College Station, Texas
Volume 106 • Issue 6*14 Pages
londay • September 6,1999
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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
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aggielife
Fest focuses on culture
•Catching Air
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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.