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105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
FRIDAY
February 26 y 1999
Volume 105 • Issue 101 • 10 Pages
College Station, Texas
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[eplant
ives back
Saturday
BY SALLIE TURNER
The Battalion
jlore than 2,000 students and in-
Iduals from around Bryan-Col-
1 Station will grab their shovels
Irday morning to participate in
ninth annual Replant,
leplant is an effort to give back
Die environment what is taken
|tduring the building of Bonfire,
['his year’s Replant will officially
n with a kickoff celebration at 8
. at the softball fields.
[licki Smith, director of Replant
[a senior biomedical science ma-
feaid 300 twenty-five-gallon trees
ill be planted on Saturday.
;"We [Replant participants] will
| be potting 500 seedlings and
[be moving 2,000 trees from five-
pnpots to 25-gallon pots,” Smith
ngsfstm
ifomw
uncte,
f7?/1lW ana Arriens > publicity and ad-
r pMlWising chair and a junior civil
I Sneering major, said Replant’s
yinil ^sare to contribute, unite and
' eiwcate the Bryan-College Station
imunity,
Replant was founded on the
ciple of bringing the communi-
igether to give back to the envi-
Bment,” she said. “To educate
^community, we have gone out
larious groups and taught them
_w to plant trees and take care of
1 [environment. ”
Ibis year the Replant committee
the wot! fias chosen to plant the trees at lo-
|ons in the community rather
the traditional Lake Somerville
The planted trees will range in
Jffi from three to five years,
the ecflB’We wanted to start planting in
idegooRvn and the parks wanted trees
Itoorgitli a higher survival rate,” she
eat risk,'’lid, “The trees being planted this
kend have been growing in our
pound and are now ready to be
Jtted.
(Aniens said participating groups
be planting at different times
ughout the day.
he time shifts have been added
year because older trees are
[re difficult to plant.
['We didn’t want to have more
115 people planting a tree with
ot guide [Replant committee
imber] at a time,” she said,
ery group of 15 people will get
pant four trees.”
D-C«,
lies.
HE m
[arambee
nity Festival
elebrates
^lith BAG
IP
[E$
RICHARD PADDACK
The Battalion
The MSC Black Awareness Com-
ttee (BAC) and other African-
jerican organizations celebrated
ty through God and the African-
lerican culture at the seventh an
al Harambee Unity Festival last
iht at Rudder Theater.
“We were really pleased with
attendance, they were a very
eand diverse crowd.” Joel Gar-
, BAC president and a senior
magement major, said.
The festival began with a tradi-
nal tribal drum duo that encour-
ed the audience to participate by
pping and dancing. The duo
is followed by the invocation and
iional Negro Anthem. The festi-
entertainment began with a
o dance. Other entertainment in-
Ided the Texas A&M Voice of
sports
• Womens basketball
faces Colorado for season
and home-game finale on
Saturday.
PAGE?
today’s issue
Toons 2
News 6
Monday’s issue
International awareness week
sparks discussion concerning
America’s cultural melting pot.
opinion
• Microsoft's Monopoly
Madness: Is Bill Gates
synonymous with
Montgomery Burns?
PAGES
Evans
formally
opens
BY SALLIE TURNER
The Battalion
Tune up
CARINO CASAS/The Battalkh*
Darren Morrison, a freshman civil engineering major, cleans the carborator on his ‘72 Chevy. Morrison said the truck is a “project
car" he bought for $500 when he was 15 and has since converted to a four-wheel drive.
Question and answer session addresses
concerns over 1996 Hopwood decision
BY BETH MILLER
The Battalion
Panelists at a discussion of the
1996 Hopwood ruling said the de
cision identified recruitment and
retention problems at Texas A&M,
and the University should take
steps to alleviate the difficulties.
The past, present and future of
A&M minority recruitment and re
tention as a result of the Hopwood
decision was the focus of the third
in a series of annual conferences
yesterday.
Administrators and faculty mem
bers updated students, faculty, staff,
community members and visitors
about recruitment successes and fu
ture goals of A&M departments.
President Dr. Ray M. Bowen,
Mitchell Rice, director of the Race
and Ethnic Studies Institute, and
Steven Murdock, professor of soci
ology, opened the conference with
explanations of what the Hopwood
ruling is and how it affects A&M.
Two panels, one discussing past
recruitment successes among A&M
departments, and the other ad
dressing the University’s present
state and future goals, supplied ad
ministrators’ reports and offered
the audience question-and-answer
sessions.
Karen Watson, associate dean of
the Dwight Look College of Engi
neering, said minority enrollment
rates may have increased within
the colleges, but A&M’s total en
rollment has also increased, which
should not be overlooked. She said
the Hopwood decision helped peo
ple recognize a recruitment prob
lem, but the problem existed prior
to the ruling.
“Nothing has changed in what
we have done and should do bet
ter because of Hopwood,” she said.
Watson said the University
should examine and improve the
recruitment system.
WHliam Perry, executive associ
ate provost, said the University has
made progress in minority recruit
ment, but it needs to continue pur
suing the issue.
see Hopwood on Page 6
TERRY ROBERSON/The Battalion
Mitchell F. Rice, Director of Race
and Ethnic Studies Institute, gives
a speech on “Continuity: What is
Hopwood?” yesterday in Rudder
Theater.
The Texas A&M Sterling C.
Evans Library Annex will formally
open today with a ribbon-cutting
ceremony at 3 p.m. in the Reserve
Reading Room of the annex.
The six-story library annex in
cludes a reading room, group study
areas, a multimedia center and ref
erence collection. President Dr. Ray
Bowen will present the building.
Laurie Nickel, student body
president, and Anneliese Reine-
meyer. Graduate Student Council
president, will be the keynote
speakers at the ceremony.
“They were chosen [to speak]
because they are student leaders,”
she said, “and this building is heav
ily used by students.”
Fred Heath, dean and director of
Sterling C. Evans Library said the
formal opening was delayed in or
der to tie in with Sterling Evans’
100th birthday. Evans will not at
tend the ceremony for personal rea
sons.
“We regret that Sterling Evans
will not be able to join us as we ex
tend the library that bears his
name,” he said. “We look forward
to celebrating his 100th birthday at
a later time. ”
Charlene Clark, public relations
officer for Sterling C. Evans Library,
said another reason for the delay of
the ceremony was that the original
library building was dedicated 20
years ago.
“We felt the historical symmetry
of the library opening dates were
significant as we planned a date for
the annex opening,” she said.
The library is expecting more
than 100 guests including Universi
ty faculty, friends of the library,
mother’s clubs and friends of the
University.
Representatives from Cintex
Construction and the architectural
firm which designed the building
will also attend.
After the ceremony, walking and
digital tours will be available.
Clark said the digital tours allow
people to look floor by floor all the
way across the building.
MIKE RJENTES/The Battalion
Alzo Slate (left), a senior radio/television and history double major,
and Tony Browne (right), a junior electrical engineering major, drum on
Djembe drums during the Seventh Harambee Unity Festival last night.
Praise (VOP) Choir and unity steps
by the Gamma Phi Delta Christian
Men’s Fraternity, Alpha Lambda
Omega Christian Women’s Sorori
ty and the Panhellenic Council.
Between performances, festival
hosts discussed the background
and achievements of several im
portant African Americans who at
tended A&M. BAC also celebrated
its 30th year as a University-recog
nized organization.
BAC invited organizations from
other universities to participate in
an open forum designed to provide
further information on the purpose
of their organization and to discuss
issues plaguing the black commu
nities on and off campus. The fo
rum included representatives from
traditional black organizations from
A&M, Texas Southern, Prairie View
A&M and the University of Texas.
BAC collected boxes of canned
goods at the door for Brazos Valley
Charity.
Greek Olympiad features step-show
BY APRIL YOUNG
The Battalion
In an attempt to raise money for minority scholar
ships, Kappa Alpha Psi will host the 10th annual Greek
Olympiad tomorrow at 7 p.m. in Rudder Auditorium.
The show will feature performances by groups
from Texas A&M, Baylor University, University of
Houston and Prairie View A&M.
Franklin Williams, coordinator of Greek Olympiad
and president of Kappa Alpha Psi, said Greek
Olympiad is an exhibition of different levels of cre
ativity and different styles of stepping.
“Greek Olympiad is an event where historically
black fraternities and sororities exhibit forms of en
tertainment through stepping, which includes differ
ent rhythms of hand clapping, feet-stomping and
twirling of canes,” Williams said.
Deidra Crawford, NPHC Adviser, said Greek
Olympiad is held for several reasons.
“The purpose of Greek Olympiad is to showcase dif
ferent styles of stepping and gives us a chance to raise
money for various community projects,” she said.
Step-show participants will be judged by alumni rep
resentatives from each of the Pan-Hellenic organizations.
The first and second place sororities and fraterni
ties will be awarded $1,500 and $500 respectively.
Judging will be based on appearance, precision, step
ping ability, crowd participation, originality and over
all performance.
Williams said the Hopwood decision makes the
step-show especially important.
“Since the Hopwood decision has put an end to mi
nority-based scholarships, we have set up a scholar
ship fund where we will use the money we raise from
Greek Olympiad to help increase minority enroll
ment,” Williams said.
Proceeds from Greek Olympiad will be used for the
Kappa Alpha Psi Minority Retention Award, a $500
scholarship for freshman minorities at A&M and the
Kappa Alpha Psi Achievement Award, given to a male
high-school senior.
The winner of the Kappa Alpha Psi Minority Re
tention Award will be announced during the show.
Greek Performers
•Omega Psi Phi
I •Alpha Phi Alpha
-Phi Beta Sigma
•Kappa Alpha Psi
>pa Alpha
igma Theta
li Beta
Rho