ursday • September 16 1999
106 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
College Station, Texas
Volume 106 • Issue 14 • 16 Pages
Enrollment
sets record
|Staff and wire reports
■ Texas A&M University’s an
nual 12th class day enrollment
report released yesterday indi-
Hted a record enrollment of
43,500 for the 1999 fall semes
ter, with decreases in freshmen,
Hispanics and African-Ameri
cans, compared to totals from
last fall.
Blhe total number of students
in leased by 111 •
■ Ronald Douglas, executive vice
Besident and provost, said the
University intended to accept and
er oil fewer new freshman this
fall than were enrolled last fall.
■ “As outlined in Texas A&M's
Hsion 2020 report released in
June, one of the University's ob-
je lives is to maintain the strong
Bidergraduate program we
have,” Douglas said in a news
■lease from the Office of Uni-
versity Relations. “We planned
fcr a reduction in the overall
Humber of freshman and, as a
Hsult, there was also a decline
H every category of student.”
I Last year, A&M's freshman
class totaled a record 7,354,
Hompared to 6,699 this fall. The
Hdmissions officers aimed to
■ring the number of freshmen
■tending the University this fall
down to 6,300, according to the
report.
In addition to the decline in
the number of freshman attend
ing A&M, the report indicated
declines in the numbers of His
panic students and African-
American students attending the
University.
The number of new African-
American students enrolled at
A&M declined from 197 in the
fall of 1998 to 181 this fall. The
number of new Hispanic stu
dents enrolled at A&M declined
from 669 last fall to 572 students
this fall.
However, Douglas said the
numbers'are more encouraging
considering more than half of
the African-American and His
panic students admitted to A&M
have enrolled.
“This, combined with an in
creasing number of applications
among minority groups, gives us
some optimism that we are ex
periencing the end of the down
ward minority enrollment trend
resulting from the Hopwood de
cision,” Douglas said.
The 1996 Hopwood decision
handed down from the 5th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals ordered
that all public universities in
Texas ignore race in admissions
12th Class Day Figures
• This report indicates a record number of
students, 43,500, enrolled at A&M this fall.
* The total number of students increased by 111.
• The total of African-American ami Hispanic
students who enrolled this fall totalled 4,900. in
tall 1998, a total ot 5,273 had enrolled.
* Last year, A&M’s freshman class totaled a
record 7,354 students. This year the freshman
class totals 6,699.
and awarding financial aid
through grants and scholarships.
Douglas said he is optimistic
in increases in minority enroll
ment for A&M because of new
programs such as scholarships.
“With the new efforts we re
cently made, and with some oth
er initiatives we are exploring, we
are optimistic that we will once
again be experiencing increases in
enrollment of both African-Amer
ican and Hispanic students,” Dou
glas said. “Our goal has always
been to have the make-up of the
student body reflective of the pop
ulation of the state.”
African-American and Hispan
ic students total 4,900 this fall,
compared to 5,273 in fall 1998.
In response to the decline in
the number of minority students
since the Hopwood decision, the
privately funded Texas A&M
Foundation awarded 145 schol
arships to A&M students, pre
dominantly minority freshmen.
Of the 145 Foundation Excel
lence Award (FEA) Scholarship
recipients, selected from a pool
of more than 1,000 applicants,
55 percent were Hispanic, 30
percent are African-Americans,
13 percent were white and one
percent are Native American, ac
cording to a report from the
Texas A&M Foundation.
Joe Estrada, director of ad
missions, said he expects the
scholarship program to continue
to attract more minority students
to A&M in future semesters.
“The program was imple
mented after the application-ac
ceptance cycle that would have
impacted this fall’s enrollment,
but we fully expect that the pro
gram to have significant and
highly positive results on mi
nority enrollment, beginning
next year,” Estrada said. “The
quality of students who were re
cruited were such that they had
enrollment opportunities avail
able to them throughout the
United^States.”
Death toll at eight
in church attack
FORT WORTH (AP) — Eight people
died and seven others were injured af
ter a man dressed in black walked into
a church service filled with teen-agers
last night, pulled a gun and began
shooting before fatally shooting him
self, police said.
Fort Worth police Lt. David Ellis said
three teen-agers and three adults were
shot to death inside the church in the
city’s southwest corner. Another victim
died at a hospital. The shooter appears
to have been in his 30s, and his motive
was unknown.
Seven others went to hospitals with
injuries, some of which appeared ex
tremely critical, Ellis said.
No victim names were available.
A pipe bomb exploded on a balcony
inside the sanctuary after the 7 p.m.
shooting and a bomb squad was in
specting several suspicious packages
found at the church, Ellis said.
Shortly after 8 p.m., police told re
porters and bystanders to get inside an
elementary school across the street from
the church because of the explosives.
Four wounded were taken to John
Peter Smith Hospital, two went to Har
ris Methodist Hospital and one 12-year-
old went to Cook Childrens’ Medical
Center, fire officials said.
With tear-stained eyes and blood
splattered across her green crochet
purse, 16-year-old Bethany Williams
described the shooter as wearing “Ram-
bo attire.’’ He wore a black jacket, jeans
and a white T-shirt.
“I saw him. It looked like a skit. It
looked like something out of a movie,”
Williams said. “I thought it was a fake
gun making fake noises.”
Witness Christy Martin, 17, told
KDFW-TV, “He was very calm and looked
normal and was smoking a cigarette.
“The man walked into the sanctu
ary, pulled a gun and began firing,” she
said. “I just saw him point the gun and
see Shooting on Page 2.
Ags gather to mark
Mexican heritage
BY BRADY CREEL
pull tfesfr
iolence,
dating focus
of program
BY MATT LOFTIS
The Battalion
eiii The Gender Issues and Educa-
Service will sponsor a “He
jid/She Said” program tonight at
n the multi-purpose room in the
:ks, and daily pninons Lobby.
I The program will focus on the
s in selected cto lues of relationship and dating vi-
T P chV P we# r nce anc ^ sexua ^ assau lh
i i ai y, wee p r0 g ram ac tors are two student
jlimteers acting out contrasting
pols 206.501 desof a fictitious story. The skit
pols 207.502f ftpicts both sides of a story about
psyc 107.508 l 0 students who go on a date
rdng^lsoo at escalates into a fight and
renr 205.502 pds in a sexual assault.
scom 301.500 | Afterward, audience members
S™,! 11 be 8 iven an opportunity to
■scuss what they have seen and
larn more about the occurrence
'..lid severity of sexual assault and
Ave., ^‘•Illationship violence,
nes & Noble l shaun TVavers, Gender Issues
pucation Service coordinator, said
|e program is being held now be-
kse students in their first four to
[x weeks of college are the most at-
GA {
Isk group to be victims of sexual
see Violence on Page 2.
INSIDE
)th hour
?r in the
aggielife
•The Ag Kick-Off^
Tonight marks
the seventh ^■P r ’
3GA|
annual event,
featuring Jr
Pat Green
Page 3
.e in Koi
sports
•Another Level
A&M Football player Bethel
24,19
Johnson shines as wide receiver.
Page 11
n needs!
opinion
•Cellular Safety
meeting’ 51
229
Drivers who insist on HflHHj
using cell phones
put themselves and
others in danger.
Page 15
uilk, Pres'l
nation
See Page 9 for extensive
coverage of Hurricane Floyd.
Turf touch up
BRADLEY ATCHISON/The Battalion
Patrick Tate (left) and Miles Stanhalter (right), turf management majors and student
workers for the Athletic Department, paint the south end zone of Kyle Field Wednesday
afternoon. Approximately 90 gallons of paint are used to complete both end zones.
The Battalion
Mexican-American Aggies will cele
brate El Diez y Seis de Septiembre to
day as part of Hispanic Heritage
Month, and fellow students at Texas
A&M will have the opportunity to learn
about the unique culture of Mexico.
Martha Aguilar, vice-chair for pro
grams for the Committee for the Aware
ness of Mexican-American Culture
(CAMAC) and a senior wildlife sci
ences major, said Sept. 16 commemo
rates the beginning of Mexican inde
pendence from the rule of Spain. She
said liberated in 1810, Mexico cele
brates this event annually with cultur
al festivities, fiestas and family activi
ties, and it is most similar to the
celebration of the Fourth of July.
Hispanic Heritage Month started
yesterday with 18 different Hispanic
student organizations on campus plan
ning a variety of activities to celebrate
their heritage and the legacy of their
culture.
Today’s events will feature His
panic games, salsa dance lessons and
a variety of ethnic foods accenting as
pects of Mexican-American culture.
Aguilar said the purpose is to pro
mote Hispanic culture within our cul
turally diverse student population.
“Any student is welcome, and I en
courage everyone to come out,”
Aguilar said.
Angie Castro, program adviser of
CAMAC, said the highlight of this
weeks’ activities will be the Diez y Seis
celebration along with the Hispanic
Unity Rally, also held today next to
Rudder Fountain from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“The Unity Rally provides Hispanic-
American Aggies with a program that
gives them a way to be proud of who
they are, in addition to bringing aware
ness to the Mexican culture,” she said.
For some students this will be the
first year they celebrate Diez y Seis de
Septiembre with out their family.
Lisa Escobedo, a freshman industri
al engineering major, said being away
from home will not be difficult. She
said she attributes this to the organiza
tions on campus that will be offering
MARK MCPHERSON/ I m: Battalion
activities to allow all students to enjoy
Mexican-American culture throughout
the month.
“I have a lot of friends here who
wouldn’t mind going with me, even if
they aren’t Hispanic,” Escobedo said.
Sandra Medina, communications
coordinator for the Department of Mul
ticultural Services, said one of the high
lights of the celebration will be a
speech delivered on the steps of the J.
Wayne Stark Gallery at 12 noon by
guest speaker Dr. Nicolas Kanellos, a
professor at the University of Houston
and founder of Arte Publico Press —
one of Mexico’s largest publishers.
Olivia Cortez, president of the His
panic Presidents Council (HPC) and a
senior psychology major, said the ad
dress will be about Latinos and higher
education in the next millennium.
She said the integration of activities
this year is a change from what has
happened in the past.
“We usually march around campus,
but we decided not to march because
there was nothing to march about this
year,” Cortez said.
She said the HPC has a display case
in the MSC, featuring flags and other
paraphernalia from Latin American
countries.
see Hispanic on Page 2.
CARPOOL gives drunken students safe way to get home
BY BROOKE HODGES
The Battalion
Students can get a safe and free
ride home after an evening of par
tying from student volunteers
known as CARPOOL, Caring Ag
gies ‘R’ Protecting Over Our Lives,
which begins today.
Jeff Schiefelbein, CARPOOL
founder and chair and a senior
management major, said CAR-
POOL is a student-operated ser
vice to prevent drunken driving
accidents for students who are
unable to drive or find a safe ride
home after an evening out.
“[CARPOOL] will travel to any
bar, party or club in Bryan-College
Station city limits,” he said.
Schiefelbein said the idea for
CARPOOL came to him while at
tending a Mother’s Against Drunk
Driving (MADD) Victim Impact Pan
el after he received a DWI in 1997.
He said the idea was originally
for his friends to call his cell
phone when they were in need of
a ride after drinking, and then he
realized the same service should
be available to all students.
Angela Winkler, CARPOOL
student activity adviser, said the
committee consists of four facul
ty advisers and 147 volunteers in
cluding four directors, 11 team
leaders and 132 student drivers.
Winkler said a typical night has
one director, one team leader and two
people from each of the 11 teams.
She said the program will be
available every Thursday, Friday
and Saturday night from 10 p.m.
to 3 a.m. Plantation Oaks apart
ment complex donated an apart
ment, which will serve as head
quarters to answer the phones.
For each call, two students, one
man and one woman, will be as
signed to a vehicle.
The seven vehicles used in the
program are rented from Enter
prise Rent-A-Car, who is paying
for one of the three nights the pro
gram runs each week. The cars
are equipped with Readiness and
Awareness Kits, containing things
that may be needed such as trash
bags, plastic gloves, and maps
and flashlights. A cell phone was
donated to the service by donated
PrimeCo.
Schiefelbein said co-ed driving
teams were formed for comfort
and safety reasons.
“One girl might not feel com
fortable with two guys, and two of
our girls picking up a couple of
guys who have been drinking is
n’t safe,” he said.
Winkler said a log will be tak
en of each trip,.recording the pas
senger’s name and where they
went. She said the log could be
used in case of legal problems.
To become a driver, students
have to apply, go through an in
terviewing process and partici
pate in three training sessions.
The sessions included skills train
ing on how to detect alcohol poi
soning and date-rape drug effects.
Drivers are also taught defensive
driving safety tips.
Ashley Zeni, CARPOOL volun
teer and a senior biology major,
see CARPOOL on Page 2.