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MONDAY
February 28, 2000
Volume 106 ~ Issue 100
10 pages
Student leaders discuss social segregation
HP his is the first in a three-part series examining
1 issues facing African-American students at
Texas A&M University. Leaders of various
Sj African-American student organizations were
;j asked to participate in a round table discussion
jj| on the state of racial relations at A&M. The
I Battalion formulated several questions to
facilitate discussion and encouraged open and
honest dialogue among the participants.
;i Adncnne Ballar
I Everefl Broussa.
T BJ Brown
ij Kendall Dsvt*
| Suzcttc Figaro
jj Tammy Henry
y Ribliaia James
fl Preston Jenkins
!] Vin Johnson
| Joe O’Bryant
I Samuel Ogimgb
J Curtis Pete
j Wilmctna Simp:
! Timr Upshau
idem of National Association of Black
:>uma lists
•scnliiiive from Pin Beta Sigma Fraternity
’sentativc from £\OPL con Terence
dent of Onurga Pm Phi Fraternity
dent of NAACt^
dent of Black Awanmens Committee
dent of African-American BuMness Society
dent of Gamma IMii Delta Oinstian Fraternity
dent of Pan-Hdlenic Council and president of
Ipha Phi Alpha Fraternity
•sentanvc fnwn the National Society of Black
dent of African Students Association
dent of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity
chair of Black AvsarcncsH C ommtttcc
ROBERT HYNECEK/Thk BaTTAUON
BY MEREDITH HIGH!
& APRIL YOUNG
The Battalion
Question #1: Are people social
ly segregated at A&M?
(Do all white people sit togeth
er, do all black people sit together,
and do all the Hispanics sit togeth
er?)
James: I guess the first thing you
have to do is stop and ask yourself,
‘Who exactly is the one saying why
are all the black kids sitting in the
cafeteria together?’ Even if 1 am in
the majority, and that majority is a
white person — that whjte person
sees that those black people are al
ways sitting together. They are never
coming to realize that maybe we, be
ing the majority are not sitting with
them. I think it all depends on whose
perspective you are looking at.
Jenkins: It doesn’t have to be
racial. Generally, as people we tend
to spend our time with people who
are like us, just like Christians fel
lowship with other Christians
and athletes with other ath
letes, so it’s not just The race
issue. 1 think that’s where
that comes from. I think what
we have to do is kinda of get
past that comfort zone, so to
speak, and try to really
branch out and try to do that.
James: You try to be with
someone who you can identi
ty with; and, for black people,
the most obvious way to iden
tity with someone is the color
of your skin .... Meredith, though you
are white, 1 would never know what in
terests we share with me just looking
at you. I’m sure if I get to know you, I
will find out that we have a lot of com
mon interests; and, in that case, we will
break that barrier. But you first go with
someone you can identify with.
Figaro: Another thing I found out
"... they were talking about
the Aggie community, the
ring and the star... and
when you get here, it is a hos
tile place — you see Confed
erate flags all over the place”
— Kendall Davis
president of Omega Psi Phi
even at this school is that a lot of peo
ple— white, I’ll tell you right now —
have a fear of coming to sit with peo
ple who are not of their color. I am
more comfortable; I can sit with any
body .... my freshman year, black peo
ple had like three or four rows of table
.... I asked other people to come sit
with us, and it was like “No, no thank
you. I’d rather sit somewhere
else .... I mean, what’s the fear
with talking to the students
here? I just like to say “hi” just
to say hi.... why don’t you say
“hi” back to me? It’s true, it is a
comfort zone because I do feel
comfortable around my black
people; but I feel comfortable
around everybody else because
that’s what I am used to, but not
everybody else feels comfort
able around you.
Young". Is that a problem here
at A&M in particular or is tliat universal?
Figaw: I think it’s a problem every
where, but one thing I’ve found... is that
you can see it a lot more here because it’s
like 80-something percent white and they
say, 2 percent black, so you see it more
here because every 50 people, I may see
one black... you can see it more here.
High;: Do you feel like there’s a
silent expectation by the majority that
you stay in your comfort zone and not
step out of that?
O'Bryant: Sometimes I think it’s
the other way .... 1 remember back in
high school, 1 used to hang out with
everybody, but I would always get
made fun of for hanging out with the
white people — and this would be by
my black friends. So sometimes it’s
just that we segregate ourselves from
other people because we are afraid of
what our people will say about us.
Jenkins: I don’t see it as much here
as probably somewhere else. And I
think that’s just because of the whole
See RoundTable on Page 2.
Week to
showcase
cultures
BY DANA JAMUS
The Battalion
Belly dancing, international cuisine and cultural awareness
are coming to Texas A&M as a part of International Week,
sponsored by the International Students Association (ISA).
“[International Week] is a very big event, especially for
international students,” said Gustavo de Sousa, president of
ISAandasenioragricultural engineering major. “But also for
Americans.because they don’t have to go outside the U.S. to
visit the other countries.
“It is a way for them to teach people about where they come
from. And [it is) a celebration of all the different cultures.”
De Sousa said A&M has 3,000 international students from
115 different countries. The top live countries that compose
the international student body at A&M, in random order, are
India, China, Korea, Mexico and Turkey.
International Week kicks off Monday with an opening
See International on Page 6.
International week
OPENING CEREMONY
11:30 a.nt. MSC Flagroom
INTERNATIONAL BUFFET
INTERNATIONAL TALENT SHOW
AWARD CEREMONY
00
ROBERT HYNECEK/The Battalion
teppin' with Coul
flNDHP ■■■Hi
\
Sallie turner/Tiie Battalion
Greek participants display stepping talent during Greek Olympiad 2000. From top left clockwise, Prairie View A&M University-
Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Texas A&M University-Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, University of Texas-Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Greeks compete for cash prizes
BY APRIL YOUNG
The Battalion
Over 4,000 spectators gathered at G. Rollie
White Coliseum Saturday night to participate in
the 11th annual Kappa Alpha Psi Greek
Olympiad step show.
A moment of silence was held at the begin
ning of the show in remembrance of the students
who were killed and injured in the Prairie View
car crash and the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse.
The step show featured fraternity and soror
ity acts from the University of Texas-Austin,
Sam Houston State University, Prairie View
A&M University and Texas A&M University,
each competing for a grand prize of $ 1,500 and
a second place prize of $500.
The University of Texas walked away with
the $1,500 grand prize for first place fraternity
and first place sorority.
Both organizations said they were surprised
to win but they put in long practice hours in or
der to prepare for the show.
“I didn’t know how good our show was in
comparison to everyone else,” said Raushanah
Seals, step master for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority
at UT. “For five out of nine of us, it was our first
step show so we were all very surprised to win.”
Seals said her team’s performance stood
out because of its length and the amount of
actual stepping.
“I saw' some other acts, and ours wasn’t very
long compared to the others but we did a lot more
stepping than dancing,” Seals said. “Our steps
were short and effective and most of our steps
were executed efficiently.”
Rodney Waites, step master for Alpha Phi Al
pha Fraternity at UT, said the uniqueness of the
team’s performance helped them win the show.
“We had an original, entertaining show that
included difficult steps,” Waites said. “We also
had interaction with the audience which helped
us break down the rivalry.”
Both organizations plan to use the money to
fund scholarships for minority students at UT.
“The program was a huge success consider
ing the amount of stress that was involved in
making the show a reality,” said Alvin Nelson
LII, Greek Olympiad chairperson and a senior
management information systems major. “The
hard work of Kappa Alpha Psi paid off tremen
dously to produce the largest turn-out we have
ever had for Greek Olympiad.”
Curtis Pete, president of Kappa Alpha Psi
Fraternity at Texas A&M and a senior com
puter engineering major, said he expects
Greek Olympiad to continue in the future be
cause of its contributions in the community as
well as on campus.
“I think Greek Olympiad will continue in the
future because it brings college students from
throughout the region to be exposed to A&M as
well as the Greek community,” Pete said.
Military Weekend spotlights Corps of Cadets
STUART VILLANUEVA/Tin; Battalion
Corps members from Parsons Mounted Calvary 9 (from front to back), Kevin Hebert,
Jeff Robertson, Brad Abraham and Jason Bell participated in the Military Weekend
Review on Friday.
BY ROLANDO GARCIA
The Battalion
Texas A&M played host to
40 cadets from military acade
mies and ROTC programs na
tionwide, who came to com
pare notes and exchange ideas
as part of A&M’s 1 7th annual
Military Weekend.
Cadets from schools such
as the Air Force Academy, Vir
ginia Military Institute and Vir
ginia Tech met with students
from Texas A&M’s Corps of
Cadets for round Table discus
sions addressing common is
sues and concerns in officer
training programs.
“It was a great opportunity
to get together ideas on topics
of mutual concern, and to also
show some good Aggie hospi
tality,” Corps Commandant
Gen.Ted Hopgood said.
Cadets also attended lec
tures on military history, lead
ership and ethics in public ser
vice, as well as a formal
banquet Friday evening where
the keynote speaker was Lt.
Gen. Don Holder, Jr. (Ret.),
Class of ’66, Hopgood added.
Visitors were also given tours
of the campus and the George
Bush Presidential Library
complex.
Forrest Lane, a senior polit
ical science major and com
mander of the Corps, said the
visiting cadets were interested
in Texas A&M’s success in
maintaining a large cadet corps
in a non-military academy en
vironment.
“Very few schools have a
corps the size we do, and they
wanted to know how you run
an organization that large,”
Lane said.
Visitors also learned of the
leadership opportunities and
the aura and traditions associ
ated with the University that
draws so many students into
the Corps, even though most
don’t plan enter the military,
he added.
“It’s a very unique atmos
phere with very special op
portunities, and they were cu
rious to know what it is that
we’re doing,” Lane said.
The round table discussions
were casual conversations and
allowed students from different
schools to freely address issues
of mutual concern and ex
change ideas, Lane said.
“Every year several of these
types of conferences are held at
different schools, and they’re
great because they allow us to
get together and learn from oth
er programs,” Lane said.
For example, the schools
discussed the different ap
proaches they take to training
subordinates, Kathryn Jones,
a senior history major and
chairperson of Military Week
end, said.
“That issue came up a lot.
At the military academies,
only the upperclassmen train
freshmen, while at A&M, the
sophomores do the training
while the juniors and seniors
serve in mentoring roles,”
Jones said. “Also, some of the
schools had a rank system in
stead of a class system.”
INSIDE
• Ags sweep
Kansas State
Page 7
• Austin City Limits
What the tour guides don't
tell you.
Page 3
• Crash and Burn
Lax Internet security
to blame for
computer
crime.-
• Listen to KAMU-FM 90.9
at 1:57 p.m. for details on
Enterprise Car Rental's
scholarships
Check out The Battalion
online at
battalion.tamu.edu.