HURSDAYNOVEMBER 8, 2001
Texas A&M University — Celebrating 125 Years
2 SECTIONS • 14 PAGES
nee.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Safety firm set
to sign on for
Bonfire 2002
B xas A&M’s Bonfire 2002
ning group is one step
piser to a deal with a safety
officials say.
he unnamed, New York-
d safety firm should sign
the planning group
rsday or Friday, said
ring Committee Facilitator
Ian Cole. A safety firm is nec-
ry for the work of Bonfire
12 planners to continue,
he planning group was
gued by setbacks after
other safety firms backed
of negotiations this year,
hough the late sign-on will
Ish back timelines for
Jnfire planning, Cole said
| is still optimistic about the
Issibility of Bonfire burning
2002.
Federal grand
jury indicts man
in anthrax hoax
ANTONIO (AP) - A
beral grand jury indicted
llliam Oneal Holden of Fair
Iks, Texas, on Wednesday,
tcusing him of an anthrax
lax aimed at a person he
been feuding with,
folden, 51, is charged
|ith mailing a threatening
ommunication.
folden said the mailing
jas a joke.
iHoWen could face up to
five years in prison and a fine
\bf $250,000 for the federal
fferrse. He remains free on
5 bond.
PUBLIC EYE
<r
m.
Unemployment
ates for Sept. 2001
Houston
5.6%
College Station
1.8%
TODAY
AGGIEUFE
Page 3A
First comes
love, then
comes
graduation
SPORTS
Page 1B
2001 Texas
A&M Basketball
OPINION
Page 5B
Between
the lines
• University Drive is a
dangerous crossing
WEATHER
SERVING THE TEXAS A&M CO MMUNITY SINCE 1893
Volume 108 • Issue 54
College Station, Texas
www.thebatt.com
Charges
not filed
in Tech
mayhem
By Brady Creel
THE BATTALION
Lubbock County District
Attorney Bill Sowder said
Wednesday that he will not pursue
criminal charges against fans
involved in the Texas Tech-Texas
A&M post-game brawl Saturday.
“You could conduct a five-
month investigation and produce
some proof on some folks, but 1
don't think the circumstances war
rant that,” Sowder said.
Sowder said Dr. Mike
McKinney, chief of staff for Gov.
Rick Perry and father of A&M
senior center Seth McKinney, will
not press charges against Reginald
Wallace, the A&M student who hit
McKinney in the eye. McKinney
received eight stitches.
Sowder said Tech and A&M
officials are conducting their own
investigations, which are sufficient.
“We will leave it up to the insti
tutions to handle it,” Sowder said.
Dean of Student Life Dr. Dave
Parrott is heading the A&M inves
tigation. His focus is on the scuffle
between McKinney and Wallace, a
senior kinesiology major.
Wallace voluntarily spoke with
Parrott Tuesday. Students who are
forthcoming and open may be
treated less harshly, Parrot said,
but are not relieved from responsi
bility for their actions in the brawl.
Generally, in a situation involv
ing a student’s off-campus behav
ior, further investigation is recom
mended through Student Conflict
Resolution Services. Parrott said he
did not know whether this incident
would warrant sending Wallace
through that channel.
“It's too early to say distinc
tively where this will go” Parrott
said. “The young man told me it
was a situation that was emotion
al, he became involved in it and
realized that his involvement was
unwise. He’s doing the honorable
thing in coining forward.”
Cindy Rugeley, vice chancellor
for news and information at Tech,
said Tech officials will be examin
ing video tapes from Saturday’s
post-game melee and are asking
students who were involved to
come forward.
“So far, seven have,” Rugeley
said. “We anticipate a bunch more.
I don’t think any of this is going to
lead to expulsions or suspensions.”
Rugeley described Tech’s
investigation as “the most publi
cized investigation in the world.”
“Part of the good that can come
out of this is to serve as an educa
tional function,” Rugeley said.
Tech administrators are consid
ering three levels of punishment,
depending on students’ levels of
involvement: those who joined the
crowd on the field, students who
See Tech on page 6B.
Electric light show
GUY ROGERS • THE BATTALION
The carnival lights for more than 20 rides filled the sky above the Amusement carnival will host rides, games and other activities
the Post Oak Mall parking lot Tuesday night. The Wrights through Sunday night.
A&M student found dead
Cause of death unknown pending release of autopsy report
By Melissa Sullivan
THE BATTALION
A Texas A&M student was found dead
in his College Station apartment Oct. 30
after a friend reported she had not heard
from him in days. College Station Police
Department officials said.
Keith Alan Burr, 21, a sophomore
physics major from Spring, Texas, may
have been dead for three or four days, said
Lt. Rodney Sigler. Sigler said he could not
comment on the cause of death pending the
release of an autopsy report.
Burr’s friend contacted the manager of
the apartment complex at 1804
Yellowstone Circle. The manager entered
the apartment and called the police when
Burr’s body was found.
“They walked in, and it was obvious he
was dead,” Sigler said.
The Texas A&M Department of Student
Life listed Burr’s date of death as Oct. 25
or 26. Burr’s mother, Janice, was not able
to be reached for comment.
A memorial service was held Nov. 3 in
The Woodlands, Texas, and. a graveside
service was held Monday.
Burr will be honored at the Dec. 4
Silver Taps.
RHA approves resolution
supporting Bonfire 2002
By C.E. Walters
THE BATTALION
The Residence Hall
Association (RHA) approved
a resolution supporting
Bonfire 2002 Wednesday at
their general assembly. The
motion was tabled on Oct. 24
so delegates could return to
their halls to confer with
residents.
The original proposal rec
ommended that the Student
Service Fee Advisory Board
spend a budget surplus of $ 1.1
million to fund Bonfire.
Representatives debated on
whether or not to amend the
proposition after it was dis
covered that the deadline for
suggestions had passed and
there was no possibility of the
money being spent on Bonfire.
“This just makes us seem
like we didn’t get our stuff in
in time, which we didn’t,”
said RHA representative and
freshman general studies
major Amanda Ramos.
While some RHA members
expressed concern that the pro
posal was not strongly worded
enough, most felt that not pass
ing the proposal would reflect
negatively on RHA.
“I want no part in ban
ning Bonfire,” RHA
Technology Director Tom
Payne said.
The amended legislation,
with all money references
deleted, passed with only one
dissenting vote, cast by RHA
Director of Community
Outreach and sophomore
business administration major
Rachel Fulmer.
“I thought that we should
wait for the results of a Bonfire
survey before we passed a res
olution,” Fulmer said.
RHA began a survey of
residents on their feelings
about Bonfire 2002, specifi
cally targeting freshmen.
See RHA on page 6B.
A&M mail not exempt from anthrax scare
By Sommer Bunge
THE BATTALION
Mmmmm
mmm in mm
24 suspicious packages
collected since Oct. 3.
4 sent to FBI-came back
negative
7 tests on white powder-
all negative
After the death of four people
from anthrax in recent weeks,
opening mail has left office and
mailroom workers across the
country cautious and fearful.
The Texas A&M campus has
not escaped that fear — 24
potentially anthrax-contaminat
ed letters and packages have
been given to A&M’s
Environment Health and Safety
Department since the beginning
of October, officials said.
All results on packages sent to
the FBI for inspection and suspicious
white powder sent to Austin’s testing
facilities have come back negative, said
Environmental Safety Assistant Manager
Don Helton.
The University Police Department (UPD)
received a phone call Wednesday morning
reporting a suspicious package at the Office of
the State Chemist. Senior secretary Lori Zboril
said she alerted her supervisor when she came
across a letter-sized envelope with no return
address, the recipient’s name misspelled and
tape holding the envelope together.
“It was handwritten and very messy,”
Zboril said. “I didn’t open it, but when I gave
it to my supervisor, he said it said something
about bin Laden.”
Business manager Tommie Shrode
opened the letter, removing the paper
inside partway, and said he quickly deter
mined it was not business-related. Shrode
said there was no sign of any powder, just
TKE
will file
appeal
By Rolando Garcia
THE BATTALION
The Tau Kappa Epsilon
(TKE) fraternity will file an
appeal this week against disci
plinary sanctions taken by the
University following an investi
gation into allegations of dis
crimination, hazing and alcohol
violations.
Dean of Student Life Dr.
Dave Parrott said the investiga
tion was complete and discipli
nary action is pending but
declined to discuss the allega
tions or what penalties were
levied against TKE.
Clay Cunningham, a former
TKE pledge and junior political
science major, filed a complaint
in September with Student Life
alleging he was removed from
the fraternity because he is gay.
Cunningham said he was
asked by TKE rush chairman
Patrick Terramiggi if he
belonged to the 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
member of TKE that it would
ruin their organization,”
Cunningham said. “It would
decimate their pledge class and
make them look bad when
See TKE on page 2A.