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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 8, 1998)
May 5 es seat bells other sal ftributed pmberoi Pnal injurJ 1987 t0 :f Texas A Si M University IMfti BH mr m M KM: 4 th YEAR • ISSUE 143 • 14 PACES EWS COLLEGE STATION • TX TODAY TOMORROW FRIDAY • MAY 8 • 1998 •andji Briefs Universities try to level admissions field fwo Aggies in car iccident, one dies B anuel David Gonzales, a Texas University student, died Tues- ay night in Houston after being in- olved in a one-car accident, ■jonzales, 19, was a freshman iqjmedical science major from louston. JJeffrey Lee Nash, who was rid- ling in the car with Gonzales, was reated for injuries and released In Grimes St. Joseph Health Cen- lin Navasota. Ilash is a freshman microbiology najor. Halls of the Year announced by RHA ■RHA members were awarded for ? Islanding participation in RHA for 11997-98 year at the annual Hall llhe Year Awards fast week, llwc Fadden rece'wed Ha\\ of the Ir for work done to promote pro- camming in the halls. Lechner was »lned Co-ed Hall of the Year. Davis- ■rywon Female Hall of the Year and Rocker earned Male Hall of the Year. Ibckertook home five awards for the 1997-98 year. ■loan Duong, the incumbent presi- ®lt of Crocker Hall and ajuniorcom- Duter science major, was recognized as the Resident of the Year. Duong /vill serve as the Crocker Hall presi dent and as the External Affairs di rector on the RHA board next year, al Duong said he is looking forward to improvements in RHA and specifi cally within Crocker Hall next year. I "Getting Male Hall of the Year is a |reat end to an entire year of hard work by the residents," Duong said. '7 am really happy with the group of tall council members that we have alected for the next year. We are in a pisition to move ahead.” Journalism receives reaccreditation ■ Texas A&M’s Department of Jour- ■ism was unanimously approved for Accreditation recently by the Accred- ■g Council for Education in Journal ism and Mass Communication. ■ The department has been ac credited nationally since 1956. “We llieve accreditation by the Accred- Ing Council for Education in Jour nalism and Mass Communication is Increte proof to our students, our |ers and our university that Texas offers a quality journalism pro- am,” said Charles C. Self, profes- Orand head of the department. J Fewer than one-third of all journal- ■n-mass communication programs ■the United States are accredited. ■Texas, only five of about 30 pro- pms have been accredited. By Colleen Kavanagh Staff writer Following the lead of smaller private universities, public univer sities across the nation are using new recruiting tactics to keep top high school students from fleeing to other schools. Randy Mills, senior associate di rector of admissions at the Univer sity of Kentucky, said admissions counselors at Kentucky are using a small-school mentality to recruit prospective students. ‘‘We are trying to do things the way smaller schools have always done by mailing personal letters and Stacking Up calling students who have been ad mitted,” he said. “I came here from a private liberal arts school, and I brought a lot of that with me.” Mills said competition for top students has increased so it is es sential for public schools to make recruiting more personal. “Big universities used to say ‘Hey you know where our admis sions office is, so come get an ap plication,’” he said. “Now we knock heads with top private schools, so we have to shower a lot more attention on students.” Ric Gonzalez, recruitment coor dinator at Texas A&M University, said A&M recruiters have changed their strategies in order to attract top Texas students. “Students are getting smarter and wheel and deal more, causing us to do the same,” he said. “Now we are doing what small, private universities have always done, by writing letters and making phone calls to students.” A&M students contact admit ted students to congratulate them, answer any questions and encour age them to commit to A&M. The University of Texas Office of Admissions has similar recruiting strategies and also calls admitted students through the program SHARE, Students Helping Recruit ing Efforts. Annie Holand, student government president and a junior psychology major, said 300 stu dents volunteered this year for SHARE, with the goal of calling every high school senior who was accepted. “This was the first year to do blanket phone calls, trying to talk to everyone who was accepted,” she said. “A lot of campus groups have gotten lists and made phone calls too. “The student volunteers just call and talk about U.T., and classes, majors, the campus environment and what there is to do. I think in addition to helping recruit stu dents, SHARE has been beneficial to our campus as a whole in creat ing a sense of community.” Summer Calvin, a high school senior from McAllen, Texas, re ceived her first call from a SHARE volunteer two weeks before her scholarship application was due in December. “I have gotten many calls since then,” she said. “I decided to visit after talking to a student about U.T. who convinced me to visit the cam pus. My decision was between U.T. and Stanford, and after visiting the campus and loving it, I chose U.T.” Please see Universities on Page 9 1 m Sc U *fr ROBERT MCKAY/The Battalion Jason Jones, a civil engineering major, restocks the shelves of a bookstore with used books Thursday. KKK to make stop in College Station INSIDE sMU David Kersh to bring the sound of country to Breham on the Wal-Mart music tour. See Page 3 mmmmmmmum 'IMMMmKsmaKm g 12 Commissioner Steve atchell resigns amid rumors lat he was forced out. By Jennifer Wilson Staff writer Despite the success of the recent Whoop- stock Unity Festival, which celebrated the di versity of people on the Texas A&M campus and in the community) the Ku Klux Klan Knights of the White Kamellia will rally in Col lege Station on May 9 in celebration of their national holiday. The Knights of the White Kamellia na tional headquarters in Vidor, Texas, is sponsoring the rally, which celebrates the founding of the Ku Klux Klan on May 6, 1866, and the founding of the Knights of the White Kamellia on May 22, 1867. Rev. Darell Flinn, imperial wizard of the Knights of the White Kamellia, said the rally is being held to discuss issues such as freedom of speech, race mixing and white rights. “We’re hoping to wake some people up,” Flinn said. “We really need to have a rally in drat area (Bryan-College Station).” The Klan plans to meet at Bee Creek Park in College Station from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, he said. Flinn said their organization has never been to College Station before and they are hoping to recruit many new members. “Every city we have ever been to has ac cused us of picking on them,” Flinn said. “We have not been invited to College Station, but we will exchange ideas on what we stand for and exercise free speech to reach people in a legal means.” Flinn said their organization stands up in all legal ways possible for white rights and white history, to legally regain the rights that they be lieve have been taken from the Aryan race. “We have a legal means of doing these things,” Flinn said. Holly Doughty, public relations director for Whoopstock and a senior agriculture development and entomology major, said Whoopstock was originally created five years ago when the KKK came to College Station to hold a rally. Instead of going to the rally and protesting, people decided to hold a festival to celebrate diversity. “It was created so that people would not go to the rally and protest,” Doughty said. “We do not want to bring any attention to the KKK.” Doughty said she thinks people will be less likely to protest because of the great success ofWhoopstock this year. “People are more accepting now be cause they see that there is diversity on the campus, and the majority of people went to Whoopstock to celebrate unity on cam pus,” she said. Please see KKK on Page 9 More road work on the way By Rachel Dawley Staff writer Construction has become a part of life for stu dents at Texas A&M. Although construction on Texas Avenue is en tering its final month of activity, officials from the Texas Department ofTransportation (TxDOT) said there are several odrer projects planned for the summer, including pavement repairs on several major roads and highways. FM 2818 is currently undergoing pavement re pair and getting a hot-mix overlay from FM 60 to just north ofTexas 21. TxDOT officials said the work should be completed within a week. TxDOT will build a center left-turn lane and ap ply a hot-mix overlay on Texas 6 from FM 2154 to just north of the Navasota River, with a completion date sometime this summer. The Texas Avenue widening project, which began in February 1996, will be completed no later than May 31, said TxDOT spokesperson Paul Sturrock. Construction on the $5 million first phase pro ject is complete. It expands Texas Avenue from four lanes to six lanes from University Drive to Dominik Drive. In addition, left-turn bays and a raised cen ter median have been added. An 8-foot sound bar rier now protects residential areas from Gilchrist Avenue to Kyle Avenue. Most lane markings are complete in the area. Street lighting up and down the project length is al most finished and new sidewalks are complete, Sturrock said. Sturrock said one of the biggest remaining tasks will be cleaning up the project areas. When TxDOT inspectors are satisfied with the work, traffic barriers will be removed and the project officially finished. Phase two of the Texas Avenue widening pro ject is scheduled to begin in 2001. Phase two, esti mated to cost $5.7 million, will create three-lane roadways from Dominik Drive south to F M 2818. There are also several construction projects on the Texas A&M campus. Joe Estill, manager of A&M’s facilities construc tion division, said his office is working on the Cush ing Library expansion project and parking garage and the Kyle Field expansion. The library construction project began in April of 1996 and is scheduled for completion in June. Please see Work on Page 14 A&M to honor four alumni at graduation See Page 7 opinion ollett: Being a Yankee in ttas requires some time for djustment. See Page 13 ittp://battalion .tamu. edu ook up with state and na- onal news through The fire, AP’s 24-hour online ews service. By Katy Lineberger Stoffwriter Four Texas A&M former students will receive Distinguished Alumni Awards at commencement cere monies next week. The awards, giv en annually by the Association of Former Students, recognize out standing contributions to the hon- orees’ professions and communities. This year’s recipients are W. Mike Baggett of Dallas, Robert E. Bolen of Fort Worth, Raymond E. Galvin of Houston and Ronald L. Skaggs of Dallas. Randy Matson, executive director of the Association of Former Stu dents, said the honorees were chosen from nominations by a committee of four faculty members and four for mer students. “This is one of the greatest honors that a former student can receive,” he said. “When you consider there are 200,000 former students and we choose four a year, this is a pretty ex clusive group. The recipients are all very distinguished.” Matson said it is fortunate that the awards, started in 1962, are present ed at the commencement cere monies. “It’s inspirational to seniors,” he said. “They can say, ‘Hey, I could do that someday’ It also brings recogni tion to the University for the accom plishments of its graduates.” Mary Jo Powell, associate director of University Relations, said the list of former honorees includes some im pressive names. “This year’s recipients continue to reflect favorably upon Texas A&M’s former students,” she said. “They are outstanding individuals who have made real contributions.” Baggett, Class of’68, is chair, pres ident and CEO of the law firm Win stead, Sechrest & Minick. He is chair of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Associa tion and a member of the Texas High er Education Coordinating Board Please see Alumni on Page 9 Class of ’98 to give A&M Silver Taps memorial, Mount Aggie By Kelly Hackworth Stoffwriter As members of the Class of ’98 become the first class to graduate in the new Reed Arena next Friday and Saturday, they will also leave their mark on Texas A&M through the class gifts they have chosen. Brandon Meche, a senior industrial distribution major, a senior yell leader and a class agent, said the gifts chosen include a memorial for the 100th an niversary of Silver Taps and endorsement of tire new Mount Aggie effort. “Silver Taps is a real treasured and respected tradi tion,” Meche said. “This is our class’ way of honoring the tradition and the University.” Laurie Nickel, 1998-99 student body president and a senior business analysis major, said she was im pressed with the wide range of class gift options. “I think we had some excellent choices,” she said. “It’s great money spent.” The six class gift options for the Class of ’98 includ ed, in addition to the two chosen, an Aggie Bonfire en dowment, which took third place, a statue of Matthew Gaines, senator from Washington county who helped enable the founding ofTexas A&M, an electronic mar quis outside the Memorial Student Center and a Class of’98 scholarship. Alex Cabanas, senior finance major and a Class of ’98 class agent, said the money left after the Silver Taps memorial will go toward the Mount Aggie effort. “I think that Mount Aggie is neat because everyone is sad that it was torn down and now our class can be a part of the new one,” he said. Bradley Angell, Class of ’98 gift chair and a senior agricultural development major, said the class raised its money from Elephant Walk and Ring Dance sales. The estimated cost for the Silver Taps memorial is $25,000. The memorial will consist of a floral arrange ment in the academic plaza with a plaque explaining how 1998 commemorates the 100th anniversary of the ceremony. The project should be completed in about six months, Angell said. Frank Thomas, physical education activity program chair, said the new Mount Aggie wifi be located at the southwest corner of the new varsity tennis court. Thomas said the bids went out May 3 and bid selec tion will be made May 21. The estimated cost is $300,000, and the architect is Jim Holster and associ ates. Estimated completion date is September 1, de pending on the weather, Thomas said.