pilot employees light and saidi erned that these. " We told hir natter for ours:; Northwest i- irline serving' he state’s sec Lugest cities, Ci llinot, have no he strike. □organ said t icate he wasp O-day cooling resident hasth; ie grilots backi: s a substantia, pat would dep 1.1 mi transpotti White Hous my Weiss To:-' ent told North onal delegati irties can reac it interventior mun amp|p In theSpringt-, Ish also set nt aside. ‘We don’t wounds reins ii happened,' >lic serviceife in Kugene, a matter HE LIFE CHILD ’musicians band o help family. IFE, PAGE 3 TRADITION FINE IN SMALL DOSES • Some practices, like drugs, can be harmful if abused. OPINION, PAGE 9 CHECK OUT THE BATTALION ON-LINE http://battalion.tamu.edu THURSDAY September 10, 1998 , 105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY imunity. Wee, . We know Welsh said she anti-violence - almost “slap: delivered. ['he NationalC: mcil, the Was: on best know: McGruff, ther . \ an distributBg|l^ ■sage to abfli:.u : ulv 23. MIKE FUENTESAThe Battalion Texas A&M on-campus bus assigned to the Howdy route collided with a female bi- clist at approximately 3:35 p.m. Wednesday at the corner of Olsen Boulevard and hn Kimbrough Road. A dispatcher for the University Police Department said no in- ies were reported at the scene of the accident. Senate opens 51st session Lupe Medina bill presentation gets sorrowful reaction as family looks on BY AMANDA STIRPE The Battalion Many tears were shed when the Lupe Medina Bill for driving safety was pre sented to the Student Senate meeting Wednesday night. Lupe Medina was planning to gradu ate from A&M in December, but died April 23 while driving to College Station from Huntsville late that night falling asleep at the wheel. Rob Ferguson, Northside senator, pre sented the bill to Senate with Medina’s mother and sister present. “I saw him before my senate meeting that night and he said ‘Go and make a difference for Northside’. That night he died,” Ferguson said. The Lupe Medina Bill will have a na tional impact on students driving late at night. Super 8 and Hampton Inn motels have agreed to give students discounted rates for nighttime travel, especially dur ing holidays. The National Sleep Foun dation supports the bill and has pro posed the use of the A&M bill as an example to prevent drowsy driving. “55 percent of fall-asleep victims are 25 years old and younger. 78 percent are males,” Ferguson said. The 51st session of the Student Senate received a visit from Sen. Steve Ogden, R- Bryan. Ogden, a former A&M student, said he respects the students and enjoys representing the area and the school. “You fire me up,” Ogden said. “I have pride representing the students and A&M. ” Student Senate voted unanimously to accept Dr. Ben Welch as Director of Student Activities. The Northgate Safety Crisis Resolution passed senate unanimously. Recently, Asian and Indian students have complained to officials about racial harassment at the Northgate area on many occasions. “This is a serious safety hazard that warrants further investigation and, if possible, a quick solution,” said the Sen ate in a statement. A meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tlies- day to decide what should be done to re solve the issue. Other bills, such as the Adopt a Fu ture Aggie Program and an e-mail dis claimer bill, were sent to the External Affairs Committee. University Square maintains towing practices despite Albertson’s closing BY BETH MILLER The Battalion Students who park their cars in the University Square shopping center parking lot on the corner of University Drive and College Avenue may return to find themselves in need of a ride home. A-l Wrecking Service, in conjunction with Stalworth Corporation, has been towing cars from the parking lot since it was built in 1970. Jack Culpepper, CEO of Stal worth Corporation, said it will continue to do so as long as unauthorized parking persists. Culpepper said the cars are towed as the last step of a strategic process. A spotter is positioned in the lot as cars arrive and leave throughout the day. The spotter watches each person exit his car and leave for his destination. If he does not enter one of the stores or restaurants, A-l Wrecking Service is called, and the car is towed. Barry Felkner, operations manager of A-l Wrecking Ser vice, said a majority of stu dents parking in the Universi ty Square parking lot have permits to park at A&M, but they park in the lot because there are no spaces available on campus. “People think since it is a big lot close to campus they can park there, but when you have 200 to 300 people there every day, it creates a big problem,” Felkner said. Felkner said he has seen no change over the years in the number of tows. “Nineteen years ago I got into the towing business and maintained that lot,” Felkner said. “It’s the same every year. ” Alicia LaRosa, owner of Alicia’s, a restaurant in the University Square shopping center, said she has not no ticed much towing this se mester, but she expects it to pick up soon. Culpepper said Stalworth Corporation makes no mon ey from the tows. “Our customers have to have those (parking) places for their businesses. They are the priority,” Culpepper said. According to Larry Hask ins, Culpepper’s attorney, Al bertson’s, which used to be located in University Square, continues to hold its lease, and future plans for the prop erty are under consideration. One possibility is that Al bertson’s will reopen as a gro cery store and focus on the students as the major market, carrying more products de manded by students. )enig heads back to A&M llowing tragic accident / MEGAN WRIGHT The Battalion May 18, 1996, life ed for Toby Boenig. mig. Class of ’96 and er student body pres- went on a tubing trip riends near his home ion and was involved accident that left him zed. anig said doctors not optimistic about ndition at the time of cident. y doctors said that lucky if I would ever ie to touch my nose, me walk or live any if normal life that I sed to,” Boenig said, a road to recovery has t long one for Boenig. s gone slowly but Boenig said. “It ne two months to be o sit in a wheelchair ut passing out, and o five months to be o feed myself.” enig has been work- the office of Services Brandon Bollom/The Battalion Toby Boenig, former student body president, suffered an injury two years ago that left him paralyzed. He currently is working to offer online texts to handicapped students, for Students With Disabili- part, and Boenig’s goal is ties in Hart Hall for the past two months, where he has been expanding a program called Texas Text Exchange. The Texas Text Ex change is a program de signed to transfer college textbooks to computer software and make it avail able online for disabled students who attend par ticipating universities. At the moment, there are 20 universities taking NEWS IN BRIEF to have as many as 70 us ing the exchange program. Texas Text Exchange has provided Boenig with opportunities to interact with people outside of his rehabilitation. “I’ve been less physical ly active than I have been. I’ve spent two years rehabil itating and I can walk a lit tle. But now I’ve got a great feeling of productivity, and I’m around people again.” ustments made to y bus route Operations is changing the Howdy hich will now travel along Olsen Boule- ut will not turn into the Rec Centert. ry Jackson, Bus Operations manag- d changing the stop will improve the f the route. Program addresses gender roles in classes Gender Issues Education Services and the Women’s Studies Program will host the sec ond in a series of discussions about women’s issues today. The topic for this week’s dis cussion is “Classroom Climate.” It will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in 321YMCA. Twain attracts diverse crowd to Reed BY AARON MEIER The Battalion “Are you ready Aggies? ” That was the question Canadian country singer Shania Twain asked as she opened the first major concert to be held at Reed Arena. Twain played to a widely diverse audience with small children dancing in the front row standing next to elderly women tapping their feet to the multi-platinum selling artist. Twain was supported by a wide variety of musicians and backup singers. Eight men and one woman joined her on stage playing traditional country instruments such as the fiddle and acoustic guitar, but adding the contemporary sounds of electronic keyboards and drum synthesizers. The look of the concert was also contemporary, with the drummer wearing ski goggles and a 12th Man football jersey and Twain wearing platform sneakers and black vinyl pants. At one point in the concert. Twain brought Debbie Lucas, a senior animal science major, onto the stage. Lucas said she wanted to remain a back up singer, but at Twain insistence, Lucas sang solo and had the audience applauding as she sang her own rendition of Twain’s hit song, “The Woman In Me.” Other local guests included nine members of the Singing Cadets who accompanied Twain as she sang “God Bless The Child.” The proceeds from the song are donat ed to charity. “I’ve known what it is like to go to school without lunch and come home and not have dinner, and a lot of times people forget that people like that are out there,” Twain said. Immediately following the Singing Cadets, Twain brought out 12-year-old Katie Austin to perform a song. Twain said that at every stop on the tour she has a local youth sing, so that they may have a chance in the music business. “I started singing when I was eight,” Twain said. “And I remember how hard it is to break into the business at such a young age.” Twain alternated between upbeat songs such as “You Win My Love,” and “Whose Bed Have You Boots Been Under,” and slower romantic ballads like “You’re Still The One,” which is in contention for Best Female Video at tonight’s MTV Video Music Awards. Twain thanked the audience for supporting her on her first tour, even though she has been on the national mu sic scene for seven years. The show concluded with Twain disappearing through a hole in the stage and reappearing later riding in on a podium carried by several men. Mike Fuentes/The Battalion Shania Twain sings at last nights performance in Reed Arena. The con cert was the first major concert to be held in the newly-opened facility.