/
THURSDAY
September 28, 2000
Volume 107 ~ Issue 25
2 Sections
A 8 pages
B 6 pages
6 VI At =f:1 l'j III: lk T ^:WI i'
roups to apply task force recommendations
It Rolando Garcia
The Battalion
Jumping from airplanes and playing the
lute may entail different levels of risk, but
aider new guidelines, all student organiza-
ions, from the Skydiving Club to the Flute
hoir, will undergo comprehensive safety
ssessment by the Student Affairs Risk
Management Team.
The team, a panel tasked with crafting
Commendations to help the approximate-
700 recognized student organizations at
r exasA&M evaluate risk levels of their ac-
ivities, released its final report this month.
‘We’re going to develop and integrate
hese recommendations into our strategic
dans this year, and the goal is to be more
proactive in making organized student activ
ities safer,” said Kevin Jackson, director of
the Department of Student Activities.'
Jackson said being proactive means not
waiting for accidents to happen before as
sessing seemingly mundane activities and
identifying potential risks.
“We have to keep into account that some
of the things we commonly do and don’t
consider to be risky actually can be,” he
said. “A good example of this is travel. Just
about every group travels, sometimes out
of town.”
The report contains 53 recommendations
and cost more than $400,000. Jackson said
his department is already revising its Web
site to include a one-stop resource for ad
visers and student officers to find informa
tion on travel procedures, alcohol policy and
hazing.
£6
We're going to devel
op and integrate these
recommendations
into our strategic
plans this year”
— Kevin Jackson
director of the Department
of Student Activities
Other steps to make advisers of student
organizations more accountable include
mandatory training workshops on risk
management.
Beginning this spring, student organiza-
/tions will be required to conduct a self-as
sessment of their activities as part of the an
nual process through which organizations
apply for University recognition.
“We’ll have specific guidelines for the
advisers and the student officers to follow
when they conduct their assessment, and,
depending on the group and their level of
risk, we'll review that assessment and see
what needs to be done,” Jackson said.
The recognition process this spring
will separate student organizations into
three categories, using criteria such as the
mission of a group and the riskiness of its
activities. Groups designated as “spon
sored” organizations will be those that
routinely represent the University, receive
University funding, and engage in high-
risk activities.
Because the intimate connection be
tween these organizations and A&M
would place the University at greater legal
liability, these organizations must appoint
a risk-management officer to develop an
operations manual, carry additional liabil
ity insurance to cover members and
events, and send its advisers and officers
See Risk on Page 6A.
VILLANUEVA/Tm- BaitaI.
ce major and
, hangs parallel to
ctice.
reshmen cut
andidate pool
o two hopefuls
te increase passes in student elections
y Courtney Stelzel
lie Battalion
Joseph Holloway and Melissa Bau-
lann will face each other Monday in
run-off election for Class of '04
esident.
Holloway, a freshman business ad-
inistration major, said his strategy
Ir the run-off will not differ from his
Original campaign. He plans to go out
[lid speak with people face to face.
am a people person and don’t put
It a show during the campaign,” he
lid. "1 really do want to express the
[elings of the students."
6 J am a people per
son and don 't put
on a show during
the campaign. I re
do want to ex
press the feelings of
the students”
— Joseph Holloway
freshman business
administration major
Holloway said he views at the pres
pent position as an opportunity to re
ly ideas for the whole student body,
otjust the freshmen.
Baumann, a freshman renewable nat-
Iral resource major, attributed her first
pctory to her friends and supporters.
don’t think I could have done it
pithout them,” she said.
Baumann said she attributes much
her campaign success to communi-
ption skills developed in high school
overnment positions.
Vice presidential candidates Katie
lowe, a freshman English and anthro
ANDY HANCOCK/The Battalion
vo students embrace after freshman election
bsults were announced Wednesday night.
pology major, and freshman Meredith
Tyler also are facing a run-off.
Lowe said she concentrated her
campaign on people contact.
“I wanted to build a relationship
with various students in order to es
tablish open communication between
myself and the Class of ’04,” she said,
adding that she hopes to unite the class
through class activities and communi
cation.
Tyler was unavailable for comment.
, Brie Horigan was elected to serve
as secretary with 825 votes; Drew
Wadley, a general studies major, as
treasurer; John Magruder, a general
studies major, as historian with 464
votes; and Christine Haywood, an
agricultural science major, as social
secretary with 817 votes.
Other announcements included the
results for the freshman Student Sen
ate seats. Kyle LaRocque, a business
administration major; Scooter
Sanchez; Jeremiah Wagstaff, a civil
engineering major; and Graham Bass,
a business administration major, were
elected to the Senate. Their role in the
Student Senate will be. to write con
stituency reports based on the de
mands and concerns of the Class of
’04. They will arrange sessions for the
freshmen to express their concerns to
their senators.
Voting for the run-off candidates
will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday,
and the results will be announced that
evening.
The Student Center Complex Fee
Referendum was passed by approxi
mately 1,200 votes to 200 votes. The
referendum will increase the current
Student Center Fee from $30 to $40,
and the money will go toward reno
vating and funding the Memorial Stu
dent Center (MSC).
The passed referendum also per
mits the University to ask for the Texas
Legislature a fee cap increase
from $40 to $ 100.
Amanda Arriaga, executive
vice president of marketing at
the MSC and a senior manage
ment major, said the MSC
hosts more than 100 meetings
per day, and that the fee in
crease will help maintain and
improve the facility.
“The students and the MSC
will be directly impacted the
most by the referendum be
cause so much activity goes on
there,” she said.
The fee increase must also
be approved by the A&M Sys
tem Board of Regents in
March and, if approved, will
be enacted in Fall 2001.
Neil Simpson, election com
missioner and a junior recre
ation, parks and tourism sciences
major, said he was impressed
with the overall voter turnout.
“We had 2,433 total students
vote, including those who vot
ed online and those who visited
the poll sites,” he said.
Fund raising for bonfire
PATRIC SCHNEIDER/Tm: Battalion
Joseph Hammon, a senior economics major, and Jeff Reed, a freshman business major, sell Keep The Fire Burning T-shirts
on the corner of George Bush Drive and Texas Avenue Wednesday in an effort to raise funds for the organization.
Aggie grads form group to preserve Bonfire
COLLEGE STATION (AP) — A group
of Texas A&M graduates has started an or
ganization that hopes to convince school
president Dr. Ray M. Bowen to change his
mind about making major changes to the
90-year Bonfire tradition after last year’s
deadly collapse.
The new group wants Bonfire to resume
this fall or next year at the latest and is also sup
porting another organization’s efforts to build
an off-campus bonfire this fall, despite a two-
year moratorium on the tradition that was im
posed by Bowen after the Nov. 18 collapse that
killed 12 Aggies and injured 27 others.
Among the things Dallas-based Keep the
Tradition is asking Bowen to do include:
• Only allowing faculty members who
graduated from A&M to oversee the future
of this or any aggie tradition.
• Only allowing firms that are owned or
operated by Aggies to be hired to assist in
the planning and construction of bonfire, a
stipulation that might be unattainable in light
of bidding rules for public projects.
• Retracting the design constraints and
the two-week limit on construction and ap
pointing a committee made up entirely of
Aggies to plan this process.
“Since every tradition in Aggieland was
started, nurtured, passed down and protect
ed by Aggies, we believe that any restruc
turing made to an Aggie tradition must re
main in the control of Aggies,” said Robert
Steinhagen, Keep the Tradition’s founder.
The organization is also supporting efforts
by the student-led group Keep The Fire Burn
ing to hold an off-campus bonfire this fall.
The new group sent Bowen a letter on
Wednesday detailing its wishes.
University officials could not confirm
whether Bowen received the letter because
he was not in College Station on Wednesday,
said A&M spokesman Lane Stephenson.
“Our position remains the same about the
future of Bonfire as announced earlier this
year: Bonfire will resume in 2002 once we
have maximum assurance that the structure
can be built safely,” Stephenson said.
Stephenson said A&M officials are still
against any attempt to build an off-campus
bonfire this fall.
Forum answers
Bonfire questions
By Kristin Rostran
The Battalion
Students who participate
in an off-campus bonfire will
not be punished by the Uni
versity unless they act as a
Texas A&M-related group,
said Vice President for Stu
dent Affairs Dr. J. Malon
Southerland at an open fo
rum Wednesday night.
Southerland, Memorial
Student Center Assistant
Director Rusty Thompson
and Director of Residence
Life Ron Sasse answered
students’ questions regard
ing a wide range of bonfire-
related topics at the forum,
which was held between
Moses and Moore Halls.
Students wanted to
know whether individual
involvement in Keep The
Fire Burning (KTFB)
would result in punishment.
“You would have to
break some law or some
University regulation for
there to be some action tak
en by the University,”
Southerland said.
However, he said, 1 if a
student group as a whole
were to be involved, pun
ishment could result.
“If 30 people go and act
like they are Walton Hall,
they are Walton Hall to the
public, and therefore, Texas
A&M would be involved,”
Southerland said.
The students also
showed concern over what
they view as a loss of the
Aggie Spirit because of
less student involvement
in future Bonfires.
“If you are basically
prepackaging bonfire, hav
ing it shipped to us, not
See Forum on Page 6A.
Bush Drive slated for
repairs, expansion
By Nathan Rogers
The Battalion
One of College Station’s most tra
versed roadways will receive a series
of upgrades designed to make com
muting a little more friendly for resi
dents. George Bush Drive is scheduled
to undergo two major renovation pro
jects starting before the end of the year,
adding a median, additional lanes and
bike loops, and costing $1.5 million.
The Texas Department of Trans
portation (TxDOT) is completing plans
for the rehabilitation of the section of
George Bush Drive adjoining Texas
A&M’s main campus. Randall Grones,
TxDOT transportation engineer, said
the face-lift project will stretch from
Texas Avenue to near Wellborn Road.
“The contractors will bid for the job
in November, and when a company is
chosen, they have up to 90 days to start
construction,” Grones said.
“Failures in the road are where there
are potholes, or the road surface .is
breaking, and the new surface is to fin
ish it,” Grones said.
Officials will close only one lane at a
time to minimize traffic delays and con
gestion. Estimates are that the project
will last six months and cost $700,000.
The second part of the construction,
widening the section of the road that mns
from Texas Avenue to Harvey Road and
adding bike paths, will be done by the
city of College Station. This project,
however, contains preliminary details.
“To widen the road, we have to ob
tain the property rights to the houses
and lots along the side of the road,” said
Mark Smith, director of public works
for the city of College Station. “Many
of the properties are abandoned, and
some of them have been condemned.
Until we secure the rights, we are un
able to remove those properties.”
Othon Engineering of Houston will
be responsible for road construction and
will begin the project once the land is
acquired. Once the construction is com
pleted, the road will provide additional
routes from Campus to Harvey Road,
and ease the congestion in that area,
Smith said.