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Students voice opinions
Leaders back Bowen’s postponement of Bonfire
iY J UIUM MOHIUDDIN
w Battalion
■The Texas A&M student body will
ike an official stand on the future of Ag-
je Bonfire and A&M President Dr. Ray
1|Bowen's decision to postpone Bon-
H until 2002 tonight at the Student Sen
te meeting.
IB\cting as the voice of the student
ody, the Senate, composed of 58 sena-
6rs and six officers, will meet at 7:30
i,nn. in the Governance Room of the
Coldus Student Services Building to dis-
uls the Bonfire Resolution.
■The resolution states that the Senate,
epi esenting the student body, fully sup-
tor s and commends the administration
;nd Bowen and does not support and
trcngly discourages any other student
nit ativesnotin 100 percent accordance
vit 1 A&M and Bowen’s position.
■'it is really just time for the students to
take a firm stand and make our opinion
known to the entire outside world and say
that, yes, we do support the administra
tion and that any other student initiative
is unacceptable,” said Bobby Robbins,
one of the seven authors of the resolution,
chairman of academic affairs committee
and a senior political science major.
A five-person commission investi
gating the cause of the 1999 Aggie
Bonfire collapse released a report on
May 3 stating that the cause of collapse
was due to structural complications.
Bowen decided on June 16 that Bonfire
would be on hold until at least 2002
with modifications to the structure, de
velopment and leadership.
Vice President for Student Affairs Dr.
J. Malon Southerland and Student Body
President Forrest Lane, a senior political
science major, will co-chair a task force
consisting of 15 to 20 students, faculty
and staff, that has been charged with de
signing a safe Bonfire. The committee
will oversee the work of several sub
committees that will tackle individual is
sues such as safety, construction design
and student leadership.
“The Student Senate, along with For
est Lane, is the official elected voice of
the student body, and A&M has the high
est student voter turn out, which says a
lot about our student body and this reso
lution,” Robbins said.
Against admonitions by several stu
dent organizations against an off-cam-
pus bonfire, a student-initiated organi
zation, Keep The Fire Burning (KTFB),
is continuing with its plans to construct
a bonfire.
“They have a statement with 20 people
on it, but I see my email box with 1,000
statements [in support of an off-campus
bonfire],'’ said Will Chirk, board member
Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Governance Room
Koldus Building
BRANDON HENDERSON/Thk Battai ion
for KTFB. “I doubt that they have talked
to 1,000 people. 1 am not trying to pass
judgment on them. 1 understand that they
have to work with the University.”
However, Speaker of the Senate Chad
Wagner, a junior political science major,
explained that the authors of the resolu
tion have spoken with several students
and student leaders.
“The Student Senate has gone to sev
eral organizations to come up with this
opinion,” he said. “[The authors] have
judged from [their inquiry] that this is
best for A&M.
“The true voice of the constituents is
on the Senate floor. The student senator
See Senate on Page 6A.
T
T
Sununu appears
at Bush Center
Former chief of staff praises Bush’s term
KEVIN BURNS/The Battalion
Former Chief of Staff John Sununu spoke at the Bush Presidential
Center Tuesday about the Bush administration.
By Kristin Rostran
The Battalion
Former Chief of Staff for the Bush
administration John H. Sununu spoke
Tuesday about his challenges in the
high-ranking government position
and about the Bush administration
that has not gotten the recognition he
feels it deserves.
Sununu spoke at the George Bush
Presidential Conference Center.
“Being chief of staff was certainly
one of the most, if not the most, re
warding and gratifying periods of my
life,” Sununu said, adding that thick
skin is required in order to take all the
criticism that comes with the job.
Sununu served three consecutive
terms as the governor of New Hamp
shire and co-hosted CNN’s nightly
“Crossfire” from 1992-’98. Keeping on
top of information has been a part of Su-
nunu’s life for a long time, but, in the
chief of staff position, being informed
was necessary to keep the president
aware of the consequences his decisions.
“The chief of staff is whatever the
president the chief of staff is serving
wants it to be,” Sununu said. “It
changes to suit the maturity of the ad
ministration. If you are going to be a
good chief of staff, you are to fulfill the
president's agenda without any nuance
of your own built into the process.”
Sununu described Bush’s presiden
cy as a success not yet realized by the
news media.
“I am absolutely convinced that,
when history starts to do the score card,
this president's accomplishments on
the domestic side will be seen to be as
significant as what he was able to ac
complish in leading the free world to
respond in exactly the right way to the
dissolution of the Soviet Union and the
international changes. He was the
leader of during one of the most criti
cal international periods,” Sununu said.
He cited the ignored domestic
achievements of Bush as an example
between the reality of politics and the
public’s perception of them.
Sununu said he thinks Bush’s foreign
policy was not his only success as pres
ident. Under his administration, domes
tic contributions included the Clean Air
Act Amendments, child care amend
ment put on the budget bill, budget re
form, energy deregulation, agricultural
reforms and the American Disabilities
Act rewritten the way Bush wanted it.
“George Bush did all of that in four
years,” Sununu said. “At the risk of
See Sununu on Page 6A.
ioor
Bryan expo center to be placed on Nov. ballot
JYMaureen Rank
the Battalion
Following a meeting of the Brazos
bounty Commissioners Court Tuesday
Horning, commissioners announced a
ossible new exposition center to be
uilt in the city of Bryan.
A bond will be placed on the ballot
lov. 7 that will allow citizens of Bra-
os County to voice their opinions on
le |proposed exposition center, said
County Judge A1 Jones at the post
meeting press conference. He added he
is convinced the facility will be bene
fit Brazos County.
“Routinely, events cannot be held be
cause the current facility is not big
enough for some activities,” said Mervin
Peters, a member of the exposition com
mittee. “This is something that will pay
great dividends to those who use it.”
According to Randy Sims, a member
of the exposition committee, if a new ex
position center is built, many different
types of entertainment could be brought
to the Bryan-College Station area.
“Off-shoots of the Houston Livestock
show; purebred auctions; automobile,
boat, home and craft shows; concerts are
all possibilities for the new exposition
center,” Sims said. “There is not enough
room at the Brazos Center. This is going
to be a tremendous facility.”
Sims mentioned the possibility of
bringing a minor league hockey team to
Brazos County, stating that it could
draw large crowds to Bryan and College
Station.
Jones said several sites for the ex
position center are being considered,
and the committee is looking specifi
cally at the accessibility of each site to
restaurants and hotels.
See Commissioners on Page 6A.
Walton Hall
reprimanded
in Commons
By Brady Creel
The Battalion
The Food Services De
partment did not allow resi
dents of Walton Hall to enter
the Commons Dining Hall
Friday because of problems
with Northside residents the
previous weekend.
To combat unacceptable
behavior of students in dining
halls, Associate Director of
Food Services Cynthia Zaw-
ieja issued a letter to students
on Friday. The letter was dis
tributed to students at the
Commons, and it outlined ap
propriate student behavior and
accountability in the facility.
“To respect the rights of
all of our students who buy
meal plans ... we feel it is
our responsibility to main
tain the dining halls so that
every student has the oppor
tunity to come in and eat,”
Zawieja said.
Zawieja’s letter said that,
on Sept. 8, many regular cus
tomers “left the dining center
without the opportunity to
eat.” Residents of Schu
macher, Moses and Crocker
halls and the FHK complex
held a “Viking Yell” in which
residents wore their grades
— clothing worn for work
related to Bonfire that is in
tentionally left unwashed —
when they went to the Com
mons to eat. A food fight be
gan during Viking Yell.
Zawieja said the Northside
residents were easily recog
nized because of their grades.
Food Services was expecting
their arrival on Sept. 15 and
would not admit them be
cause it was suspected they
would hold Viking Yell —
and a food fight — again.
“Students who do not
comply with student rules
may be refused entrance into
the dining center or be re
moved with follow-up of dis
ciplinary action and forfei
ture of dining meal options
on campus,” the letter stated.
Josh Kaylor, Residence
Hall Association president
and a junior agricultural de
velopment major, said the
Viking Yell was held in place
of “Sbisa Yell,” a version of
Yell Practice held in the din
ing facility, because Sbisa is
currently closed for renova
tion. Sbisa Yell often includes
throwing Sbisa balls — nap
kins shaped like a ball with
food inside—and food fights.
Viking Yell is considered
a Bonfire-related activity,
Zawieja said. She said Food
Services felt that since there
will be no Bonfire this year,
students should not partici
pate in behavior that is nor
mally associated with Bon
fire, such as grading.
She added that the Food
Services Department has
chosen to “clamp down” on
this type of behavior because
it will not be tolerated in
Sbisa after it reopens.
Zawieja said Food Ser
vices attempted to control
Sbisa Yell before Sbisa was
closed in December 1999.
Activities that were tolerated
in the past will not happen in
the new Sbisa.
“It is an added burden to
our staff to have to stay and
help clean up this mess,” Za
wieja said. “It is really not
appropriate for the dining
center. We respect the fact
that students want to go wild
and crazy and have fun, but
there are other people in the
dining center who don’t par
ticularly want to participate
or be involved.”
In her letter, Zawieja cit
ed section 34.1.5 of the Stu
dent Rules, which reads
“Students participating in or
See Rules on Page 6A.
Food Services
from the Student Conduct Code
Students participating in or encouraging
disturbances in the dining baits will be
subject to disciplinary action. Students
will be billed for the total cost of replacing
items broken, damaged or destroyed as a
result of mischieuous conduct, carelessness
and wanton distinction.
members of the faculty and staff haue the
authority and responsibility to maintain
responsible standards of student dress and
grooming within their respectiue
classrooms, laboratories, offices and other
areas of public presentation for
which they are responsible.
^University of Texas
to increase faculty
rvod
■AUSTIN (AP) — The
University of Texas-Austin
lyill work to hire 300 pro-
Fessors within 10 years, en-
■rage students to gradu-
H in four years, increase
Itaff workers’ pay and lob
by the Legislature for con-
rol of setting tuition, Presi-
leni Larry Faulkner said
Yiesday.
•’Faulkner addressed the
ssues in his annual “State
tf the University” address.
^‘T believe that expand-
ig the faculty is critical to
our success. As we proceed,
however, we must make a
conscious effort to build a
faculty reflecting the di
verse population of our stu
dents. We have made a
great deal of progress dur
ing the past several years,
but we must do better still,”
Faulkner said.
On Monday, the univer
sity announced its fall en
rollment was 50,010 — the
state’s and nation’s largest.
See UT on Page 6A.
UT professor speaks to Aggies about racism
By Sommer Bunce
The Battalion
“It’s the white people in this country who need to
hear this, because we’re the ones with the privilege, and
as it is often pointed out, privilege is often invisible to
those who have it,” said University of Texas (UT) jour
nalism professor Robert W. Jensen Tuesday about the
roles of Caucasians and affirmative action in America.
Dr. Mitchell Rice, director of the Texas A&M Race
and Ethnic Studies Institute, arranged for Jensen to ad
dress students and to initiate a dialogue about affirma
tive action among Caucasians.
“What I’m trying to do is be honest about the priv
ilege [that white people have], and I’m here because,
at some point in my life I decided those privileges of
race, gender and culture had to be pointed out,” said
Jensen, adding that affirmative action — which re
quires a quota of minority students or employees in an
institution — already exists in a comparatively Cau
casian-dominated society for its Caucasians citizens.
Jensen, co-editor of Freeing the First
Amendment: Critical Perspectives on Free
dom of Expression and co-author of Pornog
raphy: The Production and Consumption of
Inequality, also writes opinion and analytical
articles of media outlets. Rice said Jensen’s
work has raised a need for discussion.
“Racism is alive and well,” Rice said. “1
think we all know that, and we all have our ex
periences with that. You can hear me talk of af
firmative action, and you can expect me to be
cause I’m African-American. But we’re hearing
from an Anglo who readily admits that he has
benefited from being white in this culture.”
Jensen, who refers to himself as “a dumb-
ass white boy from North Dakota,” admits to
not being a race expert or a man who earned his
degree researching race. He said he is, instead,
See Jensen on Page 2A.
Robert W. Jensen, an associate professor of journalism at
UT-Austin, gives a lecture on racism Tuesday in Koldus.