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Reg. s 35
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opting Aggie Bucks!
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Shopping Center •
iroger’s)
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m. - 10 p.m.
Listen to KAMU 90.9 FM at 1:57 p.m.
for details on the College Station
teacher pay raise.
Pets are allergy sufferers too
uture of bonfire logs still under consideration
* ""I
^ Chris Cunico
The Battalion
To avoid damaging the logs from the 1999 Aggie Bon-
collapse, the removal of the remnants of the fallen
ifire has been carefully conducted.
Genevive G. Stubbs, senior associate general council
Lvyer) for Texas A&M, said the district attorney's office
>0i $ 3*i
forced the removal process to progress slower than
my College Station residents consider ideal. She said the
le of spoliation," the law designed to keep one party in
Igation from destroying crucial evidence of the oppos-
party's case, prevents A&M from transferring the re
ining logs to a less conspicuous place than bonfire site.
"This tragedy has been an unprecedented event for
ite agencies and universities," Stubbs said. "We're go-
theextra mile or two to ensure we are as careful as we
i be and everything is done right. The [district attor
ney],advised us to preserve the logs until the statute of
limitation is over, which, in a civil case, is two years."
Stubbs said several of the most important logs, in
cluding the centerpole, have been relocated to a ware
house located on West Campus. Experts continually per
form structure tests on these logs.
A plan has been devised and will be presented to the
district attorney to transport the logs to a former sewage
treatment area near Easterwood Airport. Stubbs said the
land described in the proposal is much more discrete than
the logs' current location and contains ample space to
house the logs.
In his press conference last month, Texas A&M Presi
dent Dr. Ray M. Bowen said that after all investigations are
completed and A&M is given permission to move the logs,
the school will consider donating the logs to a communi
ty organization such as Habitat for Humanity.
"We hope to have an answer fairly soon," Bowen said.
"We're anxious for the site to be restored to a polo area, a
grass area, and we think that the images which are pro
voked every time our community looks at the area, they'd
like them not to be there."
"Speaking as a person and not as an official, everyone
who lives here in town is forced to drive past the logs
every day, so I'm sure it has a negative effect on students,
because it does on me," Stubbs said. "We do have an
obligation, though, to follow the proper procedures and
not rush the process."
Many students and residents, regardless of the rule of
spoliation and proper procedure, feel that the piles of logs
represent painful memories of a time when friends were
lost and a great tradition was forever altered.
See Logs on Page 4.
Mandi Moore, a freshman history major, and Shawn
Michaelson, a freshman computer engineering major, reflect
at the site of the 1999 Aggie Bonfire after hearing the reports.
Iron man
*
Online registration
maybe complicated
Martin Cruz, an iron worker in Bryan, welds a fence in the workshop of Pfeffer Ornamental Iron on Tuesday. After completion,
the fence will surround a local swimming pool.
r ater system improvement project underway
Tex-Con contracted to build new water tank and extend waterlines on campus
F _ ]V1aureen Kane
The Battalion
An upgrade of the waterlines
that run through the A&M campus
sbeen ongoing for the past four
onths, and should be completed
mid-December 2000.
The waterline construction is
part of the Domestic Water System
Improvement Project that is being
conducted by Tex-Con, a construc
tion company in College Station.
I The project has been contracted
to Tex-Con for $3,621,000.
I Charles Frosch, project manag
er for Tex-Con, said one of the ma
jor aspects of the waterline up
grade project is the construction of
anew water tank that will be used
for underground storage.
I "We're building a new 3-mil-
[lipn-gallon tank, and that involves
^connecting waterlines tying into
the system," Frosch said. "We're
.extending a 30-inch diameter wa
terline along Wellborn Road and
tying onto an existing line at F&B
■oad. The line is 4,465 feet from
tie point of tie-on, along the rail
road, under University Drive, onto
the south side of University Drive,
to the existing two 24-inch lines."
The Domestic Water System Improvement
Project is in the process of upgrading the wa
terlines that run through campus.
In addition to thfe new water tank,
a new 30-inch transmission waterline
is being built between F&B Road and
main campus - the largest
waterline in Brazos
County, according to
Jim Boswell, civil con
struction supervisor.
"We are putting in
new lines all over
campus to increase
supply to our cus
tomers," Boswell said.
"One is out by the golf
driving range - that is
already in place."
Frosch said water-
lines are being built in
three other locations.
"Along Bizzell
Street, there's a 12-
inch, 1,400-foot-long
waterline going in.
The West Campus
pipeline going in will
be about 2,100 feet
long, and the Reed
Arena Loop is anoth
er 12-foot line that is
about 1,425 feet long," Frosch said.
"These will all be connected to ex
isting waterlines on campus. An
other component of the project is
that we are adding cathodic pro
tection (protects pipeline from cor
rosion) to the water supply lines
that come from the water supply
out on Highway 21, all the way to
the storage tanks on F&B Road."
Cecil Smith, master utilities
plumber, said the new water tank
will be located at the intersection
of F&B Road and Pinfeather Road.
"From this facility (new water
tank), we are adding a new 30-inch
water main that fills the water
tower and fills the distribution
center," Smith said.
He said the water system up
grade is being done in conjunction
with an electrical upgrade.
"We are adding infrastructure
to allow us to serve our customers
better," Smith said. "Students, fac
ulty, anybody that uses utilities on
campus will benefit from it."
See Construction on Page 4.
Chris Cunico
The Battalion
For many Aggies, registration night
can be the pinnacle of a stressful se
mester. Nothing is more frustrating
than hitting the redial button for what
seems like days and being bombarded
by busy signals between each call, only
to find the needed class section filled.
Texas A&M students seeking an eas
ier way to register may be pleased to
know the University is reviewing the
current student data system and has
plans to replace it in upcoming years.
Donald Carter, registrar, said that,
along with the replacement of the data
base, a Web registration software pro
gram would be added.
He said the computer services center
recently conducted an evaluation con
cerning the feasibility of creating and
implementing Web registration and.
several complications were discussed.
Carter said the complications are to be
expected when a university the size of
A&M utilizes a Web-based system.
He said the majority of A&M's cost,
will come from the mandatory pur
chase of additional hardware and the
probable upgrade to the mainframe.
Carter said the cost of constructing
and maintaining a Web registration sys
tem to meet the needs of more than
40,000 students is too expensive for im
mediate installment.
"We have looked at Web registration,
but the cost is too prohibitive right now,"
Carter said. "Many cost factors must be
considered in a project like this, and we
cannot financially support it at this time."
Since Fall 1997, the University of
Texas-Austin (UT) has been
using Web registration along
with touch-tone phone reg
istration like the system
A&M currently uses.
Mike Allen, associate reg
istrar for UT, said the univer
sity employs a staff of 20 full
time programmers and
system analysts to write, mon
itor and update the systems.
He said anywhere from 2,000
to 3,000 students can access
the system simultaneously.
"We have interactive sys
tems for registration, hous
ing, financial aid and various
other fields," Allen said.
"Over the past 15 years, we
have assembled a core of pro
grammers whose sole job is
to work on the system."
Carter said that although
cost is the major limiting
factor, other outside limita
tions may inhibit the regis
tration system, such as the
phone company choosing to
restrict the number of stu
dents who can be online at
any given time.
"I don't know how much easier Web
registration will make the lives of the stu
dents," Carter said. "The advantage with
the Web is enabling students to view the
available classes while registering. Only
2,000 lines are able to access the phone
registration at a time; keeping lines busy
for students up to an hour and a half.
We're not sure how many computers will
be able to access the registration lines or if
it will lessen the hassle of registration."
Carter said many students may believe
that any student can register at any time
throughout the semester. However, online
registration will operate in a manner sim
ilar to phone registration in which stu
dents have scheduled registration dates
based on their classification and last name.
Blinn College in Bryan recently es
tablished a Web-based online registra
tion center for both Summer 2000 ses
sions and will continue to use it for
future registration.
"Web registration has already proven
itself to be the most popular form of reg
istration among Blinn students," said
Gena Parsons, public information officer
for Blinn College. "In both summer ses
sions, approximately 70 percent of stu
dents registered online."
Parsons said the Web registration
system has been a success so far. The
only problems with the new system in
volved a few situations where prerequi
sites failed to show up in students' files.
A&M senior marketing major Mari
na Streltsova, said she likes the concept
of Web registration. "Online registra
tion sounds like a good idea and will
speed up the process," Streltsova said.
"Hopefully, it will also be easier to ac
cess than the current phone method."
Blinn College in Bryan has established online regis
tration for both 2000 summer sessions.