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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1999)
\l e. 105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY January 21, 1999 Volume 105 • Issue 76 • 14 Pages College Station, Texas aggielife • There s something about movies. Shakespeare in Love, Saving Private Ryan receive accolades. PAGE 3 today’s issue Opinion 13 State 8 Friday’s issue Aggies get taste of wrestlemania; WCWhits the mat in Reed Are na this weekend. sports • In womens basketball Texas Tech, Iowa State lead race for NCAA tournament bid. PAGE 11 Closed Chambers Fire Fightin’ Ags Brazos Valley Chamber of Commerce revokes memberships f Planned Parenthood, BVCL, Hope Pregnancy Center I BY MEREDITH HIGH! The Battalion ■ince Planned Parenthood Bounced it was building a B clinic in Bryan that would ■r abortion services, the is- ue has sparked controversy in le community—a controver- Hiat has now moved to the ry.m-College Station Cham- lof Commerce. ■Vhen a ribbon-cutting cer- mony for the Planned Par- nthood facility was approved Hn 11-10 vote by the cham- er, the Brazos Valley Coali- on for Life began a fax cam- Kn to halt the ceremony. Bhe campaign resulted in 0 out oif the 1,400 chamber aembers faxing the chamber, Buesting a reconsideration if the vote. Blanned Parenthood with- Irew the request for the cere- ttony, but shortly after the de- ision, the chamber passed a esolution to cancel the mem- '•ships of Planned Parent hood, Brazos Valley Coalition for Life and Hope Pregnancy Center. Planned Parenthood and Hope Pregnancy Center are now in the process of appeal ing the cancellation of their membership in the chamber. Hope Pregnancy Center de clined to comment on its ap peal to the chamber. BVCL did not appeal the ruling, prefer ring to focus on helping women understand that op tions other than abortion are available. Lauren Donohue, execu tive director of BVCL, said she believes chamber members made the decision that was best for the community. “Planned Parenthood and abortion are very controver sial, and surveys have been done showing that 70 percent of the community is against the clinic,” she said. “A lot of the members of the chamber are pro-life and couldn’t go against their conscience.” The chamber’s resolution, which cancelled the member ship of all three organizations, read, “The chamber of com merce is neither pro-life nor pro-choice. We exist solely for the purpose of being pro- Bryan-College Station.” “I think these members are voting what they think is best for the chamber” — Celia Goode-Haddock Chamber of Commerce Celia Goode-Haddock, chair of the chamber of com merce, said she believes voters had the chamber’s best inter est in mind when they voted. “I think these members are voting what they think is best for the chamber, not whether they are pro-life or pro- choice,” she said. Susan Nenney, spokes woman for Planned Parent hood, said that the exclusion of Planned Parenthood from a local chamber of commerce has never before occured. Planned Parenthood had been a member of the cham ber for four years before the decision. “We hope to resolve this very positively,” Nenney said. “We were proud to be a mem ber of the chamber. We offer a broad range of services that are a basic part of life in Bryan. “We’re as vital an agency as anyone, and we’re opti mistic we will solve this.” Nenney said Planned Par enthood made no effort to lobby the chamber about the ribbon-cutting ceremony. see Chambers on Page 2. Mending Munson fate of barricades handed to voters on May ballot Katherine Stempien/The Battalion Jeff David and Vicky Blanco, both senior environmental design majors, suit up to fight a fire at the A&M volunteer fire department for their Elements of Interior Architecture class. BY CARRIE BENNETT The Battalion ■The College Station City Council passed the agenda item Eing for a special election to determine the closure status ■Munson Avenue, and the election has been scheduled )t May 1. ■Organizations in support of each side of the issue have een formed to campaign prior to the May election. ■Kayla Glover, resident of the College Hills neighborhood, /hich houses Munson Avenue, will lead the group Friends |0ur Community, the members of which are in support of ermanent removal of the barricades. K“We will run a full-fledged campaign with advertising on y, radio and in newspapers,” Glover said. “Our main ob- ?ctive is getting people to vote.” ■Mike McMichen, a member of Friends of Our Commu- iity, said traffic demands on Munson Avenue have de based since the completion of the Texas Avenue con- ■iction, and he believes there is no reason for the closure. I “We are really pushing for the city council to take the bar- icades down now to get traffic counts on Munson, since the onstruction on Texas is done,” McMichen said. ■McMichen said students of the local campus of Blinn Ju- lior College once used Munson Avenue as an alternative oute when the college was split into two campuses, but it ias consolidated and relocated. ■Connie Hooks, city secretary for College Station, said the >arricades will remain until a decision is reached on May 1. ■Stephen Miller, a member of the organization in favor of he barricades, said he believes the closure prevents traffic congestion, which preserves the quality of the neighborhood. see Munson on Page 2. Faculty Senate approves portion of 60-60-60 bill File Photo/The Battalion Barricades were placed on Munson Avenue June 15,1998. A special election will determine whether or not the barricades will be removed. BY AMANDA PALM The Battalion Texas A&M Faculty Senate approved a portion of the recommended 60-60-60 Q- Drop bill yesterday. The senate approved the recommenda tion to increase the number of Q-drops al lotted to undergraduate students from three to four, but did not approve chang ing the Q-drop deadline from the 50th to the 60th class day. The bill will be sent to President Bowen for final approval. The proposed change to the Q-drop sys tem will give undergraduate students two Q-drops to use before completing 60 se mester hours and two more to be used be fore finishing another 60 hours. If the two primary Q-drops are not used before the completion of 60 hours, they will be omitted from the allotment. Diane Kaplan, the Faculty Senate speak er, said the first 60 hours completed apply to hours acquired at any accredited college or university and do not have to be ac quired solely at Texas A&M University. Naomi Fackler, a senator representing the College of Veterinary Medicine, said the current Q-drop deadline offers enough “Fifty days is plenty of time. It is much longer than most schools offer.” — Naomi Fackler Faculty Senate time for students to decide whether or not to drop a class. “Fifty class days is plenty of time,” Fackler said. “It is much longer than most schools offer.” The senate approved a recommenda tion not to place grade distributions on the Internet. Grade distributions are available to students through Student Counseling Services. ©stage pains increase as new price sticks Prior to mid-19th century, postal rates print Store At oShack. me based on the number of pages in a etter and the distance over which the letter |as to be sent. Starting in 1863, the U.S. Postal Service nay not o* - •„( with a local *R r cnfi Niches reserv‘d' 8 used under 1 abased the cost of postage solely on weight. Source: U.S. Postal Service BY LISA HILL The Battalion On Jan. 10 the United States Postal Service raised the price of stamps and introduced the 33-cent stamp. Trip Jacks, Postal Business Cen ter manager at the College Station Post Office, said it serves as the Postal Service’s first cost increase in nearly four years. Jacks said the increase affects one ounce, first-class letters. He said after the first ounce, each addi tional ounce has been reduced from 23 to 22 cents. He said no change has been made to international rates. Jacks said the extra money will fund technology advances for post offices throughout the country. “The money is not going toward parties, or frivolous activities — it’s going into more advanced equip ment,” he said, “like delivery con firmation, which allows efficient tracking of mail and better customer service. ” Jacks said the overall reaction has been positive, and the public has been generally understanding. Tom McGrath, postmaster for the College Station Post Office, agrees with the rate increase and has not experienced any negative reaction by the public. “The increase is absolutely nec essary due to rising costs,” he said. McGrath said the increase in postage has triggered a rise in sales of one-cent stamps. “The demand has been tremen dous for one-cent stamps, but we have planned in advance, so there haven’t been any problems.” Mc Grath said. According to information provid ed by Jacks, the U.S. Postal Service prepared by printing billions of one- cent stamps to add to current postage. However, students say the in crease has caused problems. Lori Vaccaro, a senior finance major, says she never knew how much of a hassle one penny could cause. “I recently mailed my bills with 32-cent stamps,” Vaccaro said. “Now they will probably be re turned and what was a four to five cent shortage will turn into $20 to $30 in late fees, it’s just a hassle.” Letters with 32-cent postage will be marked “postage due” and most likely returned. According to information provid ed by Jacks, nation-wide post of fices have generic stamps, which are kept in stock to be sold in the event of a rate increase. The newly-implemented first- class mail “H” stamp, bearing a pic ture of Uncle Sam’s hat, is one of the generic stamps and is being sold until 33-cent stamps are printed. The “H” stamps and one-cent stamps, for people who do not wish to purchase the new stamps, are available at local post offices.