Thursday, June 29,2000
learts Veteran Museum,
act many people.
in the presentations,
;eant Major Copeland,"
Thursday, June 29,2000
THE BATTALION
Page 5
ws will host the Willie
?sday. Many artists are
g Willie Nelson, Pat
Morrow, Joe Ely, Ray
vill open at 9 a.m. and
eer in the program. "In
emester, approximatelv
ants are unable to enroll
i 203 alone," Walraven
said each semester30to
i students are unable to
at least one course
graduation,
does the time'-consum-
)f attempting to force a
a class occupy a signifi-
of the adviser's time,
ertainty of getting the
ds unwanted stress by
re s (%dent from creating
until the decision has
trying to get forced into
el industrial distribution
e beginning of the sum-
jn't know if I got it until
ore class starts," said
stine, a senior industrial
najor.
r the growing needs of
population, department
d faculty members have
ngoing and expanding
their college boards in
ain additional fundingto
? burden on the faculty
efficiency by teaching
?s. Through their efforts,
m faculty was able to
additional section ol
03 for the second sum-
s well as for the fall term
artments have taken the
their own hands.
McDaniel, professor of
said in circumstances
enrollment mayjeopaf-
dent-professor relafrir-
acrifice the stuW
to learn, alternative
offered in place ofthe
rse.
artment is very student-
cDaniel said. "We will
:o accommodate the stu
ng allowing them a 485
e to replace a required
o do anything to ensure
5 graduation date will
aned."
said Escolero, an El
ive who is a legal resi-
Jnited States but not a
upset over his possible
: or driving with a sus-
se.
horities faxed Escolero
tion status papers he
r finally allowed Flores
ilaced the device on a
ked out. He was imme-
Tiffed and driven away,
said the archbishop was
hospital to be checked
sack problems, but oth-
d fine.
NIGHT
reager
w
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Out sick
UT workers misguided in health care protest
T o offset the rising insurance
costs of hospital fees, doctor's
fees and prescriptions, the Texas
state legislature has passed a health
care insurance plan for on-campus
employees of state-supported Univer
sities. This plan will increase employ
ee policy rates for some policy holders
by more than 50 percent.
This change follows a similar increase in September of
1999 that also saw the elimination of dental plans and oth
er benefits for a number of policy hold
ers. Understandably, on-campus em
ployees at the University of
Texas-Austin (UT) are not happy with
the state's decision. In reaction to the
rise of policy rates, UT's on-campus em
ployees are threatening a university
wide sickout day. This sickout day will
be called the "burnt orange flu," and its
timing will leave UT students helpless.
More than 6,000 on-campus employ
ees at UT are threatening to leave work
Sept. 6-8 if the UT administration does
not agree to their demands.
The on-campus employees at UT are
being completely childish about this
health care insurance increase. Not only
will the burnt orange flu hurt the Uni
versity of Texas, but it will harm the students. With the
"flu," on-campus employees are looking to hurt the ad
ministration, but by abandoning students when they need
employees' help the most, they will hurt only the students.
After the insurance increase employees' average out-
of-pocket premiums are expected to rise to $66 per
month, and $80 for employees with dependents. Al
though this is a steep increase for health care insurance
costs, there is no need for on-campus employees to go on
a strike because they have received a concurrent salary
raise. In response to the increase in insurance rates, UT
has offered most on-campus employees a $50 per month
salary raise if they make $30,000 a year or less. If on-
campus employees used this $50 salary increase to com
pensate for the rise in health care insurance, then that
would mean they would only pay $16 per month on
health care insurance. $192 for a year for health care in
surance is cheaper than cable.
While campus employees will not be stricken by it,
the burnt orange flu is a serious matter for University of
Texas students. Sept. 8, the day planned for the strike, is
the first day of Fall 2000 classes. With
more than 6,000 on-campus employees
missing, many students with schedule,
meal plan and other problems will have
nowhere to turn for help.
This sickout will literally shut down
UT's operations for the duration of the
strike, if not longer. Unfortunately, the
people who will be most affected by the
sickout will be students who have no
control over the insurance-rate increase.
The on-campus employees are not fully
looking at the effects of this "burnt or
ange flu." It will not effect the culpable
legislation that made this decision. It will
only effect the blameless students.
Since this health-insurance increase is
a state-wide decision, how will it affect
Texas A&M? The increase will only affect on-campus
employees, not including professors, and the rise in poli
cy will begin July I at A&M. Although on-campus em
ployees are probably unhappy with this decision, there
is no public talk of a strike.
By planning the strike on the first day of fall classes,
UT employees are obviously trying to hurt the universi
ty when it needs them the most and are compromising
the needs of the students.
This is ironic, considering that, without the students,
on-campus employees would not have jobs.
While their worries about rising health care costs are
well-founded, UT's on-campus workers need to grow up
and call off their strike. A&M students need to realize that
KELSEY ROBERTS/ I'm: Baitauon
they are lucky that their on-campus employees are ma
ture, intelligent adults who value their student body.
Sunnye Owens is a junior journalism major.
While campus
employees will
not be stricken
by it, the
'burnt orange
flu' is a serious
matter for
University of
Texas students.
Incompetence risks nuclear secrets
M ost peo
ple know
the old
saying, "Fool me
once, shame on
you. Fool me twice,
shame on me."
When it comes to
the safety of nuclear
secrets, it looks like the fool is U.S. Ener
gy Secretary Bill Richardson. His inabili
ty to make changes at the Los Alamos
Nuclear Laboratory and unwillingness
to appear before Congress to answer
charges of negligence show the cavalier
attitude that seems to pervade the Clin
ton administration. Richardson's incom
petence could have dire effects for the
American people.
Los Alamos? With
this bunch, it is Lost
Alamos.
According to the
FBI, "on or about
March 28th," two com
puter hard drives con
taining top-secret nu
clear information
vanished from Los
Alamos' super-secret
"Division X." The loss
of the drives was not
reported to the FBI un
til at least 24 days later,
when the drives mirac
ulously reappeared be
hind a coffee maker.
Apparently, "Divi
sion X" has become as
big a joke as "Planet X" was when Mar
vin the Martian claimed it for Mars. Ac
cording to Los Alamos director Dr.
John Browne, "Division X" employees
were considered to be the "librarians"
of secret information and were too busy
to sign out the materials they were re
moving from the area. In fact, there was
no sign-out sheet at all. This negligence
is astounding, considering Los Alamos
employees are in possession of informa
tion that could end the lives of millions
of people.
While it is readily apparent that
Browne and his staff should be disci
plined for their reckless attitude toward
the information in their possession, the
big hits must be reserved for Richardson.
His pathetic performance over the past
two weeks threatens to give the term
"political appointee" an even more nega
tive connotation than it already has.
Last year, when Richardson took the
job as energy secretary, he was faced
with restoring the credibility of the Ener
gy Department in the wake of the de
partment "donating" nuclear secrets ta
the People's Republic of China. "Ameri
cans can be reassured our nation's nu
clear secrets are safe and secure,"
Richardson said in the May 26,1999, is
sue of USA Today.
Guess again.
On May 12, Richardson testified be
fore the Senate Armed Services Commit
tee that the nuclear weapons materials
and secrets at Los Alamos were safe and
sound. At the time, Richardson knew
that the two drives were missing.
Two weeks ago, when he was called
to testify before the same committee,
Richardson stalled for a week, saying he
did not have enough information to ac
curately brief the senators. However, he
did have enough information to go on
every major Sunday morning news pro
gram to proclaim it is not true that Los
Alamos would be better protected by
Mr. Magoo.
After Richardson stopped dodging
Congress and testified, the members of
the Armed Services Committee — not
surprisingly — hammered him.
"You've lost all credibility," said Sen.
Richard Shelby, R-Ala., chair of the Sen
ate Intelligence Committee. "We need
strong and consistent leadership at the
top," said Sen. John Warner, R-VA., the
Armed Services Committee chair, "and it
appears that we don't have it."
The harshest criticism for Richardson
came from Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.,
who said Richardson "was a disgrace"
and had "shown the ultimate contempt"
for the committee and for Congress itself.
Richardson should have responded
by suggesting ways to make security
tighter, or at least by apologizing for
making Los Alamos into a national joke.
Instead, Richardson came up with a
weak defense for himself. "1 don't think
I've shown any contempt'for the commit
tee," he proclaimed. He went on to say
that he had just been "too busy to pre
pare" for meeting the committee the
week before.
Strangely enough, nobody is crying
for Richardson. Maybe it is because it is
tough to cry for any
man who does not have
the brain power to rec
ognize that the loss of
critical nuclear informa
tion is a major problem.
Someone like that
should not be in charge
of a toll booth, let alone
a government agency. A
person who puts his
own reputation ahead
of the needs of this na
tion has no backbone.
That same person, how
ever, did show that he
has a tremendous ego
by sucking up to the
press before facing the
heat of Congress.
Richardson either
needs to resign (he says he will not) or be
fired. Otherwise, the Chinese or anyone
else interested in our nuclear secrets may
as well pull up with a U-Haul at Los
Alamos and take everything at once.
For now, the nation is left with an ego
tistical buffoon running the Department
of Energy, no plan to make secure secret
nuclear information, and two computer
drives that apparently do not like decaf.
Twice should be enough for the govern
ment to wake up and recognize that
stricter security measures for U.S. nu
clear secrets, as well as someone with in
telligence and conviction to oversee their
safekeeping are needed.
This would mean Richardson has to
go, and the sooner the better.
Mark Passwaters is a senior
electrical engineering major.
BRANDON HENDERSON/TTik Battalion
Decrepit schools in need of
equal funds, state support
R ecently, a coalition of
civil rights groups and
the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU)
joined together to file a law
suit against the state of Cali
fornia, demanding basic edu
cational rights for all students
as guaranteed in the state's
constitution. Apparently, the distribution of
school funding is a prejudiced process, and civil
rights activists are outraged at the blatant gap be
tween the resources of the schools.
The ACLU is out to prove that the division of
wealth is strongly correlated with race. This law
suit accuses the state of failing to uphold its con
stitutional obligation to provide the bare essen
tials necessary for education without regard to
race, color or national origin.
Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the ACLU
of Southern California, refers to schools like Jef
ferson High School in Los Angeles as "the shame
of California."
These schools are infested with vermin, are
covered by leaky roofs, are staffed with uncerti
fied teachers, display massive overcrowding, and
suffer from a lack of basic educational materials.
The lack of necessary resources like updated text
books, library and computer access, guidance
counselors and lab materials hinders students'
learning. Every individual has a right to equal
opportunity, but without improvements in high
schools, it is impossible.
Such decrepit public high schools are in dire
need of more state support, and if necessary, legal
action. Something must be done to fix the injus
tices of California's neglected schools operating
in the shadows of well-funded "Beverly Hills,
90210" schools. The ACLU argues that the un
equal allotment of state funding for schools is a
direct result of racial bias. In reference to the law
suit, Julie Su, litigation director of the Asian Pacif
ic American Legal Center, said, "The failures this
lawsuit addresses are not randomly distributed;
they are concentrated in communities of color, in
economically struggling communities and immi
grant communities. The state's neglect has a
clearly discriminatory impact."
Even though the U.S. Constitution prohibits
segregation, racists insist on dividing this nation.
Due to prevailing attitudes, many people believe
that minorities have less potential than Cau
casians. Socioeconomic divisions, brought on by
discriminatory practices, clearly have an impact
on educational quality and funding. As neighbor
hoods develop over time, neighboring schools
can become vastly different. The distribution of
race can be closely related to the distribution of
wealth, and sadly, minorities have a lesser chance
at success because of unfair distribution and
stereotypes. It is great to see the ACLU confront
such a complex issue. If underprivileged stu
dents had the means to prove themselves as
bright, capable people, fewer would be forced
into having such a poor education.
This suit should not end in California, but
send a message to other states. Texas has a good
record for fairly funding schools, but there is al- .
ways room to take preventive steps to improve.
Comparing College Station Independent School v
District (CSISD) to Bryan independent School
District (B1SD) illustrates that even in Texas, there ■
is potential for unequal distribution of money.
BISD and CSISD receive most of their revenues . '
from local funds and property taxes.
While College Station and Bryan are not vastly r
different in property value, Bryan, the less afflu
ent community, does not get the same support
from local funds and receives more state financial
support. College Station is wealthier and more
capable of collecting local funds. Also, BISD
serves twice as many students as CSISD, allowing
CSISD to spend more money per pupil. As ex
pected, Texas feeds more money to BISD to com
pensate for its economic disadvantage.
Further, the ethnic distribution in B-CS is dra-.- ■'
matically different. The 1999-2000 school year sta
tistics show that BISD has a 60 percent minority
population while CSISD is approximately 70 per
cent Caucasian. Continual action must be taken in '
order to keep schools like Bryan High from
evolving into a Jefferson High. Texas should
work to maintain and improve equal funding.
Advocating education, Gov. George W. Bush said,
"The purpose of prosperity is to make sure the
American dream touches every willing heart. The
purpose of prosperity is to leave no one out — to
leave no one behind. This noble goal will remain-
a distinct goal until our nation fulfills a solemn
pledge: to educate every child."
California's chapter of the ACLU should be
applauded for taking initiative and speaking on •
behalf of its students. The actions of the ACLU
should influence other states to take the appropri
ate steps to prevent the unequal funding of
schools. If states do not step up to the challenge,
legal action may be required to give every stu
dent a fair chance.
Amber Rasco is a junior journalism major: ,