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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 2000)
i i. : THURSDAY January 20,2000 Volume 106 ~ Issue 72 14 pages W :WI:\ i i 1U rary official discusses fees with Student Senate BY JEANETTE SIMPSON The Battalion H)r. Fred Heath, Dean of Sterling C. Evans Library came ;fore the Student Senate Wednesday, January 19 in order Hake the Student Government more familiar with the lacts :hi id the proposed fee increase. Heath came to the Student Senate asking for a one dollar crease making the fee $6 per credit hour. The library wants to emphasize making a wealth of information available at the students fingertips. Heath said. “We are in the process of making additional services available to the students, such as extending the West Cam pus Library hours to a 20 hour day, extending the Library Annex hours, opening a textbook reserve room, creating a digital library', and adding a new cofTee shop to the Evans li brary,” Heath said. "This increase w r ill allow us to continue these services, and also add others.” “When I look at the services we are getting for the in crease, and how Dr. Heath works for the students, it is obvious that we should be behind this increase full force,” Rob Ferguson, junior political science off-cam pus senator said. Will Hurd, student body president and a senior comput er science major, acknowledged Dr. Heath for keeping Texas A&M on top of digital technology. “I applaud Dr. 1 leath for trying to stay at the forefront of digital technology and 1 think he and his stalls efforts to con tinue to stay on top is important to the university,” Hurd said. Legislation for the increase has not yet been put before the Student Senate, but is scheduled to do so in the coming weeks. Among other business the Student Senate passed a reso lution thanking all the colleges and universities for sending their thoughts, sympathies, and prayers to Texas A&M. The resolution pointed out specifically the University of Texas’ extraordinary efforts in their display of empathy. UNITY STUART VILLANUEVA/l ill BatTAI.ION The Texas A&M campus came together yesterday to support unity. A march was held in cunjunction with "Campus with a Dream" week. Students, faculty gather for University rally BY BRADY CREEL The Battalion I The Campus Unity March kicked off “Campus With a Dream” week Wednesday with a call for Aggies to make Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of racial humiony a reality for the Texas A&M community. I “Recognize your power to make a change. Rec ognize your power to realize the dream,” Deidra Crawford, Greek Life adviser for the Department of Student Life, said. I The march was held with two purposes in mind, Nathan Cray, one of the organizers of the event and a senior mechanical engineering major, said. I “The purpose was to kick off events of'Cam pus with a Dream,” Cray said.“But more impor tantly, it was to begin ‘Campus with a Dream’ with a sense of unity and promote that image and pre pare the campus for a great semester, new year, and new millennium. I “It is no secret that Texas A&M is not the most diverse school in the world, but we are constantly fighting against that,” he said. Crawford and other University leaders, including President Dr. Ray M. Bowen, challenged the stu dents, faculty and staff of A&M to live the dream of King. “[Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.] dreamed of an America that is free of hate, and that is a lesson we need to think about,” Bowen said. “We need to think about it in our own campus, and we need to think about it in our own lives. Texas A&M should be try ing to live Dr. Martin Luther King's dream.” Crawford spoke of King and his vision of a nation that lived without regard to skin color. “Don’t let anyone fool you into believing the [Martin Luther King Jr.| holiday is simply for the black community,” Crawford said. “Each and every one of our lives are different because ofmen like Mar tin Luther King Jr. who would not wait for justice to morrow — but demanded it today.” In his speech, Bowen reflected on the events of the past two months, and urged Aggies to consider these things as they journey forth in the new semester. “I think it is appropriate at this time, slightly over two months after the Bonfire disaster, for all of us to use this as a moment to think about unity on our cam pus, to think about togetherness, and to think about the significance of that event and how important it is for us to stand together,” he said. Following the speeches, the group, led by ju nior Yell Leaders Bubba Moser and Ricky Wood, marched around campus to celebrate a renewed commitment to diversity awareness. “1 believe this was a good start, because here at Texas A&M, diversity is something they are trying to concentrate on,” Greg Davis, a partici pant in the mareh and senior industrial distribu tion major, said. The “Campus with a Dream” events contin ue today with a motivational talk by Bertice Berry in Rudder Auditorium at 7 p.m. MSC LEAP will present “Skin Deep” in the MSC Flag Room at 12 p.m. A performance of “The Meeting” will be present ed by MSC Black Awareness at 8:30 p.m. in Rudder Theater. Leadership conference brings TV host, author BY APRIL YOUNG The Battalion When eight Texas A&M University students attended w hat was known as the “Big 8 Conference” on African-Ameri can student government 12 years ago, the idea to form the Southwestern Black Stu dent Leadership Conference (SBSLC) was bom. Tonight, more than 1,000 students and advisers from all over the United States will explore the theme “Ambition is the Path, Success is Your Destiny, Make the Vision a Reality'” during the 12th Annual SBSLC. The weekend-long conference will feature several well-known speakers such as Tavis Smiley, host of “BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley,” best-selling author Bertice Bern and financial con sultant Hasanni Petti ford. A number of other speakers are scheduled during a se ries of workshops. The conference will also sponsor a free career fair featuring over 30 of America’s finest corporations and graduate schools. Tamika Stigers, conference chair and senior political science major, said all students are encouraged to at tend the workshops, re gardless of back ground. “When students hear that it’s a black student leadership con ference they thinks it’s only for black students and they don’t want to come, but that’s not the case.” Stigers said. As the largest student-run conference of its kind, the conference is intended to inspire and motivate the intellect of young African-Americans collegians to be productive leaders of tomorrow. “Through SBSLC 1 have had the op portunity to enhance my leadership skills, network w ith prospective employers as well as meet students from other univ er- sities,” Erica Mason, conference hostess and a sophomore marketing major, said. Felicia Scott, director of Multicultur al Sen ices, SBSLC adviser and SBSLC co-founder, said she has watched many aspects of the conference change throughout the years. "I have been on campus since the beginning [of SBSLC] as a founder, and I have seen it grow in terms of See SBSLC on Page 2. nhiiji - mm w pub tic SPEAKER • Bertice Berry CAREER FAIR VENDOR PAIR SPEAKER * Tevli Smiley "Mlllenluffl Mtglc Concert'' Worship Service JEFF SMITH/1 in Hu im ion Students prepare for May graduation BY APRIL YOUNG The Battalion The deadline for May graduates to submit degree applications — a require ment for graduation — is quickly approaching. Donald Carter, registrar, said this is the most important thing for graduate and undergraduate students to do to prepare for graduation. The deadline to apply for graduation is Friday, Jan. 28. All graduates must fill out an application for degree card by the January 28th deadline, which consists of two cards requesting students’ information. Undergraduates planning to graduate in May must tile applications in room 105 of Heaton Hall 105 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. See Graduation on Page 2. I j New Jersey fire kills 3, injures 58 I SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (AP) — Fire broke out at a Se- ton Hall University dormitory early Wednesday as hundreds slept, killing three people, injur ing 58 and sending terrified stu dents crawling in pajamas through choking smoke into the freezing cold outside. [ Four students were critical ly burned. H)ne of them suffered third-degree burns over most of his body. I Many of the 640 residents of Boland Hall rolled over to go back to sleep when Biey heard the alarm around 4:30 a.m., ■linking it was another in a string of 18 false alarms set oflfin the six-floor build ing since September. I But many soon heard screams for lielp, smelled the smoke and saw flames Breep under doors. I “1 opened the door just to check,” Vatin Patel said. “All the ceiling tiles ’-Were coming down. I saw a ceiling tile fall on someone.” Deadly dormitory fire at Seton Hall South Center $t •Seton Hall University „ ^werHall Half library / .$chwnrt2~~ / ^ BishoD \ Nursiti0 Dougherty University ■ Lewis Han/ immaculate Conception : Natudoi uxjrti qV Koziowskt 'Hall Aouimis jite oMiro CorOl Three students died in an early morning fire Wednesday in the six-story Boland residence hall, a freshman dormitory ot Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J. Dozens were treated tor bums and smoke inhalation. Source Compiled Irom AP wire reports AP/Wm J Gastello. S Hollmanr “It was panic. Everybody was just, ‘Go! Go! Go!”’ said Nicole McFarlane, 19. She was treated for exposure because she left her room in only a short night gown, a jacket and hiking boots. The cause of the fire was under in vestigation. The tragedy cast a pall of grief over the campus of the Roman Catholic school 15 miles southwest of New York City. Classes for the 10,000 students were canceled for the week. A memori al service was planned for later Wednes day. Sports events also were postponed through Thursday. “There’s not much you can say at this See Fire on Page 11. A&M student receives $50,000 to study abroad in Great Britian BY ANN LOISEL The Battalion For the first time in Texas A&M his tory, an A&M student has been named as a Marshall Scholar by the British Embassy, entitling him to a $50,000 scholarship to study in Great Britain. Tommy Miller, a senior chemistry and math major, is one of 40 American students to be awarded the annual two- year scholarship. About 800 to 1,000 applicant com peted for it, Helen Mann, the British Em bassy’s Vice Consul for Press and Public Affairs, said. Winners receive a full-ride to the British school of their choice. “The Marshal] Scholarship is as competitive as the Rhodes Scholarship and almost more academically rigor ous,” she said. “Tommy competed against many Ivy League students, members of the military service acade mies - basically the best of both private and public universities,” Don Curtis, Honors Program coordinator, said. “It’s a very prestigious scholarship.” He will attend the University of London in this fall to study under one of the world’s foremost leaders in theo retical chemistry, Dr. David Cleary. Miller said Cleary’s particular field and his ap proach to re search was the reason he applied for the scholar ship. “Cleary has consis tently led the field in full TOMMY MILLER quantum mechanics, both in science and in cre ativity of problems,” he said. Miller will research theoretical chemical dynamics with Cleary in Great Britain. “Theoretical chemical dynamics is basically small-molecule collisions - performed on a computer,” Miller said. “It affects the way we understand colli sions and chemical reactions. We use rigorous quantum mechanics to solve chemical problems... which is then ap plicable to all chemistry.” He said he wants to be a professor and continue performing research. “It’s very important to me that I do problems-oriented research,” he said. “I want my work to have a substantial social impact.” Miller has already been published in three scholarly journals, including “The Journal of the American Chemical So ciety,” “The Journal of Physical Chem istry,” and “Organometallics.” He said he has also worked with three different research groups: one at A&M, one at the University of Florida, and one in Minneapolis, Minn. He is also a Goldwater Scholar and was named “Outstanding Junior of the University” by the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi last year. The Marshall Scholarships were es tablished in 1953 as a British gesture of thanks to United States citizens for their financial aid in rebuilding post-Worl d War 11 Europe, Mann said. • Looking at the future Page 9 • People of 1999 The year review of influential people. Page 3 The only lunar J| eclipse of year casts shadow ® Bill upon Americas tonight, Page 6 Listen to KAMU 90.9 FM at 1:57 p.m. for details on salmonella outbreak. i