The Stetson Reporter

note from the editor | 'The Reporter' is scheduled to print just one more issue this semester on Dec. 9. Publication will resume on Jan. 12, 2000. Please form your advertising plans accordingly. We would like to thank the Stetson community for its support this semester and wish students good luck on their final examinations. w e Florida's First Private University nov issue 11 volume 112 Eleven dead after bonfire collapses ' BY MATT STILES (U-WIRE) At a memorial service on Thursday, Nov. 18, the 'Texas A&M University community met to remember the victims of the bon- . fire accident that killed at least 11 students—includ- ,_ ing one from Arlington—, .. and injured 29 others. The accident occurred around ■'.'■ 2:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, when the 40-foot pyramid of logs assembled for Texas A&M University's traditional "■ pre-game bonfire collapsed. Sixty to 70 students were on top of the logs erecting, the structure l" when it collapsed in a field on the ., northeast corner of the campus, university officials say. School officials said they be- ,. lieved that all students were accounted for. One of the identified victims, en- (. gineering technology sophomore Jerry Self, graduated in 1997 from '*■ Arlington's Lamar High School. Eddy Peach, head coach at Lamar ' High School, said the news of the >>rmer student's death was difficult ■ those who knew him. "It hits us pretty, hard," Peach J. "It's been a tough day for us." the vigil, which was attended by niversity leaders, former president eorge Bush and Lt. Gov. Rick Perry, , opeakers sought to ease the sorrow that has engulfed this community of 43,000 students. Earlier in the day, thousands of students gathered near the accident scene holding hands, sobbing, and praying while-the rescuers searched for more victims. Student Patrick Freshwater helped clear away the logs. "I've never seen anything like this," Freshwater said. "It's something you don't ever want to feel. I went to my class and there was nobody there. The teacher wasn't even there, because no one can go to class when this is going on," said Freshwater. Officials did not have an explanation for the collapse, but said engineers would be examining the site. The annual tradition, aimed at getting students excited for the football game against UT Austin, began in 1909. With the help of engineers, students build the structure over several weeks. Cranes and tractors-lift the six stacks of full-size logs, then students bale them together. This year's bonfire was designed to reach 55 feet and be lit on Thanksgiving night. Students were working on the fourth of six stacks when the accident occurred. University president Ray Bowen said this year's bonfire will be canceled, but he didn't know if the tradition will be abolished permanently. "It's a very important tradition to us, but those decisions must be made at a calmer time," he said. A university spokeswoman also identified eight other students killed during the accident as Christopher Breen of Austin, Jeremy Frampton of Turlock, Calif., Brian McClain of San Antonio, Chad Powell of Keller, Texas, Nathan Scott West of Bellaire, Jamie Hand of Henderson, Lucas Kimmel of Corpus Christi, and Christopher Lee Heard of Houston. Staff writer Susan Mooring and The Associated Press contributed to this story. Matt Stiles writes for the The Shorthorn at the University of Texas at Arlington. annovin rp^> n PHOTO ART BY BRIAN CAMPBELL MOURNING: Two Texas A&M students mourn at the collapsed set of " bonfire lOgS. UWIRE PHOTO BY CODY WAGES (THE BATALLION AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY) BY JEFF HAMRICK | Have you received a phone call from a credit card solicitor recently? If you have, you're not unlike many other students. Kyle Cornett is one of a few students who has contacted The Reporter recently about the notorious telephone calls. "My roommate and I have gotten at least thirty calls over the past few weeks, literally thirty," said Cornett. The junior computer science major said that he was surprised to find that the telemarketers were calling him by his first name since he has changed residence hall rooms each year. "I know that the information is not published," said Cornett. "But about three weeks ago they handed out the new phone books, and so I'm figuring that they got the information that way." Cornett said that he and his roommate share a single telephone line at Emily Hall, but that telemarketers have called each, of them by name. . "Our telephone numbers are only associated with our names within the...[university]," said Cornett. "Somebody on the outside must have gotten the names and numbers. They know who I am. They've got a new list." Tn an informal communication with the Dr. James Beasley, vice president for administration and chief operating officer, The Reporter was told that the university does not release student names and numbers to telemarketers. The Reporter was also told that the company that prints the phone directory is contractually forbidden to sell or release the numbers to any organization. Beasley's office also reported that there is nothing that can be done to prevent anyone with access to a directory from selling the directory to a telemarketing firm. On one of the "worse" days, Cornett said that he and his roommate received eight phone calls during a concentrated period of time. "Sometimes they would call me and then a few minutes later they would call my roommate," said Cornett. "And then they'd call the guys that live next door." Cornett doesn't believe that the university can do anything to alleviate this problem. "If it's somebody in the administration, I don't suppose there's any way they could be caught," said Cornett. Cornett, who claims to have been called by GTE Visa, Citibank Visa, and DiscoverCard, said that his roommate asked to be removed entirely from one particular telemarketer's database. Accord ing to Cornett, the telemarketer told his roommate that it would take about a month to be removed from the list. "It has to be a source within our school," said Cornett. "I realize it's just the telemarketers doing their job.. .it's annoying." Paul Stuk has encountered similar problems over the past few weeks, when he says the telemarketers started calling. "T usually listen"to them a little bit, get angry, and then hang up," said Stuk. He said that he has been called by both MasterCard and Visa. "I've been called about four times," said Stuk. "But I usually get the most angry when they wake me up." The first-year physics major said that most of the phone calls occurred within the span of a few days. "They called me by my first name. They knew who I was." Stuk says he suspects that AT&T ACUS, which has access to student's names and the corresponding phone numbers, might have sold the list to telemarketing firms. "I really don't know," said Stuk. According to Patrick Smith, a hallmate of Stuk's and a first- year political science major, everyone on the hall usually receives calls within the same period of time. "They called me by my name," said Smith. "I'll tell them, 'I'm busy right now, can I call you back?'" Michael Crooks, a first-year biochemistry major who is also a hallmate of Stukls, said that he got a phone call "within five minutes" of when Stuk's roommate received a call. "If it keeps up, I think the university should do something about it," Stuk said. The Reporter's attempts to speak directly with marketing officials atVIS A and DiscoverCard had not been successful when this edition went to press. Jeff Hamrick has received about three credit card solicitation calls over the past few weeks, and responds to these calls with his usual charisma. -msumsmmjSEHSMJMm: j Do you have any information that might help 'The Reporter' discover what the source of the breach of the student telephone information was? If you know, get in touch with us. We may be able to provide you with a reward. Contact 'The Reporter' at ext. 7224, or e.mail us at reporter@stetson. edu. Nemec Alpha, Beta residents to move out soon 'by JULIE GOWAN | With the closing ofthe semester fast .approaching, many students are preparing for exams, selling books back to buy Christmas gifts. Most of these students don't have to worry about moving before the holiday break. ! Forty-six students, however, have to move out of Nemec Alpha and Beta Meals and points given by students to Oxfam ' . VALERIE FUTCH | One week ago, the Student Religious Life Council offered a way for Stetson students to aid in the fight against hunger and poverty across the world. Students signed away their points and meals to help support the inter- . national program called Oxfam. Students and staff participated in the Fast for a World Harvest campaign that allowed them to donate points, meals, or money. This was one ofthe various ways Stetson helped Oxfam's goals across the campus. , Oxfam is an international organization that has three main pur poses. The group's main goal is to develop solutions for curing social injustice, hunger, and poverty in over 28 countries across the world- [ read this story in News, page 2a ] due to the residence hall renovation project that started last summer with the renovation of Carson-Hollis. The project will begin the second or third week of January. During the room sign-up process last spring, graduating seniors were encouraged to take single spaces. "As residents were signing up they were told about the project and many residents steered clear of those two pods because they would have to move sometime in the fall semester," said Michaelle Finch, assistant director Burton directs remake of 'Sleepy Hollow' tale of Residential Life and summer conference coordinator. If residents are moving into a space on top of a senior who is graduating, Residential Life is allowing them to come back a couple days early in January. However, they must have all belongings packed up and ready to go. If they are moving into a current vacant space they must move before going home for the winter break. According to Finch, most of the residents living in the two pods are freshmen. These residents were notified over the summer about the reloca- [ see NEMEC, page 2a ] Intramurals offer fierce rivalry, competition BEHIND THE LENS: Director Tim Burton on the set of 'Sleepy Hollow', photo courtesy paramount pictures T read this story in Life, page lb 1 {«l4#W«l)^ by andrea maginot | From the moment you walk into Rinker Fieldhouse you can hear the shouts and screams from the stands. With two basketball games going on simultaneously, Rinker field house is full nightly, squads battling it out on the court for the right to claim victory. The intramural basketball season opened this past week with fierce competition. Rivalries between fraternities, sororities, residence halls, religious organizations, and combination teams of residents and commuters shine bright on the court. With 26 teams competing, there are as many as nine games going on Monday through Thursday. The Men's A League is intense right now, with ATO and the Lambs tied for first place. With records of 4-1, they are fending off [_'weAdJ;his^tQcy_in_Sp,octs^page^5b1] J