Thursday, Febnaiy]
THE
FRIDAY
February 25, 2000
Volume 106 ~ Issue 99
8 pages
st tim
ily painted saints and!
she had not heard oftte:
nor did she know hews,
ro.
he stadium, Ahmed Mist
Id computer prograc
icone known as the pop:
and that he lived soraesj
ut that was it.
if they don't show it,J;
OlrKI *1 A > ■ win * ;M I av
Diversity statue
still on hold
BY ROLANDO GARCIA
The Battalion
Lawrence Sullivan Ross and Earl Rudder may soon have company if a long
discussed plan to erect a monument to diversity on campus ever comes to fruition.
, Walter Wendler, vice chancellor for academic affairs planning and re
search, and until recently, the chairperson of the President’s Advisory Com
mittee on Arts Policy, said a variety of ideas for a monument have been pro
posed over the last two years, but none have secured the necessary funding.
“We want this monument to celebrate the different kinds of people that
come to A&M, and we’ve gotten a lot of good ideas, but we just don't have
the resources,” Wendler said.
Funding for all outdoor artwork on campus must come from private
sources, Wendler added.
Currently under consideration is a “Unity Plaza” in the area between the
Cushing Library and the Academic Building. No plans have been composed,
Wendler said, and there may he a design contest held to choose a proposal.
However, the project has been in limbo because the Committee on an Arts
Policy has not met for several months due to the lack of a chairperson. Sher-
I an Riley, an assistant to President Dr. Ray M. Bowen, said Tom Regan, dean
|of the College of Architecture, will be appointed chairperson of the commit
tee next week and a meeting will convene soon after.
Previously, there had been discussion of erecting a statue of Matthew
Gaines, an African-American member of the Texas Senate during Recon
struction who was instrumental in the passage of land grant legislation that
helped create colleges like Texas A&M. But like other diversity monument
proposals, the statue proposal fell through due to lack of funding. Wendler
said life-size bronze stature can cost between $100,000 and $150,000.
Hoop dreams
MELISSA SACKETT/Tin BATTALION
Philip Augustine (R), a junior biomedical engineering major, and Cristina Yrigoyen, chairperson of Engineering Week and a se
nior biomedical engineering major, play on the bungee run Thursday near Rudder fountain.
ptiuns arc excited thatikn
and are eager to see b
" says Rasha Solimaiup
icrt. “It is important Ik
)eace and security.”
be John Paul II’s first trip
Muslim, but 1 ani-thriftc
exclaimed Amr Abbas. Si
olorful wall ofsofidrinbl
is will give a true image
i show the world we w
i no discriminattOB.”
, a trendy coupl
ri st ian s, were wt to see ti
pe.
coming because oflkf,
nonth at ei-Kusheh, tora
,s,” says Ahmed Shaft],at
expressing a widely heli
Copts.
. 2, Muslim extremists
lot or beat to death 23 pe
of them Christians, ini
aisheh, south ofCairos
msual for Egypt, Coptsi
majority in the village.
:li the visit was anno®
■ward, Coptic church ol
oe did not involvehittsl
iflicts.
Because of the expense related with permanent monuments, the impetus
for their creation usually comes from a handful of patrons willing to finance
the project, Wendler said.
“The statue unveiled last semester at the Quadrangle (of Lt. Gen. James
1 Hollingsworth, Class of’40) happened because three or four people decided this
i was something they’d like to do,” Wendler said. “If somebody proposes a piece
| of artwork and if it makes sense and has funding, we’ll approve it.”
The committee’s delay in moving forward with one design for a diversi-
| ty monument does not reflect a lack of commitment to the project, but dif-
I ferent ideas on how best to do it, said Paul Parrish, English professor and
committee member.
“There's a question about just recognizing one individual as opposed to hon
oring the principle of diversity,” Parrish said.
He acknowledged that funding would be an issue, but that he was confident
onceadesign was agreed upon, they would be able to find donors.
■ Mitchell Rice, director of the Race and Ethnic Studies Institute at Texas A&M,
•Esaid having statues that memorialize only white men can compound the percep-
■ (im (hatA&M doesn't embrace div ersity.
I “Having some kind of monument that recognizes a notable minority person
I would demonstrate that A&M is open to diversity and enhance its image in mi-
| nority communities throughout the state,” Rice said.
Kallmeyer dismissed of charges
BY STUART HUTSON
The Battalion
A Brazos County grand jury voted
unanimously Wednesday to dismiss any
criminal charges against Brandon
Kallmeyer, the Texas A&M freshman an
imal science major who fell asleep while
driving on FM 60, killing six students
walking to a fraternity party Oct. 10.
The jury “no billed” Kallmeyer af
ter being presented with evidence col
lected by the College Station Police
Department.
The evidence was presented by Dis
trict Attorney Bill Turner, who also of
fered his interpretation of the evidence.
“The question was one of criminal
negligence, and in this case we did not
find that the evidence indicated he de
liberately took any undue risks,” Turn
er said. “This was a criminal case,
meaning that it had to be shown that he
performed a voluntary act such as ig
noring any indicators of extreme fa
tigue or other hazardous conditions
like drug or alcohol use.”
Turner said that if Kallmeyer's case
had not been dismissed, he would have
gone to criminal court and potentially
faced 180 days to two years in prison or
live years of probation.
Kallmeyer said he was confident the
jury would dismiss the charges.
“I knew that this would happen. 1
did everything in my power to help at
the site [after the accident], and I have
cooperated in every way that I could,”
he said. “1 still feel sorry for every
thing that has happened, but I am jusf
glad that [the criminal proceeding] is
all over with.”
Kallmeyer said that the families of
the students have agreed not to press
any civil charges against him.
Kallmeyer fell asleep while driving
on FM 60 after dropping off his girl
friend at her parents’ house in Indepen
dence, Texas. Kallmeyer’s truck veered
onto the shoulder of the road and struck
eight students. One A&M student, a
Southwest Texas State student and four
Baylor students were killed.
Police determined that neither al
cohol nor drugs played a role in the
accident.
Greek Olympiad to showcase "stepping"
BY APRIL YOUNG
The Battalion
G. Rollie White Coliseum will be filled
with the art of rhythmic stomping and clap
ping, better known as “stepping,” during the
11th annual Kappa Alpha Psi Greek Olympiad
Saturday at 7 p.m.
Fraternities and sororities from various uni
versities throughout Texas, including Prairie
View A&M University, University of Texas,
Sam Houston State University and Texas A&M
University will display their stepping talent.
The fraternities and sororities are each compet
ing for a $1,500 grand prize and a $500 prize
for second place.
The show is part of Kappa Weekend. Six
members of the A&M chapter of Zeta Phi Beta
will perform at the step show.
Yvonne Obimgbe, Zeta Phi Beta “step mas
ter” and a senior community health major, said
she hopes the hard work and dedication of the
team pay off.
“We have had practice every day and we
have been putting in long hours to make sure the
we have the stamina and the energy to put
on a true performance that the crowd will
enjoy,” Obimgbe said.
Obimgbe said her team’s routine will
consist mainly of stepping.
“We have a few dance routines in our
performance, but it will be more geared to
ward what a step show is all about, so we
will be mostly stepping,” Obimgbe said.
This year, two high school performing
acts, the Booker T. Washington Gents and
the Mademoiselle Step Team from Book
er T. Washington High School in Houston,
will also be stepping at Greek Olympiad.
Kappa Alpha Psi plans to use the
high school students’ visit as a recruitment
opportunity.
“We are going to give them a tour of the cam
pus, answer any questions [the students] have
about A&M and hand out our Kappa Alpha Psi
Achievement Award applications,” said Alvin
Nelson III, Greek Olympiad chairperson and a
senior management information systems major.
The Kappa Alpha Psi Achievement Award is
a minority scholarship that is awarded to a male,
graduating high school senior in the
Bryan-College Station area who is going
to college.
Greek Olympiad is said to be the
largest step show in Texas and brings more
than 3,000 spectators from around the
state to A&M to enjoy the performance.
“Ever since 1997 when we sold out
Rudder, we have been known as the
largest step show in Texas,” Nelson said.
“We hope to keep the attendance high so
that we can continue to put on our com
munity service projects.”
Curtis Pete, president of Kappa Al
pha Psi and senior computer engineer-
rm? awfti waffa avfwa hi
OLYMPIAD
FRIDAY FIB 25 AT 7 P.M.
R0LIII WHITE COLISEUM
AN® fWM
THmuGmurnm*
Wftt SfNP
RUBEN DELUNA/Tm: Battalion
ing major, said the step show is an education
al opportunity.
“Anyone who may not know what stepping
is will have the chance to see the talent of step
ping that Greek organizations do,” Pete said.
“People who don’t know about historically black
fraternities and sororities will also have the
chance to learn about them.”
Kappa Alpha Psi kicked olf Kappa Weekend
with Kappa Kancer Awareness Week on Thurs
day, when speakers from M.D. Anderson Can
cer Center in Houston came to A&M to help in
crease cancer awareness.
Part of the proceeds from the step show will
be donated to the cancer awareness fund in ad
dition to the scholarship fund.
The winner of the Kappa Alpha Psi Reten
tion Award, a minority scholarship awarded to
an A&M freshman, will be announced during
Saturday’s show.
:ICE. GUARANTEED.
Alcohol reported
at bonfire collapse
COLLEGE STATION (AP) — Recently
released documents show that alcohol was
present at the fatal Texas A&M bonfire col
lapse, as already shown by evidence previ
ously uncovered.
One report de
scribes how sever
al students work
ing on the bonfire
approached Texas
A&M police offi
cer Roger Paxton,
one of the first to
arrive at the scene.
“Several ofthe
individuals I
spoke with had an
odor of an alco
holic beverage on
their breath,” Pax
ton said in a Nov.
24 report. “One of
the red pots want
ed to know when
they could start stacking Bonfire again.”
The red pots and brown pots are students
involved in bonfire construction, so named
for the color of the helmets they wear.
The Nov. 18 bonfire collapse killed 12
and injured 27.
Two men who worked on the rescue, Juan
Mendez and Todd Reynolds, both told investi
gators that they discovered beer cans at the scene.
They also complained to A&M offi
cials about their public stance that alcohol
was not involved.
“They feel that the university is mislead
ing since there
was alcohol out
there,” Deena
Wallace, an A&M
assistant general
counsel, wrote in
a Nov. 24 e-mail
to A&M police,
the Austin Ameri-
can-Statesman re
ported Thursday.
An earlier po
lice report indi
cated an officer
found beer cans,
three empty and
one full at the site.
Toxicology re
ports on two dead
victims indicate they had been drinking. Jer
ry Don Selfs blood alcohol was twice the
state’s legal standard for intoxication, and Je
remy Richard Frampton’s level was almost
four times the limit.
A beer can was also discovered inside
Frampton’s overalls.
“Several of the individu
als I spoke with had an
odor of an alcoholic bev
erage on their breath. ,f
— Roger Paxton
Texas A&M police officer
“They [the police] feel
the University is mis
leading since there was
alcohol out there/'
— Deena Wallace
A&M assistant general counsel
Students fasting for charity
World Vision 30-Hour Famine supports hunger relief
BY ANNA BISHOP
The Battalion
Fighting the rush hour lunch lines in the Memorial
Student Center’s Hullabaloo is of no concern for Texas
A&M student Russell Gray, a freshman general studies
major. For the next 30 hours, Gray will ignore the rum
bling of his own stomach for the purpose of raising mon
ey to fight world hunger.
Gray is one of thousands of students across the
United States participating in the World Vision 30-
Hour Famine,
WORLD VIS
3 On n n i
FAMINE
ON
beginning on
Feb. 25.
Gray said
he heard about
the fundraiser
over a radio
broadcast
while home
one weekend
in Lubbock. A
30-hour sacri
fice of food,
he decided, is
a small price
to pay to help
aid hunger re
lief programs
around the
globe.
World Vi-
talion sion, a non-prof
it Christian relief agency, began the annual event nine
years ago and has watched as it grow to incorporate
students from over 250 colleges and universities na
tionwide.
Cathy MacCguI, spokesperson for the 30 Hour
Famine, is encouraged by the popularity and growth of
the event.
“We have seen an increase in the number of service
clubs, fraternities, sororities and religious organiza
tions,” MacCaul said. “This is an innovative way for
many groups to work together and make a significant
impact on the problem of world hunger.”
The goal of the fast is not only to raise money, but
also to give participants a limited understanding of how
it feels to experience hunger.
Participating students will go without food and con
sume only liquids. For each hour, sponsors have been
asked to pledge money toward the cause.
Last year, more than 600,000 students across the
United States raised more than $8 million through spon
sor pledges, according to World Vision. The money
raised during this year’s 30 Hour Famine will be used in
Rwanda, Kenya, North Korea, Tanzania, Peru and the
United States.
MacCaul said an important aspect of this event is to
recognize the needs of others around the world, as well
as those within the United States. Developing compas
sion and a desire to make a difference in the lives of oth
ers is the ultimate goal of the event.
Celebrating its 50th year in 2000, World Vision is the
largest privately funded international Christian human
itarian agency in the United States, working in nearly
100 countries through more than 4,000 projects.
? d NS IDE
• Conversations with the
Batt
Interview with director John
Frankenheimer
• Can J.C. be
made P.C.?
Debate over Jesus
statue escalates
political correct
ness to
crous
levels.
Page 3
• Listen to KAMU-FM 90.9
at 1:57 p.m. for details on
the Alaska bonfire memorial.
• Check out The Battalion
online at
battalion.tamu.edu