Aggielife: Rock your socks off • Page 3 Opinion: Aggies united • Page 9
A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893
! Volume 110 • Issue 58 • 12 pages www.thebattalion.net Tuesday, November 18, 2003
)P BEATO III • THE BATTALION
Above: A Ross Volunteer stands
by the picture of Nathan West,
one of the 12 students killed in the
1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse,
before the candlelight ceremony
held in the Memorial Student
Center Flag Room on Monday.
Right: Tim Kedee Sr., Janice
KeHee, Carolyn Adams and Ken
Adams stand in silence while
"Amazing Grace" is played on
bagpipes. The Kerlees lit a candle
in front of Bonfire victim Timothy
Doran Kerlee Jr.'s photo, while the
Adams paid tribute to their
daughter, Bonfire victim Miranda
Denise Adams.
For more photos, please visit
www.thebattalion.net.
Four years later
Loved ones remember Bonfire
victims at candlelight tribute
By Bart Shirley
THE BATTALION
At 2:42 a.m. on Nov. 18, 1999, 12
Aggies were killed and 27 injured when
the Aggie Bonfire they were construct
ing toppled over. On a gray, drizzling
evening four years later, several hun
dred Aggies gathered in the Memorial
Student Center Flag Room to pay trib
ute to the fallen in a candlelight vigil.
Large photographs of the 12 victims
and a collage of pictures of the event
four years ago, were displayed on
easels in the Flag Room. Two members
of the Ross Volunteers stood at attention
Monday, guarding the photographs.
At 6 p.m., family members,
friends and representatives of the
dead filed into the Flag Room from
the Forsyth Gallery. Each victim’s
name was called, and their respective
family members stepped forward, lit
a maroon candle from a central flame
and lit a white candle arranged at the
base of the photographs.
After all the candles were lit, a bag
piper played a piercing rendition of
“Amazing Grace.” This brought some
of the crowd to tears, as the notes
echoed off the walls of the MSG. The
piper played through the melody twice,
and then stopped. The crowd slowly
filed out without much being said.
Most of the crowd included stu
dents too young to remember Bonfire,
or the tragedy. Joel Wixson, a fresh
man civil engineering major, came to
the vigil because of his involvement
in Fish Aides. He said Student Body
President Matt Josefy encouraged his
group to attend.
“Part of the reason I came here (to
A&M) was for the spirit of the
school,” he said. “We all felt like it
(Bonfire) was something important.”
Fernando Rolon, a freshman mem
ber of Squadron 3 in the Corps of
Cadets, said he felt the need to pay his
respects.
“I came to get a taste of it,” said
Rolon, a history major. “(I came)
mainly out of respect.”
Most of the attendees came out
because of similar motivations. Janice
Kerlee, mother of Bonfire victim
Timothy Kerlee Jr., kissed her hand and
pressed it to the picture as she lit the
candle underneath it.
Kara Beckmann, a senior history
major, lived next door to Jamie Hand
in the FHK complex, and was visi
bly upset during the vigil.
“She was just the most beautiful
person I’ve ever met,” Beckmann said.
“(She) always had a smile for me.”
Beckmann said getting to know
the Hand family has been the
biggest blessing to arise from the
tragedy. She still remembers the
collapse vividly.
“To me, it’s like yesterday,” she said.
“It’s like Fm there, all over again.”
The vigil was originally to be held
at the Lawrence Sullivan Ross statue,
but was moved inside due to rainy
weather. Holding the ceremony inside
the MSC could be more appropriate
for the occasion, students said.
“I thought it was nice,” said
Mike Turley, a sophomore general
studies major.
j Reveille Ball begins
Push Week Wednesday
By Carrie Pierce
THE BATTALION
! To fill the void left this fall by the
j I absence of a University-sanctioned
I (Bonfire, student organizations have
II joined forces to create a week of student
■ activities to raise Aggie spirit leading up
j I to the Texas A&M vs. University of
Texas football game.
Push Week officially begins
Wednesday night with Reveille Ball from
9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
The week-long series of events is put on
by a variety of student organizations to
boost spirit and morale, said Jason
Shen ieb, director of Fall Activities Council.
Push Week was Student Body
President Matt Josefy’s idea, Sherrieb
said. Josefy wanted to provide options for
students by incorporating as many groups
as possible into a week of campuswide
planned events.
Main events this year include Reveille
Ball, “Rock Varsity’s Horns Off,” Chi
Omega Songfest, 12th Man Acoustic
Jam, E-Walk/Elephant Walk and yell
practice, Sherrieb said.
Sherrieb said it is a common miscon
ception that fall activities were established
See Reveille Ball on page 2
|Wh©re: Reed Arena
When; Wednesday at
9 p,m,
Free of charge to all
Texas A&M students
Dress Is formal
Approximately 1,500
attended Reveille
Ball last year
7
THE BATTALION
SOURCE : FALL ACTIVITIES COUNCIL
Muhammad convicted of sniper attacks
By Matthew Barakat
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
VIRGINIA BEACH, V
— In a verdict that could co
him his life, a stone-faced Jol
Allen Muhammad was coi
victed Monday of using a higl
powered rifle, a beat-up c
and a teenage sidekick to mu
der people at random and te
rorize the Washington area du
ing last year’s sniper attacks.
- The jury immediate
[began hearing evidence c
whether the 42-year-old Arnr
veteran should get the dea
penalty or life in prison.
“We reserve the death
penalty for the worst of the
worst,” prosecutor Richard
Conway told the jurors. “Folks,
he still sits right in front of you
without a shred of remorse.”
Muhammad stood impas
sively as the verdict was read,
looking straight ahead with
the same enigmatic look he
had throughout the trial. Two
jurors held hands, and two
others wept. Family members
of victims held hands and
wiped away tears.
The jury deliberated for 6
1/2 hours over two days before
convicting Muhammad of two
counts of capital murder. One
accused him of taking part in
multiple murders, the other —
the result of a post-Sept. 11
terrorism law — alleged the
killings were designed to ter
rorize the population.
Muhammad is the first person
tried under the Virginia law.
Muhammad was found
guilty of killing Dean Harold
Meyers, a Vietnam veteran
who was cut down by a single
bullet that hit him in the head
on Oct. 9, 2002, as he filled his
tank at a Manassas gas station.
He was also found guilty of
conspiracy to commit murder
and use of a firearm in a felony.
The victim’s brother Robert
said he believes Muhammad
deserves the death penalty: “I
must say that I can’t think of
too many more heinous crimes
than this one.”
Fellow suspect Fee Boyd
Malvo, 18, is on trial separately
in nearby Chesapeake for the
killing of FBI analyst Linda
Franklin at a Home Depot in
Falls Church. He also could get
the death penalty. Malvo’s
attorneys are pursuing an insan
ity defense, arguing that the
young man had been “indoctri
nated” by Muhammad.
Dewhurst calls for
tuition justification
By Rhiannon Meyers
THE BATTALION
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said
Friday he wants public universities
to justify large tuition increases to
legislators.
“Some of the tuition increases at
our public universities for Spring
2004 are higher than what we had
been led to believe when the
Legislature passed tuition deregu
lation this year,” Dewhurst said in
an e-mail dated Nov. 14.
In the e-mail, addressed to
State Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-
District 8) and State Rep. Geanie
Morrison (R-District 30),
Dewhurst called for a convening
of the Joint Select Committee on
Higher Education to review
accountability, affordability and
accessibility at public universities.
“Increasingly, many families
and students are falling into sub
stantial debt so they can afford the
dream of a college education,”
Dewhurst said. “I’m very con
cerned about keeping our public
universities affordable and accessi
ble for the working families and
students of Texas.”
The 16-member committee will
meet in December to discuss current
and future tuition increases. Shapiro
said the committee will first meet
with the legislative budget board to
review decreases in state funding
for each institution and then meet
with each university to hear their
justifications for the tuition hikes.
“We will hear from all of the
universities that have increased
tuition, have them lay predicate for
their increases and see if they
mesh,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro said legislative con
cerns about tuition hikes stemmed
from the University of Texas offi
cials talking about increasing
tuition by 13 percent in the upcom
ing spring semester and 26 percent
in the Fall 2004 semester. Texas
A&M and The University of
Houston have also set tuition
increases for Spring 2004. A&M
raised tuition 5.3 percent while UH
raised tuition 12.3 percent.
The Legislature passed tuition
deregulation this year to alleviate
budget problems. Shapiro, who did
not originally support a full tuition
deregulation, said the Senate only
wanted incremental increases of $9
per semester hour.
“But we negotiated, and this is
the result of that negotiation,”
Shapiro said. “We voted for it, and
now we have to live with it.”
Shapiro said the results of this
committee study could influence
legislative action on tuition deregu
lation when the Legislature meets
again in 2005.
For now, Dewhurst said he hopes
this committee will hold universities
accountable for tuition hikes that
could potentially make higher edu
cation unaffordable for some.
See Tuition on page 2
Is SIMS too old?
SIMS is an information system
that holds student records and
has been in use at Texas A&M
since 1986.
^ SIMS cannot track students
w before they are admitted.
^ SIMS must be updated yearly
^ with changes in financial aid.
1
. -i ; ; itl
• 1 i H Y *
! t w
■ MUM 9.0x10 . | » 1
^ A new progam would cost an
® estimated $30 million.
SOURCE
ANDREW BURLESON • THE BATTALION
: COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SERVICES
Replacing computer system could cost $30 million
By Jacquelyn Spruce
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M officials have recognized
that the University’s student information
management system is old and in need of
replacement.
Student Information Management
System (SIMS) keeps all records about stu
dents, including student applications, the
student registration system, grades and
financial aid.
Tom Putnam, director of Computing and
Information Services, said the information
system available now was implemented in
1986. Although it has been modified since
then, it is still underdeveloped and difficult
to use since it does not coincide with some
current computer programs.
Putnam said the system is not designed
to use the Web, and that certain programs,
such as My Record, have been augmented
into the system to try to update it and make
it Web accessible. He said accessing pro
grams such as My Record is similar to
working on a “computer in front of a com
puter.” To process the information to the
Web now, the information has to be sent to
SIMS as well.
“We want the new system to be entirely
Web based,” he said.
Putnam said problems with the current
system include the necessity of updating it
every year for changes in financial aid.
“Because our system is no longer a stan
dard system, we have to support it our
selves,” Putnam said. “We have to buy cer
tain programs for financial aid and stitch
See Computer on page 2