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students have access
to marks on Bonfire
3y Brian Ruff
The Battalion
With midterm grades currently in
[he mail, students are finding it easier
jo warn their parents about their
Inidterms before the scores arrive.
As of January 2000, midterm and fi
lial grades have been posted on the
fonfire system, an interactive com-
liuter program presented by Computer
Information Services (CIS) and the Of-
ftce of the Registrar.
‘The Bonfire system is a great way
i check my [grade-point ratio],” said
)eeAnn Borrer, a freshman kinesiolo
gy major, who found out about the sys-
jem while at Fish Camp.
Prior to the addition of the system,
Students had access to their grades only
da telephone.
“The system provides an accurate
find easily accessible way of display-
a student’s grades,” said Larry
loiota, associate director of CIS.
“The system pro
vides an accurate
and easily accessi
ble way of display
ing a student's
grades”
— Larry Molota
Associate director of CIS
The new system has some added
onuses, such as allowing students to
tint the screen and not limiting the
ime the system can be used.
However, with the sensitive issue of
rades come worries about grade tam-
ering within the system.
“Logs are maintained on grade
hanges before and after the changes
re made, so if anything comes up,
e have records of the change,”
olota said.
The Bonfire system is for students
nd advisers only, and most of the
creens on the Bonfire system are for
iewing only and cannot be changed.
“The professors aren’t using the
onfire screen,” Molota said. “If they
ust have information on a student,
here are particular steps that they
[must go through to get access to the
[information.”
Molota said a professor must have
a valid reason for requesting the infor
mation. An authorization starts at the
department level, and is then routed to
the student whose grades are being
checked.
Another feature available on the
Bonfire screen is the degree audit func
tion, which allows students to view
which requirements they need to meet
degree requirements. Many advisers
use the program when consulting stu
dents about degree requirements.
r
ople..
Installation
.94
in TOWN!
i your PART!
I Harvey R<!
Muster memorial
Auto repairmen’s
work in question
Body shops talk about practices
KEVIN BURNS/The Battalion
Taryn Elliott, a senior psychology major, looks at the new Muster statue located in
front of the Academic Building. The statue is the gift of the Class of '95 and will be
dedicated on Saturday, immediately following the football game.
ByArati Bhattacharya
The Battalion
For Renee Edmiston, nothing is
more frustrating than paying exorbitant
amounts of money for car parts and re
placement jobs that are unnecessary.
“Mechanics in this town are screw
ing over college kids,” said Edmiston, a
junior environmental design major. “Just
because we’re away from home and re
ally need our cars — but have no guid
ance — they’re taking advantage of us.”
The auto repair industry is often
criticized for overcharg
ing customers and high
lighting trivial details for
profitable reasons.
Marvin Taylor, a me
chanic at Radiators &
More of Bryan-College
Station, said some auto
shops cheat people.
“They’re Hat-out
crooks,” Taylor said.
“They know they’re rip
ping the kids off. I’ve seen
more rip-off shops [in B-
CS] than ever, and they do
it in unimaginable ways.
Houston wouldn’t even do that, and
they’re known nationwide for being
scammers.”
Edmiston said her first encounter
with an overpriced mechanic was in
March when she needed her brakes
serviced. She said Just Brakes in
Bryan quoted a price of $800.
“They said it was necessary to do it
all now, and it couldn’t be done for
cheaper anywhere else,” she said.
“They wanted me to replace parts that
needed to be changed after 100,000
miles, when my car only had 50,000
miles on it and didn’t need the re
placement yet.”
Edmiston said she later got the entire
brake job done at C&L Tires for $ 100.
Lee Stroud, manager at Just Brakes,
said the industry sets the prices, and
the auto shop charges based on the na
ture of the repair job.
“If the job was done for $ 100, they
may have patched up the symptom,
but the problem is definitely not
fixed,” he said. Stroud said Just Brakes
has the best warranty in the business.
The Better Business Bureau of Bra
zos Valley (BBB) lists Just Brakes in
Bryan with an unsatisfactory record of
unresolved complaints. To have a sat
isfactory record, a company must
promptly address complaints, stay
within proper regulations and have no
questionable activity.
“Vve seen more
rip-off shops [in
B-CS] than ever,
and they do it in
unimaginable
5.
n
—- Marvin Taylor
Mechanic, Radiators & More
Taylor said local auto shops over
charge their customers because college
students have to get the problem fixed,
and it is easy to take advantage of the
situation.
“I know of three to four shops that
bring cars to me for a diagnostic test and
take them back to their shops to over
price the customer,” Taylor said.
“That’s plain old wrong. You can make
an honest living fixing them right.”
Just Brakes was not the end of Ed-
miston’s car saga. When her air condi
tioner went out this summer, she took
the car to B&B Automotive Services,
which she said quoted a price of $ 1,200.
She refused to pay and instead bought
the parts herself in Houston at whole
sale.
“They were marking the prices up at
least 50 percent, beyond means of prof-
See Auto on Page 2.
Beutel raising HIV awareness for women
By Rolando Garcia
The Battalion
Jennifer was only 16 years old and preg
nant with her second daughter when she found
out she was HIV-positive.
“I was worried, but more than that I thought,
‘why did it have to happen to my baby?’ and
that’s what hurt me the most,” she said.
Jennifer, who only gave her first name,
spoke to students at a forum sponsored by the
A.P. Beutel Health Center to give students a
woman’s perspective on living with HIV.
Margaret Griffith, health education coor
dinator at Beutel, said there is a common
misconception that AIDS is a men’s disease.
“It’s also a women’s disease, and women
sometimes have to deal with different issues
— like children,” $he said.
Jennifer, now 24, and her 6-year-old
daughter take a battery of medications to treat
the disease. Jennifer takes 12 pills daily, and
her daughter takes three liquid medicines.
“My day is medicine and kids,” she said.
“In the morning we take our medicine, and I
get them ready for school.”
The need to be there for her children
helped' keep at bay the feelings of depression
that often can accompany news that one is
HIV-positive, Jennifer said.
“I can’t let it get to me,” she said. “There
is depression, but then I think, T have all this
to live for. If I’m not there to take care of my
kids, who will?’ ” i
Although her daughter is generally healthy
and energetic like the other students in her
kindergarten class, Jennifer said, typical child
hood colds can be especially harmful because
of her weakened immune system.
She recounted an incident when her daugh
ter was in the Head Start program and acci
dentally scraped her head and required stitch
es. She said that when word got out that the
little girl was HIV-positive, some parents re
moved their children from the program.
. “It’s really sad how dumb people can be,”
Jennifer said.
Kristen Jay, a senior community health
major who attended the presentation, said Jen
nifer’s story added an important human ele
ment to AIDS education programs.
“It was kind of heartbreaking to hear their
stories, especially the children, but I think it’s
just amazing how brave they are,” Jay said.
HIV awareness is still low among many
college students, Griffith said.
“They can get pretty complacent about HIV
and think it can’t happen to them,” Griffith said.
Free HIV testing will be available today from
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in 141 Memorial Student Cen
ter (MSG) as part of the Health Fair. Beutel of
fers free testing Thursday afternoons from 12:30
until 3:45. Griffith said anyone who has engaged
in unprotected sex or other risky behavior such
as intravenous drug use, should get tested.
According to the Center for Disease Control
and Prevention, 40,000 Americans are infected
with HIV each year, and half are under 25.
Not enough rain
The year’s drought too great to be fully alleviated by storms
DALLAS (AP) — Heavy rains in
some parts of Texas have not been
enough to erase this year’s drought, but
the recent soakings could lessen the
chances of a similar drought next year.
“I’m cautiously optimistic,” Skip
Ely, a meteorologist for the National
Weather Service in Fort Worth, said
Tuesday.
Recent rains have started to saturate
the soil, and with the decreased water
demand of winter months, reservoirs
should start to fill, he said.
But according to government ex
perts, the central part of the state needs
as much as a foot of rain to begin emerg
ing from the drought.
It would take 10-12 inches of rain in
North Texas in the next several days to
begin alleviating this year’s drought,
Ely said.
Travis Miller, a drought researcher
with the Texas Agriculture Extension
Service, said recent rains have not come
close to ending this year’s statewide
drought.
“We’ve got a ways to go as far as fill
ing soil (moisture) profiles,” Miller said.
The good news is that most reservoir
levels already have stopped falling, said
Leonard Olson, a spokesman for the
Texas Water Development Board.
“It has been sufficient to stop the de
cline but it is still the second lowest
we’ve been in 23 years of collecting
data,” he said.
Since July, reservoirs statewide have
lost 4.5 million acre feet of water, said
Ruben Solis, also of the Texas Water De
velopment Board.
“I'm cautiously
optimistic.”
— Skip Ely
meteorologist for National Weather
Service in Fort Worth
The recent storms appear to be re
versing the trend.
In San Antonio, the Edwards Aquifer
has risen 12 feet to 655 feet in the last 30
days, said Geary Schindel, chief technical
officer for the Edwards Aquifer Authority.
The aquifer still is 7.5 feet below nor
mal for this time of year, he said.
The relief comes as thunderstorms
moving across the state spawned torna
does, flooded roads and stranded mo
torists and students.
On Monday, the storms brought
pingpong ball-sized hail and at least two
tornadoes to the Panhandle and one in
the Concho Valley.
Five counties northwest of San An
tonio were flooded with as much as 6 1/2
inches of rain Sunday and Monday.
While rain is easing the drought, it is
not welcomed by all, especially by cot
ton farmers in West Texas.
Cotton farmer Tommy Fondren of
Lorenzo said the hard rain knocks cotton
bolls to the ground and renders them
worthless. The moisture also can discolor
the cotton with unsightly spots.
“It’s not a good thing for harvest,”
he said.
This year’s drought has wrought $1.1
billion in damage on state agriculture,
hitting West Texas cotton especially
hard, the state Agricultural Extension
Service reported last week.
Economists at Texas A&M Universi
ty estimate that cotton losses alone have
reached $485 million as fields, particu
larly those without irrigation systems,
withered under the summer’s record
spell of heat and lack of rain.
Bryan City Council
OKs patrol increase
Water supply increase needed
ByArati Bhattacharya
The Battalion
The Bryan City Council
on Tuesday granted police
officers permission to in
crease patrolling and at
tempted to increase the
city’s water supply and
standards.
Under the Safe and
Sober Selective Traffic En
forcement Program (S&S
STEP) the council adopted,
Bryan Mayor Lonnie Sta
bler will sign a “Texas Traf
fic Safety Program Grant
Agreement” in conjunction
with the Texas Department
of Transportation (Tx-
DOT). The program will be
authorized from October
until Sept. 30,2001. A sim
ilar program recently ap
proved by the College Sta
tion Council allows city
patrols to further regulate
reckless driving behavior at
selected busy intersections.
A 50-foot street between
Dale and Chigger streets
was also motioned to be
abandoned and vacated.
Stabler was further autho
rized to perform quit claim
deeds to the neighboring
adjacent property owners,
which will compensate res
idents for the street closure.
The council gave con
siderable attention to the
city’s water philosophy.
Jeannie Wigginton, a mem
ber of the Texas Natural
Resource Conservation
Commission (TNRCC) and
AWAA National Microbial
Disinfection Advisory
Group, said Bryan has su
perior water but further
steps can be taken.
See Bryan on Page 5.
-el