Tuesday, July 11,;
, has a different opinion,
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said. "A textbook is jusl
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Junior environmentaldj
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oney that it is mostly justs
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sts for students," Smith said
Listen to KAMI! 90.9 FM at 1:57 p.m.
for details on a shooting in Hearne.
Groff, Potter select first
Aggie equestrian
head coach
Weather:
Sunny with a high of
99 and a low of 74.
WEDNESDAY
July 12,2000
Volume 106-Issue 166
6 pages
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endments expected to increase crime stats
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Joseph Pleasant
The Battalion
hen Patrick Matthews, a freshman pe-
engineering major, decided to at-
Texas A&M, he heard stories about
ne on campus.
I have a friend that goes to A&M and he
me about the different crimes that hap-
there," Matthews said. "It made me think
:e about bringing my car."
Vlatthews said going to a school with a good
iemic reputation is worth the risk of crime.
"If it is a really good school, I don't think
tthe area could be that bad because that
uld affect the performance of students,"
tthews said.
As a provision of the Students Right to
Know Act, universities are required to submit
a set of crime statistics to the Department of
Education with the purpose of giving
prospective students an accurate picture of
crime on campus.
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus
Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics
Act of 1998 is an amendment to the Students
Right to Know Act that holds universities re
sponsible for reporting crimes adjacent to
campus when reporting to the department.
Sgt. Allan Baron of the A&M University Po
lice Department (UPD) crime prevention unit,
said the amendments will cause an increase in
the number of incidents reported to the Educa
tion Department for A&M.
"With adding more area to cover with our
id
We are going to see an
increase, because now,
for instance, we have to
include crime that oc
curs on Interstate 35 in
our crime statistics be
cause it runs adjacent
to campus”
— Silas Griggs
University of Texas police department
crime statistics, we will see an increase in our
numbers," Baron said.
Baron said that, in the past, A&M has had
fewer weapons possession and drug offens
es. However, Baron said, A&M usually has a
higher number of alcohol offenses than the
University of Texas (UT).
"Alcohol offenses, as defined by the [De
partment of Education] report, do not include
driving-while-intoxicated offenses, but do in
clude minors in possession," Baron said.
Baron also said A&M has not seen an in
crease in offenses as a direct result of these
amendments.
"Right now we have not seen a real substan
tial increase, but that could change tomorrow,"
Baron said.
Capt. Silas Griggs, of the University of
Texas-Austin (UT) police department said the
Education Department has changed the crite
ria for reporting campus crime statistics.
Griggs said the amendment requires
schools to count crimes committed on streets
and sidewalks adjoining campus and off-
campus property owned by student associa
tions, such as fraternity houses.
"We are going to see an increase, because
now, for instance, we have to include crime that
occurs on Interstate 35 in our crime statistics be
cause it runs adjacent to campus," Griggs said.
The statistics are separated into categories
including incidents of murder, forcible or
nonforcible sex offenses, robbery, aggravated
assault and burglary.
Protesting animal cruelty
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tOGER CENTER
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Parking violations
plague campuses
Jennifer Gentry, a senior English major, and Liz Hudson, a junior accounting major, protest animal cruelty at the opening night
of the Ringling Bros, and Barnum & Bailey Circus at Reed Arena on Monday.
|)ay added to orientation
hshman Welcome Day helps freshmen adapt to campus
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I Jeanette Simpson
The Battalion
In August 1999, the Depart-
ent of Residence Life announced
new program to be added to
eshman orientation. Last year,
e Wednesday before classes be-
in was officially named Fresh-
an Welcome Day in Aggieland.
,’Krystle Henry, a freshman
sychology major, will move to
ie Texas A&M campus this fall,
id she knows that the volun-
ers for the Freshman Welcome
ay will make her moving expe-
ence much easier.
â– Having students there to help
tefenove in and answer my ques
ts that are familiar with the
intpus is going to be much ap-
"eciated by me and my family,"
enry said.
â– hough other campuses
roughout Texas have dedicated
tys for freshman to move into
eir dorms, few schools have
programs as involved as A&M's
new program.
The day was created to help ac-
661
Having stu
dents there to
help me move
in and answer
my questions
that are famil
iar with the
campus is going
to be much ap
preciated by me
and my family”
— Krystle Henry
freshman psychology major
climate freshmen to campus, get
them settled into their dorm rooms
and ease the traffic problem that
occurs each year when students
come back to campus, said Laura
Balkum, graduate assistant in the
Department of Residence Life and
a finance graduate student.
"Aug. 23 will be Freshman
Welcome Day this year," Balkum
said. "On that day, student volun
teers will be available at the dorms
to assist students and their fami
lies with the moving of their be
longings. There will be two tents
set up as a headquarters for Fresh
man Welcome Day: one at the
Northside dorms and one at
Southside dorms. In these-tents,
families will be able to get water
and information they need to help
them with parking and anything
else they may need."
Dr. Ron Basse, director of the
See Freshmen on Page 4.
News in Brief
Accident claims
lives of two Aggies
Texas A&M University students
Besty Varughese and Sunita Prasan-
nan were killed Friday in a car accident
near Richland in Navarro County.
Varughese, 21, and Sunita, 19, were
traveling to Mesquite for the weekend
when Varughese lost control of the
1993 Ford Probe he was driving and
collided with a vehicle driven by Rex
Doss, 37, of Groesbeck, Texas.
A Texas Department of Public
Safety spokesperson said Varughese
was driving north on State Highway
14 when the vehicle swerved onto
the right shoulder. The car then
crossed traffic into the southbound
lane, crossing in front of the 1988
Mercedes driven by Doss. Doss then
swerved to the right but was unable
to avoid the collision. Both vehicles
came to rest in a ditch next to the
southbound lane.
Varughese and Prasannan were
pronounced dead at the scene. Doss
was taken to Parkland Memorial Hos
pital in Dallas with stomach and back
injuries. A hospital spokesperson
said he was released Saturday.
Both Varughese, a junior electrical
engineering major, and Prasannan, a
sophomore general studies major,
will be included in the Sept. 5 Silver
Taps ceremony.
Maureen Kane
The Battalion
At least once during their college ca
reer, most Aggies have returned to their
vehicles to find a yellow envelope con
taining a Department of Parking, Traffic
and Transportation Services (PITS) ticket
on their windshield.
Woody Isenhart, manager of customer
service for PTTS, said most students do
not read the copies of the rules and regu
lations given to them when they receive
their permits but "all of the students tick
eted are usually aware that they were vio
lating parking regulations when they re
ceive a citation."
Departments of parking and trans
portation at Big 12 universities are self-sup
porting, and like those of other Big 12 uni
versities, Texas A&M's PTTS is a
self-supporting auxiliary department. It
collects money from three sources: visitor
income; permits sold to faculty, staff, and
students; and parking tickets.
"Our income stream is very stable,"
Isenhart said. "Parking tickets are at about
$2 million per year for the past 12 years. "
Isenhart said PTTS uses its money pri
marily to fund the parking garages' debt.
Thomas Williams, director of PTTS,
said one explanation for the occurrence of
parking violations is that students want to
park closer to their classes.
"We know we have enough spaces to
satisfy existing demand; they are just not
always where students would like them
to be," Williams said.
Other Big 12 universities have similar
problems with students parking in unau
thorized spaces.
Donna Hultine, assistant director of
parking at the University of Kansas (KU),
said that during the 1999 fiscal year al
most 60,000 tickets were written.
Parking meter violations,
the biggest source of viola
tions on the KU campus
made, up $24,500 of KU's $2.6
million revenue for 1999.
Hultine said the most com
mon explanation for viola
tions is that students will park
in specific faculty and staff lots
that are also restricted later in
the evening without knowing
these lots are restricted.
"Generally an invalid
permit or wrong zone per
mit is a $20 ticket," Hultine
said. "A meter ticket is $5,
and you can get more than
one per day."
The Department of Traffic
and Parking Services at Texas
Tech University issues about
45,000 tickets during the year.
Gail Wolfe, director of
traffic and parking services
at Tech, said these tickets are
issued for a number of rea
sons. She said some of the
most common violations are parking in
no-parking zones, parking without a
permit, parking in a handicapped zone
and parking in service drives.
"Our only sources of revenue are park
ing tickets and the sale of parking per
mits," Wolfe said. "Our income for 1999
was about $2 million. We are implement
ing a lot of major changes in our parking
system. We're having a parking master
plan looked at by parking consultants;
we're looking at building garages. We are
also reconfiguring some parking lots be
cause most of our parking places for fac
ulty and staff are reserved spaces - one
person per space - and that's a poor uti
lization of space."
A&M will build a new parking garage
near the Student Recreation Center. Con
struction is scheduled to begin Nov. 13.
"This garage is going to be the best
thing that's happened to students in a
long time," A&M's Isenhart said. "Right
now we have about 1,600 resident stu
dents waiting to get into garages. The new
garage will have about 3,500 spaces and
will satisfy a lot of desires of the students,
and it's going to give us a great place to
focus our visitor conferences. It should be
completed in about 18 months."
Isenhart said that the changes occur
ring in the parking and transportation
system at A&M will benefit students and
make their commute to class easier and
more pleasant. But he also said that, at
times, his can be a "thankless job."
Hultine and Wolfe both say they have
had similar experiences with dissatisfied
students at their universities.
"You will find similarities on all cam
puses," Hultine said. "People are used to
parking wherever they want to. We get
a lot of complaints about how over
crowded parking is."
Sis 12 uiiiwSiSiiiSS
PARKING SIATISIICS
Texas A&M University 1999
$8 million total revenue
$1.9 million parking violations/fines
$4 million permit revenue.
$2 million visitors parking
' in â– 
Kansas University 1999
$2.6 million total revenue
$24,500 parking meter violations
Texas Tech 1999
$2 million total revenue
45,000 tickets issued a year