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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2000)
t two-yi ll’lb'* ai I.k' tor ;tf -I : hack ' thc |m'^ thebatt com suggest illion be:; lawmakerJ >n preverl. lout.SSdki WEDNESDAY November 1, 2000 Volume 107 ~ Issue 49 12 pages mmi * I i\ HI eik T i 4;Wli’ EMS proposes mercy clause Eddie Leal, 6, searches for candy in a pile of hay with the help of freshman biomedical science major Heather Vordo at a carnival in front of the Memorial Student Center on STUART VIUANEUVA/The Battalion Tuesday evening. The carnival was organized by the Resi dence Hall Association to provide safe Halloween fun for area children. By Sommer Bunge The Battalion The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is seeking Student Senate legis lation for a mercy clause to make stu dents immune from University punish ment when they call EMS seeking assistance for alcohol-related problems. Students who dial EMS for medical help in alcohol-related cases on the Texas A&M campus may face reper cussions from University officials, such as suffering possible losses of scholarships and funding. Officers from the University Police Department (UPD) monitor calls made to EMS and regularly respond to those involving students seeking emergency care for alcohol poisoning or overdose. UPD follows that procedure to ensure that EMS workers are safe when deal ing with inebriated students, said UPD Director Bob Wiatt. UPD does not issue citations to those in need of emergency care, but officers make a notation of the event in their re ports, Wiatt said. The notation is then sent to the Department of Student Life, where student records are kept on alco hol-related occurrences. Each time a student violates Univer sity rules on alcohol use, a letter is sent to the student’s parents, said Director of Student Life Brent Paterson. The letter describes health issues related to drug and alcohol use, and the student is in formed of the process, he said. Violation of any University rule that leads to the suspension of a student re sults in that student not being in good standing with the University, as outlined in the A&M student handbook. Such standing with the University may, in some cases, result in A&M withdraw ing a University scholarship during the student’s suspension, Patterson said. EMS Chief Jack Van Cleve voiced his-concerns before the general assem bly of the Residence Hall Association last week. Van Cleve, a senior commu nity health major, said the mercy clause exists on other college campuses and protects students seeking emergency care for alcohol-related incidents. Van Cleve met with Chad Wagner, speaker of the Student Senate and a ju nior political science major, who is sending his concerns to the committee tonight. Senators and members of the Student Services Committee are inves tigating the issues to determine whether legislation is in order. Van Cleve’s concerns arose in the spring after he received a phone call from the mother of a student whom EMS had treated for high levels of in toxication. The mother questioned the policy of calling police to the scene and told him that her son could lose his See EMS on Page 5. nicure Manicure! Design hase rust Irazos County Courthouse Arena Hall Galilee Baptist Church 136 and 146 MSC College Station I.S.D Administrative Offices Lane calls for support of2002 Bonfire By Brady Creel & Elizabeth Raines The Battalion Almost one year after the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse, members of Keep The Fire Burning (KTFB) have can celed their plans for an off- campus bonfire. Amid con troversy concerning his leadership role, Student Body President Forrest Lane is encouraging students to fo cus their energy and time on planning for a successful 2002 Aggie Bonfire. Lane said that he knows some students are still cam paigning for changes in the parameters set forth by A&M President Dr. Ray M. Bowen for Bonfire 2002, but he said their efforts are futile. “I don’t understand advo cating something that won’t be changed,” Lane said. “The parameters will not be changed.” Becky Bartschmid, a sophomore journalism ma jor, organized a petition be seeching Bowen to reinstate cut, increase student in volvement and allow a Bon fire in 2001. Bartschmid is soliciting signatures in the MSC breezeway this week. KTFB board members have spoken out against Lane, accusing him of pur suing personal interests and those of the administration, instead of those of the stu dents. When asked about re fusing to represent KTFB, Lane said, “Our doors have been open the whole time.” He denied accusations of representing administrators’ opinions. Despite the media circus that has trailed KTFB in the past six months, Lane said only a handful of students came to his office to voice their concerns. Will Clark, a KTFB board member, accused Lane of ly ing about telling students he "J don't understand advocating something that won't be changed. The parameters will not be changed." would riot represent them to A&M administrators. Clark said Lane told a student he would not present a petition to the administration, despite his policy of addressing is sues raised by students. “They asked if a majority, or if, in theory, all of the stu dents signed that petition, would he take it to the admin istration and represent the stu dents, and he said ‘no,’ ’’Clark said after the Bonfire forum held Sunday. Lane said misunderstand ings clouded his intentions; he said he has and will con tinue to advocate student views, but would not champi on KTFB’s cause. “I think they want me to be a sponsor — almost a leader — and I’ve said ‘no,’ ” Lane said, explaining that he would represent but not endorse KTFB. “We have to be some what objective.” Lane said many people have talked about his role as a student representative, yet he has not been given any petitions, nor have many students met with him. But, if petitions are brought to him, he said, he will take See LANE on Page 2. art residents ay get cooler urvey says 70percent oppose 175 fcion Rd Sommer Bunge <e Battalion In a survey conducted i|y Hart Hall Council [resident Stephen llaskey, nearly 70 per- lent of the hall opposed Jdding air conditioning to Hart. Despite those re sults, Blaskey recom- [tended Tuesday to Di- dor of Residence Life ton Sasse that Hart be- )me an air-conditioned [all beginning in Fall [002. Only 26 percent of the Residents supported be coming air-conditioned. Hit Blaskey found that learly 85 percent of [hose opposed to the pro- )osal were upperclass- ten who would not be [ffected by the transition pair conditioning. “It turns out that the People who will be here, tnd who it will actually iffect, do want this to tappen,” Blaskey said, Personally disagreeing with the proposal but ac knowledging that he must represent what the residents want. “It turns out that the people who will be here and it will actually af fect do want this to happen.” — Stephen Blaskey Hart Hall Council President In September, Sasse sent Blaskey’s proposal requesting input on the possible air conditioning of the hall. At the begin ning of Fall 2000, Hart had nearly 40 vacancies, Sasse said. He said that the University has lost money for programs and funding due to lost rent income. Residence halls are not subsidized by state funding. Following the success of Walton Hall’s conver sion to air conditioning this fall, Sasse gave Blaskey and the Hart Hall Council until Tuesday to respond to his proposal, which would likely fill the vacancies in Hart. Blaskey, a senior civil engineering major, sur veyed Hart residents to de termine the hall’s response to Sasse’s proposal. Hart’s community is built on open doors, run ning fans and congregat ing in the air-conditioned lounge, Blaskey said, ex plaining why most older residents felt air condi tioning was unnecessary and could potentially hurt the community. “A big part of Hart is the first two weeks when a student comes to live See Hart on Page 5. Gore focuses on economic boom Environment, armed forces, surplus also important campaign issues By Stephen Metcalf The Battalion Even though the White House gained an overwhelm ingly high approval rating over the past eight years, Democra tic presidential candidate Vice President A1 Gore is not look ing to blindly continue the ac tions and policies of the Clin ton administration. Indeed, Gore has spent much of his campaign speaking with voters in an attempt to convey who he is, where he comes from and what his own policies entail. Although Gore’s campaign li If has emphasized the economic (p It boom the country has enjoyed since he took the vice presi dential office in 1993, Gore is using events throughout his lifetime to illustrate how he will bring his own legacy to the White House. As the son of former U.S. Sen. Albert Gore Sr., Gore Jr. spent much of his early years splitting time between Washington, D.C., and his family’s farm in Carthage, Tenn. He grad uated with honors from Harvard University with a degree in government in 1969 and promptly enlisted voluntarily in the Army and served as an reporter in Vietnam. After return ing from Vietnam, Gore studied religion at Vanderbilt University before becoming a po lice and city hall reporter for The Tennessean in Nashville. Gore also had a brief stint at Van derbilt Law School before getting elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976. He served in the House until he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984, where he stayed until he took the office of the Vice President in 1993. Gore sought the Democratic presidential nom ination in 1988 and won Democratic primaries and caucuses in seven states. Throughout his current campaign, Gore has drawn on these experiences in an attempt to relate to voters. Alison Friedman, director of Students for Gore at the Gore campaign headquarters, emphasized the importance Gore places on the environment. “A1 Gore has spent his lifetime working on an environmental policy that is more forward- looking and deals with issues such as global warming,” Friedman said. Eight years ago Gore wrote Earth in the Balance, a book that describes the perils of global warming. According to The Economist, Gore supports a strong government-led ap proach to dealing with air and water pollution. He also backs a $7.8 billion effort to clean up the Everglades in Florida and seeks to enlist the cooperation of the Big Three automakers to triple the fuel efficiency of vehicles. At the National Guard Association of the United States General Conference, the vice president cited his past experience in the armed services and as a congressman as evidence that defense is a priority in his campaign. “My own experiences gave me strong, un shakable beliefs about our obligation to keep our national defenses strong,” Gore said in a Sept. 12 speech. “As a senator, I broke with my party and voted to support the Gulf War Vice President Al Gore is pushing the eco nomic boom in his campaign. when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait — because I believed America’s vital interests were at stake.” Gore maintains that the armed forces should be updated with the latest tactical weaponry and must be ready to promote mis sions of peace and stability. The fate of a projected $4.19 trillion, 10-year federal budget surplus is also taking center See Gore on Page 5.