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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 21, 1995)
June 20,19J A IVI U N V R Y 11 - they e general r;' d. “So theiiL ;ral use fees Voi. 101, No. 161 (8 pages) at come from _ d of domino- ■ the units, uxiliaries 3 they chargd nployees wot id of raise, for it. Thejil •aise their ra;, Established in 1893 Wednesday • June 21, 1995 ,ial rolfl even if the 'tj i 11 change tkl ibility of anJ me commisskl i the person! nandant woif fficer,” Dark, ncrease incc:| s to get 50 [ led." irginia Milk said even if tkl 1 probably M, the Citadel ginia Polytef ,y and Non: ampus receives nergy overhauls Local coalition works to increase immunizations Three buildings are tar geted for improvements to [he air conditioning and :hilled water systems. ly Wes Swift [he Battalion Langford Architecture Center, Reed jlcDonald Building and Sterling C. Kvans Library will get energy over- jauls to increase efficiency that could lave the University almost $3 million nnually. The energy overhauls are funded by $3.26 million loan from LoanSTAR, state agency that gives low-interest loans to state institutions for energy conservation and efficiency programs. Charles Darnell, energy manager for the Physical Plant, said the cur rent air conditioning systems are not economical because they were in stalled over 20 years ago. “These buildings have antiquated air conditioning systems,” Darnell said. "Some of these systems that were designed in the ’50s through the ’70s were basically energy hogs. The ener gy costs were so low in the ’70s that it was not a big consideration to make really efTicient systems. And the elec tronic technology was not very reli able.” Darnell explained that the current See Energy, Page 6 □ A state-wide study showed only 55 percent of 2-year-old children surveyed are proper ly immunized. By Michael Simmons The Battalion Increasing the immunization rates of children in the Brazos Valley is the goal this summer of a joint project be tween the Texas A&M College of Medi cine and the Brazos Valley Healths- mart Coalition. See related EDITORIAL, Page 7 Roderick McCallum, head of admin istration for the College of Medicine, said the project will research the state of childhood immunizations, improve community education and provide immu- •v nizations for children. A questionnaire will be circulated by the Healthsmart Coalition later this month to gain insight into the quality of childhood immunizations in the Brazos Vall^^y, he said. A state-wide survey of families of 2-year- old children revealed that only 55 percent of the families are properly immunized, McCallum said. “The state of Texas has a pretty sorry record of childhood im munizations,” McCallum said. “There are areas of Texas that rank lower in childhood immunizations than some Third-World countries.” Most of the diseases that af fect children under the age of 5 are vaccine preventable, Mc Callum said. “Diseases like meningitis, diphtheria and whooping cough can be prevented if parents have their children properly immu nized,” he said. Children over 5 years usually are immunized properly because it is re quired by law, McCallum said. The project will target See SHOTS, Page 8 t level r aid. “Either^ markers like’; or they can: 3cial contains sical qualities getables wills lem. rrots, maroor, bright orange: broccoli i't know — Dr. Luke Um TABS food iff- te a real pre: you cut ths put them in s .s are ready, t ,o seed compar. distributors. F rom the proje be put backs' rejects. uatn 'TTIN' 'EM IN ^RE ^ERKY'.f Hostel Welcoming back old Ags □ Program reaquaints former students with college life. By Amy Collier The Battalion Some 65-year-old former A&M students are re-experi encing college life this week. Aggie Hostel, a week-long program sponsored by The As sociation of Former Students, acquaints former students with changes that have taken place at Texas A&M and the sur rounding community. Letters were sent to about 15,000 “old Ags” who are at least 65. Eighty-one of them are here until Saturday re membering the old times and learning about how the Univer sity has changed. The former students go to classes about current and his torical topics and learn about the architecture of the commu nity and campus. Stephen Dunn, coordinator of student hosts for the pro gram, said the guests are also entertained. They even have a ring dance. “It’s a week of learning and having a good time,” Dunn said. “They seem to really enjoy it.” Aggie Hostel started in 1988 as a graduate research program. The program is now based more on the former students’ needs rather than on research. The program has been in creasingly successful, and some people attending this year are here for their sixth conference, Dunn said. Student hosts help make the program a success, Dunn said. Twenty hosts are selected through an application and in terview process during the spring spring. Nicole Miller, a student host who graduated in May, said she stayed in College Sta tion for the summer because she enjoyed being a host so much last year. “•It’s really been one of the most exciting things I’ve done,” Miller said. “I just couldn’t leave. By the end of the week, I won’t want them to leave.” Miller said that instead of feeling like she’s working hard at being a host, she feels like she is being entertained as much as the former students. “The committee works so hard,” Miller said. “Everything is planned so well, I feel like they cater to me too.” Although the week is full of programs. Miller said she en joys eating meals with former students the most. “I love seeing their faces light up when they remember some thing about when they went to A&M,” Miller said. “They al ways have stories to tell. There’s never a quiet moment.” Dick Magers, class of ’49, is participating in Aggie Hostel with his wife for the second year in a row. “I enjoyed it so much that I Eddy Wylie, The Battalion Vic Wegenhoft, Class of '40, and Jim Bilharts, Class of '53, talk about 'ol Army days Tuesday night at the Aggie Hostel barbecue. The two former students are re-experiencing college life this week. came back this year and will probably come back next year,” Magers said. “Everything last year was interesting and every thing this year will be just as interesting. It’s good bull.” Magers said he likes the way the program aims to edu cate and that he enjoys it even more because he is with his peers. Besides looking forward to the classes and programs of fered during the week, Magers said he also looks forward to entertainment Bryan-College Station has to offer. He has already entered the 42 tour nament, a dominoes game, at The Dixie Chicken for Thurs day night. Last year he beat the reign ing champion, who happened to be former Student Body Presi dent Brooke Leslie. Most of the changes made at A&M over the decades have been positive, and Magers said he is impressed that more stu dent organizations exist to ex press opinions on campus which are not always heard. “Everybody has the opportu nity to speak,” he said. “I think that makes everything turn out for the best.” Magers foresees a continued tradition of Aggie excellence.. “The leaders of the 21st cen tury are going to be those that applied themselves at A&M,” he said. anters planning on perfect ines; propagating bluebonnets pe! contact: f. Lynn Burlf' I HECC -6195 □ A&M plant scientists have ^developed pine trees that can grow in the dry lands of western Texas and 1 8-inch bluebonnets. By Tara Wilkinson : Tin Battalion 1 Texas A&M plant scientists are cur rently developing drought-tolerant pine trees and long-stemmed bluebonnets. I Kitty Sen, senior research associ ate in the forest science department, sbid the department is creating a drought-resistant species of pine tree from the Loblolly pine that grows in eastern Texas. She said the depart ment will attempt to grow the drought-resistant version in the dry land of western Texas. I Sen said the department is currently studying the genes involved in drought resistance in order to identify and un derstand them. I “We are improving every day,” Sen said. “We have a drought-tolerant gene and its promoter. The promoter works ■sry well on the cellular level, but it’s ilery hard to regenerate a complete plant from the transformed cell.” I Sen said the forest science depart ment recently completed a project of cloning Christmas trees with tall, straight trunks and full limbs. The “perfect” Christmas tree, a clone of the Virginia pine, which grows in southeastern Texas, was successfully marketed and sold this Christmas, Sen said. Sen said that the trees were devel oped from only a few seeds. “We tried to get some im proved seed which was straight and tall, and then tried to clone them,” Sen said. “From one seed you get one plant. But with tissue culture, you can get many plants from one seed.” Sen said now that the re search is complete, they are no longer interested in mar keting the trees. A&M scientists have also developed a larger bluebonnet. Dr. Tim Davis, A&M research horti culturist, said the long-stemmed, “Texas-sized” bluebonnets that the de partment developed are constantly be ing improved. Last spring, about 7,000 long stemmed bluebonnets developed by Davis and his associates were sold in Dallas and El Paso. The bluebonnets were developed from the seeds of a naturally-occur- ing, long-stemmed variety of bluebon net from the Big Bend area in west ern Texas. Davis said normal blue bonnets are 6 to 8 inches long, but the long-stemmed variety are 18 to 24 inches long. The long-stemmed variety can be pre served longer in vases and have slightly "With any plant, you can contin ue to make genetic improve ments. And we are always inter ested in improving vase life." — Dr. Tim Davis AdrM research horticulturist larger blooms, Davis said. In nature, bluebonnets exist in shades of blue, pink and white. Howev er, Davis said pink and white blooms are rare, one in several million. A&M re searchers have made it possible to use pink or white seeds to ensure a crop of all pink or white flowers. Davis said the bluebonnet project was worked on for about five years. “With any plant, you can continue to make genetic improvements,” he said. “We want to continue to come up with good colors and high yield. And See Plants, Page 6 Southerland explains recent fee changes □ A&M's vice president for student affairs addresses the student services fee and the health center fee. By Wes Swift The Battalion Recent fee changes approved by the Board of Regents may be misleading. Dr. J. Malon Southerland, vice president for student affairs, said. Southerland explained that the change in the student services fee, de creasing from S8.25 to S7.75 per semes ter credit hour with a cap dropping from S99 to S93 per semester, is really a real- location of funds. The total charged per semester for the student services fee cannot exceed the cap. Originally, the Student Fee Advisory Committee recommended that the cap be raised to SlOS per semester. The rec ommendation was based on the condi tion that a bill in the Texas Legislature allowing the health center fee to in crease from S25 to S40 would not pass. Southerland said that since the Leg islature approved the bill, the cap was decreased to S93, and the S15 difference was shifted to the health center fee. Southerland said the health cen- Southerland ter fee may be raised by 10 percent each year without a student referen dum, but not without the consent of the Student Fee Ad visory Committee. “Next year, the health center fee can go up to S44,” Southerland said. The student ser vices fee cap must be discussed by the committee under a similar provision, Southerland said. Texas law requires universities to con sult representatives of the student body before increasing fees. Texas A&M’s Student Fee Advisory Committee, a panel of 20 students, has offered the administration input on fee changes for more than 30 years. With currently-approved increases, fees per 15-hour semester will increase Si 19. The bulk of the increase comes from a S2 increase in tuition per semes ter credit hour, the new S50 per semes ter Recreational Sports Center fee and the new S2 per semester credit hour li brary fee. Regents will vote this summer on the proposal to raise the general use fee from Sl2 to S26 per semester credit hour. 845-0544