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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 17, 2000)
Fridav reaten Cedarbrae Collegiale Toronto by blurtingoi bring a machine mi MONDAY April 17,2000 Volume 106 ~ Issue 130 12 pages iMifllill (i KtliWi =fil * I 1 IJ?I M ^ i i r 4 omstock released Hnal bonfire victim returns to home in Dallas itraditions. “We are not an Aggie family. John ist went down there, and he is very the school year, potM Devin Kealey said. “It’s alleged this Id his classroom and said: til the last week ofsd DALLAS < A1> ) John Comstock, eoine to be differer: ^ s l 1t ' nt nK)re time 1,1 hospitals than to co'mc in here witlt ! ' !C *' ( * as a stu dent at Texas A&M Uni gun,”’Kealey said, wenl home l nda y. live months asked- Ts this a hijured in the bonfire col- said ‘YesH that killed 12 young people and The student canitotil ured lied under Canadian Comstock was the last Aggie re- - Tarlier this week ai |' n S hospitalized alter the 1099 the Bowmanvilleareaeti Bonfire collapse. He left Zale reported receiving : If Y University Hospital at the Um- lails Investigators weretr®- v ol Texas Southwestern Medical •mine the source of the after extensive surgery, recov- \t Oak wood Colle £ 7 aiKlthera Py- hool in Toronto, a stadr Des P lte the Ioss of P art of hls ieft r committee canceled at 7’f artial P ara *ysis m his right arm, mned for Friday due to ld l he P ros P ect of a y ear or more in •d messages found in ah FfW Comstock said he looks for- arip t^eturnin^cUh^Univera^^ndj -phanie Bolton said Thor fhe first threat appeared a towel dispenser and ind April 5 in a bathroon lucl1 for Aggieland and the whole bit,| “If you thought Coluu: 1. just wait,” the message Bolton said a bomb dnesday caused students nc a half-hour early. She said school officials bomb hoax was unrelati her u ritten threats. While some parents »t icd. she said, a parents’grc ool had expressed supper® BY MAUREEN KANE dlingofthe situation by tkfi The Battalion rd and police. I think they’re reallyprstudents attending Blinn College in led that a few people ca fryan can now register for classes online, tits in the lives of so many, Online registration became available on i. If kpnl 10 for students registering for Summer sc.iley said all threatsuvsession I. ously, hut it was unclear if#: According to Gena Parsons, public infor- reason to fear. nation officer for the Bryan Campus of ‘Who know.''.'It could be Blinn College, the introduction of online reg- uld be wanting attention, istration should shorten the long lines previ ously experienced by students attempting to register. Parsons said the lines are especially Ms during /ate registration in the fall, be- and 1 support him in that,” said Dixie Ed wards, Comstock’s mother. Comstock, who lives in the Dallas suburb of Richardson, has begun taking college classes via the Internet from A&M’s biomedical-science program. Comstock said he plans to return to school in College Station by next spring. But he would like to make it back to the University next Friday for the Aggie tradition of muster, when the names of absent Aggies are read and Silver Taps is played for those who have died. “I’d like to go to see what happens,” Comstock said. The 19-year-old freshman was wiring logs together on the fourth tier of the 59- foot-high pyramid of logs when it fell, killing 11 students and one former stu dent and injuring 27others. When the wedding-cake pile of logs began tipping, Comstock grabbed the logs in front of him and rode them to the ground. After being trapped for seven hours under the logs, Comstock was the last person pulled from the pile alive. Dr. Karen Kowalske said Comstock’s exit from the hospital in a wheelchair was a big improvement from his arrival. “When John got here, he came on a stretcher. He was not able to sit... he had a feeding tube, and he was not able to use his right arm or either of his legs,” Kowalske said. Comstock is able to get himself out of bed and into his wheelchair and has strength in his right elbow and shoulder, she said. Comstock will undergo outpatient therapy at the hospital five times a week. “I am expecting full recovery with use of prosthetics,” Comstock said. “I think as long as I believe it hard enough, it will happen.” Neither son nor mother said they thought the bonfire was unsafe. Com stock said he did not think the Universi ty could have prevented the accident. “I firmly believe the tradition should continue. We can learn from it,” Com stock said. But, he added, the structure would be safer if it were built during day- Blinn College takes registration online Local Mustang GtuHse 20 percent of the 8,184 Blinn students to host car show /ate. e Mustang Club d ttof llVivian Jefferson, director of admissions ;y will have a show &r atldrecords for Blinn, said that the long lines n to 4p.m. Sunday at ■ are only a problem during late registration. Harvey Road in Collfi *ti‘Whcn a student walks in with late regis- mers of all Mustanc ■ t ra( j on p a p ers> we S (il] neec j 4g hours to kTare wJlcome^to'sB 685 those ‘ Late-registering students be presented to theding in line with students trying to fix ants. their class schedules create lines and have more information, ca!®jsed problems in the past,” Jefferson said. 4189 or e-mail >@aol.com LINN COLLEGE BRYAN CAMPUS >ring Weekend Geta»i| m $139.00 IncludesT#uN$ : | k in carly-Check outlatelft 1 * river view cabins on “I 1 ided and quiet. Across fromScP] to downtown. A fan inn Online Registration information System (BORIS) HEOTHBfPW 385 Other Place Drive New Braunfels, Texas 71 (830) 625-5114 www. theotherplaceresortcW titvtu.blinncol.edu The new online registration program, called Blinn Online Registration and Infor mation System (BORIS), can be accessed through Blinn College’s Website, www.blin- ncol.edu. Once logged on, a student can add or drop courses, check their current class schedule, print unofficial transcripts and change personal information. According to Parsons, BORIS allows stu dents to register when their application is complete, instead of limiting early registra tion to continuing students with good acade mic standing. BORIS prohibits students from registering for courses for which they have not completed the prerequisite classes. Jefferson said that online registration is something that Blinn has been working on for two years. The board of Blinn College de cided to try Web-based registration before telephone registration, but will offer tele phone registration for the first time in the fall. “We knew we’d have to go to automated registration soon because our enrollment has increased so dramatically. We needed more than arena registration, which is when every one comes in and goes from station to station. All of the staff on the entire campus works registration, and we receive complaints from staff and students who have had to stand in line. Arena registra tion isn’t the most effective way to register,” Jefferson said. Jefferson added that Blinn is trying to give students the most effective options for registration, so they will continue on-cam pus registration for those who prefer it, as well as Web-based and phone registration in the fall. Don’t feed the animals RUBEN DELUNA/I in; Battalion See BORIS Otl Page 12. JP BEATO/Thk Battalion College Station residents Alexa, 6, and Marco, 2, give the Easter Bunny a blade of grass to eat at the 2nd Annual George Bush Presidential Library Easter Egg Roll. There were several games and events for the children to enjoy, including an egg hunt. Schulman Theatres ) College Park' ^ www. schulman-theatres coo | jjH 2000 E. 20th St.. Brynn 775-2 J 63 BOX OFFICE OPENS AT 12:30 DF ENGAGEMENT n) QJ1.25 3:501 ROCKOVICH(R) CD 1:003:45 ow Jones, Nasdaq plummet arkets see largest day, week point drops in history MUST DIE(PC>I3> HI 1:05* m 'JTOME(pg) CD TO RUMBLE(pgi3) HI 1:10 3* [NEW YORK (AP) — If there was a glimmer of good OeWs in Friday’s catastrophic stock market sell-off, it Janie in the final hour of trading. HOLLYWOOD USA llhe Dow Jones industrial average, down more than 00 points in late afternoon, clawed about 100 points her by 4 p.m. when the closing bell rang at the New k Stock Exchange. “The close was vitally important,” said Gary Kalt- Jm, chief technical analyst at J.W. Genesis Securities Boca Raton, Fla. “For several days, we saw selling k in the last hour as major institutional investors just [rt out of the way.” 30 @ Earl Rudder Frwy (9)^ □ SPECIAL: The first malinee e*eiy®> ! ' MATINEE: All shows before 5 p** 1 '' AGGIE TUESDAY: All shows all day T® SR Late shows: All shows after Friday and Saturday night SW ATM IN LOBBY , SURROUND SOUND IN ALLAllF ENGAGEMENT* (R) ) 7:00 9 45 12:35 5 5:00 7:45 10:35 kND WHITE* (R) 5:05 10:00 MUST DIE (R) 10 7:50 10:30 1:10 On Friday, the institutional investors appeared to be ponsible for the late-hour upturn. That very modest move higher could have been a sign t after the worst week in Wall Street histo- investors are ready to return in search of gains, some market analysts said. But oth- [ aren’t as certain investors will be ready to Inp back in. The Dow industrials lost a record 805.71 ints, or 7.3 percent, last week, while the sdaq composite index shed a record |25.16 points, or 25.3 percent. Past market dips have given a nation mad Jim Griffin, chief investment strategist at Aeltus Invest ment Management in Hartford, Conn. The market faces several potential roadblocks to a Monday morning advance. For one thing, margin calls, which contributed to the steep declines of the past two weeks, could draw more money from the market. In recent sessions, brokerages have been calling clients to demand cash to cover accounts that were pumped up with borrowed money. In many cases, the stocks bought on margin are the ones that have been tank ing, and traders can’t find buyers for those shares to raise the needed cash. Some traders said margin calls may have peaked last week, as brokerages targeted clients that had relatively See Market on Page 10. WHERE THEY! 12:102:25 4 8) RETURN TO (l 11:25 2:M 4:451®' i,:Sw^/f 0r sto ck investing the chance to buy highly (arded stocks at more-affordable prices, rgain-hunting investors were largely re- ERIN BROKC-j 1:05 4:05 hereoneaH'Bonsible for lifting the market out of steep directions in 1997 and 1998. But last week, buyers were hard to find. the roadrcao® 10 lltter lack of enthusiasm left some ana- 12:202:405$)' fets pessimistic about the market’s chances Jfime Monday. “It’s not a funeral. But it is a crisis,” said The market’s worst days The Dow and the Nasdaq plunged Friday, suffering their worst point drops ever. Here are the worst days, in terms of point losses, with the percentage change for each. Dow Nasdaq Date Point drop Date Point drop April 14, 2000 ^ 617.78 AjDril 14, 2000 r 1 -9-7% 355.49 Oct. 27,1997 554.26 Agril 3, 2000 BISlll -7.6% 349.15 Aug. 31, 1998 | 1 -6.37% 512.61 April 12, 2000 [. , ; H -7.1% 286.27 Oct. 19, 1987 508.00 -22.60% April 10. 2000 258.25 March 7, 2000 flllll -3.68% 374.47 Jan. 4, 2000 ffUlSfi -5.6% 229.46 Source: Compiled from AP wire reports Website showcases professor, class info BY BRANDIE LIFFICK The Battalion A new Website featuring Texas A&M professors’ grade distributions, drop rate percentages and student reviews of professors has been officially launched. Pickaprof.com was formed by two A&M se niors, Chris Chilek and John Cunningham. Visitors to the Website can look up professors by name or ac cess a class by name and course number. “I think it’s very impor tant for students to make ed ucated decisions about what profs to take. I’ve had expe riences where I’ve signed up for classes and had problems with them. But I was signed up before I found out that things weren’t going to work out,” said Chilek, a computer science major. “Pickaprof offers students a way of being more informed when choosing classes.” “Some students want to take a class with a professor who will make them learn the material. Others want a prof who will give an ‘A,’ ” said Cunningham, a mar keting major. “Either way, by getting a little back ground information, they can hopefully find what they are looking for.” Cunningham said the on line evaluations of profes sors can be beneficial to both students and professors. “This will help profes sors as much as they want it to help them,” Cunning ham said. “Professors gen erally don’t like being cut down to simply numbers. That’s why the reviews are great. Students can express constructive criticism for others to see, instead of just the numbers.” An anonymous donor from Austin sponsors the site. Pickaprof.com current ly features information from A&M and the Univer sity of Texas. “If the prototypes — A&M and UT — work out, then we hope to feature uni versities from all across the nation by next fall,” Cun ningham said. Cunningham said that all reviews are kept anony mous and that either he or Chilek screen each profes sor review in an attempt to keep students from display ing non-constructive criti cism on the site. “We don’t allow in stuff that is obviously just stu dents venting personal vendettas against their pro fessors. We edit cuss words and things like that out.” Since pickaprof.com first appeared, over 450 reviews have been submitted. “We are so excited about all of the feedback we are receiving already,” Chilek said. Marines honor Heard BY RICHARD BRAY The Battalion JP BEATO/The Battalion John Comstock, the last student rescued from the bonfire collapse an swers questions at a news conference Friday when he was released from Zale Lipshy University Hospital. Standing next to him are his moth er, Dixie Edwards and Dr. Karen Kowalske of UT Southwestern Medical. light hours and with more supervision. In three weeks, the Special Commis sion on the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse will issue a fonnal report on its $2 mil- 1 ion inquiry. Some theories to explain the collapse include a flawed structural de sign and a weakened centerpole. “Simply being an of ficer was not enough for Christopher Heard. He wanted to be the best possible officer he could possibly be. The three values of the United States Marine Corps are honor, courage and com mitment. Chris Heard had all three of these values.” HEARD Col. Jim Sachtleben, Marine Corps offi cer and member of the Class of ’69, spoke these words in honor of Christopher Heard, a freshman in Company K-2 of the Corps of Cadets, during a special Honorary Marine ceremony Saturday afternoon. Heard was among the twelve killed in the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse. Sachtleben, a naval science professor at A&M who submitted the request to have Heard be named “Honorary Marine,” said it is difficult to obtain the title of Marine. “The title of Marine is not bestowed friv olously, nor is it taken lightly,” he said. “An individual can only earn the title ‘Marine,’ by finishing training in either San Diego or Virginia.” Sachtleben said the presentation of the ti tle of Marine is one of the most important moments in a Marine’s career. “It is nothing we take lightly. We feel so strongly about it that it is included in one of the verses of our hymn: ‘First to fight for right and freedom, and to keep our honor clean, we’re proud to claim the title. United States Marine.” During the ceremony, Sachtleben de scribed several of the qualities that made Heard worthy of the title “Honorary Marine.” “By any measure, Christopher Heard was a United States Marine. He had aspired from a young age to be an officer of the Marines. He attended the Marine Military Academy and graduated there in 1999,” he said. “At the time of his death he was begin ning the process of enlisting in the United States Marine Reserve where he could serve as an enlisted Marine, go to school at Texas A&M and pursue a commission through the [Platoon Leaders Class].” In the history of the U. S. Marine Corps, the title “Honorary Marine” has been be stowed less than 20 times. The commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James F. Jones, designated Chris Heard an honorary Marine. In his letter to Heard’s parents accepting Heard as an honorary Marine, Gen. Jones wrote of Heard’s devotion to his country. “Since 1775, Marines have lived by the motto ‘Always Faithful,’ ” wrote Jones. “Christopher’s patriotism was well known, and his aspirations to serve his country are an inspiration to us all.” Heard’s parents, Fes and Andrea, were presented with a plaque honoring their son and his commitment to the Corps of Cadets and the military. INSIDE Aqqies shine at A&M Invitation Page 7 • Behind the music Local bands face many obstacles on the way to becoming famous Page 3 .ooking the other Purdue students filling to criticize university but not themselvesj Page 1 •Listen to KAMU-FM 90.9 at 1:57 p.m. for details on the B-CS unemployment rate. •Check out The Battalion online at battalion.tamu.edu ~i |