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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 1999)
Baitafoneftc, 01 Letters must be 3j lud ® the authors J umber. ^opinioneditafcf |“tters for length, stje . j I |>>y be submitted Nonaldwitbavalidst/j-. t k mailed to: i ^•BattsfeJ °13Re«K Texas AW :.', College fe ; 77T WEDNESDAY February 24 y 1999 Volume 105 • Issue 99 • 14 Pages College Station, Texas 105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY sports • After slow start, Aggie baseball team battles to a 7-3 victory over the Sam Houston Bearcats. PAGE 4 today’s issue Toons 2 Texas Film Festival 4 Thursday’s issue Controversy surrounding purple teletubbie reflects society s views on homosexuality. opinion • Garfish: Evangelical Christians and footed’ evolutionsists battle it out on the road. PAGE 13 feduate Student Council ipports bill to waive tuition I BY SAMEH FAHMY II The Battalion Texa A&M Graduate Student ima has given its support to a as Bouse of Representatives bill ign^l io give graduate students h assistantships tuition waivers :e tley have completed their jseu ork. -loule Rill 315, authored by Rep. nMaxey, is being considered by House Committee on Higher icatlon. To qualify for an assistantship, wh|rh graduate students get d for teaching or research, stu- its luist be enrolled in nine irs curing fall and spring se- sters and six hours in summer lestps. After they complete ir coursework, they typically rk on a thesis or dissertation, ichpoes not involve structured irsework. Anneliese Reinemeyer, presi dent of Graduate Student Council, said the existing system places an unfair burden on students. “Once you get to the end of your coursework, you’re paying for class es you’re not taking,” she said. “We’re paying tuition so that we can be employed by the University.” Reinemeyer said the waiver is es sential if Texas universities plan to attract talented graduate students. Reinemeyer said many universi ties, including the University of California at Berkeley, the Univer sity of Michigan at Ann Arbor and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, waive tuition and are more attractive to prospective grad uate students. “Texas universities are just not competitive,” she said. “They can not get the best students to come.” Opponents of the bill have ar gued that offering tuition waivers see Graduate on Page 8. hosts off campus lousing Fair today Harrys gh* ;e discount' , (6 p’ 111 '" 9 ^ a,,-2:30^' p.m.) iw. $^5 46-6H 7 k Eyed PeiO earlf' Cd< BY RACHEL HOLLAND The Battalion students will be offered an op- tunity to get started on next r’s off-campus housing search <ay ffom 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in M$C at the 15th Annual psinig Fair. Representatives from 80 apart- nt complexes in the commu- ' will take part in the Housing Off-Campus Student Services, Department of Student Life I Off-Campus Aggies, all spon- iSof the Housing Fair, will also 'e information tables. " acey Forman, assistant coor ator for Adult, Graduate & Campus Student Services, the fair is a convenient way students to obtain informa- about off-campus housing ions ‘The thing that will really ben- students is that in one stop can get information on over ymposium rovides iformation n medical chool options BY LISA K. HILL The Battalion The! ninth annual Health Profes- s Symposium provided infonna- i on medical school acceptance I medical school options to 800 stu- 1 its Tiiesday. Simon Harrison, director of ad- Issiohs at Texas Tech University alth Science Center School of Phar- lyjrMd A&M students are at the of her list for recruiting. “We find that A&M students are II prepared for health careers,” she d. “Last year, among the 66 stu- its we accepted in our pharmacy loolj 10 were Aggies.” Harrison provided students with armption on the school’s require- ■nts and various entry-level doctor- jrograms. K Anne Blum, Executive Council alth Organizations (ECHO) advis- said she was pleased with student 80 apartment complexes,” she said. “They can show up to one place and compare and contrast the prices and amenities for all of the apartments.” The 1999 Texas A&M Univer sity Off Campus Living Survival Manual and information on roommate referral services will be available from Off-Campus Student Services. “The manual explains how to go through the housing search,” Forman said. “It details ameni ties, like if an apartment is on the shuttle-bus route, and prices.” Forman said the manuals will be available for the first time to day, but students not attending the fair can still obtain them through the the Off Campus Stu dent Services office. Kelly Taylor-Cone, leasing consultant at College Park-The Enclave, said students should be gin their housing search early. see Housing on Page 8. Bird on the Brain CARINO CASAS/The Battalion Di Fontenot, director of the A&M Childern’s Center and Class of ‘88, worked in her office for sev eral hours with a parakeet on her head. The parakeet was found when it landed on a child’s head in the playground at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Fontenot said the center will keep the bird as a pet if no one claims it. REACH sponsors awareness panel at MSC BY PING-YA HSU The Battalion As part of National Eating Dis orders Awareness Week, an infor mation panel and video to inform students about prevention of eating disorders will be held tonight at 8:30 in MSC 206. The panel will include Dr. Mary Anne Moore, psychologist with the student counseling services. Dr. Ann Reed, associate director and head of clinical services at A.P. Beutel Health Center, Dr. Jane Co hen, health education coordinator and nutrition specialist at the De partment of Student Health Ser vices, and a student recovering from an eating disorder. “Mirror, Mirror — The Tbuth Be hind Eating Disorders” is spon sored by Student Health Services, Student Counseling Service, Aggie Representatives Educating About College Health (REACH) and Stu dent Dietetic Association. “There is a deeper underlying cause of the problem,” Cohen said. “We want to outreach our students and educate them that there is a team approach to treatment. Any de viant way of using food to compen sate for any psychological condition can be considered an eating disorder if it is harmful to the individual.” Cohen said the two most com mon eating disorders are anorexia and bulimia, and 25 percent of col lege women are affected by bulim ia. One to two of every 100 teenage girls is anorexic. “An important first step in over coming an eating disorder is to ac knowledge to yourself that you have a problem and are in need of outside help,” Cohen said. A.P. Beutel Health Center has physicians who provide physical as sessment of students suffering from eating disorders. Other organiza tions on campus who help students with eating disorders are the A&M Mentor Program and Aggie REACH. Cohen said she hopes the panel will provide more information about eating disorders and increase student awareness. Student Senate gathers opinions concerning proposed legislation Terry Roberson/Thk Battalion Elizabeth Neugart, a Class of ‘97 medical student, talks to Lyndon Kurtz, the associate director of Biomedical Science, in the MSC Flagroom at the ECHO Health Symposuium yesterday. turnout at the symposium. Sixty-five medical schools were represented this year. “We had a steady flow of students all day,” she said. “Students were ex cited at the number of schools and the amount of information we made available to them. ” Blum said among the participants, several former students attended to advise students. Fourteen former Texas A&M students represented the University of Texas at San Antonio- Medical School and answered ques tions. Murali Mamidi, UT medical stu dent and member of the Class of ‘97, tried to ease students’ tension. “I remember how intimidating it was to come and talk to the deans,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to talk to for mer students who have experience and have been in their position.” Mamidi said he and the other stu dents from San Antonio aimed to make the symposium a comfortable atmosphere for the students. Dentistry, pharmacy, pediatrics and other medical fields were repre sented at the fair. Amy Todd, a sophomore biology major, attended the symposium pur suing advice on pediatric schools. “The fair was beneficial,” she said. “There are options out there that I did n’t know about and, as a sophomore, BY MEGAN E. WRIGHT The Battalion Students who wish to voice concerns about var ious issues on campus will have an opportunity throughout today. Student Senate is sponsoring Constituency Day today from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with senators at six lo cations throughout campus. Amy Magee,Speaker of the Student Senate and a senior psychology major, said the main focus of today’s effort will be gathering opinions concern ing the proposed West Campus parking garage to assist the senators while they are deliberating a bill to voice the opinion of the campus. “Because it is such a pressing issue, we want the students’ opinions about this because the pro posed bill is going for the final reading at the next Student Senate meeting,” Magee said. “We will take all of the comments we gather into considera tion, and when we finally present it to the admin istration, we’ll give them the reactions as well.” Magee said the event occurs twice a year and solicits student responses to issues affecting them. “The purpose of Constituency Day is to reach out to the constituents and students at A&M,” Magee said. “In a way it helps educate people, and we take their opinions down and relay them to the administration.” Magee said Constituency Day is typically held once per semester, but the Senate is trying to schedule at least two for this semester. Magee said the format for Constituency Day was changed last semester to include more loca tions for better access. “I think these days are an excellent success,” Magee said. “We recently moved the format from one location to six, and we have received a lot bet ter feedback.” Senators will be available at: • MSC • Richardson Petroleum Engineering • Zachry Building • Commons Lobby Area • Sbisa Dining Hall • Kleberg Animal & Food Sciences • Wehner Building i