RIDAYMARCH 8. 2002
VOLUME 108 • ISSUE 110
THE BATTALION
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
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By Sarah Darr
THE BATTALION
espite bringing in the biggest
sh|>w of the season with “Disney
on fee,” financial advisers at the
Reed Arena admit the four-year-
old facility may still be skating on
thin ice.
| With no concerts this fall and a
heightening recession, the arena
experienced negative growth last
semester, said Reed Arena director
Steve Hodge. Though the arena
expects to make up for its losses with
a spring line-up that includes a cir
cus Muster and a possible WWF
filming, Hodge said he still expects a
defieit of $222,000 this year.
■That figure is down slightly from
Officials hope spring lineup
will carry Reed out of debt
last year’s deficit of $240,000.
For the first five to seven years of
operation, Reed was expected to lose
money, Hodge said. As in most uni
versity arenas, and in a venue close to
major thoroughfares like Houston and
Austin, earning a profit is unlikely
while an arena is still new and paying
for the cost of its construction.
Reed opened for Muster in April
1998.
Tickets for “Disney on Ice” have
not sold out. Reed’s Deputy
Director Mary Helen Bowers said
they are not expected to sell out
because there are seven showings.
But, Bowers said, arenas do not
always aim to sell out shows.
Empty seats are not just a prob
lem for the ice show. Basketball
attendance, which has been much
lower than expected, has left Reed
Arena echoing during some of its
biggest basketball games.
Last season, of Reed’s 12,500
seats, an average of only 2,750 were
filled for men’s basketball games,
with an average of 1,000 less than
that for women's basketball.
The numbers have not been com
piled for basketball attendance this
season at Reed, but Bowers said
overall attendance has improved.
The Texas Tech game drew the high
est attendance of the season with for
mer Indiana coach Bobby Knight as
the star of the show.
“We have a good core of basket
ball fans because the games are so
fun to watch,” Bowers said.
The Arena is booked solid after
spring break. Tickets went on sale
this week for Nickelback in April,
part of the MTV Campus Tour. A
verbal agreement was also made
with WWF to have a televised
See Reed on page 2
STUART VILLANUEVA • THE BATTALION
Workers put a sheet of ice down at Reed Arena,
which has experienced negative growth lately.
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A steer waits to dash from the chute as Texas A&M Rodeo
Club members Bret Richards (I) and Nathan Bradford (r)
prepare to rope it at the Flying Ace Ranch in College
STUART VILLANUEVA • THE BATTALION
Station on Thursday. Bradford and Richards are practicing
for the club's upcoming rodeo this weekend at the
Freeman Arena.
Student Senate
criticizes top 20
By C.E. Walters
THE BATTALION
Student Senators said
Wednesday that the top 20 percent
plan did not go far enough to
address student concerns.
Calling it a reconstruction plan,
the senators cited the need to pro
vide additional scholarship money
to allow more students from lower
income areas to attend Texas A&M.
Senators referenced other schools,
such as the University of Texas and
Rice University, who provide more
money for students, essentially
“out-bidding” A&M.
Under the proposed plan, the
top 20 percent of graduates from
254 economically disadvantaged
high schools in Texas would be
ushered into A&M if they met the
University’s SAT and grade-point
requirements.
University officials decided last
week not to pursue the top 20 plan
this fall, citing a lack of time to
implement the plan. Top 20 may
still be figured into admissions for
Fall 2003.
“We didn’t think it (top 20) was
a good plan,” said Student Services
Committee Chair Daniel Pearson,
a junior political science major.
During debate, senators ques
tioned whether the initiative was
based on the race of the applicants.
Senator and junior political sci
ence major Tyler Dunman said
admissions policies will not solve
the diversity problem on campus.
“I think we’re just missing the
whole point,” Dunman said.
Richard Carlson, speaker of the
Faculty Senate and professor of
geology, was at the meeting and
said any resolution passed by
Student Senate recommending the
Board of Regents directly target
minorities would be illegal and
consequently be disregarded.
Northside Caucus Leader and
sophomore biomedical science
major Natasha Eubanks said the
purpose of the legislation was not
to target minorities.
In other senate business, sena
tors placed a student referendum
on the same ballot as student
body elections at the end of
March. The referendum will
cover a possible licensing agree
ment with Microsoft that would
give students discounted software
for an additional fee of $1.25 per
scholastic hour.
If passed, students could pay as
little as $5 for Microsoft software
in stores.
In her bi-weekly report to the
Senate, Student Body President
See Senate on page 2
tudents to lose parking lot
le Field construction affects four campus lots
Aggie Nights provides
students with alternative
By Sarah Szuminski
THE BATTALION
Plan
Students living on campus may have to adjust their park
ing routine after spring break, when parking lots near the
! Kith end of Kyle Field will be fenced to prepare for con-
itmption, officials say.
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ADRIAN CALCANEO - THE BATTALION
H PA 69, 91, 48 and 46 will be closed for construction
fter spring break.
The start of construction of the new south end zone foot
ball complex and academic center was scheduled for early
March but has been bumped back to later in the month, said
Bobby Bisor, interim director of the Department of Parking,
Traffic and Transportation Services (PTTS).
Student access to the affected parking areas was extend
ed through the present week because of the postponement of
the project, Bisor said.
Affected lots include on-campus resident red lots PA 69,
91 and 48, and faculty and staff yellow lot PA 46, the lots sur
rounding the south end of Kyle Field and the Read Building.
Alternative parking for red permit holders will be provided in
commuter lots PA 61 and 97 on West Campus to accommo
date the 750 resident parking spaces lost to the construction,
said PTTS Information Specialist Angela Newman.
The previously blue lots are currently accessible to both
blue and red permit holders.
The football complex and academic center is scheduled
for completion in October 2003 and will contain offices,
locker rooms, meeting rooms, an equipment room and
lounge, as well as an academic service center, auditorium
and training and rehabilitation center.
Upon completion of the complex, all of PA 91 will be lost,
along with most of PA 69 and part of PA 48, Newman said.
These lots will re-open to students as construction allows.
“It will depend on the phase of construction and all of the
other factors such as the weather,” Newman said.
Additional accommodations have been made to ensure
adequate parking facilities for all students during the con
struction and after its completion.
More than 1,175 new spaces will be provided by the
addition of PA 114 adjacent to the Tennis Complex on West
Campus, along with construction of PA 100 at the southwest
corner of Reed Arena and additional spaces in PA 63 at
Olsen Field. These lots are intended to supply sufficient
See Parking on page 2
By Tanya Nading
THE BATTALION
A new Memorial
Student Center pilot pro
gram aims to provide stu
dents with a Friday night
alternative to the crowded,
smokey bars that line
Northgate.
An estimated 500 stu
dents attended the first
Aggie Nights program held
Friday, March 1, and more
students are expected to
attend the April repeat of
the program.
“It has been a recent
trend among a lot of col
leges and universities to
sponsor this kind of
event,” said Dave Salmon,
MSC Town Hall adviser
and an organizer of Aggie
Nights. “Myself and two
students within the MSC
attended a Big 12
Conference at the
University of Missouri
where we discussed the
possibility of bringing this
type of program to our
campus,” Salmon said.
“We thought it was a great
idea, and I was given the
responsibility of putting it
together for a trial run.”
Aggie Nights provided
many forms of entertain
ment for students, consist
ing of a karaoke contest
with a first place prize of
$150, free bowling and
pool, crafts and live music.
“I got the same experi
ence hanging out with my
friends rather than going
out to a smoking, alco
holic environment,” said
Meredith Petry, a senior
mechanical engineering
major and member of the
MSC Opera and
Performing Arts Society.
“We could talk and hear
everything everyone had
See Aggie on page 2
tUSlOlr
Sports Pg. 8
Aggies host
Southern Miss
No. 21 A&M takes on Golden
Eagles in doubleheader
AggieLife Pg. 3
Watch your back
Students offer safety tips for
spring break travel
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