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TUESDAY
February 1,2000
Volume 106 Issue 81
12 pages
* iiiei iu *-
African-Americans leave mark on campus
BY JULIE ZUCKER
The Battalion
Part 1 of 4
Eighty seven years after Texas A&M College
opened its doors in 1876, the first African-American
set foot on campus as an enrolled student.
Leroy Sterling, from Bryan, enrolled as an under
graduate along with 2,535 other students for the first
yr.
't length of iti
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summer session at A&M in 1%3.
Six other African-American students, two fe
males and four males, joined Sterling for Summer
Session H.
Four years later, in 1967, Clarence Dixon Jr., was
the first African-American student to graduate from
Texas A&M.
By 1969, 15 African-American students were en
rolled at Texas A&M.
Known only as the A fro-American Society, the 15
students, led by senior Kenneth Lewallen went to
President James Earl Rudder with the following eight
demands of the University:
•Recognize the Afro-American Society as an on-
campus organization
•Hire a black counselor, approved by black
students
•Hold an investigation on recruitment policies for
sports, also investigate Athletic Director and Head
Coach, Gene Stallings (whom the group wanted fired)
•I lave immediate recruitment of black students in
all major sports
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•Host a black high school student recruitment
program
•More black literature available in classes, in
bookstores and newsstands
•Have a black student on the A&M civilian stu
dent council
•1 lave a truer representation of the role and scope
of the black man in the compulsory American Histo
ry courses on campus
I lowever, their demands were not met.
In University documents. Rudder said the “stu
dents went about it the wrong way.”
Rudder said students have the right to pe
tition, but organizations that use force and
threats could face suspension from school for
no less than one semester.
In the same documents, tlie Afro-American
2000
1
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See Students on Page 2.
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Alaska Airline crashes
88 die off coast of southern California
■ OXNARD. Calif. (AP) — An
Alaska Airlines jet carry ing 88
people plummeted into the Pacif
ic! )cean on Monday after its pilot
reported mechanical problems
and was diverted to Los Angeles
for an emergency landing. Sever-
afibodies were recovered from
the chilly water, but there was i
no sign of survivors hours after il
the crash.
■ Flight 261, heading from j:
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to San \
Francisco and later to Seattle, j
went down at 4:36 p.m. PST, !
the airline said.
■A large field of debris rolled |
in big swells about eight miles j
offshore as aircraft and small j
boats converged on the site just |
before sunset. Hours later, the I
high-power lights of commer- jj
cial squid boats illuminated the |ij
darkness as a cutter and small h.
boSts continued the search,
ipfxeveral bodies were found.
Coast Guard Lt. Chuck Diorio
said, hut he could not give a spe
cific number.
■“Every resource is out there to
find people,” Coast Guard Capt.
George Wright, said. "We’re ac
tively searching for survivors. ...
In 58-degree water temperature,
people can survive. We’re not go
ing to quit until we’re positive
there’s absolutely no chance.”
Alaska Airlines spokesperson
Jack Evans said the plane was car-
rying 83 passengers and five crew
members.
The airline said the pilot re
ported having problems with the
“stabilizer trim” and asked to be
CALIFORNIA
Anacapa Is.
Oelall Jrr
Los Angeles
PH Inti,
irport
Site of Alaska
Airlines crash
Pacific Ocean
diverted shortly before the plane
crashed. “Radar indicates it fell
from 17,000 feet and then was lost
from radar,” San Francisco airport
spokesperson Ron Wilson told
KRON-TV.
A source with close knowledge
of the investigation, speaking on
condition of anonymity, said the
flight was normal and stable until
the crew reported control prob
lems. Radar showed the plane
plunging toward the ocean short
ly afterward.
Evans said the plane had no pre
vious stabilizer problems, and FA A
spokesperson John Clabes said it
had never been in an accident.
Evans also said the plane was ser
viced on Sunday, went through a
low-level maintenance check on
Jan. 11 and had a more thorough
routine check last January. It was un
clear what Sunday’s service en
tailed.
Alaska Airlines, which has a
distinctive image of an Eskimo
painted on the tails of its planes,
has an excellent safety record. Il
serves more than 40 cities in Alas
ka, Canada, Mexico and five
Western states.
The National Transportation
Safety Board was assembling a
team of investigators in Washing
ton, D.C., and planned to send
them to the crash site, spokesper
son Pal Cariseo said. Gov. Gray
Davis said he had ordered the Cal
ifornia National Guard to offer
whatever help is needed.
The weather was clear at the
crash site, where the water is be
tween 300 and 750 feet deep.
Coast Guard Cmdr. Jim McPher
son, said.
The most recent fatal crash in the
United States involving an MD-80
series jet was last summer’s Ameri-
“Welcome back . .
Lyle Lovett (L) and Robert Earl Keen (R) held a press conference at Texas A&M University Monday to pro
mote the Bonfire Benefit Concert scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 6, at Reed Arena. All proceeds will go to
ward the Bonfire Relief Fund which directly benefits victims of the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse.
it equips
ent doe
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jachingf
Redpots to demonstrate bonfire building process
BY ROLANDO GARCIA
The Battalion
The redpots in charge of building
the 1999 Aggie Bonfire will meet with
investigators this week to demonstrate
how the thousands of logs used in the
stack were cut, assembled, and wired
together.
The consultants hired by the Special
Commission on the 1999 Aggie Bon
fire want to observe the human and be-
havioral sides of the
building process,
commission chair
man Leo Linbeck Jr. told The Dallas
Morning News Sunday.
“How was it organized, how was it
supervised, how they divided into
teams - all the nonstructural elements,”
Linbeck said. “Did the people construct
it in the way it was intended?”
Linbeck could not be reached for
further comment Monday but released
a statement about the up
coming demonstration.
“This is just another
piece of the research effort undertaken
by the consultants. It is not open to the
public. To my knowledge none of the
Commission members, myself includ
ed, plan to attend,” Linbeck said.
The commission noted in its week
ly update that Packer Engineering, one
of the four consulting firms hired to
conduct the investigation, is almost fin
ished measuring, weighing, and classi
fying the logs used in the Bonfire stack.
This week. Packer will select a geo
technical firm to perform soil testing.
The investigation teams are also ex
pected to finalize a list of people to in
terview and what questions to ask. The
firms will also present their budgets for
the investigative work to commission
members this week. The Texas A&M
Board of Regents has already autho
rized the commission to spend up to $ 1
million on the investigation.
Although the investigation is un
derway, the four consulting firms have
not yet signed contracts, because some
legal issues remain unsolved.
The firms want the University to
pay for their court expenses if they are
called to testify or give depositions in
Bonfire-related lawsuits. Lawyers at
the Texas A&M System General Coun
sel’s office have said state law prohibits
such arrangements.
^ Voters head to polls for
New Hampshire primary
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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Putting aside
his attacks on A1 Gore’s honesty, Bill Bradley
said voters who support him in the nation’s
first presidential primary on Tuesday will be
‘[part of something that is new and fresh.”
; “ We need a politics that’s based on belief
and commitment, not tactics and attacks,”
Bradley told workers at a research park in
Nashua, striking a more subdued tone on the
l^ist day of campaigning.
! But in an interview earlier today, he de
fended his recent criticisms of Gore’s “mis
representations.”
| “It was about time to tell the people what
yvas the truth,” Bradley said.
Gore has accused his rival for the Demo
cratic presidential nomination of stooping to
“personal vilification.” But he also dropped
the combative approach Monday.
I “This is a contest. The real light is for our
niture,” Gore told reporters after gett ing up at
dawn to shake hands with defense plant
workers in the freezing rain.
In the GOP race, Texas Gov. George W.
Bush and conservative activist Gary Bauer
tried a different sort of contest — pancake
flipping. Bauer, backing up to catch his pan
cake, fell off the low stage.
Sen. John McCain said he is “confident
of victory” in New Hampshire, where polls
show him in a tight race with Bush, and feels
good about the upcoming South Carolina pri
mary, too.
I “The message is going to be sent from
New Hampshire to America and the world
that we’re going to give the government back
to the people of the United States, take it out
of the hands of the special interests, the big
money people, and give it back to you,” Mc
Cain told supporters in Keene.
Bush also sounded confident: “There’s
something going on out there. It’s called en
ergy and enthusiasm and excitement, and I
like my chances a lot.”
As the presidential hopefuls headed into
final appearances in New I lampshire, there
were signs of increasingly competitive
races in both parties.
A newly aggressive Bradley criticized
Gore over the weekend for an inconsistent
voting record on abortion rights and for
fund-raising scandals in the last election.
Waving a magazine article describing
Gore’s ties to a 1996 fund-raising event at
a Buddhist temple, the fonner New Jersey
senator demanded that the vice president
clear the air.
“Quite frankly, I think there’s more ex
planation that’s needed,” he said.
Gore released a letter from friendly con
gressional leaders asking Bradley to ease his
criticism.
Known for his own tough attacks, Gore
accused his rival of “stepping down to the
level of personal vilification.”
Bradley denied that he turned to negative
campaigning because Gore passed him in the
polls, saying he had endured attacks by the
Primaries past
vice president for the past six months.
“I thought a week before the primary it
was important to put these misrepresentations
in perspective for the people of New Hamp
shire so they could make a judgment,”
Bradley said today on ABC’s “Good Morn
ing America.”
On the GOP side, Bush and McCain were
the major rivals. McCain dismissed Bush as
simply another establishment figure, with the
Arizona senator saying his commitment to
campaign finance refomi resonates.
“I can beat A1 Gore like a drum,” McCain
declared.
Number of cars may
decrease on campus
BY JORDAN DAVIS
The Battalion
The number of cars clogging the streets of Texas A&M’s campus
may soon be reduced, if a recommendation from the University’s Cam
pus Access Task Force is approved.
The task force, assembled in Spring 1999, presented 120 recom
mendations for improving campus transportation to A&M President
Ray M. Bowen Monday.
The recommendation would minimize the number of vehicles on
campus by enhancing the current mass transit system and making it eas
ier to access the University as a pedestrian.
This would also include lengthening hours of operation for buses
and improving the bus ileet’s vehicles.
“We were charged with looking at all aspects of transportation at
A&M,” said Mary Miller, chair of the task force and associate vice pres
ident of administration. “That includes parking, buses, sidewalks, sig
nage and anything you can think that affects how people move around
campus.”
Another recommendation is to move the railroad tracks along Well
born Road off campus. Currently, pedestrians, cyclists and drivers com
muting between Main and West Campus must compete with frequent
trains, which the task force felt were a threat to safety.
The task force was formed by Jerry Gaston, fonner vice president
for administration, and Tom Williams, director of Parking, Traffic and
Transportation Services. Members include staff and faculty, adminis
trators from the campus and A&M system, representatives from Stu
dent Senate and members of the Bryan-College Station community.
Throughout the past year, members have discussed various ways to
improve transportation at A&M. Through a Web-based survey and focus
See Access on Page 2.
Making a
Splash
Ags' Howard
breaks onto
world scene.
• Director, producer
Coulter returns to B-CS.
Page 3
• White trash on the
highway
The Klan's latest publicity
should
“America
■Mm
• Listen to KAMU-FM 90.9
at 1:57 p.m. for details on
the closing of Big Bend.
• Check out The Battalion
online at
battalion.tamu.edu