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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 1998)
Texas A & M University Wk WWFlff™ ■ mmm ^ - •" i v TODAY iMmBSim. TOMORROW r YEAR • ISSUE 137 • 12 PAGES COLLEGE STATION • TX WEDNESDAY • APRIL 29 • 1998 tudent Senate debates campaign budgets Jy Amanda Smith and Colleen Kavanagh Staff iv liters jlitics as usual could change for lit body president candidates tear. j response to student com- |ts about excessive campaign jling in this year’s elections, |al solutions have been pro- Ito deter spending violations, ^mbers of Student Senate may In the fall on a resolution to [off campus and sandwich- 1 campaigning. Iris Chase, a senior history ma- lid he favors a proposal to low- ppaign spending, don’t know of anyone who has St over their limit in this election,” Chase said. “We want to bring elections and campaigns back to the students and want students to know about the candidates and their platforms.” Student body president candi dates are currently limited to $ 1,000 budgets during preliminary elections. Runoff election candi dates may increase spending by 33 percent to $1,333. Murray Van Eman, the elections commissioner and a senior animal science major, said the budget report submitted by the newly elected stu dent body president, Laurie Nickel, did not indicate excessive spending. Van Eman said the specific figures are confidential and cannot be re leased to the student body. He said none of the winning candidates ex- ‘M think that the budget may be at a limit where some students can’t afford to run.” Murray Van Eman Elections commissioner ceeded their budgets, according to budget reports submitted. However, Nickel is the only stu dent body president candidate to submit a budget report to the elec tion commissioner. She said she fa vors decreasing the allotted bud gets of student body president candidates. “I don’t want anyone to think that they could not be president be cause of the money,” Nickel said. “If you’re smart, creative and don’t wait until the last minute, you can do it.” With the help of her campaign staff, Nickel said she used a part of Spring Break to prepare for the start of campaigning the following week. “We had a huge sweatshop of stu dents painting signs during Spring Break,” Nickel said. “We made every sandwich board ourselves.” Some members of the Student Senate favor moving elections to the week before spring break. The decreased length of time to prepare and promote campaigns would automatically decrease the amount spent by student body president candidates, according to some supporters of limited cam paign budgets. Van Eman said the current bud get may exclude students from run ning for student body president. “I think that the budget may be at a limit where some students can’t afford to run,” Van Eman said. “Maybe some students do not have $1,000 to run, but they have the de sire to run. In terms of student body president candidates, we see a lot more creative publicity. What they have done is print table tents in stead of multiple brochures (and similar campaign techniques).” Some supporters of increasing campaign budgets argue that indi rect campaign expenses like cam paign staff parties are not always in cluded in budget figures. Van Eman said the reports he received seemed accurate but said he would not expect candidates to record campaign staff party ex penditures. “I couldn’t expect two kegs of beer coming in on budget,” Van Eman said. “That is more staff development than campaign expenditures. It has to be a declarable expense to be placed on budget.” Carolyn Adair, director of Student Activities, said the rules are always changing because election candi dates find new ways to campaign. Please see Campaign on Page 7. 'orum to address issue f women’s leadership By Katy Lineberger Staff writer ues in female leadership will center stage tomorrow at the tggie Women’s Leadership Fo- The program and lunch, sored by the newly organized Leadership Programming mittee, will kick off at 12:30 at the George Bush Confer- Center banquet room, r. Sara Alpern, an associate essor of history, will be the lote speaker. Committee chair a Baggett, a sophomore elec- il engineering major, said rawill discuss the history of len and their involvement at iSA&M. orum director Kathy Schwit ters, a sophomore psychology ma jor, said participants will also meet with former students to explore leadership topics. “It’s a good opportunity for former students to come back and help cur rent student leaders by talking about leadership roles in the community,” she said. “It’s also a good way for Ag gies to just come together and talk about leadership.” Rachel Allen, MSC vice president of leadership development and a ju nior speech communications major, attended the first forum last spring. “I loved it,” she said. “It was a won derful experience to sit down and talk with other women about important issues in an informal setting.” Allen said there was good discus sion at the individual tables with the former students and female leaders as facilitators. “It’s a neat opportunity because the women that come are there to share and talk,” she said. Baggett said the forum was de veloped last spring to address the often overlooked topic of women’s leadership. “It was started as a way to incor porate women’s programming into the diverse spread of programming in the MSC,” she said. Schwitters said that although the speakers will be women, men are also invited to come to the forum. “That’s a big misunderstanding we have,” she said. “It’s not just for women — everyone’s invited.” The program and lunch are free to all participants. Walk of Champions icks to bear names of those honoring spirit of Aggieland By Jennifer Wilson Staff writer Indents, staff and friends ofTexas now have an opportunity to :e their names a permanent part ggieland. he “Walk of Champions,” cre- 1 by the department of Recre- mal Sports, will allow partici- ,ts a chance to have their name /or affiliation engraved on a Is Aw Bk in the walkway of the Student reation Center. [udy Cook, marketing director of Department of Recreational |rts, said die walk is being created lonor those with Aggie spirit. The Walk of Champions will hon- veryone’s dedication to leader- 1, fair play, honesty and integrity,” iksaid. Cook said the walkway will be a reminder of the contributions ny people make at A&M. She said bricks will be laid in the front kway of the center and in the land- ped grass area of the circle drive at building. 'The center is here for the stu dents and we thought it was a per fect place to put the Walk of Cham pions,” Cook said. Cook said the response to the brick campaign so far has been outstanding. “We can put in thousands and u This is being done for the students, to go back to the students.” Angela Stanton Department of Recreational Sports thousands of bricks,” she said. Angela Stanton, graphic designer for the Department of Recreational Sports, said that the campaign is tar geted towards every student and staff member and is a great way for Students warned about date ape, abusive relationships By Amanda Smith Staffwriter A representative of Phoebe’s me told an audience in Rudder leatre last night how she was raped age 17. Ashley Peterson, the lead training iecialist at Phoebe’s Home, de- ibed her personal experience and ivstudents can be affected by abu- «relationships. “One third of women will become [victim,” Peterson said. “This may iver happen to you. It may be your >ter or your best friend.” ■Alpha Chi Omega and Phoebe’s ptne sponsored the forum last ight to promote awareness of the iths and consequences in un healthy dating relationships. The increased awareness of vio lence in relationships drew members ofTexas A&M sororities, fraternities and the Corps of Cadets to the forum last night. The response to the forum this year could result in a forum next semester opened to the entire stu dent body, Peterson said. “We wanted to target a big group, but not too big of a group,” Peterson said. “Dating violence is much more common (than non-dating). We wanted a program to inform both victims and abusers because you just don’t know. Making abusers aware (of the consequences) might deter them.” Christi Humphries, vice president of fraternity relations for Alpha Chi Omega and a junior speech commu nications major, said she hopes the program educates students. “We have found that college stu dents are at high risk for being in volved in abusive relationships,” Humphries said. “We want to pro vide resources for those who are in unhealthy relationships." Kim Novak, the judicial coordi nator for Student Conflict and Res olutions Services, said the center can provide free legal advice and coordinate mediation services for students involved in abusive rela tionships on campus. “Relationship violence does not always leave bruises,” Novak said. Please see Date on Page 7. graduating seniors to leave their mark on campus. “This is being done for the stu dents, to go back to the students,” she said. Current students and current or retired faculty and staff can add a 4-x- 8 inch brick to the Walk of Champions for $100 and a 8-x-8 inch brick for $200. The smaller bricks are limited to one individual name except for a hus band and wife: the larger bricks are for multiple names or team names. For former students and others, the cost is $250 for the smaller brick and $400 for the larger one. Cook said the revenue will be used to develop an endowment fund that will support the Student Recre ation Center. “The support will allow us to con tinue to offer a world-class facility on campus,” Cook said. The Walk of Champions is the sec ond brick program now underway on campus. The first campaign, which is in progress, involves the placement of bricks in the plaza area outside the Sam Houston Sanders Corps of Cadets Center. Clamping down on finals BRANDON BOLLOM/The Battalion Cody Henderson, a sophomore environmental design major, tightens clamps on a glued bedpost for his fi nal project in Environmental Design 205. College admissions arguments continue WASHINGTON (AP) — A man whose lawsuit helped end the use of race in Texas university admis sions was on Capitol Hill Tuesday to lobby for legislation that would pro hibit the use of race-based admis sions policies nationwide. Also Tuesday, Texas Attorney General Dan Morales announced he would not appeal the ruling that ended affirmative action policies at Texas colleges, declin ing a request from University of Texas System Chancellor William Cunningham to do so. After thorough review, Morales said, “My office has identified no sufficient grounds upon which to base an appeal seeking to reimpose race-based decision making at Texas institu tions of higher education.” David Rogers, one of the four white plaintiffs who challenged the UT law school’s admission policies after being denied ad mission in 1992, told a news con ference that he “enthusiastically” supports legislation by Rep. Frank Riggs, R-Calif. That measure, expected to be considered this week during de bate of a broader higher education bill, would ban colleges or univer sities from using race, gender, eth nicity or national origin when making admissions decisions. Riggs stressed that the legislation wouldn’t affect minority outreach or scholarship decisions. “Affirmative action policies all too often discriminate against certain groups of Americans and lead to segregation rather than assimilation, and preferences rather than equal opportunity,” said Riggs. Texas ended its university af firmative action policies after a federal appeals court found that a UT law school policy meant to boost minority enrollment dis criminated against whites. That ruling, named after Rogers’ co plaintiff Cheryl Hopwood, was al lowed to stand in 1996 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Rogers said unequal admis sions policies giving preference to minority students — who in some cases were admitted with significantly lower test scores — are “an outrage which ought not to be tolerated in America.” “The nation deserves for this law to pass,” said Rogers, who plans to enter Texas Tech’s law school in the fall. INSIDE aggie life —■— Tap Dogs, the award-winning dance performance, pays a visit to Rudder Auditorium for two shows. See Page 3 sports Texas A&M point guard Brian Barone announces decision to transfer to Marquette. See Page 8 opinion Voss: Testosterone shown to be contributing factor of mental decay. See Page 11 online http: / / battalion.tamu.edu Hook up with state and na tional news through The Wire, AP’s 24-hour online news service.