TUESDAY JANUARY 15, 2002
VOLUME 108 • ISSUE 73
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TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
tudent input sought for Bonfire 2002
By Rolando Garcia
THE BATTALION *
■ The planning phase is fin
ished and students are now
leing asked to decide whether a
rastically redesigned Bonfire
iculd hum next fall.
Students will be able to partic-
wte in a survey this week intend-
to gauge support for Bonfire
Jnder the slriet new safety paiam
JkTs. Student support will be a
ecisive factor in Texas \tk\1
resident Dr. Ray M. Bowen's
:termination on whether to let
onfire continue, said Bonfire
2(K)2 Steering Committee facilita
tor Dr. Bryan Cole.
“He 1 Bowen| has always said
that strong student support is a
must for this project to move for
ward,” Cole said. “And Bowen
will consider the survey results
before making a decision."
A link to the survey, which will
take place Jan. 16 to 18.-will be sent
to all students through the Neo
email system. Students need to
have activated their neo accounts
to receive the survey. Students can
also complete the survey at voting
tables at on-campus locations.
Bonfire planners have unveiled
three potential designs for the
Bonfire stack, which can be
viewed at Evans Library, Sbisa
Dining Hall, Commons Lobby,
Duncan Dining Hall, the Blocker
building, the Memorial Student
Center Flag Room and the
Bonfire 2(X)2 website, http://stu-
de n t a ffa i rs.tam u .ed u/bon ft re02.
In addition to a vote on which
design students prefer, the survey
will explain the new safety meas
ures and ask students if they are
willing to attend and participate
in building Bonfire. The survey
will also solicit student feedback
about how much should be spent
on the project and where the
funding should come from.
Bonfire 2002 is expected to
cost as much as $2 million, and
Bowen has said the University
may have to scrap Bonfire unless
costs can be reduced. However,
Cole said much of the cost comes
from one-time expenses, and he
estimates that future Bonfires can
be built for between $500,000
and $750,000.
Student Body President
See Survey on page 8
Bonfire 2002 Open Forum
L—j MSC 292 - 1Q a.m., 2 p.m., 6 p.m.
• msc r~" r^-
• Zachry Building
• Student Recreation Center
• Wehner Building
Or online at vote.tamu.edu
C Jy Wednesday through Friday
Source: Bonfire 2002 Steering Committee
CHAO MALLAM • THE BATTALION
‘Per Unitatem Vis’
' A
4I
VILLANUEVA • THE BATTALION
Members of the Ross Volunteers run across Simpson
Drill Field with their rifles held high during practice
Tuesday afternoon. The Ross Volunteers are fine tuning
their maneuvers in preparation for their performance
in the King Rex Parade at Mardi Gras next month in
New Orleans.
Journalism limits
number of students
By Sommer Bunce
THE BATTALION
Following the release of a
December consultant report that exam
ined the deficiencies of Texas A&M's
Department of Journalism, the depart
ment is showing signs of accepting
recommendations, including limiting
the number of students in the program
and dropping the department’s
telecommunications program.
The minutes of the Dec. 6 journal
ism faculty meeting show that A&M
Provost Dr. Ron Douglas verbally
approved a limit of 50 freshmen and 10
transfer students into the department
effective Fall 2002. The limit would
hold for the entire school year, and
could remain in effect for a period of
two years, according to the minutes.
A three-man team of external con
sultants, consisting of journalism fac
ulty from the Universities of Alabama,
Wisconsin and Texas, concluded in a
Nov. 27 report that the department was
in need of major changes, including
possibly cutting the journalism student
enrollment by half.
Their report gave three options that
included dissolving the program
entirely. But their recommendation
was to strengthen the department by
trimming enrollment figures to 400, a
loss of approximately 400 students
currently in the degree program.
Larry Oliver, an associate dean in
the College of Liberal Arts, said fresh
men admitted into the program will
come from the top 10 percent of all
applying freshmen. Requirements for
transfers may include such criteria as
higher grade-point ratios (GPR) and
prerequisite courses.
In a Dec. 21 email addressed to
journalism faculty. Journalism Interim
See Journalism on page 2
BISD cancels Wellness
Fair amid controversy
By Elizabeth Martin
THE BATTALION
Amid the controversy raised by a
Planned Parenthood brochure advertis
ing abortion services and the organiza
tion’s continued involvement in the
Bryan Independent School District’s
annual Wellness Fair, Bryan
Superintendent Herman Smith has
announced the fair is canceled.
Smith announced last week that the
decision to cancel was made four
months ago for financial reasons, and
was not related to the issue of abortion.
Smith’s announcement keeps board
members, who may have been reluctant
to admit an organization into the fair
that advertised abortion, from deciding
to exclude Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood’s 2001 adver
tisement was contrary to a Fair policy
which dictates that abortion is not to
be mentioned in distributed informa
tion BISD School Board Member
Robert Worley, a contributor to the
See Fair on page 8
‘Sidelines’ cast member pleads guilty to charges
I mm
By Melissa Sullivan
TH.E BATTALION
U Former Texas A&M basketball play
er Bettina Ann Jones has pleaded guilty
to second-degree drug charges and
received a 10-year sentence with a
chance of probation
after three charges of
selling drugs to • an
undercover officer.
Jones, a former
student who appeared
on the third episode of
ESPN’s reality-style
show “Sidelines” this
fall, was first arrested in July for selling
15 pills of MDMA, more commonly
known as Ecstasy, l .3 grams of
cocaine and $200 worth of a third sub
stance, imitation Ecstasy, to an under
cover officer.
“She was selling less than one gram
of Ecstasy and at the time was already
on probation for forgery and drug pos
session,” said Ed Spillane, Brazos
County assistant district attorney.
Jones was placed on probation for
those charges after her arrest on the
drug delivery charges, Spillane said.
The two second-degree felonies are
punishable by two to 20 years in
prison and each charge carries a fine
up to $10,000.
Selling imitation Ecstasy is punish
able by a two-year jail sentence and
carries a state jail penalty.
Jones’ plea agreement was reached
in December only one week after a
Brazos County grand jury indicted her
on the charges. The plea included an
option for her release after six months
if she maintains good behavior and
receives a favorable warden’s report.
“They call this ‘shock probation’
and as long as she stays out of trouble
they will put her on probation after six
months,” Spillane said. “But the judge
doesn’t have to. After the six-month
period has passed, he loses the power
to do that.”
If the judge grants Jones early pro
bation on good behavior, it will be for
five years.
According to the Texas A&M 1999-
2000 Basketball Media Guide, Jones
was an All-State junior college first
team guard and a four-year letter win
ner in high school. She lists her future
See Jones on page 2
AggieLife Pg. 3
In the bedroom
Marisa Tomei and Nick
Stahl discuss working with
director Todd Field and their
roles as Natalie and Frank.
Bizzell construction hinders campus access
JOHN LIVAS • THE BATTALION
By Sommer Bunce
THE BATTALION
Construction will again challenge driving,
parking and bike riding on campus as Texas
A&M adds a major renovation of the Bizzell
Street loop to already clogged conditions in the
construction of a parking garage and under
ground passageway on Wellborn Road.
In work that began last week, construction
on Bizzell has reduced the former four-lane
street to a winding, two-lane street scattered
with stop signs and Department of Parking,
Traffic and Transportation Services (PTTS)
traffic directors. The Bizzell loop construc
tion is expected to continue until October,
PTTS officials said.
Traffic entering from South College Drive to
Bizzell, from Texas Avenue to New Main Drive
and from George Bush Drive to Bizzell should
expect delays. Westbound traffic will no longer
be able to travel to Ross Street from Bizzell.
Students should carpool or use campus shut
tles to access the east area of campus, said
PTTS Information Officer Angela Newman.
But PTTS Interim Director Bobby Bisor warns
against bicycling in the area of the construc
tion, calling it a safety issue.
See Construction on page 2
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