University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 28, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 28, 1998 Page: 1 of 6
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Success of the age
“Titanic” hits highest proceeds for any movie ever
produced.
Page 3
‘Presidential Sex’
Wesley Hagood’s book shows that Clinton is not
the only U.S. president caught up in a sex scandal.
Page 4
Jennifer Washington
Trackster senior is all conference, a leader in her
sorority and has been honored by the NCAA.
Page 5
University Press
Wednesday, January 28,1998 Serving Lamar University and the community for 74 years Vol. 74, No. 28
NIC’s dry-frat resolution legally motivated
Archie Windham
UP copy editor
J J. Evans, played by Jimmie Walker on
“Good Times,” called Kool Aid the
“ambrosia of the ghetto.” In light of the
two binge-drinking deaths last fall of fra-
ternity members at LSU and MIT, JJ.
may well be tampering with a new form of
dynamite — alcohol misuse — and calling
it the “ambrosia of the ‘frat rat.’”
The National Interfratemity
Conference (NIC) — representing 66
international men’s college fraternities —
unanimously adopted a resolution Jan. 20
“strongly” encouraging “its member fra-
ternities to pursue alcohol-free facilities”,
in order to fend off morality soldiers wag-
ing war against ‘frat rats’ and their alco-
holic ambrosia, but Lamar fraternity mem-
bers and locally licensed alcohol vendors
believe the NIC’s recommendation to be
legally, not morally, motivated.
Cleve Wilson, Lamar’s Alpha Phi
Alpha chapter vice president and newly
elected IFC vice president, said he believes
NIC’s resolution meets the demands of
swelling public dissent toward the role of
the fraternity, but said he doesn’t believe it
changes anything outside who is held
accountable in case of an alcohol-related
mishap.
“Basically, it’s a liability issue,” Wilson
said. “But I think because of recent
tragedies people are pushing more.”
Danny Carey, rush chairman and mas-
ter of ceremonies for Lamar’s Kappa
Sigma chapter, echoed Wilson’s senti-
ment.
“Most nationals are mandating (alco-
hol-free fraternity houses) to free them-
selves from liability,” Carey said.
Daiquiri Roy*, Sodexho food service
supervisor, said the issue has nothing to do
with moral concerns whatsoever.
“For the most part, the issue is liability
and who is accountable,” Roy said.
Clint Clark, Sigma Nu member and IFC
student assistant, said he doesn’t believe
alcohol-related mishaps involving fraterni-
ties would be an issue if fraternities could
not, and never could have been, held
accountable.
“No one would care,” Clark said.
Alpha Phi Alpha and Sigma Nu are cur-
rently the only two Lamar fratemites that
have adopted a dry-house policy, but even
they make no bones about the reasoning
See POLICY, page 2
UPSmith
Scott Weldon, a Lamar post-baccalaureate student, works on Mardi Gras floats Sunday in Port Arthur.
Pope’s Cuban visit
offers hope, promise
for future freedoms
HAVANA (AP) — Pope John Paul II gave
Cuba’s church an ambitious mission: to expand its
role in Cuban society through Catholic education,
greater access to mass media, more priests and more
charity work. Churchmen said Monday they were
optimistic they can fulfill at least some of those
goals.
The pope flew out of Cuba on Sunday with
strong calls for “greater liberty and pluralism” on
the communist island, but his five-day visit also
seemed to establish an unprecedented level of coop-
eration with Fidel Castro’s government.
“I believe the balance was very positive and
hope that the word of the pope will help a peaceful
transformation of current structures toward forms of
greater liberty, greater participation,” Cardinal
Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state, told
Vatican Radio on his return to Italy.
It was not clear if the pontiff won specific com-
mitments from Cuba; indeed, those were not the
main points of his pastoral visit to a country that
abandoned official atheism only in 1992.
“The visit was never conditioned” on solving
specific church complaints, Cuban church
spokesman Orlando Marquez said.
Yet the pontiff laid out a broad series of goals
during his visit.
Some seem unlikely: Cuban officials say they
want to keep public education a state monopoly and
will probably not honor the papal request to reopen
Catholic schools. But they indicated they might even
favor expanded church efforts at catechism and
moral education.
Other goals could see partial success. The pope
See POPE page 2
New state laws
Traffic, underage drinking focus of legislation
Todd Sonnier
UP managing editor
Drivers who trail along, slowing traffic in
the left passing lane of the highway, are sub-
ject to being fined through state legislation
which became enforceable on Jan. 1.
The Legislature has also passed a “zero
tolerance” alcohol law for minors that is
much more stringent than it has been.
Minors who drive with any detectable alco-
hol in their systems are subject to a 60-day
license suspension, a fine up to $500,20 to 40
hours of community service and a mandato-
ry alcohol awareness course. On the third
offense, minors will face a 180-day license
suspension, up to $2,000 in fines, and up to
six months in jail.
Richard Vasser, safety education officer
with the Texas Highway Department in
Beaumont, said this new law makes some-
thing as simple as alcohol on a driver’s
breath enough to charge him or her with dri-
ving while intoxicated.
Also, minors who possess, consume, or
attempt to purchase alcohol. will face an
automatic license suspension of up to 30
days, as much as $500 in fines, community
service time and a mandatory alcohol aware-
ness course. Repeat offenders face further
license suspensions and fines, as well as up
to six months in jail.
Vasser said the guidelines for the “minor
in possession” charge have also been made
much more inclusive.
“If you’re under 21 and you go to a
See LAWS, page 2
Awards competition
Ethical business encouraged
The Better Business
Bureau of Southeast Texas
and the College of Business
at Lamar University will
conduct an awards compe-
tition to recognize and
encourage ethical business
practices in the BBB’s
eight-county service area.
Winners of this new
business award, the Better
Business Bureau Torch
Award for Marketplace
Ethics, will be forwarded to
the Council of Better
Business Bureaus for entry
in the BBB National Torch
Award contest.
“The purpose of this
award is to recognize annu-
ally those businesses in our
region committed to main-
taining exceptionally high
standards of ethical behav-
ior in buyer and seller rela-
tionships,” Michael Clay-
ton, president and chief
executive officer of the
Southeast Texas BBB, said.
“I encourage the many out-
standing companies that
work to uphold the trust
and respect of their cus-
tomers in our eight-county
area to submit an entry for
this prestigious award.”
Deadline for entries is
Feb. 5. Two categories of
companies will be recog-
nized: one large (50
See BBB, page 2
Companies seek
future employees
at eighth annual
recruiting event
Mary Meaux
UP staff writer
The eighth annual Career
Fair is coming to town and
bringing with it the opportu-
nity to meet with future
employers. The fair will be
Tuesday in the Setzer Center
Ballroom.
“The employers are com-
ing,” Gerry Juhan, interim
director of the Career Center,
said.
“The fair is not limited just
to juniors and seniors.
Freshmen need to see what
their options are too,” Juhan
said. “It is a good networking
tool no matter how a person
is classified.”
The fair offers students the
opportunity to meet potential
employers in a less formal
atmosphere and learn about
job opportunities, Juhan said.
In preparation for the fair,
students should wear profes-
sional clothes and have a
resume, she said.
“If someone needs help in
preparing a r6sum6 they may
come to the Career Center
during office hours,” Juhan
said.
Recruiters for the fair,
which will cover a wide vari-
ety of fields, include:
American National
Insurance Co.; Brown and
Root Inc.; City of Houston;
Clark Port Arthur Refinery;
Conn’s Appliance; Duke
Energy Corporation;
DuPont- Beaumont Works;
Dupont de Nemours;
Firestone Synthetic Rubber
Company; Garland Police
Department; Global Marine;
Goodyear Tire and Rubber
CAREER FAIR
Company; GSE Lining
Technology, Inc.; Haliburton
Energy Services; Huntsman
Petrochemical Corporation;
Jefferson County Human
Resources Department;
Lamar Graduate Studies;
Life Resource; Lockheed
Martin; Mobil Beaumont
Refinery; National
Instruments; South Texas
College of Law; St.
Elizabeth’s Hospital; State
Farm Insurance; Summers
Group/Rexal Inc.; Temple-
Inland Forest Products;
Texas Department of
Protective Services; U.S.
Environmental Protection
Age; Universal Computer
Systems, Inc.; University of
Houston-Clear Lake; and
University of North Texas
Graduate School.
Another 20 are expected
to be added, she said.
“Some companies are
coming back after years of
participation, but many are
new to the fair,” Juhan said.
For more information, call
880-8878.
National Book Award finalist
to read for area students
Marilyn Nelson, finalist for the 1997
National Book Award for Poetry, will
visit the area Thursday and Friday for a
program at Lamar University and will
visit with students on several area public
school campuses.
Nelson will give a poetry reading at
7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Spindletop
Room on the eighth floor of Gray
Library. The presentation will be open
to the public.
As part of Black History Month
activities, Nelson will visit Friday with
students at Ozen High School and
Blanchette Elementary School in
Beaumont, and Lincoln High School
and Woodrow Wilson Middle School in
Port Arthur.
Nelson has published five collections
of poetry and two collections of verse
for children. Her latest collection, “The
Fields of Praise: New and Selected
Marilyn
Nelson, a
finalist for the
1997 National
Book Award
for Poetry, will
visit the area
this week.
See NELSON, page 2
i
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Andris, Tonya. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 28, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 28, 1998, newspaper, January 28, 1998; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth500670/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar University.