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I for details on an A&M marketing professor
igiven Educator of the Year Pinnacle Award.
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battalion.tamu.edu.
• Ticket to ride
Bicycle parking permits
would ease congestion,
benefitting all students
Page 5
Weather:
Partly cloudy with a
hiqh of 95 and a low
of 75.
1 rlJcj
MONDAY
July 10, 2000
Volume 106 ~ Issue 164
6 pages
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A i 1»JC U’i 4 ;WiiV
PITS to
SGA considers bicycle permit proposal
mprove
bus stops
Chris Cunico
The Battalion
With heat indexes reaching well
bove 100 degrees, College Station
ummers can be miserable. While
some solutions to the heat involve
swimming or working on a tan, very
ew people classify waiting for a bus
nnon-shaded, sweltering heat as en-
:ertainment.
To answer the complaints of the
student body and make life easier for
bus riders, Texas A&M plans to con-
stmct covered shelters over existing
campus bus stops to protect students
from high temperatures and in-
lement weather.
Several of these structures, at the
stops at Wehner College of Business
Building and the George Bush School
of Government and Public Service,
have already been built and currently
provide riders with bench space to
rest. Installed lighting also gives stu
dents peace of mind when waiting for
a bus in the dark.
Tom Williams, director of the De
partment of Parking, Traffic and Trans
portation Services (PTTS), said the lack
of funding and the debate concerning
changing the location of the railroad
have contributed to delays in the con-
struction of other sheltered stops.
"The total cost for each stop, in
cluding the shelter, pavement and
electrical lighting, will run about
115,000," Williams said. "When
funds become available, we will con
tinue building."
Under state law, he said, A&M is
orbidden to use state funds to im-
rrove property the University does
rot own. This law prevents A&M
rom constructing off-campus stops
or apartment residents waiting for
:ampus buses.
While some apartment complex-
:s have nothing more than a pole to
lesignate a bus stop, other complex-
:s have taken a more active role in
insuring comfort for bus riders. Ster-
ing University is following the ex
ample set by a few other complexes
md is constructing its own covered
top for its residents rather than
aiting for one to be built.
Kelli Lawless, assistant manager
f Sterling University, said Sterling
as already begun building its bus
top shelter.
"Our complex has just now begun
wilding a covered stop with a bench
or our residents," she said. "It will be
more convenient fpr them, and we are
'xpecting a very good response."
In an attempt to correct the lack of
belters at off-campus stops, PTTS has
oined with the Brazos Transit District
o make covered stops available for all
Tf-campus riders.
"The option of working with Bra-
os Transit allows federal funding to
’e used for the stops instead of the
state's money," Williams said.
John McBeth, general manager of
he Brazos Transit District, said plans
o construct more than 30 new bus
tops are being discussed by the cities
of College Station and Bryan, PTTS
nd Brazos Transit. He said the project
ill include 12 "pullouts," which is the
additional reinforced concrete added
o the side of the road to enable buses
o pull completely off the road, to serve
>oth city and university buses. Be-
ause of the extensive engineering and
mvironmental planning associated
See Bus stops on Page 4.
Anna Bishop
The Battalion
Because fewer parking spaces are available
due to construction and the rezoning of the
Kyle Field parking lots, thousands of students,
like agricultural business graduate student
Federico Pochet, rely mainly on their bicycles
to provide transportation to and from campus.
Doug Williams, associate director for Pax-k
ing, Traffic and Transportation Services,
(PTTS) says students like Pochet will be re
quired to obtain permits to ride to campus, if
a proposal being considered by and Student
Government Association (SGA) is approved.
Williams said he hopes to see a permanent
system of bike permits established within the
next year.
Student Body President and senior political
science major Forrest Lane said the new sys
tem is intended to benefit students who ride
their bikes to campus.
“The proposal be
tween SGA and PTTS
encourages student
riders to register their
bicycles with PTTS.”
— Forrest Lane
student body president
"The proposal between SGA and PTTS en
courages student riders to register their bicy
cles with PTTS," Lane said. "This will be help
ful if the bike is stolen or lost on campus. This
will also ensure enough parking space in the
bicycle racks."
Pochet said that despite these endorse
ments, he believes the system will be contro
versial.
"I see this proposed system as one that will
not be taken lightly," Pochet said. "Many stu
dents who ride their bicycles to school have to
because parking lots are being closed and
parking passes are expensive. Bike riding has
always been free."
Williams said the proposal is not intended to
punish students who choose to ride to campus.
"Right now the bike system is problemat
ic," Williams said. "Bikes are stolen; bikes are
left around campus. PTTS and SGA's plan is to
create a system to keep tabs on who is riding
to campus. Requiring a bike permit is not to
punish the students who ride to campus but,
in reality, to benefit aird protect them.
See related column on Pg. 5
"A bike permit, obtained at a nominal fee,
would ensure students who ride to campus
benefits which would maintain and embellish
the current bike system. This would be done
through special projects, such as repairing the
bike lanes when needed," Williams said.
See Bike Permits on Page 4.
Flying high
Chris Powell, a senior marketing major, flies his Beechcraft Baron twin-engine airplane over College Station Sunday
afternoon. Powell has been flying for three years and has over 425 hours of total flight time.
Area schools lack male teachers
Institutions experience difficulty in recruiting qualified educators
Kim Trifilio
The Battalion
Recruiting qualified teachers has be
come a difficult task for many school dis
tricts nationwide, and trying to find men
to teach in elementary schools has become
an even greater challenge.
Texas A&M's Fall 1999 eirrollment fig
ures show only 55 men enrolled in the
A&M elementary education programs,
compared to the 1,519 women enrolled.
Nancy Self, director of undergraduate
advising and student teaching for the Col
lege of Education, said there is a concern
regarding the shortage of male teachers in
elementary schools.
"It has been a problem for years," Self
said. "I think what attributes to the lack of
male teachers in elementary schools is that
men are more content-oriented, so they
would rather teach in secondary schools.
It also gives them a chance to get involved
in athletics."
Self said male teachers also prefer
teaching in secondary schools because of
the salary difference.
"Teaching in secondary schools allows
monetary enhancing," Self said. "There is
a limited amount in the pay scale [in ele
mentary] and men think that is not
enough to provide for a family. Men think
they have to be the breadwinner, and be
ing an elementary school teacher does not
provide for that."
“There is a need for
more male teachers.
However, we do not
recruit by gender.
We are looking for
qualified teachers.”
— Sarah Ashburn
Bryan Independent School District
superintendent
Dr. Sarah Ashburn, superintendent of
the Bryan Independent School District,
said male teachers are in demand, but
gender is not a factor in the hiring
process.
"There is a need for more male teach
ers," Ashburn said. "However, we do not
recruit by gender. We are looking for qual
ified teachers."
Melissa Ballard, a juiaior education ma
jor, said there are benefits to having more
male teachers in elementary schools.
"Since many children today come
from broken homes or single parent
families and usually the mother is the
single parent of the house, it is good to
have men as teachers for role models,"
Ballard said.
Ashburn said male teachers bring a
new atmosphere into the classroom.
"We have two male kindergarten
teachers in the district," she said. "They
bring a different perspective into the class
rooms. They have both been teaching a
few years and have been very successful."
See Teachers on Page 4.
Families decry
stay of execution
BUSH
HOUSTON (AP) — The
families of two murder vic
tims linked
to con
demned
child-killer
Ricky Nolen
McGinn de
cried the de
lay in his ex
ecution at a
demonstration Saturday.
Gov. George W. Bush
granted McGinn a 30-day re
prieve June 1 to allow more
time for DNA retesting of evi
dence recovered after the rape
and murder of McGinn's 12-
year-old stepdaughter.
McGinn had already eaten
his last meal and was just 18
minutes away from his sched
uled execution by lethal injec
tion for the May 1993 killing
when Bush handed down the
stay. It was the first time Bush
granted a reprieve in an exe
cution, 136 of which have been
carried out under his tenure.
About a dozen family mem
bers and their supporters ac
cused the presumptive Repub
lican presidential candidate of
political opportunism in grant
ing the stay, saying it unneces
sarily forced them to revisit the
crimes and suffer more grief.
"If you-don't put medicine
on an open wound, it won't
heal. It flares up," said Steve
Ray Flanary, Stephanie's father,
who pointed out McGinn's
stay has already stretched past
its intended 30 days.
"It's a win-win case for
Gov. Bush," said Richard
Rice, an attorney represent
ing Flanary's father. "It al
lows him to throw a bone to
moderate voters who maybe
aren't big on the death penal
ty and also to throw a bone to
death penalty supporters."
Bush's office did not im
mediately return phone calls
seeking comment.
The family of Christi Jo Eg-
gers, a mentally impaired 19-
year-old found raped and
beaten to death in a Brown-
wood cemetery on Nov. 27,
1992, said the execution delay
was a blow to them too. Se
men found in her body
matched McGixm, testing re
vealed last November.
"I don't care who he gets
the needle for, just as long as
he gets it," said Moszell Ham,
Eggers' grandmother.
McGinn was already on
death row when the Eggers
evidence was tested, and thus
was never tried for Eggers'
killing, Brown County District
Attorney Lee Haney said.
"The sheriff's office had
pretty much thought from the
beginning that he was in
volved in these other two
crimes," Haney said, referring
also to the rape-murder of 12-
year-old Sherri Newman.
Haney attributed the delay
in testing to the fact that other
cases took higher priority, and
also to recent improvements
in genetic testing.
"The DNA testing has ad
vanced tremendously, and it is
now where they can make the
comparisons they may not
have been able to do a few
years ago," Haney said.
News in Brief
Lockwood indicted for murder
of A&M student Kerry Kujawa
Kenny Wayne Lockwood, the man accused of posing
on the Internet as a female Texas A&M prelaw student
named "Kelly,” was indicted in San Marcos on Wednes
day for the murder of Texas A&M student Kerry Kujawa.
Kujawa was reported missing by his resident ad
viser on April 20, after many of Kujawa’s friends be
came concerned about his absence.
Kujawa’s disappearance was not reported for two
weeks because his friends were receiving emails from
someone using “Kelly’s” email, and they thought it
was Kujawa.
According to The Bryan-Cotlege Station Eagle, a San
Marcos grand jury said there was enough evidence
for Lockwood to be charged with the April shooting
death of Kujawa.
If convicted, Lockwood faces five to 99 years in prison.
According to The Eagle, Hays County Sheriff’s De
partment authorities said evidence shows Lockwood
probably shot and killed Kujawa between April 7 and
9 in San Antonio, put the body in the trunk of the car
and then dumped it west of Dripping Springs.