TO THEIR
organizations
Hispanic Heritage
'ebrations.
IFE, PAGE 4
Former Cc,
THE FEW,
THE PROUD
• Corps elite should be
respected for sacrifices made
for the University.
OPINION, PAGE 11
CHECK OUT
THE BATTALION
ON-LINE
h ttp://ba ttalion. tamu. edu
TUESDAY
September 15, 1998
Issue 13 • 12 pages
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mal agrees
io.vr: paign kick off.
v f s ‘l BY MEGAN WRIGHT
| a | lor Bhe Battalion
erday afternoon, a crowd of
imatelv 150 students gathered
ler Fountain to rally support
0 'l° fy ublican George W. Bush’s gu-
jnai reelection campaign.
Nevov' ■ event was hosted by the
Vput\ lt organization Aggies f 7 or
duce L: anc i featured music by the
ireatenec )anc t L as t Free Exit,
way H'l'n 3 president Mandy Metcek,
ettlement 3r political science and in-
In its ional studies major, said the
(ewsweek was meant to rally student
anted r rt for Bush’s reelection and
aid stand them acquainted with AFB.
ending tublican State Senator Steve
ental Ait; i spoke in support of Bush’s
iat Prc- cements in office. He said
eclare j tion is one of the top priori-
at toicc.' rBush.
they didt lucation to him (Bush) is to
tate government what na-
defehse is to our national
ament,” Ogden said.
Bush
MIKE RJENTES/The Battalion
Sen. Steve Ogden addresses Ag
gies for Bush at the MSC on Mon
day at a kickoff rally for the reelec
tion of Gov. George W. Bush.
Also speaking was local busi
nessman Fred Brown. Brown’s
speech mentioned the governor’s
ties with the students of Texas A&M.
“He (Bush) knows that if he
wants the job done right, he
counts on Aggies,” Brown said.
The Republican ticket for the
1998 election year is known as
“Victory ’98.”
It also includes Tom Grey,
Class of ’79, who is running for
the 2nd Court of Appeals.
see Bush on Page 6.
instruction, expansion
eate need for bike racks
Y PATRICK PEABODY
The Battalion
epartment of Parking, Ttaf-
JfYansportation and the Phys-
'nt are taking measures to
arking problem on campus
rack overcrowding.
Williams, the assistant di-
f PITS, said bikes have re-
ittle priority in the past,
re has 1 been no focus on
the past, period,” Williams
hey are always an endless
mess with.”
of the most overcrowded
e the bike racks around the
building. Mike Goldwater,
nt director for Facilities
nance and Renovation, said
ercrowding at Blocker is
mporary.
? overcrowding is due to the
:t work going on in the
' building,” Goldwater said.
:ontractors needed a lay
trealtor supplies, and some
acks were covered.”
water also said they were
at some solutions,
ome extra racks are really
Senate takes on Northgate racism
BY JOE SCHUMACHER
The Battalion
In light of reports of racially-mo
tivated assaults and harassment in
the Northgate area, the External Af
fairs Committee of the Student Sen
ate is having a meeting tonight to
gather input from students.
The meeting will be held at 7
p.m. in 146 Koldus. Many organi
zations are planning to send dele
gates, and the meeting is open to
the general public.
These incidents were first
brought to the attention of Jim
Reynolds, director of the MSC, by
Rabbi Peter Tarlow.
Tarlow, a rabbi at the Hillel
Foundation, is a clergyman for the
College Station Police Department
and is involved with multicultural
activities on campus. Tarlow dis
cussed the racially-motivated inci
dents that occurred with Reynolds.
Tarlow said students mostly of
Asian and Indian heritage have had
tomatoes and oranges thrown at
them from moving vehicles, and
have been verbally assaulted and
chased by automobiles.
Reynolds brought this activity to
the attention of the Student Senate.
David Byrd, chair of the External
Affairs Committee and a graduate
student in agricultural education, said
there have been enough incidents to
warrant an investigation. He said it is
not clear whether the perpetrators are
students, locals or others.
“We are hoping that it is not
students,” Byrd said. “If that is the
case, we are hoping that these peo
ple will realize that it is their fellow
Aggies they are assaulting. ”
According to Byrd, students
have been verbally harassed, have
had racial slurs shouted at them
and have been threatened.
Incidents of bottles being
thrown at students have also
been reported.
Byrd also said many of the peo
ple being harassed are afraid to go
to the authorities for fear of retali
ation. This reluctance to speak
with the authorities makes them
even more susceptible to attacks.
see Racism on Page 6.
needed,” Goldwater said, “we will
put in some temporary bike racks.”
Most of the emphasis on new
bike racks is centered on the new
Student Computing Center.
Texas A&M President Ray M.
Bowen said he noticed there was a
problem with the bike parking while
he was walking by the building.
“I noticed bikes hanging off of
railings,” Bowen said, “and it did
n’t take a genius to know that we
needed more bike racks.”
In a joint venture, PTTS and the
Physical Plant are looking in to the
installation of new racks by the com
puting center.
Goldwater said the racks are in
expensive and will not cause stu
dent fees to increase.
“We will use our [Facilities Main
tenance and Renovations] revenues
and some left over department funds
to buy the new racks,” Goldwater
said. “The cost varies, but the racks
generally cost between $35 to $40 a
rack. It is more expensive if a concrete
slab is needed.”
see Bike Racks on Page 6.
Photographic moment
ERIC NEWNAM/Thh Battalion
Jennifer Herbert, the repair technician at Campus Photo, inspects a Graflex camera. The Graflex
was the last professional camera made in the United States.
Greeks discuss football block seating
BY MELISSA JORDAN
The Battalion
Presidents from fraternities and
sororities on campus will gather
tonight for the first meeting of the
Greek presidents’ round table.
Scott Phelan, graduate assistant
in the Department of Student Life,
said the purpose of the meeting is to
build a better Greek community at
Texas A&M.
The presidents’ round table will
meet each month to give individual
chapters the chance to communicate
and discuss future plans.
Plans for block seating at foot
ball games and improvements in
rush activities are topics that will
be addressed at the meeting.
With approval already received
from the athletic department,
Greek organizations are planning
to sit together in a designated sec
tion of the third deck.
The Greek block seating will be
similar to the block of seats mem
bers of the Corps of Cadets present
ly occupy at football games.
Scott Lovejoy, president of the
Interfraternity Council and a senior
management information systems
major, said the Greek block seating
will give sorority and fraternity
members the chance to interact
with members of other chapters.
Women administrators show A&M’s progress
liller, associate vice president of administration,
ten at Texas A&M since 1986.
BY BRYAN BUCKMAN
The Battalion
In the 35 years since women were first
admitted to Texas A&M, they have made
significant progress not only in the student
body but in the administration as well.
Mary Jo Powell, the associate director
of University relations said the role of
women on campus has greatly increased
during her time with the University.
“Women have become an increas
ingly important part of the student
body, the faculty and the administra
tion, and we expect their role to in
crease,” Powell said.
Powell said that since she has worked
for the University, two associate vice
presidents and the dean of faculties were
held by women.
“Women have arrived,” said Mary
Miller, the associate vice president of
administration, who is one of the high
est ranking female
administrators at
the University.
“In the 12 years
I’ve been here. I’ve
seen substantial
progress, though not
as great as everyone
would have liked,”
Miller said. “Twelve
years ago there were
no women in upper
management that I know of, today there
have been female deans, academic de
partment heads, assistant and associate
vice-presidents and provosts and the senior
associate athletic director. Most of those
positions were never previously occupied
by women.”
Miller said she often attends Student
Senate meetings and is amazed by the
progress women have made among the
student body.
“I see so many women student sena
tors, including the speaker of the Senate,
and the president of the student body. The
progress women have made since I arrived
in 1986 is remarkable,” she said.
Miller said although the gains are
great, there is still progress to be made.
“Women still need to enter the top
levels of the administration,” Miller
said. “I would like to see a female vice
president. I believe that by reaching
out and mentoring we can and should
continue to raise women into those
positions.”
NEWS IN BRIEF
Clinic sponsors
bone marrow drive
As the nation observes Nation
al Marrow Awareness Month
throughout September, the Na
tional Marrow Donor Program and
Scott & White, an NMDP Donor
Center, are “Celebrating Second
Chances" provided by unrelated
marrow transplants.
Two drives are scheduled in
College Station to register indi
viduals who are interested in be
ing on the registry.
The first drive will be held today
at the Scott & White Clinic, 1700
University Drive, from 11 a.m. to 5
p.m. The second will be held to
morrow from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. A
blood drive will also be held at the
same times and places.
State Dept, invites
prof to celebration
Clinton J. Machann, an English
professor at Texas A&M, has been
invited to Washington, D.C., by the
U.S. State Department and the
Czech Embassy to take part in ac
tivities celebrating the 80th an
niversary of the founding of Czecho
slovakia in 1918.
Machann and his wife Ginny will
attend a reception for Vaclav Havel,
current president of the Czech Re
public, which is being hoste by Vice
President Al Gore. The Machanns
also have been invited to attend a
reception in honor of Havel and his
wife hosted by Czech Ambassador
Alexandr Vondra.
In October, Machann will join a
group of 25 scholars from the United
States, Canada, the Czech Republic
and Slovakia in an all-day academic
seminar on the “Birth of Czechoslo
vakia” at the Library of Congress.
In his contribution to the pro
gram, Machann will emphasize the
enthusiastic support shown by
Texas Czechs in 1918 for the new
Czechoslovak republic and for
Tomas Masaryk, its first president.
Honor society aims
to host convention
This fall, 10 officers of Pi Tau Sig
ma, a national mechanical engi
neering honor society, will attend
the national convention at
Tuskegee University in Alabama.
Apart from participating in the
usual business sessions, these of
ficers will make a bid to host the
convention in 2000 at Texas A&M.
If the bid is successful, over 150
upper-level and graduate students
will visit campus.
Bush promotes
Robin Hood laws
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Gov.
George W. Bush traveled to West
Texas on Monday, touting his plan
to pump $3.6 billion of the budget
surplus into public education and
promising his proposal would fur
ther diminish reliance on the
state’s Robin Hood program.
Later on the campaign trail,
Bush also said he would consider
early next year whether he would
run for president.
“Next spring, I’ll take a look,” he
said while in Arlington.
In Amarillo and Lubbock, Bush
discussed Texas’ school funding
system, which currently relies on a
combination of state aid, local
property taxes and some federal
money. The Robin Hood law re
quires school districts with the
most property wealth to share with
poorer districts.