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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 2000)
team hadaj '-he said 2 and No, 3 "ice furttic:'; I Jessica here they to ■i and Marti' and Smasij va and Mi if 16, where! rah Borwell s the last ill participi '{from hi; eouts by ' court and i seal the|i Js on thedt ough nii!i((i : on the ev spite inutes atfl iilchrist's* eight rebffif'. ris 20-poin isketball® 99-‘00set aided on g double ad four pi; J beat Mi ■■■■■■» (il =fJ I^Wl\ AI AIJ^I k T i Americans await Florida’s recount /ice President Al Gore counts on Florida for the winning Irotes to become the 4 3rd President of the United States. (AP) —The United States was built on two equally solid founda tions: a Constitution that turns ideals into laws, and an unswerv ing sense that healthy competition creates better products. Rarely in American history have these two principles come to gether in such a dramatic way. Even in a political system with a built-in tension that pulls things toward the center — where most people’s sympathies lie — a pub lic split this widespread and this narrow is simply extraordinary. In the land that prides itself on ma jority rule, from the presidential race on down, the majority seems slimmer than ever. The result? A moment of na tional limbo, a collective bewil derment — and an unusual oppor tunity to consider what makes the American system tick. “Lots of people are reading their Constitutions for the first time in years,” said John Hood, president of the John Locke Foun dation, a conservative think tank in Raleigh, N.C. Americans are even split on the split itself. Where some took to the talk shows Wednesday to warn of gridlock, disarray, even a national crisis, others saw a healthy repub lic filled with principled people — a nation that, after splitting down the middle, is proceeding accord ing to law, policy and civilized in stitution. “There’s not an insurrection. There’s not a riot,” said Rebecca Dalton, an antique-mall owner from Sallisaw, Okla. “We’re not out fighting in the streets today.” The narrow divisions were not just the problem of George W. Bush and Al Gore. From Michigan to Washington, Senate contests were, for many hours, too tight to call. Gov ernors won by the smallest of mar gins. When day broke Wednesday, 16 state legislatures were Democrat ic, 16 Republican and 15 split, with the verdict still out on two more. “The nation is at partisan pari ty,” said Kevin Mack, head of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Caucus. See Election on Page 6A. I from m ve a setter| nd on tfev * ion help! ;| irnes. Cm ivs “gi(tl ,s A» he saidl lon’t have that theAi ly one (Jiff in. said. “Ifti Yell leaders for OU ‘Towel Out’ ^sterns, lac. f softwares try. Ourf' tudents ® intern p 2 working d web By Noel Freeman The Battalion When Oklahoma University comes to Aggieland Saturday, it will experience firsthand a man ifestation of Texas A&M as Kyle Field’s stands become an enor mous swirling mass of Twelfth Man towels. The designated “Towel Out” is intended to revive the tradition of fans twirling• Twelfth Man towel ( s at football games,' said yell leader Ben Cholick, a senior construction science major. “In the ’80s and ’90s, you saw Twelfth Man towel mania,” Cholick said. “Our goal is to bring that back.” Cholick said fans still swing Twelfth Man towels, but the numbers have dwindled over the years. With A&M playing No. 1 Oklahoma, the excitement is al ready building, said head yell leader Ricky Wood, a senior theater arts major. He added that the noise generated by a crowd of more than 80,000 fans can sometimes be deafen ing and create a serious disad vantage for the opposing team. “With 80,000 towels swing ing, the stands actually appear to move,” Wood said. “I can’t imagine how distracting that can be to the other team.” To promote the Towel Out, Twelfth Man towels are on sale for $ 1 at the Memorial Student Center and other locations around campus,, a discount from the usual $4 price. With the» broadcasting of ESPN “Gameday” from Kyle Field beginning at 9 a.m:, and with the game being televised nationally on ABC, an estimat ed 45 percent of the nation’s population will see the game. “A&M has a great opportu nity to show the Aggie spirit to a national audience,” Wood said. “This is our time to show them what Aggies are all about.” mmk ^ Taylor Carmichael, a sophomore busi ness major, Preston Perry, a junior com puter science major, and Ben Cognata, a senior mechanical engineering major, call STUART VILLANUEVA/Thi: Battalion out to passersby in front of the Academic Building on Wednesday. The trio was sell ing Twelfth Man Towels for A&M's up coming football game against Oklahoma. Revisions to smoking ordinance discussed By Joseph Pleasant The Battalion . Smokers in the Bryan-College Sta tion area may have to put out their ciga rettes when eating out if proposed revi sions to the cities’ smoking ordinances are passed by the Bryan and College Sta tion city councils. The councils are con sidering revising the current smoking or dinances, possibly banning smoking in public areas. t Currently, area restaurants permit ►smoking in designated areas. { The councils are considering differ ent alternatives to the current policy, some of which would completely pro hibit smoking in public areas, change the building requirements for restaurants or add more regulations for restaurants. A joint meeting between the city councils and the Brazos County Com missioners Court was held last Thursday night at the Brazos Center. Harvey Cargill, city attorney for Col lege Station, addressed the issue of en forcing the smoking ordinance. “Currently it is $ 100 to $500 fine for smoking in a nonsmoking area,” Cargill said. “Enforcement could fall under the health department, the fire marshal’s of fice or even the building inspector’s of fice, if the council changes requirements on the actual structure.” . Enforcement of the ordinance will be a concern of the city councils when making their decision. “There is no safe level of exposure to cigarette smoke,” said Dr. Dallas Coate of the Brazos County Health Authority. “Even if the smoke cannot be smelled, carcinogens are still being inhaled.” Citing a California study, Coate added that waiters and waitresses work ing in the smoking sections of restau rants tend to have higher chances of de veloping lung cancer. Many B-CS residents, as well as lo cal restaurant owners, attended the meeting to voice their opinions about the proposed revisions. “Being in the presence of smoke is a physical assault,” said Howard Fredrics, h College Station resident and a Texas A&M music professor. John Greer, a College Station resident, See Tobacco on Page 2A. r N'inaty 01 Fficetf* -/< ss£ U.S. Senate appoints A&M prof to OASI Saving to serve as public member on Medicare board of trustees By Elizabeth Raines The Battalion The U.S. Senate recently approved the nomination of Texas A&M econom ics professor Thomas R. Saving to the board of trustees of the federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund and the federal Disability Insur ance (DI) Trust Fund. The OASI and Dl trust funds fi nance retirement, disability and sur vivors benefits under social security. Clinton nominated Saving Sept. 27. He will serve a four-year term with a one- year grace period. Saving will serve as one of two pub lic members on the' board of trustees. The board consists of six members: Sav ing, the secretary of treasury, the secre tary of labor, the secretary of health and human services, the commissioner of Social Security and another public mem ber nominated by the president. The board will produce an annual report to Congress on the financial status of the OASI, the federal Hospital Insurance (HI) and the federal Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) trust funds. “I have spent the last few years working extensively on the problems of Social Security and Medicare” — Thomas R. Saving OASI appointee and A&M economics professor “I am very excited to serve on this board,” Saving said. “I have spent the last few years working extensively on the problems of Social Security and Medicare, and what we say as a board will help to forecast the future of So cial Security.” He will also serve as a public mem ber on the board of trustees of two Medicare funds: the HI and the SMI. HI and SMI finance Medicare. Saving will meet with the board bian- nually. The first meeting will be Nov. 30 and the second will occur sometime in March 2001. Saving has spent much time working with the federal government on eco nomic issues, specifically the topics of Medicare and Social Security. “Saving is a noted authority on Medicare and Social Security,” said See Professor on Page 6A. Last night, Governor George W. Bush was predicted the 43rd President, but now the decision relies on a recount. Local voter: registration questioned By Elizabeth Raines The Battalion Tuesday’s presidential election proved that every vote does count, but some Texas A&M students expect ed to have the opportunity to vote, but could not. “When the College Re publican'workers came out to the Callaway House on Sept. 18 to register Voters for this election, I registered un der the assumption that the Cbllege Republicans would be responsible enough to turn my application in,” said Josh Collins, a sophomore business major. “But when I attempted to vote on Tues day, I was denied, being told that I had not registered.” College Republicans, hoping to draw in more vot ers, embarked on a campaign to register A&M students. Among their stops, the vol unteer deputy registrars within the College Republi cans registered students at the Callaway House. Collins said the students filled out voter registration applica tions and the deputy regis trars gave them receipts. Come election day, stu dents from the Callaway House discovered that they could not vote because they were not registered. Buddy Winn, the Brazos County tax assessor-collec tor and voter registrar, said about 45 other students ex perienced the same situation when they tried to vote. “We had about 15 stu dents come to our office Tuesday with complaints that they had been turned away because they were told that they had not regis tered to vote,” Winn said. “Luckily a few of them had kept their receipts from when they filled out the vot er registration card, so they were able to go on and vote. We told the others who came to the office without a receipt that they could vote via a challenged voter affi davit. It is sad, though, for the ones who were so dis couraged at the voter’s booth and just went home.” Winn said he understands the importance of voting be cause he defeated Republi can candidate Art King for the County Tax Assessor- Collector position by a 2 per cent margin Tuesday. Winn said he did not re ceive applications for those who had receipts but were not registered to vote. Winn said he thinks the voter reg istration applications were lost somewhere during a break when they were trans ferred from the volunteer deputy registrar to Jack Long, president of Texas A&M College Republicans and a junior political sci ence major. To be able to vote, one must be registered in that area 30 days before an elec- tion. Most students have left See Voting on Page 8A. WWII hero’s lost Aggie Ring found COLLEGE STATION — Braving the pounding gunfire and chaos of a World War II battle, Texas A&M graduate Turne\ W. Leonard became a hero. But Leonard and his helm ed Aggie class ring never came home. Leonard, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army, died near Kommerscheidt. Germany, in 1944. He was posthumous ly awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery during bat tle. Although his body was recovered in 1950. his family never received the ring. The\ believed it w as lost forever. This week, Leonard’s niece learned the ring has resur faced. A German military officer, whose name is not yet known, reportedly has the ring and w ishes to return it to Leonard’s nativ e Texas. "His ring was his most prized possession." said Karen Kershaw, w ho lives in Duncanville, Texas. '“That’s the onl\ thing that we will have, other than his remains that were Sec Ring on Page 6A.