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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 1998)
1598:Seot.— ON PETERS -S HAT TRICK r Soccer Team beats lexica, 7-0. FS, PAGE 11 % CUTTING UP • Bryan-College Station barber shops offer shear tradition. AGGIELIFE, PAGE 3 CHECK OUT THE BATTALION ON-LINE http://battalion.tamu.edu 71 TUESDAY September 8, 1998 - f'tS't*.! The 105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY he remembrance of time ERIC NEWNAM/Thk Baitai.ion ^an Banek, a senior accounting major, browses the Dale Carman exhibit in MSC Visual Arts Gallery Monday afternoon. The show runs through Oct. 1. Black, Hispanic groups to host Open Houses BY NONI SRIDHARA The Battalion The Hispanic Open House and Nu House, which is the Black Open House, will take place tonight. The Hispanic Open House, which is sponsored by the Hispanic Presidents’ Council,.will be at held 7:30 PM in 224 MSC. Nu House, which is spon sored by the MSC Black Aware ness Committee, will be held at 6 p.m. in Rudder Forum. “The purpose of the Open House is to give students a closer look at the different His panic organizations,” said Yvette Ortega, president of the Hispanic Presidents Council. The main goals of the His panic Open House are to pro mote unity and awareness among the different groups, organize, and present joint programs of common interest and serve as a voice for the Latino student population, according to the Hispanic Presidents’ Council. This year’s event will fea ture 15 organizations. “The regular MSC Open House that took place on Sun day can be quite overwhelm ing, especially to freshmen, so we thought that Hispanic Open House will offer students and recruiters an opportunity to interact on a more personal basis,” Ortega said. The Hispanic Open House will begin with an introduc tion of the presidents of the Hispanic organizations repre sented at the open house, fol lowed by guest speaker Chris Alvarado, former chair of the Committee for the Awareness of Mexican-American Cul tures (CAMAC). Alvarado will discuss the importance of being involved and will also talk about his experiences as a student at Texas A&M. Students can visit the dif ferent booths set up by the different Hispanic organiza tions and ask questions. The MSC Black Awareness Committee is celebrating their 30 year anniversary and will kick it off with the first ever Nu House. The format of Nu House slightly varies in format from the other open houses. Joel Garrett, chair of of the MSC Black Awareness Com mittee will start off by intro ducing the organizations. SEE HOUSES on Page 7. rA bills push programs for more recycling BY LESLIE STEBBINS r The Battalion ; Student Government Associ- passed two new bills last to promote campus recycling. ? first bill was to recycle The on newspapers. ? other bill was to set up bins dboard recycling during res- * hall move-in dates. ? cardboard recycling was a s, said Elizabeth McKee, a sen- id senior animal science major, e collected 18,000 pounds of Student Governm cardboard in one week,” McKee said. “There still needs to be more bins around cam pus so students and staff can re cycle. ” The recycling center, run by the Physical Plant, is responsible for picking up the trash and having it baled and shipped out. The center is a non profit organization and earns mon- nt ey for the bins from the money it makes from recycling. There are 150 buildings in the recycling pro gram and the re cycling center collects materi als from 80 to 120 buildings regularly. “Some of the bins are donat ed, but many we have to buy from the money we bring in,” said Tom Marshall, a maintenance worker for the recycling center. McKee said people’s knowledge of the recycling program is limited. “There have been some prob lems with high paper turnover in some buildings where workers may not know about the program,” McKee said. Students interested in recycling can help the effort by recycling their paper in classrooms in the cans marked appropriately. SEE RELATED STORY ON PAGE 6. Big Mac ties Maris at 61 Mark McGwire pulls even with home-run record with 430-foot blast 0112 61 home runs this season 69 projected total home runs 19 games left in season ST. LOUIS (AP) — No. 61 flew off Mark McGwire’s bat Monday, matching Roger Maris’ home run record and leaving just one question: How soon will it be his alone? History came quickly. McGwire launched Mike Morgan’s pitch 430 feet to left field in the first inning, tying the hallowed mark that has stood for 37 years. McGwire immediately threw his hands in the air after connecting and then, with a fist thrust high, began his triumphant trip around the bases. Big Mac got a high five from Cubs first baseman Mark Grace as he rounded the bag and got another high five from former St. Louis team mate Gary Gaetti as he neared third. The 50,530 fans at Busch Stadi um stood all the while, except for those in the wild scramble for the ball. Chicago’s Sammy Sosa, whose 58 homers have pushed McGwire down the stretch, joined the cele bration by applauding McGwire from right field. McGwire’s 10-year-old batboy son, Matt, was waiting at home plate where the Cardinals slugger ended his trek with a two-footed hop. McG wire hoisted his boy in a big hug, while groundskeepers rushed onto the field to replace the bases - no doubt headed to the Hall of Fame. Matt arrived just in time to see “/ know he (Maris) is with me and thats really all I can say - thank you to all the Marises” — Mark McGwire Cardinals’ first baseman his Dad make history. “I was down there getting my bat,” McGwire said. “He said, ‘How you doing?’ I gave him a kiss, told him him I loved him. The next thing I knew, I hit a home run.” The Cardinals spilled out of the dugout to mob McGwire and it took him a few moments to make it to the bench. But he didn’t stay there long, springing back out to salute Sosa and the Maris family, watching from seats on the first-base side. In a touching tribute to the man he matched, McGwire acknowl edged Maris’ children by pointing his right index finger to the sky, tap ping his heart three times and blow ing a kiss. “He tapped his heart, like Dad was in his heart,” said Kevin Maris, a son of the former New York Yan kees slugger. Indeed, that was the message: “I know he’s with me and that’s really all I can say - thank you to all the Marises,” McGwire said. McGwire homered in the Cardi nals’ 144th game and now has 19 left to become the home run cham pion. And when he does, certainly no asterisk will be needed. Maris hit No. 61 on the last day of a 162-game schedule in 1961. Toward the end of that season. Commissioner Ford Frick declared that any record would have to car ry a “distinctive mark” if it did not beat Babe Ruth’s mark of 60 in 154 games. Forum discusses campus crowding BY AMANDA STIRPE The Battalion “Why do we have overassign ments?” This was the first question asked by Mack Thomas, housing assignments coordinator, at the overassignment meeting on Monday in an attempt to answer questions about financial, furni ture, and general overassign ments worries. “We need to get as many peo ple into housing as possible,” Thomas said. The overassignment situation this fall is not the worst over crowding seen at Texas A&M Uni versity. Fall 1995 was the worst with 600 overassignments living in various places around campus. This year, about 250 students were assigned to live in study car rels and lounges, non-aircondi- tioned halls, and three roommates were assigned in modular halls. The assignments are based on cancellation rates, not the size of the freshman class. A number is agreed upon in May by housing officials. The over shoot number is the current cancellation rate compared to the cancellation rate over the past five years. Presently, 22 men are living in study carrels and lounges, and 77 men are living in non-aircon- ditioned dorms. Thomas said men cancel faster than women, generally af ter the first group of tests. Thomas said the most incon venient thing to deal with is the 53 women living in triples. One- hundred other women live in study carrels and lounges. Thomas said not every woman in a carrel or lounge will be in a room by semester’s end. Molly Wagoner, a freshman general studies major, said she does not mind living in a carrel. “I really like my roommate, so that helps. I only share the room with one other person and we have a bathroom right across the hall,” Wagoner said. Ron Sasse, drector of Resi dence Life, said the options for an overassigned student are to stay in their present residence, find someone on campus who will agree to take you in for the rent reduction, cancel and move off campus for the fall semester with an option to return for the spring or move off permanently, or stay with a friend off campus until the student is re re-located. All overassignments will re ceive priority for spring if they stay over-assigned all semester. A&M has never had overas signments in the spring semester because of dropout rates and students graduating. Tom Murray, manager for Custodial and Maintenance Ser vices, said furniture requests started Thursday. Murray said their goal is to get furniture into the dorms within two days of the request reaching the of fice. The overassignments will get any furniture they ask for and feel they can fit into the space. Jerry Smith, associate director of Resident Life, said rent ad justments will depend on where the student is living. “Initial rent adjustments will start [Tbesday],” Smith said. Study room and lounge rates will remain the same throughout the semester. Triples will receive a pro-rated refund when the overassignment is relocated to a permanent assignment. After the 11th day of class the refund rate reaches 25 percent and remains the same for the se mester. An overassignment who moves off campus within the four-week University refund pe riod will be charged a daily rate. This option is in opposition to forfeiting their rate as published in the refund schedule. Thomas said overassigned- students should contact him if they would like to know what number they are on the list for permanent housing. Ceremony to honor memory of students BY MELISSA JORDAN The Battalion Campus lights will be dimmed as Aggies are remembered at tonight’s Silver Taps ceremony at 10:30 p.m. in front of the Acade mic Building. Seven Texas A&M students who died since Muster on April 21 will be honored at the ceremony. Silver Taps is a long-standing tradition at Texas A&M that oc curs between September to April, on the first Tuesday of each month and honors students who have died while enrolled at the University. At 10:20 p.m., certain buildings on campus extinguish their lights as students gather in front of the Academic Building. The Ross Volunteer Honor Corps marches to the plaza area where its members fire a 21-gun salute. Buglers then play a special arrangement of “Taps.” Chiming of the bells from Albritton Tower marks the cere mony’s end. • Guy M. Altmann (ELEN) 'Lee M. Smith (BUAD) 1 Charles H. Gilman (HIST) 'Manual D. Gonzales (BIMS) 'Nathan C. Hightower (MEEN) 'Guadelaupe A. Medina (MGMT) •Joseph B. Thornton (AERO)