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Section B
Weather:
Partly cloudy with a high
of 100 and a low of 74.
THE
MONDAY
August 28, 2000
Volume 107 ~ Issue 2
24 pages ~ Section B 8 pages
F VlMki =r:1 * i i't 1'k'l i'i =kkil *4
ockwood awaits trial
ate for Kujawa murder
aril 16
Kuiawas3car,found[it]
Easterwood l AirportV M *
MS©
RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion
By Brian Ruff
The Battalion
The date for the murder
trial of Texas A&M student
Kerry Kujawa is still pending
after the July 5 indictment of
Kenny Wayne Lockwood of
San Antonio.
The trial is scheduled to
take place at the Hays Coun
ty Courthouse in San Marcos
because the murder was com
mitted in Hays County.
If convicted, Lockwood
would face five to 99 years in
prison.
The judge presiding over
the case will decide when the
trial will be held, said Officer
Ortiz with the Hays County
Sheriff’s Department.
Kujawa, a junior mechan
ical engineering major, was
killed between April 7 and
April 10, after he left College
Station to meet a female ac
quaintance called “Kelley.” Ku
jawa had met Kelley over the In
ternet, and the two had been ex
changing emails for several
months.
Kujawa was reported missing
when friends of the 20-year-old be
came concerned with his absence.
Kujawa’s car was discovered
in the long-term parking lot at
Easterwood Airport on April 10,
the day Kujawa was expected to
return to College Station.
Lockwood, 31, was charged
with the murder of the 1998 Fort
Bend Austin High School graduate
after confessing to posing as Kel
ley, a female pre-law student, and
killing Kujawa. Authorities said
that tracing the emails from Lock-
wood was the key to his arrest.
“My husband and 1 just want the
trials to end quickly and for swift
justice to be served,” said Lucille
Kujawa, Kerry Kujawa’s mother, '
in a May 29 Battalion article.
Get your motors runnin’
4H|
STUART VILLANUEVA/The Battalion
J.B. Newcomb, a College Station police officer, takes on biker janice Angst in an exhibition slow race at
the Hotter Than Hell motorcyle show this weekend on University Drive. The goal of the slow race is to
come in last by riding as slow as possible without falling over.
onfire committees research past, future Parking permits
delayed 3 weeks
f Maureen Kane & Marium Mohiuddin
be Battalion
I On June 16, 2000, Texas A&M Presi-
pent Dr. Ray M. Bowen changed A&M’s
0-year-old tradition when he stated that
Bonfire would be put on hiatus until at
least 2002 and significant changes would
je made to the building process, including
heater University supervision and a pro-
jessionally engineered design.
“Bowen received thousands of emails
Ind letters with opinions about what should
lappen to Bonfire,” said Dr. J. Malon
foutherland, vice president of Student Af-
pirs. “We tried to respond to most of them.”
Since then, three committees have been
bmied—one to honor those killed and in
jured in the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse,
one to plan an event for this year and one to
suggest a permanent Bonfire staicture.
“Bowen received
thousands of
emails and letters
with opinions
about what should
happen to Bonfire.”
— Dr. j. Malon Southerland
vice president of Student Affairs
Prior to the release of Bowen’s deci
sion, a group of students circled a petition
supporting the continuation of Bonfire
and gathered 10,000 to 12,000 signatures.
During the summer, Southerland said
some members of the group met with him
to discuss their efforts to create an off-
campus bonfire. Southerland said he told
the group that any off-campus bonfire
would not be supported by the Universi
ty, and students participating may face
punishment if they proceed with plans for
the off-campus bonfire.
The Bonfire planning committee, a
committee of the Faculty Senate, stressed
the need for reform of Bonfire at an open
forum of last spring.
“It was the opinion of the planning
committee that Bonfire should not occur
in 2000 and should not occur in its pre
sent form in the future,” said Jonathan
Smith, chair of the committee, in a May
20 Battalion article.
^ Thousands of people attend Bonfire
each year; however, this year, in place of
Bonfire, there will be a yell practice and a
memorial for the 12 Aggies who died and
the 27 who were injured in the collapse.
The first of the three committees is a
memorial committee headed by Rusty
Thompson, assistant director for the
Memorial Student Center, and Forrest
Lane, student body president and a senior
political science major. This committee is
See Bonfire on Page 2.
umber company relocates logs KTFB proposes bonfire model
Sophomore biomedical science major
Angela Krause agreed.
“Having the logs on campus for so long
was a difficult reminder. Removing [the
logs] will be a good way to continue heal
ing and move on,” she said.
Lawson would not comment on how
she thinks the students would react to the
empty Bonfire site.
Charles A. Sippial, vice president for
administration, said the appropriate time ar
rived for the logs’ removal.
“We have had our grieving period and
will certainly never forget the 12 who
died,” Sippial said. “It was hard for every
one to see the logs being moved, but, hope
fully, this will help many move on.”
jr Anna Bishop
he Battalion
On Aug. 11, Texas A&M approved the re-
oval of the 1999 Aggie Bonfire logs to an
dA&M waste water treatment plant.The
igs had remained unmoved, except for in
stigation purposes, since the collapse in
ovember. Twelve of the logs have also been
eserved for future memorials.
According to Cynthia Lawson, execu-
e director of University Relations, the
|gs were moved by C&C Logging, the
me company based in Jasper, Texas that
Jded the University in dismantling the fall
en logs after the collapse.
I Relocating the more than 2 million
unds of wood, which would regular-
cost between $15,000 and $20,000,
s done free of charge by C&C.
“Everyone knew the logs must be
ved eventually,” said Kenieca
ehn, a junior political science ma-
“Emotionally, removing the logs
m the site will be hard for every-
e affected by the collapse, but it is
mething that had to be done. The
;s couldn’t have realistically stayed
|the site.”
C&C Logging Co. President Bob-
Cassidy said it took about 25 trips
he treatment plant, which is locat-
two miles from campus near East-
jvood Airport, to transport the logs.
Cassidy said the job was difficult
tause the wood had become
rched and decayed since November
p easily broke when workers tried
pove the logs.
Sophomore general studies major
[vid Goddard said he thinks the ab-
ce'of the logs will help the healing
cess for returning Aggies.
“Having the logs in plain sight
s a constant reminder of the Bon- Bradley atchison/the Battalion
tragedy last November,” Goddard A logging tractor trailer from Jasper,
“We don’t want to forget, but it Texas, moves a full load of logs away
me to move on.” from the Bonfire site Aug. 11.
By Mariano Castillo & Summer Bunge
The Battalion
Keep the Fire Burning (KTFB) pre
sented a model of the organization’s pro
posed off-campus bonfire to a small
group of supporters at the Texas Hall of
Fame on Saturday.
Though members say they were threat
ened by the University’s top administrators,
a claim Dr. J. Malon Souther
land, vice president for Student
Affairs, rejects, the KTFB
board members presented
plans and a bonfire model they
say will stand the tests of safe
ty, maintenance and tradition.
The bonfire model is the re
sult of the group’s collabora
tion with professional engi
neers — one of them a Texas
A&M fonner student who par
ticipated in the cutting, stack
ing and lighting of the Aggie
Bonfire for three years during
his college career — and de
fines what the group considers
adequate safety standards.
KTFB was formed in May
and plans for a student-run,
student-created and student-
maintained off-campus bon
fire evolved within the organization after
A&M’s announcement in early June that,
pending proper research and restrictions,
there would be no Bonfire until 2002.
Guidance from professional engineers,
risk management and alumni support form
the foundation for a successful off-campus
bonfire, according to Joe Dyson and Gary
Crenshaw, KTFB board members.
The proposed stack would have a sin
gle, unspliced 60-foot centerpole sur
rounded by logs that are not stacked but
leaned against the central structure in
three tiers and then wired. The imperfec
tions of the logs would remain untrimmed
— unlike the traditional smooth logs of
previous Bonfires — allowing each log
to dig into the ground and maintain the
structure. These modifications, Dyson
said, would eliminate wedging and mini
mize hoop stress. According to the Spe
cial Commission on the 1999 Aggie Bon
fire report, wedging and hoop stress were
two major factors that led to the collapse.
STUART VILLANUEVA/The Battalion
Trent Owens (bottom), Gary Crenshaw (left)
and Joe Dyson (right), board members of Keep
the-Fire Burning, held an organizational meeting
at the Texas Hall of Fame Saturday.
Steel cables would be used to maintain
stability before and during burning. Once
lighted, the structure would not collapse on
itself like traditional Bonfires, Dyson said.
“This is not going to fal[,” he said.
“We’re going to have to put it out.”
No student would climb the stack or
stand on any part of the stack to bind or
hoist logs. Instead, a pulley system would
be utilized, leaving no students in the vicin
ity of the log-stacking process.
Such a system would allow students on
one end to reposition the log on the other.
See KTFB on Page 2.
By Arati Bhattacharya
The Battalion
A three-week delay on
parking permits and bus pass
es has forced Parking, Traffic
and Transportation Services
(PTTS) to implement several
alternatives for the beginning
of Fall 2000 to accommodate
students’ needs and maintain
campus safety.
Various causes accounted
for the permit delay, including
the creation of a new design
and the renewal of a five-year
contract bid.
“Although the order was
shipped out a little later than
usual, a manufacturing delay
has put us three weeks behind,”
said Sherry Wine, executive as
sociate director for PTTS. “If s
one of those times where every
one is just overextended.”
Parking without permits
will be allowed in blue and red
parking lots until Sept. 11,
when ticketing will begin.
The backup has caused
PTTS staff to spend several ex
tra evening hours reorganizing
20,000 letters and permits from
ZIP code to alphabetical order.
The letters originally would
have been mailed to students
and detailed where students
can park and other general
campus-parking instructions.
“We have the best group of
people here who have been ex
tremely cooperative with such
a timely task,” Wine said.
PTTS could not carry out
the first mailing of commuter
passes.
“2,000 yellow professional
student and staff permits have
been delivered to correspond
ing departments, followed by
5,000 garage passes and 3,700
red resident permits, which
could be picked up at resi
dence halls last week,” said
Pam Horner, computer sys
tems manager for PTTS. “We
are doing everything possible
to accommodate the students,
while trying to function
smoothly with move-in and a
new year.”
With a ceiling on red per
mits this year, approximately
1,700 University residents
were issued blue commuter
parking permits; these were
also sent to residence halls for
pickup. Permits not picked up
at residence halls will be sent
to Reed Arena to be picked up
this week. There is a waiting
list for red permits, and Wine
said she expects to see about
300 slots turned over.
Postcards were sent out to
students explaining that com
muter parking permits and bus
passes can be picked up from
today until Friday at Reed Are
na from 9:30 a.m. until 4:30
p.m. Horner said the PTTS of
fice will be open Saturday
from 9 until noon to further fa
cilitate students. Wine stressed
the department’s emphasis on
safety and effective manage
ment, reminding students to
park only in legal spaces.
A&M buses can be ridden
without passes until Sept. 11.
Students must present a
driver’s license or picture I.D.,
preferably something with a
student I.D. number, at time of
pickup.
Permits and passes can still
be ordered at the PTTS office
in the Koldus building or
through the Website at www-
ptts.tamu.edu.
“We are do
ing every
thing possible
to accommo
date the stu
dents. ...”
— Pam Horner
computer systems
manager for PTTS
Parking lots around Kyle
Field will change to red lots
this fall to increase safety and
reduce traffic. Several re
minders will encourage stu
dents to move their cars during
home games — notices will be
printed on the permits, key
chains are being distributed,
and students may receive
email reminders.