|
University
known for racist image recruits minorities
GREENVILLE,
S.C. (AP) — Bob Jones University, the fundamentalist Christian
school that dropped a ban on interracial dating after a visit by
then-candidate George W. Bush drew attention to the policy, is recruiting
minorities and says it wants to shake its racist image.
The
university is offering aid to minority students through two funds
sponsored by private donations, school spokesman Jonathan Pait said
Thursday.
“The
primary reason was simply that there were students who wanted to
come but couldn’t afford it,” Pait said. “Another
reason is that we’re so often pointed out as being so racist.
We wanted to take a stab at least to overcome that stereotype.”
The
school of about 4,200 students was thrust into the national spotlight
during a Bush campaign stop there two years ago.
Bush
was criticized for not addressing the school’s ban on interracial
dating and statements by Jones that were perceived as anti-Catholic
and anti-Mormon.
In
the wake of the criticism, Bob Jones III, president of the university
founded by his grandfather, announced that the school would drop
its ban on interracial dating.
The
school first admitted black students after the Internal Revenue
Service moved to revoke its tax-exempt status in 1970, citing discrimination.
The dating ban remained, however, and the university lost the tax
exemption in 1983.
Regents
approve mandatory $150 fee for UT students
AUSTIN
(AP) — University of Texas System regents on Thursday approved
a $150 per semester mandatory fee, to take effect next fall.
The
regents, meeting in San Antonio, voted 8-1 to implement the fee.
The
fee would grow annually by varying amounts. After six years, the
fee will be capped at $430 per semester for students taking seven
hours of classes or more.
University
president Larry Faulkner said the fees are needed to pay for building
repairs and renovations.
The
lone dissenting vote came from Democratic gubernatorial candidate
Tony Sanchez. The Laredo businessman said the money should come
from the Legislature, not students.
Administrators
originally proposed a $230-per-semester fee, but opposition from
students and some state lawmakers prompted the school to consider
lowering the amount.
Enron’s
trouble finds its way onto college campuses
HOUSTON
(AP) — There was a time when the University of Houston’s
Keith Poole knew he could dazzle simply by introducing himself as
the Kenneth L. Lay Endowed Professor of Political Science.
These
days, he’s trying to keep that title to himself.
”(Lay)
was the most important person in the city for a while,” Poole
said. “I could just say his
name and people were impressed.
“It’s
not a real great way to do things anymore. I’m not going to
change my stationery or anything, but I’ve stopped using it
to try to impress people.”
He’s
not the only one dealing with the implications of carrying on the
tarnished Enron name.
At
the University of Nebraska in Omaha, Mark Wohar was proud of the
company that lent him its name when he accepted the Enron professorship
in economics about five years ago.
He,
too, has dropped the tag.
Their
titles may be tainted, but Poole and Wohar are the lucky ones. Their
academic chairs were fully funded and secured long before Enron’s
downward spiral into financial ruin.
Houston
and Nebraska are in the company of many colleges and universities
that benefited during brighter times from the philanthropic spirit
of Enron and then chairman Kenneth Lay. But as details of Enron’s
participation in questionable accounting practices continue to unfold,
some institutions are getting antsy — particularly those that
haven’t received promised financing.
At
Houston’s Rice University, where the former energy behemoth
pledged $5 million for two endowed professorships, school officials
received word last month that installments from Enron would cease.
The unfilled positions were foiled before they started accepting
applications.
Funding
for the proposed Ken Lay Center for the Study of Markets in Transition,
also at Rice, is not expected to be affected by Enron’s woes,
Shepard said. The center, financed with a $3 million gift from the
private Linda and Ken Lay Foundation, will serve as a research and
teaching facility. The final $1 million installment is expected
a planned.
At
the University of Missouri, officials still are searching for the
right person to fill the Kenneth L. Lay endowed chair in international
economics — someone who doesn’t mind carrying Lay’s
name and all its baggage. Lay established the seat at his alma mater
three years ago with a gift of Enron stock.
Baylor
to take out loans to fund academic goals
WACO
(U-WIRE) — In order to fund the goals outlined in the Baylor
2012 vision, including an estimated $262 million in new construction
projects, Baylor University will take out large-scale loans for
the first time in school history, David Brooks, vice president for
finance and administration, told a gathering of faculty and staff
Wednesday afternoon.
Brooks
said the borrowing would be in the form of bonded indebtedness,
a process in which the university will sell debt to investors at
a set interest rate.
He
added the borrowing is necessary now because the university is in
a position where facilities must be updated so the university can
reach its academic goals.
Brooks
said additional funding sources for 10-year vision initiatives would
come from Baylor’s new flat-rate tuition structure and from
an ongoing fund-raising campaign designed to increase the university’s
endowment to $2 billion by 2012.
The
largest component of the building plan, which will be discussed
by the Baylor Board of Regents Feb. 22, is a proposed $100 million
science facility. It would be the largest single building project
in Baylor’s history. Brooks said groundbreaking for the 500,000-square-foot
facility could begin as early as May if it is approved. He said
the university plans to open the building for classes fall semester
2004.
In
addition to plans for a new science building, Brooks also provided
more details about some general goals presented in the university’s
10-year vision document, including lowering the student-faculty
ratio, increasing on-campus housing and expanding parking facilities.
Pipeline
to move oil from Gulf to Texas cities by 2004
HOUSTON
(AP) — A $450 million pipeline will be built to move crude
oil from the deep-water Gulf of Mexico to refineries along the Texas
coast, El Paso Energy Partners announced.
The
Cameron Highway Oil Pipeline System will span 380 miles and be capable
of moving 500,000 barrels of crude per day from oil fields in the
western Gulf of Mexico areas to Port Arthur and Texas City.
El
Paso Energy is a publicly traded limited partnership of which El
Paso Corp. is the general partner. It already owns and operates
five offshore natural gas and oil pipelines and six platforms handling
production in the Gulf.
Although
El Paso is seeking a partner, the company said it is confident the
pipeline will be built. Company officials said the pipeline is expected
to be in service by the third quarter of 2004.
In
the past, new pipelines in the Gulf have faced competition for the
same routes such as from Mobile Bay into Central Florida, but this
system faces no competition, El Paso spokeswoman Kim Wallace said.
The
pipeline will originate at El Paso’s Ship Shoal 332 platform.
El Paso will build a 30-inch diameter pipeline to one of its platforms
in the western Gulf of Mexico and extend it to the High Island area.
From
High Island, the system will proceed with two 24-inch pipelines
— one extending north to Port Arthur and another to Texas City.
Construction is expected to begin this spring.
El
Paso expects to fund the project through permanent project debt
financing. The majority of the capital outlay for the project will
occur in 2003 and 2004.
|
