The
THURSDAY
April 29> 1999
Volume 105 • Issue 139 • 14 Pages
College Station, Texas
105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
opinion
• Woodstock 1999 will
mar the memory of the
original celebration of
music, peace and love.
PAGE 13
today’s issue
Toons 2
Title IX 9
Battalion Radio
Listen for results of a petition to
oust the College Station mayor at
1:57p.m. on 90.9KAMU-FM.
aggielife
• Professional bull riders will
take the center stage at Reed
Arena Friday and Saturday.
PAGE 4
lail bail
12 Aggies lose lives in ’99
Accidents most common cause of student fatalities
GUYS
a ground!
onsored b»S
iut in 55 n
stopped itoi
: a suspect R
Ayer and is*
ly.it is Mi
Land ilM*
with thetafl
jed inaofel :
is no doffi-f,
woyoungfil
t satanic p'
/ayne La®
olencetoi'u,
urselves." |j
ease'
■ The
:on
MM
BY AMANDA PALM
The Battalion
The lives of 12 students have been
lost this semester, a three-person in
crease from the fall, but not unusual
overall. Gene Zdziarski, associate direc
tor of the Department of Student Life
and an on-call member of the Critical In
cident Response Team, said.
Bob Wiatt, director of University Police
Department, said the causes of the 12 stu
dent deaths so far this semester and the
nine this past fall were, for the most part,
traffic accidents.
He said people need to use caution
when driving.
“Kids come here, and they think they are
in wide open spaces,” he said. “That activ
ity can catch up with them. When they get
behind a 4,000-pound vehicle, they need to
curb road rage and the need to show off.
Students need to look out for themselves
and each other when on the road.”
Wiatt said alcohol was a contributing
factor in a number of the fatalities and
that anyone who drives with alcohol in
their system is running a high risk. He
said a common formula for traffic acci
dents involves the combination of alcohol
and high speeds.
Wiatt said this semester’s number of
deaths seems inordinately high and that
this semester has been sobering to stu
dents.
But Zdziarski said the Department of
Student Life records an average of 20 to
25 student deaths per year, so this se
mester’s number is not as unusual as it
seems. He said people are often alarmed
by the annual death average, but if they
consider the size and location of the Uni
versity, it is not as unreasonable.
He said since A&M is not in a metro
politan area, students often travel long
distances, which raises the risk for traffic
accidents.
Dr. Wade Birch, director of Student
Counseling Services (SCS), said it is in
teresting that the counseling services fo
cuses so much attention on alcohol abuse
and emotional problems when most the
deaths this semester have been from traf
fic accidents.
“Younger drivers make more impul
sive decisions in what they do,” he said.
“I’ve seen students whip out and change
lanes. Accidents can happen in the flash
of a second.”
Birch said SCS has made an effort to
reach out to students this semester, which
has caused them to feel the impact of the
deaths more than in past semesters.
“We have had contact with a number
of students in the accidents or friends of
those students,” he said. “We can never
require, nor do we want to require, coun
seling. We don’t want to use coercion; it
is purely voluntary. ”
A&M women leaders discuss
pursuit of higher education
SALLIE TURNER/Thk Battalion
Jeff McDonnell, (left) a senior kinesiology major, and Gordon Rhodes, a junior
speech communication major, shoot waterguns at passers-by from their “jail cell"
yesterday at Rudder Fountain. McDonnel and Rhodes were jailed as part of the
United Way’s Jail-a-thon.
BY AMANDA SMITH
The Battalion
One of the first women ad
mitted to Texas A&M told 100
students and visitors last
night that attending A&M
was one of the greatest expe
riences of her life.
Judy Franklin, Denis May-
field, Brooke Leslie, Laurie
Nickel and Kelly Garrity
served as panelists at the
Women’s Leadership Forum
last night.
Franklin, one of the 30 fe
male students admitted to
A&M in Fall 1964 and one of
the first women to graduate
from A&M, shared her per
spectives on leadership op
portunities with current and
former A&M women leaders.
“We were new to the
world of education, particu
larly to getting higher educa
tion degrees,” Franklin said,
in recognition of the strides
A&M has made since the first
women began at the Univer
sity.
Since Franklin graduated
from A&M in 1968, she has
worked in mass communica
tions for several Fortune 500
companies and in fund rais
ing for A&M and Harvard
University.
Franklin said experience
has taught her that balancing
a career with family and
friends can be challenging,
particularly for women who
have to combine modern and
traditional women’s roles.
Mayfield, Class of ’85
and the second female to
serve as MSC president, said
her experience in leadership
as an undergraduate pre
pared her for work and life
today.
“I understand the respon
sibility of being on time and
being responsible,” Mayfield
said. “When you are a moth
er, you are really under the
spotlight of being responsible
and being persistent. The
world asks a lot of each of us.
The world asks more of
women.”
Mayfield, the mother of
twin sons, works on the
Houston ship channel in in
dustrial manufacturing and
volunteers within her com
munity, including work with
the American Heart Associa
tion and the Autism Society
of America.
Leslie, the first female stu
dent body president and
Class of 1995, said she en
tered the University as a
freshman on scholarship
with no intention of becom
ing involved in student gov-
see Women on Page 2.
Speaker promotes
JgA Libertarian party presi-
*^dent candidate told students in
( John J. Koldus last night that
Libertarian philosophy is be
lli lieving individuals should be
free 10 live their lives any way
thev choose as long as the so
ciety is peaceful.
Klacob Hornberger, founder
; and president of the Future of
(Freedom Foundation, said
Americans should exercise
! their basic rights.
J l“We all have certain funda
mental rights,” Hornberger
said. “We have to utilize our
^ talents, sustaining life without
any governmental restrictions.
^ That is the natural human right
' of humans. ”
iBHornberger said Libertari-
1 ans believe in the right to ac-
-JHF cumulate unlimited amounts
- T of wealth and to individually
_ Y decide what to do, whether it
—"T be to horde the money, share
it, donate it or spend it.
BHe also said the function of
government under Libertarian
beliefs is limited and would
.a protect, rather than regulate,
3565, society.
■ This belief, Hornberger
said, is different than the Re
publican and Democrat beliefs.
DS
eignty.
He said he believes the in
come of each individual is
owned by the government, and
that the state decides Ameri
cans’ allowances in the form of
income tax.
Hornberger’s main argu
ment concerned the Social Se
curity tax. He said American
ancestors protested such taxes,
so modern Americans should
also.
“Social Security was one of
the mainstays of the Hitler
regime,” Hornberger said.
“[Social Security] is the will to
tax two generations down.”
Hornberger said more peo
ple per capita are imprisoned
in America than in Cuba, Chi
na and Korea because of the
free-enterprise system.
He also argued that illegal
immigrants should be allowed
to cross the borders if they are
willing to work.
Hornberger likened the
American society to the social
ist society of Cuba.
“Who is freer, those who
know the truth or those who
do not?” Hornberger asked.
He argued that Cubans rec
ognize that they are under the
control of socialism.
Former yell leader
speaks on experience
TERRY ROBERSON/Thf. Battalion
Jacob Hornberger, Libertarian party president candidate and
founder of the Future of Freedom Foundation, speaks to stu
dents at John J. Koldus last night.
He said American society is
under the same kind of con
trol, but Americans do not re
alize it.
He said public schooling is
an example of this control be-
cuase the public school system
is a form of socialistic planning
in that a central board plans
the curriculum for millions of
children who are forced to go
to school and learn the mater
ial presented to them.
Mark Roberts, an audience
member and a freshman chem
ical engineering major, said he
agrees with some but not all of
the aspects of Libertarianism.
“If absolute freedom de
tracts from total quality of life,
then I don’t agree,” Roberts
said.
BY AMY DAUGHERTY
The Battalion
Ronald McDonald, Texas A&M’s first
and only African-American yell leader,
stressed the importance of getting involved
and networking last night in Rudder.
The presentation was part of the Broth
ers of the Roundtable’s first annual Broth
ers Week and their “Uniting Brothers for
the Next Millennium” theme.
McDonald, Class of ’93, served as a ju
nior yell leader in 1991
and a senior yell leader
the following year.
McDonald said get
ting involved was not
popular for African
Americans when he was
a student at A&M.
“When you’re an
African-American, and
you decide to network,
it’s different,” he said. “I
was ‘that black guy’ at
Fish Camp — that’s how
I was described.”
He said nothing is
more beneficial for college students than
getting involved in university activities.
“I want to talk about the importance of
getting involved,” he said.
“Usually [students] worry about grades.
We should get to know folks, get involved
and network. You should get to know peo-
“When you're an
African-American
and you decide
to network, it's
different."
— Ronald McDonald
Class of ’93
pie on a personal level.”
McDonald said he was elected yell
leader because of his ability to network.
“Most people did not interact, they
hung together with their groups,” he said.
“I went and got a person from every
group and got to know them. I got great
friends and got to network, too.”
McDonald was elected Bastrop Coun
ty Judge in January 1998, making him the
first African-American county judge and
the youngest county judge in state histo-
__ r Y-
He said he utilized
the same skills when he
ran for county judge as
when he ran for yell
leader.
“It all starts [at
A&M],” he said. “This is
where I began to net
work and got to know
people. I wanted them to.
know me for my person
ality.
“If you’re connected
and involved in the
community, it’s a plus.
All of this stuff I learned on the A&M
campus.”
McDonald was a Fish Camp counselor
and an active member of MSC Hospitality
while he was enrolled at A&M.
He grew up in Bastrop and graduated
from Bastrop High School in 1989.