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Volume 106 • Issue 50 • 8 Pages
HA rejects plan to make hall honors-only
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BY KENNETH MACDONALD
The Battalion
I The Residence Hall Association (RHA)
recently passed a bill officially disap-
ormersoldiei proving of the University’s plan to turn
government Clements Hall into a co-ed, upperclass-
astern China men honors dorm.
un GongfroinP j u ii e Cast, RHA president and a junior
r he has neve marketing major, said RHA does not sup-
"h'nesegove p (irl t h e move because there is not
the deathsc l 10u gb evidence to show that there is a
need for this kind of residence hall.
■ “We are not sure that there is a need
oi a demand for that,” she said. “Eighty-
traditionaisk seven percent of the Clements residents
;e philosophic surveyed said that they did not want the
annel unseer ptange. ”
through the boiH Cast said RHA has had little opportu-
ends concept nity to give input toward the situation,
iddhismand |l “if they had worked with us from the
practices are# :'
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beginning we would not be so upset,” she
said. “They have not gotten input, nor so
licited any input from RHA.”
One part of the bill, passed Oct. 27,
made a point to attempt the establishment
of a committee with representatives from
Residence Life, the Honors Program and
RHA. The committee would then increase
the communication between the groups
for an understanding between the Uni
versity and RHA on this issue, Cast said.
Cast said RHA will continue to sam
ple the Northside population to get a bet
ter understanding of the sentiment of its
residents.
“Some of the issues in this change will
be if there will be any grand fathering for
current Clements residents,” she said.
“There won’t be any male modular dorms
on Northside, and will there be any fe
male [modular dorms] going co-ed?”
John Chenault, Clements Hall presi
dent and a senior computer engineering
major, said the news to him was a com
plete surprise and the change is not pop
ular among the residents.
"We are not sure that
there is a need or a
demand for that [a co-ed r
upperclassmen, honors
haU]r
— Julie Cast
RHA president
“We did a survey and got back 80 re
sponses. Eighty-five to 90 percent of
them were against [the change],” he
said. “Of the 39 people living in the hall
that would qualify for the Honors Pro
gram, 26 said that they did not like the
idea. It was kind of sprung on us, and
nobody gave us any reason.”
Dr. Susanna Finnel, executive director
of the Honors Program, said this change
has not been kept secret from anyone.
She said they have been in contact with
RHA during the past year.
“We got the nod from the administra
tion to explore the possibility late last
spring,” she said.
“We have been in communication
with RHA for the past year. We tried to
get on the docket to speak [at the last
general assembly last spring], but we ran
out of time. [Clements] will not be an in
stant honors hall overnight. We have
seen how popular Lechner is and we
want to expand that community and get
more people to participate in honors.”
Ron- Sasse, director of Resident Life,
said there has been dialogue with last
year’s RHA president Michael Haughey
throughout the summer. He said this
change will be a gradual evolution.
“Probably it will change by attrition, as
students leave and are replaced by honors
upperclassmen,” he said. “We don’t know
how long this process will really take.”
Sasse said this change is part of Vision
2020, which is the University’s initiative to
make A&M one of the top 10 public uni
versities in the nation, and creates special
ized learning communities on campus
where students of the same majors and
academic interests live together. He said
this in reference to Lechner Hall, where the
freshmen honors students currently live.
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‘Formal’ construction
of Aggie Bonfire begins
with Centerpole raising
BY JEANETTE SIMPSON
The Battalion
Bonfire construction formally begins at
4:03 p.m. today with the raising of centerpole.
Centerpole, the structural support of Bon
fire, arrived at the polo fields on the northeast
side of campus exactly a week ago.
BRADLEY ATCHISON/Thh Battauon
Jeff Bailey, senior yell leader, leads yell practice Thursday night at Cain Park to help send the Aggie Football
team off to Nebraska on a good note. The game against the Cornhuskers starts at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
After the erection of centerpole, the Bon
fire “stack” surrounding the pole will be con
structed in shifts and will be guarded 24 hours
a day until it is ignited Thanksgiving night.
Travis Johnson, head stack and a senior
finance major, said centerpole arrives in two
pieces and is brought to the stack sight a
week early so workers can join the two poles
together.
More than 125,000 hours of work will go
into the six-tier stack of logs before it is lit at
“dark-thirty. ”
Johnson said there have been many visi
tors who have come out to watch centerpole
being raised.
“Centerpole is an important part of Bon
fire, because it is the backbone on which Bon
fire begins,” Johnson said.
Rusty Thompson, Bonfire adviser, said the
two poles that make up centerpole are chosen
by eight people; two senior red pots, two ju J
nior red pots, two senior centerpole pots and
two junior centerpole pots, and size is the
most important criteria.
“The four redpots and four centerpole pots
went to the Lufkin Creosote Company, which
donated the two pieces which will make jup
center pole,” Thompson said. “There they se
lected two poles which would fit together, poles
that were the right length and were straight.”
Thompson said in preparation for the rais
ing of centerpole, perimeter poles have been
constructed to support the stack until it is
large enough to support itself. Perimeter poles
also hold lights and other electrical equip
ment, and the two poles which will make cen-
see Centerpole on Page 2.
vDAS
A&M chosen to study Gulf of Mexico
U.S. Department of the Interior awards University $4.2 million contract
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BY CHRIS CARTER
The Battalion
i Texas A&M University has been
awarded a contract worth $4.2 mil
lion, from the Minerals Manage
ment Service (MMS) of the United
States Department of the Interior.
The money will fund a four-year re
search project to study the ecosys
tems of the deep-sea floor of the
Gulf of Mexico.
I The research is part of an effort
to assess the impact of deep-sea oil
and gas exploration and production
on the fragile ecosystems of the Gulf
of Mexico. The basic objective of the
project is to evaluate these ecosys
tems and predict how they will re
spond to future industrial activity.
Dr. Gilbert Rowe, program man
ager and professor of oceanography,
said this project may lead to the dis
covery of new life forms and further
realization of the complexity of the
ecosystems.
“The margin of the continent in the
Gulf of Mexico is one of the most
complex in the world’s oceans,” he
said. “The geophysical processes that
produced its varied topography have
given rise to unique environments
where sub-seafloor fossil fuel deposits
are being sought and where new
species will no doubt be encountered.
“We will be exploring ecosystems
that may be functioning in ways
that are far different from anything
we have observed so far.”
The program will consist of sev
eral separate phases including re
viewing data collected from past
studies of the Gulf of Mexico, actu
ally observing species diversity and
composition of the deep-sea floor
and putting together conceptual
see Contract on Page 2.
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•Husk it, Ags
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against Nebraska.
Page 3
Sports
•Aggies travel to Lincoln for
showdown
Football team prepares to face
’Huskers — and their fans.
Page 5
Opinion
•Are drowsy drivers
delinquent?
Columnists
debate whether
drowsy drivers
should be
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Ansel Adams’ work
on tour, makes stop
at Stark Galleries
BY JEANETTE SIMPSON
The Battalion
Patrons of the J. Wayne Stark Galleries will have the
opportunity to view 48 of Ansel Adams’ dramatic pho
tographs of structures throughout the United States. The
collection includes pictures of various Native American
ruins, churches, and New York skyscrapers.
Adams, whose photos are primarily in black and
white, photographed extreme views of the world, cap
turing the art of environment— forests, mountains, rivers,
valleys and architecture.
He used straight photography, featuring simple but de
tailed portraits.
Adams and other photographers collaborated in the
1930s to promote this type of art.
According to the Center for Creative Photography at
the University of Arizona, which donated the photos,
Adams’ changed the fields of photography and architec
ture through his vision of the man-made world and his
ability to capture the essence of art and nature.
Catherine Hastedt, Stark Galleries curator, said A&M
chose to have Adams’ photographs brought to the gallery
because his work is so widely known.
“Many of the people who come to see this exhibit come
BRADLEY ATCHISON/The Battalion
A touring exhibit of Ansel Adams’ work, featuring works pri
marily depicting structures of the Southwest and the
Yosemite area, is on display at the J. Wayne Stark Galleries.
because they are familiar with his photos,” she said. “We
have already brought two other shows of his work to the
gallery—one was a few of his landscapes, the other his
close-up works. That is why when this one, which focuses
on architecture, came around, we wanted to bring it here.”
Hastedt said the diversity, evolution in style and his
torical context of Adams’ work makes him one of the
most prolific and historically significant photographers of
our time.
For the next few weeks, visitors to the exhibit will see
photos of structures primarily from the Southwest and
the Yosemite area.
The exhibit currently on display will be at the Stark
Galleries until Dec. 18.
Ag fraternities,
sororities fight
alcohol together
BY JULIE ZUCKER
The Battalion
Texas A&M fraternities and sororities are coming together
to fight against alcohol mismanagement in Greek houses.
The sororities at A&M which are members of the Na
tional Panhellenic Council (NPC), passed a resolution stat
ing that “no NPC sorority will co-sponsor a function at any
fraternity house if that house is not substance-free.”
Suzanne Tate, A&M Panhellenic president, a member of
Zeta Tau Alpha sorority and a senior journalism major, said
for the future of the Greek community, it is important that
all Greek councils support one another.
“What this resolution does is show our support to the
fraternities,” Tate said. “The groups that have already de
cided to be alcohol free have made the best decision for
their future at Texas A&M and [sororities at A&M] want
them to know that we are behind them 100 percent.”
Scott Blackwell, Interfraternity Council Greek Life ad
viser, said the Phi Delta Theta fraternity passed a resolu
tion to ban alcohol in the fraternity house three years ago.
“The resolution says that by Jan. 1,2000, every Phi Delt
house in the US and Canada will be alcohol free,” Black-
well said. “Their decision to maintain a substance-free
house gives the men a chance to take control.”
Blackwell said alcohol-related incidents may have
pushed the resolution along.
“The negative part of chapter life is the accidents caused
by alcohol abuse,” he said.
“Ninety percent of the accidents involved alcohol and
cost the chapters a considerable amount of money in law
suits and things of that nature.”
Blackwell said the benefits of fraternity life unrelated to
alcohol gives the men a chance to focus on networking,
friends and increasing membership.
Meg Manning, Coordinator of Greek Life, said the reso
lution, which has gon,e national, lessens the risk students
have over each other.
“This resolution helps promote mature management of
alcohol and other risk-related areas,” Manning said. “If the
party is now moved to another location, it will help spread
the responsibility like checking IDs.”
Tate said sorority houses have always been alcohol-free,
and this transition should not be a big change for them.