Texas A & M University
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4™ YEAR • ISSUE 107 • 12 PAGES
COLLEGE STATION • TX
TODAY TOMORROW
TUESDAY • MARCH 10 • 1998
tersection closure affects OF Sarge route
By Amanda Smith
Staff writer
closure at the intersection of South-
Parkway and Dartmouth Street in
|^e Station on Wednesdaywillchange
|s A vM off-campus bus routes and
fel for the duration of the spring se-
:ier and possibly through the summer,
dosed section is between Brentwood
and Southwest Parkway Drive,
try Jackson, Bus Operations manag
er for A&M Parking, Traffic and Trans
portation Services (PTTS), said the “OP
Sarge” off-campus bus route changed last
week after construction began.
“We are going to go backwards on our
route,” Jackson said. “The OP Sarge route
will be affected. It is one of the heaviest
off-campus routes and Southwest Park
way is heavily traveled.”
An additional OP Sarge stop will be lo
cated at the Post Oak Mall bus stop. The
revised bus route is about two minutes
shorter in travel time, Jackson said.
Drivers who used the Dartmouth sec
tion may use an alternate route, taking
Brentwood between Dartmouth Avenue
and Texas Avenue during the period of
closure.
PTTS Bus Operations has met with
Klotz Associates, the municipal develop
ment group in charge of the construction
on Southwest Parkway in College Station,
to minimize the effect of construction.
“The contractor wants to work with
us,” Jackson said. “The contractor said
that buses should have enough room for
proper turn radiuses. We have put up
signs at the bus stops.”
Jackson said PTTS Bus Operations
plans to take a survey of students who
take the OP Sarge route to campus at the
end of this semester.
“If the customers want the route to re
main the same (following the end of con
struction) , then we will keep it,” Jackson said.
An open forum is scheduled for April 2
to address concerns about bus operations
and other transportation services provid
ed by PTTS.
“Communication is sometimes a hard
thing,” Jackson said. “We are in the midst
of working on some changes in the bus
routes. We want to see what feedback we
can get from the students.”
About 20,000 students use the buses on
and off campus every day, Jackson said.
Nearly 10,000 students purchased off-cam
pus bus passes this school year, he said.
I ROGER
InoisS
[the 3
■Tin B:
hiilding ‘The Zone*
liversity athletic officials host a groundbreaking
remony marking the expansion of Kyle Field
By Amanda Smith
Staff writer
jxas A&M University athletic officials broke
nd yesterday to mark the beginning of ex
ion on the north end of Kyle Field,
he S32.9 million renovation and expan-
wili produce “The Zone,” which will add
)0 seats, a suite and a club level to the sta-
m
I
GREG MCREYNOLDS/The Battalion
ter Gooding, Bucky Richardson, Wally
and Dr. Ray Bowen break ground at
ITTpyle Field Expansion site on Monday.
dium. The renovations are expected to be
completed by September 1999.
“We are one of the few universities that has
an athletic program that is not funded in some
way by student fees or by state funds,” said
A&M President Ray M. Bowen. "Without good
facilities and without the kind of support the
12th Man Foundation provides, we couldn’t
be here today celebrating the success of this
Athletic department and the creation of this
wonderful facility.”
The expansion is funded by die 12th Man
Foundation, a private and non-profit organiza
tion.
Wally Groff, A&M athletic director, said the
improvements may boost attendance at foot
ball games.
“The (expanded) football facility should
help us sell extra tickets,” Groff said. “It will
give us an opportunity to increase revenue by
adding additional seats. The former students
and the fans will be the ones to benefit the
most.”
Football ticket sales and additional rev
enues account for 80 to 85 percent of the Ath
letic Department’s funds, Groff said.
The A&M System Board of Regents ap
proved a contract in late February with
Bartlett Cocke of San Antonio to complete
the renovations.
Final descent
\
mm
'"•Vi :>
■I
Cathy Boettcher, an air traffic control specialist, guides a Beeck 1900 twin engine
Wood Airport Monday.
MIKE FUENTES/The Battalion
plane from Continental Express into Easter
*aper recycling introduced Bonfire committee formed to
teach students about traditions
By Stacey Becks
Staff writer
|he Physical Plant Recycling Center is putting recy-
!k bins next to The Battalion distribution centers on
f pus in an effort to alleviate overflowed trash
and cluttered classroom caused by
spapers left by students,
tudent Senate recently passed a
hat asked for a newspaper re-
|> ing program.
larianne Ibrahim, the bill’s
lor and a senior marketing
Dr, said the program can work
fl idents are aware of the recy-
k® k bins.
ben the newspapers are left
ibverflowed trash bins, class-
ns and buses, they can’t be used (^0
pcycling purposes,” she said. “Recy-
^ is a way to solve the problem of excess
spapers and to do something for the environment.”
licole Tatschke, environmental conservation spe-
|st for the utilities division of the Physical Plant, said
! e are temporary recycling bins at some of the distri
bution locations and more will be installed. The recycling
bins will be labeled “for newspaper recycling only.”
The six distribution locations are the Commons,
Sbisa Dining Hall, West Campus Library, Zachiy, Block
er, and Harrington Education Center.
Tatschke said the Recycling Center wants to
work with the students and implement
the programs the students want.
| y' “We want to provide as much
recycling accessibility as possi
ble,” she said. “If students want
newspapers recycled that’s what
we’ll work to implement. I want
to encourage students to use
the newspaper bins and not put
trash in them.”
Tatschke said newspaper recy
cling does not generate revenue
because the quality of paper is low,
but they still want to recycle the news
papers to prevent them from going to landfills.
The Recycling Center has recycling bins in 138
buildings on campus. They recycled 634 tons of ma
terial last year.
r
Indian Slip takes theater
( ’ matics 7 improvisation to
[fel of side-aching laughter.
See Page 3
sports
ler Longhorn Eric French
id a home with the Texas
Baseball Team.
See Page 10
Lott calls for honesty
rtin: Women-based adver-
ig leaves men with few
|ions in personal hygiene.
See Page 11
online
l:p://battalion.tamu.edu
fpk up with state and na-
lal news through The
fe, AP’s 24-hour online
ts service.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate
Majority Leader Trent Lott urged
President Clinton today to end
the “stonewalling” and tell “the
whole truth” about his relation
ship with Monica Lewinsky.
He also said the administra
tion should stop its “smear tac
tics" against independent coun
sel Kenneth Starr.
“I today call on the president
to come forward, tell the Ameri
can people what has happened
in these cases, particularly the
Lewinsky case,” Lott, R-Miss.,
told reporters.
“What is the whole truth? Tell
that to the independent counsel,
call off his attack dogs, get this
behind us so that we can go on
with the people’s business.”
Lott had come under fire by
House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-
Ga., and other Republicans over
the weekend after saying Starr
should accelerate the long-run
ning Whitewater investigation
into the president’s private land
dealings and allegations that he
had an affair with former White
Flouse intern Lewinsky and cov-
? asWv' ,
lily
Clinton
ered it up.
Today,
Lott told a
packed
Capitol
meeting
room that
Starr “is do
ing a great
job under
very difficult
circumstances.”
And he criticized Clinton and
the White House for hindering
Starr’s work with "stonewalling
and smear tactics and attack
methods being used by his attor
neys and by his allies.”
Lott said he hoped Starr
would wrap up his work “sooner
rather than later” because of the
effect it is having.
“It is beginning to have an
impact on the presidency, on
the president and on his ability
to deal with many very impor
tant issues for the future of our
country — from Social Security
to what’s going on in Iraq to
now what’s going on in Kosovo,”
Lott said.
By Jennifer Wilson
Staff writer
A student organization is forming a committee to pro
mote community and campus involvement with Bonfire
and to help people feel welcome at Bonfire activities.
Belinda Rodriguez, director of the Bonfire Reload
ing Committee (BRC) and a junior animal science
major, said the idea for the committee was intro
duced to the BRC last year by members of the Bonfire
Advisory Council.
Rodriguez said the committee will aim to eliminate
any negative feelings that may be associated with Bon
fire since last year’s sexual profanity issue.
“Bonfire is a very positive event and the main goal
of the new committee is to get community members
involved so they understand what goes into building
bonfire,” she said.
Rodriguez said the committee will set up a tent at
Bonfire site where people can ask questions, take a tour
and look at scrapbooks to learn more.
“It will help prevent people from wandering around
without knowing where to go to protect their safety and
keep them out of the way so the red pots can do their
job,” she said.
Sarah O’Brien, associate director of BRC and a ju
nior journalism major, is forming the organization
from the ground up. She said the name for the com
mittee is not official yet, but it will act as a hostess or
ganization for Bonfire. ^
“The new hostess committee will be a partnership
with BRC, and BRC will take on two distinct purpos
es: to maintain and operate the cookie shack and to
serve as an informative aid with the hostess commit
tee,” she said.
O’Brien said that there is much to be learned
about Bonfire that students do not learn at Fish
Camp orientation.
“People have a lot of questions when they see a 55-
foot monument to Aggie spirit that is being construct
ed solely by students,” she said.
O’Brien said the hostess committee will help people
learn about the reasons why pots are worn, what the
different pot colors mean, the specific jobs that stu
dents have and the dangers that are involved with
building Bonfire.
“It makes such a difference to know why people are
doing what,” she said.
O'Brien said the committee will encourage people
who would not usually participate in Bonfire to learn
more and help.
“In such a male-dominated atmosphere, we want to
let people know it’s okay to be a girl and be out at Bon
fire,” she said. “There is a lot for girls to do besides the
two extremes of wiring logs or the traditional role of just
serving cookies.”
Please see Bonfire on Page 2.
Swift justice offers alternative for students
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla.
(AP) — Spring Break Court is now
in session.
Vacationing college students
nabbed for misdemeanors like un
derage drinking and disorderly con
duct can expect some immediate
justice at this popular spring break
destination.
And they can avoid a criminal
record by giving up a day at the
beach for a day cleaning up the
beach.
Starting Monday, instead of pro
cessing offenders through normal
criminal channels, Bay County
judges will hold court at City Hall in
this Florida Panhandle resort town.
The plan mirrors a similar program
used at Key West for several years.
First-time offenders can keep
their records clean by doing up to
eight hours of community service.
“They’re going to pick up trash
on the side of the road they proba-
bly threw down there last night,” Po
lice Chief J.B. Holloway said. "We
hope their friends will see them and
decide that they want to behave a
little better.”
Other options are pleading guilty
and paying a $175 fine or pleading
innocent and having to return for tri
al. But the community service option
carries a distinct advantage for
youthful offenders.
“If they choose that then they
don’t have a record” Holloway said.
“Mom and Daddy don’t have to
know about it.”
Justice will be swift.
“As soon as you leave that court
room you step onto a work van,” Hol
loway said.
The Spring Break Court, which
opens Monday, operates seven days
a week until April 4. Panama City
Beach usually gets about 500,000 vis
itors during the four-week spring
break period.
It is expected to relieve regular
court dockets that usually get
clogged with spring break violators.