Wednesday, June 2!,
• Listen to KAMI) 90.9 FM at 1:57 p.m.
for details on the Grimes County Justice
of the Peace stepping down three
months early.
•CheckoutTTie Battalion online at
I battaJion.tamu.edu.
• Lost Alamos
Incompetence risks
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THURSDAY
June 29, 2000
Volume 106-Issue 161
6 pages
» W:*? rMM ft I 61U : I. W ^ rM IIV
tudent leaders receive alcohol awareness training
Jeanette Simpson
The Battalion
As student leaders return to campus for the
iw academic year, they may find alcohol aware-
iss training has been added to their regular
tilaming to help them facilitate responsible deci-
ms concerning alcohol use among studertts.
Sum Recently, Dr. j. Mai m Southerland, vice
esident for student affairs, endorsed a re
test made by the Alcohol Abuse Task Force
iatasks the directors of various student pro-
ams to include alcohol-abuse awareness
lining when training student leaders.
"Southerland requested the directors of most
ident leaders on campus to include alcohol
(Click) fteflo
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rans-
new
awareness training in the usual training student
leaders go through each year," said Patty Collins,
coordinator of Campus Wide Alcohol Education.
Requesting student leaders participate in al
cohol awareness training resulted from the ac
tion plan developed by the Alcohol Abuse Task
Force. The task force was created in 1998 to de
velop a plan to decrease alcohol abuse among
students at Texas A&M and to help students
think more responsibly when making decisions
where alcohol is concerned, said Dr. Dennis
Reardon, senior coordinator of the Alcohol and
Drug Education Program.
The training is being conducted through the
Department of Student Life Alcohol and Drug
Education Program and includes information
about the dangers of alcohol abuse and the detri
mental effects it can have on students legally,
academically and in relationships. Student lead-
er§ will also leam ways to be positive role mod
els and to help members of their organization
find alternatives to drinking, Collins said.
"Student leaders represent what it means
to be an Aggie," Collins said. "Leaders need
to stay out of the business of letting incoming
freshmen, and other members of their groups,
believe that the only way to have fun in col
lege is to abuse alcohol."
Part of this training focuses on making the
leaders aware that, although college is often por
trayed by Hollywood and rumors as being a time
to cibuse alcohol, alcohol abuse is not the norm.
"We want to educate the leaders about student
norms, especially on our campus," Collins said.
“[The training] made
me more aware of
how what we, as
leaders, say about al
cohol affects the
freshmen.”
— Rasheda James
director of finance for ExCEL
Catch a wave
EL*
ds.
xlntions:
ii Accommodation
Travis Thompson, of Houston, cuts a wake at lake Somerville on Sunday. Thompson was preparing his watercraft for a race in
Alexandria, La. next weekend on the semi-pro racing circuit.
Elian cleared for return to home in Cuba
Iroom
ailable
kage
ccess to:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Elian Gonzalez, the
ttle Cuban castaway who won America's heart,
[as cleared to return home Wednesday when the
lupreme Court decisively ended a seven-month
[stody battle between his father and fervently
nti-communist U.S. relatives.
Accompanied by his family and schoolmates
vho had been brought to the United States to keep
im company, Cuba's "boy hero," as he is known
n his homeland, was expected in Havana as ear-
y as Wednesday night.
The Supreme Court rejected a formal appeal
[led by the boy's Miami relatives and a separate
pergency request, filed with Justice Anthony M.
fcnnedy, aimed at postponing his departure.
"The legal battle is over," said Gregory Craig,
attorney for Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez.
"The family will now make immediate arrange
ments to return to their home."
In the end, after the months of heated words,
high emotions, legal wrangling and his seizure by
federal agents in the home of his Cuban-Ameri-
can relatives, Elian's course was set by a brief or
der from the high court.
"The application for stay presented to Justice
Kennedy and by him referred to the court is de
nied. The petition for a writ of certiorari (the ap
peal) is denied."
Sally Grooms Cowal, president of the group
that hosted Elian during his final days in the Unit
ed States, described the Gonzalez family as "very
restrained ... They are obviously very happy."
The group, Youth for Understanding Interna
tional Exchange, presented Elian and his Cuban
playmates with pillow globes and gave Juan
Miguel Gonzalez a book to give Cuban President
Fidel Castro on its behalf. An inscription read, "We
hope that someday soon, we will be able to estab
lish cultural relations and cultural normalization
between Cuban and the U.S. and would be will
ing to play a role in that."
Their passions stoked for months over the cus
tody dispute, Cubans were urged by their com
munist government to remain calm.
Large enrollment strains resources
n, Texas 77840
Ueallawayhouse.
coin
Chris Cunico
The Battalion
For the past several years a new
rend has become apparent to stu-
ents attempting to register for class-
i Different departments throughout
exas A&M have recently shared a
Immon foe—shortages of seats and
iculty in core curriculum classes.
Because of larger enrollment,
any departments have found that
ley lack the necessary resources and
faculty members to accommodate
the growing student population's
feeds. Dr. Ed Walraven, senior lec
turer and coordinator of undergrad
uate advisory for the journalism de
partment, predicts enrollment for the
stepartment will be between 850 and
900 students for Fall 2000. This is an
increase from the enrollment of 800
in Fall 1999, and since Fall 1998, the
department has witnessed a 200-stu-
dent increase while only hiring one
additional faculty member.
Students listen during lecture in associate professors Joseph Dawson's
History 106. There are 115 students enrolled in section 100.
"We're bursting at the seams and
will continue to burst at the seams
until we're given the amount of fac
ulty members to efficiently meet the
needs of the growing enrollment,"
Walraven said.
With their backs against the wall,
advisers are given no alternative but
to force students into currently full
classes. The augmented class counts
resulting from the forced enrollment
put a strain on the faculty members,
especially those teaching skills class
es, like graphic design, or those re
quiring extensive written work.
Walraven said students are de
prived of essential student-professor
See Classes on Page 4.
In 1998, the Department of Student Life Al
cohol and Drug Education Program surveyed
1,000 students and found 64 percent of Aggies
have zero to three drinks a week, Reardon said.
Student leaders in Fish Camp, Aggie Orien
tation and ExCEL are among the leaders who
have already participated or are scheduled to
participate in the program.
Rasheda James, director of finance for Ex
CEL and a senior finance majors, aid the train
ing was helpful to her leadership position.
"|The training] made me more aware of
how what we, as leaders, say about alcohol af
fects the freshmen," James said. "It made me re
alize that the way we portray alcohol use is
what the freshmen consider the truth."
Local communities
prepare for Fourth
Kim Trifilio
The Battalion
Bryan-College Station residents will
not be able to shoot their own fireworks
within the city limits on the Fourth of July,
but they will have the opportunity to par
ticipate in Independence Day celebrations.
James Jones, Bryan Fire Department
inspector, said all fireworks are illegal in
Bryan-College Station.
"Inside the city of Bryan or College
Station fireworks are illegal to possess or
use," Jones said. "There is no ban because
we have had some rain, but in the coun
try is the only place where they are legal.
In the city, fines can be up to $1,000."
Despite Bryan-College Station resi
dents being unable to have their own fire
works show, there are many activities for
residents to attend.
The George Bush Library and Muse
um will host the College Station Lions
Club's 40th annual Fourth of July cele
bration Tuesday from 6 -11 p.m. The fire
works show will begin at dark and is free
to the public.
Residents can also celebrate Indepen
dence Day in Navosota at the Washington-
on-the-Brazos celebration. Festivities will
begin at 6:30 p.m. The Houston Sym
phonic Band will perform from 8 to 9 p.m.,
and a fireworks show will follow. The mu
seum will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Cathy Gibbons, park manager at Fan-
thropninn State Historic Park, said the
Washington-on-the-Brazos celebration is
successful because it is the birthplace of
Texas independence.
"So many people com# to the event be
cause this is the site where Texas claimed
its independence on March 2,1836," Gib
bons said. "This is the second year this has
gone on, and it is a huge community ef
fort to have this."
Bryan-College Station residents who
will be in Houston for the Fourth of July
can go downtown to see a fireworks show
at the Power of Freedom 2000 hosted by
Houston Reliant Energy.
Also in Houston, the Beach Boys
(without Brian Wilson) will headline the
event at Eleanor Tinsley Park at Buffalo
Bayou with a performance at 8:15 p.m. fol
lowed by the Sky Freedom fireworks
show at 9:15 p.m. Other activities include
the E-Team Elvises of the Sky Para
chutists, F4-Phantom jet maneuvers and a
See Celebrations on Page 4.
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Archbishop taken hostage
Man releases clergyman after nine hours
SAN ANTONIO (AP) —A man angry
with the federal government over his pos
sible deportation held the state's top-
ranking Catholic clergyman hostage for
nine hours Wednesday before releasing
him unharmed.
Archbishop Patrick Flores was said to
be exhausted and relieved the ordeal was
over after 40-year-old Nelson Antonio Es-
colero allowed him to walk out of the
chancery.
Escolero had threatened to detonate
what he said was a grenade, although po
lice said they could not confirm the nature
of the device.
Escolero was questioned at police
headquarters and was expected to appear
before a magistrate late Wednesday or
early Thursday. He faced possible charges
of aggravated assault, unlawful restraint,
terroristic threat and possession of a pro
hibited weapon.
See Flores on Page 4.