The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, September 28, 1999, Image 1

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    106 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
ulsday • September 28,1999
College Station, Texas
Volume 106 • Issue 22 • 12 Pages
aiwanese students Former press secretary
to aid quake victims speaks on experiences
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BY BRADY CREEL
The Battalion
I The family of Suan-Wien Chen, vice president of
Sibcas A&M’s Taiwanese Student Association (TSA)
and a wildlife and fisheries graduate student, is cur-
■ rently living in the family car and in the front yard of
Beir home which was severely dam- ■**■***■
aj;ed by the 7.6 - magnitude earth
quake that rocked Taiwan last Tlies-
day, Chen said.
More than 2,100 were killed and
Bore than 100,000 were injured in
Me Taiwan quake.
I “[The house] was not totally de
stroyed, but my family cannot go
back because it is not safe anymore,”
le said.
I He said his brother has been trying
ti borrow tents from friends for the
family to use as temporary shelter.
I TSA is helping the Taiwanese Association of Amer-
llca (TAA), a nationwide non-profit Taiwanese Ameri
can organization that established the Taiwan Earth-
■uake Relief Fund for handling domestic contributions
■nd humanitarian aid.
I The quake’s epicenter was located near Nantou
Bounty, where an extensive amount of damage was
ftaused. Other cities and counties in northern and cen-
“We just want to
do something for
the whole
country/'
— Kuo-Min Lin
TSA president
tral Taiwan were drastically affected, with an estimat
ed half a billion dollars in damage.
Kuo-Min Lin, president of TSA and a food science
and technology graduate student, is helping to coordi
nate the local fund-raising activities.
“We just want to do something for the whole
country,” Lin said.
Sheng-Jang Sheu, treasurer of TSA
and an economics graduate student,
said all of the money donated will be
forwarded directly to help with the re
lief efforts in progress in Taiwan.
“We hope that everyone can sup
port us and donate,” Lin said.
He said the families of two Tai
wanese A&M students lost their homes,
but there are no known casualties di
rectly affecting A&M students.
“The problem will be the rebuild-
■ ing process, and that will take much
money,” Lin said.
Those who want to make contributions to the relief
effort can do so by visiting one of the donation boxes
on campus, or by sending a check to TSA.
Lin said there are boxes located at Rudder Foun
tain, the University Housing office, and the Inter
national Student Services office. Donations also can
be made by check, payable to TAA - Taiwan Earth
quake Relief Fund.
BY CARRIE BENNETT
The Battalion
Press secretary for former presidents Ronald Reagan
and George Bush, Marlin Fitzwater, said during his 10
years as press secretary his job consisted of 50 percent
media consulting — telling the president what the press
is thinking, and 50 percent dealing with the press —
telling the press what the White House is thinking.
“[This job] will ruin your health, cause you to lose
your friends, families and go bald, but it’s the great
est job ever,” Fitzwater said.
Fitzwater said at a lecture yesterday at the George
Bush Presidential Library and Conference Center, that
he began his career as press secretary for Reagan and
then served for Bush during his vice presidency.
Fitzwater said Bush asked him to be on the record
at all times, said he would never criticize Reagan in
any way and that Fitzwater could have access to the
vice president whenever he needed.
“The biggest things vice presidents do is go to fu
nerals, and they throw out a lot of first baseballs at
games,” he said. “They’re never well received at sport
ing events because, invariably, people want to see the
game and they get bored.”
Fitzwater said Bush decided to take the bat boy out
with him one time because he thought the crowd sure
ly would accept him with the bat boy wearing a pres
idential jacket at his side. At first, the crowd cheered,
but then Bush threw the ball right into the dirt, and
the crowd started booing.
“Even the bat boy deserted him,” Fitzwater said.
JP BE/sfro/'l’m. Battalion
Marlin Fitzwater fields questions from the audience
Monday afternoon.
Fitzwater said he began working for Reagan again
after he asked him to come back during the Iran-Con
tra Affair because “everyone else had gotten fired or
was on their way to the slammer.”
At the end of the Cold War, Fitzwater said the press
was calling the United States and the Soviet Union
“old friends,” but he disagreed and said they were “old
enemies,” not friends.
“The reality is that these people wanted to destroy
us for decades,” he said.
He said the end of the Cold War was “a crucial kind
of turning point,” which has been forgotten by the
United States.
see Fitzwater on Page 2.
Shark attack
BRADLEY ATCHISON/Thk Battalion
Jack White, an international pool shark and trick shot artist, breaks and sinks six balls. White hosted a program that demonstrated
his skill at billiards in the MSC Flagroom Monday afternoon. Later that afternoon White also hosted a free pocket-billiards clinic for
students to help them learn basic theories about the game. This is his last tour of college campuses before his retirement. White was
a world-champion pool-player in the ’60s.
Fraternity adopts
‘dry’ house policy
BY MATT LOFTIS
The Battalion
The Phi Delta Theta fraternity
voted unanimously Sept. 14 to be
come the first fraternity at Texas
A&M to have an officially alcohol-
free fraternity house.
Tom Meriwether, Phi Delta Theta
vice president and a senior mechan
ical engineering major, said the res
olution to “go dry” was prompted by
a decision in 1997 from the Phi Delta
Theta national council to require all
chapters to prohibit alcohol in the
fraternity house by July 2000.
Meriwether said after two weeks
of official alcohol-free policy, he
thinks Phi Delta Theta made the
right decision.
“We decided there was no rea
son to wait any longer, and we de
cided to do it,” he said. “From our
experience so far, it is a positive
change and not a negative change. ”
Billy Runyan, Phi Delta Theta
president, said switching to a strict
ly non-alcohol fraternity house has
not been an abrupt change for the
fraternity. He said the fraternity has
kept alcohol out of the house for
more than a year and many fraterni
ty functions are now held away from
the house at private bars and clubs.
“I really don’t see it being a prob
lem once we get past the first year,”
Runyan said. “After this one is done,
it will set the precedent for the future. ”
Meriwether said the switch also
makes it easier for Phi Delta Theta
to hold social functions with soror
ities because some of the dry soror
ities are no longer permitted to at
tend functions of fraternities
allowing alcohol in-house.
He said changing to an alcohol-
free fraternity house is considered
by most chapters of Phi Delta
Theta to be positive, even outside
the impending regulations. In the
two years since passing the na
tional resolution. Phi Delta Theta
chapters have experienced in
creased membership rates and,
unsurprisingly, dramatically in
creases grade-point- ratios.
Scott Blackwell, Greek Life advis
er, said he praised the move and that
the Department of Student Life was
attempting to help the fraternity to so
lidify its commitment by offering ad
vice on social events and ideas.
“I think it’s a great idea, and it’s
giving that particular fraternity the
ability to focus on the benefits of fra
ternity life besides social,” he said.
Blackwell said aside from the
membership and grade benefits, tak
ing alcohol out of the fraternity house
decreases the liability risk fraternities
take on when hosting parties. He said
by holding social functions at bars
and private alcohol-vending estab
lishments, fraternity.
see Pm Delta on Page 2.
NSIDE
Sports
•Days of Summer
A&M volleyball play
er Summer Strick
land proves its still
summertime.
Page 7
Aggielife
the green grass grows
Students grow plants to reduce
|stress and improve surroundings.
Page 3^
Opinion
•Can you spare a
dime?
[Philanthropists
[must help those
[in need.
Page 11
Batt Radio
| Listen to KAMI! 90.9 FM at 1:57
p.m. for details on the.flushing of
the College Station water systems.
Catalog ranks A&M among trendiest schools
BY AMANDA SMITH
The Battalion
Texas A&M is ranked among the trendi
est universities in the United States for its
“Aggie spirit and pride,” in a survey fea
tured in the Kaplan Newsweek College Cat
alog 2000.
In the Kaplan Newsweek College Cata
log 2000, high school guidance counselors
describe A&M’s atmosphere as “friendly,”
“wholesome” and “traditional.”
The counselors recommended several
A&M programs including veterinary medi
cine, engineering, agriculture and athletics.
Brandon Garrett, vice president of pro
gramming for the Student Government As
sociation (SGA) and a senior international
studies and economics major, said campus
organizations make the University appeal
ing for students and faculty.
“I think the Aggie spirit and pride are in
grained in you,” Garrett said.
“If you are a freshman,-you hear it for the
first time at Fish Camp,” he said. “If you are
a transfer student, you hear it at T [trans
fer]-Camp. If you are an international stu
dent, you hear it at I [International]-Camp.”
Dr. J. Malon Southerland, vice president
for student affairs, said Texas A&M contin
ues to exceed expectations in “the other ed
ucation.”
“It starts predominantly with the infec
tious attitude of A&M and spreads to stu
dents and visitors, making you feel good
about where you are,” he said.
The Kaplan Newsweek College Catalog
2000 was created to aid students in look
ing for a college through indexes which
sort schools according to size, cost and
selectivity.
Laura Sigman, a public relations manag
er for Kaplan, said this is the first time a sur
vey of 4,500 high-school guidance coun
selors from throughout the United States
gave responses generated from their own im
pressions and knowledge of the universities.
“Kaplan works pretty closely with guid
ance counselors to show them our books
and materials,” Sigman said.
“It makes total sense to publish this sur
vey. The hope is both will benefit from the
survey.' We are happy when Kaplan is hap
py and when the schools are as well.”
In the survey, Sigman said the high
school guidance counselors gave their
opinions about the schools, in addition to
the students’ input.
“Since I have poured through the database,
it seems like the feedback was from their ex
perience and the feedback of [high school]
students, past and present,” Sigman said.
“A lot of the feedback probably was from
students whose parents were there.”
Sigman said many of the positive com
ments about A&M came from in-state high
school guidance counselors.
Garrett said the SGA has worked tc pre
serve the rich traditions at A&M and con
tinues to create new traditions for the Uni
versity.
“Being an old military institution, we
have a lot of traditions that are still main
tained today,” Garrett said.
“We say ‘Howdy’ and we still have
Muster and traditions like Silver Taps,” he
said. “We are now trying to get more stu
dents involved in the traditions.”
A new tradition that began last year is
the effort to show support for the Aggie
Football Team by filling the stands with the
maroon T-shirts. The Maroon Out commit
tee sold 29,000 T-shirts prior to Saturday’s
football game.
Southerland said the student body’s
support of traditions add to A&M’s attrac
tiveness.
“If you leave A&M with a really good
feeling, be it from an old tradition like Sil
ver Taps or a new tradition like Maroon
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JP BEATO/The Battalion
Out, it is one of the important aspects of a
[university],” he said.