The Battalion
me 103 • Issue 15 • 12 Pages
riday, September 20, 1996
The Batt Online: http://bat-web.tamu.edu
ootball
eekend
II practice
Idapts to grass
Now painting at the north
end of Kyle Field...
‘ Card to
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membership
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; Pay
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id of writing
pe your card
:heckout ter-
ter your per-
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of the trans-
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be trans-
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ount within
w days.
Laura Oliveira
The Batt alion
htecting the newly in-
led natural grass on
1 Field will become the
[priority at tonight’s
(night yell practice.
■he most visible change
peyell practice proce-
is the removal of the
Aggie Band from
[Field.
the past, the band
nbers stood on the north
I of the playing field, but
jnow sit in their usual
(e-day seats — the center
he east-side stands on
(first deck.
Band Commander Mike
rs, a senior speech
amunications major,
1 the band is happy to
lommodate the neces-
|ychanges and recog-
les the sole reason for
yell practice.
"The purpose of yell prac
tice is not for the band to
stand on Kyle Field, but to
practice yells and motivate
the fans," he said. “Everyone
has to make sacrifices, and I
think this is a pretty small
one for the band.”
Yell leaders, junior
cadets and the Parsons
Mounted Cavalry will be
the only ones allowed on
the track surrounding the
field. No one will be per
mitted on the actual play
ing field.
Students will also en
dure changes and sit on
the first and second decks
of the east stands, rather
than in the horseshoe. The
change is in preparation
for proposed construction
to the horseshoe.
See Yell, Page 12
r more information concerning the football
ne this weekend, see Page 2.
loca Cola flies
m Lemon Chills
yAnn Marie Hauser
The Battalion
Small flying yellow
cswill no longer be a
ht at Aggie games, be-
isethe Lemon Chill will
longer be sold at con-
sion stands for Texas
M athletic events.
,ast season, the prod
’s plastic lids created a
trend when fans would
throw the lids — aiming to
land them on Kyle Field.
This season, fans will have
a similar product to buy.
Minute Maid, a Coca-
Cola subsidiary, has devel
oped a 12-ounce product
that will cost $3.50, the
same as the 16-ounce
Lemon Chill.
See Lemon, Page 12
Tim Moog, The Battalion
Kyle Kelley, a former studen t and ground keeper for the athletic department, paints
the letters on the north end zone of Kyle Field. The paint allows the grass to continue
photosynthesis through the coating.
Reveille rebounds for Friday
By Christie Humphries
The Battaliom
Despite episodes of epileptic seizures.
Reveille VI is in good health and will be
able to attend this weekend’s football
game activities, University Relations an
nounced Thursday.
Dr. J. Malon Southerland, vice president
for student affairs, said Texa s A&M’s mas
cot will attend tonight’s midndght yell prac
tice and will march into Kyle Field with the
Corps of Cadets before the game against
the University of North Texas.
Reveille will rest inside after the
march-in and then return for the second
half of the game.
The 3-year-old mascot wa s hospitalized
Monday after experiencing; an apparent
epileptic seizure and has be en under ob
servation by Dr. Claudia Barton, a veteri
narian at A&M’s Small Animal Clinic.
Reveille was brought to the clinic Mon
day at about 10:30 p.m. by Mascot Corporal
Lance Hill and other cadets from Company
E-2. The collie was experiencing muscle
tremors from what appeared to be a mild
epileptic seizure.
She experienced a second seizure about
15 minutes later, and a tranquilizer was ad
ministered to stop the abnormal activity.
Reveille experienced an earlier bout of
apparent epileptic seizures after the De
cember 1995 Alamo Bowl game against the
University of Michigan. Such seizures are
often provoked by excitement.
Barton increased the collie’s medica
tion after this Monday’s episodes and said
this will allow Reveille to continue her ac
tivities as mascot.
See Reveille, Page 12
A&M observes
P0W/MIA week
By Wesley Poston
The Battalion
This week, the brave are honored and the lost are re
membered. This is POW/MIA week.
Col. James E. “Jim” Ray understands the life of a prison
er of war.
Ray recounted Mother’s Day 1960 when he attacked a
target between Hanoi, Vietnam, and Red China in his F
105-D single-seater fighter craft. “Triple A” anti-aircraft
ammunition ripped through his plane, forcing him to eject
outside of the search-and-rescue area, he said.
A few minutes after landing, Ray was captured by the
Vietnamese and sent to the French-built “Hanoi Hotel”
prison where he was tortured for information, he said.
It was typical to be kept isolated from the other prison
ers, the colonel said. Ray spent several months in solitary
confinement until overcrowding granted him a roommate.
When he arrived, Ray said 80 to 85 other prisoners were
in captivity. At the time of his release, about 550 air crew
men were being held prisoners of war in Hanoi.
Ray said the Vietnamese did not grant him the rights of a
prisoner of war as agreed upon at the Geneva Convention.
This was because, in their opinion, the military action was
illegal. The United States Congress never issued a declara
tion of war, so the soldiers captured were “mercenaries and
pirates” who did not deserve proper POW treatment.
Six years, nine months and four days after being cap
tured, Ray was returned to his country and family.
“But who’s counting,” he said.
Every one of Ray’s comrades has a similar story. A sto
ry that made them outlaws to an enemy and heroes to a
country.
POW/MIA week is a time to remember the bravery of the
ones who made it home. It is also a time to honor the fami
lies of the ones who made the supreme sacrifice, Ray said.
“I think it’s an appropriate thing to do,” he said, “espe
cially for the MIAs because they were never recovered.
“More should go to the families whose sons, husbands
and fathers didn’t come home.”
The Arnold Air Force Society, an Air Force service orga
nization, and Angel Flight/Silver Wings, their civilian
counterpart, will present memorials on campus this week
end to remember the missing.
Anyone with questions about an MIA or POW may con
tact the National League of Families or call Jason Galyon
at (409) 847-1885 or Mark Andrews at (409) 847-1785.
Events occurring this weekend:
• Friday — The POW/MIA flag will be raised at the Acade
mic Building flagpole at 7:30 a.m. Arnold Air Force Society
members will hold a vigil at the pole until 11:30 a.m.
• Saturday — Following the Corps march-in before the
football game, Arnold Air Force Society Commander Mark An
drews and Vietnam War POW Col. John Stavast will place a
wreath below the scoreboard. Buglers from the Aggie Band
will play “echo taps”and four F-16 fighter planes will fly over in
“missing man” formation. The names of the 24 Aggie POWs
and MIAs from Vietnam will be listed on the scoreboard.
ie Battalion
rODAY
ms of Art
Benz School of
ilArt on West
pus is a gallery of
ttic treasures.
Aggie life, Page 3
lecoming
feeling Aggie
all team looks to
win column in
|fe Field opener.
Sports, Page 7
A&M buses rolling on time
■T...
>p out
[)r: A concrete wall
id the nation is
led to prevent a
|le takeover.
Opinion, Page 11
By Wesley Poston
The Battalion
A shortage of drivers
slowed down the bus services
on campus during the begin-
► See Editorial, Page 11
ning of the semester, but dri
vers and passengers agree the
system is back on schedule.
Suzanne Skrabanek, man
ager of the Department of
Parking, Traffic and Trans
portation Bus Operations,
said they were short several
drivers the day before classes
started and this put a cramp
on the routes and schedules
of the remaining staff.
Trevor Hull, a driver
trainer and a senior history
major, said Bus Operations
resolved the problem by hir
ing more drivers.
“We had a lot of routes
open,” he said. “So we’ve
hired about 10 more people.
Everything is starting to
smooth out finally.”
Skrabanek said all of the
vacant driver positions
were filled last weekend
when applicants completed
their commercial driver’s li
cense requirements and
their PTTS training.
“You can’t just put
someone behind the
wheel,” she said.
Increased passenger loads
have also burdened the shut
tle system, Skrabanek said.
“A lot more people are rid
ing the bus,” she said.
She also said that the in
crease in campus traffic
slowed the buses. Bus drivers
have to yield to pedestrians
and watch for bicycles.
“It’s a constant chal
lenge of trying to get peo
ple to class, but keeping
safe,” she said. “Safety fist,
schedules second.”
See Buses, Page 12
DAB relies on students
to continue driving on
Stew Milne, The Battalion
Shuttle bus riders line up to get on the bus.
By Brandon Hausenfluck
The Battalion
The new Bryan-College Station night
time shuttle bus system will be driven into
the ground unless people
start using it, program or
ganizers said.
DAB (Designate-A-Bus)
Transit is a non-profit organi
zation providing weekend
bus transportation in Bryan-
College Station. It is aimed at
reducing DWIs, relieving
parking problems and pro
viding nighttime public
transportation.
Matthew Kenyon, DAB
Transit executive director and
a senior biomedical science
major, has been working for
almost a year to get the pro
gram going to make B-CS
streets safer at night.
•* Kenyon, who is also a B-CS defensive dri
ving instructor, said Texas A&M students need
to give DAB Transit a chance.
“We are constantly trying to improve
[DAB Transit] to accommodate students,”
he said. “Our main problem right now is
the maps [aren’t accessible], and people
aren’t sure how it works.”
To board a bus, patrons must stand on the
side of the road the bus is
m traveling along and flag it
I down. If patrons board a
bus that does not service
the particular establish
ment they wish to visit,
they can be dropped off
to board a bus on anoth
er route that does service
the area.
The cost of a one-way
ticket is 50 cents.
Gary Seaback, owner
of The Tap, J.D. Wells,
Hurricane Harry’s and
the soon-to-be-opened
Barracuda Bar, expects
DAB Transit to work.
“I would really love to see this work,”
Seaback said. “It will be something that stops
people who drink too much from driving.
See DAB, Page 12
“My vision is to see
busloads of coUege
students... who will be
saving their driving
records, court costs
and possibly their
lives.”
Alex Cates
Owner, Dream Associates Ad
vertising Agency