October 30l
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Texas A & M University
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TOMORROW
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YEAR • ISSUE 45 • 6 PAGES
COLLEGE STATION • TX
TODAY
See extended forecast. Page 6.
FRIDAY • OCTOBER 31 • 1997
&M students to raise centerpole today
mfire continues on time; centerpole and perimeter poles awarded to Corps outfits and residence halls
By Karie Fehler
Staff writer
Hexas Aggie Bonfire will move into its next phase to-
/hen centerpole is raised at 4:03 p.m. on the Texas
Polo Fields.
lophomores were at Bonfire site earlier this week for
fehead Wrap.” Students representing Corps of Cadets
fits and residence halls lined up for a chance to wrap
terpole with cable for stability,
phn Gallemore, Head Stack and a senior agricultural
ness major, said the process to build Bonfire is on time.
k> far, everything’s been running on schedule,” he
[. ‘‘Even if it rains on Friday — with no thunder or
lightning — we’ll be out there for centerpole.”
Each year, centerpole is awarded to the Corps com
pany that has worked the hardest at cut, load and un-
“I encourage all students...to come out on
Friday to see campus gather around
centerpole.”
CURTIS BICKERS
CENTERPOLE POT AND SENIOR MANAGEMENT MAJOR
load. Perimeter poles are awarded to two Corps out
fits and six residence halls.
Gallemore said this year’s centerpole was earned by
Company K-2. The perimeter poles were earned by Hart,
Aston, Walton, Crocker, Schumacher and Moore Hall.
A perimeter pole was awarded to Dunn Hall, but it
was taken away because Dunn is not allowed to work in
the 1997 Bonfire as an entity. Dunn is not allowed to par
ticipate because former Bonfire leaders from the resi
dence hall hired a stripper to dance at cut last Sunday.
Curtis Bickers, a centerpole pot and a senior man
agement major, said the raising of centerpole is a
bonding experience for students and marks the be
ginning of stack activities.
“I encourage all students, freshmen especially, whose
only knowledge of Bonfire is hearsay, to come out on Fri
day to see the campus gather around centerpole and
witness the tradition for yourself,” Bickers said.
Scott Caron, a senior political science major and a
former K-2 cadet, said centerpole begins the visible
part of Bonfire activities.
“Everyone has just spent the last two months cut
ting down trees, and this lets you see where all of those
dead trees are going to go,” he said. “It’s like the whole
tradition becomes real when centerpole is [raised] —
you can just feel the spirit of Aggieland.”
Caron, who has seen centerpole raised for the past
four years, said the spectators can get rowdy.
“It’s crazy when centerpole goes in that hole,” he
said. “People go nuts; it’s like yell practice times 50.”
s Comics ar(
udents offer pre-cut Sunday church services
By Rachel Dawley
Staff writer
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Brad Weber, a Dunn crew chief
and a sophomore poultry science
major, said the idea came from a
similar early morning service he at
tended designed for hunters.
“I have a hard time making it to
church because I’m always busy,
especially now with Bonfire,” We
ber said. “This is a way for people
like me, who want to go to church
can go. ’
He said the service also en
courages participation from stu
dents who have not traditionally
been a part of Bonfire.
“It helps Bonfire out,” Weber
said. “Some students weren’t com
ing out to cut because of church.
We’re trying to show that Bonfire is
for everyone, and we want to help
people feel welcome.”
Each service features a speaker
who gives a short talk. The devotion
ends in prayer.
Travis Bendele, a member of the
executive council for the Baptist
Student Ministry and a senior bio
engineering major, coordinates the
speakers and provides equipment
for the service.
Please see Services on Page 6.
PTTS to alter bus
routes for opening
50
RONY ANGKRIWAN/The Battalion
Alen Kowan, a senior business analysis major, tests the map (which has lightbulbs representing cities around the world) at the new George Bush
Presidential Library. The library is scheduled to open Thursday afternoon, Nov. 6.
By Joey Jeanette Schlueter
Staff writer
Due to anticipation of heavy traf
fic during the dedication and open
ing of the George Bush Presidential
Library and Museum next week,
Texas A&M Department of Parking,
Traffic and Transportation Services
(PTTS) will alter shuttle bus opera
tions Nov. 3-7.
A&M’s off-campus shuttle buses
will run normal routes all week, with
the addition of two temporary bus
routes that will travel to and from the
Sears parking lot at Post Oak Mall and
two stops on campus.
The mall shuttles will stop on cam
pus at Old Main and Houston Street
(near the YMCA Building) and at the
West Campus Library on Olsen Road.
The Mall shuttles will run from 7 a.m.
to 7 p.m., leaving every 10 minutes.
A bus pass is not required to ride the
mall shuttles.
Tom Williams, director of PTTS,
said the mall shuttles were necessary
because Parking Area 95 on Wellborn
Road will be closed.
He said PA 95 will be occupied by
charter buses loading and unloading
visitors to the Bush Library. Williams
also said the lot will be used for visitors
who will arrive by train. The train will
stop near the lot.
Williams said he hopes the mall
shuttles will be helpful, and if they
are, Bus Operations may continue to
use them.
“We want to continue the shuttles
at the mall if we have enough students
v^eo:
Complex
who will ride it,” he said. “We’ve tried
it before in the past, but not enough
students used it.”
On-campus shuttles will run nor
mal routes Nov. 3-4, but starting Nov. 5
the West Campus shuttles will not have
stops at the Academic Building-West
at the George Bush Complex.
All Research Park shuttles will not
run Nov. 6-7, the dedication on the 6th
and the opening on the 7th. Roads
through Research Park will be a main
access for visitors to the Bush Library.
Regular on- and off-campus bus
routes will resume Nov. 10.
Students who need to use the night
bus service to campus can ride the “OF
Sarge” night bus that stops in front of
the Butler Building and travels to the
mall. The service will run from 7 p.m.
to 10 p.m.
Please see Routes on Page 6.
ocal woman promotes
Iggie spirit through unique
umpkin carvings.
P See Page 2
sports
The Texas A&M
Soccer Team
concludes the
regular season
against TCU.
Model traditions
A&M customs serve as examples for other universities
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340 696-jews service.
By Jenara Kocks
Staff writer
Many Texas A&M students describe the
spirit of Aggieland as unexplainable with
the saying, “From the outside looking in
you can’t understand it; from the inside
looking out, you can’t explain it.”
However, some A&M traditions have
become a model for other universities.
Some Texas schools have started orien
tation camps similar to Fish Camp, an off-
campus camp that began in 1954 to teach
freshman students about A&M traditions.
Jay Young, assistant director of Student
Development Services at Texas Christian
University and Class of ’80, said TCU used
Fish Camp as a model when creating Frog
Camp in 1994.
“Fish Camp is well-known as the oldest
and most successful of these types of
camps,” he said. “Just about anyone who
wants to start a camp looks at Fish Camp.”
Susan Kessler, associate executive direc
tor of the Ex-Students’ Association of the
University of Texas, said the association
looked at Fish Camp and other schools with
similar camps when University of Texas or
ganized Camptexas five years ago.
“We wanted our students to benefit from
the same kind of success (with camps) that
other schools have had,” Kessler said.
She said although the association used
Fish Camp as a model, Camptexas is dif
ferent from Fish Camp because UT has dif
ferent traditions and culture.
Young said the students, faculty and
staff examined TCU traditions, culture,
history, resources and strengths when de
signing Frog Camp.
He said TCU’s camp focuses more on
team-building activities than on history
and traditions like Fish Camp does.
Jill Newman, chair of Traditions Coun
cil and a senior journalism major, said
A&M traditions make students feel like a
part of something larger than themselves.
“Deep down they want that feeling
everyone wants and that’s why everyone
looks at A&M,” Newman said.
Both Young and Kessler said their
camps are becoming popular at their
schools and a part of their traditions.
Young said 60 percent ofTCU’s freshman
class attended Frog Camp this summer.
Kessler said the number of new stu
dents attending Camptexas has doubled
every year since it began in 1992.
“It’s certainly caught on here and we
think it will grow fast,” she said.
Newman said A&M’s history of tradi
tions set it apart from the rest.
“They can start something in 1997, but
it won’t have the same sentimental value
to those students as the traditions do for
students at Texas A&M,” she said.
She said the sense of pride for A&M
starts at Fish Camp.
Center chronicles history
of University, Corps of Cadets
By Rachel Dawley
Staff writer
The history of Texas A&M and the Corps of
Cadets is depicted through displays and exhibits
at the Sam Houston Sanders Corps Center.
Built in 1992 with private funds, the center
provides a presentation of Corps life, including
displays on Final Review, the Ross Volunteer
Company, the Aggie Band and Parson’s Mount
ed Cavalry. The museum also presents the his
tory of traditions, such as Muster, the 12th
Man, Silver Taps and Reveille.
The center displays the second most-exten
sive collection of Aggie Rings, behind the As
sociation of Former Students.
Joe Fenton, curator of the center and Class
of ’58, said the idea for the center came from
the need for a place to educate people about
the Corps and the A&M traditions.
“This is a door to the Corps,” Fenton said. “We
didn’t have any place that we could call head
quarters. We want to preserve the past, promote
the present and protect the future. We want to
show what it is that makes A&M so different.”
One of the many traditions the building has
become famous for is the Corps Center Guard.
The guard allows sophomore, junior and senior
cadets to become involved with the center.
Please see Center on Page 6.
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BRANDON BOLLOM/The Battalion
Sam Houston Sanders Corps of Cadets Center
houses exhibits such as an Aggie ring collection
and a gun collection.