Texas A & M University
TODAY
65
45
TOMORROW
14 th YEAR • ISSUE 91 • 10 PACES
COLLEGE STATION • TX
MONDAY • FEBRUARY 16 • 1998
Residents protest new clinic
roposed abortion clinic draws strong reaction from both sides of the issue
Af'
By Rachel Dawley
Staff writer
dore than 80 Texas A&M students
nt the weekend protesting on
petty where Planned Parenthood
;heduled to build a new abortion
ic this fall.
oined by Bryan-College Station res
its, the students were at the future
ofthe clinic on E. 29th Street next to
i Cable holding signs reading,
nkfor Life" and “Smile—Your Mom
iselife.”
’he clinic will be the first facility
« lryan-College Station to offer
rtion services.
“truly Lopata, a junior biology ma-
said the clinic would haveaharm-
ffect on the community,
m protesting because I believe
each person can make a pro-
nd difference in stopping the ef-
of Planned Parenthood putting
ibortion clinic in the area,” Lopa-
aid. "There has never been an
rtion clinic here in the past. There
plenty of hospitals in the area that
1 with women’s issues.”
arah Suniga, president of the A&M
pter of the National Organization
for Women, said the clinic will upset
people in the community, but it will
provide more access to women need
ing abortions.
“Abortion is not an easy choice,”
Suniga said. “While abortion is legal, it
is not always available. This area is in
need of a clinic. There have even been
efforts for women to carpool to Hous
ton to get abortions. This area has
been needing this service for a while.”
She said women seeking abor
tions now must travel to Houston,
San Marcos or Waco.
Brian Eschbach, a senior history
major, said the clinic would make
abortions more convenient for peo
ple in the community.
“The college and teen population
in the area would be affected the
worst,” Eschbach said. "It would be a
lot easier to have a quick abortion. As
it is now, women have to travel a long
distance and that gives the time to
think about their decision.”
Other A&M students said they
feel that the area would benefit from
an abortion clinic.
Michael Schaub, president of Ag
gie Democrats and a junior English
major, said the clinic would give
women other options in dealing with
pregnancy issues.
“We need a clinic here,” Schaub
said. “It is ridiculous that women have
to drive so far. It is terrible that people
are protesting.”
Schaub said the pro-life lobby is
very active in the area and many peo
ple who support the clinic are not com
ing forward.
“The loudest voice is always heard
and the pro-life lobby is loud,” Schaub
said. “People are afraid to speak up
and women are afraid to get abor
tions. I think the majority of people in
this county are pro-choice. Even if
not, most people believe we need this
service.”
Protesters said they hope people
will see their effort and voice their
concerns about the clinic plans. Al
though a few people reacted nega
tively with obscene gestures and lan
guage, protesters said most of the
community is responding positively
to their efforts.
Jennifer Junker, a junior market
ing major, said she joined the protest
to show her feelings about the abor
tion issue.
“The number of abortions that
happen each year parallel the number
of people waiting for adoptions,”
Junker said. “We don’t want the clinic
here. But if it does come, we want to
help women who are dealing with the
issue. We need to love both the child
and mother. Many women come here
scared and confused and we need to
help them.”
Drew Pilkington, Class of ’97, came
from his home in Houston to join the
protest. Pilkington is a former presi
dent of Aggies for Life, a student
group that aims to protect life from
conception to natural death through
talks, speakers and discussion groups.
“When a clinic opens up, the preg
nancy rate rises because people feel it
is an easy solution,” Pilkington said.
“By protesting, we are trying to edu
cate the citizens that may not know
the effects of Planned Parenthood on
women and the community.”
St. Mary’s Catholic Church has
planned a meeting Tuesday from 6 to
7 p.m. to discuss possible ways to ex
press opinions on the plans.
Father David Konderla of St. Mary’s
joined the protesters this weekend.
Please see Protest on Page 6.
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JAMES FRANCIS/THE Battalion
Monique Reed and her husband David Reed stand with others in
a Pro-Life demonstration. The demonstration was held in opposition
to a proposed Planned Parenthood Clinic which would perform abor
tions. The clinic would be only facility in the Bryan-College Station
area to offer the procedure.
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Irandi Castilla, an employee of The Marble Slab Creamery, rolls waffle cones at work Sunday. This is Castilla’s first month as an employee.
Greek Week unifies
through competition
By Amanda Smith
Staff writer
Today marks the beginning of a week-
long war between Greek organizations at
Texas A&M University.
Greek Week, which will wrap up with
award ceremonies on Feb. 21, is coordi
nated by Order of Omega and includes
competitive events among fraternities
and sororities designed to raise money for
the construction of a girls’ addition to the
Still Creek Boys Ranch in Bryan.
Rachel Kinman, Order of Omega pres :
ident, said she expects the event to raise
$9,000 to $12,000.
“We are hoping to raise at least $9,000
that will help to build additions to the
ranch,” Kinman said. “ We want to let oth
er students know that Greeks do not just
party. We raise thousands and thousands
of dollars for charitable organizations.”
Kinman said most of the money raised
will come from ticket sales from the Pat
Green concert Feb. 19 at the Texas Hall of
Fame. Elvis T. Busboy and Blues Butchers,
a blues band from Dallas, will open the
show at 8:30 p.m.
Eric Appel, a Greek Week director and
a senior business major, said this year’s
Greek Week is different from the past.
“It’s a totally new Greek Week,” Appel
said. “We are hoping to generate more en
thusiasm and excitement to raise money
for the Still Creek Boys Ranch.”
This year, PanHellenic will participate
in Greek Week with the traditional Greek
participants, Interfraternity Council and
Panhellenic Council.
Michael Stewart, the PanHellenic pres
ident and a senior mechanical engineer
ing major, said he hopes to build unity
among all Greek organizations.
“We want to promote unity in the
Greek system,” Stewart said. “If we can
play together, then we can work together
and do anything that we want to do for the
University. Giving to charities is a blessing
in itself.”
Shannon Knuckley, a junior manage
ment major, said Greek Week is a friendly
but important competition.
“We are out there to promote Greek
unity and to have fun,” Knuckley said.
“Greek Week is a competition based main
ly on points.”
These points may be earned through
participation in events sponsored by Or
der of Omega.
Greeks will challenge the Corps of
Cadets in a basketball game Feb. 17 from
7:30 to 9:30 p.m. in G. Rollie White Colise
um. Admission is $2.
Penny wars among Greek organiza
tions will take place on Feb. 18 from 10
a.m. to 3 p.m.
Tables will be set up outside the MSC
for members of the various organizations
to contribute pennies to add points and
silver coins to take away points.
On Feb. 19, intramural competition be
gins between Greek organizations. Com
petitions will be on Feb. 19 and 20 from 3
to 6 p.m. at Duncan Field.
Please see Greek on Page 6.
Testing company praises
\&]VPs new MCAT policy
AUSTIN (AP) — A company that pre-
ares students for standardized tests is
jplauding a Texas A&M program that
oesnot require the Medical College Ad-
'issions Test for some incoming med
al students.
Paul Cohen, a spokesperson for the
lew York-based company Princeton Re-
iew, said the MCAT and similar tests
re poor indicators of a student’s ability
3 perform.
“They are also tremendously biased
long racial lines,” Cohen told the Austin
merican-Statesman.
The program at Texas A&M recruits
tudents from areas with large minority
opulations and offers them guaran-
eed admission into the university’s
ledical school if they maintain a cer-
ain grade-point average in a science-
ntensive curriculum during their un-
lergraduate years.
The program resulted from declining
minority enrollments in the university’s
ledical school after a federal court end-
d affirmative action programs at Texas
olleges in 1996.
“If these tests really measured how
v ell you were going to do in medical
chool and law school, you couldn’t take
test-preparation course and go up 6
'oints,” Cohen said. “We don’t make our
students better doctors or lawyers, we
make them better test takers.”
Assistant Director of the Princeton Re
view’s Austin office, Jennifer Lynn, said the
company was formed because it wanted
to give students a better chance at passing
the tests. Lynn and Cohen both agreed
Texas A&M deserved praise for eliminat
ing the tests, they say are unfair.
Others, however, disagree.
Maria Lofftus, director of academic
services for Kaplan Educational Centers’
health sciences division, said the MCAT
is a valuable tool in predicting a student’s
success in medical school.
She said the test is also a good indica
tor of how a student will perform on his
medical licensing exam.
Standardized testing has come under
more scrutiny as states such as Texas and
California have eliminated affirmative
action in higher education.
Both states have seen declines in mi
nority enrollment in their medical and
law schools.
The decline has also caused the Uni
versity of Texas’ medical school to take a
second look at its policies. The school re
cently announced that it will look at a fac
tors beyond grades and test scores in
hopes of recruiting a more diverse group
of students.
El Nino brings random
weather for area farmers
SIDE
By Amanda Smith
Staff writer
Southeast Texas farmer Dan Copeland
depends on the cycle of the seasons to pro
duce fruit and to earn his livelihood.
Copeland, who manages King’s Orchard
in Plantersville, said the abundant rain in
late December and early January made his
strawberries ready for picking three weeks
ahead of schedule.
"Long steady rains can help the crop,”
Copeland said. “If we get a lot more rain,
then we could lose a lot of strawberries.”
Copeland, like other Southeast Texas
farmers, stands to lose other spring crops if
the heavy rains of the El Nino/Southern Os
cillation (ESNO) continue as expected.
El Nino has brought more rain and vari
able temperatures to the residents of Bryan-
College Station, according to a report by the
National Weather Service.
ENSO is a cycle that meteorologists have
studied for decades, but this El Nino is com
parable to the strongest cycle of the 20th
century — the 1982 to 1983 El Nino.
Brian Belcher, a Texas A&M graduate as
sistant in the Office of the Texas State Cli
matologist, said Southeast Texas expects
cooler temperatures and greater precipita
tion during the winter months.
The average temperature was about sev
en degrees higher than expected for Janu
ary and about three degrees higher than ex
pected for the first part of February in Col
lege Station, according to a report from the
Office of the State Climatologist.
“This is a prime example which shows
that what happens during an average El
Nino warm episode does not occur every
time that there is an El Nino event,” Belch
er said. “There is some variability.”
Bob French, chief meteorologist of
KBTX-TV, said he expects El Nino to contin
ue to affect the weather in Bryan-College
Station in March.
“The unusual aspect of the weather this
year so far is the fact that we have had four
to five heavy rainstorms since Jan. 1,”
French said. “I think we are still going to see
the effects of El Nino this spring. I would
think that we would have more severe
weather than usual.”
Texas farmers welcome the abundant
rainfall early in the season, French said.
Actual ocean temperatures play the most
critical role in the cycle of El Nino because
they impact tropical rainfall patterns, ac
cording to the National Weather Service.
Timing, location and magnitude of ocean
warming varies from one El Nino to the next
and triggers variations in the amounts of
tropical rainfall.
Please see El Nino on Page 6.
Mainstream
Rock ’n’ Roll
steps aside to
let indie-rock
shine through.
See Page 3
sports
Women’s basketball team
falls to the seventh-ranked
Red Raiders.
See Page 7
opinion
Saloma: Dining on campus
proves an unsatisfactory
culinary experience.
See Page 9
online
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