NO TOWN BOYCOTT BY TECH STUDENTS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 23, 1993                   TAG: 9303230098
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Short
NO TOWN BOYCOTT BY TECH STUDENTS
Virginia Tech's student government has abandoned an idea to boycott downtown businesses that opposed cordoning off a public parking lot for a senior celebration.
"It's pretty much a dead issue," said Kevin Mottley, president of the Student Government Association. "We decided not to follow through with anything."
The boycott idea surfaced after the Blacksburg Town Council voted unanimously to deny the party request after hearing concerns from members of the Downtown Merchants Association.
Tech's Student Senate voted to "very seriously consider" a boycott of the businesses that were against the request, but the SGA`s executive committee met last week and decided not to declare a boycott.
The celebration, according to student plans, would feature three bands outdoors from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on May 6.
It would be limited to the Class of 1993 and would attract 3,000 students. Students now are trying to get permission from the university to hold the event on the lawn in front of Schultz Hall on Tech's campus.
A quick poll of 27 merchants before the last meeting showed that 20 opposed the party. But the association is not releasing the feelings of the individual businesses. The Collegiate Times, Tech's main student newspaper, discouraged the boycott in an editorial, saying that "not all seniors support the idea of pointing a finger at businesses that want to avoid possible property damage" and that a boycott could further sour student-town relations.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB