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105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
Wednesday
July 21,1999
Volume 105 • Issue 173 • 6 Pages
College Station, Texas
• Disney's animated movies
ruin classic fairy tales with
senseless plots and characters.
PAGE 5
today’s issue
News 6
Battalion Radio
For details on an attempted
forgery at the College Station
Wal-Mart Sunday, tune in to
90.9 KAMU-FM at 1:57 p.m.
sports
• Cardinals draft pick Chance
Caple looks to the future with
a stint in the minor leagues.
PAGE 3
r
Justice urges reform
icial selection
Private eyes
$2 off
Hot Oil
Manicure
1999
Hand
BY MEGAN E. WRIGHT
The Battalion
[The Texas Supreme Court chief justice focused on
alternate methods of selecting judges to instill more
tru i between the judiciary branch and Texans during
hi? speech last night on judicial selection in the next
Hlennium.
■Thomas R. Phillips discussed the methods and
problems of judicial selection as part of the Millenni-
,um Lecture Series hosted by the Arts Council of the
''Brazos Valley at the College Station Hilton.
■ Phillips said Texans need to look at the different
\methods being used around the country. “There is
no perfect method,” he said. “And we know we
A’t come up with a perfect system, but we can
mpke improvements.”
■ Phillips said the current partisan system forces
juclges into asking and accepting money for cam
paigns. In other states, judges are selected on a merit
iysiem in which the governor selects judges from a list
of candidates.The merit system is currently employed
in 21 states. In some states, like New York, judges are
■ected by one election and serve extended terms as
long as 14 years.
I “One election systems give the public control over
judges,” Phillips said. “However, after elected, the
judges develop a sort of independence knowing they
an in office for so long.”
see Justice on Page 2.
6UY ROGERS/I hh Battalion
Chief Justice Thomas R. Phillips discusses judicial
selection Tuesday as part of the Millennium Lec
ture Series.
Secretary charged with forgery
BY VERONICA SERRANO
liiB The Battalion
L^HAn employee of Texas A&M’s
Bfice of Institutional Studies and
^ Pi nning has been charged with
theft and forgery for altering her
Jyroll reports.
Melina Ann Cashaw, an admin-
istative secretary for the Office of
Institutional Studies and Planning,
posted bail after her arrest Monday.
Cashaw allegedly added 278
Meadow p urs 0 f overtime to her
^24 timesheets and tried to add an ad-
iitional 74 hours before being
mth
■ »
ii
p
caught by her supervisor, accord
ing to a statement given to police
by Cashaw’s supervisor, Dr. Cindy
Dutschke.
According to Dutschke’s state
ment, the theft began Feb. 1999,
when Cashaw was first employed
by the office, and continued until
June 1999. The value of the over
time was placed at $7,307, not in
cluding the attempted 74 hours,
which was valued at $1,312.
In another statement Dutschke
alleges that Cashaw forged
Dutschke’s name and initials onto
a memo and a payroll document
requesting a cash advance for
overtime hours worked.
Bob Wiatt, director of the Uni
versity Police Department, said
Cashaw has given a statement con
cerning the charges that will be
used as evidence if Cashaw goes to
trial.
The theft charges are felonies,
punishable by a jail sentence of
six months to two years, and/or a
$10,000 fine, Wiatt said.
He said forgery is a Class A mis
demeanor, punishable by up to
one year in jail and/or a $4,000
fine.
TERRY ROBERSON/1 hi Battalion
David Elizondo of Advanced Security Concepts replaces a security camera outside the Southside
Parking Garage Tuesday. He said about 20 campus cameras will be replaced this summer.
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Educators offer
abstinence facts
BY CARRIE BENNETT
The Battalion
Several sexual health educators
will be available at the Student
Rec Center tomorrow from 4 p.m.
to 6 p.m. to answer questions on
topics ranging from women’s gy
necological visits to testicular can
cer at an information table focus
ing on abstinence
The event, sponsored by Texas
A&M’s Health Education Depart
ment, will have available several
sexual health educators, including
graduate assistant from the de
partment and a member of Aggie
R.E.A.C.H. (Representatives Edu
cating About College Health), to
answer questions.
Margaret Griffith, health edu
cation coordinator and HIV spe
cialist, said people often think
everyone is having sex when that
is not the case.
The only sure way to prevent
sexual transmission of HIV infec
tion and other STDs is total absti
nence from sexual activity.
“If somebody is abstinent,
they’re safe,” Griffith said. “We
want to \dent\fy and define absti
nence when it comes to health
and sex.”
She said abstinence and vir
ginity are not the same thing, and
people often interchange the two.
“Virgins can be virgins and
not abstinent,” Griffith said.
“They can engage in oral sex or
anal sex. And so, I think we’ve
gotten really confused on focus
ing on virginity when, for health,
we really need to focus on sexu
al abstinence.”
She said an important mes
sage is that people can choose to
return to abstinence at any point
even after they have already had
sexual relations. Griffith said ab
stinence is “hassle- free and wor
ry-free.”
Rhonda Rahn, a graduate stu
dent assistant in the health edu
cation office, said the top two rea
sons to abstain are it allows
freedom from worrying about
pregnancy and sexually transmit
ted infections, and it has no side
effects.
Griffith said it becomes diffi
cult to remain abstinent if some
one is involved in a caring rela
tionship. She said abstinence is a
way to show each other how
much you love one another.
see Abstinence on Page 2.
Party-time policies
Taskforce recommends changes to tailgate party, game-day alcohol rules
BY CARRIE BENNETT
The Battalion
The Alcohol, Tents and Tailgating Task
Force at A&M, composed of faculty from
various departments and student leaders,
will present a list of recommendations
concerning alcohol and the use of tents
at NCAA intercollegiate athletic events
and tailgate parties at A&M to Dr. J. Mal-
on Southerland, vice president for stu
dent affairs.
The proposed revisions include per
mitting alcoholic beverages at tailgate
parties or picnic activities at NCAA in
tercollegiate athletic events only and
only on the day of the event and in the
general proximity of the event. The lo
cation of the gathering must also be in
an outdoor location or outdoor parking
area that has been deemed appropriate
by the University.
These activities will not be permitted
in any University facility, the O.R. Simp
son Drill Field, the grounds of the All-
Faiths Chapel grounds or Cain Park.
The task force suggests tents only be
erected in designated areas on the day of
intercollegiate and University-wide
events. No sales, solicitations or com
mercial advertising on or under the tent
will be permitted. People will be respon
sible for cleaning the area after removing
the tent.
Dr. Bill Kibler, chair of the task force
and associate vice president for student
affairs, said these restrictions reflect ac
tivities already occurring on campus. He
said the proposed changes are a proac
tive effort to prevent problems that might
happen in the future rather than a result
from an incident in the past.
"We want to promote
how to drink properly
and not in excess,
and this is a more
organized way... to
consume alcohol
on campus.”
— Will Hurd
Student Body President
“Part of the concern that created
this task force was the idea that the
level of this kind of activity is increas
ing and we need to look forward,” Ki
bler said. “One of our goals would be
for the University to try to prevent the
campus from ever getting to a place
where tailgating becomes the kind of
campus-wide problem that it is on
campuses of other universities around
the country. ”
Kibler said the issues of tents on cam
pus came from a problem a few
years ago dealing with corporate
advertising on tents that were left up for
months without permission from the
University. He said, previously, there
had not been any rules concerning tents
so the task force felt the need to include
parameters on this issue to prevent
problems in the future.
Student Body President Will Hurd
said the proposed regulations are a
good effort to make sure that we
control consumption of alcohol
on campus.
“We want to promote how to
drink properly and not in ex
cess, and this is a more orga
nized way and policy lo con
sume alcohol on campus,”
Hurd said. “This is still an aca
demic environment, and we
want to preserve that.”
Kibler said the goal is to
provide an environment
where visitors and family of
former students and current
students feel welcome at
A&M.
“We want to always main
tain a balance where people
can come and responsibly do
this [tailgate] in the context of
these athletic events that
bring thousands of people to
campus and still feel that the
integrity of this campus is pre
served,” Kibler said.
see Alcohol on Page 2.
PROPOSED'
REVISIONS
McoYioWc beverages wVW
be permitted:
At tailgate parties or picnic]
activities
At NCAA intercollegiate
athletic events only
Only on the day of the
event
In the general proximity of
the event
In an outdoor location or
parking area that has been
deemed appropriate by A&M
Will not be permitted in
any University facility, the
O.R. Simpson Drill Field,the
of All Faiths Chapel grounds*
or Cain Park