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COLLEGE STATION • TX
THURSDAY • FEBRUARY 26 • 1998
ity council set to vote on Northgate garage
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By Amanda Smith
Staff writer
he College Station City Council will
tonight on a citizen s petition aimed to
planning and development of a $6.8
an Northgate parking garage,
le council can vote to support the peti-
which would scrap the garage project ,or
tthe petition, which would allow voters
bide on the garage in the May 2 election,
dd McDaniel, College Station senior
omic development analyst, said
has been spent on preliminary de
sign work for the garage.
The council voted to approve the park
ing garage in May 1997 by a 4-3 vote. Coun
cil members Dick Birdwell, Swiki Anderson
and Steve Esmond voted against the North-
gate parking garage.
Citizens responded to the council’s vote
with a Jan. 30 petition with 577 signatures,
but the petition was returned because it
lacked birth dates. Birth information has
been added and the petition has been vali
dated, City Secretary Connie Hooks said.
The proposed 750-space parking garage
would be located on a 1.5-acre space at the
mid block of College Main.
Anderson said the garage is not a good
economic project for College Station .
“I am not in favor of the parking garage
because I don’t think it’s a good economic
situation,” Anderson said. “I am not sure
there is a need for the parking garage.
The need for parking (in Northgate) is
primarily on Sundays during church ser
vices and at nights around the Dixie Chick
en area.”
The churches, local businesses and stu
dents could potentially benefit from the ad
ditional Northgate parking, McDaniel said.
Anderson said the city cannot assure
taxpayers that revenues for the garage will
be subsidized completely by municipal
revenue bonds.
Dr. Dan Barbee, a retired investor and a
Texas A&M professor, said College Station
taxpayers should be attentive to proposed
funding for the parking garage.
“When people try to say there’s going to
be no expenses to the taxpayers, you have
to pay attention to the details,” Barbee said.
“There is the argument that a city should
provide these services. If you think about
city-sponsored projects, think about why
(the city) should pick a parking garage and
is it needed.”
McDaniel said planning for the parking
garage began after the city hired a parking
consultant to evaluate parking conditions
in the Northgate area.
“We identified a need for parking in the
Northgate area,” he said.
We contracted with a parking consultant
who determined that there was a need for
off-street parking. The recommendation
was moved (to the council) for the devel
opment of a parking garage at the North-
gate location.”
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GREG MCREYNOLDS/The Battalion
hvid Schmidt, a sophomore computer engineering major, selects a bow from the rack for his archery class in the Student Recreation
Inter on Wednesday.
Itudents celebrate black heritage
I By Jennifer Wilson
i Staff writer
rhe official celebration of black history dates back to
6 when it was known as Negro History Week. It has
Ce evolved to today’s month-long celebration: ^
|ckHistory Month.
I terG. Woodson created the original celebra- ^
iduring the second week of February to coincide
i the birthdays of civil rights pioneers Frederick i
Jglas and Abraham Lincoln during the month. I
Organizations at Texas A&M have joined together “
elebrating the heritage of black history this month,
lichael Stewart, chair of PanHellenic Council and
nior mechanical engineering major, said there is a
d for black history awareness at A&M.
The tradition-based environment at A&M poses a problem be-
cai
cause it is more exclusive than inclusive regarding culturally di
verse issues such as black history,” Stewart said.
Stewart said PanHellenic always offers programs regarding
African-American issues, but they are more intensive dur
ing black history month.
Q “We have had about two programs a week this
month to educate and entertain students about
black history,” he said. “We have also done a lot of
. community service to help spread awareness.”
Earlier this month, Alpha Phi Alpha spon-
sored Miss Black and Gold, a contest in which
African-American women can represent them
selves as leaders, Stewart said. The ninth annual
Greek Olympiad, which will feature a dance style called
“step,” will be in Rudder Theater Friday at 7 p.m.
Please see History on Page 2.
INSIDE
“XX*
Preventing
shoplifting saves
merchants and
customers money
in the long run.
Meningitis lands student in
hospital after Mardi Gras
See Page 3
sports
omen’s Basketball Team
torious in its final game in
IRollie White Coliseum.
See Page 7
opinion
frguson: United States
lust stand firm in dealings
|th Saddam Hussein.
See Page 11
online
|ttp://battalion.tamu.edu
Ook up with state and na-
pnal news through The
f ife,AP’s 24-hour online
vs service.
HOUSTON (AP) — A Lon Morris College stu
dent remains in critical condition today after
falling victim to a virulent blood disease.
The student had attended Galveston’s Mardi
Gras celebration this weekend, when he began
to feel ill.
“He had some muscle aches and pains, noth
ing very severe,” said University of Texas Medical
Branch at Galveston’s Dr. Victor Cardenas, who
is treating the student.
“He got worse through the night and in the ear
ly morning felt bad enough that he had to come
to the John Sealy Hospital emergency room,
where he became very, very ill very quickly.”
Physicians on Tuesday said the 20-year-old stu
dent has less than a 50 percent chance of surviving.
The man was attacked by a meningococcal
disease that left him breathing with the help of
machines and heavily dosed with antibiotics, the
Houston Chronicle reported.
Galveston County Health District officials are
trying to track down anyone who came in con
tact with the student, whose name and personal
information are not being released at the request
of his parents.
Meningococcal disease is an infection of the
blood stream. It can cause meningitis, which is
an inflammation of the lining of the brain and
the spinal cord, physicians told the paper.
“It’s not really clear he had meningitis, but he
was treated for meningitis anyway,” said UTMB’s
epidemiologist Dr. C. Glen Mayhall.
TCA raises rates,
adds channels
By Colleen Kavanagh
Staff writer
TCA Cable TV announced yesterday
that the basic service price will increase
$0.88, to $11.30 and the standard ser
vice price will increase $1.80, to $15.33
per month.
The Disney Channel and Fox News
have been added to standard service,
Prevue to basic service and Galavision to
the premier package.
Disney and Fox News were added to
the service package because of customer
suggestions and requests, said Tom Way,
TCA general manager. He said TCA tries
to incorporate their customers’ com
ments into their program.
Rental prices for converter equip
ment will also change. The monthly fee
for the enhanced deluxe model
SA8600X has decreased $1.39 per
month, and the SA8600 series convert
er increased $0.41 per month.
Way said TCA’s new price structure
meets federal price guidelines, remains
consistent with the-federal Communi-,
cations Commission’s (FCC) regula
tions and follows the terms of the TCA’s
franchise agreement with Bryan and
College Station.
Bob Biles, director of support ser
vices for the City of Bryan, said the last
cable price increase was in December
1996, when the basic system price in
creased $0.29 and the standard service
increased $2.34.
“An FCC telecommunications act re
lieved cities of the opportunity to regulate
cable,” he said. “But TCA must fill out pa
perwork with the FCC in order to increase
cable rates. There is a formula that deter
mines how much the rate can increase
that is based on numerous factors.”
Way said costs of operation have
risen, but the cable rates are still below
the national rates. Decisions to adjust
prices are made on the management lev
el at the corporate office in Tyler, Texas,
and then passed on to the city systems.
Over the past year, TCA has added
channels such as TV Land, the Texas
A&M University Channel and The Col
lege Station Channel to its line-up.
Mario Saldana, an electronics sales
person at Circuit City, predicts that the
cable price increase will increase sales of
Digital Satellite Systems (DSS).
“The number one reason for people
switching to DSS is that they are not sat
isfied with their cable service,” he said. “I
think that a price increase will add on to
people’s dissatisfaction.”
TCA has provided cable television to
the Bryan-College Station area since 1989.
TCA Cable TV Inc. provides service to over
850,000 customers in 75 cable systems in
Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma,
New Mexico, Mississippi and Idaho.
Dr. Ralph Morris, Galveston health district di
rector, said about six people who attended the
celebration began taking medication Monday as
a preventative measure against the potentially
deadly disease.
The ill college student rode on a Knights of
Momus Mardi Gras float which passed thou
sands. Officials say people who watched the pa
rade are not at risk.
“Given the rather transitory exposure that
anyone may have, we do not feel that there
would be any risk of obtaining the disease,” Mor
ris said. “Just because you attended a ball or were
part of the parade, there’s no need for concern.”
Administrators at the man’s college in Jack
sonville have been asked by state health offi
cials to notify students who may have spent
significant amounts of time with the sick stu
dent last week.
“The definition of exposure is spending four
hours with an individual in the five-day period
prior to the onset of illness,” Morris said.“We’re
contacting those individuals that had even less
contact than that, apprising them of the situa
tion and letting them make a decision about
whether they want to take treatment with their
doctors.”
The student first developed symptoms of the
disease Saturday night. Since Sunday, he has suf
fered kidney failure, dangerously low blood pres
sure and other complications, hospital physi
cians said.
Berkeley bound
Architecture master’s candidate wins design
contest for historic marketplace addition
By Travis Irby
Staff writer
A Texas A&M University master's
candidate in the College of Architecture
bowled over the competition to win the
Berkeley Architectural Heritage Associ
ation (BAHA) certificate of recognition.
Susan Perkins won the prestigious
honor for an addition she designed for
the Berkeley Bowel Marketplace in
Berkeley, Calif. The award is given to a
project that enhances the historic and
neighborhood aspects of the city.
Perkins, who received her under
graduate degree from UC-Berkeley,
wasn’t even aware she had won the
honor.
“I didn’t know about the award until
I received it in the mail,” Perkins said.
Perkins said the design reflected
her interest in the environmental-be
havior al aspects of architecture. Her
undergraduate work was half psychol
ogy, half architecture.
“I want to design buildings that do
more than look nice,” Perkins said.
“The people that work and live inside
them need to feel good.”
Perkins said the design for the
Berkeley Bowl reflected those beliefs
about architecture.
“I wanted to keep with the historic
feeling of the building, adding parts
that were new but I felt like they be
longed,” Perkins said.
The Berkeley Bowl Marketplace was
originally a bowling alley built in 1939.
It now houses a variety of food dealers
offering a multitude of produce, meats
and spices.
Perkins designed a 75-foot wide addi
tion to Marketplace, adding space while
integrating the building’s elements.
“The Marketplace is a local icon so it
as a very high profile job,” Perkins said.
Leslie Emmington, of the BAHA,
said Perkins’ work only strengthened
the building’s appeal.
“The distinguishing feature of this
project is the way she worked with the
qualities that were already there and
BRANDON BOLLOM/The Battalion
Susan Perkins, a master's candidate
in architecture, won a design contest.
made them stronger and more appeal
ing,” Emmington said.
The project took two-and-one-half
years to complete.
Before Perkins became involved
with the project she studied with Chris
Alexander, a world famous architect.
Prior to her studies with Alexander, she
lived in Europe and the Caribbean.
She started her architecture studies
at the elite Cooper Union, one the na
tion’s premiere architecture colleges.
Perkins has also won the New Mexico
State Beautification Award for her work
in saving a stream habitat in a Silver
City, New Mexico historic district.
Perkins is currently studying the de
sign of nursing homes and its effects on
the elderly.
Perkins said these experiences de
fine her desires and goals.
“I want to bring environmental-be
havior principals to modern design,”
Perkins said. “It is important it looks
good, as well as feel good.”