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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 4, 1996)
POWERHOUSE The A&M Baseball Team blasts Maine three straight times. ports, Page 7 A FEW GOOD WOMEN Pace: Women in the Corps have come a long way and continue to earn acceptance. Opinion, Page 9 CLASSIC COWBOYS Uptmor: Cowboy Junkies create good album with classic sound. Aggielife, Page 4 Battalion Serving Texas A&M University Since 1893 1,102, No. 105 (10 pages) Monday • March 4, 1996 Parking altered to accommodate construction jPTTS officials said Indents and faculty ibuld be aware of ieveral changes to campus lots. fyEleanor Colvin Ike Battalion One of the biggest problems tthe Texas A&M campus — [arking - will get worse before it gets better. / But Parking, Transit and v Iraffic Service officials said * they are striving to accommo date commuters during campus construction endeavors that are underway. Construction will begin this week on a parking garage near the Sterling C. Evans Library and the Pavilion. The area has been roped off to ensure pedes trian safety during demolition and construction phases. Gary Jackson, manager of PTTS parking services, said students should note that no parking will be available near Evans Library at night and that, possibly, 30-minute park ing spaces along Lubbock Street will be removed. “The decision has not yet been made determining whether there will be 30- minute parking available,” he said. “Because there will be ce ment trucks and other con struction equipment in the area for at least two years, we want to protect the students in every possible way.” Jackson said changes in this parking area will affect the fac ulty more than students. How ever, he said, students should still be prepared to deal with the noise level and other incon veniences. “The demolition is going to be very noisy, with many loud explosions,” he said. “It could begin as early as Wednesday and last about a month. So everyone should be aware.” Most faculty parking has been relocated to parking area 51, Zachary lot, and to parking area 23, the U-turn area near the Pavilion. Parking area 23, which has been changed to a 24-hour re served staff lot, will stay this way for at least two years. Julie Villareal, a PTTS staff assistant, said new permits were issued Friday to ensure that the changes would not af fect anyone’s ability to park. “All the spaces have been re assigned, so we’re really not ex pecting any problems,” she said. “We want to make things as convenient as possible and keep communication lines open so we receive feedback on how to help the staff adjust to the construction.” Bob Piwonka, Fiscal Depart ment manager of student finan cial services, who has an office in the Pavilion, said he is not terribly upset that his parking permit has been changed. “I was relocated to a lot near the Pavilion, so I was not dis placed too much,” he said. “But See Parking, Page 10 "... there will be cement trucks and other construction equipment in the area for at least two years, we want to protect the students in every possible way." — Gary Jackson manager of PTTS parking services AN ADDITION TO A TRADITION Janet Meyer, senior history major, cleans the Silver Taps memorial in front of the Academic Building Sunday. The Class of '96 Coun cil cleans the memorial every Sunday before Silver Taps. The council began this tradition this year and hopes that another class will continue it next year. UPD investigates racial harassment □ An Aston Hall resident recently received fliers stating he was unwelcome at A&M because of his race. By Tauma Wiggins The Battalion Several incidents of harass ment motivated by racial preju dice have recently been report ed at Texas A&M. Some of these incidents po tentially fall into the category of hate crimes. See related EDITORIAL, Page 9 A hate crime, defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting Pro gram, is “a criminal offense com mitted against a person or prop erty which is motivated in whole or in part by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, ethnic/na tional origin groups, or sexual ori entation group.” The Department of Resi dence Life and Housing sent out a memo Feb. 26 to residents of Aston Hall, addressing sever al incidents of racial harass ment that have been directed toward a resident. The incident involved offen sive fliers slid under an Aston resident’s door stating that he is not welcome at A&M because of his race. The incident has been investi gated by the Department of Resi dence Life and Housing, but au thorities are unwilling to say what legal action will be taken. Brett Bowers, resident direc tor of Aston Hall and a gradu ate student in education, said the Aston incident was handled by authorities promptly. “The Department (of Resi dence Life and Housing) really reacted,” Bowers said. “They took the incident very, very se riously and they stepped in the same day.--- Bowers said each Aston resi dent received a letter defining University disciplinary proce dures in such instances and stating that this was the first instance of racial harassment reported in Aston Hall. Much of the racial harassment on campus this semester has been via e-mail or written messages, which can be fully prosecuted though they are not considered acts of physical violence. Shawn Williams, president of A&M’s chapter of the NAACP and a senior business management major, said that he himself'has been a victim of See Harassment, Page 10 Mediation ends in discord JA&M and Brushy Creek residents said ley were disappointed ley could not reach an agreement about le animal center. By Lily Aguilar The Battalion Texas A&M University offi- r als and residents of the Brushy freek community were unable to 'tach an agreement this week- during mediation about the }aiinal Science, Teaching and Search Extension Center. Brushy Creek residents have been pursing legal action since the summer to stop A&M from constructing ASTREC, which will place livestock and a animal eu- thenics center near their homes. A&M has continued to exca vate land and build infrastruc ture despite a pending lawsuit filed by Brushy Creek residents in a U.S. District Court. Jim Ashlock, executive director of University Relations, said in a press release Sunday that the University regrets that a compro mise could not be reached. He said the University re mains dedicated to providing an environmentally safe teach ing facility. “I regret that we were unable to reach an agreement with our neighbors,” Ashlock said. “A&M’s only objective in devel opment of the ASTREC is to ful fill the University’s mandate to educate students and facilitate research in the animal sciences.” University officials said A&M has performed environmental studies to determine if ASTREC would pose an environmental threat to Brushy Creek. “We felt the extensive mea sures taken to insure full envi ronmental compliance and nego tiations with area residents would satisfy any objections,” Ashlock said. Dr. Ruth Schaffer, a Brushy See Mediation, Page 10 IHA director answers concerns about campus housing rent increase at forum Students' resident hall rent could Crease by $37 per semester. -■ Tauma Wiggins ■y ^Battalion Texas A&M students met Feb. 28 to hear about ^ discuss a proposed increase in campus housing with Ron Sasse, director of the Department of ■^idence Life and Housing. 1 The open forum was held so that students would . Jotbe left in the dark about the purpose of the hous- ^ rent increase. . Students who attended the open forum learned "‘stthe S37-dollar-per semester rent increase would toward utilities, housing staff, dorm administra- 1 h supplies, maintenance, summer renovations, security, ethemet and cable services. Ethernet provides access to on-line services that otherwise would require a modem. Sasse said the Residence Life and Housing is in the second year of a three-year plan to meet expens es by fiscal year ’98. “We’re are investing in some companies who will come here and look at our situation and tell us what we need to do and how much it will cost,” Sasse said. “We are trying to think about the student as a client.” Sasse and Jerry Smith, associate director of Residence Life and Housing, answered all ques tions raised at the open forum. Von Burrell, a junior architecture major and resi dent of Krueger Hall, expressed concerns over the rent increase. See Rent, Page 10 A&M leaders disagree about standards in cases of hazing □ The Student Organization Hearing Board announced that it would bring charges against the Fish Aides at a March 19 hearing. By Wes Swift The Battalion Texas A&M administrators and student leaders said the recent controversy surround ing the kidnapping of Toby Boenig, student body president, shows a double standard among organizations and how they are treated for hazing activities. Furthermore, some say that double standard may exist because of the stigmas attached to Greek organizations and the Corps of Cadets. Lanita Hanson, coordinator of Greek affairs and assistant director of student activities, said the biggest problem with hazing is how it is treated from organization to organization. “There is a standard that exists between or ganizations,” Hanson said. “The big problem at A&M is that there is a perceived difference here on what is hazing and what is not.” That difference, Hanson said, often depends on which groups commit the hazing acts. However, she declined to name which groups are more prone to be investigated for hazing violations. But the disparity can be seen in an incident in volving Boenig, who was kidnapped Feb. 19 by six Fish Aides, or student government assistants. A Page One story in The Battalion chroni cled the incident with an accompanying pic ture. The kidnapping was a tradition for the Fish Aides, who kidnap the student body presi dent each year on Presidents Day. Fraternity and sorority members and cadets complained after the story ran on Feb. 20, say ing the incident was being treated as a joke though University regulations and Texas law define it as hazing. The Student Organization Hearing Board announced Feb. 27 that it would bring charges against the Fish Aides at a March 19 hearing. In a letter to the editor published in the Feb. 21 edition of The Battalion, Scott. M. Dellinger, a junior industrial distribution ma jor and a cadet, said incidents similar to the Boenig kidnapping have occurred in the Corps and been prosecuted as hazing. He complained that cadets would not be able to get away with the defense that the incident was not intended to harm anyone, as Boenig is claiming. "The big problem at A&M is that there is a perceived difference here on what is hazing and what is not." — Lanita Hanson coordinator of Greek affairs “That is what exactly happens in the Corps,” Dellinger wrote. “We are all having good fun. Yet nobody understands our methods or tradi tions; we are just ridiculed in The Batt and threatened to be thrown out of Aggieland. “Is there a double standard?” When Dellinger was a freshman, he and oth er freshman cadets kidnapped their command ing officer during Freshman Unification Week. The kidnapping was a tradition in the Corps, and the CO had the authority to stop the freshmen at any time, circumstances simi lar to the Boenig kidnapping. The cadets were disciplined by the University. See Hazing, Page 6
