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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 2000)
: i rRIC SCHNEIDER Thh Bah try to collect insects News in Brief trian avalanc > 11 skiers )ERSILL, Austria (AP) avalanche as wide ss I fields buried morel skiers underneath to uesday, killing at lea? rescue officials said. >eople were found dead the huge snow slide so? Vienm AUSTRIA •Salzburg •Zell am See SLOVENIA Another died later inf o others were able to ! ses while rescuers dug® vivor, state televisions! ng newscast, irch continued foraitf victim. ( .of the victims were in ski instructors. One to e television the slide )y an instructor whose; e a wall of snow. The is Agency said two si had apparently startec' ie and might havefc lose killed. -ager arrest! aying worm OSE, Costa Rica 'Id boy has been arres; ■laying of two Ameii ear a Costa Rican be ) other suspects reito ice said. a I Police Director J» •Id a news conferei that investigators#' g to determine a illing, which has sto ry's image asasafe!'- or tourists, railed the arrest "anil opmentinthe case.W to solving it complete: dies of Emily Eagen/ i., and Emily Howell/ , both 19, werefouto ihway March 13 neat' 11 ahuita, 90 miles ea;' Both had been shot spect’s identity was^ recause he is a minof ; d he was arrested S#' in Sixaola, a town or ^anama. He said {In spects being sought 3- j itances of the suspect - jave them the .3&c« : illegedly used in Ho» s i they turned the gut- a second gun ofthes ; s used to kill Eageo -' en recovered, Rojas^ THURSDAY March 30, 2000 Volume 106 ~ Issue 118 16 pages * Vim W * i IIJCI Vi 1 rwI * 4 Committee to review early registration s Unite Administration questions necessity of early registration EDITORIAL CZECH 1 REPUB& ' f Viennii Editorials appearing in The Bat talion reflect the majority view of the editorial board members. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other Battalion staff members, the Texas A&M student body, regents, adminis tration, faculty or staff. Columns, guest columns, car toons and letters express the opinions of the authors. The Academic Operation Com mittee’s (AOC) proposal to end the early registration process for student workers is exemplary of the admin istration’s inability to solve problems. The AOC is justifying its propos al to take away 6,000 students’ privilege by citing abuse of the sys tem and billing it as a move to make A&M more similar to top na tional universities. If it is true that some students are abusing the system by working for the minimum two weeks and quitting, the logical solution should be to implement a system of ac- Editorial Board MARIUM MOHIUDDIN EDITOR IN CHIEF BEVERLY MIRELES STUART HUTSON BRENT BARKLEY MANAGING EDITOR CAMPUS EDITOR ASST. WEB MASTER ERIC DICKENS MARIANO CASTILLO MEREDITH HIGH! OPINION EDITOR COMMUNITY EDITOR KYLE WHITACRE VERONICA SERRANO AGGIELIFE EDITOR DOUG SHILLING AGGIELIFE EDITOR JASON BENNYHOFF SPORTS EDITOR JASON LINCOLN RADIO PRODUCER NONI SRIDHARA ASST. SPORTS EDITOR JEFF KEMPF ASST. RADIO PRODUCER DAVE AMBER NIGHT NEWS EDITOR ROBERT HYNECEK CRISTINA PADRON SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR RUBEN DELUNA GRAPHICS EDITOR ASST. NIGHT NEWS EDITOR GRAPHICS EDITOR BRANDON PAYTON GUY ROGERS JP BEATO WEB MASTER PHOTO EDITOR PHOTO EDITOR BY JEANETTE SIMPSON The Battalion If the Academic Operations Com mittee [AOC] follows its present course and approves the proposal to end student worker early registration, the registra tion process for the next Summer and Fall semesters will be the last time stu dent workers will,have the opportunity to register early. See page 15 for related information. The AOC Subcommittee on Early Registration was established to review the registration process at Texas A&M be cause more student groups were demand ing early registration privileges. The com mittee began its research by examining the registration procedure of 35 top schools in the nation, none of which allow student workers to register before other students. Early registration was implemented six years ago at A&M. In the Fall 1999 registration process, 6,000 students reg istered as student workers. In examining the registration process, the committee concluded the system is unfair, is abused by students and is not essential to student workers in order for them to carry out their jobs, said Will Hurd, student body president and a com puter science major. “I think it is very important for stu dents to register their courses in blocks, so they can maximize their time at work if they need to,” Hurd said. “I think it also important for the AOC to realize that in some student worker positions it is not possible for students to tell their employers when they are available.” “It is also imperative that depart ments which employ large amounts of students workers are asked about the im pact [by AOC] early registration has on their workers,” he said. The committee concluded as more classes are becoming limited-enrollment classes and major-specific classes, al lowing student workers to register early leaves other students at a disadvantage. “If the AOC is arguing to end early registration based on unfairness then they must realize that allowing honors to early register puts other students at a dis advantage as well,” Hurd said. “The majority of administrators are in favor of ending student worker early registration because of the inequity it cre ates for the other 35,000 students,” said a source within the Student Government Association. The committee also concluded that early registration is sometimes abused by students. For example, students may reg ister as a student worker during the Spring 2000 registration process, yet there is not a system that checks to be sure that the student remains a student worker for the Fall 2000 semester, and there are not funds available to create such a system, Hurd said. “My question is what evidence is there to show that the system is being abused,” Hurd said. “In my experience, employers require that student workers be registered for hours at that position for the next semester before they sign the student worker forms.” Hurd said many members of the AOC remember a time before the implementa tion of student worker early registration, when professors were more likely to work with student workers in getting them forced into classes that met their schedules. Another argument the board has presented is that student workers are not told when they have to work, they tell their employers when they are available. “I have been a professor at Texas A&M for 18 years and never have I had a student worker ask me when we need them to work, they tell me what hours they are not in class and that is when they work,” said See Registration on Page 2. countability to penalize them. By doing away with the entire system, the AOC is hurting thousands of student workers who depend on early registration to maximize their work and study time. The AOC’s second argument is that since the top-ranked universities do not offer early registration, it should not be a necessity at A&M either. The fact that A&M offers a service to its student workers that other colleges do not is an advantage it holds. If the adminstration’s vision for A&M is “copy-catting” other univer sities, it will never get ahead. A&M encourages its students to participate in the ‘Other Education,’ which includes working. Why is the AOC trying to limit student oppor tunities to learn through experi ences outside the classroom? The student body, especially the student workers would, who be af fected by this proposal need to make their opmioris heard." There are many reasons why students work, including necessi ty, service and educational experi ence. Students need to defend this privilege before the AOC proposal is passed. * 6,000 students registered as student workers in Fall 1999 • The Academic Operations Subcommittee on Early Registration will vote Friday, March 31 on the future status of student worker early registration in Koidus 217 at 1:00 p.m. > Questions? Contact the student government office at 845-3051 or email Student Body President Will Hurd at sbp@stuact.tamu.edu PHOTOS AND GRAPHICS BY GUY ROGERS &JEFF SMITH/The Battalion Two twisters wreak havoc in Ft. Worth, killing 4 FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The center of Fort Worth looked like a ghost town Wednesday, the day after a tornado tore a path through down town and caused an estimated $157 million in damage. Four people died and a fifth person was presumed drowned. Fort Worth City Manager Bob Terrell said a preliminary survey showed as many as eight com mercial buildings were destroyed, and 52 busi nesses and high-rises received either major or mi nor damage. Officials had no dollar estimate on the dam age to homes. “You will have one building that looks almost unscathed, and next door to that you have a build ing that looks like it’s downtown Beirut. It is obvi ously a disaster of the first class,” said Ft. Gov. Rick Perry, acting governor while Gov. George W. Bush is on the presidential campaign in New Jersey. Deputy Fire Chief Jim Tidwell said it’s likely one building will be demolished. Workers in the city’s central business district were told to stay home until large pieces of glass hanging from window frames in high-rise build ings could be knocked down. The National Weather Service said the torna do reached the intensity of an F-2. On a scale ranging from F-0 to F-5, an F-2 includes signifi cant damage and wind speeds of 113-157 mph. An F-5 is the most damaging. “You will have one building will that looks almost un scathed, and next door ...a building that looks like down town Beirut.” — Rick Perry Texas It. Governor A second tornado struck Arlington and then moved to Grand Prairie, but as of Wednesday after noon officials had not detennined its strength, said National Weather Service meteorologist Skip Ely. Police in downtown Fort Worth patrolled a tightly secured area where contractors and city workers tried to safeguard the damaged struc tures. Glass glimmered in the sunlight as it show ered 30 stories to the streets from the Bank One building. The downtown twister was a hit-and-miss af fair, although it stayed on the ground for about 10 minutes. In Fort Worth, 83 people went to hospitals. Eight were admitted, mostly with minor injuries. “It’s somewhat of a miracle that there aren’t more injuries than we’ve found out about so far,” said Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr. Several buildings were riddled with gaping holes where windows had been ripped out. Draperies and blinds flapped through the gaps. Other buildings appeared untouched. The first twister touched down at 6:15 p.m. and moved eastward into Fort Worth, hitting an area just west of downtown where two people were crushed to death — one by a falling wall and the other by a truck trailer that flipped on him. Several businesses and homes were destroyed. Much of a five-story church tower, where two women were praying, was blown away. Student Publications Board nominates editors Mireles, Miller approved for chief Battalion positions Niven chosen to head Aggieland BY BROOKE HODGES The Battalion Jon Niven has been nominated to take the helm of the 2001 Aggieland, Texas A&M’s yearbook, as Editor in Chief. The Aggieland, one of the largest yearbooks in the nation, has a circulation of more than 10,000 and includes about 800 pages. One of Niven’s aims is to recruit more freshmen to work on the Ag gieland. “We want to try and let everyone have BRADLEY ATCHISON/The Battalion Jon Niven, a sophomore journalism major is Aggieland ’01 Editor-in-Chief. the opportunity to be on staff,” he said. Niven said he hopes to encourage or ganizations to be featured in the yearbook. “We want to get more student orga nizations involved,” he said. “The Ag gie/and is a big part of the University. It serves as a reminder and is a glimpse of the past.” The Aggieland staff consists of 30 employees who serve as writers, pho tographers and section editors. Niven’s responsibilities for the upcoming year in clude developing a theme for the year book, designing the cover and hiring a staff. Niven will also manage a budget of about $350,000. Niven, a sophomore journalism ma jor, is a native of Jacksonville, Ark., and was on the yearbook staff at Jacksonville High School for two years. He began working for the Aggieland in 1999 as a designer. He was responsi ble for helping his section editor lay out pages for the upcoming yearbook. Niven served as the housing section editor for the 2000 Aggieland. His job was putting sections together and de signing pages. Niven said he saw the opportunity to apply for editor in chief and took it. Niven said the new job and its re sponsibilities will be a challenge. Niven will remain a nominee until he is approved by University Executive Vice President and Provost Ronald Douglas. BY ANNA BISHOP The Battalion As fall editor-in-chief nominee of The Battalion, senior journalism major Beth Miller hopes to continue the tradition of informing the student body through the circulation of a stu dent newspaper. “I believe The Battalion serves a number of purposes — a public forum for anyone in the community, a creative outlet for the staff, as well as a news source for the readers,” Miller said. JP BEATO/The Battalion Beverly Mireles, a junior sociology major, and Beth Miller, a senior .... .. for the Sum- journalism major will be Editors-in-Chief for The Battalion mer ’OO and Fall ’00 semesters respectively. Miller said The Battalion needs to be a responsible and up- to-date source of news for the student body. “The Battalion needs dedicated leaders and a strong staff for this newspaper serves, for many students, [as] the only news source they come in contact with.” The presidential election, rerouting of the campus buses and the future of Aggie Bonfire will be covered by The Battalion this fall. Miller said she has been preparing for the position of edi tor-in-chief of The Battalion for a year. Miller has served as city editor and copy editor at The Battalion, but cur rently works for The Bryan-College Sta tion Eagle. “Working away from The Battalion has made me more objective towards it. It has helped me analyze things from an out side point of view,” Miller said. Junior sociology major Beverly Mire les has been nominated to serve as editor- in-chief of The Battalion for Summer 2000. The Battalion is published on a small er scale in the summer, printing only four days a week instead of five. Mireles said though The Battalion will be smaller during the summer, its content will not necessarily be less important. “The Battalion will continue to serve the student body in two ways — providing them with source of news and by allowing students to have a voice See Editors on Page 2. INSir*^ Gremming Twins personify the A&M vs. Kansas match-up. 5 Page 7 • Student workers speak out about early registra tion issues. Page 1 3 • Beyond Birth Women should consider thera py risks and benefits. V Page 11 •Listen to KAMU-FM 90.9 at 1:57 p.m. for details on CSISD possible budget cut. "■mKKm • Check out The Battalion online at battalion.tamu.edu