Texas A&M University
n
htdf ilume 103 • Issue 164 • 6 Pages
Jews
entsj
ed Cross conducts
mpus blood drive
full-sit's AmBriGan Red Cross and Blood-
fceci eare conducting a blood drive at
eeta as A&M today through Thursday.
Donation buses are at the Memo-
Student Center, the Commons
iby and Spence Street from 10
to5 p.m.
Donors will receive a free T-shirt.
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Tomorrow
Today
See extended forecast, Page 2.
College Station, TX
JlMfilM '' i
Tuesday, July 15, 1997
Briefs
lass of '97 awaits
jproval of gift
Hie Class of ’97 is waiting for final
ra/al of its class gift, a $60,000 en-
|d-Ti ment for renovations of the Grove.
David Recht, class gift chair and a
e"ii lior civil engineering major, said
money will be deposited in an ac-
nt maintained by the Texas A&M
ndation. There, the $60,000 will
rue interest, which will be used to
ifor future renovations approved
tie MSC director.
Recht said he and Richard Biondi, a
resentative of the Foundation, have
ledthe endowment. He said it awaits
approval of Dr. J. Malon Southerland,
"^president for student affairs.
Hie class also has given $3,000 to
Association of Former Students ac
ini This money will be used at the
eretion of class agents for smaller
Sorclass reunion costs, Recht said.
said the money for the gifts
is raised by the Class of ’97 over
four years through sales of
'gDance tickets, Elephant Walk T-
hsand other class memorabilia.
...iti
alse alarm triggers
Evacuation of Evans
Ive
[ind . Wiotelhan 180 students and fac-
WintheBjans Library were evac-
'W for about 30 minutes yester-
ly after a fire alarm went off
'und3p.m.
The University Police Department
Medthat a contractor working on
ustroction near the library set off
ialarm accidentally,
file College Station Fire Depart-
responded to the alarm to as-
"itwas false.
stitute to sponsor
search symposium
I fhe Research and Technology
isfer Symposium, a one-day pro-
fmon information and technologies
liable in food safety, processing,
feting and policy, will be held in the
WerTheater Complex Sept. 30.
The Institute of Food Science and
peering will sponsorthe program,
ich provides participants problem-
Nngtechnologies and information
the future of food processing.
For more information about the
pposium contact the Institute at
9)862-2036.
LIFESTYLES
cal Color Gallery exhibits
t by A&M architecture
cfessors.
See Page 3.
OPINION
pllaway: PITS appeals
[ocess needs improvement
ncerning time management.
See Page 5.
ONLINE
| ttp://bat~web.tamu.edu
sit The
0 'ire, AP’s
Miour
"ine news
,u !r vice.
FITS offers ticket appeal process
By Joey Jeanette Schlueter
The Battalion
More than 100,000 parking tickets are issued each
year at Texas A&M University, and about 10 percent are
appealed by students, faculty and A&M visitors, Park
ing, Transit and’Traffic Services said.
Tom Williams, director of PTTS, said the number of ap
pealed citations that are dismissed, meaning the violator
does not have to pay the ticket, varies each semester.
See related column. Page 5.
“Very few people appeal their citations,” Williams said.
“We receive about 100 appeals a week during the year.”
Williams said students and faculty have two options
when appealing a citation.
“We are only the first level of appeal,” Williams said.
“If the driver does not like our decision, then they can
appeal to the appeals panel for the University. Our de
cision is not final.”
The PTTS procedure for appealing a citation re
quires that a driver first pay a bond in the amount of the
ticket and then fill out an appeals form stating why the
driver thinks he or she should not have been ticketed.
Parking counselors, four full-time counselors and four
student workers with the same authority, consider the
appeal. It then is directed to the adjudicator, who makes
the final decision.
If the driver then feels the appeal decision is not fair, it
can be presented to the University appeals panel, which
consists of four to six faculty, staff and students. The pro
cedure for appealing citations by PTTS is under “Parking
Tickets” in the University Regulations Handbook.
Williams said only six or seven ticket appeals go be
fore the University Appeals Panel each year.
When considering the dismissal of a citation,
Williams said a driver’s history of University citations is
considered in the appeals process.
“Usually the ticket is dismissed if it is a first-time cita
tion for the driver,” he said, “but in cases of abusing the sys
tem, the citation may be reduced, or the appeal is denied.”
Please see PTTS on Page 6.
ttaUiut
:
m
Splish Splash
Photograph: Tim Moog
Emily Varnell, senior kinesiology major, instructs a water aerobics class for students and facul
ty called “Fit Life” in the indoor pool of the Rec Center Monday afternoon.
Space station commander
suffers from heart troubles
Cosmonaut's condition could lead to delay in planned repairs
MOSCOW (AP) —The commander of the crippled space sta
tion Mir complained of an irregular heartbeat Monday and
asked nervously whether he was healthy enough to take part in
a vital mission to repair the damaged Russian spacecraft.
“For crying out loud!” cosmonaut Vasily Tsibliyev exclaimed
after reporting his symptoms. “This is bad timing.”
“You have to calm down!” a doctor from Mission Control told
him repeatedly, urging the 43-year-old crew leader to get more sleep.
“Will I be able to make the trip?” Tsibliyev asked, referring to
the repair mission.
“Let us think and see,” the doctor replied.
In coming days, either Tsibliyev or his crewmate, Alexander
Lazutkin, needs to make a trek into the airless, ruptured Spektr
module — one of six modules that make up the Mir—on a mis
sion to restore full power in the space station, home to the two
cosmonauts and American Michael Foale.
A final dress rehearsal for the five-hour mission is set for Tues
day — three weeks after the Spektr was hit by a cargo ship, forc
ing the crew to seal it off and disconnect the power cables.
The accident was the latest in a series of mishaps that have struck
the 11 -year-old orbiting station since February, when Tsibliyev be
gan what has turned out to be a tense tour of space duty.
Tsibliyev blamed his heart problem on the stress of the col
lision, which occurred while he was practicing docking the car
go ship using manual controls.
Valery Lyndin, a spokesperson for Russian Mission Control,
said Tsibliyev’s heart rate showed some irregularities during a
recent ride on a stationary bike, but his condition did not ap
pear to be serious.
Russian officials downplayed concerns over Tsibliyev’s
health, saying a shift in the crew’s sleeping schedule last week
may have played a role in his symptoms Monday.
“Tsibliyev is a late riser, and he has been struggling to adjust
to the schedule all the time,” deputy mission chiefViktor Blagov
told The Associated Press.
There was a note of exasperation in Blagov’s comments. “We have
been hearing his complaints of a workload being too heavy since
the very first day of his flight,” he said at another point. “Maybe it’s
just personal and he can’t work as fast as we urge him to.”
Blagov refused to speculate whether Tsibliyev’s condition
might lead them to postpone Saturday’s planned venture
into the Spektr.
“Let’s wait until doctors make their conclusion and not do
any guesswork,” he said.
gan wnat nas tumea out to oe a tense tour ot space duty. any guesswork;, ne said.
Texas to open DNA database of sex offenders
DALLAS (AP) —Texas is joining the list base,” Mendenhall said. “The ultimate Dawn Herkenham of the FBI forensic sci-
DALLAS (AP) —Texas is joining the list
of states using “genetic fingerprints” to try
solving sexual crimes.
A computer database is being filled
with the DNA information of some crim
inals. Authorities hope for it to one day be
ah important crime-fighting tool both on
state and national levels.
About 500 DNA profiles have been en
tered in a few months into the database,
known as Combined DNA Index System,
or CODIS.
Dr. Meghan Mendenhall, who super
vises the Texas Department of Public
Safety program, said she expects to even
tually add about 1,000 records per month.
"The purpose is to provide DNA pro
files that law enforcement agencies can
search through, like a fingerprint data
base,” Mendenhall said. “The ultimate
purpose is to solve sexual assault crimes
for which there are no suspects.”
The system will allow police to con
duct electronic searches based on fluid or
tissue samples, similar to the way finger
print matches are currently sought.
Investigators have yet to test the sys
tem; therefore, no crimes have been
solved with it.
“We knew it would take some time to
build,” said state Rep. Brian McCall, R-
Plano, who sponsored the 1995 law that
created the database. “But I’m ready for a
hit. I’m ready for it to prove its value.”
Since the FBI sponsored the creation
of a DNA database in the late 1980s, all but
four states have passed laws requiring
certain convicts to submit samples, said
Dawn Herkenham of the FBI forensic sci
ence systems unit.
Some states collect DNA samples from
people convicted of murder, assault, rob
bery and kidnapping.
Texas requires any adult convicted of a
sex crime to submit a blood sample, re
gardless of when the crime was commit
ted. Juveniles who committed a sex crime
on or after Jan. 1,1996, also must provide
blood samples, as must certain adult pro
bationers and parolees.
Officials note that sex offenders often
strike more than once — sometimes after
they’ve been convicted and released.
The state spent about $700,000 build
ing its DNA lab in an old bus garage.
Mendenhall said it will take about
$800,000 per year to run the program.
Graphic: Tim Moog
Merchants
dispute
proposed
hotel site
By Robert Smith
The Battalion
Some Northgate business owners say the revitalization
efforts in the area may be threatened after the College Sta
tion City Council voted to have a hotel and conference
center buil t at Wolf Pen Creek rather than Northgate.
Some Northgate merchants believe a Northgate ho
tel and conference center would be more beneficial to
the community than one at Wolf Pen Creek.
Ongoing Cover&go
Don Ganter, owner of the Dixie Chicken, said the city
made a mistake by voting for the Wolf Pen Creek site.
Ganter said the city should have considered proxim
ity to Texas A&M in their decision on the hotel location.
“It’s real stupid,” Ganter said. “My observation is that
it is incompetent not to understand that the reason peo
ple come to the Brazos Valley is Texas A&M University.”
The city voted 4-3 onThursday to begin negotiations
for a Wolf Pen Creek hotel, office building and confer
ence center. Citizens will vote in November to decide if
the hotel will be built.
Ganter said a Northgate hotel would be more conve
nient to visitors of A&M and would help revitalize the area.
“This one (hotel) would be right across the street
from the school and there would be no transporta
tion problems,” Ganter said. “It would also rejuve-
nafe an old part of town.”
Mayor Lynn Mcllhaney said Wolf Pen Creek offered
more development opportunities than Northgate.
“The Northgate vicinity is already developed and the
Wolf Pen Creek will allow more development with busi
nesses,” Mcllhaney said. “It was a matter of choosing de
velopment over redevelopment.”
Please see Hotel on Page 6.
Report shows
AIDS deaths
are declining
WASHINGTON (AP) — Deaths from AIDS are
dropping—19 percent during the first nine months
of 1996 — with white men accounting for most of
the change, the government announced Monday.
Deaths among minorities and women are not de
clining nearly as much, and AIDS activists warned
that the gap will widen as more poor people cannot
afford the expensive drugs that promise to prolong
their lives.
“AIDS is not over. If we act like it is, it may never
be,” warned Daniel Zingale of the advocacy group
AIDS Action.
Some 30,700 Americans died of AIDS between
January and September 1996, down from 37,900
during the same time period in 1995, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention reported.
The GDC reported in February that AIDS deaths
had dropped during the first six months of 1996, the
first decrease since the epidemic began in 1981.
Monday’s report tracks an additional three months
to show the trend is continuing.
Please see AIDS on Page 6.