Battalion
105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
WEDNESDAY
March 31, 1999
Volume 105 • Issue 119 • 20 Pages • 2 Sections
College Station, Texas
PAGE 4
Voter’s guide
Read about the 1999 candidates
and their stances on the issues
facing Texas A&M.
• Columnist questions the
safety of buses used by Texas
A&M’s transportation
system.
PAGE 11
tudents
choose
class gift
BY MEGAN E. WRIGHT
The Battalion
embers of the Class of 1999
frill vote on the class gift during
:he student body elections today
tomorrow.
indy Brown, chair of the class
committee and a senior politi-
■ science major, said the class gift
■nmittee decided on the follow-
■ six choices for the class gift:
J* A plaza near the Academic
Biding, Harrington Education
Essroom Center and Cushing
^morial Library to celebrate and
m outage diversity at A&M
*:;• An endowment to the Hagler
Center
■Jj) • A Class of ‘99 pavilion at the
R®>roposed student leadership con-
^■erence center near FM 2818
Reparation of the plaques
^Rlound the O.R. Simpson Drill
■■Ff^ld t0 commemorate World War
soldiers
l • A donation to the Muster en
dowment
■ • A diamond-endowed-century-
club membership through the As
sociation of Former Students, in
which a donation would be made,
and the Association would dis-
liise the money to organizations
^,in need of assistance.
Smith, a member of the
flass gift committee and a senior
fomedical science major, said the
■nmittee began soliciting ideas
FUEN®'
on MoniP
i the she 1
see Class Gift on Page 2.
Student falls to his death
BY AMANDA STIRPE
The Battalion
William E. Berry Jr., a fresh
man agricultural engineering
major from Hewett, Texas, com
mitted suicide yesterday by
jumping from the fourth floor of
the Northside Parking Garage
onto New Street at 4:44 p.m.
Bob Wiatt, director of Uni
versity Police Department
(UPD), said Berry, a resident of
Crocker Hall, drove his truck to
the fourth floor of the parking
garage and left his high school
ring and a note to his parents
informing them of his intent to
kill himself. Berry also left a
note in his residence hall room
explaining his suicide.
Wiatt said Berry climbed
onto the railing of the garage
where he sat until UPD officers
arrived immediately after a 4:26
p.m. call informed them of
Berry sitting on the ledge.
Wiatt said the two officers
that responded engaged in a
conversation with Berry in
which he told the officers that
he was jumping because of
grade problems.
Dr. Wade Birch, director of
Student Counseling Services,
was called to the scene but was
unable to make it there in time.
Following the fall, Berry was
taken immediately to St. Joseph
Regional Health Center where
he was pronounced dead at
5:30 p.m.
Wiatt said Berry was most
likely dead before he was taken
to the hospital.
Wiatt said students in the
vicinity were kept away from
the area.
Student Counseling Services
representatives were available
to talk to Crocker Hall residents.
Cindy Cook, a Student Coun
seling Services employee, said
they talked to students about
normal reactions and were
there if the students wanted to
talk.
Kevin Boehm, Berry’s Resi
dent Adviser and a junior bio
medical science major, said he
cannot believe the incident hap
pened.
“I did not see any signs at all
of him being depressed,”
Boehm said. “I saw him yester
day and asked him how he was
doing, and he smiled and said
he was fine.”
Boehm said Berry was a pos
itive person who was respected
by everyone in the hall.
“His friends said they saw no
indicators,” Boehm said. “Sev
eral of them saw him this morn
ing and also at 1 p.m. and said
he was fine.”
Boehm said he wishes Berry
would have sought help.
Another Resident Adviser in
Crocker said Berry’s death is a
huge shock that has not set in.
He said Berry was an enthusi
astic Aggie who had a lot of
friends.
Scott Hermann, a resident of
Crocker Hall and a sophomore
business major, said no one ex
pected Berry’s suicide.
“We’re all trying to figure out
what’s going on,” Hermann
said. “There is a lot of silence.” caring casas/thhbattalion
In addition to Berry’s death. Two members of the Environmental Health and Safety Department
a similar incident on the fourth clean the section of New Street in front of the Northside Parking
see Fall on Page 2. Garage where William E. Berry Jr. fell to his death yesterday afternoon.
andidates evaluate platform priorities
■£d/for's note: With the upcoming student
|bclv elections, the editorial board of The Bat-
'i9/on has selected three topics which it feels
^4sfe among the biggest issues facing the
^ ^pwas A&M campus. The seven candidates
: or student body president as identified by the
lection commission were asked about di-
jsity, student safety and fee increases,
■h day, an article will be dedicated to one
jhese issues and Wednesday, each candi-
jp will discuss their top platform priority,
ps is the third of four installments.
BY EMILY SNOOKS
AND NONI SRIDHARA
The Battalion
jEach student body president candidate has
overall vision for Texas A&M, and each
(juld like to leave a lasting impact on the Uni-
sity.
* a-■Brandon Clarke said his central platform
—^ dea is to institutionalize the presidency.
Hciarke said as student body president he
Vbuld form a presidential cabinet or team be-
■ise the responsibility is too great for one per-
Sa ^ wou ld like to have all the major
__^>tudent organizations represented in a cabinet
^telp the president make more sound deci-
s. The cabinet members would be elected
■the organizations they represent.
■Clarke said as president he could not make
M» s i° ns alone.
|“The power of the presidency is too great for
nl >np person to represent the average student be-
!l 11 ; ajise there is no average student,” he said,
■e are all different, and we deserve to have
'ut needs and Wants heard.”
■T.J. Edwards said he wants the student body
■lave more access to technological programs.
—^ . ^■■“As far as where we are with the Vision 2020
e )laa and where we are headed, 1 think com-
-rs Mers are a very important issue,” Edwards
Sa SateJfd.
. ■He said he thinks the Student Senate should
■phasize interaction with its constituents. Ed-
■rds said he wants to promote communica-
lop over the Internet so constituents are able
laccess their senators quickly and express
—ais e
—aifl a
their concerns.
Edwards said he wants to create an “Aggie
Bucks Circle” before he leaves office, which
would entail increasing the number of locations
where AggieBucks are accepted and even in
clude a separate AggieBucks card to reduce the
amount of use of students’ I.D. cards.
Edwards said he would like to create a stu
dent advisory board to offer input in faculty se
lection.
Brandon Neff said, if elected student body
president, he would like to see more daily ser
vices for the student body. Neff said one im
provement he would like to see on campus is
covering all bus stops. He said many students
are unhappy with the current bus system.
“The current system is not a very conducive
thing to students,” he said. “Many times you
have students bearing the bad weather while
waiting for the bus, or sometimes you have stu
dents who wait inside and then have to run
outside to meet up with the bus.”
Neff said he wants to work toward imple
menting pro-rated parking in non-contract
parking-garage spaces on campus.
“Right now, you pay the same whether you
park there for five minutes or an hour, ” he said.
“We need to establish a system where you pay
for what you get.”
He said he would like to have the Under
ground food choices available in the MSC.
“The students I have talked with so far, feel
there are not enough eating options in the MSC
and would like more choices available,” he
said. “The Underground is a successful opera
tion, and I do not see any reason for us not to
bring those choices over to the central part of
campus.”
Jason Royster said he wants A&M to be
come more diverse.
“I know there are other universities around
the country which are much more diversified
and culturally aware, so we need to step up to
the next level,” he said.
Royster said he would like to eliminate print
ing fees from open-access labs.
“I do not think it is necessary for the Uni
versity to be charging these fees,” he said. “We
pay enough already. ”
Will Hurd said his main goal as president is
to improve A&M’s image within the state. He
said A&M needs to take a pro-active approach
to the recruitment and interaction of Aggies
throughout the state and country.
Hurd said A&M can increase aspects of the
pool of potential Aggies by mentoring and re
cruiting students beginning at the intermedi
ate-school level.
“Having potential students feel like they can
identify with A&M before they even get here is
a step in continuing to make A&M one of the
greatest institutions in the world,” he said.
Kendall Kelly said she has two main goals
for the student body — she wants to establish
smoothie and coffee shops on campus and
form a freshman-outreach program. Kelly said
a lot of students have demanded the shops.
Proposed locations for the shops include the
Commons Lobby, Sbisa Dining Hall, Langford
and Rumours Coffee House and Deli.
Kelly said her program will prepare fresh
man students to aid them in adapting to col
lege life.
“A freshman-outreach program is needed
because not all freshman attend Fish Camp,”
she said. “We need to give them more oppor-
see Candidates on Page 2.
Several locations
made available to
students to vote
BY NONI SRIDHARA
The Battalion
Students will choose the new Stu
dent Body President, student sena
tors, class officers and yell leaders by
voting at various locations across
campus today and tomorrow between
the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Polling booths will be set up at the
MSC; Sterling C. Evans Library;
Blocker, Kleberg Wehner, and Zachry
Buildings; Sbisa and Duncan Dining
Halls; the Student Recreation Center;
and the George Bush School of Gov
ernment and Public Service.
Dawn McGill, election commis
sioner, said formal campaigning end
ed at midnight last night.
“All the signs that the candidates
posted are allowed to stay up, but the
candidates are not allowed to wear T-
shirts or stickers, and they are not al
lowed to put up anything new,” she
said.
McGill said in the past, there have
generally been 10,000 students voting
and she expects the number to rise if
the weather is not bad today and to
morrow.
McGill said she will announce the
winners Thursday night at 10 p.m. in
front of the Lawrence Sullivan Ross
Statue.
“This campaign has been really
great because the candidates have not
only campaigned for themselves, but
they have also campaigned to en
courage people to vote,” she said.
Students
aim to stop
drunken
driving
BY BETH MILLER
The Battalion
Texas A&M students who choose
to become intoxicated at Northgate
will have an option other than stum
bling home on foot or driving a car
under the influence of alcohol when
Caring Aggies “R” Protecting Over
Our Lives (CARPOOL) begins opera
tion in Fall 1999.
Applications for potential drivers
are not available, but there will be an
informational meeting tonight at 7 in
110 Koldus.
Jeff Schieflenbein, a director of
CARPOOL and a junior marketing
major, said his inspiration for found
ing the organization came when he
attended a mandatory Mothers
Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) vic
tim-impact panel after receiving a ci
tation for Driving While Intoxicated
(DWI). He said a woman on the pan
el told of her daughter who had been
killed by a drunk driver when she
was in high school.
“I realized that not only was I risk
ing that, but I know a lot of people
who drink and drive,” he said.
Schieflenbein said his first consid
eration was purchasing a cell phone
and making himself available to his
friends. However, he later decided to
expand the idea and form an organi
zation to assist all A&M students.
Schieflenbein said he spent this
past winter break researching pro
grams similar to CARPOOL and has
recruited other directors and team
leaders throughout the semester.
Drivers will be available by tele
phone Thursdays, Fridays and Satur
days from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. He said
the directors have begun negotiations
with businesses in the community to
sponsor the program. Insurance con
sultants have been advising the group
about establishing liability and other
necessary procedures.
Schieflenbein said the drivers will
participate in training programs con
cerning first aid, alcohol awareness,
risk management, team building and
basic operation techniques of the pro
gram.
Mark Cordes, a CARPOOL director
and a freshman mechanical engi
neering major, said Schieflenbein se
lected a director from each classifica
tion so the program would have more
potential to be continued in the fu
ture. Cordes said he would like to es
tablish a strong program at A&M and
advise other schools about founding
a similar organization.
“Other schools offer rides, but
there are no other schools I am aware
of that have student drivers,” Cordes
said, “and no other program that is as
big as we want to have. ”
Cordes said the directors are con
ferring with local car dealerships to
have cars donated to the program,
and thinks the negotiations will be
successful.
“I really think we will get the do
nated cars, but in the case that we
didn’t, people would drive their own
cars,” he said.
Cordes said each student who uses
the program will be picked up by a
team of one male and one female stu
dent to ensure safety of the drivers
and the passengers. He said two
women picking up an intoxicated
male student may put them in a dan
gerous position, and two men pick
ing up a female student may make
her uncomfortable.
Cordes said the group will keep a
log of the nightly activities as a pre
caution. He said the biggest concerns
people will have are liability and risks
involved, and the directors will try to
prevent as many problems as possi
ble.