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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 1999)
College Station, Texas Volume 106 • Issue 6*14 Pages londay • September 6,1999 — translate the ^lish. When t en if he had t up and buc *ein answetf ^.'ord for yes. nee will not 1 Oct. U.afte, ubmitteda ‘ he report is time of thet still has cons xid could ii l or ter semen i the plea a I ife term is. crommitted Sweet Home mmily receives g^Mmabitat house I, BY STUART HUTSON Ii /l ^ Battalion ^ai S1 ^Karly Saturday morning a teary- '•yecl Mamie Ellis proudly pointed TlUJlI^vyai'd the newly erected wood- ramed walls of her home built by labitat for Humanity, which cur- ently sits on Aggie Bonfire site, i » r v l^hamie Ellis, a breakfast hostess : : it the Hampton Inn for the last 12 ^ 'ears, is the recipient of the first t Men ii habitat for Humanity house built : ibii marKr.: . n tj ; e ly by Aggies. 51 commumi ■This is my house,” she said, es the lean: Aundra’Ellis, daughter of Mamie evolutional , n( j a sophomore journalism major i :he Coniiv. ; t Blinn College in Bryan, said that present?' vhen her mother applied for the 'reparingn rouse they never believed she na s Op vould actually be chosen, h a makeovf ||i really feel as though we have rnemorativet AMANDA SMIERS/l'm; BATTALION Mamie Ellis looks on as her daughter Aundra signs the first board of their new house Saturday at the Bonfire site. been blessed,” she said. “It is such a wonderful feeling to see my moth er so happy.” Mamie and Aundra’ Ellis said they currently live in a substandard apartment in College Station. “Our current home is located in an unsafe neighborhood,” Aundra’ Ellis said. “We are often without wa ter or heat, and we worry about re curring gas leaks. ” Parker Stucky, public relations representative for the A&M chapter of Habitat for Humanity and a sophomore environmental design major, said the Ellis’ are one of the hardest working and most deserving families he has seen involved with the Habitat for Humanity program. “We don’t give them anything,” he said. “They are required to pay back the cost of the house through an in terest-free loan as well as do 400 hours of sweat equity. ” Stucky said sweat equity is the physical work that must be done on the house by Ellis family as a down payment. Taylor Handly, president of the A&M chapter of Habitat for Hu manity and junior genetics major, said the Ellis family has already completed more than 500 hours of sweat equity and will most likely put in many more. see Home on Page 2. Construction alters Fish Pond bus stops BY BROOKE HODGES The Battalion Beginning today. Reveille, Centerpole, Ring Dance, and Traditions routes will not make stops at Fish Pond because of the construction on the water tower on Asbury Street and Sbisa Dining Hall. Gary Jackson, manager of Bus Operations, said Reveille and Centerpole routes will now pick up on Asbury Street near the Northside Parking Garage. He said that because of the construction on Asbury Street near Ross Street, buses will travel Hogg Street to Asbury Street, pick up students and then contin ue to University Drive. Ring Dance and Traditions will now pick up on Hogg Street, between Hobby Hall and the Sbisa Un derground Food Court. He said the Reveille route and the Traditions route have changed. Kathy Mathison, associate director for Trans portation Services, said the Reveille route, which travels off-campus, used to pick up students in the Trigon Area, but the stop has been relocated. “Due to congestion, [we have] moved the bus stop to Joe Routt Boulevard by Rudder Tower,” she said. The Traditions route, which runs to and from main campus and West Campus, also relocated to pick up in front of the John H. Koldus Building on Joe Routt Boulevard, Mathison said. Jackson said, the Reveille route will travel the ex act same path to and from campus and will contin ue into Bryan and stop at Kent Street, Blinn College, Tahoe and Willow Oaks apartments. He said all the Ring Dance and Traditions routes will pick up on Hogg St. between Hobby Residence Hall and Sbisa Dining Hall SBISA DINING HALL, ASBURY Centerpole and Reveille routes will pick up near Northside Parking Garage NORTHSIDE PARKING GARAGE IRELAND MARK MCPHERSON/THK BATTALION routes run 30 minutes or less except for the Reveille route, which covers a larger area. Jackson said the Centerpole route, which was discontinued last year and added to the Reveille route, has been separated from Reveille and brought back, and this will also decrease the Reveille route’s time. Sam Teuton, a bus driver and junior business ma jor, said the separation of Centerpole route from the Reveille route was a good decision. “Students are not on the bus as long,” Teuton said. “They have more time to sleep and are a lot happier when they get on [the bus].” official ann as spent SlL sOth anmVerv t e-run Xinl® aggielife Fest focuses on culture •Catching Air itment ’ Hearne school teaches ] busineistudents how to hanglide. Page 3 Studen- sports e select # ^ggj e defense too much for Mustangs Women’s soccer wins 2-1 Friday. Page 11 opinion ^j^^Out of the Fish Bowl ■p -/ Fish camp provides students with a false view of Aggieland. Page 13 Battalion Radio Tune to 90.9 KAMU-FM at 1:57 p.m. for developments in the Jasper trial. BY ERIKA DOERR The Battalion The first Planet Northgate festival was held last weekend in order to promote cul tural exchange, raise money and gain aware ness for the International Student Associa tion (ISA). Gustavo de Sousa, ISA president and a senior food science major, said he was glad students and members of surrounding com munities came out and enjoyed the Planet Northgate festival. “There was a great turnout on Friday, about 1,000 people participated in the event.” he said. “My committee and I pro posed this Planet Northgate idea about two months ago, and it finally came through.” Texas A&M students and members of the Bryan-College Station community enjoyed international cuisine, music and dance per formances, Friday and Saturday. The festival, sponsored by the ISA, the Brazos Valley Millennium Commission, the City of College Station and A&M adminis trative departments began Friday with per formances by the ISA Dance group, the Ag gie Wranglers and several bands. Informational displays and tables were set up by local businessmen and food ROBBIE GEHBAUER/Thk Battalion Aggie Wranglers perform at Planet Northgate. booths sold a variety of cuisines ranging from Taiwanese to Bolivian. Juan Peredo, a member of the Bolivian Student Association and an industrial engi neering graduate student, said Planet North- gate took hard work. “This is an event where not only do peo ple come to eat and try different cuisines but to come and show off their culture to the community around them,” he said. People of all ages attended the event. A moonwalk, kid art, live music and see Northgate on Page 2 Fumes, dehydration cause one - car crash BY STUART HUTSON The Battalion % A man crashed his car into a concrete trash can and a handicapped access ramp in front of the Northside parking garage on Ireland Street Friday at 1:30 p.m., and his insurance has agreed to pay the University approximately $2,500 for repairs. Herbert Shaw of Normangee, the driver, passed out while driving from dehydration and carbon monoxide inhalation. Herbert Shaw and his son, Jay Shaw, a sophomore business administration major at Blinn College, were traveling on University Dri ve when Herbert started feeling dizzy and light headed. “I told my son to grab the wheel if I passed out,” Herbert Shaw said. “Then 1 turned onto Ireland Street, stopped, and tried to shift the car into park, the next thing I knew I was being taken out of the car.” Jay Shaw said he saw his father’s body stiff en, causing his foot to press down on the car’s gas pedal. “I saw his eyes roll into the back of his head and his body seized up,” he said, “I thought he was dead or that he was having some sort of seizure. ” Jay Shaw said that after the car started ac celerating, he managed to put it in park, but it continued onto the sidewalk. The vehicle crashed into the trash can and access ramp before coming to a stop on the sidewalk in front of the Texas A&M power plant’s gas supply building, 20 feet away from a high pressure gas main. Steve Davis, a maintenance supervisor at the CODY WAGES/The Battalion Herbert Shaw and his son Jay were released from the College Station medical center Friday, after they were involved in a car crash. University power plant, said that if the car had struck the gas main, the results could have been disastrous. “It’s a good thing it didn’t hit [the main],” he said. “If it did, we may not have had a place to come to work to on Monday.” Shaw and his son were taken to College Sta tion Medical Center and were released Friday afternoon. Patrol Officer D. Donovan of the University Police Department, said the medical center concluded Shaw’s unconsciousness was caused by carbon monoxide inhalation from fumes inside the car’s cabin, along with dehy dration which was probably related to his plas ma donation one hour prior to the accident. “The car was evidently in a prior accident which caused carbon monoxide to seep into see Crash on Page 2. Freshmen may begin filing for Class Council, senate BY JULIE ZUCKER The Battalion The filing process for freshman posi tions in Class Council and Student Senate begins today in the MSC foyer from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Student Government Association Election Commissioner Ashlea Jenkins, a junior po litical science major, said that even if a stu dent is remotely interested in running, he or she should file with the election committee and pick up a candidate packet explaining campaign procedures, rules and regulations. “We are hoping for a great turnout this year,” Jenkins said. “We need to know everyone who is running, whether they are sure or not.” Five Senate seats are available and there are open positions for president, vice presi dent, secretary, social secretary, historian and treasurer for the Class Council of 2003. Courtney Lindsey, vice president for the Class of 2001 and a recreation, parks and tourism science major, said running for a po sition is a great opportunity for anyone. “I was never involved with Class Council before I came to A&M,” Lindsey said. “I was really nervous, but I encourage everyone to take a chance and run. It is a great experi ence where I met a lot of different people, and I really feel like I make a difference.” Jenkins said 60 freshmen ran last year, and she is hoping for more students to ap ply this year. “The more students who sign up the more diverse the Council will be,” she said. “To get a good representation of the freshman class, we need people from every area to run.” Leana Divine, vice president of academic affairs and a junior international studies and history major, said she would not have had as many opportunities as she does today if she did not run for a position her freshman year. see Freshmen on Page 2.