Monday, September 14, 1987/The Battalion/Page 5 —Razor backs on the lookout Stone pigs on new building are link to past A&M’s official r. By Deciree Watson Reporter If students walking by Texas ions available in new c i v ji engineering build ing feel they’re being watched by ht Grants for g- beastly eyes, it’s because they are — i the informatk sort of. The stone razorback pigs that )1 Rudder at? p lif F at passers-by from atop the ^'Civil Engineering/1 exas I ranspor- * *• at 7 p.m. ration Institute Building — one from \ ill practice in i'thelmain entrance and another from a ^re escafx* stairwell — are older irlder-tf 7 ^nnirdtan the building itself. The build- " ing is new and the move-in hasn’t been completed. meet and haveoi' Although juxtaposing visages of il. BP 11 an i ma l s on a n engineering • will speak on ‘building seems like a visual oxymo- m « the figures do have historical r . Mhificance. Dr. Donald Maxwell, i ’( i i "I tnr;; ' head of the civil engineering 1 v< ‘ l( department, said. Commons Wesi: "This architectural-based idea, approved by the building’s coordina- pplitations fors.tors, is an attempt to preserve his- of flce in the Pa tory and to combine the old and the new,” Maxwell said. The new facility was built on the site of a building where animal dis- >k pi had several of these razorback heads along the roof line, and when it was torn down to make room for the new bituminous laboratories (asphalt labs) and office building, the two best headpieces were kept for use on the new building. The facility is one of many efforts made by the civil engineering de partment to preserve its historical bond with the veterinary school, Maxwell said. Most of the seven civil engi neering buildings are renovated buildings that once were occupied by the School of Veterinary Medicine. Until a few years ago, there were still drains and wall rings in the old Civil Engineering Building, next to the Highway Research Center. The old Civil Engineering Build ing also has a unique roof line. It’s crowned with horse heads, longhorn skulls and pigs that are different from the razorbacks on the new building. ice Committee! are due Sept. 1 □THINKERS 5( A&M press offers new edition of Vandiver's Civil War book lembershipanC: ilion through et in -102 Ruddt: freshmen elea By Sharon Foreman Reporter KTexas A&M University President Frank E. Vandiver’s book “Their of the c 0 "Tattered Flags: The Epi ■ 1 I0m “ a ' Confederacy” was re-rele Epic HKifederacy” was re-released last week by the Texas A&M University anizational me Press, said Noel Parsons, University pres-, editor. AMERICANO The book was originally published ations will bea b 1 1970 by Harper’s Magazine Press. a m -5 n in Settlp sons t l ie was no l° n g^ r ‘ <728 * n print, so the press gained permis sion from Vandiver and the Harp- .er’s Press to re-release the book. a to I he BatttlA Vandiver’s book is one of many e working p ress j s publishing as part of a pew military history series, Parsons Although some typos were cor- the book’s content wasn’t changed. The book is in paperback form and is selling for $12.95, Par sons said. I Vandiver said the book is an at tempt to show the history of the Confederate states in a unique way. “It’s not straight history, it’s not Jgraphy, it’s not a battle narrative, it’s not political history — it’s all of these things,” Vandiver said. ffec it lost The book talks about the Confed erate Army at great legnth, he said, but depicts the army as instruments in the hands of the Confederate gov ernment. “The book is an attempt to show the whole life of the Confederacy from a Confederate standpoint,” Vandiver said. Vandiver said he was 11 years old when he started visiting battlefields and reading Confederate history. Vandiver found some early pa pers that concerned a small batde in Virginia, and he managed to publish his first article when he was 16. “That’s what got me going, and from then on I had this insatiable urge to see my name in print,” Van diver said. The title of the book, “Their Tat tered Flags,” was given by the editor of Harper’s Press. Vandiver said the editor had been reading some work of Civil War historian Bruce Catton and came across a line that said, “They’re all gone now with their tat tered flags and faded uniforms.” “I thought it was a great line,” Vandiver said. _ Epi idd Confederacy,” also was added to the title. Vandiver said the word “epic” usually involves a tragic theme and a hero. “The Confederacy is a fairly tragic theme, and my hero is Jefferson Da vis,” he said. “Jeff Davis is an un likely hero compared to those like Lee or Jackson, but I think Davis was a much misunderstood man.” Vandiver, a historian and author ity on the Civil War and World War I, has written and edited 20 books. Most of these books are about the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Vandiver has received various awards and fellowships, including the annual Award of Merit from the Houston Civil War Round Table, which now is permanently named the Frank E. Vandiver Award. Vandiver will autograph copies of his book from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. I in the Clayton W. Williams Jr. Alumni Center, said University Press Advertising Manager Mary Ann Jacob; timer has design- gram should low-calorie foofi j food is eaten on? oup, he said. Ooti only the behavi? d the other will >r modification t iking exercise, ogram is design lifestyle andeatini :i pants," Turners xpects the weigh' about one to two ogram is not) but it is meant to habits so that Iter your lose it. growl it ASK ve of thejournali! chairman of tht ing committee fe nalism. re some things ti- > see happen forJt says. “I wouldlik I I think it is ays it is someth# adents to realize! 1, urnalism is a st* II as a writingdeg 1 >si a second majff also is an adviser? nmunicators oft > a national iral journalism a# imunication stink 1 1 , I think, what I? :lub,” DeBonissa'I nbers will soonkj azine for the ( she says. The# istock Publicatio? July convention Texas coast to receive big cleanup m Environmentalists hope to pick up support for a pollution pre vention agreement as well as beach trash during the second Texas Coastal Cleanup. §f About 3,000 volunteers are ex pected to sift debris from more than a dozen Texas beaches dur ing Saturday’s three-hour event, said Linda Maraniss, regional di rector of the Council for Environ mental Education in Austin. They also will sign and circu late petitions seeking U.S. Senate ratification of an international agreement to end the ocean dumping of trash made from plastic. ft “We’ve got beach users who are careless and leave their picnic de bris. But we’ve also got a problem from offshore sources. Merchant ships throw a tremendous amount of debris into the Gulf of Mexico,” Maraniss said. f Plastic products accounted for more than half of the 124 tons of debris collected last year from 122 miles of beachfront, figures from the council showed. Beaches were cleared from Boca Chica, at the Mexican border, to the Louisiana state line. The agreement needs only U.S. approval to have the force of international law. New computer course aids farmers, ranchers By Donna Buchala Reporter Farmers and ranchers can reap benefits from a series of short com puter courses sponsored by the Texas Agricultural Extension Serv ice and the Texas Agricultural Ex periment Station. The program will be held at the Stiles Farm Computer Training Center in Thrall, northeast of Aus tin. The program, scheduled to be gin in November, will run through September 1988. The intensive three-day courses will be primarily aimed at reducing costs in today’s competitive agricul tural society, said Dr. James McGrann, an assistant professor oF agricultural economics at Texas A&M and a farm and ranch man agement specialist. The courses will be limited to 18 people per session because of the in tensity of each course and to ensure the opportunity for hands-on com puter use for the participants, McGrann said. Each of the 11 courses will cover a different facet of the agricultural in dustry, from swine management to electronic spreadsheets and their use in agriculture. “We are teaching them to be ana lysts — to pick the best alternative,” McGrann said. “They need quick in formation to adjust to changing con ditions and environment, and to have this information in just a few minutes.” This program shows farmers and ranchers how the computer works as an educational tool instead of just ac cepting the results, he said. “Rather than going in unin formed, with the computer they can make a decision — hopefully — to prevent a mistake,” he said. Most participants in the seven- year-old program have been better- educated producers who are busi ness-oriented in activities, he said. “There have been mainly younger farmers, but some have been older, too,” McGrann said. “They are in formation users who are more asso ciated with education. For commod ity-oriented informing, with some of the big farms, it’s a necessary tool. And with the progressive-type man agers, it’s the same way.” Computer use in agriculture ex tends from the very sophisticated to the very basic, McGrann said, de pending on one’s specific needs. “From the feedlot, where we can tell you what an animal ate yester day, to the commercial type, where there is a husband-and-wife team and the wife does all the accounting, the computer is just a tool to comple ment,” McGrann said. “In the last two to three years, we have had no problem with supplying software,” McGrann said. “Like any new technology, we had our prob lems at first.” ■■■it Texas A&M Flying Club COME LEARN TO FLY WITH US Interested people are urged to attend our meeting Sept. 15 at the Airport Clubhouse For information 845-3329 7:00 p.m 4r MSC TOWN HALL CLUb PRESENTS m WITH JOE "KING” CARRASCO FRIDAY - SEPTEMBER 18TH 8:30 p.m. DeWare Fieldhouse Tickets $5.50 - TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE TAMU BOX OFFICE 845-1234 ALSO AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR LOWEST PRICES IN THE NATION FULLY IBM-PC/XT COMPATIBLE $599 COMPLETE SYSTEM!!! 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