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