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The Battalion
r ol. 93 No. 40 (8 pages)
1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993
Friday, October 22,1993
he Death of the Super Collider
Congress declines funding, kills atom-smasher
The Associated Press
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WASHINGTON - Congress offi-
:ially pulled the plug on the dying su
er collider Thursday, halting construc-
Ition on a giant science machine that's
lone-fifth complete and has already con
sumed $2 billion in taxpayer money.
The $640 million sought by the Clin-
Iton administration to continue construc
tion cn the $11 billion project this year
will instead be used to shut it down un
der ai i agreement reached Thursday by
(House and Senate negotiators.
The negotiators wrestled for hours
lursday over termination conditions,
(agreeing to a plan that allows for a grad
ual shutdown in an effort to salvage the
scientific developments already made in
areas such as superconducting magnet
and computer technology.
They also asked the Energy Depart-
Iment to provide by next July a termi
nation plan that addresses possible fu
ture uses of the collider's technology,
equipment and facilities in Waxa-
[hachie, Texas.
“The SSC has been lynched and we
Ihave to bury the body," said Sen. Ben
oit is disappointing that the House is
myopic and that they've exchanged an
opportunity for America for a cheap po
litical thrill."
-Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
nett Johnston, D-La., the collider's key
Senate backer.
The atom smasher's death was all
but sealed Tuesday when a House fix
ated on proving its fiscal responsibility
rejected further spending on a 264-159
vote. It marked the third time in 16
months and second time since June
that the House snubbed the physics
project, which critics had branded as
luxury science that was too costly in
an era of huge budget deficits.
Johnston and other Senate support
ers, who twice previously rode to the
rescue, decided that a third attempt
was futile in the face of enduring
House opposition.
"I really sort of still can't believe it
that the country won't fund it," said
physicist Roy Schwitters, who has
headed the collider program since 1988.
"This kind of event and decision is
a major negative impact on world sci
ence, in my view," he said.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-
Texas, said the negotiations, which she
observed, offered the best outcome
that could be hoped for. But, she
added, "It is disappointing that the
House is myopic and that they've ex
changed an opportunity for America
for a cheap political thrill."
See Collider/Page 8
The Associated Press
Superconducting Super Collider project man
ager Ricky Richards poses with a giant bor
ing machine in the tunnel of the high-tech
project near Waxahachie, Texas. The collid
er is one-fifth complete and has already con
sumed $2 billion in taxpayer money.
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Sarah Mahoney, a special education major from Corpus Christi and
member of the Rolling Thunder wheelchair basketball team, passes
Kyle Bumett/fHE Battalion
the ball around a member of the International Students Association
during a game in G. Rollie on Thursday en route to a 37-6 victory.
Community Unity Day promotes cultural understanding
By Mary Kujawa
The Battalion
In an effort to promote a greater under
standing of the diverse cultures in the commu
nity, the second annual Community Unity Day
will be held Saturday at Stephen F. Austin
Middle School in Bryan.
The conference is designed to develop a
foundation for a unified community effort di
rected towards drug prevention and educa
tion. The program also aims to provide partic
ipants with a greater understanding of culture
and diversity.
Cultural sensitivity relates to many things,
said Mary Cunningham, chairwoman of the
special projects committee for United & In
volved Community Action Network (U&I Can).
“An atmosphere of understanding and mu
tual respect is needed for problem solving,"
she said. "Everybody involved has to under
stand where the other person is coming from."
The Rev. Floyd Polk, president of U&I Can,
said the community needs cultural awareness.
"This conference will bring about a commu
nity awareness of existing problems and give
youth some hope," Polk said.
The conference is scheduled to begin at 10
a.m. Workshops will be held during the morn
ing and afternoon..
Milton Creagh, a drug prevention specialist,
will hold a program for children called "Don't
Be Dopey." Creagh's program attempts to
teach youngsters that "no" is the only re
sponse to drugs.
Creagh said he challenges his audiences to
find the hero within themselves and to step
forward and make a difference.
Jose Marquez, chief executive officer and
founder of Convergent Youth Technologies,
See Community/Page 8
EA.C.T. reaches out to first-semester Aggies
By Cheryl Heller
The Battalion
Students new to Texas A&M
University this semester have had
the opportunity to discuss their
adjustment, achievements and
problems at A&M through
F.A.C.T. (First-time Aggie Contact
Team) calls this week.
The F.A.C.T. program, orga
nized in 1987, is co-sponsored by
the Division of Student Services
and the Aggie Orientation Leader
Program. It consists of a commit
tee of students, faculty and staff
members who call new students
halfway through the semester to
see how they are adjusting to
Committee to call 8,700 new students
Texas A&M.
Bonne Bejarano-Sandars,
F.A.C.T. committee chairwoman,
said the organization attempts to
reach out to new students and
find out how their first semester at
A&M is progressing.
"The committee was formed
because Texas A&M enrollment
had grown to such proportions
that we were worried about losing
personal contact with students,"
Sandars said. "We needed a way
to try to preserve intimate contact
with students at A&M, so we
came up with the idea of calling
all new students."
The F.A.C.T. program has
about 200 student, faculty and
staff callers who call every new
student. This year the committee
expects to call 8,700 students, San
dars said.
"We have called every new stu
dent in the past two years," San
dars said. "We try to catch each
student at least four times, and
we've actually had conversations
with about 60 percent of them."
The committee waits until mid
semester to call new students be
cause members feel it gives the
students time to adjust to Texas
A&M, Sandars said.
Interviews begin
for vice president
of student services
First of six finalists visits A&M campus
"I believe that my ex
periences at Tulane
have given me the
breadth of experience
required for the
position ..."
-Martha Sullivan,
candidate finalist
By Geneen Pipher
The Battalion
The first of six candidates be
ing considered for the position of
vice president for student services
visited the Texas A&M University
campus earlier this week, begin
ning the search committee's ex
tensive interview process.
Martha Sullivan, the current
vice president and dean for stu
dent affairs at Tulane University,
said she believes her past accom
plishments have prepared her for
the position.
, "I believe that my experiences at
Tulane have given me the breadth
of experience required for the posi
tion of vice president for student
services at Texas A&M," Sullivan
said in a letter to Ron Sasse, direc
tor of student affairs and chairman
of the search committee.
"Increasingly, I realize that
those institutions where, student
affairs and academic affairs work
in concert are uniquely poised to
meet the challenges of the
decades ahead," she said.
In conjunction with academic
affairs, Sullivan said, the depart
ment of student affairs should
help prepare students to become
leaders after graduation.
"Jointly we can better prepare
students, through their daily lives
as campus citizens, to assume
with greater confidence and com
petency the leadership of larger,
more complex communities in the
future," she said.
Since the retirement of Dr.
John Koldus from the position of
vice president for student services
in September, the search commit
tee has worked overtime trying to
fill the vacancy.
The group has been given the
job of paring the field of candi
dates down from more than 100
applicants.
"Since June, we have been
working on filling the position,"
Sasse said. "We had about 110
applicants for the position, and
the committee finally narrowed
it down to six candidate final
ists, which we presented to In
terim President E. Dean Gage,
who agreed they were all fine
candidates."
Sasse said the interview
process will wrap up in late No
vember at which time the com
mittee will make its recommenda
tions to Gage.
"After the six weeks of inter
views are over at the end of No
vember, the committee will do
some summaries," Sasse said.
"The summaries will include how
we felt about each candidate, and,
after we are finished with those,
we will share that information
with the interim president and he
will make the final decision."
The new vice president for
student services should be in
place by the 1994 spring semes
ter, Sasse said.
"Interim President Gage
should make his decision by late
December, so hopefully we will
have somebody in place by the
start of the spring semester."
Sullivan holds degrees from
Newcomb College, the Universite
Laval in France and Tulane.
During Sullivan's tenure at
Tulane, she established an office
of Multicultural Affairs, an of
fice of Greek Affairs and two
living centers for international
students.
"We do the calling now be
cause students have had their first
round of tests, and they'll proba
bly know by now how they're do
ing in school and if they'll need
some help," she said.
Student Counseling Psycholo
gist Noel Rather said she thinks
the calls are a good tradition at
Texas A&M.
"The calling is a way for new
students to talk to current stu
dents, faculty and staff members
about what's going on around
campus," she said. "It's a way for
them to find out how to get help,
and a way to let the new students
know that people do care what's
going on with them."
Inside
Sports
►A&M vs. Rice: Football
preview, map to stadium
►Suzy Wente sets volleyball
team for Baylor rematch
Page 5
Opinion
•Guest column: NAFTA is
economic wave of future
•Pro-Con: Should Kevorkian
assist in suicides?
Page 7
Weather
• Friday: Sunny, highs in
the 70s. Rea! cold Friday
night, lows in the 30s
•Forecast for Saturday:
Sunny, fair, highs in
the 70s. Nice.
•Your Battalion extended
forecast: Partly cloudy
lows in the 50s. Cool.