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WEDNESDAY
March 22, 2000
Volume 106 ~ Issue 112
16 pages
A i .'I i’i I Uf I tt ^; W»i I
Northgate
arking to
e modified
Statue dedicated in
honor of millennium
ifi I
BY BRADY CREEL
The Battalion
Aggies seeking to do business at
Northgate may soon find it difficult
to park as College Station experi
ences growing pains in the midst of a
revitalization project.
Citing safety concerns of pedes
trians and bicyclists, parking along
College Main will be removed, and
otherparking spaces wil 1 be metered.
“The plan was to remove parking
on College Main to make it more bi
cycle friendly to reduce conflict be
tween bicycles and vehicles,” said
Jon Mies, fire marshal for the city of
College Station.
Mies said he estimates the park
ing will be removed by May 1, but the
timeline has not yet been finalized.
The city of College Station will sur
vey merchants in the Northgate dis
trict in order to assess the parking
needs of each establishment.
Lynn Mcllhaney, mayor of Col
lege Station, said this change is long
overdue and is part of a larger project
to revitalize and redevelop the North-
“One of the biggest problems w'as
people wanted to come up and
putabusiness in [Northgate] but there
wasn’t any land for parking,” Mcll
haney said.
This problem led to the city’s de
cision to lift the parking requirement
ordinance, which requires all new
buildings to have a specific amount
of parking spaces. Instead, the city
made Northgate a special district, in
I which everything is handled on a
case-by-case basis.
“If you look at the overall pro
ject. J,think that everyone is trying
0RTH6ATE
PARKING GARAR
RUBEN DELUNA/Tm Battalion
to find a way to work together,”
Mcllhaney said. “The goal is to re
vitalize that area and to make it a
place where people feel safe walk
ing and riding their bicycles.”
The plan to remove parking came
as a result of multiple studies done on
the Northgate area since 1992. The
city fire marshal’s office has been
working with the Economic Devel
opment Department and Develop
ment Services since the original re
development of College Avenue was
done in 1994.
Each of these studies analyzed as
pects of the parking situation at North-
gate, but they ultimately offered solu
tions for managing Northgate parking
and enforcing parking regulations.
One of the studies recommended the
implementation of parking meters.
See Nort hgate on Page 2.
BY BROOKE HODGES
The Battalion
The Arts Council of Brazos Valley and its Millennium Com
mission dedicated Tuesday a five tons steel sculpture titled “Eter
nal Winds,” on the comer of Texas Avenue and Walton Road,
across from the main entrance to Texas A&M University.
The sculpture was built by Dr. Joe Smith to commemorate the
Brazos Valley’s Millennium celebration.
“It’s an exceptional privilege to have an artist of [Smith’s] tal
ent right here in Brazos County,” said President-Elect of the Arts
Council of Brazos Valley Jerry E. Fox. “Dr. Smith understands
the vital role of expression.”
Smith concluded the dedication by thanking people who
helped him create his sculpture.
“May the eternal winds that propel us into the new millenni
um be fair,” Smith said.
The sculpture is one of the largest public sculptures in Cen
tral Texas, standing 25 feet in height, 18 feet in width and 6
feet in depth.
“The sculpture was chosen to represent the millennium be
cause of its size and the idea of time passing,” said P. David
Romei, executive director of the Arts Council.
“It is so large and a millennium is a large span of time,” Romei
said. “The form represents time — time is always with us and yet
it’s fleeting, like the wind.”
Romei mentored an Eisenhower Leadership Program team
last year. Their task included identifying certain sites that were
adaptable for a work of art.
The site’s emptiness lent itself to a major work of art, Romei said.
The dedication ceremony helped to bring together the four
fundamental entities in this area, he said.
“It brought together Texas A&M, Bryan, College Station and the
Brazos County,” Romei said. “We all came together as an entity.”
College Station Mayor Lynn Mcllhaney spoke at the cere
mony along with the mayor of Bryan Lonnie Stabler; Charles Sip-
pial, vice president of physical plant at Texas A&M; and County
Commissioner Randy Simms.
Chancellor of Texas A&M University System Lt. Gener
al Howard Graves was the keynote speaker for the dedica
tion ceremony.
Art is a way that people of the future will know what the peo
ple of our time were like; you leam about a culture by the art they
produce. Mayor Mcllhaney said.
“The sculpture is saying, ‘Sail On,’ because we have a bright
future ahead of us,” she said.
The Millennium Commission, chairperson, Carol A. Wagner,
presented a representative of First American Bank with a sample
of Smith’s work.
First American Bank matched the donations made by the cities
•of Col lege Station and Bryan in order to fund die installation and
payment for the sculpture totaling $30,000.
GUY ROGERS & STUART VILLANUEVA/Tm: Battalion
Dr. Joe Smith of Caldwell speaks to members of the Bryan/College Station community at the dedication of his
25ft tall sculpture, “Eternal Winds’’ near the main entrance to Texas A&M on Tuesday. Members of the Full
House Blues Band (left to right), John Wick, Renn Carson and Donald Childs performed at the dedication.
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SBP Candidates discuss solutions for diversity
BY ROLANDO GARCIA
The Battalion
While there is no magic wand to wave that will eliminate
the widely perceived intolerance and lack of racial diversity at
Texas A&M, the four candidates for student body president
said the University can begin to foster a more welcoming at
mosphere for minorities.
To do that will require a more sustained effort on the part
ofstudents, faculty, and administration, senior marketing ma
jor Jeff Schiefelbein said.
“Having a multicultural attitude isn’t a project, its not pro
gramming, its not an organization or a group or an event, its an
attitude, and its 24 hours a day,” Schiefelbein said.
To expand the diversity efforts to the entire A&M communi
ty, Schiefelbein said he would encourage co-programming be
tween multicultural student groups and regular student groups so
Aggies of different backgrounds could work together and get to
know each other outside contrived “diversity” projects.
“I’d like to see GLBTA [Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans-
gendered Aggies] and
organizations that I’m
in work together on
projects where their
minority status isn’t
the focqs of what
we’re working on. Di
versity can scare peo
ple off sometimes;
they think they’re
gonna get lectured,” Schiefelbein said. “I think its time we change
that attitude by setting common goals, they may include diversi
ty but also other things as well.”
Addressing the hostility and harrassment many homosexual
STUDENT BODY ELECTIONS
students complain of, Schiefelbein said that although A&M Pres
ident Dr. Ray M. Bowen shot down a proposal last semester to
include sexual orientation in the non-discrimination clause of the
Student Handbook, a
slightly tinkered ver
sion of the proposal de
vised by an advisory
committee appointed
by Vice President for
Student Affairs Dr. J.
Malon Southerland
has a good chance of
passing.
“That would be a good step in the right direction. People
talk about ‘equal rights alj the time, but 1 think a better word
for it is ‘same rights.’ Thaf just means that you’re a person and
I’m a person, regardless of where we’re coming from, and we
deserve the exact same treatment,” Schiefelbein said.
Corey Rosenbusch, a junior agricultural development ma
jor, said a summer internship in Indonesia taught him how
important it is for students to be exposed to different cultures.
“1 wish every student on this campus had the opportunity
to go overseas and be immersed into a foreign culture. I ab
solutely loved it because my eyes and my mind were finally
exposed to things that you don’t get here,” Rosenbusch said.
“We’re a very homogeneous culture here at A&M, and to a lot
of people, that’s what’s attractive. But these students have to
realize that although its what makes them comfortable, we’re
not really being just because what’s fair is exposing them to
what the real world is like.”
While multicultural student groups put on an array of educa
tional and cutlural programs, the students that need to be there don’t
attend, Rosenbusch said. To give otherwise apathetic students a
See Candidates on Page 2.
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Student senate to vote
on early registration
BY JEANETTE SIMPSON
The Battalion
Geoff Ashley, a senior management major, works 17 hours a week for the English Lan
guage Institute and depends upon early registration to schedule his classes as to allow him to
complete his work schedule.
But if a current proposal from the Faculty Senate’s Academic Operations Committee
(AOC) is executed, Ashley will have to find a new way to balance his academics and work.
The committee has been analyzing an early proposal which could eliminate early regis
tration for student workers and students participating in co-op programs.
The proposal, if approved, will ajso change the format of early registration for hon
ors students.
A resolution will be voted on at Wednesday’s Student Senate meeting to express student
disapproval of this action.
“This resolution expresses to the AOC that the student body wants to maintain early reg
istration for student workers, co-op students and honors students,” said Brent Spencer, acad
emic affairs chair and a senior microbiology major.
The Computer Access/Instructional Technology Fee Disapproval Bill, which calls for the
Board of Regents to not approve the $ 1.25 per credit hour fee increase, will also be voted on
by the Student Senate in this evening’s meeting.
Off-campus Senator David Kessler, a junior English major, said the bill disapproves the
broadening of the definition of the Computer Access Fee by changing the title to the Com
puter Access/Instructional Technology Fee.
“In changing the title of the fee, students are going to see fewer direct benefits, because
the University will be able to use the money for things other than maintaining the computer
equipment and facilities used by the students,” he said.
To be approved, the bill requires a two-thirds vote by the Senate. If passed, the bill will be
considered by the Board of Regents at the end of the week.
The Student Senate will also vote on the Proposed Fee Increase for 2000 Approval Bill,
which approves of the increase in the International Student Fee, the University Authorized
Tuition and the Equipment Access Fee.
Women’s achievements
recognized at luncheon
INSIDE
BY ANN LOISEL
The Battalion
As a woman in a male-dominated occupation, Jen
nifer Harris, has learned not to worry about others’ pre
conceived notions about her because she is a woman
and to overcome them by being great at what she does
— leading various aerospace engineering projects to
explore Mars.
“There are always obstacles to doing what you
want to do ... but certainly, there are no insurmount
able obstacles if you love what you do and if you do it
passionately,” Harris said.
Harris was the keynote speaker for the Women’s
Week 2000Awards luncheon on Tuesday and the former
flight director of NASA’s Mars Pathfinder expedition.
“If you focus, not on the problem of being a woman
in a ‘man’s world,’ or being a woman in a ‘man’s occu
pation’ but on loving what you do, and being great at what
you do, you can overcome any challenges,” she said.
The luncheon featured Harris as a female role mod
el and honored the four recipients of this year’s
Women’s Week Awards. These were presented at the
Bush Presidential Conference Center to women who
encourage and promote sensitivity and awareness of
women’s issues at Texas A&M.
The winners, graduate student Heather Brown, As
sistant Director of Engineering Student Programs Jan
Rinehart, Associate Professor of Construction Science
Nancy Holland, and Associate Provost and Dean of
Faculties Janis Stout, all received $100 U.S. Savings
*
SUSAN REDDING/THE BATTALION
Nancy Holland receives the Faculty Award at
the Women’s Week 2000 luncheon.
Bonds and an award piece at the luncheon. Stout asked
to donate her $ 100 award to a scholarship for women.
See Women on Page 2.
A&M forward
Jack granted
another year
of eligibility
Page 11
•Fashion Forward
Stores try to ease difficulty of
finding unique clothes.
Page 3
•Ritalin,
Prozac and
kids, oh my!
Prescribing kids
mood-altering
drugs dangerous.
Page 15
•Listen to KAMU-FM 90.9 at
1:57 p.m. for details on the
Texas Stock Index.
•Check out The Battalion
online at
battalion.tamu.edu.