V
XHE
TUESDAY
March 7, 2000
Volume 106 ~ Issue 107
12 pages
» Kiwi 1* ;^Wx\ * i i T i IIJ Cl =U« k
increase to support
dy abroad program
BY DANA JAMUS
The Battalion
Texas A&M’s Vision 2020 mission
itatement declares the University’s de-
re to diversify and globalize the Texas
,&M community in order to allow its
aduates to be adequately prepared not
y academically, but also culturally.
According to A&M’s Vision 2020
itatement, “[The University should]
toe 100 percent access to international
education for all students.” A $3 increase
in the International Education Fee (IEF)
has been approved by the Student Sen
ate and now awaits the approval of the
itudent body during the Spring 2000 stu
dent body elections.
This proposed fee increase would
raise the IEF fee to $4 per student to pro
vide scholarships for A&M students to
studs abroad.
Robert Stovall, student senator and
ajunior biomedical science major, said
the growing globalization of the econ
omy presents “the need for a truly
slobal education.”
“If this referen
dum can pass, it
will help to en
hance the educa
tion of A&M's
students as well
as increase their
marketability
to prospective
employers. ”
— Robert Stovall
student senator and a junior
biomedical science major
“If this referendum can pass, it will
help to enhance the education of A&M’s
students as well as increase their mar
ketability to prospective employers,”
Stovall said.
According to a nation-wide study on
collegiate international exchange pro
grams titled “Open Doors,” A&M does
not rank within the top 25 colleges who
offer international exchange programs.
St. Olaf College came first with 94.3
percent of its students studying abroad
while University of Texas-Austin came
in 24th with 12 percent, said Leana Di
vine, vice president of academic affairs
for the Student Government Association
and ajunior international studies and his
tory major.
She said less than 2 percent of A&M
students currently study abroad.
Divine said that if the hill is ap
proved, it will go into effect Fall 2002.
The bill states that the $1 IEF origi
nally proposed by Student Senate in Fall
1991 and approved by the student body
in Spring 1992 is no longer enough mon
ey because of inflation and an increased
demand for these scholarships.
Stovall said that in 1998, the study
abroad office reported that 17,400 students
See Fee on Page 2.
SGA offers online voting
Students can use internet for Spring2000 elections
BY JEANETTE SIMPSON
The Battalion
Doug Keegan’s only real interests in life are computers
and math, but for months he has worked endlessly to make
online voting, a “virtual reality” for Texas A&M students.
Keegan, vice president for technology for the Student
Government Association (SGA) and a senior applied mathe
matics major, was one of many SGA representatives who
worked for almost a year to make online voting possible for
jfie A<£M campus. Ashlea Jenkins, student body election
Commissioner and a junior political science major, approved
online voting for the Spring 2000 elections Monday.
This means be
ginning March 29 at
9a.m., students wall
be able to cast their
24 hours a
day via the Internet
by accessing
http://vote.tamu.edu.
The site will stop ac
cepting votes at 5
m. on March 30,
the same time that the on-campus polls will close.
Only those students connected through the A&M net
work will be able to access the Web page to register their
vote, said Keegan.
“This means that students outside the firewall (the secu
rity program of the campus network), for instance those stu
dents who are connected through cable or DSL (Digital Sub
scriber Line) modems, will need to cast their vote cither on
campus or through the VPN (Virtual Private Network) serv
er,” Keegan said.
Jenkins said the on-line voting will also involve more stu
dents in the election process, making the students who are
elected more representative of the student body.
r-
“The goal of this election commission was to get more stu
dents to participate in the elections,” she said. “According to
the research I have done, online voting will do this.”
“In implementing online voting, it is hoped that voter
turnout in student elections will increase, because voting will
be easier for the students and more efficient,” Jenkins said.
“When we looked at how voter turnout increased in other
schools after they implemented online voting, we saw that
they had anywhere from a 30 to 40 percent increase.”
Many measures were taken by Keegan and the election
commission to guarantee the security of the site and the vot
ing process.
“We have had experts from CIS (Computer Information
^ n Services) and
other places
test this sys
tem,” Jenkins
said. “And
they will con
tinue to test
the system
for the next
month.”
In order to
verify the identity of the individual who is voting from the
Website, students must receive a password via email before
they can cast their votes.
“We wanted to make this process as secure as possible.
One way that we did this is through e-mail verification,”
Keegan said. “The student will first register at the site through
their CIS log-in ID — they will select either an Unix, ACS,
Labs, or POP email account — the password will be emailed
to the student instantaneously,” he said.
“Within 30 minutes of registering, the student must return
to the site and cast their vote. If the student does not return to
the site within 30 minutes of registering, they must reregister
and receive a new password.”
Say ‘Ahhh!’
STUART VILLANUEVA/Thh Baitalion
Lechner Hall director, Ken Gassiot gets a dunking outside of the Memorial Student Center Mon
day afternoon. The dunking booth was set up as part of “Safe Spring Break” presented by the Al
cohol and Drug Education Program to promote responsible behavior during the holiday.
GOP awaits ‘Super Tuesday*
ROBERT HYNECEK/Tm: Battalion
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A feisty John McCain labeled
Republican rival George W. Bush “so Clinton-esque it’s
scary,” while a subdued Bill Bradley said he must “win a cou
ple of states” as both underdogs looked to revive their presi
dential campaigns in a Super Tues-
day showdown.
In the more competitive race of
the two, both Bush and McCain were
making a final push Monday in Cal
ifornia, where 162 delegates to the
GOP nominating convention were
the biggest prize of the day. Bush had
the inside track on those delegates,
but McCain hoped for a symbolic
victory in the nonbinding popular
vote.
“My response
is the indepen
dents and re
publicans are
going to nomi
nate me/'
“There has not been a primary yet that has met expectations.
It’s just too volatile,” McCain said at a rally in Santa Clara,
claiming the momentum was his.
At a San Diego park, a confident-sounding Bush urged sup
porters to send a message “that this party and this philosophy
needs a leader that can bring people together.”
Bradley aides were quietly making plans for an exit if Vice
President A1 Gore does as well as polls suggest in Tuesday’s
voting for the Democratic nomination.
“1 don’t think there’s any magic number, but 1 do think we have
to win a couple of states,” Bradley said
Monday on CBS’ “Early Show,” hold
ing out hope for Connecticut, Rhode Is
land, Maine, Maryland or Missouri.
Both Gore and Bradley were devot
ing the day to New York. Gore courted
New York’s Jewish activists this morn
ing, saying in a Gore administration, the
United States would be “a good and
helpful and loyal friend to Israel.”
Bradley greeted commuters at the
Staten Island Ferry terminal in Man
hattan at 7:30 a.m. “Rest is for another day,” he said.
McCain told reporters that Bush “handed us back the reform
issue” thanks to a $2.5 million series of attack ads he said are
financed by Bush’s forces.
BUSH
See Primaries on Page 2.
Fall 2000 sees record
application numbers
BY ANN LOISEL
The Battalion
It is getting tougher to become an
Aggie these days.
A record number of people are ap
plying to Texas A&M for admission in
the Fall 2000 semester, but as those
numbers go up, the number of students
admitted in — at least since last year
— is going down said Joseph Estrada,
A&M’s director of admissions..
‘We’ve had a considerable increase
in the number of submissions,” he said.
“[But] we’re actually going to offer
fewer admits than we did last year.”
Estrada said the Office of Admis
sions and Records will send out ap
proximately 10,000 acceptance letters
inApril and anticipate a freshman class
size of 6,300 to 6,500 next fall.
“We’re under an enrollment con
trol plan to keep the total enrollment
of the University at a manageable
size,” he said.
Laura Davis, a senior at Kingwood
High School in Kingwood, Texas, ap-
j to A&M this year and found out
in January she was accepted.
“I never applied anywhere else, so I
Was really excited to get in,” she said.
A&M applications for Fall
g il applications for Fall 2000: I
184211 | tt | ■ 1
Ad Freshman class size: 1
6TQ0,to'6,5l
ROBERT HYNECEK/Tm. Battalion
Davis said many of her friends also
wanted to go to A&M, but have not re
ceived letters of acceptance yet.
Estrada said approximately 2,000
more applications were submitted this
year than the year before.
“I think | it’s because] we have a
well-coordinated recruitment effort,”
he said. “There’s a great appeal to
come to A&M and be an Aggie.”
The total number of applications
for the fall was 18,421, but the num
ber of completed applications — with
out errors or missing information —
was 16,45 1.
“That’s a University record,” Estra
da said. “We’ve never reached that lev
el of submissions.”
More transfer students are also ap
plying to A&M this year, but those
numbers are not final until after the
April application deadline.
Higgs family donates son’s Aggie ring
BY BROOKE HODGES
The Battalion
Arend Gabro “Bo” Higgs,
an agriculture systems major,
died on June 28,1999, in a wa
ter-skiing accident.
Before his death, Higgs
had completed the credit hours
needed to order his Aggie ring.
His family has now donat
ed his Aggie ring to the Class
of2000 spot in the Association
of Former Students’ Memorial
Ring Case.
Higgs’ friends decided to
order the ring and in his mem
ory. They also paid for the ring
out of their own pockets.
“Bo had it all planned out
CODY WAGES/The Battalion
Carolyn Swanzy, director cjf
the Aggie Ring Office.
“We normally don’t order
a ring for a deceased stu
dent,” Swanzy said. “But,
because [Higgs] had com
pleted the qualifications for
a ring, friends petitioned to
order the ring and present it
to the family.”
The provision against or
dering rings for a deceased
student who has not quali
fied is, designed to protect
the integrity of the ring, said
Patrick Williams, director
of campus programs and
Class of’92.
“The ring symbolizes the
thing[s] that make up a Texas
Aggie, and when you get that
to order his ring,” said Jeff The Association of Former Students’ Memorial Ring
Bailev a friend of Hiess and a Cas ® 15 h, 0 .^ ', n the Clayton Wilhams Alumni Cen- rin g you are part of the net
uaiiey, a menu oi mggs ana a ter ^ renc | Higgs ring was donated to represent the
senior agriculture systems ma- c | ass 0 f 2000.
jor. “He had turned in the pa
perwork needed to order it the week
before [the accident].”
The Association of Former Stu
dents hosted a ceremony on October
30, 1999 to present Higgs’ ring to his
family.
The Association talked about how
Higgs had completed all the neces
sary requirements and how he stood
for everything the ring represented,
Bailey said.
The ring was presented to Higgs’ fa
ther, Lt. Col. Stephan Higgs, Class of
’73. He and Higgs’ brother, Stephan D.
Higgs Jr., Class of’97, placed the ring in
the memorial box.
“Lt. Higgs put the ring in the case and
everyone got to walk by and see Bo’s
ring,” Bailey said. “Bo was always on
the ball, he always knew what he was do
ing. He was a great guy. He always had
a good time and he was always there for
his friends.”
The rings that go into the memorial
case are donated by family members af
ter a student has passed away, but Hig
gs’ ring was ordered after his death, said
work,” he said.
The 100-year-old tradition
of taking one ring from each class and
placing it in a collection started as an
idea of J.B. “Josh” Sterns, Class of
1899. Until 1965, the Stems Collection
was made up of rings that former stu
dents would donate.
After 1965, the rings included in the
collection were required to be memorial
rings, Swanzy said.
The Stems Collection is located in the
Glitsch Library in the Clayton W.
Williams Jr. Alumni Center, in a case do
nated by the Class of ’62.
INSIDE
[M women
start Big 12
tourney
First round begins
Tuesday in Kansas City, Mo.
Page 7
• The future of film
Insight on independent films
found in new technology and
old resources.
Page 3^
• A war of
words
Alternative publica
tions lack journalistic
professionalism and
misinform their readers.
Page 11
• Usten to KAMU-FM 90.9 at
1:57 p.m. for details Houston
march on equal funding.
• Check out The Battalion
online at
battalion.tamu.edu
I