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THE
rhursday, Febnun
FRIDAY
February 18, 2000
Volume 106- Issue 94
10 pages
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BY DANA JAMUS
The Battalion
The Bryan-College Station area code will be changing from
09 to 979 Feb. 19.
Between Feb. 19 and Aug. 4, callers can use either the 409 or
lew 979 code to place calls, but those who dial 409 will receive
ivoice message indicating that the code will be changing and
rill give the new code for the region.
Starting Aug. 5, calls dialed without the new area code w ill
lot be completed, according to the Public Utilities Commission
PUC) Website.
The change is part of a three-way split of the the 409 area code
egion which was experiencing a shortage of available numbers,
aid Betsy Tyson, information specialist at PUC Texas.
The western area of the original 409 region which includes
Bryan-College Station will be assigned 979,936 will be des-
gnated for the central region and the eastern region will retain
the 409 code.
“Nothing changes,” Tyson said. Calls that were previously con-
idered local will remain local and those that were considered long
distance will still be charged at the oriuinal long distance rates.
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AREA COD!
CHANGES
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JP BEATO/Thi Battaijois
Ronda Carter of the South Brazos County Fire Department puts out a grass fire near Highway 6 and FM 2151. Train sparks caused the fire,
one of eight that spanned from Navasota to College Station Thursday afternoon.
College Station Police make Northgate safer
Four emergency phones are placed along the highly trafficked area for safety purposes
RUBEN DELUNA/I in Baitai.ion
9-1-1 calls will also remain the same. The system will be re
programmed so people still only dial 9-1-1, according to the
PUC Website.
The PUC site also states that PUC is requesting companies to
issue numbers sequentially.
Tyson said the shortage is caused by increasing communica
tions options such as cell phones, fax machines, modems and
pagers. She said telecommunications companies improperly as
signing telephone numbers to these devices has contributed to
the speed at which the shortage has progressed.
A single area code has just under eight million usable num
bers. Tyson said telecommunications companies receive num
bers in blocks of 10,000 numbers at a time.
These numbers are then permanently out of circulation
whether or not the company uses them.
PUC has been encouraging companies to take numbers in
smaller chunks-such as 1,000 at a time in order to conserve num
bers, Tyson said.
BY MATT LOFTIS
The Battalion
Northgate's proximity to campus makes it convenient
for students to grab a quick bite to eat or buy books in be
tween classes but Northgate may be better known for
its nightlife.
The numerous bars bring hundreds of students to North-
gate, prompting the College Station Police Department to
make the area safer.
Four emergency phones were installed in neighborhoods
behind Northgate Thursday, as a preventive step and also as
a response to reported harassment in the area.
Rhonda Seaton, an officer with the College Station Police
Department, said there have been no major crime problems
at Northgate recently. Seaton said in the past, there have been
problems with harassment and violence that led to an initia
tive to improve safety and the availability ofpolice assistance
in the Northgate area.
International students, specifically, have in the past year,
been the target of harassment, whether by intention or coin
cidence, leading to activism on the part of the International
Student Association (ISA) in the past year.
Talsuki Ohashi, Class of ’99 and president of ISA for the
1998-99 academic year, said while he was at A&M there were
problems involving international students and others being
harassed on Northgate.
The problems drew the ISA into a coalition of campus or
ganizations and local groups to advocate positive change on
Northgate, including the Resident I lall Association, Muslim
SUSAN REDDING/Tm: Battalion
Felling a little safer as she walks home, sophomore
speech communication major, Joanna Parker no
tices the new red emergency phones in the North-
gate area. The phones were installed Thursday.
Students Association, Northgate Merchant Association, Stu
dent Government, College Station Police Department and
University Police Department.
The group formed the Northgate Safety Awareness Com
mittee, which later became Aggies for a Safe Community.
Ohashi said the group first organized to raise awareness
about the issue of Northgate safety, but eventually evolved
into an organization working for the improvement of the en
tire community.
"It was amazing, once we started, how quick it moved,”
Ohashi said.
Seaton said the phones were a step the city had been work
ing toward for the prevention of future incidents similar to
some of the major problems on Northgate in the past.
“1 think it’s going to be a lot of peace of mind for people
living in that area,” Seaton said. "It’s a safety blanket.”
Josh Liggin, a sophomore biomedical science major, said
that he visits Northgate from time to time, but has never heard
of any accidents or problems.
Liggin said women or people by themselves should be
concerned with being harassed in the area, but he has the same
chance of being beaten up on campus as at Northgate.
“You need them [emergency phones] there for the same
reason you need them on campus,” Liggin said. “That should
be an extension.”
Allison Snyder, a freshman mechanical engineering ma
jor, said she has heard about problems at Northgate more
through word of mouth than in the news. Snyder said she has
been to Northgate with large groups of people and felt safe,
but when in small groups or with other girls she has been con
cerned about safety.
"There’s so many things that can happen over there,” Sny
der said. “I think the phones are a great thing for anyone over
there, especially girls.”
A&M System to allot over $75 million in 3 years
INSIDE
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BY ROLANDO GARCIA
The Battalion
More than $75 million is up for grabs in the
Texas A&M University System as a result of a
constitutional amendment passed in November,
which made more money available from Perma
nent University Fund (PUF).
The PUF is an endowment funded by state-
owned land and minerals to help support certain
schools affiliated with the Texas A&M and Uni
versity of Texas systems.
Tom Kale, vice chancellor for business ser
vices, said the money will be divided between
Texas A&M University, Prairie View A&M Uni
versity and Tarleton State University, the three
system schools that benefit from the PUF.
Previously, only
the interest earnings
and dividends result
ing from investments
made with PUF
money could be
spent, but with the
passage of Proposi
tion 17, any invest
ment earnings from
the PUF may be used
by the universities.
Over the next
three years, this will
be up to $75 million
for the Texas A&M System, but the distribution
of this money to each university will not be decided
“We're still reviewing
and analyzing the fund
ing requests . . . Most of
them deal with new fa
cilities they'd like to
build."
— Tom Kale
vice chancellor for business services
by Chancellor Howard
Graves for another
month. Kale said.
"We’re still review
ing and analyzing the
funding requests we’ve
received from the insti
tutions,” Kale said.
“Most of them deal with
new facilities they'd
like to build.”
Detailed funding re
quests were due Feb. 10,
and William Krumm,
vice president for fi
nance at Texas A&M, said it wasn't hard finding im
portant projects that could use some extra money.
“They asked us how we might spend the funds,”
Krumm said.
“So we submitted our wish list.”
Items on A&M’s list include a $50 million
Biotechnology and Life Sciences building and an
extra $10 million for the proposed Chemical En
gineering building. Additional funding for facul
ty and graduate students is also included.
Since it is highly unlikely A&M will get its
wish list, it will become necessary to prioritize the
projects once the University knows how much
money it will get, Krumm added.
Graves’ recommendations on how to spend the
additional PUF money will go to the Board of Re
gents for approval along other system budgets,
and will be allocated for the next fiscal year which
begins in September..
• A walk on
the Wild Side
Explore body
piercing.
Peace corps volunteers look to Aggies to join their program
BY BROOKE HODGES
The Battalion
Upon graduating from Kansas State University, Jamie Skalsky’s
first step was not to register at Kansas State’s career center or to cir
cle help wanted ads with a red pen in the local newspaper.
Instead, she chose to join the United States Peace Corps for a two
year assignment in the Dominican Republic.
Her assignment was to build a tree nursery in the Dominican Re
public, to help with the deforestation the country is experiencing af
ter years of slash-and-bum agriculture.
As a volunteer, she provided families with free saplings that could
be planted and grown to use as a source of food, fuel or income,
Skalsky said.
“They could either eat the fruit or sell it,” she said. “Or they could
use the firewood to cook with or sell it, too.”
Skalsky said setting an example as an American woman was the
most important thing she accomplished.
“I was probably the first educated woman they had ever seen,”
she said. “All the schools, roads and outhouses we built helped, but
the understanding [between the cultures] helps more.”
A recent press release issued by the Peace Corps listed the top 25
universities for volunteers. The University of Texas tied for fourth,
with 72 volunteers currently serving. Texas A&M was not ranked.
From January 1999 until January 2000, Texas A&M had 45 stu
dents sign up for the Peace Corps. After the interviewing, medical
and legal screening processes, only eleven students left for their re
spective assignments after graduation.
“1 don’t think [the University of Texas] is doing anything differ
ently in recruitment,” said Patrick Niemeyer, Texas A&M Peace
Corps recruiter.
See Peace Corps on Page 2.
Lights! Camera!
nevermind .. .
exas film festival
eserves more attention.
Page 9
* Ags in second at
Big 12 -
Championships
Swjcn team
'fibres
• Listen to KAMU-FM 90.9
at 1:57 p.m. for details on
investment tax credit for
businesses.
Check out The Battalion
online at
battalion.tamu.edu.