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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 2001)
1 SECTION • 10 PAGES WEDNESDAYSEPTEMBER 5, 2001 I Texas A&M University — Celebrating 125 Years THE BATTALION SERVING THE TEXAS A&M COMMUNITY SINCE 1893 Volume 108 • Issue 9 NEWS IN BRIEF A&M engineering llean announces ftlans to retire ■ COLLEGE STATION (AP) - fcxas A&M's vice chancellor Bid dean of engineering. C. ■oland Haden, says he's enter- Hg his last year on the job. ■ Haden. 61. notified A&M ■hancellor Howard Graves Ind President Ray Bowen of ■is decision Monday to retire Hffective Aug. 31. 2002. I As vice chancellor, he over- Hees the Texas Engineering ■xperiment Station, the Texas ■ngineering Extension Service Ind the Texas Transportation listitute, as well as the Dwight ■ook College of Engineering. Tech to try for Guinness record I LUBBOCK (AP) - With ■ome help from Peggy Sue. ■exas Tech is aiming for the ■ecord books. ■ Attendees of Saturday's ■exas Tech-New Mexico ■ame at Jones SBC Stadium ■ill be asked to sing the ■950s Buddy Holly hit simul taneously during halftime. I If they pull if off. they will get a place in the Guinness look of Records for the largest sing-along. I The sing-along will con clude a four-day symposium on Buddy Holly, who was born in Lubbock. The CSPD-UPD Noise Task Force | responded to 15 loud parties, issued eight noise I citations, 41 MIP i citations and one disorderly conduct citation last Thursday, Friday and Saturday TODAY The final steps ’• There are several things students need to complete before they can take that final walk on the stage SPORTS at ^ Page 3 Ags pound UTSA • Volleyball squad improves to a perfect 5-0 OPINION | Page 9 Who passed go? Who collected $1 million? WEATHER TODAY 60% TOMORROW 30% 4 HIGH 91° F LOW 74° F HIGH 93° F LOW 74° F College Station, Texas www.thebatt.com FORECASTS COURTESY OF www.weathermanted.com Gramm will not seek re-election Staff & Wire Texas Republican Sen. Phil Gramm said Tuesday he will leave the Senat&at the end of his third term next year, closing out a career as an unflinching advocate of lower taxes and less government. “I have always been happy with the tax cuts I’ve sup ported,” Gramm said at a news con ference. where he sometimes grew emotional. He quickly added. “1 still believe that government is too big, too powerful and too expen sive and too intrusive,” and urged a capital gains tax cut this fall. Gramm, 59, said he has made no plans for life after politics. A former economics professor at Texas A&M, he sidestepped questions C.RAMM about the University’s presidency, which will become vacant when Bowen retires. “When this career is over. I’ll start thinking about a new one. 1 love Texas A&M ... Maybe it would be best if I weren't on their payroll. ... I've been in academics. Academic politics are a lot tougher than the pol itics I've been in,” he said. Brenda Sims, spokeswoman for the University System, said the presidential search committee will continue to accept applications for the position through Nov. 30, 2001. “We are very early in the search,” Sims said. “The 24 members on the search committee have only met twice. We don't have any nominees yet.” Gramm is the third Republican senator to disclose plans to retire in 2002. Jesse Helms, 79, of North Carolina, announced last month that his fifth term would be his last. Strom Thurmond, of South Carolina, is 98 and near the end of his career. A fourth Republican, Fred Thompson of Tennessee, has yet to declare his intentions. In all, there are 21 Republican seats on the ballot in 2002, compared to 14 for the Democrats, all of whose incumbents are expected to seek new terms. Democrats currently control the Senate, 50-49, with one independent, James Jeffords of Vermont, who cau cuses with them. In a statement. President George W. Bush, a fellow Texan, said Gramm “has been a consistent and committed advocate of tax relief for working Americans, beginning with his work on President Reagan’s tax cut in 1981 ... and continuing with his tireless efforts to pass this year’s monumental tax relief package.” Gramm was elected to the House of Representatives in 1978 as a Democrat. Appointed to the House Budget Committee by fellow Democrats in 1981, he worked secretly with Republicans to pass See Gramm on page 2. . - - — Saving thinks Gramm would make great A&M president COLLEGE STATION (,AP) — Tom Saving knows that Texas A&M is dear to his friend. Sen. Phil Gramm. “He loves this place,” said Saving, who was an economics professor at A&M when Gramm taught the subject from the 1960s through the late 1970s. “He always comes back.” Gramm's announcement Tuesday that he would not seek re-election next year fueled speculation that Gramm could return to A&M as president. Ray Bowen is stepping down as university presi dent in June. During his announcement in Washington, D.C.. Gramm. 59. said he has made no plans for life after politics. He sidestepped questions about A&M's presidency. Gramm has always had a special affinity for A&M and College Station. He met his second wife See SAVING on page 2. Construction causes need for new routes By Amanda Smith THE BATTALION Construction on the West Campus Parking Garage and the underground pedestrian pas sageway has started, making it necessary for buses, cars and pedestrians to find other routes to campus. The construction is expected to last two years. University offi cials said. “It takes about two good football seasons to complete the project,” said Tony Heger, direc tor of the facilities administra tion division. Parking, Traffic and Transportation Services (PTTS) has posted campus access points maps for the Fall 2001 semester through the Spring 2004 semes ter to provide members and guests of %ie Texas A&M com munity with a view of the con struction areas and better routes to campus. Tom Williams, PTTS director, said he advises students to take the bus to campus when commut ing from off campus. “We encourage off-campus students to ride the bus when it is convenient and when you desire to drive to campus, be certain you have the proper parking permit.” Williams advises accessing West Campus from FM 2818 using Raymond Stotzer Parkway or George Bush Drive to Olsen Boulevard. “Enter campus from the west and exit from the west,” Williams said. “Do not drive through cen tral campus. Use the shuttle buses.” Students are encouraged to avoid Wellborn Road and Joe Routt Boulevard, according to PTTS officials. A detour at Houston Street has been estab lished to reduce the number of vehicles exiting campus at the intersection of Old Main and Wellborn Road. PTTS is working with the City of College Station and the University Police Department to aid the traffic congestion because of road closures. “We expected congestion at Old Main and Wellborn as well as Wellborn and Kimbrough-Joe Routt,” Williams said. "The first See Construction on page 2. Officials suggest students use bus to avoid signals By Giselle Wallace THE BATTALION The average red light holds for two minutes in the early morning hours as northbound traffic heads toward the Texas A&M campus. College Station city officials said. Lee Robinson, traffic signals superintendent for College Station, said students should ride the bus to avoid these long lights in their morning commutes. “Students should take advan tage of the shuttles that the school provides to decrease traf fic,” Robinson said. “The morn ing is the busiest time of the day and the longest time traffic sig nals hold.” Lt. Dan Jones, public infor mation officer for the College See Commu ters on page 4. Campus tagging University Police Officer Craig Ellsworth looks at a student’s driver’s license as he prepares to engrave the license number onto the student’s BRETT MARETH • THE BATTALION bicycle. Officers will offer the free service today from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in front of the Memorial Student Center. Ags not giving Bonfire ’02 input By Sommer Bunce THE BATTALION Only three students have sub mitted responses at the Bonfire 2002 Website in the two weeks since the Bonfire 2002 Planning Group has posted its interim report for feedback. For student input to be incor porated into the design, safety and student leadership plans for Bonfire, more student response is a necessity, said planning group facilitator Bryan Cole. “We're looking to hear from as many folks as we can,” Cole said. “People need to identify the things they want from Bonfire, so . we can maybe work them in.” At the group’s Website, http://studentaffairs.tamu.edu/ bonfire02, Aggies can access and download a copy of the 61- page interim report, which details the planning group's activities over past semesters. The interim report also lists some initial conclusions reached by the planning group, including the proposed plan for student leadership in “Bonfire Academy” and recommenda tions that Bonfire be subject to an annual evaluation. To review the report and provide feedback, students can click on the “Bonfire 2002 Interim Report” link on the Website. Feedback forms are also available on the Website for input in specific task force areas, such as design and insti tutional culture. Though the Bonfire 2002 timeline is now “fluid” while a safety firm is chosen to aid in the design, Cole said he is confi dent that a Bonfire is still possi ble for 2002. “We’re still comfortable. Everything should be in place by the latest Feb. 1,” Cole said. The deadline for student feedback forms is Friday, Sept. 14. U.S., Mexico should work to ease cross-border inequality BRETT MARETH • THE BATTALION Students are now advised by University Police officers to press the “Walk” button before crossing over to West Campus. UPD now is ticketing students who cross without a Walk signal. WASHINGTON (AP)— President Bush, play ing down the failure to reach a U.S.-Mexican immigration agreement, said Tuesday that the state visit of Mexican President Vicente Fox is “a great beginning for a relationship that will contin ue to evolve over time.” Bush will greet Fox on Wednesday with a White House honors ceremony and the first state dinner of his presidency. Bush said their meetings will provide a better understanding of Mexico, the possibility of a change of the annual U.S. evaluation of Mexico’s performance on fighting drugs, better cooperation on law enforcement and a commitment from Fox to extradite U.S. fugitives. Also, he said. Fox’s visit will help sell Congress on many issues, including the importance of immigrant workers to the national economy. * “The Mexican people ought to be pleased with President Fox and his relationship with the United See Mexico on page 4.