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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 26, 1995)
June 22, US ' IVX u 1ST R T Y said. ling with terr Shepleysa Bate a homei: id make thiii; Vo I s possible.” ents beganc*™ 1 )ice, they visitt; lions’ existiii 101, No. 163 (6 pages) Established in 1893 Monday • June 26, 1993 , a senior amp said the virl ents undersk e people be;J oject. , thing we lot| t visit wasi among thef said. “They- mplete stra :e a family.” senior architfl d he saw a xisting hos ,o improve, place wasvd 1. “All therooj and there i act.” ts began desir|| they incorponf ssions from I esidents oppose Animal Complex Brushy Creek comtnu- iity members are con- rerned that the new an- tal complex would :ause water pollution^ inimal odor and heavy itudent traffic. |y Tara Wilkinson [HE BATTAUON Residents of the Brushy Creek community pledged more than $3,000 Thursday for a for an in junction they intend to seek against the building of Texas A&M’s Animal Science Teaching, Research and Extension Com plex. The total cost to apply for the injunction is $5,000. About 35 members of Resi dents Opposed to Pigs and Live stock voted unanimously to seek legal means of stopping the Uni versity from building a Sheep and Goat Center, Animal Eu- thenics Center and Nutrition and Physiology Center in the Brushy Creek area, located approximate ly 8 1/2 miles southwest of Col lege Station on Highway 60. A Beef Industry Center owned by the University already oper ates in the Brushy Creek area. Brushy Creek residents said they fear water pollution, para sites, animal odor, disruption of social life and heavy student traffic would be problems caused by the approximately 1,600 sheep, goats, cows and pigs the complex would add to their community. Dr. Ai Schaffer, an A&M soci ology professor and Brushy Creek resident, said the resi dents gained a major concession in June when University officials altered their original plans and decided not to build a Swine Cen ter with up to 1,500 pigs in Brushy Creek. But Schaffer said concerns fo cused on the Swine Center have become more widespread now that residents have researched the building of the complex and its implications more thoroughly. Schaffer said the residents hope their case eventually will be heard at the federal level on the See Complex, Page 6 Mike Friend, The Battalion , a senior arc said he focus- t facility lifij Microchips help owners locate lost pets ce where peop! heir last day: wanted it to-i big window; rs inside.” focused on ^ □ Many animals that enter !i^ ”r y ea 5shelters or research centers eract witimare scanned for microchips to the staff,”G - ■ « ./< -• • ■ • de all the w check if the animal is a pri- }t> w5th sp et vately-owned pet. lows so thep. ' * at each rooir B Katherine Arnold ' al ®P ace ' , Thi. Battalion he learned tt- a projec s L owners h ave a new option to ensure ^ u the safety of their pets. Several veterinary ' . ‘ !• facilities are implanting microchips into i . ' H, 1 ? it pets to help identify lost animals. >u ave o -, iThe microchip is about 1 centimeter n wan s j on ^ r am j 2 millimeters wide. It is inserted 1.1611 j ie( ' between the shoulder blades of the animal .mbinedemot^J-b a hypodermic needle. ( saic *‘ Carolyn Berrow, operations supervisor keep the 1 f or the Brazos Valley Animal Shelter, said e perspeie no ener gy j s emitted by the microchip, y°« 'Y ive which stores a number for each animal. 5 of the peo;, “^e chips store a number which can be rminally in reac j by a scanner,” Berrow said. “Testing •y hard. Jabs are required to scan animals that 1 AIDS hos corne j n to make sure a privately-owned d i 1 f erenl p e t waS n’t sold to them.” ; aid. f^Animals still will need to be licensed AIDS pat/even if they have the chip implanted, ger than t Berrow said. ler care fac- The number stored on the chip is listed laid. “It’s J’fsvlh a national registry. When a facility omething b finds a lost animal, the registry is accessed to find the pet’s owner. been invol'/^phe Brazos Valley Animal Shelter cur- g field of decently } s us i n g the implantation for cats ire industry a nt i dogs. JtrDr. Roberta Relford, director of commu- /ernment ma-fity services with the Veterinary Teaching /hat to do " Hospital, said the process can be used for system, it is many different animals. a lot of won' Several animals used at the University deling,” Shep i ave been implanted with microchips. The oject is one , ec hnology f or microchipping has been -s.” mound for almost 30 years, Relford said. IrTt was used by the government for —- learch dogs and in research for testing ani- ^jlJJ nals before it became popular for use in _llOn. >ets,” Relford said. The new technology is also used with sj( how dogs, because they usually do not Bfclr • sir Eddy Wylie, The Battalion All //v a day's work o two lob Wiatt. th ce Departing nisquoted. Ti ive been attrii iboviak, Braz 1 attorney. See PETS, Page 4 Robert Wright, a graduate student in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, prepares a cot ton field on West Campus for irrigation Saturday afternoon. He is using the field as a genetic experiment for the study of blight. A machine dredges Wolf Pen Lake on Friday. College Station begins dredging at Wolf Pen Lake □ The city is trying to restore the lake's original appearance. By Tara Wilkinson The Battalion The City of College Station is dredging the lake at Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater, lo cated at Holleman Drive and Dartmouth Street, in order to restore it to its original depth and shape. Veronica Morgan, assistant city engineer, said that after looking at several ways to handle lake restoration, the City Council decided to hire a dredge to remove silt deposits that have emptied from Wolf Pen Creek into the lake. The dredging project, which began June 16, is expected to last 40 working days and cost about $63,000, Mor- gan said. The dredge, a flat- bottomed boat on pontoons, is pumping silt and water from the bottom of the lake into two large holding ponds on the comer of the proper ty built to hold this material. Another pipe re turns water to the lake. “Once dredging is complete, we will remove all pipes and take the silt to other areas around town, like parks,” Morgan said. She said most College Sta tion residents are not aware of the natural forces at work on the lake. “For someone who is not fa miliar with the project, it looks like the lake dried up,” Morgan said. However, Morgan said run off from the creek has actually filled the lake. Originally 8 feet deep, the lake is now only inches deep in spots. Larry Ringer, mayor of Col lege Station, said city engi neers knew the lake would eventually begin to fill with silt, but did not expect the process to happen so quickly. “The heavy rains we had last fall caused heavy erosion and caused silt to build up,” Ringer said. “It took out some of the bends and curves of the lake.” Ringer said dredging the lake is a short-term solution that will not prevent future problems with the lake. De pending on available funds, he said the City Council will con sider implementing a long term solution in the future. One option could be to line the creek to help reduce ero sion and decrease run-off into the lake. Ringer said. Lyn Mcllhaney, city coun- cilwoman, said Wolf Pen Lake and Amphitheater were built "Once dredging is complete, we will remove all pipes and take the silt to other areas around town, like parks." — Veronica Morgan assistant city engineer in an area with known drainage problems. “Our desire for that entire corridor was to take a liabili ty, an area with a drainage problem, and turn it into an asset,” Mcllhaney said. Although residents have complained that the lake looks ugly, Mcllhaney said aesthetic improvement is only part of the reason the City Council decided to dredge. She said the lake’s appear ance has not negatively affect ed the number or quality of performances scheduled at the amphitheater. See Lake, Page 2 Bicycle patrol officers promote campus safety Nick Rodnicki, The Battalion like patrol officer Elizabeth Geick gives graduate busi- less student Jeet Ahluwalia a warning for disobeying a raffic sign on Ireland street Sunday afternoon. □ Since the introduction of the bicycle patrol on cam pus, there has been a de crease in the number of bi cycle citations given. By Michael Simmons The Battalion The University Police Department bicycle patrol has increased safety and battled crime in its first year on the Texas A&M campus. Bob Wiatt, UPD director, said the patrol has been successful in fighting crime and opened the University po lice to the public. “The officers are now easily acces sible to people on campus,” Wiatt said. “New students and their parents often approach bicycle officers with questions about the campus.” The bicycle patrol plays the more important role of monitoring the cam pus, both day and night. The patrol has the ability to silently monitor ar eas where a squad car may be more obvious, Wiatt said. “There have been several occasions when the bicycle officers, because they are so quiet, have actually caught someone in the act of criminal activity on campus,” Wiatt said. The officers also monitor the bicy cle traffic that runs through campus, Wiatt said. This is to ensure bicyclists are aware they must follow the same laws as motorists. Thomas Miller, Department of Parking, Transit and Traffic Services director, said during the fall or spring semesters up to 12,500 bicycles can be found on the A&M campus. Officer Todd Tomlinson, UPD bicy cle patrolman, said the patrol tries to advise students about bicycle laws and safety. “Bicyclists aren’t always aware that they must also yield to pedestrians and stop at a stop sign,” Tomlinson said. Tomlinson said there has been a noticeable decline in the number of ci tations and warnings given since the introduction of the bicycle patrol. “We used to stop 15 bicyclists a day, but now we only stop three or four,” Tomlinson said. Being a member of the bicycle patrol gives the officers an advantage in the fight against crime, Tomlinson said. “If criminals try to flee the scene of a crime, an officer on a bicycle can easily pursue them through a field or anywhere a car may not be able to go,” Tomlinson said. This also allows the University po lice to patrol in areas inaccessible to cars, Tomlinson said. “The more places we are able to pa trol, the safer students on campus will be,” Tomlinson said. The bicycle officers are not limited to bicycle violations or campus See Officers, Page 4 Study abroad program offers varied experiences □ Applications for the Spring 1996 program are now available. By Jill Saunders The Battalion Texas A&M students of all ma jors and classifications can take their education al experiences on the road, and learn the history and cul ture of foreign countries by utilizing the Texas A&M Study Abroad Program. Mona Rizk- Finne, director of Study Abroad, said the pro gram goal is to help every A&M student interest ed in studying abroad. “The mission of the Study Abroad Program at Texas A&M is to provide students in all fields of study at all levels a wide range of ^ Tf [A JL educational experiences abroad,” Rizk-Finne said. Rizk-Finne said that of the state universities in Texas, A&M has the largest and most compre hensive study abroad program. “We have 32 programs in 18 countries.” Rizk-Finne said. “We have something for everyone.” Study abroad programs can last from one summer session up to an entire year. Applica- tions are available for the Spring 1996 program to Italy for fu ture teachers and a separate program for all majors. Rizk-Finne said the Santa Chiara Study Center in Cas- tiglion Fiorentino, Italy, is a part of the University Study Abroad Program, and all classes are taught in English. Approximately 570 A&M See STUDY, Page 4 lAMPUS »1<§ TTai ;n.i3