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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 7, 1995)
>, 199- &z ]VI u 1ST FL R T Y t— ol. 101, No. 153 (6 pages) mmm tm Established in 1893 Wednesday • June 7, 1995 iston Congress to vote on financial aid cuts College of Education names interim dean 3C : j Officials claim that the cuts are iccessary to get the financial aid iylstem under control. lyjTara Wilkinson hf Battalion li 2' Congress has proposed eliminating sever- .1 student financial aid programs, including ederally subsidized Stafford Loans, Supple- ffljteSnental Educational Opportunity Grants, lU^ollege Work Study, Perkins Loans and kmV 5tate Student Incentive Grants. Don Engelage, A&M’s student financial dd director, said attempts to reduce the fed- sral deficit by cutting student aid would do IATEDP . npre harm than good. ■“Eliminating these programs would cost stu- “la.v lents and their families about S20 billion over !J . al ,he next five years, increasing student indebted- mmc-iess by up to 50 percent and reducing grant and at 1' vork-study funding,” Engelage said. ^^Eliminating subsidized Stafford Loans ' n ts. yould mean that interest accumulated on oans while students are in school will be er t added to their post-education debt. With the ou ^ existing system, the federal government hasst:pays this in-school interest. he" * WCngelage calculated that the removal of in- i stilts r wall school interest subsidies would increase 10 years of monthly payments on a Si7,125 under graduate loan from S210 to S252. This addition al financial burden would total S5,113. Sherry Marsteller, legislative assistant to Rep. Jack Fields, said unsubsidized Stafford Loans would only cost students about 79 cents a day. “We’re talking about pennies,” Marsteller said. “Of course, if you take out a much larger loan, the debt will be larger.” Marsteller said students have been given the wrong reasons for why the cuts have been proposed. “There has been a lot of misinformation put out about these propos als to scare students,” Marsteller said. “The pro posed cuts have more to do with getting our financial aid system under control than about reducing the feder al deficit. Many loans are not be ing paid back, and the system will eventually break down unless we add some accountability. ” Marsteller said Congress will vote on the financial-aid proposals next year. Grant Evans, a sophomore electrical engi neering major, said the plan to cut student aid is acceptable if it is done for improve ment reasons. “Congress needs to cut the budget, but it could be cut from a better area than financial aid,” Evans said. “But it’s OK, if they have a more efficient plan to run the system.” Stephanie Sanderson, a junior electri cal engineering major, said that al though elimination of the subsidy on her Stafford Loan would be financially straining, her edu cation is worth any debt. “Regardless of how long it will take me to pay the debt off, I have to do it or I’m not in school,” Sander son said. Jennifer Sowders, a ju nior management and mar keting major, said financial aid cuts would make her study abroad and graduate school plans more difficult. “If the cuts are enacted, I would research alternatives before taking out loans, to see if there is any other way to do it,” Sowders said. “It’s harder for us to pick up once we get out of school after accumulat ing so much debt.” □ Dr. Viola Florez will serve as interim dean until a national search for a permanent dean is completed. Dr. Jane Stallings stepped down to pursue teaching and researching. By Scott McMahan The Battalion Dr. Viola Florez has been named interim dean of Texas A&M’s College of Education in place of Dr. Jane Stallings, who stepped down in May to pursue teaching and re searching full time. Florez previously served as executive assistant to President Dr. Ray Bowen and worked as a professor in the college’s Department of Educational Curriculum and Instruction. Florez will serve as interim dean until the national search for a permanent dean is com pleted. The search will begin within the next few weeks. Dr. Charles Lee, interim vice president and provost, said the search committee needs the support of faculty and students. “We appreciate Florez’s willingness to assume this very important transitional role,” Lee said. “I also am grateful to other dedicated faculty, staff and students in the College of Education who have been involved in the se lection process and will help A&M choose a new dean.” Stallings, who served as dean from July 1990 through May of this year, will work on See Dean, Page 2 Vesecif 3 wars herpf count j 2ople I At XAS XT S I C F E S T I V A E 1995 festival features chamber music Mike Friend, The Battalion ?Andor Toth plays the violin while Ruth Tomfohrde plays the piano Monday Inight in Rudder Theater as part of the Texas Music Festival. □ Internationally acclaimed musicians are scheduled to perform throughout this month. By Libe Goad The Battalion ' When Warner Rose thinks of chamber music, he envisions rustic images of a nobleman sitting among friends in a stony courtyard, listening to and playing chamber music, a type of classical music. “It’s different from orchestral music,” Rose, coordinator of the music depart ment, said, “because [chamber] music is intimate by nature.” This music is being featured at the Brazos Valley Medical Center Texas Music Festival. The festival opened Monday in Rudder Theater with mezzo- soprano vocalist Katherine Ciesinski performing Roy Harris’ “Abraham Lin coln Walks at Midnight.” Rose said the stage was moved forward to recreate the intimate atmosphere. “[Chamber music] is a formal listen ing experience that draws people into the music,” he said. “But it’s more like a conversation.” Audiences are encouraged to visit with the musicians at Rudder Exhibit Hall after each performance. The College of Liberal Arts and the music program are sponsoring three more nights of chamber music this month performed by internationally ac claimed musicians. The Texas Music Festival Orchestra, led by conductor Franz Anton Krager, will also perform a special orchestral concert Friday, June 23 that will feature selected music students from around the world. In 1990, Rose came to the music de partment and brought the Texas Music Festival, which he participated in at the University of Houston. “I felt there was a hole, a void, in the summer here,” Rose said. “It was impor tant for the (music) courses to have live concerts performed on campus.” He said the Texas Music Festival fo cuses on chamber music to expose stu dents to a non-traditional definition of classical music. “Courses in music are designed to ex pose one to the doors of the art,” he said. The Brazos Valley Medical Center provided a major grant to open those doors with support from the Brazos Valley Arts Council, the Texas Com mission on the Arts and the University Honors Program. Now that the doors are open, the fes tival is able to attract world-renown performers. The St. Petersburg String Quartet, winner of several international competi tions, and Brazilian piano soloist Arnal- do Cohen will also grace Rudder’s stage. “I enjoy watching the Festival Orches tra,” Keisha Henry, a senior psychology student said. “There are a lot of talented students, and it’s good to see them doing something positive.” Henry said she looks for ward to the student’s orches tral performance because they play familiar classical music. “Last year the orchestra played “Rodeo” by Aaron Copland,” she said. “You know, the music from the ‘Beef. It’s what’s for dinner.’ commercial.” Other musicians playing at the festival include: * Violinist Guony Guo- mundsdottir, a graduate of The Royal College of Music in London and the Juilliard School in New York and for mer concert master of the Iceland Sym phony Orchestra. She trains violinists and performs chamber music. •The St. Petersburg String Quartet from Russia, a young group of string musicians that holds international ac claim after winning several prestigious competitions. • Cellist Laszlo Varga a recitalist, chamber musician and conductor for var ious orchestras. Varga is also known for his recordings on the Vox, RCA and Co lumbia labels. • Pianist Arnaldo Cohen, senior lec turer at the royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. His recording of Liszt works were recently released. Henry said the Texas Music Festival offers a great opportunity to see different cultures at A&M. Students enrolled in music classes at A&M are required to attend the con certs, but Henry said the requirement is not the only reason to anticipate the unique concerts. “I used to play the clarinet, and I miss that,” Henry said. “It will be nice to hear something different than pop music on the radio.” Mike Friend, The Battalion Ruth Tomfohrde, piano, Laszlo Andor Toth, violin, Varga, violoncello, and Katherine Ciesinski, singing Mezzo-Soprano, perform at Rudder Theater Monday night as part of the Texas Music Festival. TO Concern heightens over Ebola virus A&M professors and the U.S. Centers for ►isease Control say >eople should not >anic over the virus >ecause it is an isolat- id incident that is un- ler control. ly Katherine Arnold /he Battalion [After the recent release of the llm “Outbreak” and the non-fic- ion best-selling book “The Hot 2one,” the outbreak of a deadly drus in Zaire is rather ironic, mid Dr. Barbara Gastel, associ ate professor of journalism and f humanities in medicine. The virus, formally known as JSola Virus Hemorrhagic Fever, ^rpke out in Kikwit, Zaire, in Vlay. According to the U.S. Cen ters for Disease Control, CDC, :his form of the virus is closely ■elated to a strain that broke out n 1976 in Sudan and Zaire, killing more than 400 people. Dr. John Quarles Jr., profes sor of medical microbiology and immunology, said the disease has received a large amount of media attention. “For something that is so iso lated, it probably didn’t deserve as much attention as it got, but at least people are now aware,” Quarles said. Gastel said too much media coverage can cause unnecessary worry. “If the coverage of a fatal disease is not handled well, it can cause undo panic,” Gastel said. “People are fascinated with Ebola be cause it is exotic and has very dramatic effects.” According to the World Health Organization, there have been 211 confirmed cases of Ebola and 164 deaths re sulting from the virus. Tom Skinner, spokesman for CDC, said the current outbreak is isolated in Zaire. “The number of new cases is declining,” Skinner said. “Since the methods of transmission are known, we can work to lim it its spread.” Ebola is transmitted by conta minated injections and direct contact with infected blood or other bodily secretions. The symptoms of Ebola are a sudden onset of fever and headaches, followed by vomiting and diarrhea. The outbreak in Zaire has been about 80 percent fatal, Skinner said. "If this disease were here in the United States, our health care techniques would be good enough to stop its transmission." — Dr. John Quarles, Jr. professor of medical microbiology and immunology Ebola attacks and destroys the body’s blood system and the membranes containing bodily fluids. Victims usually die of massive internal hemorrhaging. Quarles said the spread of Ebo la is primarily due to the lack of adequate health care in Zaire. See EBOLA, Page 2 A&M professors, TTI work together on Technocar 2000 □ The system will al low police to access complete traffic and criminal records of in dividuals stopped for traffic violations. By Javier Hinojosa The Battalion The Texas Transportation Institute, TTI, and two A&M engineering technology profes sors are working together on project Technocar 2000, a sys tem designed to improve safety conditions for Department of Public Safety officers and other police departments. Dr. Joe Morgan, associate professor of engineering tech nology, said the project’s pur pose is to improve the accuracy and timeliness of acquiring traf fic-safety data. Police will be able to get com plete records of the person being stopped without leaving the pa trol car by entering license plate numbers into a computer system. Records will include driver li cense record files, vehicle li cense plate and registration files, criminal records, warrants and accident reports. Stolen car reports will also be included. The key to the project is de veloping a system of computers that will support these efforts, Morgan said. George Wright, an A&M en gineering technology lecturer, said central processing units will be placed in police vehicles. This computer will be radio- linked to a hand-held unit car ried by each officer. Wright said the hand-held computer weighs almost 3 pounds and is 6 by 10 inches. The device is operated by a pen that reads the magnetic strips on the new Texas drivers’ licenses. “It will give a quicker access of data to the police officer on the scene,” Wright said. David Ransom, a mechani cal engineering graduate stu dent who works on the project, said officers are at risk when they are filling out paper work when stopping someone for a traffic violation. “The less the officer has to look at paper and push buttons, the more he can pay attention to the situation at hand,” he said. Wright said the computer system will also be linked to the radar and the video cam era mounted on the vehicle’s dashboard. “This would allow better control over the police vehicle,” he said. Wright said the project en tered the second phase of a See Technocar, Page 6