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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 28, 1995)
Line 27, 199) A JVI LJ 1ST R 1 1. 101, No. 165 (6 pages) Established in 1893 ommunity members discuss acts of road construction ill run tests wo years by •ough radio irmation by i will be cal- will then anager with neering, de ponents on pipe ml Citizens are concerned about r more ad *affic problems caused by nan the cur- 1 . . . . ' aid. onstruction, and business space costs wners are concerned that an develops that isa'affic will hurt their business. rticularly if ity." I Katherine Arnold >f ‘93 and an -ie Battalion Wednesday • June 28, 1995 tudy. re the the 'ieorge Peterson cal Engineering engineering pipe while nt of power ased signifi- able heat re- e amount of ises. s. which op- <r would cool ly providing ,y for future mbeck said, at transfer jest solution e have been sions. •d by NASA il partners ■ Space Pow- Cpmmunity members and local business mers voiced their concerns about the im- ict of future road construction on Texas venue, George Bush Drive and Wellborn oad at a public meeting Tuesday night. The meeting was organized by the raffic Management Task Force, which insists of officials from the cities of cyan and College Station, the Texas De- irtment of Transportation, Brazos Coun ty and Brazos Transit. One concern was the reduction of the number of lanes on Texas Avenue during construction. Pat Williams, Bryan engi neer, said four lanes of traffic will be main tained throughout the construction. “There will be a few times when we will need to reduce the road to two lanes,” Williams said. “But if that happens, it will be kept between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.” Several business owners along Texas Avenue are concerned about the elimina tion of the continuous left turn lane during the construction period. Mark Dennard, owner of Wings n’ More, said he is con cerned about the safety of his customers at tempting to turn left with no turn lane. “If that lane is gone, there’s going to be a lot of accidents,” Dennard said. “We are all going to have to get together and inform our customers to come in from the other di rection to avoid that left turn.” Bob Richardson, Bryan district design engineer, said there is no way to maintain the left turn lane while Texas Avenue is under construction. "We’ve taken up all the room we can,” Richardson said. “We have got to have room to widen the road.” TxDOT is also planning on constructing a wall along Texas Avenue in front of some residential areas to reduce noise from con struction and traffic. The wall will be 8 feet tall and 6- to 8-inches thick. The wall will be a permanent structure, Richardson said. Mason Newton, of the College Station Police Department, said he hopes the walls will eliminate noise complaints from local residents. “They (TxDOT) will be doing some of this work at night so there will be noise,” Newton said. “We are trying to work with See Construction, Page 2 New CS residents express concerns over annexation □ The residents are con cerned that the annexa tion will cause changes in their lifestyles. By Wes Swift The Battalion College Station has expanded, and some of its new residents are angry, since the City Council fi nalized the annexation of 3,075 acres of land from areas around the city. The annexed land includes a 2,100-acre block between FM 2154 and Greens Prairie Road and a 427-acre block between Rock Prairie Road and Greens Prairie Road. Two smaller tracks, one near Easterwood Airport and another on FM 2154 and FM 2818, are also included in the annexation. Many residents in the areas are not happy about becoming College Station citizens. They do not want to pay the higher taxes and follow the city ordi nances that annexation would impose on them. “We don’t need them coming out here,” Frank Meade, who lives on Rural Route 5, said. See Annexation, Page 2 Student Senate panel searches for alternate solution to fee increase Service, Con- 1 spending al ~e on Federa. 16 than it die report ie numbero: nt recipient j to abou; this increasf for the nega Is from othei takes half o' SEOG tional Oppor Work Stud' is and applif:- i,” the repot 1 savings (foil iment) equal:; n over fivtr ». 7-percent in 1.” elage, Texas or of Studenl id, said thess d reductions e paying col es more difi er- and mn its. •tedly suppot 'eduction ef ;e said in ! | r ever, cuttin! cost U.S. ta* id progra ir themsel' g econoin g the tax basfi productivity aents madet 'enefitingfn 1 ' tion far oit it of financ' 5 aceived dur: Food chain in action A Red-tailed hawk feeds on a Crackle behind the Academic Building Tuesday afternoon. Many students gathered around to witness the hawk eating his lunch. Miguel Mora, of the National Biological Survey based at Texas A&M, said it looked like the hawk was putting on a show for the students gathered. I "It's something unusual," Mora said. "He seemed very accus tomed to people. He's tame, so he probably was owned by some body and they released him or he escaped." Nick Rodnicki, The Battalion Mora said Red-tailed hawks usually eat rodents, not birds. "It is also unusual for a Red-tailed hawk to eat birds," he said. "That is another sign that he is tame." Mora said the hawk would probably stay on campus for awhile because it is a safe environment. He said that other hawks come to the Bryan-College Station area during the winter migration. "You see Sharp-shinned hawks every now and then hunting birds around campus," he said. "I've seen Cooper's hawks eating birds in my own backyard." □ The Texas A&M presi dent proposed that the general use fee be in creased from $12 to $26 per semester credit hour. By Wes Swift The Battalion A four-senator panel was formed during an emergency Stu dent Senate meeting Tuesday to find an alternate solution to the proposed general use fee increase, amid concerns that the $14 in crease per semester credit hour is too drastic. Dr. Ray Bowen, Texas A&M president, has proposed the gen eral use fee be increased from $12 to $26 per semester credit hour for fiscal year 1995-96. It would be followed by another increase of $6 in fiscal year 1996-97. Chris Reed, speaker pro tern of the Senate, said he thought the University could ease the burden on students and gradually in crease the fee. “I am not of the opinion that the $14 increase is the way to go,” Reed said. “I think that it could be less. I would like to see it extended over time, but to me this is too severe.” Brian Myers, student senator and a junior business administra tion major, said he did not see the need for such a large increase in stead of smaller increases. “In the end, the University’s going to need the same amount of money,” Meyers said. “I’d rather see a two-year increase of $10, instead of a $14 one year and six another.” The Senate will use the find ings from the panel to draft a let ter expressing its opinions and any possible solutions they devise to Bowen and the Texas A&M Board of Ftegents. Dr. Jerry Gaston, interim vice president for finance and adminis tration, explained that there have been revisions to the original plan to spend the $15.4 million gener ated by the increase. Originally, $6 million would have been spent to fund a 3-per- cent salary increase for faculty and staff, with an additional $1 million for financial aid and $2 million for special reserve funds. Gaston said the administration revised the figures after several students expressed concerns that they may not be able to afford the higher fee at last Wednesday’s open forum. Now, Gaston explained, $1.5 million will be placed in financial aid, an addition of $500,000. The additional financial aid was reallo cated from the $6 million for pay raises, which dropped to $5 million. Gaston said faculty and staff will still receive a 3 percent in crease, but the University will cover the difference. “We’re basically going to eat that $1 million,” Gaston said. The $2 million special reserve fund has been revised to $1,378 million. Any fee increase must be ap proved by the Board of Regents. Gaston said the administration hopes to have the fee increases approved by July 15. The next official Board meeting is scheduled for Aug. 31. Gaston said he expects an emergency meeting to be held to discuss sever al construction matters, and that the Board might discuss the gener al use fee increase at that time. onors program hosts invitational . ■ ■ ' . 7 -j - ' ' '-TT v " Y'.- < : Eddy Wylie, The Battalion len Triampe, a high school student from ’lano, watches his engineering experiment Irop form the second floor of Zachry Engi- leering Center Monday afternoon. The ex- iteoroiogicaiSoc )e(iment was part of the Summer Honors nvlitational Program. □ 230 high school ju niors will participate in the Summer Honors Invitational Program this week. By Javier Hinojosa The Battalion For the last eight years, Texas A&M’s University Honors Program has invited talented and successful high school stu dents in Texas and the sur rounding states to the campus, encouraging the students to at tend A&M. Susan Hackemer, honors stu dent services coordinator, said the Summer Honors Invitational for High Achieving High School Students is designed to explain what Texas A&M is all about. “We are here to showcase the University and give the students the opportunity to start looking at higher education institu tions,” Hackemer said. The honors program invites students based on their pre-ACT scores and high school grades. “We anticipate that these stu dents will progress in the Na tional Merit, National Achieve ment and National Hispanic competition,” she said. “These are the students every universi ty in Texas is attracted to.” The second invitational this year began Monday and has about 230 high school juniors at tending. It is one of four two-day programs. The next two invita- tionals will begin July 10 and 17. The high school students stay in Lechner and Haas Halls dur ing the visit. They tour facilities and colleges around campus, such as the Cyclotron Building, the Ocean Drilling Program, nu clear reactor. Wildlife and Exotic Animal Center, the College of Veterinary Medicine and the J. Wayne Stark Gallery. The students choose the pro grams they want to attend, and those programs are handled by the various colleges on campus. The invitational includes pro grams in general academic cours es such as humanities, social sci ences, physical and life sciences, business and architecture. Hackemer said the most See Honors, Page 2 Womens Health Clinic opens □ A&M's new clinic offers free gy necological exams for students. By Jill Saunders The Battalion Women enrolled at Texas A&M can now use the services offered by the new A.P. Beutel Health Center GYN Women’s Health Clinic. Regan Brown, the clinic’s nurse practition er, said the clinic can provide many services for female students. “We provide contraceptives, information on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), breast exams, pap smears and we deal with infections related to GYN (gynecology),” Brown said. The clinic opened June 19, and routine ex ams are free for A&M students. Brown said she realized a women’s clinic would benefit A&M students when she worked at Planned Parenthood in Bryan. “I think there is a need for this clinic be cause I was seeing a lot of students at my for mer job,” Brown said. “I accepted this job be cause I like being able to teach others, and it is an incredible opportunity for me to learn.” Ethel Melendy, the clinic’s registered nurse, said she took the job because of she has enjoyed her 14 years of work experience in the health profession. Brown described a typical visit to the women’s clinic. Stew Milne, The Battalion R.H. Ethel Melendy and Dr. Regan Brown stand in one of the examination rooms of the new women's clinic in the A.P. Beutel Health Center. “First, Ethel will ask her questions such as why she’s here, does she have allergies and when was her last period,” Brown said. “Then she will have a breast exam, pelvic exam and a pap smear.” Students must go through a class on meth ods of contraception prior to obtaining birth control. Brown said the types of birth control available for student use are limited. However, See CLINIC, Page 6