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HURSDAYOCTOBER 25, 2001
1 SECTION • 12 PAGES
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3lue tag owners get
lew parking option
Students with blue com-
Jiuter parking tags may use
tOWD 1 16 diversity Center Parking
jarage for no charge from
30 p.m. to midnight most
a cemetery Jonday through Thursday
venings starting Oct. 29,
ccording to Parking, Traffic
nd Transportation Services
PITS) officials.
Angela Newman, PTTS
movements ij 1 * ormat ' on representative,
aid the time has been
hanged to benefit students
dthcommuter tags.
“Previously, students with
ommuter permits could
lark in the University Center
larage after 6 p.m.. but that
ime now has been changed
ar the remainder of the fall
amester and again during
he spring semester from
;30 p.m. to midnight,"
lewman said. “The decision
.
could be
night in hi
vhere Israeli ti .. , ,
. a few k,l« !* w stud . ents ,0 ,P ar y ,n
the Church nf 1 he g ara § e at an earlier time
ras made to accommodate
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ated Press; ESRI
:ommuter students and
members of student organi-
:ations who have early
ivening meetings.”
Special events, such as
ISC OPAS performances
md other events that fill visi-
or parking available in the
Jniversity Center Garage,
nay interfere with parking at
imited times during the
semester, Newman said.
“Should this be the case,
notification will be posted in
advance of the events," she
said.
for more information on
timing events related to
CITS, visit the Website at
filtp://www. ptts .tamu.edu.
PUBLIC EYE
Cases of domestic
violence reported
in Bryan in 2000
594
TODAY
msa
host town
Student groups
celebrate Halloween
by hosting haunted
houses
Page 7
!2.
3day!
Cgs upset UT,
head to TCU
Men’s swimming and
diving starts off
season well
OPINION
Page 11
Rock this
country world
• College Station
music should
‘globalize’ venues
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TODAY
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FORECASTS COURTESY OF
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Texas A&M University — Celebrating 125 Years
S E R V 1
N G
THE
TEXAS
A&M
C O M M U N
t I Y
S 1
1 N C E
18 9 3
Volume 108 • Issue 44 College Station, Texas www.thebatt.com
Breen family files lawsuit
Administrators targeted, family claims
Bonfire participation was encouraged
By Rolando Garcia &
Brandie Liffick
THE BATTALION
The family of Christopher
Breen, one of the 12 Aggies
killed in the 1999 Aggie Bonfire
collapse, sued Texas A&M and
five top administrators
Wednesday, including A&M
President Dr. Ray M. Bowen.
Filed in a U.S. District Court
in Galveston, the suit alleges the
University and the named
administrators violated Breen’s
constitutional rights by encour
aging participation in an activity
they knew was dangerous and
by refusing to correct safety
problems associated with
Bonfire.
The other defendants are
Vice President for Student
Affairs Dr. J. Malon
Southerland, Associate Vice
President for Student Affairs Dr.
Bill Kibler, Rusty Thompson,
the Bonfire advisor and John
Koldus, who was vice president
for student affairs from 1973 to
1993.
Steve DeWolf, the Breen
family’s attorney, said the fami
ly never has asked for financial
compensation from the
University. The Breen family
took legal action only as a last
resort because A&M officials
refused to meet with them until
after the two-year window to file
a lawsuit expires Nov. 18,
DeWolf said.
“All the family wanted was
for someone to step up to the
plate and take responsibility,”
DeWolf said. “It would be much
easier to let it go, but this is
about honor and dignity.”
The lawsuit asks for actual
and punitive damages.
University spokesperson
Cynthia Lawson declined to
comment.
The Bonfire stack col
lapsed Nov. 18, 1999, killing
1 1 students and Breen, a for
mer student, and injuring 27
others. Breen, 25, was a mem
ber of the Corps of Cadets
from 1992 to 1996 and gradu
ated in Dec. 1997.
DeWolf said the Breen fami
ly did not join the lawsuit filed
in March by the family of Jerry
Don Self, one of the Bonfire vic
tims, because they did not want
to include students as defen
dants. The Self case has not yet
come to trial.
“It’s the administrators, not
the students, that should be held
accountable, but all the
University did was blame the
students for the accident,”
DeWolf said.
The Breen family’s lawsuit
cites numerous internal docu
ments and memorandums to
argue that A&M administrators
See Lawsuit on page 2.
ESPN
reveals
direction
of show
By Brandie Liffick
THE BATTALION
ESPN officials said
Wednesday they are attempting
to comply with requests by
Texas A&M officials to redirect
the focus of “Sidelines” to A&M
football without losing their cre
ative independence in the
process.
Athletic Director Wally Groff
asked ESPN programming exec
utive Mark Shapiro to reconsid
er the subject matter of the
show, which in the second
episode, focused on the behav
ior of two intoxicated Biinn stu
dents and in the third episode,
focused on an apparent relation
ship between two former A&M
athletes, both females — who
are roommates.
Shapiro said ESPN crews
are not on campus to “sensa
tionalize.”
“We’re here to cover the cen
tral and peripheral characters
involved with football, college
living and the area,” Shapiro
said. “We can’t and won’t com
promise our editorial rights. But
Wally asked that we try to find a
See Sidelines on page 2.
Hoop dreams
Amber Roberts (shadowed), a sophomore special
education major, watches as junior molecular
and cell biology major Mike Yost goes to the hoop
for a shot at the Rudder Fountain area on
Wednesday. Students were given the opportunity
STUART VILLANUEVA • THE BATTALION
to experience what it is like to be disabled by par
ticipating in wheelchair basketball. The demon
stration was presented by NETWORKS, a student
organization that provides services for disabled
students.
MPO will decide the future
of railroad track alterations
By Elizabeth Raines
THE BATTALION
If the railroad that divides
West Campus from main cam
pus is not moved to an alternate
route, construction still will be
required to provide grade sepa
rations for the tracks at every
street intersection, officials say.
A grade separation currently
exists at the intersection of
Wellborn Road and University
Drive, where University cuts
under Wellborn and the railroad.
Leaders of Bryan-College
Station Metropolitan Planning
Organization (MPO) talked to
students on campus Wednesday
about the Local Rail Economic
Feasibility and Location Study
and the four alternate routes
explored in the study.
Moving the railroad to the
median of State Highway 47
would cost $131.4 million, said
MPO Director Michael Parks.
Routing the railroad through
Burleson County would cost
$181.1, and moving the tracks to
the Bryan bypass is estimated to
cost $98.7 million. The fourth
alternative, called the “no
build,” would leave the existing
track but at some time in the
future allow for grading of all
street-railroad intersections as a
safety measure, Parks said.
“We are hoping to gain some
more insight on public opinion
of this study,” Parks said. “We
want students to know that there
is this process, and if they
choose not to speak up, someone
else’s voice will be heard.”
Federal, state and local fund
ing would cover the costs of
rerouting, Parks said.
The campus meeting is the
fifth in a series of public meet
ings for the study, intended to
maximize the amount of resident
participation in the proposals.
Parks said.
The meeting began with a
brief presentation by Carter and
Burgess, the contract firm
involved in the rail study.
The audience was divided
into groups to discuss the layout
and location of the railroad
See MPO on page 12.
Track-shift
construction
begins next
summer
By Tanya Nading
THE BATTALION
Next summer, workers will
shift a 1,200-foot section of
railroad track to the west to
allow for construction on the
underground passageway,
Texas A&M officials said.
The passageway, which
will be 60 feet wide, will run
under Joe Routt Boulevard,
the railroad tracks and
Wellborn Road and emerge
near Kyle Field and the to-be-
built parking garage, said Vice
President for Administration
Charles Sippial.
See TRACKS on page 2.
ALTERNATIVE f |
EXISTING 58
CONDITIONS S
STATE HWY. 47
BURLESON
COUNTY
BRYAN BYPASS
ADRIAN CALCANEO • THE BATTALION
PTTS in
search
of new
director
By Amanda Smith
THE BATTALION
Following the replacement of
Parking, Traffic and
Transportation Services’ (PTTS)
director Tom Williams this
month. Vice President for
Administration Chuck Sippial
has begun the preliminary stages
of choosing a new director for
the department.
Assistant Vice President for
Administration Bobby Bisor is
serving as the interim director of
PTTS, which had been under the
direction of Tom Williams since
the department’s inception more
than a decade ago.
Sippial said he sent out one
letter Wednesday appealing to
various organizations, including
student organizations, to appoint
a person to serve on the screen-
ii
I will be looking
for strong manage
ment and leadership
skills, as well as a
strong background in
customer service.
— Charles Sippial
vice president for A&M
administration
ing committee for the
University’s search for a director.
As vice president for admin
istration, Sippial oversees PTTS
operations.
The committee will be
responsible for narrowing down
the list of applicants that will
stem from a nationwide search,
Sippial said.
“The screening committee
and an outside firm will narrow
the list of candidates to three to
five individuals,” Sippial said.
The list will be submitted to
Sippial and Bisor, who will make
the final selection. Sippial said
he will be looking for the most
qualified individual to serve as
the director.
“I will be looking for strong
management and leadership
skills as well as a strong back
ground in customer service,”
Sippial said. “Parking has a set of
goals that are reviewed and
revised each year. In addition to
those, I am concerned with cus
tomer service, especially with
students, and changing the image
that the customers have of PTTS.
See PTTS on page 12.