!
ITH
YEAR‘ISSUE 127
EWS
Briefs
xcellence awards
o|be presented
Inrernational Excellence
vaips will be presented Thurs-
ny jiuring the International Ex-
iljepce Reception, which will be
jldntom 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the J.
ayrjie Stark University Center
alleries.
The awards recognize efforts by
ju ty and staff members to en-
'jncje international education and
varpness at Texas A&M. Ronald
Douglas, executive vice presi-
|huand provost, is host for the
/ent. The program is open to the
j|tc.
iompany provides
to A&M
; Tljie agricultural cooperative
atwas once the world’s largest
tpoi ter of wheat has given an
Wowed scholarship in the
yiojunt of $31,700 to Texas
lls Department of Agricultural
5on>mics.
He Producers Grain Corpora-
jn educational trust fund was
stablished 10 years ago when
ie producers Grain Corporation
3gan to downsize and prepare for
jlompany’s liquidation.
Tibm Engelke, trust fund execu-
Hdirector and a 1975 Texas
m graduate, said the original
Inners wanted to create a fund
ftlexas A&M students who want-
dto further their study of agri-
yltural cooperatives.
exas history book
obe given as gift
» rare book on Texas history
i/ill be added to the Cushing
■norial Library at Texas A&M in
Jor of this year’s Aggie Muster,
the volume, “Reports of the
Iretary of War with Reconnais-
flces of Routes from San Anto-
lio to El Paso,” was purchased
tb a gift from Jean W. Kaspar of
finer.
ijpublished in 1850, the report
3s a seminal document that con-
ributed to the opening of travel
3d settlement in West Texas and
Mexico.
jfhe explorations in this volume
jrveyed a supply and potential
ailroad route across West Texas
|t became the main passage-
1 for soldiers, settlers and gold
Ikers.
■he report contains two folding
naps and 72 lithographed plates,
jeral of which are hand colored,
longtime library supporter, Kas-
?r is a member of the Friends of
| Sterling C. Evans Library, a for-
|r chair of the Library Develop-
int Council and a former presi-
wit of the Federation of Texas
lM University Mothers’ Clubs.
INSIDE
'/)# p‘v
Students, male
and female,
take charge to
reclaim safety
for the night.
See Page 3
sports
'omen’s Basketball Coach
ndi Harvey resigns to tak
I job in the ABL.
See Page 1
fllett: Minor league
fseball team should look
Icall College Station home.
See Page 11
online
(ttp://battalion, tamu. ed u
ok up with state and na-
nal news through The
ire,AP’s 24-hour online
ews service.
Texas A&M University
•12 PAGES COLLEGE STATION • TX WEDNESDAY • APRIL 15 • 1998
‘Mud lot’ to close this December
By Colleen Kavanagh
Staff writer
The “Mud lot” parking lot at
Northgate, which is used by an esti
mated 700 motorists each day, will
close at the end of this year.
Jack Culpepper, owner of the
Mud lot, has decided to use the lot
for hotel and retail development,
Larry Haskins, his attorney said
Tuesday.
“The agreement with the opera
tor of Mud lot expires Dec. 31,” he
said. “Jack doesn’t anticipate re
newing the contract, and it is ex
tremely unlikely that it will contin
ue to exist as a parking lot.”
Haskins said he and Culpepper
are in favor of a Northgate parking
garage because they are convinced
the parking garage will be able to
support itself.
“The proposal is to charge $2 per
day, the same amount as mud lot,”
Haskins said. “Mud lot makes
$1,400 per day and offers less park
ing spaces than the garage would.”
College Station citizens will
vote on a proposed ordinance that
would stop the city from spending,
using, lending or granting funds
for a Northgate parking garage on
May 2. A “no” vote supports the
garage, and a “yes” vote opposes
the garage.
Haskins said he cannot think of
a good reason why students would
not be in favor of the parking garage
and vote against the ordinance.
“All of the students who used to
park in Mud lot will have to find
other places to park,” he said. “This
will affect everyone. A garage also
would benefit the community and
the city because it’ll bring better de
velopment to the Northgate area.”
Councilman Dick Birdwell was
one of three who voted to approve
the ordinance without a public
vote. He placed an ad in Tuesday’s
The Bryan-College Station Eagle
encouraging citizens to vote to
stop this “unsound project.” He
said he does not support the pro
ject because there is no need for a
parking garage.
“I was out in Northgate this af
ternoon,” he said. “And there were
over 120 empty spaces. They’ve
(College Station) overestimated the
parking needs. It’s going to be big
money for the taxpayers.”
George Sopasakis, owner of the
Burger Boy restaurant in Northgate,
said the city’s parking consultant’s
analysis is filled with mistakes.
“It (the analysis) was done in a
very sloppy manner,” he said. “The
analysis has about 80 percent of the
parking which is in Northgate. Ob
viously, there are mistakes. They
(the city) cannot, in good faith, so
licit investors when there are errors
like this.”
Sopasakis organized a meeting
Monday night to study the parking
consultant’s review of the Northgate
area and to present his own inter
pretation of the facts.
Sopasakis also said the city offi
cials have overestimated the need
for Northgate parking.
“I believe the parking is ade
quate,” he said. “They went to the
bar owners to find out the demand
for the area. The city would be
spending our money to accommo
date the late-night businesses.”
DeShazo, Tang & Associates, a
parking consulting firm, was hired
by the city to do the analysis. DeS
hazo recommended building a
four-level, 752 space garage be
tween Second Street and College
Main south of Louise Avenue.
Mayor Lynn Mcllhaney said
they wanted to maximize spaces
and minimize the amount of land
to purchase.
“Some people think that we don’t
need a garage and we just need to
add more parking lots,” she said.
“The problem with that is it is diffi
cult to get the land. I support a de
cision to go ahead with the garage.
This issue has been going on for 20
years, but this is the first time we
have gotten the property, business
and city together on this.”
I Summer’s here
JAKE SCHRICKLING/The Battalion
Tania Fongemie, a sophomore political science and French major, serves snowcones
outside the MSC Tuesday at a part of Class of ’00 week.
Practice makes perfect
Young drivers have more deadly vehicle wrecks, reportfinds
WASHINGTON (AP) — More 16-year-old
drivers are dying in car accidents even as
traffic fatalities drop for older teens,
prompting an insurance group to call for
limits on the privileges of America’s
youngest drivers.
The Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety, which analyzed fatal accident re
ports between 1975 and 1996, reported
Tuesday that the death rate for 16-year-
olds nearly doubled, from 19 per 100,000
licensed drivers in 1975 to 35 per 100,000
in 1996.
The overall number of deaths declined,
from 15 per 100,000 in 1975 to 12 deaths
per 100,000 in 1996. The numbers also fell
slightly for 17- to 19-year-olds, from 27
deaths per 100,000 in 1975 to 25 deaths
per 100,000 in 1996. That age group had
accounted for the most teen driving
deaths until the mid-1980s, when it was
surpassed by the 16-year-olds.
The insurance institute said it suspected
a number of factors, including the belief
that more 16-year-olds are driving in high-
risk circumstances, including at night and
with friends in the car.
The institute, which is financed by in
surance companies, urged more states to
adopt a graduated licensing system,
which increases driving privileges as ex
perience increases.
The insurance industry favors a three-
step system with a learner’s phase of at
least six months; a half-year intermediate
phase in which drivers cannot drive at
night or with other teens in the car; and
full privileges for drivers who complete
the other phases without incident.
Driver deaths
A look at accident death rates
among the nation’s licensed
drivers.
Number of deaths
per 100,000
16-year-olds
Aged 17-19
Over 20
Source: Insurance Institute AP/Kiamzon
for Highway Safety
“We want to try to build up driving ex
perience while keeping people out of the
high-risk situations,” said Allan Williams,
the institute’s senior vice president.
FBI notifies UPD of
rape suspect release
By Colleen Kavanagh
Staff writer
The FBI and Dearborn, Mich., and Texas A&M
University police are investigating the 30 tips they
have received from America’s Most Wanted view
ers in their continued search for alleged rapist
Don Richard Davis Jr.
The America’s Most Wanted episode aired for
the third time on Saturday, after the FBI in Wash
ington D. C. learned that the fingerprints of a man
arrested and released in Dearborn in January
1997 matched Davis’s.
Davis is wanted in connection with two cam
pus rapes in 1995. In August 1996, Davis was out
on $150,000 bail when he disappeared from his
parents’ Houston home two days before his
scheduled pretrial proceedings. Davis’ father
served six months in jail after giving him $6,000
and a car to escape.
“We thought that if Davis knew his father was
serving time in jail,” Wiatt said, “he might feel bad
and turn himself in.”
University Police Department Director Bob
Wiatt said Davis was arrested for shoplifting wool
gloves, a hat and socks. Davis gave them the false
name ofWilliam Allen Webster, had no identifica
tion, $13 on him and pretended to be homeless.
Dearborn police scanned his fingerprints on
die Michigan database, did not find a match and
released him, Wiatt said.
“Sometimes, because of the cost, state data
bases are not integrated with the other 49 states,”
he said. “They didn’t get a hit on the prints, so they
let him go. The police then sent hard copies to the
FBI for files because they didn’t have a hit. The FBI
made a hit and notified us last week.”
Wiatt said when Davis was arrested in 1997 he
had a full beard and was 20 to 30 pounds heavier
than when he left in August 1996.
Of about 30 tips from the Saturday episode of
America's Most Wanted, 12 have been from the
Michigan area, Wiatt said.
Wiatt said two previous episodes oiAmerica's
MostWanted and one Unsolved Mysteries episode
of Davis’ story resulted in 125 to 150 tips.
“Nothing has panned out yet,” he said. “We’re
not holding our breath, but we’ll see.”
A&M professors pay
increases, still lags UT
By Amanda Smith
Staff writer
Texas A&M University professors are receiv
ing an average of 5.9 percent more in their pay-
checks during the 1997-98 school year than last
year, according to the annual salary report by
the American Association of University Profes
sors (AAUP).
According to the report, the salaries of Uni
versity of Texas professors increased by an av
erage of 3.9 percent this year. The figures indi
cate the average increase for full, associate or
assistant professors.
William Perry, the dean of faculties and as
sociate provost of A&M, said the increase is
good, but A&M still lags behind other state uni
versities in faculty pay.
“Any (salary) increase is welcome,” Perry
said. “As far as Texas A&M, we have a ways to
go. We are going to need several substantial
increases.”
The 1997-98 Report on the Economic Sta
tus of the Profession indicates average facul
ty salary levels increased 3.4 percent from last
year.
The AAUP report attributes the salary in
crease to a prosperous U.S. economy.
Texas A&M pays full professors an average
of $73,400 per year, compared to $69,500 last
year. Despite a smaller percent increase, the
University of Texas pays an average of $82,400
to full professors.
Perry said A&M still lags behind the Univer
sity of Texas at Dallas and the University of
Houston. The University ofTexas at Dallas pays
full professors $77,400 and the University of
Houston pays $79,800, according to the report.
Perry said the next opportunity to increase
faculty salaries is the next legislative session.
“The main opportunity for increase is leg
islative appropriations,” Perry said. “There is a
connection between the state of the economy
and the ability of the Texas legislature to in
crease funds.”
Texas A&M pays associate professors an av
erage of $52,400, compared to $53,700 at the
University ofTexas.
The Permanent University Fund (PUF) is
designated to the University ofTexas system
and the Texas A&M system. Perry said the
Available University Fund (AUF) of the PUF is
primarily used to fund special projects by the
University.
Internet increases speed,
faster than imagination
WASHINGTON (AP) — Three high-tech
communications companies will offer an ul
tra-fast data pipeline and some of the needed
network equipment as part of a $500 million
contribution toward developing the next gen
eration of the Internet.
“We will end the days when the World
Wide Web is known by some as the world
wide wait,” said Vice President A1 Gore, who
announced the contributions today at the
White House.
The revolutionary network — so fast it will
transmit the contents of the 30-volume Ency
clopedia Brittanica in one second — will
make possible new ways of using computers,
from long-distance learning to allowing a spe
cialist in another city to look at real-time im
ages of a beating heart and make a diagnosis.
“That’s a startling advance, and it will make
a huge difference,” Gore said. “Change some
times comes not slowly and gradually, but
when we cross thresholds, beyond which the
reality is just completely different.”
The announcement coincides with the
spring meeting of the project’s organizers,
the University Corporation for Advanced In
ternet Development, which begins today in
Washington.
Gore also announced a $50 million in
vestment in Internet-related projects by the
Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency, the central research and develop
ment organization for the Defense Depart
ment. The existing Internet — originally
called ARPANET — grew from investments
by the agency during the 1960s.