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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 1998)
EAR! THEATER ’w organization rs to technical side age productions. GIELIFE, PAGE 3 LAUNDRY DAY •Student Senate’s Aggie Bucks washer proposal deserves support of student body. OPINION, PAGE 9 CHECK OUT THE BATTALION ONLINE h ttp://battalion, tarn u. edu TUESDAY November 17, 1998 Volume 105 • Issue 58 • 10 Pages 105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY lA RT MCKAYAhi BJ xeshman cadet files sexual assault complaint Forum to address Northgate violence BY JENNIFER JONES AND AARON MEIER The Battalion is Clayton 'in A&M’svici if ?r from Iasi ic i freshman member of the Corps adets reported to University Po- Department he was sexually as- es to with: silted by a sophomore cadet. 14 remaining:*Bob Wiatt, director of UPD, said as pulled a J freshman filed a complaint with part to a coo* department Wednesday against inters from sophomore. Wiatt said the sopho- .vho fini' n|re was questioned Friday and de nied the allegations. Bryan Hager, commanding offi cer of P-2, the outfit of which both male cadets are members, and a se nior industrial distribution major, said the freshman alleged the sophomore propositioned to per form oral sex on the freshman. Hager said the sophomore had been drinking prior to alleged inci dent. Hager said after the complaint was registered with UPD, the sopho more cadet was removed from the dorm and placed on suspension from the Corps. Wiatt said the freshman cadet de cided not to pursue the matter crimi nally and signed a non-prosecutive af fidavit Monday, which withdraws the complaint from UPD. Wiatt said the freshman wants the matter to be looked into by Universi ty administration. The matter will be investigated by Student Conflict Resolution Services. As of Monday, Dr. Brent Patter son, director of the Department of Student Life, said the matter had not been formally tendered by UPD to SCRS, but he has been informed of the matter. Patterson said the freshman will be briefed about the procedures involved in a SCRS investigation and must ex press the desire to have the Universi ty pursue the matter. see Cadet on Page 2. > our whole dn, and that? Suicide attempts Increase at finals BY BETH MILLER The Battalion >rs are respotj n getting took BAs finals and term-project due dates near, suicide attempts mi us greatteBcome more common on many college campuses, the asso- n real steati'ciate director of Student Counseling Service said, edit for thatBKerry Hope, an associate director of Student Counseling ■■vice, said at the end of each semester there is an increase exas’loss: in suicide attempts because of stress building up and finals ; South title approaching. She said the holidays are also a time when the St. Louis. ABmber of suicide attempts increase, but there is no way to of Texas in generalize the cause of suicide attempts because situations ifject each person differently. I “The important thing to remember is that what may be Bess/ulfor [one person] may not be for [someone else],” she Id. ‘The holidays may be a nice break for some people.” | Hope said for the 1997-98 academic year, Student Coun- ing Service recorded 19 suicide attempts and 18 suicide eats, and she said the numbers have stayed fairly consis- in recent years. m The critical thing is to not be cared to talk about it Its a emporary crisis” — Kerry Hope Associate director of Student Counseling Service Hope said it is important for people who have thoughts about mitting suicide to seek help. She said Student Counseling Ser- eisopen 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday though Friday, and HelpLine, itudent-volunteer hotline, is available to students after regular |urs during the week and 24-hours during the weekend. She said a common myth about suicide is that people who press thoughts about suicide will not actually attempt it, d she said that is not true. “The one thing we know is that suicidal crisises are time ited,” she said. “If [people experiencing suicidal thoughts] some intervention, they’re not going to want to [fulfill thoughts]. The critical thing is to not be scared to talk it. It’s a temporary crisis.” Ann Reed, associate director of medical services at A.R Beutel alth Center, said Beutel physicians not only work with students io have attempted suicide, but they also counsel students. “If for some reason they can’t get into the Student Conn ing Service, we do see them over here,” Reed said. “Some- es we work with the Student Counseling Service. [They rk with the students from] the counseling angle, and I, for mple, prescribe medicine. We both follow the patient [’s gress]. We see them back periodically.” Reed said part of the reason students go to the Health Cen- rather than to Student Counseling Service is they do not nt others to know they need assistance. “Here they can be seen along with the colds and sore oats, and nobody knows what they’re here for,” she said. Bob Wiatt, director of University Police Department, said sui- e attempts are not often reported to UPD, but in the event of attempt, officers report to the scene to offer assistance. Memory lane BRANDON BOLLOM/M hi Baitalion Bill Wuestenfeld, a resident of Anchorage, Alaska, views presidential memora bilia at the George Bush Presidential Library Complex Wednesday afternoon. Wuestenfeld is in Texas visiting friends in Houston and drove to College Sta tion to take a tour of the library. • Merchants, administrators and University leaders to gather for discussion. BY JOE SCHUMACHER The Battalion MSC Great Issues and the Northgate Safety Awareness Committee are sponsoring an open forum tonight at 7 in the MSC Flagroom to discuss safety awareness in the Northgate area. Students, University officials, representatives from local po lice and other members of the Bryan-College Station area are expected to be in attendance. “The forum will give [stu dents] a chance to voice opinions in front of an atten tive audience,” Amy Magee, speaker of the Student Sen ate and a senior psychology major, said. “This will allow us to move past being a sounding board and to focus on solutions.” Tatsuki Ohashi, president of International Student As sociation and a senior history and international studies ma jor, said the purpose of the fo rum is to let students speak out on this issue. He said then the organizations can look at all their options and decide what needs to be done. The forum will start with a brief history of the situation in the Northgate area. Students will then be given the oppor tunity to voice their concerns. Possible solutions to the violence in the Northgate area will also be discussed. The Northgate Safety Awareness Committee has compiled a list of 42 possible solutions that it will present to those in attendance. Ohashi said the solutions are arranged into three categories: public relations, diversity awareness and physical means. see Northgate on Page 2. Crisis center offers online counseling BY AMANDA SMITH The Battalion The assistant director of the Brazos Valley Rape Crisis Cen ter said the anonymity and the confidentiality of the online counseling services have provided an outlet for rape victims seeking counseling without revealing their face, name or phone number. Sherry Hostetter, assistant director of the Brazos Valley Rape Crisis Center, responds to clients who seek online counseling and said victims can log on to the Website without disclosing their names, residence or perpetrator’s identity. “Victims are more likely to seek help online than through a phone call or a walk in the door,” Hostetter said. “A lot of times people refrain from calling hotlines because they fear caller ID. People do not want to walk through the door because they fear they will be seen.” The Brazos Valley Rape Crisis Center Website went online in February 1997 and received its first online client in May 1997. Since then, the Web page has received more than 12,000 hits. Hostetter said more than 500 people have sought online counseling — with 206 clients in 1997 and 300 clients to date in 1998. Hostetter said clients from France, Spain, England, Thai land and Ireland have used the online services. “We have people from all over the world write us,” Hostet ter said. “Another area of people we wanted to target were peo ple living in rural areas and people living in other countries who do not have access to counseling services.” Hostetter said the online counseling seeks to reach out to teen-age rape victims and male victims who are less likely to seek counseling for fear of revealing their identities. “Our ultimate goal is to use this as short-term support coun seling and to get them counseling in the area,” Hostetter said. “We try to get them to open up to us and then recommend a rape crisis center in their area.” see Counseling on Page 2. Organization lights up campus BY AMANDA STIRPE The Battalion The Texas A&M campus will glow tonight when the Winter Spirit of Aggieland, sponsored by the Student Government As sociation, lights the trees along New Main Drive, the Jack K. Williams Administration Build ing, the parking garages on Northside and Southside, and the residence halls with white lights for the holiday season. The event will begin at 6:15 p.m. with entertainment pro vided by the Texas A&M Jazz Band, the Aggie Wranglers and Dance Arts Society. The yell leaders and redpots will attend the event, and people will have the opportunity to have their picture taken with Reveille. A press release provided by University Relations said the goal of the event “is to pro mote hospitality between Bryan-College Station resi dents and the student popula tion of Texas A&M.” Businesses, individuals and groups on and off campus had the opportunity to purchase a decorated tree on New Main Drive for $100 to benefit the event. In return, a plaque is placed next to the tree to rec ognize the donation. Refreshments will be avail able for attendants of the lighting ceremony, and door prizes will be given away for people who donate nonper ishable food and clothes for the “Camping for a Cause,” a 24-hour food drive sponsored by SGA. The food drive will benefit the Brazos Food Bank and Twin City Mission. Drop-off points are at the MSC, Reed Arena, Sbisa Dining Hall, Commons Lobby and the Wehner Building. The lighting ceremony will follow the entertainment and is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Comet debris at root of meteor shower BY ANDREA BROCKMAN The Battalion Every year around Nov. 17, the earth collides with debris from the Comet Tern- pel Tuttle, and part of the world may experience a fire works display known as the Leonid meteor showers. Dr. Ronald A. Schorn, a visiting assistant professor of physics, said the most in tense showers happen every 33 years, and this year Earth should get a pretty good show. Schorn said the Tempel Tlittle is a typical short-period comet which is similar to a big snowball made of snowflakes and particles of dust. “No particles from a me teor shower have ever made it to the ground,” he said. Dr. George W. Kattawar, a professor of physics at Texas A&M, said the only potential damage the show er can cause are to the satel lites which orbit the earth. “The particles are tiny, but they travel at a velocity 200 times that of a speeding bullet,” he said. “These lit tle grains can penetrate the thin layer of a satellite and damage the electronics.” Schorn said engineers have already taken precau tions and turned some satellites off or away from the direction of the mete ors, including the Hubble Space Telescope. Kattawar said before the particles enter the atmos phere, they are called mete oroids, and once they are in the atmosphere, they are called meteors. “Most people call them shooting stars,” he said. Kattawar said the showers may last up to 12 hours and will climax at 1:45 p.m. today. “Unless, the shower is exceptionally large, our part of the world will probably not see anything because of the daylight,” he said. see Meteor on Page 2.