I HE BATl.
Agcielife: Martin Short comes to First yell
Page 3
Opinion: Smokers should be more considerate • Page 11
BFolume 109 • Issue 16 • 12 pages
www.thebatt.coin
Friday, September 20, 2002
RHA claims neutral on off-campus bonfire
By Lauren Bauml
THE BATTALION
I In a two-hour debate Wednesday
niizlit, the Residence Hall Association
■ HA) amended a proposed resolution
afier delegates pressured the general
alsembly to drop language from legis
lation that did not support of off-cam
pus bonfires.
I RHA ruled to support the efforts of
the Fall Activities Council, but after
debate concluded to neither support
nor oppose an off-campus bonfire and
the Unity Project, a student organiza
tion seeking to build its own bonfire
this fall.
With the overwhelming vocal pres
sure of Northside halls, including Moore
and Moses halls, the general assembly
voted to remove language from pro
posed legislation that said RHA would
not support an off-campus bonfire.
“(We) did not expect this to hap
pen,” said Suzanne Hill, RHA vice
president of operations and senior
meteorology major. “We can't tell hall
officials what to think, but we can get
the point across that they are not
allowed to represent any hall at an off-
campus bonfire project.”
Some delegates argued that prohibit
ing support of the Unity Project would
violate First Amendment rights
Luke Cheatham, a Walton resident
adviser and spokesman for the Unity
Project, was present at the meeting.
“We are here to support residents of
the community and bring unity back to
students,” Cheatham said. “We have
found a majority of support for an off-
campus bonfire including red pots, old
yell leaders and alumns. If students
choose to participate, that is their right.”
When the question arose of who the
Unity Project was intended for, Moore
Hall President Michael Hilsher and
sophomore general studies major said
“Aggies,” but later changed his view to
include all members of the community,
including Blinn students.
RHA President John Casares said
the debate did not divide the general
assembly.
“I believe this meeting has made us
stronger because the amendments
proved the process works. People
voiced their opinion, were heard and
things changed,” Casares said. “I don't
think we have ever been stronger as an
organization.”
“We are fired up for this year, and I
know good things will come because
tonight proved we all have a voice,”
Hill said.
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RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION
Former Texas A&M student and assistant curator of col- at the museum in Bryan. The exhibit includes 50 dif
lections and exhibits at the Brazos Valley Museum of ferent types of snakes from Texas and 12 of them are
Natural History Amy Witte cares for a Trans Pecos Rat poisonous. The exhibit is cared for by Texas A&M stu-
Snake. The rat snake is part of a snake exhibit put on dents and will run until Dec. 1.
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Researcher, author speaks about art
By Sara Runnels
THE BATTALION
I Artwork is an essential part of
black culture, said Nell Irving
Painter, researcher and author on the
subject of black history.
I “Art itself is a way of creating,”
Painter said.
[ Painter, the Edwards professor at
Princeton University, said she created
both the theme and title of her text
specifically to support the idea which
the book is based on: black artwork
and how it shapes the culture.
Painter said black artists have cre
ated a unique identity for their history.
“The textbook focuses on African
Americans through the eyes of the
African artist, not African American
art history,” Painter said.
All of the art in the textbook is
based on a concept of “history in
memory,” Painter said.
“History in memory looks at what
we want to remember in African
American history, but have also
wanted to forget,” she said.
In writing Creating Black
Americans, Painter said she did not
want to make it a point to “lead with
the bad stuff,” such as slavery and
white supremacy.
Painter said if there had not been
black struggles, then blacks would be
leading lives similar to other
Americans, free from memories of
oppression.
Painter serves as a mentor and
professor at Princeton University,
and is in the process of completing
her seventh text.
She was a guest speaker as part of
the American Studies Distinguished
Lecture Series Thursday night.
Uprising put down in Ivory Coast; interior
minister and former coup leader killed
holars
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP)
Loyalist forces put down an attempted
coup Thursday in which the minister
in charge of police was killed along
with a former junta leader who the
government said was involved in the
'evolt that was staged while the presi-
lent was out of the country.
President Laurent Gbagbo’s govern-
nent has been struggling to calm lin-
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gering ethnic and political tension and a
restive military since the once-tranquil
country’s first-ever coup, in 1999.
“According to our information, we
can say it is an attempted coup d’e
tat,” Defense Minister Lida Moise
Kouassi said on state television which
had been off the air during 12 hours of
gunfire and explosions in Abidjan, the
commercial capital.
' Interior Minister Emile Boga
Doudou, who controlled the police,
and deposed military ruler Gen.
Robert Guei both were killed in the
uprising, said presidential aide Alain
Toussaint from Rome.
He blamed the former junta leader
for calling out rebellious forces during
Gbagbo’s absence.
“Obviously the uprising was prepared
ahead of time, knowing the president
would be out of the country,” Toussaint
told reporters. “Do you think Guei was
on the battlefield going shopping?”
Toussaint said rebellious soldiers
attacked the presidential palace but,
with loyalist forces now in control,
Gbagbo (pronounced BAHG-bo)
planned to continue his visit and
would have an audience Friday with
Pope John Paul II.
Officials said Guei was shot at a
downtown Abidjan military checkpoint
after his car refused orders to stop, the
officials reported. Loyalist paramilitary
police opened fire on Guei’s vehicle and
the general died at the scene, said Sgt.
Ahossi Aime.
Infrastructure Minister Patrick Achy
said it appeared the country’s sports
minister might still be in the hands of
insurgents at Bouake.
The uprising began about 3 a.m. with
automatic-weapons fire outside a para
military police base in Abidjan. About
15 gunmen broke into the compound as
many more gathered outside, an officer
said from inside the base.
The rebellious troops also had
attacked military targets and bases in at
least three other towns in central and
northern Ivory Coast.
Kouassi said troops were mobilized
nationwide to put down the insurrection
See Ivory Coast on page 2
Representative calls for
affordable education
By Lauren Smith
THE BATTALION
The Texas Legislature should place
more emphasis on attaining affordable
higher education that prepares children
to become the state’s leaders, said Texas
state Sen. Steve Ogden, R-College
Station Thursday.
A college-educated work force will
build a stronger economic foundation
for the state, he said.
Ogden is co-chainnan for the legis
lature’s Joint Interim Committee for
Higher Education Funding, studying
public school finance and health costs.
“The big enchilada is medicine and
the technology all around it that is
improving the quality of and extend
ing lives,” Ogden said. “The more
technology we apply to medicine, the
more it costs and sooner or later it will
blow us up.”
The large expenditures on health
care and advancing medical technology
are even affecting Texas A&M, he said.
“The reasoh Texas A&M is not get
ting as much money as it needs is the
money is diverted to health care; $1 1.5
million was spent last year on health
care, a 12 to 13 percent increase from
last year, which should be enough,”
Ogden said. “However, it isn’t.”
The University is becoming less
dependent on state support, he said,
which means A&M is becoming entre
preneurial and making $2 or $3 for
every $1 the state gives the University.
Ogden said he would like to see
more interdependence between A&M
and its sister schools through semester
exchange programs.
“1 would like to see an affirmative
action program for undergraduates of
A&M’s sister schools for getting into
graduate school here, which would be
good politically and for the University
as a flagship school,” Ogden said.
Ogden addressed many of the tech
nological issues that the legislature will
face in January, from improving air
quality to lowering the amount of traf
fic deaths in Texas. But, he said, higher
education remained at the top of his
priority list.
“I want the legislature to send a clear
signal to higher education in general
that the legislature’s priority is to
improve the quality of the undergradu
ate experience in Texas, so we can stand
up and say our undergrads are the best
in the country,” Ogden said.
Prospective student
center opens in Dallas
By Lecia Baker
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M will open its first
regional prospective student center
Sept. 24 in Dallas to assist the area’s
students on any questions they have
regarding admission to the University.
Dr. Joseph Estrada, assistant provost
for enrollment, said the center will serve
as a satellite office of the Prospective
Student Center on the A&M campus in
College Station. The center will be
staffed with two Dallas-based admis
sions counselors, Mickey Saloma and
Jerry Smith, both A&M graduates.
“The center’s main purpose is to
keep a constant connection to prospec
tive students and their families,” Estrada
said. “It will be a place prospective stu
dents can go and obtain information on
any area of interest, such as admissions
criteria, financial aid and housing.”
Estrada said the University wants the
center to provide information to
prospective freshmen, but to also attract
transfer, graduate and international stu
dents and aid them.
He said the purpose of locating the
center in Dallas was to create geographi
cal diversity within the student body. The
University, Estrada said, would like to
attract more students from the Dallas/Ft.
Worth area and surrounding towns.
Mickey Saloma, the senior admis
sions counseling adviser, has moved
from College Station to the Dallas-
based center to offer assistance to the
area’s prospective students. Saloma
and Smith will better serve prospective
students by answering questions that
students and families might have about
the admissions process, but they will
also spend much of their time visiting
the area’s high schools to promote the
opportunities at A&M. Their main mis
sion is to establish a closer relationship
with the counselors and students of the
Dallas area.
Saloma said he wants to put a special
emphasis on assisting students with
applications.
“I want the center to be a place that
students can come and receive help with
their applications,” Saloma said. “I
want every application that comes from
the Dallas area to be strong, accurate
and complete.”
“The beauty of the center is that it is
located in the community,” said Cynthia
See Dallas on page 2
Regional Prospective Student Center
Goal
OPENS SEPT. 24 - DALLAS, TX
Help prospective undergraduate,
transfer, graduate and
international students find answers
regarding Texas A&M and the
admissions process.
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION