by the
information available
and to pick up or fine-
tune leadership skills
and networking abilities
with many different
companies and
students.”
TAMARA RAVEN
CHAIR, SBSLC
working abilities with many dif
ferent companies and students,”
Raven said.
The SBSLC is the largest
African-American leadership con
ference in the United States.
running political showdowns.
Ahead of the pope’s arrival, Cas
tro’s government worked nonstop
to make Cuba’s welcome a memo
rable one.
Havana workers had the after
noon off on a sunny 80-degree
day. In neighborhoods and work
places, Cubans were organized to
be bused to points along the
pope’s route from the airport. The
Cuban president himself, a
diehard Marxist-Leninist, urged
people to turn out for the island’s
first papal visit ever.
“Sure, I’ll be down at 16th and
Paseo to see him,” said postman
Jorge Luis Jimenez. “Everybody will
be out, even the ones who aren’t re
ally believers.”
Communist party workers
joined church volunteers in tacking
the pope’s portrait and “messenger”
slogan to palm trees, telephone
poles and even the backs of bicycle
cabs. One was even spotted on the
national Capitol, where Castro’s
revolutionaries once declared Cuba
an atheist nation.
Clinton denies allegations
of affair with former intern
WASHINGTON (AP) — In dozens of taped conver
sations now in the hands ofWhitewater prosecutors, a
former White House intern says she had an affair with
President Clinton and that he tried to get her to lie
about it, lawyers said Wednesday. The president de
nied the allegations and expressed outrage.
“There is not a sexual relationship,” Clinton said
firmly in a White House interview. “I did not ask any
one to tell anything other than the truth. There is no
improper relationship.”
His comments capped a dramatic day for Clinton
and former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky,
who was at the center of a legal and media storm. Word
of the new investigation gripped the White House and
had political figures talking of possible impeachment
if the allegations were borne out.
The investigation was prompted when one of
Lewinsky's friends, former White House staffer Linda
Tripp, provided tapes to Whitewater Prosecutor Ken
neth Starr in which Lewinsky apparently claimed an
affair with Clinton and recounted conversations she
allegedly had in which Clinton and his friend Vernon
Jordan asked her to deny the relationship in affidavit
she gave in Paula Jones' sexual harassment lawsuit, her
attorney said.
In her affidavit, Lewinsky denied she had an affair
with Clinton. However, two lawyers who demanded
anonymity said she describes the affair in no uncer
tain terms in conversations tape-recorded secretly by
her friend and former White House colleague Linda
Tripp. The lawyers said that in these conversations
Lewinsky said Jordan assisted her in getting a new job
Clinton
in New York in recent months,
around the time she was sub
poenaed in Paula Jones’ case
against Clinton.
“The charges are not
true,” said Clinton, “and I
haven’t asked anyone to lie.”
Asked about the allegations
during the day, first lady
Hillary Clinton told re
porters, “Certainly I believe
they’re false. Absolutely.”
Lewinsky is scheduled to
give a deposition in the Jones
lawsuit Friday. On Wednes
day, her Los Angeles-based attorney William Gins-
burg said, “at this time, she stands by her declara
tion” in the earlier affidavit. He discussed the stress
his client was enduring. “In her mind, it’s a lose-lose
situation and quite ravaging in terms of what folks
think of her,” he said.
The Tripp tapes were secretly recorded and include
dozens of conversations in which Lewinsky described
in detail an affair so intense that Clinton even left pri
vate messages on her home phone, lawyers said.
Lewinsky was unavailable to comment, as was
Jordan.
Knowledgeable sources said Tripp voluntarily
brought the tape recordings to Starr. Starr went to the
Justice Department and with the quick blessing of Atty.
Gen. Janet Reno he gained a court-ordered expansion
of his investigation.