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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 2002)
E BATTali Sports: New offensive era begins • Page 5 Opinion: HIV muppet heads to Africa • Page 9 THE BATTALION 109 • Issue 21 • 10 pages www.thebatt.com Friday, September 27, 2002 r ARCH 406 will be used een ing rida 8. werechaigeci on Tuesday»' ault and reckle> another pew: ce Chief Edwi estigators plan pie with homici. ■aring Tuesda he was on di$‘ f entaf itesatC deeplv sorn'To:! idea why I did it | dm an said the h; her door*' | h sunken eye I ^tand. She said’ = _*d away fron"’ I icle in the neaii | id. ames r for ibinf iter Wing oC ional Guard, id not return >king elaboflW is lawyer, CW [iddletown, Reed Arena officials say they will be wary of hosting ‘trash shows’ Reed Arena lowers deficit Deficit ~ |—$644,790 2000HBHHH1 2002 festimatedtS 199,000 $376,109 By Rolando Garcia THE BATTALION Reed Arena officials are more closely scruti nizing groups seeking to use the facility following the death of a participant in an amateur boxing [competition held at the arena. However, the arena’s balance sheet indicates selectivity is not a luxury it can afford. Mary Helen Bowers, associate director of spe cial event facilities at A&M. said there is no offi cial criteria or standards that groups must meet before leasing the arena and that each rental request is considered on its own merit. Ability to pay, appropriateness for the intended audience and safety are primary considerations, she said. “We probably wouldn’t have a strip show,” Bowers said. Although the arena has hosted professional wrestling, monster trucks and other “trash sports ” Bowers said, there is a relatively small market for them in Bryan-College Station, and most of the large spectator events held at Reed Arena are fam ily-friendly. When a promotion company requested the arena for the Toughman Contest amateur boxing tournament. Bowers said its track record at other arenas was found to be safe and the contest was licensed by state regulatory authorities, so the event was booked. Like all other non-University groups, Toughman paid $3,000 a day for use of 19“0 the arena floor, plus expenses such as security personnel and ushers. University-recognized 2000 organizations can rent the arena for $2,000 a day, plus expenses. 2002 The two-day Toughman event, which drew University Auxiliary Fund $500,000 $386,783 (estimated >$200,000 modest crowds of about 500 and 370, lost money, p or oast five years, revenue and Bowers said. Though it is unlikely that Toughman * , . would want to return to Reed Arena, Bowers said expenses have both increased she would be wary of hosting a similar event in Source: Special Events Facilities See Arena on page 2 Travis Swenson • THE BATTALION I’m not “lion” Randal Ford • THE BATTALION Curator of the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection in one of the half a million preserved specimen at the College Station, Dr. Kathryn Vaughan measures the diame- Collection. The Wildlife Collection is one of the largest col- ter of an eye socket from an African Lion skull. The skull is lections in the world. Fish Camp death not linked with criminal activity By Sarah Walch THE BATTALION The investigation into the Aug. 27 death of Fish Camp staff member Michael Alan Schmidt has turned up no evidence of criminal activity, said University Police Department Lt. Bert Kretzschmar. Schmidt, a civil engineering graduate Schmidt student, died after he sustained head injuries in a fall from a golf cart at the camp's Lakeview Methodist Assembly site. He was a staffer in Fish Camp’s Session E. Kretzschmar was the liaison con tact UPD dispatched to Anderson County Sheriff’s Office to assist with their investigation, said UPD director Bob Wiatt. Associate Director of Recreational Sports Tom Reber made the trip to Lakeview with Kretzschmar as the student affairs representative, Kretzschmar said. Kretzschmar interviewed witnesses, took photographs of the scene and gathered facts to make sure there was no criminal activity involved. “We have concluded it was an accident,” Kretzschmar said. “We still do not know why he fell off, other than that he was standing (on the back of a golf cart). There was no criminal act involved. Although wit nesses did see him before and after, no one was watching him in that split second before he fell.” Schmidt was riding on the cart in a way that was not safe at the time of the accident, said Dr. Bill Kibler, associate vice president for student affairs. “Student Activities has a number of well-developed risk management rules in place,” Kibler said. “ In fact, the Lakeview site has a page (in its release foffn) which explicitly requires students who will be operat ing a golf cart to sign.” Rules and procedures were in place at the time of Schmidt’s acci dent, he said. One rule prohibits more than two students riding in a golf cart at any given time. Schmidt was one of three riding in the cart, Kibler said. Director of Student Activities Dr. Kevin Jackson said students sign release forms that inform them of the risks and expected behaviors of all activities they might be involved in while at Fish Camp. Fish Camp also requires extensive training for directors and staff, including the crew staff, he said. “Fish Camp has an emergency medical technician in the infirmary at the campsite at all times,” Jackson said. Schmidt received immediate attention after the accident, he said. Fish Camp Adviser Laura Boren did not immediately return phone calls. SS A&M one step closer to i men are WU 1 • 1 -i • • h faces up ocean drilling project Vy^ ">|V1 Daily 1 « fPP'tai Te ad ing needS - nation Par« es is By Rob Phil the BATTALI Texas A&M agreed sh 'P with Ocean Drill manager Joint Oe smites (JOI) this v .first step towards Pinion as science opi nngest project for ocer me world. The new program > October 2003. ojumbia University’ Uoherty Earth in? E0 ' ) wil1 once a £ : J °I team. A&M has acted as ; ator for the existing 0< I nc rarn ^ or P as EO is the current pi P r| ncipal contractor. J °I and its two ch ‘°ns will respond to ; P r °posal from the Natl foundation (NSF) wit eyeral weeks. NSF ‘fjority of the exist no makes the final ^'ch group will win tr act. States a the new Integi Drilling Program (IODP). If award ed the contract, A&M and LDEO will jointly plan operations and no longer work as separate entities, said Jeff Fox, A&M’s ODP director. Fox said A&M jumped a “major hurdle” by receiving JOI’s support. “We’re extremely excited by the prospect of working with JOI and LDEO,” Fox said. “It represents a tremendous amount ol work by the staff here and support by the University.” Fox said he has “every confi dence that the JOI team will be suc cessful in receiving the new con tract from NSF. A&M currently receives $38.5 million a year for operating the JOIDES Resolution drill ship and its work on the project. LDEO is granted about $4 million. A&M will not likely know who the other parties competing for the contract are until NSF releases its Request for Proposal. The decision on the contract should come either late next winter or early spring. Fox said. If A&M continues its role as sci ence operator of IODP, it would be “a jewel in the University’s crown,” Fox said. Board plans a vote on proposed engineering program in Qatar By Melissa McKeon THE BATTALION The Texas A&M System Board of Regents discussed several issues Thursday, including a proposal to begin a project that would establish an engi neering program in Qatar, located in the Middle East. “The project will be fully funded by Qatar,” said University President Dr. Robert M. Gates. “A&M will provide undergraduate degrees in petroleum engineering, chemical engineering, and other areas that are oil and gas related. The program will be co-located in College Station and Qatar.” Other degree programs such as design, medicine and business may also be added. “A draft contract is expected to be completed and presented to the Board of Regents in the January or March meet ing,” Gates said. “The state department is enthusiastic about our involvement in the program.” Other universities, including Cornell, are already participating in the program. The meeting also featured a report from the Chancellor’s Student Advisory Board (CSAB). Natasha Croon, chair of the CSAB was among the students that addressed the regents and gave a presentation on how their campus and students are doing. “The system is made up of 10 cam puses,” Croon said. “We all meet every year and present ourselves to the Texas A&M Board of Regents at their September meeting.” Regents also discussed concerns regarding $100 million that Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) set aside for train track relocation around the A&M cam pus. Four options were presented to the councils of Burleson and Brazos coun ties, but the councils rejected the plans that would have benefited A&M the most by moving railroads. Regent Wendy Gramm said the safe ty of A&M students should be at the forefront of any decisions made regard ing track relocation. “We are getting reports rather than being proactive,” regent R.H. Stevens said. “If the money is going to be spent, it needs to be spent on this campus.’ Dr. Leo Sayavedra, vice chancellor for academic and student affairs, report ed on 12th day class enrollments at all system universities. Overall enrollment is up four percent, but minority enroll ment has not increased as expected, Sayavedra said. “We need year-by-year goals. We’re playing catch up as it is,” said Regent Lionel Sosa. “This needs to become a front-burner issue. We have an opportu nity to show the state what we can do.” Sayavedra said the University of Texas at Austin has a more balanced mix of students due to several factors, including recruiting in more diverse areas and a more aggressive scholarship effort targeted at minority students. “Seventy percent of minority stu dents who turn us down do so because of money,” Gates. The board discussed a $1 million Bonfire Memorial maintenance fee funded by existing A&M funds and a $16.3 million deferred maintenance fee for building repairs across the entire A&M system. The regents are expected to vote on these and other issues at Friday’s meeting.