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WEDNESDAY
April 7, 1999
Volume 105 • Issue 122 • 12 Pages
College Station, Texas
105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
aggielife
• True confessions: men
profess their love for the
melodramatic in the
form of soap operas.
PAGE 4
today’s issue
Toons 2
Opinion 11
Battalion Radio
Find out about Bryan’s new
concert series at 1:57p.m. on
KAMU-FM 90.9.
/
sports
• The sixth-ranked
Texas A&M Baseball
Team blasted the Sam
Houston Bearkats 15-4.
PAGE 7
.S. prepares for refugees
Ibanians seek shelter from Kosovo, 20,000 to begin arriving in Cuba
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
thnic Albanians continued to seek
refuge yesterday in various tent cities in
efforts to relocate away from the conflict
in Kosovo.
Hn the past 13 days, more than 430,000
refugees have left Kosovo — 262,000
have feld to Albania, 120,000 to Mace
donia, 36,700 to Montenegro, 7,900 to
B«nia-Herzegovina and 6,000 to Tlirkey.
|!Wrhe United States, Germany, Norway,
France and Canada have agreed to grant
temporary asylum to refugees. The Unit-
edlStates will accept 20,000 people, and
^■many, Norway, Sweden and Canada
accept 40,000, 9,000, 12,000 and
5,0 '0, respectively.
■Western nations flew 3,000 more Al
banians from Macedonia to temporary
homes in TUrkey yesterday. Tlirkey said
it will accept 20,000 refugees. Tlirkey has
had strong historical and religious ties to
the ethnic Albanians.
The first group arrived at Corlu, in
western Tlirkey, and were taken to a tent
city near the town of Kirklareli, close to
the Bulgarian border.
Preparations were made yesterday to
transport 3,000 refugees to Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, where 51,000 Haitian
refugees sought asylum in 1994. Out of
fear that the ethnic Albanians will be dis
placed from their homeland permanent
ly if they choose not to return after the
conflict is over, the Albanian government
has agreed to shelter refugees currently
fleeing to Macedonia.
Many western nations are helping
refugees. Greece and Italy are setting up
tent cities for 100,000 refugees in Kukes,
Albania, a northern border town.
Many of the refugees have now been
transported to Brazda, a tent city near
Brace.
Refugees caught on the Yugoslavian
side of the Yugoslavia-Macedonia border
were forced to return to Kosovo by Ser
bian forces. It is thought that these
refugees may be used as human shields
to prevent NATO air strikes, according to
a CNN report.
A NATO spokesperson in Brussels,
Belgium, said six other tent cities are be
ing prepared by alliance troops who will
also provide food, water, medical aid,
beds and blankets.
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CARING CASAS/The Battalion
Palden Tinley, a Tibetan monk from the Drepung Loseling Monestary in India, adds sand to the mandala painting
in the MSC Visual Arts Gallery Tuesday. This particular painting represents longevity. It will be dismantled today at
the closing ceremony, symbolizing the impermanence of life.
SEE RELATED STORY ON PAGE 3.
3-l0t
Group to research
Wellborn rail line
BY AMANDA SMITH
The Battalion
The railroad tracks that
divide the main part of the
Texas A&M campus from
West Campus may be
come the subject of re
search, if the Bryan-Col-
lege Station Municipal
Planning Organization
(BCSMPO) approves a res
olution authorizing the
staff to conduct a rail
study.
The BCSMPO will meet
today at 10:30 a.m. in
room 102 of the Brazos
Center, located at 3232
Briarcrest Dr.
Michael Parks, BCSM
PO director, said the poli
cy committee’s authoriza
tion to engage in a
working relationship with
Texas Transportation Insti
tute (TTI) and Union Pa
cific Railroad could allow
the BCSMPO to apply for
matching grant dollars
from the federal govern
ment for further research
on the railroad.
The BCSMPO, consist
ing of the cities of Bryan
and College Station, Bra
zos County and Texas
A&M, began reviewing the
current status of the
Union Pacific Railroad line
in February 1998.
Union Pacific Railroad
has committed $100,000
to the study.
Currently, 24 trains a
day travel along the tracks
that parallel Wellborn
Road. Trains traveling
along the Union Pacific
line average 20 mph, in
comparison to some trains
averaging 60 mph along
rural routes.
Eddy Handley, assistant
vice president of Union
Pacific Railroad, said at
the BCSMPO meeting last
month the Bryan-College
Station community must
brace itself for an increase
in train traffic along the
Wellborn Road line.
Handley said Union Pa
cific Railroad is consider
ing building a second
track through the commu
nity, which would double
Union Pacific Railroad's
carrying capacity and
train traffic through Bryan
and College Station.
In response to the in
creased pedestrian, car
and train traffic, the Texas
A&M Board of Regents ap
propriated $10 million for
the design and selection of
an architect/engineer de
sign team for the pro
posed Wellborn Road
pedestrian passageway.
The proposed crossing
would run under the Well
born Road/Union Pacific
Railroad corridor connect
ing main campus and
West Campus.
The proposed passage
way would be integrated
into the new West Cam
pus parking garage and
the new Kyle Field entry
plaza.
A&M students to ‘fight’
for charity in boxing bout
BY ANDREA BROCKMAN
The Battalion
Texas A&M students and
amateur boxers will duke it
out for charity tonight at
Kappa Sigma Fraternity’s
third annual Fight Night ben
efiting the American Parkin
son’s Disease Association
(APDA).
Fight Night will be at
Rodeo 2000 from 7:30 to
8:30 p.m., and there are ap
proximately 15 bouts sched
uled.
The amateur boxing com
petition is Kappa Sigma’s an
nual spring philanthropy pro
ject. Last year, the fraternity
raised $4,500 for the Make a
Wish Foundation.
Regina Ragan, coordinator
for the American Parkinson’s
Disease Association’s Infor
mation and Referral Center,
said Fight Night will be the
first charity event for the
year-old Brazos Valley chap
ter. She said the money raised
.will assist local Parkinson’s
patients and fund education
al symposiums.
Muhammed Ali, world
champion boxer, recently be
came one of the most visible
spokespersons for APDA.
Zac Restad, a Kappa Sig
ma alum and an organizer of
the event, said the majority
of the bouts are between fra
ternity and Corps of Cadets
members.
“The event usually draws
a crowd because of the rival
ry between the Corps and
frats,” he said.
Students participating in
the event trained at the Bryan
Boxing Club and Darryl’s
Gym, two local gyms sup
ported by the Brazos Valley
Boxing Association. Ama
teurs from the community
who train at the gyms will
also fight.
Restad said amateur box
ers from Houston and
Huntsville will compete with
the community boxers be
cause they are typically more
experienced than the stu
dents.
Restad not only helped or
ganize the event, but he will
also participate in the super
heavy-weight division.
“I’m really pumped about
the competition, but I’m also
a little nervous,” he said.
“My nose was broken last
week during practice.”
Tickets are $10 at the door
and $8 in advance at Rodeo
2000, Greek Boutique, Disc-
Go-Round and the Rothers
on Southgate and Harvey
Road.
; : Gay Awareness Week
to address prejudices
BY BETH MILLER
The Battalion
Hate crimes and involvement in Greek
^ L lib 1 are among the issues to be discussed
■#'|| at Gay Awareness Week events the re-
mainder of this week.
I Brooks Bell, president of Gay, Lesbian,
Bisexual and Transgendered Aggies (GLB-
TA) and a senior computer science major.
Said Gay Awareness Week, celebrated each
spring, is similar to Coming Out Week each
jail. He said Coming Out Week is a nation
al event, and Gay Awareness Week is a ad
ditional celebration at held annually at
xas A&M.
The week’s events include “Hate
i Crimes,” a speech by licensed therapist
iB^Bary Norman, Wednesday: “Gay and
707 Texa s ’' I r eek, ” a discussion Thursday inspired by
s :[ the book Out on Fraternity Row, which fea-
82 ‘ r tures personal accounts of homosexual
students involved in Greek organizations;
|rid “ALLY Rally, March on TAMU,” Friday.
“S
jlips)
epted
“Hate Crimes,” sponsored by Gender
Issues Education Services, will be at 7 p.m.
in 601 Rudder; “Gay and Greek,” spon
sored by GLBTA, will be at 7 p.m. in the
Governance Room in Koldus; and “ALLY
Rally, March on TAMU,” sponsored by AL
LIES, will begin at noon at Rudder Foun
tain.
Bell said GLBTA covers various topics
affecting the gay community at the week-
long celebrations, and this year, the orga
nization chose to discuss gay students’ in
volvement in Greek life.
Bell said Delta Lambda Phi is the only
national fraternity he is aware of that open
ly accepts the gay community in member
ship.
Bell said in the 1980s the gay commu
nity presented requests to the Texas A&M
Board of Regents to be allowed to form a
recognized on-campus organization. The
board rejected the request, and the stu
dents sued the Texas A&M University Sys
tem. He said the case advanced to the U.S.
Gay Awareness Week
Events
Wednesday: Gary Norman
"Hate Crimes" at 7 p.m. in
601 Rudder
Thursday: "Gay and Greek"
discussion at 7 p.m. in Gover
nance Room in the Koldus
Building
Friday: "ALLY Rally, March on
TAMU" at noon starting at
Rudder Fountain
Supreme Court who approved the propos
al. He said the approval for the Greek com
munity to found organizations on campus
occurred as a direct result of the court de
cision to allow homosexual organizations.
“A lot of people don’t realize that the
reason we have the Greek system at A&M
is because of the gay people,” he said.
Tools, fishing methods offer
insight into andent sailors’ lives
BY RACHEL HOLLAND
The Battalion
Navigating tools and fishing methods
are characteristics that help to define the
medieval North Atlantic sailors, a nautical
archeologist said last night.
Brad Lowen, a doctoral candidate at the
University of Laval in Quebec, Canada, told
an audience of 30 that the features of North
Atlantic navigation indicate the region
sailors traveled in. He said knowing the
characteristics helps define more clear
boundaries between the North Atlantic and
the Mediterranean regions.
“Nautical archeology can be used to
show the mentality of the sailors and then
define the boundaries of their space,” he
said.
Lowen said lead sounding tools and
compasses are used to navigate the envi
ronment of the North Atlantic. He said the
fog, the tides and the continental shelf of
the region made these tools necessary.
He said lead-sounding tools indicated
depth and soil type, which, in turn, indi
cated the location.
“The lead tools measured the depth of
water and also had a plug of wax used to
sample the soil of the ocean floor,” he said.
“In this topsy turvy world where lead tools
indicated geographic location, time was
conquered with a compass.”
Lowen said the most precise use of the
compass was to tell lunar time, the position
of the moon at high tide.
Another characteristic that defined the
North Atlantic sailors, Lowen said, is the
fishing society that dominated the region.
He said the North Atlantic sailors changed
from a traditional system where the captain
and the crew shared the profits, to a more
modern system.
“Merchants, called hosts, would spon
sor the the captain and the crew,” he said.
“The outfitter, the captain and the crew
would share the profits in this three-part
arrangement unique to the North Atlantic.”
Lowen’s lecture was the second in a se
ries designed by the Nautical Archeology
Program to evaluate potential faculty mem
bers.