1995 Gov- ! held MSC eneral in IO4 irvey,. irveys in the 11 way, and« Soci- 5 held e and Pair. Harp- ition ners- -Id at Hub, but n. at For rown eting man n. in icers ety: d at uest ocky ork- rva- ina- lore t at As- ) be rith ger, ien- uni- 3C1- k to it’s ud- ion r at ■ice cul- uld ays itc. are in >ns, 3. TWO IN A ROW The Lady Aggies look back on another successful season. Sports, Page 5 AMERICANS CANT DRIVE 55 Hall: Speed limit on Texas highways and inter states should be increased to 70 miles per hour. Opinion, Page 7 WILD SEED—WILD FLOWER Dionne Farris steps out from the shad ows of Arrested Development. Aggielife, Page 3 Zol. 101, No. 109 (2 sections, 22 pages) Faculty □ The proposed walkway will cross Welborn Road and increase pedestrian safety. ■ “Serving Texas A&M since 1893 Tuesday • March 7, 1995 approves pedestrian crossing, library funding Welborn Road and Old Main ft mn mnno o+n/i^+o nir r , „ _ By Tracy Smith The Battalion In an effort to lessen hazards for West Campus students and faculty walking to and from classes, the Fac ulty Senate approved Monday the con struction of a pedestrian crossing on Welborn Road. The resolution allows for construc tion of an aesthetically pleasing and well-lighted underpass at the inter section of Welborn Road and Old Main Drive. Dr. Thomas Craig, veterinary medi cine faculty senator, stressed the need for a crossing because of the surge of business students and faculty walking to West Campus every day. “By nature, anyone who has had to walk across the street at that intersec tion will understand the need for a pedestrian crossing,” Craig said. “It all comes down to safety for our students and our faculty.” The Senate noted that the railroad posed another safety hazard for stu dents and faculty and that more stu dents have been crawling under or be tween railroad cars lately. Dr. Pierce Cantrell, deputy speaker of the Faculty Senate, said the Student Senate approved a similar resolution for safer West Campus road crossings. “The business school brings about 8,000 more students and faculty to West Campus each day,” he said. “We need to act now before another 50 years goes by.” Several senators agreed that they need to move quickly with the resolution. “We need to alleviate this prob lem by moving ahead with this resolution,” one senator said. “Col lege Station and Texas A&M have a history of not solving problems right away. “I don’t want this to be one problem the University is still de bating into the next century.” Craig said the planning com mittee chose an underpass instead of an overpass because more stu dents will use it. “We have an overpass crossing right now and many people have no ticed that it is used mainly by joggers,” he said. “There is a trivial difference in cost between the two so we are pushing for the underpass.’ Dr. Arthur Hobbs, an associate mathematics professor, was unable to attend the meeting but previously spoke in favor of an underpass. By nature, anyone who has had to walk across the street at that intersection will understand the need for a pedestrian crossing." — Dr. Thomas Craig Veterinary medicine faculty senator “An overpass is 30-feet off the ground while an underpass is 10—feet below,” Hobbs said. “People are much more like ly to walk down 10 feet than up 30 feet.” Craig said the planning committee does not have an estimate for the crossing yet. The Senate also approved an emer gency resolution for additional funding for the Sterling C. Evans Library to let it meet the needs of academic and re search programs. The A&M Student Senate approved a similar resolution Feb. 23 support ing the administration’s proposal of a library fee that would be phased in over the next three years beginning Sept. 1. The fee would start at $2 per semes ter hour in 1996 and increase to $3 per semester hour in 1997 and $4 per se mester hour in 1998. The resolution stated that Texas A&M, in comparison to its peer institu tions, ranks third in student enroll ment,- seventh in research dollars and 53rd in library expenditures. Students volunteer to teach A&M employees to read, write JUMP! Bart Mitchell/THE Battalion U ea ^ Sm, ! h ’ ? r ?3 ldent of Colle 9 e Station jumps his skateboard over a brick wall by the H2O fountain near the Chemistry building late Monday afternoon. □ Aggie Literacy Volunteers tutor employees in basic English skills. By Lisa Messer The Battalion Through a new program aimed at fighting illiteracy, student volunteers will be teaching A&M staff mem bers how to read and write English. Aggie Literacy Volun teers, a student chapter of the Brazos Valley Literacy Volunteers of America, will tutor A&M employees in ba sic English reading and writing skills. Anya Martin, president of Aggie Literacy Volunteers and a senior agricultural eco nomics major, said volunteers will begin tutoring employees in late March. Twenty-two students have gone through two eight-hour training sessions. Mary Elam, the volunteer coordinator with LVA, said their organization had diffi culty starting the program on its own. “Our tutors couldn’t park on campus,” Elam said. “They didn’t know their way around and a lot of them just didn’t feel comfortable. “We thought if we created a student group, it would be really convenient. They would already be on campus and students would have weird schedules just like em ployees do.” Martin said most of the employees will come to the program to learn English as a second language. “Most people are going to be Spanish-speaking,” Mar tin said. “Some will have verbal skills in English but won’t be able to read English and have practically nil in Aggie Batters ’95 Tuesday • March 7, 1995 Inside: A look at this season • Softball page 5 • Baseball page 11 Player profiles — Chad Alexander. Kristy Bunting, Merry Mapp, Ryan Roop and others Photo highlights — pages 6 & 7 1993 Season Guide Inside Today The Texas A&M men’s baseball and women’s softball teams are gearing up for the 1995 season. a student group, it would b Improved parking wont come without a price, PTTS says □ narlrincr -forsc e d on Agronomy Road for veterinar-v writing skills. “Others won’t be able to read or write in English or Spanish.” Martin said most of the employees will be sent to the program through the Univer sity’s General Education Diploma and Adult Basic Ed ucation classes. “The GED and ABE class es are full, with people on waiting lists,” Martin said. “Also, some people can’t do the work in those classes be cause the work is set on a 12th-grade level.” Martin said many of the employees expressing an in terest in the classes work in maintenance, the Physical Plant and Food Services. “There is a stigma at tached to certain jobs that a certain level of education is n’t needed,” Martin said, “but that’s not true. “If you mix two solutions that shouldn’t be mixed be cause you can’t read the warning labels, you can come back with burns. A&M is trying to erase that stigma and raise the standard.” Ken Reeves, staff assis tant for the Department of food services, said he has re ceived a good response to Ag gie Literacy Volunteers from Food Services employees. “We’re still waiting for a specific number, but I as sume quite a few will be in terested,” Reeves said. “We’ve already had a good number graduate from the GED program. “We encourage our em ployees to take advantage ol programs like these. They’re to benefit themselves and ad vance themselves in their own careers.” Reeves said he likes the idea of students teaching employees. “This is one of those things you can do to get in volved,” Reeves said. “It’s a great sacrifice for students tc give something back to the people who serve them.” Dollar tumbles once again while Fed sits on sidelines □ Increased parking fees will pay for campus parking improvements. By Cheryl Heller The Battalion Student requests for improved parking may result in an increase in parking fees. Tom Williams, director of Parking, Transit and Traffic Services, said the department has started improving parking conditions mostly because of students’ complaints. But, Williams said, the only way to get money for the improvements is by increasing parking fees. Williams said the parking fees have not increased during the six years he has been at Texas A&M. “Parking fee increases are only asked for when they’re needed, and students generally don’t mind them if they can see where their money is go ing,” he said. “They’ll be able to see the improvements on existing lots and the construction of new garages.” Projects are currently underway to upgrade the lighting in 15 parking ar eas, most of them on west campus, and to improve faculty and staff parking at the Wehner College of Business Ad ministration Building and the Reynolds Medical Building. Parking spaces are also being creat ed on Agronomy Road for veterinary and biomedical sciences students and 500 spaces are being built at the Recre ational Sports Center. Other plans include expanding Zachry and the veterinary school park ing lot. Adding special events center parking, a west campus sports field parking lot, a library parking garage and a west campus parking garage are also included in the plan. -1-* Oliver Taps The Silver Taps ceremony will be tonight at 10:30 p.m, in front of the Aca-' deraic Building. The ceremony is in memory of two Texas A&M students who have died since the last ceremony. Those being honored in this month’s cer emony are Stephen Mark Brewer, a senior physics major from Nash, and Diana Sharon Stepan, a senior petroleum engi neering major from Hempstead. In keeping with the tradition of Silver Taps, which dates back almost a century, the campus will be hushed and darkened at 10:20 p.m. In memory of the deceased stu dents, the Ross Volunteers will fire a volley salute and buglers will play a special arrangement'of “Taps.”