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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 24, 1998)
AM SQUAD ft Mens Basketball Mrocks Reed Arena with a 67 win over Centenary ■e’s Gents. |rts 7 PAGE 7 SEE YA WHEN IT BURNS • Bonfire previews annual matchup between Aggies, University of Texas ’Horns. INSIDE CHECK OUT THE BATTALION ONLINE http://battalion, tamu.edu TUESDAY November 24, 1998 Volume 105 • Issue 63 • 20 Pages 2 Sections 105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY lephants on# araae 0 G Left: (From left to right) Hanna Hayes, a junior journalism ma jor, Jennifer Pap pas a junior ani mal science major and Shan non Ensome, a junior psycholo gy major, whoop in front of an elephant for a photo during Ju nior Elephant Walk Monday. Below: Senior yell leader John Bloss climbs Bonfire during Ele phant Walk Monday after noon. MIKE FUENTES/The Battalion ieniors take traditional rek across campus oo BY BETH MILLER The Battalion esterday, the Class of ’99 be gan the celebration of the passing of leadership duties from the current senior class to future classes. Senior Elephant Walk began at Kyle s ld 99 minutes after noon and ended at ta. at Bonfire site. During the celebration, seniors heard a lech by Dr. John Hoyle, Class of ’56. yle said A&M traditions create a sense Unity for students. Brad Straub, a co-chair for Elephant alk and a senior accounting major, said ten the seniors left Kyle Field to begin two-hour tour of campus, the first stop is Rudder Fountain. Other stops in- idled the YMCA Building, Fish Pond, the wrence Sullivan Ross statue, the Quad- ■e and the new Evans Library annex. §haub said the tour only included the iin campus, and at many of the stops ■roup performed yells. Straub said he was impressed with the remt of 5,000 to 6,000 seniors. He said p than half of Kyle Field’s first deck, which seats 13,000 fans, was filled by members of the Class of ’99. Straub said- Elephant Walk is signifi cant for seniors because it marks the end of their career at A&M. “One of the purposes [of Elephant Walk] is [to signify] that the seniors have fulfilled their duties to the 12th Man,” he said. “Also, it is to indicate that the seniors are turning over the leadership to the fu ture classes.” Tase Bailey, Corps commander of the Corps of Cadets and a senior aero space engineering major, said Hoyle’s speech discussed what the seniors can still do for the University, even though they are graduating. “Even though we’re seniors, and we’re moving on, we still have a lot of opportu nities to contribute to A&M,” he said. “We have an opportunity to represent A&M and to give back to the University when we’re gone.” Jennifer Ninke, a senior biology ma jor, said Elephant Walk was a time for reflections. “It was a good time to think back about memories that we’ve had here at A&M as we walked across campus,” she said. Junior E-Walk offers chance to look to future MIKE FUENTES/Tiik Battalion BY MELISSA JORDAN The Battalion A t 100 minutes past noon yesterday, junior stu dents took part in a longstanding Aggie tra dition as they marched through campus in traditional E- Walk style. The walk began at the Bonfire site and made its way to Kyle Field where Steve Taylor, head yell leader for the .Class of ’75, spoke to the students about the importance of being in control of one’s attitude. Taylor said he knows in dividuals who have experienced life and do not wish for more money but for more time with friends. Taylor told stu dents to find something they love to do, and they will never have to work a day in their lives. Katie Hanselka, vice president of the Class of ’00 and a junior agricul tural development major, said the Class of ’00 has worked hard to bring improvements to Texas A&M, and E- Walk gave juniors the chance to demonstrate their pride and unity. “You can tell that we’ve made a dif ference on this campus,” Hanselka said. “ [E-Walk] represents our spirit and our tradition that’s inside each of us.” Taryn Tongson, a junior manage ment information systems major, said E-Walk portrayed the tradition and spirit of the Class of ’00. “It emphasizes the Aggie family,” Tongson said. “When everyone puts an effort into it, it turns out spectacular. ” Hanselka said junior E-Walk created enthusiasm among students of the Class of ’00. “E-Walk’s one of those things that sparks the motivation in every in dividual’s heart,” Hanselka said. Eric Biersdorfer, a junior health and kinesiology major, said E-Walk gave students the chance to meet the peo ple in their class they may not have known previously. “You never really know who all is in your class until you’re out here for an event like this,” Biersdorfer said. Tania Fongemie, junior E-Walk chair and a political science and French major, said E-Walk allowed students to share memories as well as catch a glimpse of things to come. “It represents all the memories we’ve made here,” Fongemie said. udents design birding center Squadron readies to carry game ball NEWS IN BRIEF Drew Garst, a senior environmental design major, points out the Birding Nature Center on the proposed site plan to classmates in George Mann’s stu dio class. BY ANDREA BROCKMAN The Battalion 'exas A&M architecture students will pre programs, models and design concepts for Matagorda County Birding Nature Center ■ 8 in Bay City, Texas. even student teams, under the direction eorgeJ. Mann, professor of architecture, ked directly with the board of directors e Matagorda County Birding and Nature ter. ann said South Texas has a huge diversi- d species, and a birding center will al- Matagorda County to capitalize the area’s ral resources. ach team designed a layout for the 31-acre located on the lower Colorado River. David Sitz, president of the board of direc- of the Matagorda County Birding and Na- Center, said the students were originally KATHY STEMPIEN/The Battalion asked to design just the visitor’s center, but lat er agreed to design the entire project. “We have been very impressed with the designs so far,” he said. “I have seen a bunch of things that have not even come up in our minds.” Their models include a visitor’s center, na ture trails, observation towers, wetlands and butterfly gardens. Chad Crawford, a team member and a se nior environmental design major, said the pro ject was a great learning experience. “We got to work with real clients,” he said. “Usually we work for a fictional client like Michelangelo.” Jessica Ward, a team member and a junior environmental design major, said the project presented an opportunity for feedback outside the architecture department. see Design on Page2. BY MEGAN WRIGHT The Battalion Tonight the Corps of Cadets Squadron 17 will run the football to be used in Friday’s Texas A&M- University of Texas football game to Austin, and proceeds from the run will benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The event, in its 27th year, will begin at Bonfire site with members running the ball relay style throughout the night to arrive on the UT campus on Wednesday. Scott Evens, a sophomore political science major and member of Squadron 17, is one of three sopho mores in’ charge of public relations and fundraising. “We should arrive on their campus sometime around noon,” Evens said. “We’ll run in forma tion, as an outfit, around their campus and final ly end the run in [Royal] Memorial Stadium.” Each of the 72 members of the outfit will run between two and three miles to cover the distance between College Station and Austin. Evens said fundraising efforts this year have been successful. “At this point, we are at about $5,500, which is better than the past years,” Evens said. “By the time we arrive in Austin, we should be able to donate a total between $5,700 and $5,800.” A group of five Corps members, along with the other members of the outfit, have been working to coordinate the effort by contacting police departments in each town they will run through, working with the Bonfire committee and visiting neighborhoods, com munities and organizations for donations and spon sorships since the beginning of the semester. Evens said the run is a positive way to impact the Bryan-College Station area and to excite peo ple about the football game. Broadcasts allow access for fans Bonfire and the Texas A&M-Uni- versity of Texas football game will be broadcast to allow fans across the country access to the events. Texas A&M’s annual Bonfire will be broadcast on KAMU-TV and Fox Sports Southwest starting at 8 p.m. today. Bonfire will be rebroad cast Thanksgiving Day on Fox Sports Southwest at 11 a.m. and on Friday at 9 p.m. The football game will begin at 10 a.m. Friday and will be broadcast on ABC-TV. Live Bonfire coverage will also be available for the first time on the Texas A&M home page at http://www.tamu.edu. KAMU will provide the footage on the Internet site, which will begin at 8 p.m. Unlimited access to the Website will be available and viewing software can be downloaded on the Texas Ag : gie Bonfire Website for free. Corps review set for Austin parade To celebrate the Texas A&M-Uni- versity of Texas football game, the 2,200 member Corps of Cadets will march at 8 a.m. Friday in Austin from 3rd Street and Congress Av enue north to the State Capitol and will disband at 11th Street. The Corps will be reviewed dur ing the parade by Maj. Gen. Darrel P Baker, Class of ’62 and a com mander of the Texas Army Nation al Guard’s 71st Troop Command in Austin, and Brig. Gen. Charles R. Weaver, Class of ’59 and a retired Texas State Guard officer from Killeen. The reviewing stand will be on the east side of Congress Av enue between 7th and 8th streets. The Aggie Band will travel east along 11th Street and will turn north onto Trinity Street toward the Royal Memorial Stadium. Normal ly, with later games, the band pre cedes the Corps and then stands to the side to play for passing Corps units during review. Due to time constraints, the band will have to travel directly into the stadium. Boot program raises money for charity Before Bonfire burns, members of the Corps of Cadets will fill their senior boots with donations to benefit the clinics, research and medical equipment for children in Bryan-College Station fighting Muscular Dystrophy. The Corps of Cadets “Fill the Boot” tradition continues in 1998 working with the Muscular Dys trophy Association. Members of the Corps of Cadets will be at Bonfire site from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. today to collect donations.