STATE
THE BATTALION
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Texas
Sports: Washington coach should be fired • Page 3
Opinion: Mr. Virtue craps out • Page 5
1 HE BATTALION
(Volume 109 • Issue 148 • 6 pages
unday night, thewesi
lorthern parts of it
'e received as mucl
. in South Plains;
mil Tuesday night,tmi
rly to tell whetherc«-
>. particularly
were damaged heavik
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day after so you have
a few days,”
de, spokesman forthe|ic
Cotton Growers,
appraisers will wait a
o see if the
likely to recover
he said.
Daws
County has lost
about 15,0
acres from stoo
in recent days.
Cotton fan
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the cotton caw
By Melissa Sullivan
THE BATTALION
Tuition increases for the fall
are expected to be small, despite
state Legislature giving pub-
universities more power in
letting tuition rates, Texas A&M
afficials said last week.
A&M will receive as much
tney from the state for the
04-05 school year as it did for
02-03.
Chancellor Howard Graves,
head of the A&M University
recover.
“Some of
gets to be a jut
rnent call «
whether (the
ton) will comt
Wade said. “It's
>t,
o.’
vuth in Webb County,
is 500 homes were
>wer in 100-degref
'sday after overnight
ie area
m carried winds ot
mph, causing some
mage. A Head S
provides meals
: children was
oof tops were
•s at the Laredo
I Airport and some
commercial jets were
es were reported,
/ere roofs that wete
through the air*!
ocks away,” Comt)
is Bruni said.4j
ne of the move
len you’d see co»s
gh the air. Well,
ilants.”
109 Years Serving Texas A&M University
www.thebatt.com
Tuition raise should be small
System, told The Bryan-College
Station Eagle last week that
A&M will still receive a cut and
the figure does not take growth,
health care costs and technology
cuts into account.
“We are just grateful we did
n’t have the train wreck we start
ed with,” he said.
A&M President Robert M.
Gates said he does not foresee
tuition rates “skyrocketing” and the
University will decide where the
unexpected expenditures will go.
“We will keep (tuition) at the
lowest level we can and keep the
increase as low as possible,” he
said.
In January, at the start of the
legislative session, system offi
cials predicted a possible 12.5
percent cut, which is $167 mil
lion over two years.
Tuition deregulation was
passed by the Legislature last
week partly because public uni
versities lost money due to the
state’s $9.9 billion budget debt.
The law is meant to let univer
sities charge students more to
make up for the lost funds,
increase graduation rates,
encourage efficient use of facili
ties and enhance employee per
formance. The bill will allow for
a $23 per-credit hour increase
over the next two years. That
amount is near the ceiling, how
ever, and certain campuses may
not choose to increase tuition by
that amount.
Graves said tuition at A&M
will most likely increase the
See Tuition on page 2
u
p
D
A
Monday, June 9, 2003
A&M tuition and budget
Tuition increases will be small
A&M will lose $3 million during
the next two years
A&M faces a $3 million deficit
from the current fiscal year
A&M will move $20 million from
weaker programs to stronger
ones
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
SOURCE: PRESIDENT ROBERT M. CATES
High with a little help
riming in San
i Galveston
reported
ling. The Coast
i 47-foot rescue
in helicopter, two
inty patrol boats
il watercraft from
Beach Patrol pat-
i search,
officials also spent
ig searching for
n who fell from a
about 18
meron, La.
TERESA WEAVER • THE BATTALION
Sophomore psychology major Chelsea Garrett and senior
agricultural economics major Amy Mitchell walk across
the Aggie Shuffle 35 feet in the air at the Texas A&M chal
lenge course on Saturday. The Aggie Orientation Leaders
spent the day participating in both high and low elements
that focused on teamwork and communication skills.
dation
'S
umpaicn
Regents approve
airport repairs
Board of Regents
MEETING
approued:
By Rob Munson
THE BATTALION
The Texas A&M System Board of
Regents authorized construction of a hangar
ramp for Easterwood Airport and
changes to plans for a residence life build-
; Friday.
Ninety percent of the $1.6 million air-
1 project will be funded by an entitle-
nt grant from the Federal Aviation
ministration, while the remaining 10 per
il will come from airport operating
income, said Tim Donathen, A&M
versity System executive director of
facilities, planning and construction.
Repairs to taxiway “E” are covered
under the FAA grant, and future construc-
fsnon two new airport aprons will be based
cnhow much funding is left over, Donathen
said.
“A new hangar
built for Texas Task
Force 1, the urban
search-and-rescue
team, will not be cov
ered under the FAA
grant,” he said.
Construction is
expected to be com
pleted by summer
2004.
Changes in the
plans for a $13.2
million residence
life building exceed
ed the original pro
jected cost by $1.9 million and needed
the Board of Regents’ approval before
moving forward.
A&M President Robert M. Gates said
the new building will be the “first fruits” of
R $1.6 million construction
project for a hangar and
ramp at Easterwood
Rirport
Changes to plans for a
new residence life building
that will cost an estimated
$ 13.2 million
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
SOURCE: TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
the campus’ master plan.
“(The building) will be a much more
attractive, appropriate use of space in terms
See Regents on page 2
Poland votes to join European Union
By Colleen Barry
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WARSAW, Poland
President Aleksander
Kwasniewski told cheering
^porters Sunday that Poland
^fulfilled its aspirations to
r etum to Europe, after exit
Ms showed an overwhelming
'Me in favor of joining the
European Union.
“We are coming back. We
are coming back to Europe,”
Kwasniewski said at the presi
dential palace after kissing his
wife, Jolanta, and hugging for
mer Solidarity activists.
Concern that voter turnout
would fall below the 50 per
cent required to make the ref
erendum valid spurred many to
the polls on the second day of
voting Sunday, encouraged by
their priests, family and
friends.
Turnout reached 56 percent
of the registered 29.5 million
voters Sunday, according to
exit polls, after an 18 percent
vote on Saturday. The polls, by
the private PBS polling
agency, said 82 percent voted
“yes” for membership.
The referendum gives
Kwasniewski the popular
mandate needed to ratify
Poland’s treaty with the EU,
signed at an Athens summit in
April. The first official results
were expected after midnight.
With 38 million people,
Poland would be the largest
country to join the 15-nation
bloc, leading the largest wave
of EU expansion and holding
voting power equal to Spain
and behind only Great Britain,
Germany, France and Italy.
Hungary, Slovakia,
See Poland on page 2
First diversity VP
candidate visits
By Justin Smith
THE BATTALION
How people behave toward one
another, treat one another and
whether they display tolerance and
respect one another is how Dr.
James Anderson said he defines
diversity.
“(Diversity) is a well-reasoned
philosophy, or ethos, that an insti
tution has that speaks to how it
perceives itself and its institutional
image,” he said.
Anderson, the first of three can
didates coming to College Station
vying for the new vice president of
diversity and associate provost for
Institutional Diversity position,
gave a presentation last Thursday
on his views of diversity and what
Texas A&M, as well as other
schools, can do to become more
diverse.
Anderson’s plan to diversify
any school is a multi-pronged
strategy that includes getting fac
ulty and departments involved by
way of incentives and having
classes on diversity.
ANDERSON
He also wants to engage sopho
mores and juniors in high school
by bringing them to the University.
Enrollment and retention of a
diverse population are important,
he said.
“The benefits
that diversity has
for underrepresent
ed students are
equally beneficial
for majority stu
dents,” he said.
Anderson, cur
rently the vice
provost for undergraduate affairs at
North Carolina State University, is
well versed in diversity and human
nature, having grown up on the
streets of Washington D.C. and
receiving his formal education in
psychology at Villanova
University and Cornell University.
During the past 15 years
Anderson has researched the bene
fits and roadblocks of diversity. He
has also given numerous speeches
and written many scholastic essays
See Candidate on page 2
Power outage traced
BRYAN (AP) — Multiple mechanical failures at a single substation
triggered the electricity outage that darkened the Bryan-College Station
area on April 15, local and state power officials have determined.
The findings by the Texas Municipal Power Agency, which controls
the Gibbons Creek substation, were submitted recently to the Electric
Reliability Council of Texas, The Bryan-College Station Eagle reported
in Sunday’s editions.
ERCOT continues to compile reports on the incident from transmis
sion companies affected by the outage, but said the power agency’s find
ings will play a large part in its final report.
The outage affected about 68,000 power meters in the region and
brought the area to a standstill that day, forcing the closure of Texas
A&M University and other schools and businesses.
Officials said ERCOT has been in preliminary talks about the pos
sibility of a second power line feeding the area, which could have pre
vented an outage caused by the Gibbons Creek shutdown.
Short-term leases prove
hard to find, officials say
By Megan Orton
THE BATTALION
December graduates may
encounter difficulties finding living
arrangements for the fall due to the
lack of six-month leases available,
apartment officials said.
Mike Pishner, manager of
Pontalba Apartments, said it is
wrong to turn so many Aggies away
with no place to go.
“I take care of my residents who
have lived here for a year and are
graduating in December,” he said.
Pishner said residents of other
apartments in the area, whose leases
are up in May or August, have been
forced out and have come to him
begging for a place to stay during
the fall semester.
However, some local apartments
will make special exceptions for res
idents who have been faithfully pay
ing rent for the past year.
“What most apartments are
doing is issuing semester leases for a
limited number of students,” said
Risa Bierman, coordinator of Adult
Graduate and Off-Campus Student
Services “If you’ve lived there
before, the complexes are some
times softer on their limits.”
Hayley Griffin, apartment leas
ing agent, said Sterling Apartments
has set a renewal date during the
month of February for students
wanting to renew their leases for an
extra six months. Their usual limit
on the number of six-month leases
is 15; however, 20 are being allowed
to renew this fall.
The Exchange at Luther Street
also allows a certain number of six-
month leases to students who gradu
ate in December.
“We have done our best to try
and accommodate everyone,” said
Adam Miller, The Exchange’s leas
ing professional.
Other apartment complexes
allow students to rent an apartment
for an additional six months, but
charge an extra monthly fee per per
son ranging from $25 to $80.
“We had to make a deal with
them,” said senior journalism major
Melissa Fowler, a resident of
Rosewood Villa. “We’re paying an
additional $70 per person per
month, but it was the only way to
avoid a sublease.”
See Leases on page 2