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• The environment
• Juvenile justice
• Poverty
• Peace
• Violence
College students are more con
cerned with idealistic and social
issues than older Americans. Ac
cording to a report done at the
National Youth Convention,
these are the most relevant issues
to young Americans.
wMm- 1 • • •
RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion
Candidates
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By Si ephen Metcalf
The Battalion
With elections a little
more than a week away,
candidates are scrambling
to motivate people to sup
port them at the polls. De
spite the push, many col
lege students, such as
Elaine Liao, a senior ac
counting major, question
whether candidates care
about appealing to young
people or even seek to ad
dress issues that concern
them.
“They really are not
trying to focus on appeal
ing to our age group, to
begin with,” Liao said.
“They don't think we mat
ter because we live in this
bubble and we don’t keep
informed. It’s probably
our own fault. I don’t
think that a lot of us go out
and vote, and they try and
appeal to the people they
think will vote.”
Voter apathy among
people between the ages
of 18 and 24 is signifi
cantly higher than that of
other age groups. Accord
ing to the Website
www.rockthevote.com,
less than one in three peo
ple in the 18-to-24 age
group will vote. In stark
contrast, two out of three
people between the ages
of 65 and 74 will vote.
Chelsea Allen, a senior
speech communication
major, attributes the dis
crepancy to a lack of uni
fying experiences for
young people.
“We never had to watch
our country fight a long
war, whereas older people
have, and as a result they
have a lot of patriotism
and appreciation for their
rights, which makes vot
ing important to them,”
Allen said.
Liao said that many
people do not believe they
can make a difference.
“I think there are so
many obstacles in the way
that it really doesn't mat
ter if one person votes or
not,” Liao said. “Life will
go on. Someone else will
vote. I think that is the
mentality many people
have in college.”
Jennifer Fitzgerald, also
a senior accounting major,
reiterated Liao’s point.
“Older people have ex
perience, and they know
what they stand for,” she
said. “They consider their
vote as meaning more.
They realize how impor
tant it is to have a voice.
Young people say they
want a voice, but do we
really take time to go vote
or take time to know the
issues?”
Fitzgerald and Liao also
lamented the process of
registering to vote.
“It is such a hassle,”
Fitzgerald said, “especial
ly for college students who
See Issues on Page 5.
MONDAY
October 30, 2000
Volume 107 ~ Issue 47
10 pages
lomii it • i AKijfl k’i 4; M i It
concerning
ge studenis:
KTFB calls off 2000 bonfire
By Sommer Bunge
The Battalion
Keep The Fire Burning (KTFB)
announced Friday that it will not
build an off-campus bonfire in 2000.
Due to time restraints and prob
lems with insurance the group de
cided not to follow through with its
Nov. 22 bonfire plans.
KTFB could have proceeded with
cut this weekend and finished in time
for the planned burning of the stack,
but that would have left “a lot of
room for error,” said KTFB board
member Will Clark.
Texas A&M President Dr. Ray M.
Bowen imposed a two-year morato
rium on Aggie Bonfire in May after
the Special Commission on the 1999
Aggie Bonfire released its report on
the Bonfire collapse. KTFB, which
originally formed to oppose the abo
lition of Bonfire, announced in Au
gust plans for a student-built, off-
campus bonfire.
KTFB cited the safety of its
smaller-scaled design and promised
strict enforcement of anti-alcohol
and safety regulations at cut and
stack sites. It continued its plans un
til the group was faced with insur
ance problems earlier this month,
causing it to cancel plans for first cut.
Clark said Aggie Bonfire’s bad
safety record contributed to the dif
ficulty in insuring the KTFB bon
fire. He said that putting together an
insurance plan to protect the student
workers took longer than the group
expected.
“The way the University has ad
dressed safety issues in the past
meant we had to prove everything
we were planning [to the insurance
companies],” Clark said. “Separat
ing ourselves from the University
[Bonfire] was really tough; their ne
glect for safety issues put a shadow
on us. No matter how safe we went
about it, insurance companies
would look at [what was done at Ag
gie Bonfire in the past] and say,
‘That could happen.’ ”
KTFB submitted detailed maps of
the bonfire’s location, safety manuals
and carefully worded procedure plans
to insurance companies for review.
Insurers met with the group before
consulting industry professionals to
See Bonfire on Page 5.
Advocates question
Lane's leadership
By Sommer Bunge & Brady Creel
The Battalion
Members of Keep The Fire Burning (KTFB)
made an appearance Sunday at an open forum in
tended for discussion of plans for Aggie Bonfire
2002 and questioned Student Body President For
rest Lane’s accurate representation of the Texas
A&M Student Body.
Questions focused on the Bonfire planning
committee and regulations for the 2002 blaze.
However, KTFB board member Will Clark led the
inquiry in a different direction.
See KTFB on Page 2.
Aggies tame Wildcats
email
m
atmum
CHAD ADAMS/The Battalion
Cornelius Anthony puts the "hurt" on Kansas State The Aggies went on to defeat K-State 26-10 in front
tight end Brian Casey, during the game Saturday. of a crowd exceeding 80,000.
Class of ’95 gift dedicated
By Noel Freeman
The Battalion
Aggies now have a per
manent memorial to reflect
the meaning and significance
of one of the most hallowed
Texas A&M traditions: Aggie
Muster.
The Muster Memorial, de
signed by A&M professor of
architecture Dr. Rodney C.
Hill, is the gift of the Class of
’95. It was formally presented
to A&M by Class of ’95
agents Jennifer Watkins
Blackmon and Matt Upton in
a short, simple ceremony fol
lowing the Texas A&M vs.
Kansas State football game on
Saturday. The memorial is
west of the Academic Build
ing, across the flower mound
from the Silver Taps memori
al, also designed by Hill.
The memorial, which
stands about 7 feet tall, is
topped by a sculpture of two
hands, one male and one fe
male, each holding a candle,
representing the exchange of
light that occurs April 21 at
Muster ceremonies around the
world. The base of the memo
rial describes the history of
Aggie Muster. Hill’s son and
daughter-in-law, both mem
bers of the Class of ’91, served
as models for the hands.
Shaffer Art Foundry of
Arlington casted the sculp
ture from the form created
by Hill. The base was creat
ed by Timeworks in College
Station.
The gift was the end result
of a campaign by the Class of
’95 that raised approximate
ly $95,000. The class will use
$50,000 of those funds to
create a Muster endowment.
“This gift reflects the
See Gift on Page 5.
College Station train depot begins construction
Groundbreaking ceremony marks second phase for the building Aggie artisfs gallery
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A/ork
nu.ed u
in an
om
By Elizabeth Raines
The Battalion
A groundbreaking ceremony
ook place on Saturday, marking
he second phase of construction
rf a replica of the College Station
rain depot. It will be used as a
gallery by Benjamin Knox, self-
lescribed as the “Texas Aggie
\rtist.”
“I am rebuilding the College
Station train depot because it is
uch a unique landmark,” Knox
aid. “I am excited to present it to
Texas A&M and the city of College
Station.”
The train depot served as the pri-
nary mode of transportation to and
'rom College Station for approxi-
nately 70 years. The depot re
vived its name from train conduc
tors announcing the stop at A&M
as the “college station.”
“I am excited to
present it to
Texas A&M and
the city of College
Station”
— Benjamin Knox
Artist
“The depot held a special role in
Aggie history and tradition until the
use of the automobile replaced train
travel as a more convenient mode of
transportation,” said Kara Wilson-
Anglin, executive director of the
Benjamin Knox Gallery.
The city of College Station was
chartered in 1938 and got its name
from the depot. By 1958, the depot
was no longer in use, and it was torn
down in 1966.
“I remember catching the train at
the depot when I was little,” said
Royce Hickman, president of the
College Station Chamber of Com
merce. “I am so proud of Benjamin
for bringing it back.”
The gallery will be located at
405 University Drive, directly
across the street from Knox’s cur
rent gallery. In June, Knox ap
pealed to the College Station City
Council to rezone the location for
his new gallery. The city council
COURTESY OF BENJAMIN KNOX
Benjamin Knox's gallery is scheduled to open October 2, 2001. The
gallery will be a replica of the bid College Station train depot.
rezoned the land so Knox could
build the new gallery there.
At a September signing appear
ance, Knox announced his plans
for the depot replica and unveiled
four new prints. Salek from the
print titled “The College Station”
will help fund construction costs.
The opening of the new gallery
is scheduled to coincide with
A&M’s 125th anniversary — Oct.
2, 2001.
Kursk sub
divers find
additional
victims
SEVEROMORSK, Russia (AP)
— Venturing further inside the
sunken Kursk nuclear submarine,
divers recovered more bodies Sunday
from amid the jagged metal and silt
that fill the wreck stuck in the Arctic
depths.
The number and identity of the
bodies remained unclear, Russian
naval officials said, apparently be
cause the remains were badly dam
aged.
All 118 men on the Kursk were
killed after it was shattered by an ex
plosion and crashed to the Barents Sea
floor on Aug. 12. As the slow, solemn
recovery work continued, a mourning
ceremony for the Kursk submariners
was held Sunday in the closed Russian
military town of Severomorsk.
Remains of four Kursk sailors were
recovered last week; and four caskets,
draped with the white-and-blue flag of
the Russian Navy, were carried atop
armored personnel carriers into a sea
front square under a cold, clear sky.
Taking off their hats, Russian sailors
dropped to one knee in the snow that
had fallen on the Arctic town. A long,
low horn of farewell sounded from the
warships bristling with antennas and
cannons in the harbor.
66
This is very hard.
But I think it is
necessary. Our
children
deserved this”
— Zoya Dudko
Mother of victim
“This is very hard,” said Zoya Dud
ko, whose 30-year-old son Sergei was
among the crew. “But I think it is nec
essary. Our children deserved this.”
The names and ranks of all 118 of
ficers and sailors were read out, and
Dudko burst into tears when she heard
her son’s name. A few steps away, the
young widow of Lt. Dmitry
Kolesnikov, Olga, looked out over the
square, her eyes fixed on the sun hang
ing low over the horizon.
A note found in Kolesnikov’s pock
et when his body was recovered
Wednesday told a horrifying story of
23 survivors gathering in the subma
rine’s ninth compartment, hoping to
get out through a jammed escape hatch.
Based on that note, Russian and
Norwegian divers worked through
Saturday night to cut a hole in the hull
above the compartment at the stern of
the submarine. But the thick rubber
and steel would not yield, said Vadim
Serga, a Northern Fleet spokesman in
Severomorsk.
The divers were forced to enter
through a hole they had cut earlier in
the eighth compartment and grope
their way along narrow passages into
the ninth, he said. There, the divers
found several more bodies.