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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.
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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.
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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.