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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 1987)
:=5 ? = State and Local Tuesday, March 10, 1987/Jhe Battalion/} 3 wmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmummmmmmmmmmmmmmwt ■ y Efforts to keep coins break machines Laundromats plagued by vandals By Becky Weisenfels Reporter nioneij-B Students always are trying to It’s jZBve money. They buy a generic- , , bl ind product over a name ' ' .brand. They ride bikes instead of driving cars. 11 s deJ not exterl le comni] porting] cause a W ■ But sometimes they tape quar ters into the washing machines on campus. ■ Saving money can turn into doesn't Bndalism. ^ Since 1985, the problem of stu dents taping quarters and damag ing campus washing machines and dryers has been growing, nvs Joe C. Hopper, vice presi dent and general manager of Ag gie Wash Inc. Aggie Wash has been leasing about 350 washers and dryers to Texas A&M since 1980. I Students tape quarters into the Lin slide, hoping to get their lothes washed free, Hopper says, ■id when they push the slide in, I often sticks. Women usually just jipe the machines, while men Biinetimes beat the machines with hsm pi^jols and try to get their money on. H'back, he says. M 'ducadoit tie from j ButshrJ enefits J and ilit: tion, xioks jui er wanij ■ther die s, or boii ter. Sod t them. “They get mad when they tape it and they don’t get to wash, so then they tear them up,” Hopper says. “I’m not speaking about our loss. I’m talking about A&M’s, be cause they get half of the reve nue. “There’s not a piece of tape made that I haven’t seen put on of tape would make it malfunc tion.” The coin slides cost $45 each to replace. The biggest problem is in Aston Hall, wnere three slides once had to be replaced in one month, Hopper says. Laundry rooms have been locked before in Aston and “It (closing the laundry rooms) is just an occasional measure that we use to bring to the students’ attention that there is a problem. ” — Rick Turnbough, assistant area coordinator those machines. Masking tape, scotch tape, builder’s tape, every thing has been used. None of it works, of course. It just fouls the machines up. “Whirlpool (who makes the machines used on campus) is one of the larger manufacturers in the United States. They ship mil lions of units all over the world. They could not be in business if the unit was so simple that a piece Dunn, resulting in a temporary lapse in the vandalism, he says. "Our problem has boiled down to Aston and Dunn, but now it seems the girls are picking it up,” Hopper says. “And that’s all since this semester. We didn’t have many problems last year in those girls’ dorms.” Vandalism of the machines in Underwood Hall led head resi dent Cyndi Lajimodiere to close the laundry room for two short periods this semester after warn ing residents not to vandalize the machines again. Assistant area coordinator Rick Turnbough says this is the first time the laundry room in a wom en’s dorm has been closed. “It (closing the laundry rooms) is just an occasional measure that we use to bring to the students’ at tention that there is a problem," Turnbough says. “I think it has been real effective in getting peo ple’s attention. I think from nere we need to start coming up with a way to educate students as to what to watch for. “If you see someone vandaliz ing a machine or damaging a ma chine in any way, let the staff know about it.” Vandalism is as bad in other dorms as in Underwood, Turn bough says. But Lajimodiere says Under wood residents are upset about the closing. “They nave gotten upset to the point that they are willing to turn people in and now are aware of the vandalism that’s going on,” she says. tfrs of ; House OKs legislation in favor of privatizing Texas prison system AUSTIN (AP) — The House passed a bill Tuesday allowing the state to contract with private compa nies to build and operate prisons. Approval came on a 122-19 vote despite opposition from a lawmaker who said tne private prison concept goes back to a dark age in Texas cor rections. “Nobody should have the right to incarcerate anybody except the state,” Rep. A1 Price, D-Beaumont, said. House members rebuffed a Re publican lawmaker’s effort to add an amendment that would give the gov ernor the final word on contracts for the construction of private prisons. Rep. Bill Ceverha of Dallas said the governor would serve as the third party to review contracts between the Texas Department of Correc tions and private prison firms. “This is not a political power play in any sense,” Ceverha said. But the amendment, backed by Gov. Bill Clements, was tabled in an 80-46 vote. Under the bill, TDC would be al lowed to contract with private com panies for construction and opera tion of minimum- and medium- security prisons. Rep. Clint Hackney, D-Houston, said, “I think it’s time we go ahead and use this idea to help relieve the prison overcrowding we have. “The federal court can be shown through this legislation that we are moving post-haste to try and solve the problem.” Price, however, said private pris ons have a poor track record. “It has not been long ago when we had the involvement of private per sons in the penal work of our state,” Price said. “In this state and many other states across the South, we saw all kinds of abuses that have been more than adequately documented to give each one of us real serious problems with privatization of pris ons.” The state should not delegate in carceration authority to anyone, Price said. “As a matter of fact, I find it rep rehensible that anybody would do anything in terms of making money based on the misery of others,” he said. ~:2 students threaten to file suit overA&M judicial hearing s thiuB By Curtis L. Culberson fir J Stalf Writer ■Two Dunn residents brought the UBeels of justice to a screeching halt Tues- day night as they stormed out of a Resi dence Halls Judicial Board hearing, leav ing the verdict and their fate undecided. ■Supervisor of Student Judical Affairs Biient Paterson said, “I don’t know w’hat VtiSBk m are going to do,” when asked what ac tion would be taken against the two stu dents who left the hearing without di- tretilv defending the charges against them. m ■Donald Stroud, charged with posses sion of stolen property, and Joseph Skla- i'.? Hi, charged with being an accessory, walked out of the hearing after Skladal was told by both Paterson and Judicial Board Chairman Angie Fields that a Judi cial Board hearing was not the proper fo rum for his questions about possible dou ble jeopardy and vagueness of the charges. Before leaving the hearing, which was; held in Rudder Tower, Skladal said, “1 will talk to my laywer, and he’ll probably file a lawsuit.” Paterson said he would consult with the University system’s attorneys before any further action would be taken against Stroud and Skladal. Stroud said that he also would seek le gal representation. Skladal brought up questions concern ing the possibility of double jeopardy and vagueness of the charges in his defense and alluded to copies of federal and state statutes that he had issued to judicial board members before the trial. Stroud and Skladal are being charged in connection with the removal of plaques, memo boards and pens from Krueger and Mosher halls. Mosner Hall Head Resident Suzanne Friend presented the case against Stroud and Skladal. Stroud has said that he found the items in a brown paper bag marked “Courtesy of Aston” wnile studying in a Dunn Hall study carrel. He said he took the items to his room and went out of town the next day.Whle he was away, Sonya Wilson, a Krueger resident, learned that the miss ing items were in Stroud’s room. Wilson testified that she went to his room and demanded that his roommate return the items. She said some markers were returned and she moved them to a friend’s room in Dunn Hall. Stroud said that when he returned, he placed the rest of the items in front of the door of the Krueger head resident. Wilson said that Friend asked her if she knew who stole the items and that she said she didn’t know. Wilson said that Stroud’s roommate said, “They (Stroud and Skladal) did it.” Stroud and Skladal were found inno cent of damages and vandalism at a pre vious hearing regarding the same circum stances. Skladal said that it is double jeopardy to recharge them on the same case. “They are charging us for something we have already admitted to in the first hearing,” Skaldal said. “It’s entrapment.” Skladal also said he was being harassed because he said many others could have been charged with the knowledge o Stoud’s possession of the items. “Sonya Wilson, Stroud’s roommate and his suitemates all knew the stuff was in his (Stroud’s) room,” Skladal said. Skladal also said his rights as a student were not made clear, and that Paterson had no right to address the hearing. “There was no due process of law,” Sk ladal said. fthe de. | fin I of -nin ^ noisv Silver toexisi W as an' [eluded tate | rdto is rorld it ■n ver m. £ ‘ring of on e re Dir" ‘S " I find e ire ontf 111 jvidii'd |- but J TUDENT 3NMENT 11nivi; n sit v 1987 PARENTS WEEKEND TENTATIVE SCHEDULE FRIDAY, April 10,1987 Sterling C. Evans Library Tours and Reception RHA Casino Night MSC Variety Show ($4/student, $5/non-student) TAMU Women’s Chorus ($3/student, $4/non-student) MSC Aggie Cinema presents “Head”, starring the Monkees 1:00pm-5:00pm 7:00pm-12:00am 7:30pm 8:00pm 12:00am SATURDAY, April 11,1987 CBA Fellows Program Reception Recreation and Parks Golf Tournament Sigma Chi Open House Student Government Information Table Sterling C. Evans Library Tours Day on the Lawn: “Art, Space, and Time” - American Architecture Students OPA Picnic and Alumni Day Keathley Hall Bar-B-Que Student Government Freshman Aides Picnic Alpha Kappa Psi Luncheon What’s Up With the Class of ’90 Elephant Bowl Off-Campus Aggies Reception for Parents Ross Volunteer Reunion San Antonio Hometown Club Picnic Jordan Institute for International Awareness presents “We’ve Never Been Licked” Squadron Seven, Corps of Cadets Banquet Campus Crusade for Christ Parent’s Banquet Aggie Allemanders Square Dance BAG Voices of Praise Springfest Gospel Musical MSC Aggie Cinema presents “The Great Mouse Detective” TAMU Singing Cadets 8:00am-10:00am 8:00am 10:00am-12:00pm 10:00am-3:00pm 10:00am-4:00pm 11:00am 11:00am-2:00pm 11:00am-1:00pm 11:30am-2:00pm 12:00pm 1:00pm 3:00pm-6:00pm 3:30pm-5:00pm 4:00pm-7:00pm 4:00pm 5:30pm 6:00pm 7:00pm-10:00pm 7:30pm 7:30pm-9:45pm 8:00pm SUNDAY, April 12,1987 Corps Flower Pinning Ceremony Parents’ Weekend Awards Ceremony Parents’ Weekend Reception Parents’ Weekend Chapel Service MSC Awards Ceremony Parents’ of the Year Banquet Legett Hall Picnic and Slide Show Ross Volunteer Performance Corp of Cadets Review and Awards Ceremony Fish Drill Team Performance Parson’s Mounted Cavalry Ross Volunteer Transition Ceremony 7:00am-9:00am 9:00am-10:30am 10:30am 11:00am 11:00am 12:30pm 1:00pm 1:30pm 2:30pm 3:15pm 4:30pm 4:00pm If there are any additions or corrections, please contact Debbie Massey at 845-3051. presents dance music uuith a twist! Wednesday Nile March 11 $1™ Margaritas Hurricanes S pm-11 pm 509 University 268-0486