Page 10
hee
m Page 7
managed
on 4-of-ll
ng a
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rc.
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he Owls Sat !
game, Rice
'om the field
itrocious 3-of
d. The Owls
aun Igo and
y, who each
The win
was A&M’s
first in the
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season, and
improved
the team's
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record to 1-
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moving the
Aggies to 9-
7 for the;
season.
Rice felll
and 9-6 over-!
ense set the
Iding Rice toj
the first half,
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the Aggies
93, when the
e to just 16
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ch applause
White Coli
11, and forced
d play catch-
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return to ac-
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s Pavilion in
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rere tied for
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re blown out
1 Texas Tech
Sports, Page 7
BURNING DESIRE
Two Aggie hurdlers are bearing
down on the Olympic Trials.
DELAYED CASUALTIES
Mejia: Five years after the Gulf Wap soldiers are still
suffering from mysterious illnesses without any support.
Opinion, Page 11
JUST LIKE HOME
A&M students find comfort in
residence halls.
Aggielife, Page 3
The Battajlion
hi. 102, No. 77 (12 pages)
Serving Texas A&M University Since 1893
Tuesday • January 23, 1996
n
ity proposes limited parking near campus
jlhe parking plan en
ures emergency vehicle
iccess to campus events.
lyLisa Johnson
he Battalion
A proposed city of College Station or
dnance restricts parking in the east
[ate and south gate neighborhoods dur-
agTexas A&M special events.
The proposal involves limiting park
ing to one side of designated streets
during football games. Bonfire and oth
er campus events.
Hinged “No Parking” signs, which
could be opened and closed, would be in
stalled on the restricted streets.
Edwin Hard, College Station trans
portation planner, said the plan will
cost between 836,000 and 848,000 to
implement and, if approved by the City
Council, will go into effect by August.
“The beauty of this plan is that park
ing will not be affected at any other time
than the day of the event,” he said.
"Many college cities have a constant
parking problem in neartby neighbor
hoods. We don’t, so we designed a pro
gram that will specifically fit over needs.”
Hard said the parking plan is also
expected to reduce congestion on nar
row neighborhood streets and to en
sure emergency vehicles easy access to
and from campus.
“Under the present parking condi
tions, ambulances and fire trucks would
not be able to efficiently access the cam
pus during events like Bonfire or foot
ball games,” Hard said.
Though its creators said the plan will
benefit south gate and east gate resi
dents, not everyone thinks the plan will
bring positive changes.
Charla Cook, a sophomore construc
tion science major and east gate resi
dent, said people should be allowed to
park on any street whenever they want.
“Otherwise, people have to be
shipped to campus from all over,” Cook
said. “Sure there may be a kind of a
traffic jam at Bonfire, but people
should just expect that and police
should deal with it, just like they al
ways have.”
Maj. Mason Newton, College Station
police officer, said the city spends over
810,000 on traffic control and parking
attendants Bonfire night alone.
“These savings should enable us to
pay for the plan within three years,”
Newton said.
He said additional revenue will also
be gained from parking tickets issued in
the restricted areas.
Residents will have two opportuni
ties to publicly express their opinions
about the proposed parking plan.
A meeting for south gate residents is
scheduled Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. at the Col
lege Station Conference Center, and for
east gate residents at 7 p.m. Feb. 5.
wmmmmmmmammm
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20 or
r
ts'
511
GIVEN MORE TIME
University employee’s life saved
through double lung transplant
Photo illustration by Tim Moog, The Battauon
Texas A&M employee Steve Brunson survived a double lung transplant.
□ Brunson is now back at
work and is promoting
organ donation.
By Michelle Lyons
The Battalion
For Steve Brunson, a Texas A&M
debt service accountant with a serious
lung illness, the simplest of tasks be
came increasingly difficult last year.
Even breathing became a laborious
chore, and he almost died.
Then, just in time, Brunson received
a double lung transplant that com
pletely changed his life.
At the age of five, Brunson was di
agnosed with Chronic Pulmonary He
mosiderosis, a rare disease of the blood
and lungs. He was not expected to live
more than eight years.
More than 30 years later, in June
1995, Brunson took sick leave from
A&M and moved to San Antonio to
await a single or double lung transplant.
Just days after arriving, his left
lung collapsed, shifting Brunson to pri
ority level on the organ donor list.
Plagued with constant complica
tions, Brunson awaited surgery, finally
receiving an organ match in August.
“Twice while I was in the hospital,
the doctors called a Code Blue on me,
which is what they call it when your
heart stops,” Brunson said. “I some
what died twice, I guess you’d say.”
For 88 days he was in hospital reha
bilitation, and since muscular atrophy
had set in, he had to relearn tasks
such as walking and eating.
He returned to work two days before
Christmas break.
Brunson said he could not have re
covered without the help of his family
and friends, especially his wife, who
camped out on a cot in his room while
he was in the hospital.
“It was rough on me, and it was
rough on my family,” he said. “They
were scared because they thought I
was going to die ... I put everyone
through hell.”
Brunson’s wife,
Leslie^ said the ordeal
was traumatic, but the
outcome was wond- rful.
“It is amazing, the dif
ference in him,” she said.
“It’s just a total turn-
about. I guess I had got
ten used to every year him being able to
do less and less, and now he can do
everything.”
Marilyn Maynard, University comp
troller, said she is impressed with the
progress Brunson has made.
“His case was so bad that even
when they did find a donor who was a
perfect match, they did not think he
would survive the elevator ride down
to the operating room,” Maynard said.
“Now he’s back at work, and I think
it’s a real miracle.”
Brunson said that since recovering
from the transplant, his mission has
been to promote organ donation.
He was one of several people who
received organs from a man who died
of a brain aneurysm.
“Seven people ended up benefiting
from him,” Brunson said. “He saved a
lot of lives, including mine.
“Right now, I’m hoping to get the
word out about donating organs. The
best thing to do is sign the back of
your driver’s license and contact ei
ther the Living Bank Center or the
United Network for Organ Sharing.”
Brunson said people should inform
their next of kin if they wish to do
nate organs.
"[My family was] scared because they
thought I was going to die ... "
— Steve Brunson
A&M debt service accountant
“Somebody may as well benefit
from your death,” he said. “I know
that sounds kind of morbid, but there
is the opportunity for you to help
someone else.”
Maynard said Brunson’s ordeal con
vinced her to donate her own organs.
“You can’t go to heaven with your
body parts, but you can help someone
to have a better life here,” she said.
“People should realize they can affect
people even after they are gone.”
Those interested in being organ
donors can contact the United Network
for Organ Sharing at 1-800-24-DONOR.
wmmmmmBmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Current, projected road construction
near campus causes traffic adjustments
□ Texas Avenue construction will begin this month.
By Heather Pace
The Battalion
Texas A&M students
and employees traveling
to and from campus on
Texas Avenue will
face gridlock when
road construc
tion begins
Jan. 29.
Col
lege
Station
residents
were
warned to
prepare for
delays on
the stretch
of Texas Avenue be
tween University Drive
and Dominik Drive in
the fall, but construction
was delayed because of
bid complications.
Construction comple
tion has been reset for
January 1998.
Peggy Calliham, Col
lege Station public rela
tions and marketing
manager, said residents
“are going to have to
pay the price in the
short run” for improved
traffic flow.
Margie Lucas, Bra
zos Transit Authority
associate administrator
of marketing, said the
traffic flow will be hin
dered, but that buses
will not be rerouted
during construction.
“There should not be
any changes in our bus
operations,” Lucas said.
“It may take us a little bit
longer, but that is just
something that happens
because of construction.”
The City of College
Station Traffic Manage
ment Task Force will hold
a public meeting Jan.
26 at 9 a.m. in the Col
lege Station Conference
See Roads, Page 6
J Traffic lanes are narrowed
on George Bush Drive.
f Michelle Lyons
The Battalion
Pedestrians and cyclists traveling portions
;°f George Bush Dr. must take a detour to
avoid being ticketed.
A College Station City Council ordinance
%it into effect last week that prohibits
Pedestrians and cyclists from entering a con-
struction zone on George Bush Dr. from Mari
an Pugh Drive to FM 2818.
Pedestrians or cyclists in the restricted ar-
e a$ could face a misdemeanor charge with a
frie of up to 8500.
Maj. Mason Newton, a College Station po
lice officer, said officers will issue warning ci
tations until Mayor Larry Ringer officially
signs the ordinance this week.
“Eventually it has to come down to taking
enforcement action because a few people will
think this ordinance doesn’t apply to them,”
Newton said.
Denise Fischer, Texas Department of
Transportation public information officer, said
the ordinance’s purpose is to deter people
from entering the crowded construction area.
Shoulders along this stretch of road have
been eliminated and traffic lanes narrowed.
To separate the traffic from the construc
tion, a low, narrow concrete barrier serves as
a guideline.
Police officials said people were using the
barrier as a sidewalk, jogging and biking on it.
“We really didn’t anticipate, frankly, a
problem; we thought common sense would
prevail,” Fischer said.
“We don’t mean to be mean and take away
something they enjoy, but keeping in mind
their safety, we had to do this. When con
struction is finished, it will be a beautiful fa
cility for cyclists and joggers.”
Peggy Calliham, College Station public
relations and marketing manager, said the
construction will be finished in two or
three years.
“The streets in the City of College Station
are going to be very difficult for the next cou
ple of years,” Calliham said. “We really are go
ing to have to emphasize caution. There’s a
fear that people feel invincible.”
Dave House, The Battauon
LET'S GET PHYSICAL
Samantha Hines, a freshman business major, works out at the
Student Recreation Center Monday afternoon.