Monday, July];
• Listen to KAMI) 90.9 FM at 1:57 p.m.
for details on the Military Collegiate World
Series at Texas A&M.
• Check out The Battalion online at
battalion.tamu.edu.
Life is Messy
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THE
Page 3
Weather:
Partly cloudy with a
hiqh of 95 and a low
of 72.
TUESDAY
July 25, 2000
Volume 106 ~ Issue 173
6 pages
* I MiVWiVMIIK'U’J ^ rkil
tudents make illegal phone calls using state code
Kim Trifilio
The Battalion
Some students from Texas A&M and other Texas pub
ic universities have stolen state government access
des, enabling them to make free long-distance phone
11s from off-campus telephones to several university
mpuses, according to Ronald Jackson, assistant direc-
r of Texas Agriculture Extension Services.
Jackson said the Texas Senate analyzes the phone bill
lach month and first noticed discrepancies in the bill for
lovember 1999.
"The billings in November had a significant spike in
he amount," Jackson said. "The bill was in excess of
bout $15,000."
jackson said the codes the students used are part of
IheTex-an phone system, a state-wide network that al-
ows state employees to make free long-distance calls to
>ther state offices.
"The purpose is to give state employees access to
fate-contracted long-distance rates," Jackson said. "Jhe
>hone calls can only be made from one state entity to an-
)ther state entity. For instance, 1 could call someone from
ny office to an office at Texas Tech."
A code user at the University of Houston (UH) who
wishes to remain anonymous said she obtained the ac
cess code from another UH student and used it to call
students at A&M and Prairie View A&M.
"I got it from a girl I knew, and I don't know where
she got it from," she said. "I've had the code since Spring
'99, but the codes keep changing and so I keep getting
the new one. I would use the code to call friends, but
most of the time it was like a calling card for important
things. I don't use the code anymore because I realized
how serious this was. I really thought it was innocent."
According to the Daily Texan, the University of Texas-
Austin's newspaper, Capitol police began an investigation
last November after the Texas Senate and Adjutant General's
Department in Austin found abnormalities in the phone bill.
Jackson said there are several theories about how stu
dents obtained the state government code.
"One theory is they got it by using the computer," Jack-
son said. "They put numbers in the computer to find all the
permutations of that number. When they hit one that
worked, they emailed it to their friends at other universities."
Dr. Brent Paterson, dean of Student Life, said that if
A&M students are found guilty of using the code, they
could face consequences with the University.
"We cannot do anything until the investigation is com
plete," Paterson said. "If we find that Texas A&M Univer
sity rules have been violated, then charges may be issued."
Jackson said the long-distance phone code has been de
activated and a new phone system has been implemented
to avoid any more illegal phone calls.
"There is a new system now where
each individual has a credit card with
a specific number," Jackson said.
"Therefore, phone calls can be linked to
who made what calls. What we did to
stop it was disable the code. If you en
tered the code, you could not gain ac
cess. This was done in December right
before the holidays."
Jackson said other Texas government
entities have seen abnormalities in their
monthly phone bills.
"I know UT had problems," Jackson
said. "I also think this happened at the
University of Houston, Sam Houston
State University and Senate offices in
Austin. The problem in the Senate office
was recently found in April."
Jackson said students taking advantage of govern
ment privileges costs taxpayers thousands of dollars.
"This is very unfortunate," Jackson said. "This is mis
appropriation of the states' money and misuse of the tax
payers' money."
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pulous province surround
Blinn offers registration options
Students may enroll by appointment, phone and the Web
Andrew Jean, a senior psychology major, works on a competition mountain bike at a
local bike shop. Jean was adjusting the Shimano XTR rear derailer on the bike.
Anna Bishop
The Battalion
For Texas A&M students who co-en-
roll at Blinn College's Bryan campus,
registration may have gotten easier.
"The lines for registering are really
awful," said Allison Gunn, a junior mar
keting major. "It takes me a good two
hours to get everything accomplished.
With so many students enrolling at
Blinn, it seems there must be an easier
way of dealing with all the traffic dur
ing registration time."
Relief is in sight for Blinn students
and co-enrolled A&M students with the
introduction of phone registration at
Blinn.
Students enrolling in Blinn for the
fall semester will now have three op
tions when it comes time to register: the
traditional in-person appointment, on
line registration through Blinn Online
Registration and Information System
(BORIS) and telephone registration.
"Anytime we can help students, we
will do it," said Gena Parsons, public in
formation officer at Blinn. "Because phone
registration will cut down on students
having to wait in extremely long lines to
register in person, as students have voiced
their concern, we believe students will be
pleased with this new service."
Blinn Registrar Dennis Crowson said
the new phone registration is a com
panion to BORIS, which was added for
summer registration this year.
"The new phone registration was pi
loted during the summer, tested well
and will be available to all students be
ginning in mid-July," Crowson said.
To avoid overloading BORIS or the
automated phone registration system,
students were divided by the first letter
of their last names.
To register by phone Parsons said
that an estimated 1,400 A&M students
will co-enroll this fall at Blinn, in ad
dition to the 9,000 BUnn students who
will register from the Brazos Valley.
Open phone and Internet registra
tion will continue through Aug. 14.
Parsons said, students
can call (979)821-0466 or
(979)251-7392, enter their
Blinn identification num
ber and follow the in
structions. She said 16
phone lines will be avail
able for students regis
tering at the Bryan cam
pus and eight lines will
be available for students
at the Brenham/Schulen-
burg campus.
Like the A&M phone
registration system,
Blinn's phone registration
system allows students to
pay for their classes over
the phone with, a credit
card. Parsons said. Stu
dents can also pay fees,
such as parking, using the
phone system.
Students who wish to
use BORIS should log on
to the student information link at
www.blinncol.edu.
Parsons said that, by using their ID
numbers and passwords, students can
add or drop courses, check current class
schedules, print unofficial transcripts,
and change their addresses, phone num
bers and other personal information.
BORIS and phone registration will
be available Monday though Friday
from 5 p.m. to 4 a.m. and on Sundays
from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Blinn classes begin on Aug. 28.
Phone
Registration
16 phono linos - Bryan Campus
8 phone Unas-Branham/
Schnlanburg Campus
Fee Payment by phono
with credit card
(9791821-9499
-w or
(9791251-1392
capital, Home
said.
ajor roads and flights have
>erating normally and
Non-traditional students find acceptance, support at Texas A&M
of a major railroad waste
ired. But operations by hal
lation’s 128 coast feme:
spended.
okyo quake
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arthquake shook a string
nic islands off Tokyo on
the Meteorological
said. Police reported no
or injuries,
luake, with a preliminaf)
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e seabed near the islands
Maureen Kane
The Battalion
Junior education major Darrylin Davis is
not a typical Texas A&M student. She is a 49-
Id ITId^G dOne ^ar-old mother of two from San Antonio.
Davis began her educational career at
A&M in '91; after getting married, Davis de
cided to quit school to be with her family.
In January 1999 the health agency where
he worked closed, and she was forced to
look for another job. Davis realized it would
he difficult to find employment without a col
lege degree, so she returned to A&M.
Davis and about 2,500 other Aggies are called
cion-traditional students by the University.
Tracey Forman, assistant coordinator for
13 and Kozushima aPS Adult and Graduate Student Services, said
ist after noon local tilte non-traditional students include undergrad
uate students more than 24 years old; stu-
was no danger of undeh dents who are are single, married or di
es triggered by volcapT vorced parents; veterans; full time workers;
students who took time off from college, or
uake was most strong: j took time off before starting college; gradu-
ie island of Shikinejitte ate students and those who have taken all
I miles south of Tokyo, classes through distance courses.
"There are a lot of students who fall into one
of these categories and not another," Forman
said. "If they feel different than an average stu
dent, then they are not traditional. They are all
very unique people with very different goals."
Davis said that although returning to col
lege was initially a challenge, she has adjusted.
"My first semester I had to Q-drop a
course and ended up finishing 10 hours with
a 2.2 GPR," Davis said. "In addition to work
ing, I now carry 14 to 15 hours, and have
raised my GPR to 3.1. Although it has been
difficult socially, I have found other non-tra-
ditional students through the Transitions
1999 conference I attended last summer. I am
also a member of Aggies Plus (an organiza
tion for non-traditional students), and will
serve as treasurer for the upcoming year."
Transitions, a conference for non-tradition
al students, will be held on Aug. 18 and 19. In
formation about Aggies Plus and Transitions
can be found at http: / / aggiesplus.tamu.edu.
Forman said the non-traditional under
graduate population at A&M is lower than
that of other universities.
"We have significantly less non-tradi
tional students in the undergraduate popu
lation," Forman said. "Only about 5 percent
are non-traditional at A&M, whereas at most
schools, the population is 40 to 50 percent."
Forman said one of the reasons for the
small population of non-traditional students
could be that A&M is not close enough for
students to commute.
"We don't see as many non-traditional
“Only about 5 percent
are non-traditional at
A&M, whereas at
most schools, the pop
ulation is 40 to 50
percent”
— Tracey Forman
assistant coordinator for Adult and
Graduate Student Services
students as some larger communities," For
man said. "A&M is still very catered to tra
ditional students and doesn't cater as much
as other schools to non-traditional students."
Davis said she has had a positive experi
ence at A&M and attributes this to accep
tance by her peers.
"My younger classmates have been ex
tremely accepting of me, which was one of my
biggest fears," Forman said. "They even invite
me to participate in study groups. I cannot say
enough about the professors who have also
been very supportive of me."
Mary Moore, a senior animal science ma
jor and vice president of Aggies Plus, re
turned to A&M in 1998. She said she has
made a lot of friends who are traditional stu
dents through her classes.
"Once people find out I'm a little older
they look to me as a role model or someone
to turn to," Moore said.
Forman said non-traditional student or
ganizations provide non-traditional stu
dents opportunities to get involved in a wide
array of activities while meeting students
who share a common experience.
"Non-traditional student organizations'
goals help other non-traditional students to get
acclimated to campus even though they may
feel a little outside the student population," For
man said. "They do things to meet people be
cause there are not a lot of people between the
ages of 24 and 48 that are not faculty at A&M."
Tim Flanary, a member of Aggies Plus
and a junior electrical engineering major,
said that he has been warmly accepted at
A&M, but he felt more comfortable at Hous
ton Community College (HCC), which he at
tended before transferring to A&M.
At HCC, Flanary said, "I was in the ma
jority (non-traditional students). I wasn't a
minority like I am up here, but I still feel ac
cepted here as well."
Flanary said that he arrived at A&M with
preconceived notions about whether he would
be accepted as a non-traditional student.
"I may not go out with traditional students
socially, but I have been accepted," Flanary
said. "I no longer worry about being an older
student because I feel like I fit in. A lot of the
things I was fearing never did materialize."