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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 1998)
CHECK OUT THE BATTALION ONLINE http://battalion, tamu.edu THURSDAY October 15, 1998 Volume 105 • Issue 35 • 12 Pages - '' 105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY 9isa incident leads to grode reexamination Heritage Month wraps up with unity raliv BY AMANDA STIRPE The Battalion ker a Sbisa Dining Hall inci- Ihat ended in property dam- md prompted numerous Food Ices Department meetings to fnine the future of “grode the Residence Hall Associa- fcresented a bill Wednesday [topromote “responsible and tte use of grode yells on and Impus.” lode yells are yells created by residence hall to promote uni- [hin the residence hall. Friday, Oct. 9, approxi- pey 300 people attempted to I Sbisa and hold a sponta- ;yell practice. Sbisa officials refused to allow the group to en ter. A University Police Depart ment report stated that four pot ted plants outside the facility were destroyed in retaliation. ovo Caton Brown, vice president for programs and presenter of the bill, said grode yells do not pro mote unity. orthgate issue inspires ans for forum, vigil BY JOE SCHUMACHER The Battalion comi^erseveral meetings about the Its in Northgate, the External s Committee of the Student themdiscussed plans for action to the violence. ns- ?meeting, held Thesday, was ced. Bled by various Student Gov- dadd»nt Association officials, the DaytoBiistration, international clubs ; Bos'«ie community. ) potcJorufn to give students the op- pity to share their experiences rthgate is tentatively planned ie end of the month, aliese Reinemeyer, president of paduate Student Council and a alscience graduate student, said i : %um will require understanding [the speakers and the audience, he students that speak will | to have courage to tell their s, and the listeners will have Jve the courage to listen and not |efensive,” Reinemeyer said, ficer Paul Price of the College Police Department told the (littee improved sidewalks and ng, new bike lanes and ed streets are all on the Col- itation City Council’s agenda, vid Kessler, a member of the nt Action Committee and a rhistory major, said there is a lelight vigil scheduled for next ■shay in the Northgate area. He 'een working with various s.tu- organizations to coordinate jvent. iVe feel strongly that this (the re- [assaults) should not happen,” ersaid. “We are trying to make l m , K jynor f; p 1 the community aware of this issue, and that it will not be tolerated.” Another plan of action is an out reach program being organized by the International Student Associa tion. The plan would introduce the students’ cultures to the community by going into schools and business es and presenting information about their cultures in a show-and-tell style. “The goal of the outreach pro gram is to educate the community and students about international cul tures by bringing the cultures to them,” Tatsuki Ohashi, president of the ISA and a senior international studies and history major, said. “This will create a mutual understanding between different cultures. ” Ben Armenta, vice president of Minority Affairs and a sophomore elementary education major, said he plans to work with ISA to coor dinate events throughout the cam pus and the community. • “To be culturally competent, one must be culturally aware, and that starts with education,” he said. Another issue mentioned was friction between merchants and stu dents. Ohashi, Reinemeyer and Amy Magee, speaker of the Student Senate and a senior psychology ma jor, met with members of the com munity as well as business owners Tuesday to gain a better under standing of each other’s viewpoints. “Most of the problems stem from miscommunication,” Reinemeyer said. “This created a misunderstand ing where both parties went away mad when neither meant offense.” see Northgate on Page 2. “Grode yells have the ability to divide and ostracize,” Brown said. “We’re not here to tell you to do anything, just discuss it with your halls.” The bill states, “Grode yells do promote unity within the halls, but not within the entire Aggie community, nor do they present a positive representation of Texas A&M University.” The Aggie Bonfire redpots sent a letter asking halls to minimize the use of profanity. If profanity is used in a yell, it could result in a loss of Bonfire privileges for the hall. In other business, Amanda Allbritton, vice president for oper ations, said the cable TV commit tee will host a cookout Friday, Oct. 16 at 5 p.m. at the sand volleyball courts behind FHK complex to dis cuss the proposal and gather in formation from attendants about what kind of programming stu dents are interested in broadcast ing on the channel. Campus Relations will host a winter food and clothing drive be ginning midnight Sunday, Nov. 15 and ending midnight Monday, Nov. 16. The drive will gather donations at Sbisa, the Commons, MSC, Wehner Building and the Reed Building. The event will be marked with the lighting of the trees for the Winter in Aggieland program, which was inaugurated last year. see RHA on Page 2. An axe to grind ERIC NEWNAMAThe Battalion Bruce Unger, a Moore Hall “Frick Pot” and a sophomore psy chology major, sharpens an axe in preparation for Bonfire cut. NONI SRIDHARA The Battalion The Unity Rally and March will be held today to mark the conclu sion of Hispanic Heritage Month. Ta Mere, an Austin-based band which performs a variety of music, ranging from salsa to samba, will kick off the event in the Rudder Fountain area at 4:30 p.m. The march will be gin at 4:45 p.m. at the comer of Hous ton Street and George Bush Drive and end at Rudder Fountain. Yvette Urteaga, president of the Hispanic Presidents’ Council, said many of the Hispanic organizations will participate, but the event is open to all. At 5:30 p.m., Maria Antoinetta Berriozabal will give a speech “Cul ture: The Soul of Leadership.” Berriozabal is a founding member of the National Hispana Leadership Institute in Washington, D.C. Fol lowing the speech, there will be a performance by Ballet Fplklorico Celestial and another performance by Ta Mere. Urteaga said Hispanic Her itage Month’s goals to promote awareness and cultural unity were achieved. “This year, we had a great turnout to all the events,” Urtea ga said. “I feel that one of the best parts of it were Fiesta Week, and the Fiesta Buffet at the conclusion of Fiesta Week because we really got our name out there by pass ing out buttons about Hispanic Heritage Month and just being very visible.” Jason Santos, vice president of the Sigma Lambda Beta fraternity and a sophomore aerospace engi neering major, said the march and rally will be an opportunity to bring people from different back grounds together and to reflect on the meaning and the events of His panic Heritage Month. “Through the unity rally and march it will be neat to see the hearts that have been touched and the number of lives that have been reached through Hispanic Heritage Month,” Santos said. Urteaga said each year the num bers participating in Hispanic Her itage Month grows, and they want to see that number keep growing at all events. Brown bag lunch tackles issue of campus violence BY JOE SCHUMACHER The Battalion Kristin Harper, associate director of the Department of Student Life, will be speaking about violence on campus at a brown bag lunch fo rum today in 306 YMCA Building. Issues to be addressed include sexual assault, relationship vio lence, domestic violence and vic tims’ rights. The forum will con clude with a discussion and a question-and-answer session. Isai Gopalakrishman, president of Aggies Working for A Rape-Free En vironment and a junior biology ma jor, said topics such as domestic and relationship violence do not receive much coverage because they can make people feel uncomfortable, and this forum is a chance for students to express their feelings on the subject. “By attending, students are be coming aware of this issue,” Gopalakrishman said. “In addition, it is a chance for students to voice concerns that they have. ” Harper said the brown bag lunch forum is relaxed and is not something people have to sign up for ahead of time. Nancy Tubbs of Gender Issues Education Services (GIES) said she hopes the forum will be eye-open ing to students. “Students who come will in crease their awareness of the kind of sexual violence that occurs,” she said. Ttibbs said students who attend the forum will set the agenda and de termine the topic of discussion. The brown bag lunch program is coordinated by GIES and Women’s Studies. bnference brings women engineers Hate mail applauds attack on Wyoming man nnual Women engineering nference offers on how to e the transition m the classroom he workplace. BY AMY CURTIS The Battalion e Fourth Annual Women gineering Conference will [■eld Friday and Saturday, panelists and speak- ■epresenting 65 engineer- corporations offering ad- ;to students. tiday’s events begin with finer at 6 p.m. on the sec- floor of Rudder Tower; 'day’s events begin at 9 and end at 4 p.m. an Rinehart, associate di- tor of Student Engineering Programs, said the focus of Fri day night’s dinner is mentor ing. Cindy Creeden will speak at the dinner about mentoring relationships. Rinehart said the conference is about professional develop ment for both men and women. She said the panelists and speakers bring real-world in sight to the conference. Rine hart said some of the panelist discussions will be about cor porate culture, the transition from college to corporate life and graduate degrees. Rinehart said the confer ence will match female engi neering students with female corporate engineers as part of the Mentors for Aggie Proteges program. She said 75 mentors will be present. “We have working engi neers coming back to campus to share experiences and in formation about being an en gineer with the students,” Rinehart said. She said 100 engineers will be present, 80 of whom are former students. Rinehart said students inter ested in the conference can reg ister at the dinner Friday. She said the nine companies spon soring the conference are Brown & Root & Halliburton, Boeing, Compaq, Dupont/Conoco, En tergy, Schlumberger, Texaco, Union Carbide and Vastar. Jaime Folkert, a member of the planning committee, said the conference is a venue where female engineers can form relationships with corpo rate representatives. Students can learn things about the businesses through the work shops offered, including one titled, “Things I Wish People had Told Me. ” Folkert said the conference is open to all students. Regis tration is $10. Folkert said although the conference is designed for women, men also can benefit from the workshop. “There are a lot of things a male can get out of it, too,” Folkert said. LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — Even as outrage grows over the fatal beating of gay student Matthew Shepard, author ities are wrestling with new hate mes sages aimed at homosexuals. One such missive even applauded his death. Shepard was found a week ago and died Monday at a hospital in Fort Collins, Colo., where police were in-, vestigating both an offensive parade float and a violently worded e-mail mes sage sent to two gay groups after his death. It closed with the words, “I hope it happens more often.” The message was discovered by Brenda Hervey, executive director of the Rainbow Chorus, a choir made up of gay and heterosexual performers. Mem bers of the Lambda Community Center received the same e-mail. Hervey initially thought the e-mail was intended to inform her of Shep ard’s death. ‘‘When I clicked to open the message and began reading, I was just sickened,” she said Tuesday. Shepard was pistol-whipped and lashed to a fence post outside Laramie for 18 hours in near-freezing tempera tures, authorities say. The 21-year-old University of Wyoming student died af ter five days in a coma. Police say robbery was the main mo tive, but Shepard’s attackers apparent ly chose him partly because he was gay. His assailants, apparently lured him from a campus bar, attacked him and left him hanging like a scarecrow. “When I clicked to open the message and began reading, I was just sickened/' — Brenda Hervey Executive director, Rainbow Chorus Charges against Russell Arthur Hen derson, 21, and Aaron James McKinney, 22, include first-degree murder, aggravat ed robbery and kidnapping with intent to inflict bodily injury or terrorize the victim. Prosecutors haven’t said whether they will seek the death penalty. The killing has drawn nationwide at tention, including President Clinton’s call for Congress to pass legislation making it easier for federal prosecution of hate crimes. Albany County sheriff’s Lt. Rob De- Bree, lead investigator in the case, said he and other local officers have no legal guid ance on what constitutes a hate crime. “I wish somebody could give us a true definition of what they consider to be a hate crime,” DeBree said. The push for hate crimes laws fol lowing Shepard’s killing is likely to draw out people with strong anti-gay feelings, experts say. ‘‘No one will say, T hate these peo ple,’ but it serves to confirm homopho bic sentiments (exist),” said Valerie Jen- ness, professor of sociology at University of California, Irvine, and author of the book Hate Crimes: New Social Move ments and the Politics of Violence. Fort Collins police were trying to find out how a scarecrow mocking homo sexuals appeared in a Colorado State University homecoming parade float Saturday. The university said 11 students were scheduled for disciplinary hearings next week. Wyoming officials were bracing for the arrival of members of a Topeka, Kan., church who plan to carry anti-gay pickets at Shepard’s funeral in Casper on Friday.
