Thursday, April 29, 2004
he Battalion
AGGIELIFE:
How to pack light.
Page 3
»liline 110 • Issue 139 • 12 pages
A Texas A&IVI Tradition Since 1893
www.thehaU.eoni
PACE DESIGN BY: EMILY HENDRICKSON
A charged witli thefts in residence halls
By Michael Player
THE BATTALION
JA resident hall adviser has been charged with
fivt counts of burglary for allegedly taking cash
m several residence halls over spring break.
John “Rocky” Takacs, an RA at Dunn Hall,
(jtiiitted to the thefts from Appelt, Aston and
■nn residence halls, according to a probable
cJise report tiled by Det. Travis Lively of the
t 'University Police Department. He is charged with
\ 1 silling $490 in cash and $30 in quarters from two
iitatn rooms in Appelt Hall. He is also charged
\lh stealing $40, $15 and $5 in quarters from
tlee rooms in Aston Hall.
Takacs is not only charged with taking coins and
cash, but also video games and selling them at Post
Oak Mall, according to the report.
The report states that on March 22, UPD
Officer Joe Fry met with a resident of Appelt Hall
who reported that an unknown person entered his
dorm and took $30 worth of quarters.
The report said Takacs’ access card was used at
Appelt Hall on March 17 at 10:09 p.m. An associ
ate director of the residence hall's administration
told Lively there were discrepancies in Takacs’
activity while he was on duty during spring break.
According to the report, Takacs was approached
by Lively and Sgt. Alan Baron on April 1, and
admitted to entering several dorms during spring
break without the residents’ consent and commit
ting the thefts. Takacs told police that if a resident
was in a room when he entered, he would tell them
that he was just checking the smoke detectors.
On April 2, in an interview with Lively, Takacs
admitted to entering 20 to 30 rooms and taking
money in the form of bills.
The statement made by Lively shows Takacs’
bank records indicating deposits totaling
$3,058.92 in a three-day period during spring
break. Takacs said $800 of it was his own money,
which was not taken from dorms.
Takacs was unavailable for comment
Wednesday.
Ron Sasse, director of the Department of
Residence Life, said there is a strict policy on res
ident hall advisers’ master key usage.
“We can verify who has master key at all
times,” Sasse said.
David Parrott, dean of the Department of
Student Life, said disciplinary action for Takacs
could range anywhere from a warning to dismissal
from the University.
Student Rules and Regulations state that a stu
dent must be notified in writing of violations, and
witnesses must be brought against them before
disciplinary action is taken, Parrott said.
“Although I do not know about the particulars
of the case, the accused is entitled to all of the
rights afforded to him by the handbook,” Parrot
said. “Accusation of wrongdoing is not enough.”
If you have any information regarding this
case, contact University Police at 979-845-2345.
orthgate bars raise
dmission age to 21
By Rhiannon Meyers
THE BATTALION
Hlwo Northgate bars, Bar 315 and The
Lil iry, located on University Drive,
recently raised their admission age from
18 ears old to 21 years old.
^^HCameron Smith, owner of Bar 315,
sai he changed the policy two weeks ago
r bei uise it reduces the liability of under-
rap" agi drinking in the bar.
:1. LoiiH“By going to 21-and-up, we cut down
con'.:® perception that we even might be OK
| Hh having people underage drinking in
igcof.™bar,” Smith said. “It’s just a better sit-
v coir:® 011 i° r everyone.”
Smith said that Bar 315 was formerly
21 md-up but changed to 18 for awhile.
Smith said he is going back to 21-and-up
tjavoid the hassles that come with own-
an 18-and-up bar.
“We used to have a little agreement
ththe minors that if we let you in, you
OTVi ft drink,” Smith said. “But then people
si ipped following that, and it was making
it!nuts. I just decided there were enough
p ices over 21. and enough places that let
minors in, so I made it 21-and-up.”
ICosta Dallis, owner of The Library,
i^r clanged his policy the same day as Bar
3|and said in a written statement that he
Arte Icided to go to a 21-and-up policy to
maintain an upscale environment and to
reduce the risk of underage drinkers.
“The second reason is that we would
not have to police underage drinkers,”
he said.
Dallis said The Library went 21-and-
up the same day a new over-21 bar,
Logan’s, opened on Northgate.
“So now we feel free to narrow our
appeal to a sophisticated over-21 clien
tele,” Dallis said.
Smith said that although the new poli
cy has not been popular among the under-
21 crowd, he thinks this new policy will
only improve the bar.
“There are fewer people in the bar, but
the business side of things hasn’t changed,”
Smith said. “Now we don't have to spend
half our evening chasing kids around and
constantly watching for Xs on hands.”
Scott McCollum, College Station
Police Department assistant chief of
operations, said he thinks the bars proba
bly changed their policies because the
high rate of underage drinking in College
Station is a management issue for bars.
“1 know we do have a significant prob
lem of minors drinking here in College
Station," McCollum said. “It’s not a secret.
I can’t speak for the bars, but as a bartender
See Northgate on page 2A
Dig it
Sharon Aeschbach • THE BATTALION
Senior industrial distribution major Aaron Ford dives for a ball Recreation Center Wednesday afternoon. Ford and his friends
while playing sand volleyball with his friends at the Student play sand volleyball at least twice a week after their, classes.
|Dollars for Doyle’: students
ally to help family of fallen Aggie
By Brian D. Cain
THE BATTALION
■ When Stephanie ' Schoel read about Lt. Doyle
■ufstedler's death in Iraq last month, she decided to get
I ;xas A&M to rally around a fallen Aggie.
I “I read an article about Doyle, and I realized that my
bother was in (Company) 1-1 with him,” said Schoel, a
sophomore biomedical sciences major. “1 read that in lieu of
wers, the family asked that people donate to the Grace
jshley Fund, named for Hufstedler’s unborn daughter.”
Hufstedler, Class of 2001, was killed in action in Iraq on
arch 31, leaving behind his wife, Leslie, 25, who is eight-
Id-a-half months preg-
jint with their daughter,
[race Ashley.
“1 thought, if every-
|fie just gave $1, we
Bould have $40,000 to give to the family, and what a great
aft that would be,” Schoel said.
I Despite her good intentions, Schoel said she ran into sev-
e|al problems trying to organize the donations.
DOLLARS FOR DOYLE
Money is being collected on
campus this week to help out
Doyle Hufstedler’s wife Leslie
and his unborn daughter
Grace Ashley. Hufstedler was
killed in Iraq last month.
A bake sale will be held Thursday in the
Academic Plaza
To make a donation directly to the Grace
Ashley Fund, make checks payable to:
St. Paul Uftitad Methodist Church
525 Beech Street
Abitene, Texas 70601
For more information, log on to:
www.thebatt.com
See Doyle on page 6A
Ruben DeLuna • THE BATTALION
Source : STEPHANIE SCHOEL
Fournalism programs surge in Texas colleges,
[despite A&M program closing its doors
By James Twine
THE BATTALION
The closing of- the journalism
lepartment at Texas A&M is some-
hing to be concerned about, as other
jniversities across the state are step-
)ing up and expanding their journal-
sm departments, said William Alnor,
lirector of the journalism department
it Texas A&M-Kingsville.
With the journalism department’s
;losure at A&M, other Texas universi-
ies are looking to ensure that their
programs will not get cut.
“I don’t know any other university
of its size around the country that has
decided their program was unimpor
tant or that its costs were not worth it,”
Alnor said.
Alnor said that even before A&M
decided to eliminate its program,
A&M-Kingsville, which is a part of
the A&M System, was in the process
of improving its program.
“There was a commitment made
here a couple of years ago to beef up
our program, and we are funneling
resources in our department to
improve the quality of journalism
here,” Alnor said.
A&M-Kingsville is not the only
Texas university that is expanding its
program. The University of Texas and
Texas Tech University have also made
progress in expansion.
Jerry Hudson, director of mass com
munication at Texas Tech, said the
communication department, which
includes journalism, has been receiving
See journalism on page 6A
Community urged to
donate food to needy
By Melissa Sullivan
THE BATTALION
Chris White, an Eagle Scout, said
he is committed to helping the local
community any way he can. White
said that as an Aggie one should do
the same, including donating any food
that would otherwise be thrown away.
“The Aggie family is always there
to help us and other Aggies,” said
White, president of the campus chapter
of the National Eagle Scout
Association and a junior construction
science major. “The Aggie spirit reach
es farther than just the (Aggie) rings.”
The annual Scouting for Food
drive, held all over the country by the
Boy Scouts of America, is scheduled
for 9 a.m. Saturday. All donations
will benefit the Brazos Church Pantry
in Bryan.
More than 20,000 collection bags
were filtered throughout Bryan-College
Station last week by Cub Scout packs,
Boy Scout troops and Venturing Crews
for residents to fill with non-perishable
food items that will be picked up
Saturday, said George Hester, district
Scouting for Food chairman.
Hester said that 27,000 pounds of
food were collected last year, and he
hopes 32,000 pounds of food will be
collected this year.
“All the bags were put on door
knobs throughout Bryan-College
Station, and we will go back to pick
up hopefully full bags,” Hester said.
Hester said local radio station
WTAW, or Candy 95.1, will hold a
remote broadcast Friday at Rudder
Fountain sponsored by the campus
chapter of the National Eagle Scout
Association of America from 11 a.m.
to 2 p.m.
“We are asking on- and off-campus
residents who will be packing to head
home pretty quickly to rather than
throw away food, bring it to Rudder
and donate to benefit those in need in
Brazos County,” Hester said. “I would
rather have food put in collection
bins, than dumpsters behind dorms or
apartments.”
White said he hopes to collect as
much food as possible, but to also
have fun while doing it.
White said some people may have
never heard of the Brazos Church
Pantry, and in the future he hopes stu
dent organizations will want to
become involved in the drive.
Hester said that along with non-per
ishable food items, items such as soap,
See Food on page 2A
Scouting For Food:
A food drive benefiting Brazos County will be held
Saturday, May 1, sponsored by the campus chapter
of the National Eagle Scout Association.
-The scouts have a goal to collect 32,000 pounds of
food to surpass last year's 27,000.
-Local Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout troops and
Venturing Crews passed out 25,000 collection bags.
- Candy 95.1 will do a remote broadcast at Rudder
Fountain Friday April 30 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and
students are encouraged to bring non-perishable
food items.
Andrew Burleson •THE BATTALION
Source : GEORGE HESTER, DISTRICT SCOUTING FOR FUND CHAIR