sday • October 28,1999
College Station, Texas
Volume 106 • Issue 44 • 14 Pages
CARPOOLVS. TAXI CABS
-PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY GUY ROGERS AND CHAD ADAMS*
BY ERIKA DOERR
The Battalion
CODY WAGES ! f
;e crystals trapped in cjiiii
iryan-College Station taxi companies
blaming Caring Aggies ‘R’ Protecting
rOur Lives (CARPOOL), a free service
red by Texas A&M students, for a de-
Sein their weekend business.
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SEE RELATED EDITORIAL ON PAGE 13.
Balance Yemme, University Taxi owner
[a former student, said CARPOOL is
atively affecting his business.
[Beside Easterwood Airport, Northgate
urNo. 2 spot for our clientele,” he said,
is one thing if CARPOOL would limit
|r services to only A&M students, but it
[ears the volunteers are picking up any-
[yfrom clubs, not just students.”
femme said CARPOOL gives students a
|e sense of security.
[We want boys and girls to be responsi-
jcitizens for the future, but here, with this
gram, we are saying, ‘Here’s a free ride
pe after getting drunk,’” he said. “What
lof education are we giving students?”
[eff Schiefelbein, the service’s founder
chair and a senior management ma
jor, said CARPOOL began in September
with the intent of providing a free service
to students who need rides home from lo
cal bars, clubs and parties.
“CARPOOL has a staff of 142 student
volunteers and a total of eight vehicles,
each consisting of two volunteer drivers,
one male and one female,” he said.
Schiefelbein said the program is in
tended to help students who may be
stranded at a party, students who are ine
briated, who do not want to drive home
with someone who is drunk or feel as if
they are driving drowsy. He said the ser
vice is a comfortable and sure way of ar
riving home safely.
Yemme said the focus is not whether
students feel more comfortable riding
home with CARPOOL volunteers.
“Of course, if anyone is giving you
something for free, you’re going to feel
comfortable in accepting it,” he said. “This
program [CARPOOL] is giving students the
wrong impression, especially over the sub
ject of drinking. Students need to control
themselves and act responsibly and not de
pend on a free ride home.”
Schiefelbein said, that in one instance,
CARPOOL gave 131 people rides within
two and a half hours, something that is im
possible for cab companies.
“This is not a negative reflection on any
company by any means, but in order to ac
complish a [feat such] as this, one needs
manpower and vehicles,” he said. “I could
n’t be more proud of this program. The vol
unteer work can be physically draining,
but the volunteers thoroughly enjoy this re
warding effort. This program has nothing
"Our company cannot
compete with the free
rides offered by
CARPOOL”
— Balance Yemme
University Taxi owner
to do with numbers but with helping peo
ple arrive home safely.”
Yemme-said surrounding clubs and bars
support CARPOOL because it increases sales
and lessens their responsibility for those stu
dents who leave the premises drunk.
“If a student does not have a means to
get home and has the money available to
get drunk, then the student should also
have enough money to find a way home,”
he said. “University Taxi has been in ser
vice for 10 years. We have three vehicles at
Northgate every night, and now our com
pany cannot compete with the free rides
offered by CARPOOL, therefore we are los
ing a large amount of business.”
Stephanie Billings, a bartender at
Fitzwilly’s Bar and Grill, said bartenders are
regulated by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage
Commission (TABC), and CARPOOL does
not influence bartenders to serve more al
cohol, which is against regulations.
“Our job as a bartender is to determine
who is and who isn’t legal to drink,” she
said. “You have to be TABC-certified to be a
bartender. We have to know serving limits. ”
Billings said CARPOOL is a beneficial
program needed in a college town, where
people tend to drink alcohol.
Angela Winkler, CARPOOL adviser
and Class of ’95, said the program re
ceived start-up funding from the Associa
tion of Former Students.
lec-sports fee hike
ay be put to vote
On the river, waterfjft , „ . . . i • i
in ■: nbihewiihi^fudent Government Association to decide
measures are to appear on spring ballot
/lore than 60 percent oil
(usinesses have closed thei
Jozens of merchants alt
iverwalk, the city’s prim
nercial property, have pi
at si nesses up for sale.
Britain opt
lies onWI
LONDON (AP)-Bri
te assassination of Ge
larshal Erwin Rommel,
/odd War II general known
esert Fox,” but balked ate
ig the plan would
arding to files released yes
The whereabouts of
eadquarters for
lander of German forces!
The plan called for four
om Britain’s Special 0p«
Kecutive to attack the he
rs, according to the files in
ablic Record Office, w
iically unseals records,
The files said the plot was
aned when the informate
ter viewed as “so
base a plan upon it
be the murder of the four
mcerned.”
Other significant fac
noral considerations ii
e waning state of Axisfei
mines in North Africa anti:
e retaliation,” the filessaii
Rommel became a
id after leading Germany’s
arps into battle against;
rces in Libya in February i 1
Rommel killed himselfafet 1
iplicated in a plot to
ly 1944 and being offeredal
taking poison or
th threats hanging over his
BY ROLANDO GARCIA
The Battalion
he recreational-sports fee cap
double, from $50 to $100 per
ester, if students approve the in-
tse in a referendum next spring.
)ennis Corrington, recreation-
ports director, said the plan,
ich is still in its preliminary
[es, would, with approval from
Student Government Associa-
, put the fee-cap increase and
ictual fee raise on the ballot for
it semester’s student-govern-
nt elections.
the increase would not take ef-
before Fall 2001, however, be-
se raising fee caps requires ap-
val from the State Legislature.
Jorrington said a fee of at least
is needed to cover unexpect-
costs for equipment replace-
nt and building depreciation of
Student Recreational Center.
“The cardiovascular equipment
a four-year life cycle,” hesaid. “So
treadmills and Stairmasters that
re brand-new when the building
'tied in 1995 need to be replaced.”
Also, he said money needs to
be set aside for high-cost mainte
nance replacements over the next
few years, including a new roof,
air-conditioning system and
swimming-pool filtering system.
“We didn’t budget well enough
when we planned for this build
ing,” Corrington said.
With 25 percent more users
than originally projected, A&M has
the busiest student recreational
center in the country, he said.
Student Body President Will
Hurd, a senior computer science
major, said a Student Government
Association committee is studying
the issue and will make a recom
mendation in three weeks
whether a fee increase should be
placed on the ballot.
“Raising the fee is one option,
but we’re also looking at other
funding possibilities,” he said.
Corrington said new legislation
also will allow the department to
increase the sports fee in incre
ments of 10 percent or less without
approval by a student referendum.
“We need the flexibility to
“The money which supports our pro
gram is not student-fee money,” she said.
“CARPOOL is a student-run program,
where the volunteers love doing service for
other students. ”
Winkler said CARPOOL helps keep stu
dents and the surrounding roads safe, low
ering the risk of drunk or drowsy driving.
“CARPOOL is a wonderful program,”
she said. “We do not drive anyone to par
ties or bars, only to their homes. One can
ask the questions [in response to the taxi
companies complaints], ‘Do contractors
get upset at Habitat for Humanity for
building a house?’ or ‘Do lawn manage
ments get upset with Big Event for clear
ing out brush?”’
Schiefelbein said it would be advanta
geous for CARPOOL and taxi businesses to
work together.
“Using taxi cabs is never discouraged
by any of our volunteers,” he said.
“There are always ways to work with the
taxi companies, possibly putting their
numbers on our answering machine dur
ing the week for additional services to the
students.”
see CARPOOL on Page 2.
The Clothesline. Project
helps viewers see
impact of violence
ANTHONY DISALVO/The Battalion
Beth Perdue, a junior accounting
major, works out at the Student
Recreation Center Wednesday.
make an allowance for inflation or
unexpected costs without having
to do a student referendum every
time,” Corrington said.
He said the fee cap may be as
high as $125, because all Texas
A&M University System schools
must abide by the cap, and some
schools with smaller enrollments
may need a higher fee to maintain
their facilities.
Corrington said, the requested
fee increase also may be higher
than $63 if improvements need
ed to intramural sports fields are
included.
BY JULIE ZUCKER
The Battalion
A visual display bearing witness
to domestic violence and violence
against women can be seen today
and tomorrow in the MSC Flagroom.
Shaun Travers, Gender Issues Ed
ucation Services (GIES) coordinator,
said the Clothesline Project is coordi
nated by Aggies Working for a Rape-
Free Environment (AWARE), GIES
staff and volunteers to raise campus
awareness of domestic violence.
“The Clothesline Project hits home
visually, taking the viewer a step fur
ther towards comprehending the
sheer numbers and powerful impact
domestic violence against women has
on our society,” Travers said.
The Clothesline Project was began
in 1990 by the Cape Cod Massachu
setts Women’s Agenda in answer to
statistics compiled by the Maryland
Men’s Anti-Rape Resource Center.
Statistics from the Maryland Men’s
Anti-Rape Resource Center showed
during the Vietnam War, 16 years,
51,000 women in the United States
were murdered by their husbands or
lovers compared to the 58,000 U.S.
soldier who perished in the war.
When the group visited the Viet
nam Memorial, they asked them
selves where their wall was. The an
swer they got was “nowhere.” The
group says their war has not ended.
Rachel Carsey-Harper, a member
of the Cape Cod Massachusetts
Women’s Agenda, started the pro
gram so women could speak out
about the wrongs made against them.
Travers said the purpose of the
Clothesline project is three-fold: it
bears witness to the survivors as well
as the victims of domestic violence
and violence against women aids the
healing process for people who have
lost a loved one, and to educate, doc
ument and raise awareness of do
mestic violence and violence against
women on campus.
The clothesline holds T-shirts cre
ated by victims, their friends and oth
ers who want to support awareness.
Each shirt is decorated to represent a
particular victim’s experiences.
Travers said volunteers from
Phoebe’s Home, a local domestic-vi
olence shelter, as well as individual
Where: MSC
Flagroom
When: Today
and tomorrow
Sponsored by
GIES and
AWAKE
GUY ROGERS/The Battalion
victims and women’s residence halls
have brought shirts to display.
Bethany Waldron, a senior speech
communication major, said she vol
unteered because it is a unique way to
get the message across to the campus.
“I feel this is a very worthwhile
thing to do,” she said. “This is differ
ent. People are tired of hearing statis
tics. This way we can hear the victim’s
story and voice. It is all very moving. ”
“Violence happens more than we
think,” she said. “As a campus, we
need to come together and not turn our
heads the other way. It is also very im
portant to know men are victims, too.
It is a common misconception this only
happens to women and children.”
TVavers said survivors of violence
are often trapped in silence about
their experiences, but the Clothesline
Project shatters the silence.
Waldron said it is important vic
tims speak out.
“Whether they talk to the police or
not, they need to speak to someone,”
she said.
“It will be more destructive to
keep it bottled up.”
INSIDE
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1409 HARVEY I
Aggielife
•What would you
do for a 4.0?
Students who
value grades
above all else.
Page 3
Sports
Ags down ’Horns in 4 games
Jlleyball Team defeats No. 9
niversity of Texas.
Page 9
Opinion
DNA made me do it
todern-day findings
esponsibility,
«come source
'f blame.
Page 13
Batt Radio
'Stento KAMU-FM 90.9 at 1:57
ACROSS FROM POSTOAKP ‘T for details on a judge who
LISH JOBS 693-7228 WEtu 1 )le ad guilty to a trespassing.
Governor
speaks on
struggles
BY DIANE XAVIER
The Battalion
For Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas,
being elected was not the happiest mo
ment of his gubanatorial role, because
being a Republican in a largely Democ
rat state caused him to be confronted
with many hostilities.
His secretary of state refused to let
him occupy his office until the 60th day
of his tenure.
“I had the door shut in my face for 59
days after my victory,” Huckabee said.
“When I finally got through, I had that
pressure to produce and make a differ
ence for the people. ”
Huckabee, the fourth Republican in his
tory to be elected governor of Arkansas,
spoke on the need for members of gov
ernment to take a more personal and
moral role in governing to a full house in
Rudder Auditorium last night.
Huckabee said the goal of govern
ment is to make a difference in people’s
CODY WAGES/Thk Battalion
Mike Huckabee, governor of Arkansas, speaks Wednesday night on government
in America in Rudder Auditorium.
lives, to facilitate rather than complicate
the establishment.
“America doesn’t need great politi
cians but is in desperate need of good
models with great principles,” he said.
“Being a governor, you come across a lot
of people who tell you that they want tax
es cut, crime eliminated and welfare end
ed. What they don’t realize is that these
problems don’t get solved overnight. It
takes a long process and a lot of hard
work from everyone to achieve this.”
Huckabee said one of the reasons
crime, welfare and tax burdens are still
issues is because of man’s egotistical
motives.
“We are, by nature, selfish as human
beings,” he said. “Sin is an T problem.
Our selfishness is innate and very much
a core of us. Many times, we have this at
titude of ‘If it only helps me or doesn’t
hurt me, than I’m for it.’ Once we start
see Governor on Page 2.
A&M to honor
longtime staff
BY RICHARD BRAY
The Battalion
Texas A&M University and the Association of For
mer Students will recognize faculty and staff who have
given 20 to 50 years of service to the University with
award pins in the Years of Service Awards Program
tonight at 10 in Rudder Theater.
Susan Irza, human resources director, said the pro
gram will recognize 264 faculty and staff members.
The pins contain four garnets for 20 years, one di
amond for 25 years, one diamond and one garnet for
30 years, one diamond and two garnets for 35 years,
one diamond and three garnets for 40 years, one di
amond and four garnets for 45 years and two dia
monds for 50 years.
Eligibility for the award is based on service to A&M.
According to the human resources department, “el
igible recipients must be employed at least 50 percent
of the time, some portion of which must be with Texas
A&M University, and the employee is considered to be
a ‘University employee.’”
Jackie Caruso, associate director of human re
sources, said the program is designed to “recognize the
many contributions of these individuals in their ser
vice to Texas A&M.”
A&M President Dr. Ray M. Bowen said the Years of Service
see Staff on Page 2.