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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1999)
rs to the: , ■sixoiiiej letalMiit: ment-aJ asTn i ^dnnsday • October 6, 1999 mm 42*; m "w* ap' m m ji lUiO Tw>|JCS> . n«u .,»i .«i. uniiwi.i • ii'ii» iiaiiiiiii : i^iiliiiiiiiii»A«i»lilliii.i.ii«M«»ii^l«MMM IRSITY College Station, Texas Volume 106 * Issue 28 * 12 Pages die accid 1 principi it ail an at? cohol, drug notification helps, ut more aid needed, parents say BY JEANETTE SIMPSON The Battalion Ihe A&M Task Force on Parental Notification ieen notifying parents of underage students’ |hol violations since the end of August. Kristin Harper, senior associate director of lepartment of Student Life, said several let- [ have already been sent to parents of stu- who committed violations the Universi- I alcohol policy, including possession of bhol or on-campus intoxication if underage. [■Seventeen letters have been sent to par- notifying them of their child’s violations far this year,” Harper said. Parents of all Aggies under age 21 have re- yed letters during the past few weeks from Int Paterson, head of the A&M Task Force on lental Notification and director of Student \ warning them of underage drinking on tipus, especially among first-year students. Paterson said the letter informs parents of the need to increase awareness of the problem and encourages them to talk to their children about the abuse of alcohol. “The University is now serving as a link in the chain making parents responsible for their child/' — Sue Perlett Parent of A&M student Lorna Breault, coordinator of the Alcohol and Drug Education Center, said parents have been grateful that the University is now inform ing them of their students’ violations. “Parents have been extremely impressed with our new notification plans,” she said. “In the past parents have been concerned because the only way they could find out about their stu dents’ violations was if the students themselves talked to them.The parents were often not in formed until the situation had caused their stu dent to be forced out of the University.” Sue Perlet, mother of a 19-year-old A&M sophomore, said it is important for her to know what is happening in her child’s life. “As a parent, to be informed is important to me,” Perlet said. “The University is now serv ing as a link in the chain making parents re sponsible for their child.” However, some parents are unsure of what to do about their students’ alcohol abuse. Dr. Dennis Reardon, senior coordinator of Student Life Alcohol and Drug Education pro grams, said the letters offer suggestions to par- see Notify on Page 2. Senate to discuss student loan bill BY ERIKA DOERR The Battalion The Texas A&M Student Senate will discuss the Proposition 13 bill and internal senate legislation tonight at 7:30 in the Koldus Stu dent Services Building. Justin Toal, senate speaker pro- tempore and a senior agronomy and business major, said Proposi tion 13 will amend the state con stitution to appropriate funds for student loans. “The Proposition 13 bill will go through its first reading at [tonight’s] Student Senate meet ing,” he said. “This bill will amend the Texas Constitution, au thorizing the Texas Higher Educa tion Coordination Board to $400 million in general-obligation bonds to continue loan assistance through the Hinson-Hazelwood Student Loan Program.” Toal said the Hinson-Hazel wood Student Loan Program is a f stable source of financial aid for students and is self-supportive. The program does not use state funds to pay administrators or re pay loans, providing many ad vantages over private student loans, he said. “There is an ongoing, multi faceted campaign for Proposition 13,” Toal said. “Student Govern ment’s main goal is to get people out to the polls on Nov. 2 to vote ‘yes’ for this proposition. see Senate on Page 2. way MINGS /NMfM nniufl — becoming Post-Christian 7pm in 308 Rudder w GABRIEL RUENES/Tiik Battalion ristianity ubject of rof’s speech BY AMANDA SMITH The Battalion A professor of bioethics at Bay- College of Medicine and of phi- sophy at Rice University will dis- iss issues facing medical ethics id their relationship to Christian- at 7 p.m. in Rudder 308. Dr. H.T. Engelhardt said he will Idress some of the issues facing iristians in a post-Christian world, articularly in regards to medical- hics issues, as part of a lecture se es he will host at Texas A&M. “What I want to do is to pro- ide an understanding of how fiodern medicine is having an int act on our lives, as Christians,” igelhardt said. “We put a dollar if every seven dollars into health- are.” Engelhardt said he wants to look particular at a new Texas law oncerning living wills, effective iept. 1, making amendments to the urrent law affecting end-of-life de- ision-making. see Christianity on Page 2. ESI Sports •Ags look to solve problems Saturday’s football game gives team a chance to improve. Going, going ... gone! KIMBER HUPF/The BATTALION Don Garder, (left photo, in foreground) winds up and successfully dunks Dr. Ken Poenisch, (left photo, in background, and right pho to), an associate dean for the College of Science, Tuesday afternoon. The dunking booth, located outside the MSC, was sponsored by the College of Science to raise funds for the State Employee Charitable Campaign (SECC). Fraternity establishes Ticket Mart BY ERIKA DOERR The Battalion Instead of paying an outrageous price for a scalped football ticket. Al pha Phi Omega offers a different al ternative by reselling tickets at face value — a program called Ticket Mart. Ticket Mart is the sale and con signment of football tickets at every home game. Alpha Phi Omega, the national coed service fraternity, takes donated tickets and resales them for face value through our Ticket Mart, in the MSC area, three hours before the home football game. Melissa Tripp, Alpha Phi Omega publicity chair and a senior informa tion and operations management ma jor, said Alpha Phi Omega is ulti mately trying to get scalpers out of the MSC area. She said there was an incident where a ticket-scalper shoved a member of Alpha Phi Omega in the MSC area. “This incidents escalated to cer tain scalpers verbally harassing our walking sandwich boards at the A&M versus Southern Mississippi football game,” she said. “Ideally, we want scalpers off the entire campus so APO Ticket Mart and the Athletic Depart ment will be able to sell football tick ets at face value. ” TToy Schwartz, a member of Alpha Phi Omega and a senior industrial en gineering major, said people donate tickets throughout the week to Alpha Phi Omega for face value selling, to Ticket Mart. see Tickets on Page 2. Page 7 a Aggielife* i •Austin Film Festival- Screen writers and film buffs ready for fest that draws both in- dependents and Hollywood’s best Page 3 Opinion The Lurid Linda Tripp tripped self up, [and her law suit should be dismissed. Page 11 Batt Radio Tisten to KAMU-FM 90.9 'at 1:57 p.m. for details on Rick Davis’ possible run for judge of the 272nd District Court. Candles light way for vigil BY KENNETH MACDONALD The Battalion Citizens crowded the Bryan High School cafeteria last night for a cere mony followed by an emotional light ing of candles in the memory of victims and survivors of domestic violence. A performance by the Texas A&M Woman’s Choir accompanied the ceremony. The vigil, sponsored by Phoebe’s Home, a shelter in Bryan for bat tered women and the Brazos Coun ty Domestic Violence Task Force, featured speakers on domestic vio lence from the community and an awards ceremony honoring individ uals who have contributed to the ef forts of Phoebe’s Home. Nikki van Hightower of the School of Public Rural Healthcare at Texas A&M spoke about recent re search into domestic-violence issues. “For years, we didn’t talk about it or even have a name for it,” she said. “Now that academia is in volved, it is much easier to study, understand and get the word out about these issues.” No ringing endorsement Panel calls plain, white-gold finish ‘unattractive,... not appropriate’ JP BEATO/The Battalion The Alpha Chi Omega sorority sisters take part in candlelight vigil Tuesday night in support of Phoebe’s Home. Van Hightower said domestic vi olence now has more creditability be cause of the rise the empowerment of women, but said, there is still an image portrayed in the media that it is acceptable for men to control women. Mollie Bridges, program director for Phoebe’s Home, said she usual ly sees two types of clients — moth ers and their children. “Phoebe’s Home is a shelter that provides help to all victims of do mestic violence, women, children and men, if they qualify,” she said. Bridges said people do not need to be living in the shelter to receive assistance from Phoebe’s Home. “Our free, nonresidential services allow the victim to stay in their homes until they are ready to leave but still receive the same help and counseling [as if they were living at the home],” she said. The A&M chapter of Alpha Chi Omega was honored for its contri bution of $5,000, raised from its paintball tournament, and diapers to Phoebe’s Home. BY STUART HUTSON The Battalion When Monti Pack, a senior speech communication major, went to order her Aggie ring in September, she had her heart set on a plain white-gold ring. What she ordered, however, was a yellow-gold ring with a nat ural finish. “They made it clear that the plain, white-gold ring was just simply not going to be made available for or dering,” Pack said. Carolyn Swanzy, director of the Ring Office, said the decision not to offer the white-gold ring without antiquing was made by the Aggie Ring Committee of the Association of Former Students in 1997. “It is my interpretation that the decision was made because they felt the ring was unattractive and was simply not appropriate,” Swanzy said. Pack said students should be allowed to order whatever options are available for the rings since they are the ones who will pay for and wear the rings. “I think it is simply ridiculous that they would lim it us because of their tastes,” Pack said. “I have many friends who wanted this option and had to order the rings they really didn’t like.” Swanzy said the white-gold ring without antiquing is the only option not offered. “The other options evolved over time when the manufacturers made them available, and there were people requesting them,” Swanzy said. “I have heard students commenting about the option around the of fice, but there is no real demand right now.” Swanzy said students may choose from a white- gold or yellow-gold ring. Yellow-gold rings may be or dered with natural, rose or antiqued finishes, while BRADLEY ATCHISON/The Battalion Ring finishes available are (From top left, clockwise) white gold, natural gold, antique and rose. white-gold rings may be ordered only with the an tiqued finish. Ronnie Arrington, a jeweler for Douglas Jewelers in College Station, said students do have the option of buying the white-gold ring with antiquing and then have the antiquing stripped, but he does not ad vise the procedure. “I stripped the antiquing off of two or three rings and then stopped offering the service,” Arrington said. “It is my experience that it has a tendency to slightly discolor the ring, and it also voids the warranty. ” Arrington said he understands the committee’s de cision not to offer the option of a plain white-gold ring. “The Aggie ring is one of the few traditions at A&M that has not been radically changed,” he said. “The ring is an important part of an Aggie’s life, and that is why they put such strict restrictions on them.” Students wanting to offer input on the ring-selec tion process can contact Porter Garner, associate di rector of the Association of Former Students.