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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 1990)
he Battalion IN [FULL EFFECT Cartoonist adds diversity through humor. See Page 3 fol. 89 No. 180 USPS 045360 6 Pages College Station, Texas Friday, July 27,1990 Bush signs landmark bill banning discrimination ’ See Disabled/Page 4 A group of Federal Prison Camp inmates volun teers its time and labor to repair the home of 88- year-old Dyas Hicks (left) as part of the Prison Photo by Thomas J. La via Fellowship ministry, aimed at providing services to the community. Work on the home began on July 26 and is expected to be completed July 28. WASHINGTON (AP) — On a White House lawn crowded with people in wheelchairs, President Bush signed landmark legislation Thursday banning discrim ination against the nation’s 43 million disabled. “Every man, woman and child with a disability can now pass through once-closed doors into a bright new era of equality, independence and freedom,” Bush said as he signed the Americans with Disabilities Act. He called it “another Independence Day, one that is long overdue.” The crowd of more than 3,000 that spilled across the South Lawn was the largest ever at a White House bill signing ceremony, said deputy press secretary Alixe Glen. Many of those attending were disabled, and they ap plauded loudly as Bush said the law will ban discrimina tion in the workplace, assure access to restaurants, ho tels and shopping centers, expand access to public buses and rail systems and require telephone companies to provide special services for the deaf. The law bans discrimination against people with disa bilities, including AIDS, and defines the disabled as anyone with a mental or physical impairment limiting “some major life function.” Bush invoked the opening words of the Declaration of Independence, saying, “we are keeping faith with the spirit of our courageous forefathers who wrote ... ‘that all men are created equal.’ ” “Tragically, for too many Americans, the blessings of liberty have been limited or even denied,” Bush said. The president likened the Americans with Disabili ties Act to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. The law “takes a sledgehammer to another wall,” he said. “We will not accept, we will not excuse, we will not tolerate discrimination in America,” Bush said. When he sat down at a table to sign the bill with a flourish of ceremonial pens, many in the crowd rose for a better view, only to sit quickly back down as those in wheelchairs called out, “Down in front!” Bush offered the fourth and last pen to the Rev. Har old Wilke, 75, an armless United Church of Christ min ister from Claremont, Calif., who had delivered an in vocation that spoke of “the breaking of the chains which have held back millions of Americans with disabilities.” Wilke, who teaches at Union Seminary in New York City, suggested the pen go instead to Ginny Thorn burgh, wife of the attorney general and a longtime ac tivist for the disabled. “The president said, ‘All right, I’ll give it to Ginny, but I’ll give you mine,’ ” Wilke said later. As Bush reached into his pocket, Wilke deftly slipped his foot out of his loafer, took the pen with his toes and 66 w, e will not accept, we will not excuse, we will not tolerate discrimination in America.” George Bush, President slipped it back into his shoe. A moment later, seated be side Barbara Bush, he put the pen into his pocket. “It’s just fantastic,” said Gordon Anthony, 35, an ac tivist from Los Angeles in a wheelchair from a spinal cord injury. “It’s a tremehdously exhilarating feeling.” Anthony is a successful marketing consultant, but he said the law “may open doors for what I do in my future career,” he said. “There may be better opportunities.” “Employers are going to start reaching out to the dis abled,” he said. )ean: fraud allegations Regents authorize $1.7 M for events center Jwill not affect funding A&M continues fusion research y By SEAN FRERKING )fThe Battalion Staff callfii icern lati'om (he t tzwaW There ie( sffi ntinuii force nakeri xe ike nel c« visioif ;etin| antia prude artol whai v'e cai make V S|| iturbi >-rips to be Bus Allegations of fraud in the re- Jearch of cold fusion should have ittle or no effect on scientific fund- hg, the dean of Texas A&M’s Col- ge of Science said. Dr. John Fackler said he didn’t hink the University would be af- ected drastically by such serious harges. “I don’t think A8cM will suffer be- :ause of these allegations," Fackler, Aso a distinguished professor of hemistry, said. “But there are al- vays concerns we might become^he ictims of prejudicial circumstanc- s.” An article in the June 15 issue of ar, (fScience magazine said A&M scien- ists deliberately tainted cold fusion ixperiments to obtain favorable re- easoit [suits. The article also stated A&M offi- ials were not investigating the mat er. Fackler said A&M was looking nto the allegations and said he was atisfied with A&M’s present system o regulate scientific misconduct. “I think we have a good research irogram at a very good school,’" adder said. “Our administration is esponsive to such allegations and :rv -®iany people including President o ca= William) Mobley have been helping is in this matter.” However, no matter how much elp the College of Science might re- eive, there are always ways to get round the system, he said. There is no way you can stop |omeone if he wants to lie or cheat,” fackler said. “Cheaters cheat in sci- nce, just as they cheat in life.’ He said that in areas related to sci- nce there often are many checks s ™[ f ind balances to prevent malicious raud. “It’s not difficult to detect if some- >ne is cheating in chemistry or phys- cs,” he said. “There are certain set Tfr guidelines scientists must follow.” t tlif Fackler said if someone does by- “ hof bass the rules, A&M has a safety net be - ' tists who are working for the institu tion. “A whole institution shouldn’t suf fer because of something that could have been simply a scientific mis take,” Fackler said. Jack Renirie, chief of public infor mation for the National Science Foundation, said he agreed A&M would not suffer because of these al legations. He said the NSF, an independent federal agency, evaluates each pro ject individually. “Allegations such as fraud are dealt with seriously,” Renirie said. “But only the area in question would be affected if anything should be proved true.” He said the NSF’s funding proce dure ensures other projects would be reviewed on their own merits. Renirie said researchers and sci entists send proposals to the NSF re questing funds for their projects. The proposals then are sent to scien tists in fields related to the proposal. After evaluations, a decision to fund the project is made by a com mittee in the foundation. Renirie said since the NSF began operation 30 years ago, the founda tion has funded about half the re ceived proposals. He said the NSF funds selected projects at an average of half the amount scientists re quested. A&M’s cold fusion experiments have received support from the in- By CHRIS VAUGHN Of The Battalion Staff Plans for a special events center entered the detailed design phase Thursday when the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents authorized $1.7 million to further the planned facility. The special events center, to be lo-. cated on Olsen Road across the street from the intramural fields on west campus, will seat 14,500 and cost approximately $35 million. Bill Merrill, chief architect in the design of the center, told the Board Thursday during a presentation the building would be more than just a basketball arena. “It’s truly a multi-purpose facili ty,” said Merrill, an architect with C/A Architects of Houston. In addition to hosting basketball games and other athletic events, the special events center will be used for commencement exercises, academic conferences, banquets, rodeos, con certs and other events. Designs for the facility include a lower bowl-shaped level which seats 7,500, an upper bowl which seats Proposed design for the special events center. 7,000, skyboxes between the two lev els, theater seats throughout the building and large meeting rooms. The building will have tour levels — two seating levels, a mezzanine level for ticket boxes and security posts, and a sub-floor level for sup port facilities, food services and meeting rooms. Merrill, who also designed the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, said A&M’s center’s designs include the ability to host virtually any type of event. For example, 1,700 seats around the playing floor will retract to allow more floor room, and the ceiling will be constructed to support large speakers and lights which musical groups often use. “This building will bring the pres tige that is earned by this University and make it more competitive with similar buildings of other major uni versities,” Merrill said. Construction plans also include the widening of Olsen Road and Joe Routt Boulevard to handle the antic ipated dramatic increase in traffic. A&M will offer bids for the con struction in January, with the Board scheduled to award the contract in February. The center could be com pleted by January 1993. Plans to build a special events cen ter have been in the works since 1982 when A&M officials realized the 36-year-old G. Rollie White Col iseum could no longer adequately serve the student body or the Uni versity. G. Rollie White is the second smallest arena in the Southwest Con ference with a seating capacity of only 7,500. A&M officials wrote in a docu ment in May that G. Rollie White was an “embarassment” and that the University could not attract top high school basketball players or aca demic and trade conferences be cause of it. In today’s session, the Board is scheduled to vote on a proposal to give the College of Medicine status as a health science center, hear a re port on the College of Architecture’s initiative in the new field of visuali zation and vote on the recommenda tion to name Dr. Jane A. Stallings dean of the College of Education. Board awards contract for headquarters By CHRIS VAUGHN Of The Battalion Staff o protect the University and scien- See Fusion/Page 6 The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents awarded a $10.7 million contract Thurs day to complete the A&M System headquarters on Tarrow Street in College Station. The regents awarded the contract to Paul Po gue Inc., of Sherman. The company offered the lowest bid to A&M this time after A&M rejected all original bids during May’s Board meeting. The System headquarters, presently a building shell near the Hilton hotel, was bought to move the chancellor’s office and other System-wide of fices off the A&M campus. All bids submitted during May’s regents meet ing were rejected because every bid was more than what was budgeted for the project. The System opened bids again in June after moving several plans to alternate in hopes the bids would be lower. Pogue Inc. offered a base bid of $8.3 million in June and a bid of $10.7 million with all 12 alter nates. The regents chose to spend the extra money to have the alternates. Among the approved alternates are granite parapet caps, granite tile floor, wood library shelving and TAMU’s seal on elevator doors,building face and extensive millwork. Gen. Wesley Peel, vice chancellor for Facilities Planning and Construction, said the System still saved $600,000 by rebidding, even with the alter nates added to the project’s final plans. The Board of Regents also took action on the following during Thursday’s session: • Initiated a project to build a $7 million sup port services building on Agronomy Road on west campus to house the University Police De partment, the Printing Center and mail service. Officials want to relocate those offices to west campus to open space on the main campus. When relocated, the UPD building would be come the University Development Foundation building, the Printing Center would be a learning resource area and the mail services building would become available for Admissions and Re cords. • Initiated plans to build a $1.4 million Ani mal Science Teaching and Research Center on the banks of the Brazos River. Initial plans in clude providing for water, electricity, gas and other utilities at the site, as well as erecting fences and making roads. • Awarded a $423,000 contract to remodel the old Engineering Building on campus. • Appropriated $14,000 for design for reno vation of the badly-worn Tennis Complex near Kyle Field. In phase one of the renovation, the eight varsity courts will be resurfaced and 14 of the instructional courts will be repaired. f A&M researchers help develop collider part 3y MIKELUMAN flhe Battalion Staff id 9 Texas A&M researchers can take thei[B> ar ti a l credit for the development of ne of the first working pieces of the superconducting super collider. r gj I The working device, an ion source -ujt; I’ith a companion ion source vac- |um chamber, was assembled at the t 0 i| exas Accelerator Center in Hous- l, ac ||tpn and delivered recently to Dallas. The super collider, to be built in thrjWaxahachie, south of Dallas, is a 54- aiJBiile underground ring in which Bubatomic particles directed by su- XetBerconducting magnets will be ai-M Si ashed together and photo graphed. Scientists studying funda mentals of matter will analyze the photographs. The Texas Accelerator Center is a multi-university collaboration for advanced research. Peter McIntyre, an A&M physics professor and Texas Accelerator Center spokesperson, said A&M re searchers provided the first step in the learning career, which even tually resulted in the present ion source device. “A&M faculty and students are very much involved in this,” he said. “A&M deserves a big share of the credit.” Jeff Stephens, staff member of the A&M physics mechanical instru ment shop, said he worked extensi vely on an early model ion source device about four years ago. McIntyre said the device was the first in a sequence of three, one of two early models which led to the perfected design of the TAG unit delivered for use in the SSC. “It has been the learning curve that brought us (TAG) to the point of delivering to the super collider an ion source that meets its specifica tions,” McIntyre said. The University of Houston, Sam Houston State, and Rice University also contributed to the project. McIntyre credited three A&M graduate students as the intellectual source of many advances in the SSC project. Graduate student Perry Thomp- kins is researching a thesis on design and measurement of beam prop erties of the ion source device. Deepak Raparia received his de gree last year and is now a staff phys icist for the SSC. He developed a beam transport element for use with a radio frequency quadrupole accele rator. A&M graduate student Reza Ka- zima presently is working on a qua drupole accelerator, which will pro vide the initial boost of several million watts to a beam of ions with out diluting its brightness. McIntyre said a key challenge in SSC research is to preserve bright ness during acceleration, meaning to keep many ions through a small re gion of space at one time during the process. Tim Elliot, a technician in A&M’s accelerator research lab, said a knife- edged detector system for the SSC also was being worked on. “It’s an energy detector,” he said. “An electronic camera of sorts.” The collider is scheduled for com pletion in 1998. The latest cost esti mates from the U.S. Energy Depart ment range from $7.8 billion to $8.6 billion. BATTIPS Anyone with story suggestions can call BATTIPS, The Battal ion’s phone line designed to im prove communication between the newspaper and its readers. BATTIPS’ number is 845- 3315. 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