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.