mi * Texas A 8t M University II r u |r l\: |Uir r ; P I * ■vvwwwWW*' TODAY S45 TOMORROW 14 th YEAR • ISSUE 77 • 10 PAGES COLLEGE STATION • TX TUESDAY • JANUARY 27 • 1998 Students, faculty react to Clinton allegations I By Colleen Kavanagh Staff writer n thje midst of a weeklong media rush to ir allegations of perjury and sexual ha- men i, the American public is left to decide ’ much of the information in today’s news leva) it to Bill Clinton’s presidency, ’resident Clinton denied Monday hav- a sexual relationship with former White ise intern, Monica Lewinsky. I want to say one thing to the Ameri- people,†he said. “I want you to listen ae. I’m going to say this again. I did not e sexual relations with that woman, s Lewinsky.†Vith his wife at his side, Clinton denied ng people to lie on the stand. I never told anybody to lie,†he said, t a si ngle time. Never. These allegations false, and I need to go back to work for American people.†ieveral Texas A&M University professors . student leaders have mixed feelings ut the effect a president’s character and 'ate life have on his public office. }r.Eeorge Edwards, an A&M professor ) teaches an American presidency class, 1 the issue of the president’s character is relevant to his office, but there is a line that needs to be drawn between a president’s public and private life. “The intersection between the public and private life is what we should be con cerned with,†he said. “Clearly the president has a right to privacy, but if he is pressuring people to perjure themselves, the knowl edge should be public domain. If he is ar guing with his wife, it’s private, but living in a glass house would destroy anyone.†Edwards said his biggest concern is that the press is in a feeding frenzy which can be dangerous if the accusations are false. “I don’t know if he is guilty or not, but he has lost the benefit of the doubt,†he said. “The office itself may diminish in people’s eyes because there is a certain sleaziness to these events, just as the level of trust in American leaders was reduced after the shocks of Vietnam and Watergate.†Dr. Patricia Griffin, an A&M professor of national government, said although it has been speculated that many American pres idents have had extramarital affairs, they were not something the general public knew about. “People today know a lot more because of the media,†she said. “What makes this “The office itself may diminish in people’s eyes because there is a certain sleaziness to these events, just as the level of trust in American leaders was reduced after the shocks of Vietnam and Watergate.†Dr. George Edwards Texas A&M professor different, though, is not the affair but the charges. Most people wouldn’t consider im peachment because of an affair. It’s the fact that he is on record under oath saying it didn’t happen, and the girl is claiming he told her to lie.†Griffin said she is undecided about whether a president’s private life is relevant to his presidency. “On one hand we talk about sports fig ures being role models, and if they are, then surely the president should be one, too,†she said. “On the other hand, we are increasing the cost of being president if we put too much scrutiny on private life. More and more candidates who are qual ified may not want to go through that in the future.†Curtis Childers, student body president and a senior agricultural development ma jor, said he feels it is the media that is mak ing everything a big deal. “Every television show, song and movie is all centered around sex,†he said. “It’s the culture that we live in. We live in a Jerry Springer world. American talk show-like culture is dramatized. In other cultures, it’s not a big deal. High-powered people have done the same thing for centuries.†Michael Schaub, president of Aggie De mocrats and a junior english major, said the media is exploiting everything as much as possible to use against President Clinton. “I have seen a lot of coverage of scandals of Whitewater that have turned out to be nothing,†he said. “It’s more of a witch hunt.†Schaub said the media exploitation cheapens the view of the office to the Amer ican people. “People eat this stuff up, and it sells pa pers,†he said. “The media is selling out to sell papers at the expense of the American government.†Schaub said it is easier to concentrate on Clinton’s private life than real world issues. “We are possibly weeks away from con frontation with Iraq, legislation is going through Congress right now and people just want to hear the dirt.†Jay Slovacek, a College Republicans offi cer and a freshman accounting major, said he thinks the president’s private life affects his presidency. “It’s the same person, just a different oc casion,†he said. Slovacek said there is room to speculate over whether everything is true, even though this is not the first time things like this have happened. “Whether or not I voted for him, he is still the president,†he said. “I do respect the office.†3 r mary colors MIKE FUENTES/The Battalion irt Anderson, a freshman aerospace engineering major and cadet in Squad 12, bises the flags outside the Williams Administration Building Monday morning. Sterling Evans Library annex projected to open in Fall 1998 By Kelly Hackworth Staff writer After nearly two years of con struction, the Sterling C. Evans Library annex is set to open in the Fall of 1998. The $32 million expansion will include a six-floor annex connected to Evans Library, an eight-level parking garage, a computer center at the south end of the annex and the Cushing Memorial Library renovation. The annex will house the li brary’s systems and NOTIS (online catalog) offices, the Education, Reference and Cur riculum Collection units, record management and tech nical processing. The annex will include a re serve room and the Learning Resources Department, now located on the sixth floor of Evans library: “The library annex will em phasize information technolo gies, and it will make accommo dations for extended hours access,†said Dr. Fred Heath, Sterling C. Evans Library Dean. The 136,000-square-foot an nex will contain study space with over four dozen group study areas located on the sec ond and fourth floors. Two floors of the annex will also be shelled in for future expansion. The new student computing center will have at least 600 mi crocomputer workstations and will occupy two stories at the south end of the library annex. Evans Library will also under go changes. The first and second floors will be remodeled after the move to the annex is complete. Renovation is scheduled to be gin in October of 1998, and it is expected to be completed by June of 2000. The expected move-in date for the library annex is the summer of 1998. Staff, faculty, students and visitors will be able to use the 620-space parkinggarage next to the annex. Visitors and stu dents will pay on a per-use ba sis. The faculty and staff can purchase permits on a con tract basis. SGA committee gives voice in Austin Legislative Relations carries Aggie image to state government Stacey Becks Staff writer Legislative Relations, a branch of Student Government, works with the Texas A&M ad ministration, Texas legislature and the Unit ed States Legislature to convey the public opinion of A&M students. The 35-member organization watches for bills in the state and national legislatures that would affect the students at A&M. Josh Hennessay, internal director of leg islative relations and a junior accounting ma jor, said the LR is preparing for next year’s leg islative session by keeping informed of the upcoming bills. “The LR is talking to legislators to find out what the issues are,†he said. “Many legisla tors are currently looking to limit the num ber of hours a degree can have at A&M. “Other state legislatures have been going in this direction, and A&M requires more hours to graduate than most schools.†Hennessey said the state pays about half of the tuition rate for each student through for mula funding because A&M is a state school. LR gets in touch with legislators by going STI II c c f-. to legislative sessions and sending descrip tions of student opinions and bulletin papers to legislative aids. The group also contacts the Board of Re gents to make sure the public interest is be ing met. Craig Rotter, a member of the Board of Re gents Subcommittee and an agricultural grad uate student, said LR gives the student body a way to be heard by the Board of Regents. “LR allows the student body access to the people that set the policies that affect the student body,†he said. “In doing so, it allows the student body to voice its con cerns to administrators.†Rotter said students can speak individ ually with members of the Board at an open house when they visit Bryan-College Station for meetings. Mary Ann Ibraham, a member of LR and a senior psychology major, said the group is going to organizations to tell them the legis lation that is being passed and how it affects the students. Students can voice opinions to the LR at 862-4255. |irlines announce formation of alliance HOUSTON (AP) — Northwest Irlines and Continental Airlines pnounced an alliance Monday iat would join the route net- [orks of the nation’s fourth and |p biggest airlines, but Conti- jsntal pilots are already threat- ping to make it a “marriage from Jll†if their demands aren’t met. Northwest is buying the stake [Continental now owned by Air Bf&rtners LP and its affiliates for >19 million in cash and North west stock. But Northwest will ly have limited control over the |ock’s 51 percent voting power. Leaders of the Independent sspciation of Continental Pilots ion, which is in contract nego- itu ms with the carrier, are angry key weren’t told Continental had riili so been negotiating with Delta j|tines. The union said it was ©formed about the Delta-Conti- ?ntal talks Sunday. In a Monday telephone con- rencewith reporters, Len Niko lai, president of the union, said the union would disrupt a North west-Continental alliance unless they got a rich new contract. “Obviously we fly the air planes here at Continental, so we’re going to have a say in what happens with any marriage, with any partner,†Nikolai said. “We can make it a smooth transition or we can make it a marriage from hell.†Meanwhile, Northwest’s 51 percent voting share in Conti nental will be kept in a trust to preserve the spirit of the alliance, Northwest said. The trust will vote according to the recommen dations of Continental manage ment or in proportion to the rest of the Continental board except in an emergency situation, such as if there is a merger bid. In that case Northwest would vote the shares. “It is the intention of the par ties that Continental Airlines and Government eyes Texas work Affirmative-action practices under scrutiny following Hopwood AUSTIN (AP) — The federal gov ernment is watching a Texas effort to achieve diverse student bodies at its universities after a court ruling against affirmative action, a U.S. Department of Education official said Monday. Sally Cain, regional representa tive for the education secretary, told the Texas Commission on a Repre sentative Student Body at its first meeting that she was not aware of another such commission any where else in the country. “I know the eyes ofWashington are upon you, because we truly believe that what you are about... is central to everything that we’re trying to do at the national level,†Mrs. Cain said. “Just because a court has altered one policy... the underlying princi ples behind that policy are not to be altered. We still need to work to achieve greater diversity in our col leges and universities because it is good for the students, and it is good for our nation,†she said. The commission, which in cludes community leaders from around Texas, will report in August to a group of college and university leaders called the Texas Higher Ed ucation Coalition. University of Texas Chancellor William Cunningham said higher education officials want realistic, innovative recommendations on student recruitment, retention and graduation, and on financial aid. He asked members to look at what’s happening in Texas and nationally. “Nothing is more important to us than we sustain maintain and have a diverse student body on our campus es. We know we have a long way to go, and Hopwood is making it more diffi cult for us, but the point is we have to overcome that,†Cunningham said. Hopwood, named after plaintiff Cheryl Hopwood, is the case in which a federal appeals court found that UT law school’s former admissions poli cy discriminated against whites. That decision, allowed to stand by the U.S. Supreme Court, has ended affirmative action policies at universities around the state. As the commission began its work, it heard from higher educa tion officials and state and feder al officials, including Taylor D. August with the Office of Civil Rights, which is looking at Texas higher education. August suggested universities may aggressively recruit students from schools in communities that are traditionally “under-served†by higher education. Such areas could include schools with high percent ages of minority students, although students be selected for recruit ment using race-neutral means. Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, a commis sion member, asked whether there was a definition of under-served com munity, saying, “That seems likea fair ly logical approach.†August said offi cials were working on a definition that wouldn’t run afoul of the require ments of the Hopwood case. Commission memberWilhelmina Delco, a former state representative from Austin, said it’s important that higher education institutions under stand, “Although this is directed at a minority population, it very clearly has an impact on everybody.†aggie life In ’Da House: Students show the kitchen has more uses than just cooking. See Page 3 sports Aggie Women’s Basketball Team looks for first Big 12 win versus Kansas Tuesday. See Page 7 opinion McDaniel: More to women’s struggles internationally than entertainment, music. See Page 9 online http://battalion.tamu.edu Hook up with state and national news through The Wire, AP’s 24-hour online news service.