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DECLAWED
• Aggies sweep University
of Houston Cougars in
home opener.
SPORTS, PAGE 7
CHECK OUT
THE BATTALION
ON-LINE
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SAME ADDRESS, NEW LOOK.
WEDNESDAY
September 16, 1998
Issue 14 • 12 pages
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leaders examine racial violence
cent Northgate incidents prompt committee meeting
BY JOE SCHUMACHER
The Battalion
With accusations of racial inci-
itsinthe Northgate area, the Ex-
Dal Affairs committee of the Stu-
it Senate has decided to to
her information on the issue.
I night a meeting was held on
Northgate incidents,
j David Byrd, chair of the Exter-
insWekJAffairs Committee and gradu-
istudent in agricultural educa-
n, said the consensus of the
ticipants at the meeting was the
lal incidents are a community
□ppmgGi |,i em) not j us t limited to the
Boutique) Ihgate area.
m. - 8:0(
9520
Road
ge station
“I feel the meeting was very suc
cessful. We have our work cut out
for us. On one hand, the task is
very intimidating just by its size.
But on the other hand it is very in
spiring to see so many rise to the
occasion,” said Byrd.
While most incidents de
scribed occurred in the Northgate
area, other students mentioned
racial incidents that occurred in
other parts of the Bryan-College
Station community.
Manuel Sundiman, a senior
management major, said that the
proprietors of a business in town
told him that they preferred not to
conduct business with internation
al students.
Michael “Hoy” Haughey, presi
dent of the Residence Hall Associa
tion and a senior mechanical engi
neering major, said he hopes to
increase the responsibility of student
behavior in the B-CS community.
“This is not a minority problem,”
Haughey said. “There are many
people who are involved.
“Their reasons stem from,
‘This is wrong, something needs
to be done about this,’ to ‘We are
all Aggies and should not allow
this to happen.”
see Northgate on Page 6.
I tudent death inspires Senate bill
ml chains offers discounted rates to fatigued student drivers
ot
BY AMANDA STIRPE
The Battalion
,upe Medina, Class of ’98 and
mer Moses Hall Bonfire crew
id, died April 23 when he fell
eepat the wheel driving to Col-
/elcont ?S(atioR-from Hunt&vifte-late
night, joining the many young
ts25and under who make up
CP= C |ercent of fatigue-related dri-
accidents.
ib Ferguson, sophomore,
side senator and friend of
a,said he felt Medina’s death
Id not go unnoticed, so he de-
to propose and support a bill
[edina’s honor.
lie Lupe Medina Bill for Dri-
Safety is meant to discourage
igadults from driving drowsy,
fl decided to turn death into a
stive item and make a differ-
e,” Ferguson said.
[hebill would allow college stu
ns to show valid student ID and
t rooms at participating Super
nd Hampton Inn motels while
ring late at night, further than
50 miles from their homes, on the
weekends and at heavy travel times
such as holidays and breaks. The
rates and times would be deter
mined by the individual motels.
Ferguson said 11 motels want to
start the program if the bill is
“The bill is going to
make a difference
and save lives
across Texas/'
— Rob Ferguson
Northside student senator
passed. The program would be es
tablished in Texas and then pro
moted across the nation. The Col
lege Station Super 8 Motel and
Hampton Inn are promoting the
program to other motels in their
chains to gain support.
According to the United States
Department of Transportation,
Texas leads the nation in the num
ber of people who fall asleep be
hind the wheel.
Seventy-eight percent of these
sleep-related victims are men.
“The bill is going to make a dif
ference and save lives across
Texas,” Ferguson said.
The National Sleep Foundation
(NSF) supports the bill and will use
the Lupe Medina Bill as an exam
ple. The foundation has created a
“Drive Alert ... Arrive Alive” cam
paign. The program promotes
awareness of drowsy-driving dan
gers. The campaign is the first ma
jor program aimed to fight sleep-re
lated car accidents.
“The National Sleep Foundation
supports the principles put forth in
the ‘Lupe Medina Bill’ and wishes
you all success in moving this legis
lation towards implementation,” a
joint statement by the NSF to Fergu
son and to the Student Senate said.
The bill, presented to the Stu
dent Senate Sept. 9, has been re
viewed by the External Affairs
committee and will be voted on
Sept. 23.
[2818
gmire
)159
NEWS IN BRIEF
nate accepting
at applications
ie Student Senate is taking ap-
itions to fill open seats,
icancies include two College of
[ineering, one Northside, one
of Agriculture and five Off-
bus seats.
Implications are available at the
bent Senate office in the Koldus
l Desk* Iding and are due Friday, Sept.
St 5 p.m.
1 lontact the Student Senate at
£25.) 1 i-3051 for more information.
Reg. $27j
1 ganizations host
E Quick iod drives
purchase!
ilwo blood drives are being held
the campus of Texas A&M.
Ipha Phi Omega service fratemi-
sponsormg a blood drive in con-
Son with the American Red Cross.
Ilhe drive ends this Friday.
Five sites have been set up
■oss campus to collect blood:
Commons, Rudder Fountain,
Biochemistry/Biophysics build-
the Quadrangle and the
hary building.
The Commons location will ac-
pt donations from 8 a.m. to 6
n. All other sites will accept do-
lions from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The University Health Science
nters College of Medicine is
io hosting a blood drive that will
held tomorrow from 10 a.m. to
p.m. in the pay lot located di-
:tly in front of the Reynolds'Med-
| Building,
donors must weight at least
*|)lbs. and be at least 17 years old.
)ak Mi
this ad.
Heritage month opens
with Diez y Seis celebration
BY NONI SRIDHARA
The Battalion
The Hispanic Presidents’ Coun
cil (HPC) and the Committee for
the Awareness of Mexican-Ameri-
can Culture(CAMAC) is kicking off
Hispanic Heritage Month this week
with a variety of celebratory events.
In 1974, Congress proclaimed a
National Hispanic Heritage Week
to promote awareness about the
Hispanic culture, and in 1989 Con
gress and President Reagan ex
panded it to a month-long celebra
tion. Hispanic Heritage month runs
from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15.
This year’s celebration kicks off
with a Diez Y Seis celebration at 10
a.m. at Rudder Fountain. Diez y
Seis is the date Mexico gained in
dependence from Spain. The cele
bration will include a festive dis
play of booths where students can
participate in activities from learn
ing various Hispanic dances to
playing Mexican-themed bingo.
D.J. Flores, conference director
for CAMAC and a senior account
ing major, said the month is meant
to educate all students.
“We want everyone that passes
by to stop and take a few minutes
to visit some of the booths,” Flores
said. “This is not only for us to cel
ebrate our heritage, but we also
want other students to learn about
our culture. This is especially im
portant here because the Hispanic
culture is such an important por
tion of Texas.”
On Thursday, Sept. 17, Maria-
Christina Garcia, a history profes
sor, will speak at a forum titled
“What is a Latino”. The forum is
presented by Lambda Theta Phi
fraternity at 7:30 p.m. in the MSC.
Fiesta Week ends Friday, but
other events will take place
throughout the month. The
Caliente ’98 Festival will be pre
sented by the Hispanic Business
Student Association (HBSA) at the
Academic Plaza on Sept. 26 from
noon to 6 p.m.
Chris Wallingsford, president of
HBSA and a senior management in
formation systems major, said the
nine-year old festival expects a
large turnout.
“This has been a long-standing
tradition for HBSA, because the
Caliente festival has been here
since 1989. We will have the Aggie
Wranglers, a youth Mariachi group
and also a jalapeno-eating contest.”
This is the first year that there will
be a Mr. & Miss Hispanic Heritage
Month pageant, which will be spon
sored by Kappa Delta Chi Sorority.
see Hispanic on Page 6.
Foiled again
GREG MCREYNOLDS/The Battalion
Christian Clem (left), a freshman psychology major, and Arthur Parros (right), a senior history major,
practice intermediate fencing for their KINE 199 held in the Reed Building.
Career fair Jackson: Accidents
makes move unusual for Bus Ops
to Reed
BY AMANDA SMITH
The Battalion
• Companies recruit
engineering majors
at the third largest
fair in the country.
BY MELISSA JORDAN
The Battalion
The Student Engineers’ Council
hosts its annual “Capitalizing on
Engineering Opportunities” Career
Fair to give Texas A&M students the
opportunity to get a head start on
the process of finding a job.
The fair begins today and will be
held in Reed Arena with 189 com
panies and more than 700 repre
sentatives present, making this the
largest fair the Student Engineers’
Council has ever sponsored. The
CEO Career Fair ranks third in the
nation in size behind Purdue Uni
versity and the University of Texas.
Between 3,500 and 4,000 stu
dents attended the fair last year,
and a comparable turnout is ex
pected this year.
Melissa Conley, president of the
Student Engineers’ Council and a
senior civil engineering major, said
holding the career fair in Reed Are
na has allowed more companies to
get involved and has helped the fair
compete with other career fairs in
the nation.
Danny Boyer, CEO Career Fair
chair for the Student Engineers’
Council and a senior mechanical
engineering major, said the career
fair is an opportunity for students
to meet prospective employers.
“It’s an excellent opportunity for
students to get to know companies
that will be returning to campus for
interviews later in the semester,”
Boyer said.
Conley said attending the fair
will benefit students who attend
and can be the first step toward
finding a job.
The CEO Career Fair will intro
duce freshmen to the job search
process and allow sophomores and
juniors to find out about internships
and co-op opportunities. Seniors
will be able to leave resumes with
prospective employers and discov
er possible career opportunities.
A business social will be held on
Wednesday evening that students
may attend by invitation only.
Each company present at the ca
reer fair will have 10 tickets to give
to students of their choosing.
Two accidents in the first two
weeks of school is unusual for
the Texas A&M Bus Operations
unit. Manager Gary Jackson said,
but it happened.
The first accident occurred the
first week of school when a car at
tempted to turn right between the
curb and a bus that was also turn
ing right. No injuries occurred, and
no tickets were given.
The second accident involved a
collision between a bicyclist and
bus. The bicyclist suffered no seri
ous injuries.
Both bus drivers are still em
ployed by Bus Operations.
Bus Operations, a division of the
Department of Parking, Traffic and
Transportation Services, said less
than five accidents occur per every
100,000 miles driven.
The average bus travels 35,000
miles each year, with buses travel
ing a total of more than two million
miles per year.
“The (Texas A&M) accident rate
is lower than the national average
(for similar bus operations),” Jack-
son said. “We have found that
more than half of the accidents
have occurred with drivers having
Bus Operations at Texas A&M
University is conceptualizing a
plan that could transport a student
living off campus to the Bush
School, to the Wehner Building or
to the Zachary Building without
changing to an on-campus bus.
Kathie Mathis, associate direc
tor of the Department of Parking,
Traffic and Transportation Ser
vices, said the new bus schedule,
which combines on- and off-cam
pus routes, could go into effect as
early as Fall 1999.
“What we have now are off-
campus buses and on-campus bus
es, and never the two shall meet,”
Mathis said. “It’s a big clockwork
process, and we want to double
use our buses. Our goal is to have
a transportation system where no
body has to buy a bus pass. ”
Currently, students pay $110 per
semester to use off-campus buses.
less than one year of experience. ”
Currently, more than 300 stu
dents drive for Bus Operations. Of
those, 95 are new drivers who
trained this summer.
Trevor Hull, a bus trainer and a se
nior history major, said students
spend time learning in the classroom
before they get behind the wheel.
“Each driver is training more
than 40 hours,” Hull said. “The dri
ving does not include their class
room time. ”
Bus drivers are required to com
plete a 10-day, 40-hour training pe
riod and spend a minimum of 20
hours driving.
Drivers must pass a Department
of Public Safety (DPS) examination
to receive their commercial driver’s
license and then pass a separate
test written by Bus Operations fo
cusing on passenger transportation.
“Consideration is given to dri
ving with smooth stops and evalu
ation driving with passengers,”
Jackson said.
Bus Operations updates motor
vehicle reports on drivers annual
ly, Jackson said.
To receive their commercial li
cense, drivers cannot have a DUI
charge against them.
see Buses on Page 6.
Bus Operations sold 8,000 bus
passes this semester, compared to
17,000 passes a decade ago. PTTS
sold approximately 16,000 parking
permits to commuter students.
Tom Williams, director of PTTS,
said increasing the number of com
muter parking spaces on campus de
creases the demand for bus passes.
“The more parking we have
available, the more it affects bus-
pass sales,” Williams said. “We
are probably reaching the point
where there is a certain percentage
of the population that will pur
chase a bus pass regardless.”
Students can purchase a parking
permit for $75 a year, Mathis said.
Incorporating a $35 student
transportation fee would enable
Bus Operations to provide trans
portation to all students without
requiring students to purchase
bus passes.
see Routes on Page 6.
Bus rerouting plans rely
on increased funding
BY AMANDA SMITH
The Battalion