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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 2001)
fl’UESDAVSEPTEMBER 11, 2001 2 SECTIONS • 14 PAGES epiembtrr 10 fv/ from Pt? •he same <fc fine plus the -•>>• spend at; ; judge the: • ng people •ake care (rfj : being aroj •> Marshal! I highly rtc pay the fme>: v period.! lor less exi amnesty Tcement “ly pursue em in jail if ibertson ■xact nu udents w nts is unki d it is noti ■ of the loti tmedy, a set udies majot id a parku two week nnesty tvmg their fe neds said ;ir.” member of Public Sc (FTAi prep members ti/ens wi4 nts to the n/en lea an outst I not be ills iser's lice >f state dr | e until allt full. Burton ut standing .Isantage cl to pav ous not going nd. “I kno» umalic for erytimethr isirs abotfli to jail, te: it. It will, n do. M i i through i" 1 I am fe eacher Di-' e more • ■riously. 1 furniture. 1 doors awi said Ji late agent. ffl > • • FOR nmissiofli ember 12 15-305L print- iLItf IEDS 0569 3UR AD NEWS IN BRIEF Perry to declare lisaster area in lee County BEEVILLE, Texas (AP) Gov. Rick Perry said onday he will declare flooded areas in Bee ounty disaster areas, Mowing the area to qual ify for federal assistance |hrough the Federal mergency Management dministration. “Paperwork is on its ay," Perry said in a tory on the Corpus hristi Caller-Times inline edition. “As soon is we get it, it will be igned.” Scores of homes in the kidmore area were fooded and schools were hut down after rains two f eeks ago dumped more i foot of water on some reas of Bee County. “We’re going to have these issues addressed lis quickly as humanly ipossible,” Perry said. Skidmore resident Pat Aguirre, whose home was ooded, said she is thankful that Perry intends to sign the decla ration. She’s been living in her house since the floods and has been worried about mold problems. ~ f.Yi. Number of freshmen in the Corps of Cadets Fall 2001 682 PUBLIC EYE TODAY Page 3A Breakaway Christian service and music Page 1B Johnson ‘indefinitely’ • Aggie senior wide receiver sidelined by spleen injury Page 5B A (very) bad idea * Granting amnesty status to illegal immigrants misguided, unfair WEATHER TODAY TOMORROW HIGH 89° F LOW 67° F HIGH 91° F LOW 64° F FORECASTS COURTESY OF www.weathermanted.com IVv Texas A&M University — Celebrating 125 Years SERVING THE TEXAS A&M COMMUNITY SINCE 1893 Volume 108 • Issue 13 College Station, Texas www.thebatt.com Smooth hands CODY WAGES • THE BATTALION Larissa Levenberger, an employee at University Plus and a senior com- program runs Monday through Thursday from noon to 10 p.m. and munity health major, throws clay on a pottery wheel. The University Plus Friday and Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. TKE pledge removed Student Life to investigate possible sexual orientation discrimination By BRANDIE LlFFICK THE BATTALION A Fall 2001 pledge of social fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) was removed from the organization Saturday — only hours after he had accepted its “bid" — because other fraterni ty members learned that he is gay, the student said. An inves tigation has been launched by the Texas A&M Department of Student Life. Clay Cunningham was invit ed to become an associate mem ber of the fraternity Saturday, and a group of pledges gathered at the Dixie Chicken that after noon. At that time, Cunningham said, he was confronted about his sexual orientation and asked to turn in his pledge jersey and leave the fraternity. Cunningham, a junior politi cal science major, said he was asked by rush chairman Patrick Terramiggi if he belonged to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Aggies (GLBTA), a campus organization. “I told him that I was gay, and he said that if I was a mem ber of TKE, that it would ruin their organization,” Cunningham said. “It would decimate their pledge class and make them look bad when compared to the rest of the fraternities.” Cunningham said he walked shirtless out of the bar where the new pledges had gathered. Terramiggi could not be reached for comment. Thomas Danner, president of TKE and a senior agricultural eco nomics major, said Cunningham was asked to turn in his jersey because of dishonesty. “He was not asked to leave the fraternity,” Danner said, citing a release from the organization’s national headquarters. “He was asked to turn in his jersey because he misrepresented himself. He was not forthright about the activ ities he engaged in,” Danner said. “TKE does not discriminate based on sex, race, religion or sex ual orientation,” Danner added. Cunningham has filed a com plaint with the Department of Student Life and the Office of Gender Issues. See TKE on page 2A. Black woman twice rejected from all-white Univ. Alabama sorority TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — A black woman’s attempt to join a white sorority at the University of Alabama has been reject ed for the second straight year. Melody Twilley, a 3.87 grade-point-average student who sings first soprano in the campus choir, was notified Sunday that she was not being invited to join any of the 15 all-white sororities. Twilley also was rejected for membership last fall, when she hoped to become the first black to be accepted into one of the school’s 37 white fraternities and sororities. A woman who described herself as being half-black, Christina Houston, said last week that she broke the color barrier at Alabama last year by join ing a previously all-white sorority. Gamma Phi Beta. Twilley, 18, was the only black to seek membership in a white See Sororities on page 6A. Senate opposes new fee increase By Justin Smith THE BATTALION The Faculty Senate recom mended adding new courses to the Texas A&M curriculum Monday, and senators expressed their objection to A&M President Dr. Ray M. Bowen’s proposed “excel lence fee.” Bowen spoke with faculty senators about the $30-per- semester-hour excellence fee that has been proposed to the A&M System Board of Regents in response to a lack of state funding. The proposed fee would be levied on all incoming under graduate, graduate and trans fer students beginning Fall 2002. An alternative would be to add a $10 fee to all current and future students’ tuition, Bowen said. Bowen explained that the University will lose more than $6 million this year and will continue to if this fee increase does not pass. The state did not appropriate enough funds to A&M. he said. “The belief is that we are rich, so we are not given as much money as we need,” Bowen said. “There also is not enough money to go around to all the universities in the state.” Budget cuts may be a last resort for the University next fiscal year, Bowen said. Though undefined, budget cuts could include dropping parts of Bowen’s Vision 2020 plan. The $30 fee increase could bring in more than $9 million in 2002. Many faculty senators were opposed to making gradu ate students pay the fee. Adding additional fees to graduate students’ fees would only make the problem worse, faculty senators said. Some senators said students would rather go to other universities where they would not have to pay and could still get a quality education. In other business, several new courses were approved to be added to the curriculum. New See Senate on page 6A. MPO railroad route study to be completed June 2002 Mumford Bryan M. 12-2 Alignment Nodes Name |/f. 10-2 Exstlng Track (No Build) Wellborn SH 47 Route A, B, F, H, CC. GG, BB, R Burleson County Route 10-2 - East A, CC, GG, BB, R Hail Alignment Alternatives May 2001 Proposed Alignments Legend SOURCE: WWW.BCSMPO.ORG By Elizabeth Raines THE BATTALION A study conducted by the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) determining possible alterna tive routes for the railroad that runs through the Texas A&M campus will not be completed until June 2002. The Local Rail Economic Feasibility and Relocation Study was expected by Sept. 30. The change of date follows new guidelines from the Federal Highway Administration that require the MPO to conduct more extensive environmental studies on the proposed routes. The study began in February 1998 to locate the best rail route for Brazos County. Over the course of the study, the MPO narrowed the 23 alternative rail routes to four possible routes, which include one that follows Highway 47 and one that runs through Burleson county. MPO Director Michael Parks said that although the study should be com pleted by January 2002, he wanted to give the MPO and the contractors. Carter and Burgess Inc., enough time to deal with any unexpected situations. “Whenever we reach a milestone in the project there are new questions,” Parks said. “We have to be prepared for the unexpected.” The federal government requires three separate levels of environmental assessments before a project can receive federal funding. Parks said. The size of the project determines the level of assessment the government requires. The Highway Administration requires an Environmental Impact Statement for a project the size of the rail plan. For each proposed route, the MPO must assess the environmental situation, record possible problems and create a plan to repair any envi ronmental damage the new routes could cause. Parks said. See MPO on page 2A.